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Finding Your Feet Movie Review

March 30, 2018 (updated March 30, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Though the older crowd is the obvious target audience for a film like this, it can be and will be enjoyed by anyone who watches it, no matter what age the moviegoer happens to be. Richard Loncraine’s (The Missionary, Richard III, Band of Brothers) Finding Your Feet is an amusing, romantic comedy and a sweet and touching tale of two sisters reuniting after many years apart.

The reunion comes due to the fact that the younger of the two sisters, Sandra, played remarkably well by Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter, Shakespeare in Love, Vera Drake), leaves her husband, Mike (Sessions), when she catches him cheating on her with, Pamela (Lawrence), a woman Sandra thought was a friend of hers. This revelation happens when she sees them at an inopportune time at a party she and Mike are throwing for his retirement. She not only sees them kissing but then learns it has been going on for five years. It’s rather difficult to watch her be humiliated even though our first introduction to Sandra is to find her rather stuffy.

Unable to trust or stay with him, she packs her bags and heads to the only place she knows she’ll be safe, the doorstep of Bif (Imrie), her very liberal and independent-minded older sister. Actress Celia Imrie, who was also in Bridget Jones’s Baby, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Nanny McPhee, was outstanding in this part. The two actresses were believable as sisters in their authentic performances and their commitment to the roles. It was easy to like them and root for them.

It isn’t long before Bif, so named because as a little girl, Sandra couldn’t say Elizabeth, is trying to play matchmaker. Her friend Charlie (Spall) might be the perfect match for Sandra. Charlie, who lives on a houseboat after selling his home to pay for the care his ailing wife, Lilly (Sian Thomas), receives, is lonely, interesting and interested. Lilly is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, something he doesn’t share with Sandra who, after what she recently went through, wouldn’t ever want to be the other woman. Bif, Sandra, Charlie and his widowed friend Ted (Hayman), dance away the blues at a dance class Sandra can’t help but get involved in. A lot of the humor in the film comes from this class, such as a line from actress Joanna Lumley who plays their friend, Jackie. She shares with the group that she and her husband broke up over religious difference, ‘He thought he was God. I didn’t.’ Even though she’s still bitter, it’s pleasant watching the members of the dance troupe accept Sandra and for Bif to observe her slowly become more like the person she remembered her sister was before marrying the man who killed her dreams. Sandra gave her younger years to what Mike wanted to be and do and forgot who she was in the process. Bif is now tasked with bringing her back to life.

It is a tale that’s been told before but not quite in this fashion. With that said, you can see everything coming a mile away but with this cast and with the struggles the characters face, Loncraine manages to keep things fresh enough for you to stay fascinated in the story and you don’t much mind the predictable moments. The film is littered with the occasional character in a circumstance that’s heartbreaking. These situations work as well as the comedy does and when the dance troupe starts a flash mob and ends up going on a trip to Rome because of it, you’re overjoyed that Sandra has finally gotten the message that it’s time she ‘went for it.’ This is a feel-good piece, the pace is good, the dancing is believable and quite entertaining and there’s also a wonderful soundtrack that takes you through the entire film. If you’re enjoying it, it continues through the end credits with the Elkie Brooks’ song Running to the Future. I recommend. Enjoy.

Movie Website: www.findingyourfeetthemovie.com/

Social Pages: Facebook: /www.facebook.com/FindingYourFeetMovie/

#FindingYourFeet

Ready Player One Movie Review

March 29, 2018 (updated March 28, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be. Perhaps that could be the motto of “Ready Player One”, the new movie from Steven Spielberg. Based on a popular book by Ernest Cline (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zak Penn), it dystopian look at not-too-distant future where most everyone is fixated on the past. In the extreme split between rich and dirt-poor, the greater population lives for the ‘OASIS’. It is an online virtual world of fantasy, dreams and hope for better things. The OASIS has a strange fascination for everything from the 1980’s. There is an evil corporation wanting to take over the OASIS and make just another profit center. But there are some underdog game fanatics who want to see the evil defeated and the OASIS world made safe for humanity, IRL (In Real Life).

