Category: Reviews

Bad Times at the El Royale Movie Review

October 12, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by

You absolutely must get online and get your reservations for the El Royale tonight! This Tarantino style noir or ‘black’ film has dustings of Hitchcock and early Hollywood capers and mysteries. Don’t waste another moment reading about it. Just go. The trailer does a spectacular job of keeping certain plotlines a secret which is rare these days so if you were already interested by watching them, you haven’t seen anything yet.
The opening of the film declares why a certain character is at the hotel and what he’s searching for. ‘Bad Times at the El Royale,’ like similar films before it, allows us to get to know each of her other characters one by one. Little is revealed about them but as more people and circumstances crop up, with the use of flashbacks, you’re investigating the characters yourselves and learning more. Often, you’ll be surprised at what you see. A little warning to those who are faint of heart, there are several jump-scares that will leave you unsettled and anxious for what’s to come during the rest of the film. This is something I liked about Drew Goddard’s film ‘The Cabin in the Woods,’ too. He knows how to keep you sitting on the edge of your seat and he likes it.

The film’s two hours and 21 minutes are rather long but for the most part, the cast makes each minute count. And don’t ask me to pick who, out of this magnificent assembly of actors, is best. They were all outstanding! Okay, fine. If you’re going to twist my arm, I have to admit that I couldn’t take my eyes off Jeff Bridges. The man is unbelievable in this role. But I digress. Let’s get back to the length of the movie. Though a well-orchestrated film otherwise, where Goddard could have shaved off some time would have been by not having the characters discover things the audience has already seen through the eyes of several others before. That said, I’d see it again in a heartbeat. Let me tell you some about what to expect from your bi-state stay in the El Royale. The hotel sits on both Nevada and California and is split in half by a red line painted down the middle of the lobby. The hotel has hosted many performers of the stage and screen where gambling is allowed only on the Nevada side, obviously, but plenty of boozing and canoodling have happened on both. With the band of misfits joining us now, it certainly hasn’t been and still isn’t a virtuous place to stay. The hotel is very much a central figure of the film. It reveals and has as much personality as any of the others do.

Through Goddard’s clever and inventive script and exceedingly brilliant and vivid imagination, you get involved in their stories and grow to either love or hate them. The bellboy named Miles (played by Bill Pullman’s son) Lewis, is perhaps the most compelling by movies end, something not expected upon first meeting him. I don’t really want to introduce you to them or reveal too much so I’ll not be saying much more. You need to be sitting in the theatre watching, not reading about, why you need to see this. You’ll be sucked in right away with a very impressive and striking opening. The thrills, the wit, and the outlandish situations along with the players and the music that accompanies them will take you voluntarily to the end of your stay.

First Man Movie Review

October 12, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by

‘First Man’ focuses on the beginnings of Nasa and invests most of its two hours and twenty minutes to Neil Armstrong, the first man to ever set foot on the moon. It’s captured beautifully with an incredibly exciting screenplay by Josh Singer, who wrote ‘The Post,’ ‘Spotlight’ and twenty-six episodes of ‘The West Wing,’ that’s filled with motivation, trepidation, elation and plenty of heartaches.
If you want to feel what Neil Armstrong felt as he flew his jet across the sky and if you want to experience the inside of a space capsule with him, as well, see this movie at the theatre but if you can, get to an IMAX theatre quickly for an enhanced adventure into space.

Director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash), obviously no novice when it comes to music and tone, had a sound department of thirty people working overtime for this one! The metal of the rocket the astronauts are jammed into before it takes off and after speaks to them. It moans and groans, shrieks and creaks, articulating its disapproval of what is being asked of it, setting your nerves on edge before you’re anywhere near the moon. Chazelle manages to make us see and feel the vibrations and each bump, jolt, quiver and jerk they are going through as they train for their mission and as they’re launched into orbit. Uncertainty is a big part of the film which is puzzling because we all know how it turns out but that’s how beautifully structured the film is and how strong the characters are. It’s so believable that even YOU aren’t sure of what’s next for them.