IRL Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) is known as Parzival in the OASIS. He has a meager existence for real, living with a poor aunt and her string of abusive boyfriends. They live in ‘The Stacks’ which is a high-rise trailer park of sorts. Wade is more at ease in the OASIS, because of his comprehensive knowledge of the creator of the OASIS, James Halliday (Mark Rylance). Halliday was a cross between Willy Wonka and Steve Jobs, because his intellect was far above his social skills. Before he died, Halliday told the world that the OASIS was up for grabs, due to an elaborate Easter Egg hunt game that he devised to test each person who attempted to compete. The person who can complete the Quest will be the owner and guardian of the OASIS, and one rich dude!

The evil corporation is called IOI and it is led by Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), a weasel of a CEO who wants to win the Quest and take over the OASIS. He has plans to charge fees and sell tons of ads, and that is something Halliday would never permit. But when Parzival gets some keen insights on Halliday that gives him an advantage to the get the first Key. There are three Keys that must be found before the OASIS Easter Egg will be passed on to the winner. Parzival meets a very talented fellow Gunter (egG hUNTER) named Art3mis (Olivia Cooke). She has many good skills to use in hunting the Egg. Parzival also has a long-time OASIS friend named Aech (Lena Waithe) who looks like a huge hunky dude in OASIS (but IRL, Aech is named Helen). Aech is wonder in the tech repair department, and Art3mis (IRL, she is Samantha Cook) is now part of the ongoing Quest.

An impossible-to-win road race through the virtual streets of New York leads to the first Key. But Parzival finds Halliday’s special secret route designed to win the race. The entire main group gets a chance to score the first level of the Quest puzzle. This then leads to a new challenge, having to do with the movie “The Shining”. Parzival and Art3mis learn more about James Halliday and his early partner, named Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg), by watching the videos stored at the Halliday Research Center. The facility is led by The Curator, who is so impressed with Parzival’s knowledge that he gives the Gunter a special coin (that will come in handy later on). Art3mis gets to the final round in “The Shining” and she gets the next Key. Now the group has only one more to collect…

The final Key is hidden on a virtual place called Planet Doom. But evil IOI and Sorrento has paid a weird bounty hunter named i-Rok (T. J. Miller) to get a special Artifact that can freeze out any other players from getting in. There is a fortress on that Planet Doom that is surrounded by the goon squads of IOI. Sorrento and i-Rok start up the Artifact (a special object with special powers) that creates a force field to protect the IOI people and keep out Parzival and his buddies. But when Parzival calls upon all the (virtual) people in the OASIS to come to his aid, he is amazed to see the support that swoops in to help them. Sorrento has run IOI with evil intentions, and there are many people willing to come to assist Parzival reach his goal.

So in the end, the final Key will be found, and the Oasis Easter Egg will be presented. But to whom will it go? Some evil corporation slug, who would want to take the OASIS system and turn it into a costly profit palace only for the rich and famous? Or will it go to some ragtag group of lovable underdogs, who can take the wealth and treasure of the OASIS and make it even more accessible and useful? Well, do ya even have to think about it? The love and affection that Halliday put into the OASIS can be made to multiply and grow, but only in the hands of the right people. That’s the way a true Spielberg movie is gonna end…

The acting is fabulous all around. Ben Mendelsohn plays the evil slimeball perhaps a bit too campy, but he is great. Mark Rylance plays Halliday as shy and socially awkward mega-genius that reminded me of Rick Moranis from “Ghostbusters”. The music score is done by Alan Silvestri, who created a sweeping and majestic sound that does John Williams proud.

Steven Spielberg has taken many an audience on a magical Quest of his own for many other movies that he directed. “Ready Player One” is no slouch in that category of being magical. It is a visual masterpiece and the story takes you into worlds that are powered by pure imagination. Except for the tad bit overlong run time, the movie is modern classic. Perhaps the ‘real life’ segments are a bit flat and not as exciting as parts inside the OASIS. But that seems by design, to show you how much more life could have to offer.

Do yourself a favor, and see this movie. Do yourself an even bigger favor, and see this movie on the biggest screen available. And if you want to double the size of that favor, see this movie at an IMAX theater. It will not disappoint you. And you can even pay the extra for a 3-D showing, and you will get even a bigger and more immersive treat.

All you have to do is be “Ready”…

THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS Trailer

March 27, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett star in The House with a Clock in Its Walls, from Amblin Entertainment. The magical adventure tells the spine-tingling tale of 10-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town’s sleepy façade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.

Based on the beloved children’s classic written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is directed by master frightener Eli Roth and written by Eric Kripke (creator of TV’s Supernatural). Co-starring Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vanessa Anne Williams, Lorenza Izzo and Sunny Suljic, it is produced by Mythology Entertainment’s Brad Fischer (Shutter Island) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), as well as Kripke.

Executive produced by William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg, Laeta Kalogridis and Mark McNair, The House with a Clock in Its Walls will be released by Universal Pictures. www.housewithaclock.com

Genre: Adventure

Cast: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic and Kyle MacLachlan

Directed by: Eli Roth

Writer: Eric Kripke

Based on the Novel by: John Bellairs

Produced by: Brad Fischer, James Vanderbilt, Eric Kripke

Executive Producers: William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg, Laeta Kalogridis, Mark McNair

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In Theaters September 21

http://www.fandango.com

Journey’s End Movie Review

March 27, 2018 (updated March 27, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Journey’s End is an incredibly well-done war film. It’s set in the spring of 1918 during the fourth year of WWI. We’re transported to the battle of Saint-Quentin in northern France, where a very young soldier, Raleigh (Butterfield), is in the trenches about to fight for the first time. Each company of soldiers is required to spend six days a month on the front-line and it’s his turn.
The set is brilliant and looks authentic, giving you the exact feeling of what a WWI trench warfare must have felt like.
As the camera moves through the men, you get a strong feeling of claustrophobia. To manage this feeling, director Saul Dibb keeps the camera focused closely on the faces of the soldiers, allowing you to sense all expressions clearly. There’s no way you’ll mistake a feeling of fear for one of contentment or bravery.

You can’t help but think of what it would have been like back then not only being on the front-line but being stuck in the ground for so such long periods of time, waiting for the enemy, waiting to die. Young Raleigh is stationed with a friend from back home, Stanhope (Claflin), who happens also to be captain. Stanhope isn’t exactly handling things well and knowing the sitting ducks that they are, gets through the day by drinking as much whiskey as he can get his hands on.
These characters will keep you engaged in the film and the actors playing them must have been well versed enough in the war to visually and audibly bring the attention to detail Dibb needed to pull empathy and pity for their circumstances from his audience.

We’re not in battle much, but when we do get there, you’ve gotten to know them and care for them so much so that you’re hoping they return. You dread the possible moment a bullet finds Raleigh. The journey Dibb takes you on is from different perspectives than most and it’s those differences that you’ll celebrate.

It was originally a play written by former British officer R.C. Sherriff. His story was simply about life in the trenches during WWI and you’d think it couldn’t make a thought-provoking yarn but with the characters struggles, their trying to get in the last smoke before they die and the battle itself, Journey’s End, though a smaller film than others like it, is one of the better war pictures I’ve seen. There are a few slow parts but don’t worry… no matter what’s going on in the film you’ll be in a constant state of wondering what’s going to happen next. This helps make Journey’s End memorable, which it most certainly is.