Though Armstrong and other astronauts were in happy marriages, Chazelle was able to catch and target in on their lives at home during the 1960’s with the Apollo missions going on. As they watched friends burn up or blow up, they tried not to show it but were a bundle of nerves inside. Armstrong kept himself at a safe distance from his wife Janet, played quite skillfully by Claire Foy. They lose a child, Karen, which Neil never seems to recover but as they continue to have more children, he pulls away emotionally, saving it for the missions, and she remains strong for their family. She understood he had to direct his attention on surviving but wasn’t about to let him kill what they had. The scene between the two of them toward the end of the film strengthens an already powerful film and cements this as one of the best movies of the year. That said, however, it’s no ‘Whiplash,’ which is a more determined Chazelle film, but this is still intense and a must-see this weekend. Don’t wait to watch it at home. The exceptional photography and superb score deserve to be seen and heard properly. 

The Hate U Give Movie Review

October 12, 2018 (updated October 11, 2018) Published by

“The Hate U Give” is a movie that shows while people may be Black and White, the world they live in is never just black and white. But just when the tone of the movie might start sounding preachy, it comes right up and grounds the characters in good ways. First, they are grounded in family, then grounded in friends, then grounded in the neighborhood, then finally in the community. Inner city Black areas or in gentrified, mostly White, suburbs — the story is the same.

‘The Hate U Give’ (as quoted in lyrics from a rap song) lead into the next step. That next step teaches children the wrong way.  Then it all gets FUBAR, so to speak. Blacks in the ‘hood feel that Prejudice, Prosecution, Poverty and the Police are pushing them down. When you are pushed so far down, then any way out seems fine. It could be a gang, it could be drugs and alcohol, but it just might be that strength of a family’s love is enough to elevate you out.

Starr (Amandla Stenberg) is a teenage Black girl who lives in the downtrodden section of Fremont. However, she attends high school in the high-class area of the town. She feels she wears two faces, one for her home and her ‘hood, but a different face for her school friends and her White boyfriend Chris (KJ Apa). Starr attends the school with her half-brother Seven (Lamar Johnson). Her very forceful mother Lisa (Regina Hall) along with her equally tough father Maverick (Russell Hornsby) both have raised her to be proud of herself and self-assured of her race. She knows to keep on the right side of the law, and to always be non-confrontational with police.

But Starr had been very close to a guy named Khalil (Lamar Johnson), who she has known since a young girl. Starr is out at a party in the ‘hood with her half-sister (Dominique Fishback), and she runs into Khalil. There is a fight and gunshots outside, so everyone leaves. Khalil takes Starr with him and will take her home. But they are stopped by the police. There is a shooting, where the cop thinks that Khalil is going for a weapon. It turns out to be a hairbrush. Starr is devastated, and the world that she knew is now gone. She continues to try and walk gently between the two worlds that she is in.

But she does not feel that she will really belong in either one. In the ‘hood, her family is threatened by King (Anthony Mackie), who is the head of a drug ring and part of the group that Khalil was dealing for. She does not feel at home in the White high school, where the other girls always look at her as if she were an alien. Her boyfriend Chris is still in the dark about how Starr is the only witness to the shooting. But Social Justice workers flood the ‘hood, and they want Starr to work with the Grand Jury to indict the quick-draw cop.

She feels she owes it to Khalil to be the voice that must be heard in the Legal System. But her uncle is Officer Carlos (Common), and he knows that the prosecutors will find any possible way to not press charges against a cop. But will the anger and rage go from a simple simmer to then becoming a boiling pot of hatred? Will the street gang feel the need to impose their own brand of justice on Starr, if they feel that she had testified and will bring the heat down on the drug operation?

This movie takes an extremely talented cast to create a world and a situation that makes a profound impact on the viewer. The story could be taken straight out of current headlines, and it strikes a somber tone. Every idea about bias and judgment will be questioned. The director has wonderfully laid out the difficult road that everyone must choose. Will they embrace the THUG life, and lead the next generation into chaos? Or can they raise their voices to speak for those who cannot, and attempt to bring peace and justice to the world?

Every actor in this movie is amazing, but none less than Amandla Stenberg. In the mail role, she portrays a young woman who is torn by events that surround her. Yet she remains strong and works to bring hope to her family and her community.

There is a ‘message’ in “The Hate U give”, but it delivers it in a very honest and sincere way. You will be moved by the story, the events and the truth behind the emotions. Perhaps you will not agree with all the viewpoints, but you will again be reminded: world we live in is never just black and white.