Website:http://www.journeysendthefilm.com

Facebook:www.facebook.com/gooddeedentertainment/ @GoodDeedEnterainment

Twitter: https://twitter.com/journeysend2017 @JourneysEnd2017

Isle of Dogs Movie Review

March 25, 2018 (updated March 25, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

That eclectic director, Wes Anderson, has gone to the dogs! But that’s a good thing, because “Isle of Dogs” is a top pedigree product from Anderson. This stop-action animation was created in the same manner as his prior “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, and now this movie deserves the same recognition. This could be the next Best Animated Feature at next year’s Oscar program, because this movie is Man’s Next Best Friend. It is a visual delight and it is filled with a huge kennel of top talent.

“Isle of Dogs” is set in a near-future Japan, where the city of Megasaki is led by a grouchy old politition Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura). He dislikes dogs so much that when an outbreak of ‘snout flu’ make the canines less than desirable, he banishes them all out to Trash Island. He starts with the loyal protector dog named Spots (Liev Schreiber). Spots is the canine companion and guardian to the Mayor’s young ward, Atari (Koyu Rankin). The young Atari knows that the Mayor is up to something, when all the dogs in the city get rounded up and exiled out to the lonely island of garbage.

There are several alpha dogs that run in an Alpha Pack on the island. Starting with Rex (Edward Norton) who thinks he is the leader, and King (Bob Balaban) who was in a series of commercials, along with Boss (Bill Murray) who used to be a little league mascot, and finally Duke (Jeff Goldblum) who just hangs around spreading gossip. These dogs are sometimes joined by Chief (Bryan Cranston) who is street-smart stray, and never wants to be part of the human world again.

Atari is able to steal a small plane and fly to Trash Island, so he can start the quest to find Spots. The Alpha Pack finds Atari and they want to help him. It is difficult, because Atari speaks nothing by Japanese, and the dogs bark only in English. Rex comes up with a plan, time and time again, only to be countered by Chief. Chief always comes up with a more sensible idea, but he wants nothing to do with Atari. Back in the main city, there is a brilliant scientist who is developing a cure for the snout flu. And there is a foreign exchange study named Tracy (Greta Gerwig) who supports Atari and the dogs.

Atari and the Alpha Pack go on a search for Spots, and Atari grows closer to Chief along the way. Chief wants nothing of the sort, but he slowly sees that a boy’s love for Spots is real. They meet many other dogs in the wild of the island. There is Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson) who was a show dog in her prior life. There is Jupiter (F. Murray Abraham) and Oracle (Tilda Swinton), two dogs in charge of a different section of the island. Each of them has found a way to cope with being banished from Megasaki. But each one would like nothing better to be back with his or her original owner.

Mayor Kobayashi becomes more fanatical in his hatred for dogs, and he begins plans for an extermination. The dogs begin an uprising and a resistance to the unyielding power of the Mayor. The Office of the Mayor has a real-time translator (Frances McDormand) who is constantly catching all of the interested parties up on the latest development. There is also a deep-voiced Narrator (Courtney B. Vance) who is very quick to explain the finer points of the Japanese local government and the various geological features of Trash Island.

But the real beauty of the movie is in the visual displays of the scenes. Each frame is hand-crafted and manipulated with precision to show stop-action puppet movement. Each character is delightfully illustrated, more than any CGI created animated cartoon could ever be. There is an aspect that looks and feels real, and that is something beyond even the best Disney animated movie. This movie can be compared to Ws Anderson’s other stop-action film “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. But that one was based on a well-known children’s book, and “Isle of Dogs” is basically all Wes Anderson.

When you see “Isle of Dogs”, you will know that Wes Anderson was not barking up the wrong tree…

Opens March 28th – in Phoenix – exclusive at Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square

Flower Movie Review

March 24, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

In today’s climate with the Me Too and Time’s Up movements comes a real daisy of a story. Flower is fresh and unexpectedly bold entertainment. It opens by telling us how high school student Erica (Deutch) and her friends make extra spending money. Not wanting to give too much away, I’ll let you know that it’s by getting middle-aged men in precarious situations and extorting cash from them when the moment’s right. Picking the most vulnerable, the young women know the men won’t resist them nor will their demands for cash be denied. Erica, the prettiest of the girls and the most flirtatious, takes on the task of performing oral sex on older men but being very open sexually she doesn’t see it as a burden.

As you get to know Erica you’re shocked by her, but her personality isn’t off-putting in the least. She’s a product of a broken home who believes she’s loved by a father who’s in prison and who desperately wants the opposite of what her mother is currently looking for. Her mother, played by the extremely qualified Kathryn Hahn, smiles and pretends to enjoy being around someone who doesn’t bring her joy, so that’ she’s not alone and Erica desperately doesn’t want that for herself. She vows her life will not end up like her mothers but while looking for fault in others, Erica doesn’t see those within herself. Her mother’s fiancé, Bob (Heidecker), has a son named Luke (Morgan) who is emotionally unstable due to drugs and a troubled past. When Erica meets Luke, she’s underwhelmed at his looks but is taken aback by the fact that he isn’t overwhelmed by hers. Unable to accept that a man doesn’t see her as a sexual object, she meddles in his business until he opens up to her.

He tells her that he’s filled with anxieties, he’s an overeater and depressed because of something that happened in his past. Luke won’t say who it was but informs her that when he was younger, a teacher sexually abused him. She begins to feel for someone other than herself for the first time which is an awakening of sorts. She grows attached to her soon to be stepbrother and vows to help him set things straight. ‘Shaking down a child molester is our moral obligation.’ However, when she finds out who the teacher is and implements her plan of attack, everything beings to go wrong.
The end of the film is a bit of a letdown but overall, the movie is engaging and the actors do a fantastic job of keeping you sympathetic to their plight; supportive of the storyline.

Watch Flower at a theatre near you. It’s a good indie film with a surprising twist at the end.
If in Phoenix, enjoy this at HARKINS CAMELVIEW AT FASHION SQUARE today.

Pacific Rim Uprising Movie Review

March 23, 2018 (updated March 22, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

The movie “Pacific Rim Uprising” is a sequel to “Pacific Rim” from a few years back. In the “Rim” world, the giant monsters (called ‘kaiju’) were defeated by the humans controlling giant robots (called ‘jaegers’). It was an excuse to see enormous good guy robots lay the smack down on gigantic evil beasts in order to save the world. After the world was saved, it took ten years (in movie time) to get back to the same ‘Rock-en Sock-em’ battle mode. in “Uprising” there is a new threat, and the world is ready to be saved again. This is a Science-Fiction Action movie that relies a lot more on the Action and the Fiction than it does on the Science.

Ten years ago, a brave jaeger pilot and commander named Stacker Pentecost declared they were “canceling the apocalypse!”. They did this by fighting and defeating the kaiju. But he died in the effort and he left behind his son Jake (John Boyega) and his adopted Japanese daughter Mako (Rinko Kikuchi). Mako was a famous jaeger pilot back in the war. Back then, young Jake was starting in the Jaeger Training program until he was kicked out. But after a street brawl instigated by an even younger Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), who is a street-wise orphan and illegal jaeger scrapper, they both get (forced) into the school. There Jake meets his old partner-pilot Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), who wants Jake to take the training seriously this time.

There are new threats that arise, and a Chinese industrial tycoon wants to replace all human-controlled jaegers with remote-controlled drones. There is a special vote to be held in Sydney, but an unknown jaeger attacks the city and kills Mako. She was able to get out a coded message in time. The kaiju may be returning, and this time, they are getting help. There are two scientists (also from in the first movie) named Dr. Newt Geiszler (Charlie Day) and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman). Newt now works for the huge Chinese company making the drones. Gottlieb is still with the team that supports the jaeger pilots.