Goosebumps 2 Haunted Halloween Movie Review

October 12, 2018 (updated October 10, 2018) Published by

Twas the night before Halloween – and it was all going fine,
Until two kids found a manuscript written by R. L. Stine.

And now Slappy the Dummy is on the prowl in that town,
He is making an Apocalypse Nightmare come down.

With Witches and Ghosts and Goblins and Gnomes –
Slappy is bringing terror to folks in their homes.

But then Sam, and Sonny, and his sister Sarah,
Find a way to end Slappy’s Evil Reign of Terror.

Then even R. L. Stine shows up to help with that fight –
“Trick or Treat” is for all, and to all a “Fright Night”!

“Goosebumps 2 Haunted Halloween” is the new sequel to “Goosebumps”. If you are middle-school aged child, this probably means a great deal more to you than it does to older folks. The series of R. L. Stine books called ‘Goosebumps’ is the coin of the middle-school realm. And when a new movie comes out with that name, there will be kids a-plenty that will go to see it. And in this case, that will be a good thing. Because this is very light-hearted ‘scary’ movie, in the mold of an average Stine book.

Two young boys in the town of Wardenclyff are waiting for the fun of Halloween night.  Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his friend Sam (Caleel Harris) have started a small business where they will clean out junk. They are called to an abandoned house to remove all the debris. But hidden away in this house is a secret room. The boys don’t know that R. L. Stine once lived at the house as a boy. Stine left an unfinished manuscript, and the boys take it with them. But from nowhere, a ventriloquist dummy called Slappy (voiced by Jack Black) comes alive after Sonny reads a magic spell. Slappy wants a new family, so he comes home with them.

Sonny’s sister Sarah (Madison Iseman) finds out that Slappy is alive. They all try to get rid of the dummy, but he will always return. Slappy decides to kidnap Sonny and Sarah’s mom, named Kathy (Wendi McLendon-Covey). He will turn her into a dummy, just like Slappy. Then he will have a new Mom. But Slappy needs some allies and other scary monsters to help him out. He visits the local store and turns all the Halloween merchandise into real Ghosts, Goblins, Witches and Yeti monsters. Slappy even turns the store manager Walter (Chris Parnell) into an Igor type creature.

Sonny and Sam, with the help of Sarah, locate the Stine manuscript and find out it has the power to shut down Slappy. But they need help to get into Slappy’s new hiding place. The kids call on their neighbor Mr. Chu (Ken Jeong), who is all in for every Holiday. He has the best Halloween display in town, so he helps them get ready to go ‘undercover’ in some spooky outfits. Sarah even tries to call a number of someone who might know R.L. Stine. Maybe he can help bring the evil Slappy back in line and make him stop his evil efforts to turn their mom into a wooden dummy. Slappy and his crew are hiding out at the out Tesla power station, and he is ready to bring all the Tricks, and none of the Treats.

This movie is designed for the kids that grew up reading Stine’s spooky books. There is not too much depth to the story or the overall production. But it comes across as a very decent effort to give the audience of pretty good time. It is fun to watch the bedlam, but it is within PG limitations. There are no gory or gruesome scenes, because it’s all just for a good, scary fun. The best part of the side characters played by quality people such as Chris Parnell and Ken Jeong. Just keep your eyes peeled for a return of Jack Black, as R.L. Stine.

First Man Movie Review

October 12, 2018 (updated October 8, 2018) Published by

“First Man” is a gripping personal view of one of humanity’s crowning achievements. When three astronauts traveled to the Moon, and two of them touched down and explored the lunar surface, it was a stunning accomplishment. Now there is a movie that defines the inner drive and personal demons of that initial person who put down a boot onto the crusty dust of the Earth’s satellite. That person was Neil Armstrong, and he was the “First Man” to get that historical privilege. This movie is a reminder of the technological push of the 1960’s that took America to the Moon and back.

Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) is an engineer and a test pilot at NASA. He is not one of the military-bred astronauts that first rose in the ranks of the Air Force. Yet his cool-headed ability to think deeply, even in extreme circumstances, makes him a valuable addition to the group of space-bound pioneers. He and his wife Janet (Claire Foy) have a perfect 1960’s marriage. She tends the home front, and he ventures into space. Neil and Janet have a young daughter named Karen, but she passes away from cancer. Even with all the up-to-date technology, their little two-year-old could not be saved. They already have a son, and soon after, they have one more boy. But Neil is shattered inside from the pain of his loss. He is introverted and a shy person to begin with, so the loss does not help.