After a sneak attack by the drones, who are secretly controlled by kaiju brains, only the Trainee Cadets are all that is left. Like I said, this movie relies very little on the Science from Science-Fiction. Trainee Cadets include Amara plus a handful of other ethnically-diverse young jaeger pilots. They are led into battle by Jake and Lambert, who have the most powerful jaeger named Gipsy Avenger. Some of the other jaeger names are Bracer Phoenix, Guardian Bravo, Titan Redeemer, and Saber Athena. These sound more like Axe Body Wash scents, but oh well…

But how are the evil kaiju still on the attack after ten years, and who is helping them to organize a new assault on humanity? I am not at liberty to say, but the culprit might say that It’s Always Sunny in Tokyo City. By the way, the skyscrapers in Tokyo take a beating from the jaeger vs. kaiju wrestling match. The whole place seems to be pretty much gets leveled, as the kaiju all combine into one super-sized monster. The thing is heading to Mt. Fuji, and the thing is not after film or apples.

The acting is relatable to the story-line, it is not fantastic, but there are a couple of standouts. John Boyega has a ton of charm and charisma, and he will not be outdone by the same attributes in Scott Eastwood. Cailee Spaeny is OK in a role that tries to make her do (and know) too much. The snide little comments from Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann make him the best one to root for.

There is plenty of action, and it all holds together really well. That is unlike the mess that is any “Transformers” movie. The pacing is brisk and it moves from location to location with a focused goal. It does not let any fluff take over the story. You know, stuff like, a deep back-story for any character, any accurate scientific theories, any meaningful dialogue, and especially no mushy romance scenes.

To sum it up:

If you like this sort of thing, then you will sort-of like this thing…

Love, Simon Movie Review

March 16, 2018 (updated March 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

‘Love, Simon’ is a touching story about a high school student named Simon (Robinson). He has a secret that he has kept from everyone in his life. That secret is that hes never told his family or friends that he’s gay. The film, in a way, encourages those who haven’t, to do the same. Why do I say that? Because it shines a light on how much his friends love him and how much support his family would give him. There’s no way he doesn’t know this, yet he’s still terrified to tell anyone. The reason for that is he’s focusing only on those people who wouldn’t approve, instead of those who love him enough not to care who he loves.

It’s also a coming of age story, like the many who have come before it, but there’s something special here. If you can get past the bad jokes, some which are set up, so the audience will feel for Simon, some just cheesy and ineffective, you’ll truly enjoy the film. After those are out of the way, about halfway through, ‘Love, Simon’ finds its own voice instead of trying to be a crazy, teenage romp. It’s an unusual movie with a terribly important subject and told in a brave and unique way but not until later in the film, when the filmmakers decide they’re not trying to be ‘Revenge of the Nerds’, ‘Sixteen Candle’s,’ or your basic romantic comedy, will you feel that it is. Had they stayed away from the horrible character of the principal (Hale), it might not have been judged so harshly but at times it was so over the top, especially with him, that I can’t help mention how mediocre it could be at times. To break the vibe of faculty trying too hard to fit in comes the drama teacher, Ms. Albright, played by Natasha Rothwell. She was hysterical and it’s her class that not only gives Simon the first true place he can feel himself but gives the film its first real laughs, as well.

In the end, all Simon wants is to be accepted and that makes the film relatable. Most of us, at one point or another in our lives, have felt that very same way. The circumstances may have been different but being acknowledged as part of a pack has been ingrained in us. Simon is no different. The scenes primarily take place in his high school so the movie will have a younger audience who understands the roles of electronics and the complications of having them in their lives.

In the library, Simon begins an email exchange with someone who wishes to remain anonymous, as does Simon. This person calls himself ‘Blue.’ After these emails begin, Simon desires more and more to meet him and tell the world that he loves him. What ends up happening is that Simon spends the rest of the film trying to figure out who Blue is. They do a great job of hiding this from you!

Simon struggles with his own way of coming out to everyone but, unlike Blue, doesn’t get to decide the time, someone chooses it for him. An all-student online chat has been created where the students do and say horrible things about one another and, in a scenario that’s hard to believe would happen, Simon’s announcement is made here. Blue sees this and, afraid the same thing will happen to him, decides to step away.

Essentially, we’ve seen this movie before, just not with two young men. But, as I’ve mentioned, when ‘Love, Simon’ shifts from comedy gear to a more serious tone, the movie stops trying to imitate and becomes a special piece to witness. What they’ve done well, works to close the film and has you leaving with a sense of fulfillment. It’s dramatic and emotional and wins you over because the rom-com formula doesn’t work and that’s not hard to see but you will enjoy it for what it is.

LOVE, SIMON Official Channels

Website: LoveSimonMovie.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoveSimonMovie/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lovesimonmovie?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovesimonmovie/

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7 Days in Entebbe Movie Review

March 16, 2018 (updated March 12, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

In July 1976 almost all people around the world were enjoying the upcoming U.S.A. Bicentennial celebrations. Except a handful who happened to be aboard an Air France jet that was hijacked in Athens. The jet left Israel and was taken over by Palestinian extremists and two German revolutionaries. The plane finally found safe passage into Uganda and landed in Entebbe. That country was led by a dictator named Idi Amain, and he gave the hijackers a place to stay. The Israeli government was backed into a corner, and something had to be done.

The hijackers were from split between Palestinians wanting a homeland, and the Germans, who had no other revolts left to join. The German authorities had shut down the German terror cells, and these two headed off to hang out with the others. Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilfried Böse (Daniel Brühl) had no prior experience doing something major like this, so they decided to help the Palastinians. Idi Amain (Nonso Anozie) had no love for the major world powers, so he thought he would shove their nose into the situation. Amin let the hijackers use the airport in Entebee as a place to conduct negotiations, or perhaps executions. Air France was helpless to end the stand-off, so it left it up to the Israelis.

The Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) knew that they could not negotiate. If they gave in, then more planes would be taken and more hostages would be in danger. The Defense Minister was Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) who knew that as things went on, he could persuade Rabin to eventually take military action. Not action that would confront Uganda directly, but a stealth operation that could get done under cover of darkness to free the passengers. This would not be an easy mission, but Peres believed that it needed to be done.

Böse was becoming more discouraged by the actions of the Palestinians. They had no respect for any of the hostages, and even less for those who were Jewish. Kuhlmann had turned the corner in her sanity and was popping more and more drugs to stay awake. She would lose touch with reality every now and then, but she was a brutal soldier in the fight. The crew of the Air France flight acted bravely and took special care to see that all the passengers were treated OK. But they had no control over anything. They could only hope for some type of rescue.

That rescue did come, by the way. There can be no spoilers about this, because it all happened more than 40 years ago! Amin’s forces helped to guard the old terminal where the hostages were held. But when the Israeli Special Forces arrived, the rescue operation would take down many of the Ugandan forces. Then they focused on the hijackers, and all of them were eliminated. The initial group of 248 taken hostage was then down to 94 by the time the rescue team arrived. Of those, only three people died in the fight, plus one Israeli soldier. The soldier killed was named Netanyahu. His younger brother went on to become the current Prime Minister of Israel.

For some reason this movie was made now, after several other films have already been made about the same events. This movie is over 40 years after the incident, so in does not reflect any breaking or recent news. The director, José Padilha, does a weird thing in the final act by cutting between the hostage rescue and a modern jazz dance recital. Yes, that does sound odd, but the actual depiction is even stranger. Perhaps it means that the soldiers are fighting for the right of dancers to make jazz hands? Don’t know…

The biggest actors of note are Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike. But there is something creepy about humanizing a couple of leftist anarchists who help hijack a plane. They are portrayed as wanting to make a big difference in the world. But doing that by holding hostages and threatening to kill them might not win any arguments. All the Palestinians portrayed as mean and belligerent. Idi Amin is mostly a joke character.