Neil has skills and knows how to take high-level math equations and then using that knowledge to fly and pilot a spacecraft. He has experience with the experimental rocket planes, and he jumps at the chance to get into the Gemini program. That space program will be another step on the way to the big cheese – the Moon. The Gemini craft will hold two astronauts, and the planned Apollo mission will carry three. When Neil gets selected, he is very pleased to be working for former astronaut Deke Slayton (Kyle Chandler). The Gemini missions will be important to pave the way for Apollo and moon landings. The mission that gets Neil into space goes well, and the docking tests go smoothly. That is, until there is a problem with the thrusters…

Neil and his fellow astronaut are soon spinning out-of-control. Neil figures out a way to reverse the bad thruster, and gets the Gemini under control again. It uses up most all the fuel, so the mission needs to be aborted. But one bad mission left the astronauts safe. Not so with the first testing of Apollo 1, with all three astronauts on-board in the capsule. In the simulated launch, there was an electrical spark that ignited the pure oxygen in the capsule. All three died in the test, and the Apollo missions were delayed for a while. But then Neil was picked for Apollo 11, as was Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) and Michael Collins (Lukas Haas). This was the mission that would go to the Moon, land and explore the surface, and get the three explorers back in one piece.

Neil and Buzz make it to the lunar surface, and they are true explorers. But every step of the way was a catastrophe that did not happen. Every piece of equipment had potential for failure, no matter how many engineers worked on the design. Some of the people lost their lives along the way to Neil’s ‘one small step’.  He knows that, and he knows that his safe return is only the best of the calculated odds. His trip is successful and NASA still explores into space.

Damien Chazelle has taken the story of the first man on the moon and explored the difficult personal journeys of the people involved. There is always an emphasis on the characters and what they can see and how they react to all the events that surround them. Even with a ground-breaking walk on the moon, there is the inner pain of Armstrong’s loss of his daughter. The launch is not shown as a breath-taking wide shot of the rocket zooming into the sky. There is a real person strapped into the Spam can attached to the top of a big firecracker. The sounds of creaking and straining bolts make you think at any moment it will become the Fourth of July.

Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong ass a very soft-spoken and subdued man. He is always examining and recalculating the situation, to make sure there is way to continue the mission. That includes his marriage. Claire Foy also gives a powerful performance as Janet; the wife who needs to raise her kids but is not afraid to raise her voice. The other actors have also been cast with an idea as to how well they would fit in the 1960’s Space Race.

“First Man” is nearly fifty years in the making since the actual events that mesmerized the world. It tells of real adventure in the outer space, but still keeps in focus the difficult emotions of Armstrong’s inner space.

22 July Movie Review

October 10, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by

‘22 July’ is shocking, stirring, it’s heart wrenching, unsettling and hard to wrap your mind around. Greengrass is best known for making several of the ‘Bourne’ films and ‘United 93’ which was a real-time account of United Flight 93, the plane that was hijacked on 9/11, but crashed due to passengers willing to take drastic measures to stop the terrorists in their tracks. ‘22 July’ is, again, the story of a terrorist’s actions as he carries out brutal killings only this time it’s a right-wing extremist named Anders Behring Breivik, played very coolly by Anders Danielsen Lie, in 2011 near Oslo Norway, who feels that he, as a white man, is being discriminated against.

He attacks what he refers to as a political summer camp which is located on an isolated island. He sees this camp as a place where the ‘Marxist, Liberals and members of the elite’ send their children to learn to accept minorities.

Dressed as a police officer, he packs guns, plenty of ammo and explosives and leaves the house. He drives a van near the Prime Minister’s office and parks. He gets out, lights a fuse, and slyly walks down the street where he easily slips into another vehicle and drives away, headed for the teenagers who await their fate like sitting ducks. He gets onto the island where the children are and starts, one by one, picking them off. They run but he knows there is absolutely nowhere for them to go. He’ll get them all eventually.

The explosion is well done, along with the confusion in its aftermath, but watching the children run screaming is brutal. Anders goes into a building where people are hiding and tells them, ‘You will die today!’ It’s hard not to put yourself in that scenario once you start thinking of how often murder in the name of someone’s beliefs goes on in this world.