If any portrayal is positive, it is in the way that the Israeli government finally made the gutsy decision to make the rescue attempt. The entire thing was fraught with risk, and the fact that they made it out with as such a small number of causalities is amazing. In short,

Watching “7 Days in Entebbe” makes one weak…

Tomb Raider Movie Review

March 15, 2018 (updated March 15, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Better Title: Indiana Croft and the Raiders of Tomb

Lara Croft is the main character from a video game ‘Tomb Raider’. She shares many things in common with Indiana Jones. Both are adventurous treasure seekers, who travel all about the globe. Both have fathers who also were adventurous treasure seekers and both are handy with person weapon. With Indiana, it is his bullwhip; for Croft, she uses a bow and arrow. They fight evil people who are looking to harm the earth and its people. Indiana fights Nazis, and Croft faces off against an evil organization called Trinity.

Lara (Alicia Vikander) is the daughter of a successful London businessman named Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West). But for seven years, he has been missing and presumed dead. Lara will not accept that fact. The entire holdings of the Croft empire would be in her control, if she would only sign the papers that officially declare her Dad is dead. Her guardian Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas) is waiting still for Lara to come to her senses. But instead Lara has found a key hidden by her Dad before he left on a journey many years ago. This leads her to a secret hideaway that her Dad had created, and she learns the reasons he left.

She makes her way to retrace her Dad’s steps by going to Hong Kong and find the ship he last sailed on. She finds the ship, and the ship’s captain is the son of the man that took her Dad years ago. Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) has given up on the past, because he lost his dad at the same time. But Lara convinces Lu Ren to take her to an unknown island where her father was headed. Perhaps they can both find out what happened to both their parents. This island is supposed to hold the tomb of an ancient Queen of Japan.

But a bad storm shipwrecks the two of them on a reef, and they are separated. Lara swims to the island, but is taken hostage by the mysterious group who is also on the island searching for the Queen’s tomb. This group is led by Vogel (Walton Goggins), and he is as ruthless as his thugs. Lu Ren is also there, physically forced into hard labor. Many other lost souls are also being forced to work against their will. The entire focus is to find the tomb, and that is what brought Richard Croft there to search years ago. Vogel claims to have killed Lara’s dad years ago.

But Richard Croft is still alive on the island, and soon he meets up with Lara. But they are captured by Vogel again and they find their way into the tomb. That is when the real Indiana Jones stuff stars to happen. Vogel is working for Trinity, the shadowy evil group who wants to use the special supernatural power of the ancient Queen of Japan for some evil purpose. Richard has pledged his life to stop it, and Lara is there to make sure that something works out right. But there are Indiana Jones-type life-or-death bobby traps to puzzle out. There are ‘National Treasure’ type riddles to figure out.

A Video game based movie is pretty similar to a Comic book based movie. You go into it knowing that it is a bit removed from reality. But with “Tomb Raider”, the writing and direction are trying to make it part of the real world. It could have used director Roar Uthaug playing it with a few winks and nods to the audience. But it strives for a Shakespeare level of literary value that just is not there. It is a very well-done popcorn matinee type movie. Even the soundtrack swells and drumbeats you into how you should feel about a scene.

Alicia Vikander knows that this is less than Oscar worthy material, but she puts in a very physical and high-value performance. Walton Goggins is great yet unsettling as he plays a very bad man, slowly going nuts on that island. Dominic West is decent and he gets some heroics in the end. Daniel Wu is OK and he gets a few good lines. Kristin Scott Thomas plays a very minor role overall, and then the plot attempts to ‘Keyser Söze’ her character, with does not work out well.

Has this been done before? Yes, of course. Has it been done better? Yes, but there is a certain charm to Vikander and her attempt to turn Lara Croft into a more brainy, and not quite as busty, woman adventurer. She handles the roles well, but the movie does not live up to what it could have been.

Category: Reviews