One child, Viljar, gets a call off to his mother to tell her what has happened. She’s involved in politics and was near the explosion so she’s able to alert the police about what her son informed her of and they head to the island immediately. An intense scene shows us that, sadly, Anders is still shooting and gravely injures Viljar. When he’s found by his parents, he’s only clinging to life. Greengrass does a beautiful job of making all the events seem as realistic as possible. What follows is how these people restore their lives in the wake of such a tragedy but on top of that, being very much alive, the gunman has ways to still twist the knife. He doesn’t care about his victims, he tells his lawyer, Geir Lippestad, he would do it all again for the cause. He also tells Geir his demands or a third attack will be coming. He wants the liquidation of the political camp and a ban on immigration. This is where my interest was piqued even more. I knew of this story but it so parallels what’s happening in my own country today which makes it more relevant than I thought it would be.

It’s frightening to take a good hard look at certain activities in our world, but I rather like that films are bringing these subjects to light. It’s important not to hide racism and pretend it’s not going on.

The rest of the film is court filings, Viljar’s struggle to come back from what happened to him and the Prime Minister realizing where he went wrong. All of this is notably well done. It’s an explosive, captivating story of good versus evil with meaningful dialogue and pacing that doesn’t bore. Don’t think for one minute you have to see it on the big screen to appreciate it. Netflix is doing more and more and with this proves they’ll continue to get better and better. But if you’re lucky enough to be in a city where it’s coming out… it would be good to experience it that way.

In case you were curious, the only reason ‘22 July’ didn’t get a higher score is for the few times it felt as if it went a little long and one other mistake that writer/director Paul Greengrass made, which was crucial, and that’s where we first find ourselves in the story. Coming in at two hours and twenty-three minutes, he captured us by getting straight to the meat of the matter. That said, to the viewers, it felt as if he had nowhere to go but down. Turns out that it’s quite enough to be considered a must-see, but had he stretched out the action a bit… had the action happened a little later in the film, instead initially introduced to us some of the characters, it wouldn’t have become the long-lasting drama it felt it became. Then again, maybe this was done on purpose because what these Norwegians endured didn’t end with Anders Behring Breivik’s massacre of seventy-seven people, not to mention the hundreds of others he injured. The slaughter was only the beginning.

*22 JULY will debut Wednesday, October 10th globally in select theaters and on Netflix.

Free Solo Movie Review

October 5, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by

What a cliff-hanger! Okay… I’m sorry but I had to say it. However, that’s exactly what Alex Honnold, the subject of this documentary, is! A guy who climbs and literally hangs on cliffs. What was most frightening to watch was how he doesn’t use a rope or even hang by a thread! He’s literally free of anything but a few tools he might need along the way. Like an insect crawling up a wall, Alex scurries up the side of a mountain as if he was meant to be there. Myself, I do like to hike but prefer a nice, safe, well-traveled trail, not to take the risks Alex likes to take. One little slip, just one little mistake, and Alex is a memory.
Of climbing, Alex says, ‘I don’t wanna fall off and die either but there’s a satisfaction to challenging yourself and doing something well. That feeling is heightened when you’re for sure facing death. You can’t make a mistake. If you’re seeking perfection, free soloing is as close as you can get. It does feel good to be perfect, like, for a brief moment.’ And realizing he comes across as cold when he says it, he does believe it and says it anyway, ‘If I kill myself… life goes on.’ Well, I guess we all have to die sometime, right?

This is a terrifying watch but an intensely gripping watch at the same time. In fact, there may be moments where you have to turn your head, as the cameraman shooting the documentary does several times. What Alex achieves is nothing short of spectacular and this is your chance to witness history as closely as you would if you were hanging on the side of the mountain with him.

 

Alex has traveled everywhere while hiking and climbing but rare are the people who let you join them in this manner if at all. It takes great skill and concentration to accomplish a climb such as this and the last thing you need is a camera crew to distract you. However, this crew is made up of climbers, as well, and they know the dangers and liabilities of not only getting in his head space but getting in his path. The crew gets to know his movements by watching him plan and practice his route and they organize themselves way ahead of time. They take every precaution they can to see that they are not a variable in what he is about to tackle.

We, learn his path the names of the routes, too. He’s ascending the mountain, El Capitan in Yosemite, CA. Never before has anyone climbed it without using the safety of a rope and this film is about Alex’s journey to be the first. Along the way, we discover his past, what and how he eats, how he prepares, how he has changed and what climbing El Capitan, Free Solo, means to him. He explains that he’s obsessed with reaching this goal and that for him it’s not any different than winning a gold medal in the Olympics is for an Olympian. Forgive me for saying but an instant freefall to your death doesn’t generally come with the territory in the Olympic games, but I understand what he means.

Outside of the final climb, what I found most intriguing was watching him with his new girlfriend, Sanni. He said a girlfriend wasn’t in the cards because she could never be as important to him as climbing. In fact, new in the relationship, he falls twice and injures himself badly. Is she the ultimate cause? How she factors into things is exciting and how he handles it, what she’s willing to go through for love and if he can give enough of himself for love is compelling to watch. This is everything you’d want out of a documentary and then some. See ‘Free Solo.’ It’s an adrenaline rush. If you don’t catch it at the theatre, watch it at home but watch it on a big screen. You’re going to enjoy this documentary no matter the platform you choose to see it but there’s no replacing the feeling you get from viewing it at the theatre.

 

*SHOWING IN PHOENIX AT HARKINS SHEA 14

The Old Man and the Gun Movie Review

October 5, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by

‘The Old Man and the Gun’ is one of the most curious films of 2018, so far, that’s for certain. I’m not saying I disliked it but it’ll take some maneuvering to describe just what it was I liked about it. You’ll see what I mean by that when you see it and I recommend that you do. The way the story is told is incredible. It’s set in the 80’s just as the country was coming out of the 70’s with its long hair and darker colors but before florescent clothing and the mullet hairstyle hits. The country is open to change but isn’t quite there yet. To structure the film properly, Director David Lowery used all the tools he could, such as a grainy, VHS quality look to the picture, its comfortably casual canter, it’s pitch and vernacular appropriate for the time and as I mentioned, the drab color scheme everywhere. He doesn’t miss a thing. What’s particularly special is this… to make it feel even more real Lowery uses clips of Redford from films of his past. Very clever.

Lowery designs his films in such a way that you get deeply involved in the characters and take the utmost interest in their survival and success; no matter what it is their entangled in; good or bad. Honestly, I thought his film ‘A Ghost Story’ was one of the best and most overlooked films of 2017. Like ‘A Ghost Story,’ people may not appreciate ‘The Old Man and the Gun’ or see the brilliance right away but given the talent involved, I do hope you overlook any criticisms and view it despite anything you hear. It’s different but there’s nothing wrong with different. In fact, it’s refreshing.

 

Redford plays Forrest Tucker who has spent most of his life in and out of trouble. He’s been in prison and has escaped over fifteen times for which he has become famous. He even escaped from San Quentin. Did I mention this was based on a TRUE story?! So, we meet him, learn of his criminal activity and then move directly into discovering who he is on the inside. He meets Jewel (Spacek) and is smitten with her right off the bat. He tells her who he is and what he does, but she doesn’t believe him. No one would be honest about a thing like that, right? He’s an elderly, seemingly trustworthy fellow and is very kind so she warms to him as they sit in a café getting to know one another. This is what’s so exceptional about Lowery ’s technique. He makes us aware of the two-sided nature of Forrest that even Forrest isn’t cognizant of. You, as does Jewel, immediately like his gentle personality.

As you watch, you see that one side of him just wants to do what it’s told it can’t do. This is what he and his friends have been doing for years… robbing banks. He’s the gangs’ guy who nonchalantly strolls in, tells the bank manager or the teller that he’ll need their money and he exits with no fuss. He always keeps everyone calm, doesn’t bring attention to himself by smiling, being polite, hurting no one and then he leaves.

He and the audience are aware that perhaps his age has brought him to a moment in time where he’s finally conflicted with this side of him. Maybe it’s time to stop running and settle down?

 

Detective John Hunt (Affleck) knows of Forrest after he and his son happen to be inside one of the banks he robs. He makes a personal commitment to himself to bring this thieving gang of old-timers to justice. The character of John Hunt isn’t all that impactful at first but toward the end of the film, you realize how important he was in the grand scheme of things. As his search widens, he gets to know Forrest more and gets to respect the man he was and who he’s become.

I told you this would be a bit difficult to analyze for you but let me finish with this. It’s short, it’s a fascinating mix between comedy and drama and the cast is spectacular. It opens this weekend. Go see it. I can’t think of one reason for you not to.

A Star Is Born Movie Review

October 5, 2018 (updated October 4, 2018) Published by

“A Star is Born” was first created in Hollywood in 1937, and then remade in 1954 and again in 1976. So, while this current release is not ‘new’ in that sense, it is a quite respectable addition to the prior versions. This is the story of an alcoholic major star meeting an unknown talent and bringing her talent into the world. Then he watches her flourish, even while his popularity sinks — it is typical melodrama boiler-plate material. That is, unless you have some very high-profile stars play in the main roles and have an incredibly talented director and musical talent. Check off all those boxes for this one!

Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) is the real thing, being a well-loved singer/songwriter with a country background and a huge following. His fans are not privy to his heavy drinking habits, and his difficult issues with hearing loss. His half-brother Bobby (Sam Elliott) is his manager and he knows all of Jackson’s faults. But he steers him in the right direction, so he can keep up a good front. After a late-night concert, Jackson is being driven to a hotel, but he decides to stop for quick one. He happens into a bar where a young woman named Ally (Lady Gaga) is performing a soulful song. He sticks around and takes Ally with him, while they go to different bars. Ally is discovered to be a songwriter as well as being a damn good singer.

Jackson sends a car out to get Ally in the next few days at her house. Her father Lorenzo (Andrew Dice Clay) is thrilled that Jackson Maine has taken a shine to his daughter. She goes to meet Jackson at a concert. He had taken her song that she played for him on that first night and made an arrangement for his band. He insists that Ally come out on stage to sing it with him. She resists at first, but when he finally does, the audience is ecstatic. Ally becomes a major name overnight, and Jackson and she both begin to tour together. They create beautiful music, both onstage — and in the bedroom.

 

Bobby gets upset at Jackson for not taking the music seriously, not using his hearing aids and for using prescription drugs with his alcohol. He quits as his manager, and he wants Jackson to sober up and become a man. Jackson still has enough money and talent to do what he wants to do, even if what he wants becomes self-destructive. Ally sees a big part of this, but she believes that Jackson will settle down and get himself right. But she also meets a big music producer named Rez (Rafi Gavron) who wants to make Ally into a superstar. This involves more elaborate dance numbers in concerts, and changing her hair color for various tours. Ally is unsure, but Jackson says it is all good, so she starts to become a huge star.

An older retired musician named Noodles (Dave Chappelle) is Jackson’s friend. He convinces Jackson to propose to Ally. They are married and there are various tours and recording sessions that follow. Jackson spends more time at his house, while Ally is away touring. He dunks himself deeper into the bottle, rather than making himself useful and more productive. His star begins to quickly fade, as stories of missed concert dates and awkward behavior in public. Rez, Ally’s manager and guru, thinks that she needs to dump Jackson, before he brings her down. Bobby meets up with Jackson, and also tries to convince Jackson that the bottle will take him to his grave, just like it did to their father.

Everything is going right for Ally, and her debut album is being honored at the Grammys. Jackson is to be there for a tribute song, but they take away his voice. The producers want him to play guitar, but not sing the song. Disheartened, Jackson drinks more than usual. His actions are seen in front of a national audience, and he totally humiliates himself. But it is harder on Ally. Jackson promises to dry out and become a true believer for Ally’s Army. But he remains on a destructive path, and he cannot pull himself out of a tragic downward spiral.

This movie bears the stamp of Bradley Cooper all over it. He stars as Jackson, but is also directed and co-wrote the movie. It is a complete work of passion for Cooper, and his portrayal in this movie proves it. He transforms himself into a realistic hard-drinking, gruff-throated singer. His vocal quality resembles the voice of his co-star Sam Elliott. Elliot is also wonderful to watch in the handful of scenes that he is in. But Cooper is a rare talent to be so effective in all those different areas.

 

Lady Gaga is also good in playing Ally. There are several events that somewhat mimic her real rise to stardom. But in all truth, Gaga is a superstar vocalist performer, one that is now performing ‘acting’. But most of the acting is playing a fictional version of her real self. Bradley Cooper changed himself to become a singer, but Lady Gaga is a singer who is acting at being a singer.

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga star in a profound yet tragic love affair. Hope there’s no ‘Bad Romance’!

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