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.

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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.

Submission Movie Review

March 12, 2018 (updated March 14, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Stanley Tucci plays, Ted Swensen, a moderately famous professor of literature in ‘Submission.’ Due to having sold one somewhat lucrative novel and being touted, for a moment, ‘the writer to watch,’ he teaches the subject but isn’t necessarily where he wants to be. On occasion, he gets some special attention from students, fans of his work, he might not otherwise have received and smiles at the thought. However, after the failure of being able to write a follow-up book, he realizes that things might not ever be better than it is now. Wanting more than what his station can provide, he gets himself into a mess when an opportunity to feel on top again presents itself. It comes in the form of the adoration of a young student. Enjoying the praise and attention, his ego or inner nature doesn’t see the path he is being led down, only where the road may ultimately lead. I’ll give you a hint… he’s on a course to self-destruction.

Richard Levine’s adaptation of the Francine Prose novel, ‘Blue Angel’ is a fascinating, dramatic narrative about the glaringly oblivious, powerful male archetype being chewed up and swallowed by a seemingly sympathetic, innocent and doting student, aptly named, Angela. It is divine. The angelic student is presented to us by the wonderfully gifted Addison Timlin, who first starts weaving her web by flattering Ted, telling him how much his book helped her get through her father’s death. Timlin’s Angela is engaging and hypnotizing. Angela is crafty and manipulative and though tender at first, she gets more aggressive, knowing full well when to bring out the big guns.

One day while speaking to him after class, she overwhelms him with the things and people she most admires. She throws out some of her other favorite authors, all names that impress him and help them relate to one another, not to mention, compel him to want to know more. She speaks of her own book and while doing so she makes herself seem vulnerable, cutting herself down whenever possible so that she can gauge his feelings by whether or not he tries to build her back up. She the queen to his pawn in a game he isn’t prepared to play. She soon asks her professor to read the first chapter of her book and asks him to tell her what he thinks of it. Who better to give her an opinion than the wonderful and talented Ted Swensen? After she explains all the reasons he shouldn’t read it, he agrees to make time for it. The book is called ‘Egg’ which turns out to be largely sexual in nature.

We listen to Swensen’s inner dialogue through the beginning of the film, which is fitting to carry the story forward. You might not be a big fan of voice over but it’s humorous and instructive at times and helps endear the audience to his character. However, as we move further along, we don’t hear his thoughts as much, only the chapters he is reading as they now have consumed his every thought, his imagination and have cost him sleep. As his interest in the story intensifies so does his interest in Angela. He believes this young author to be, ‘Quite accomplished,’ and instructs her not to show it to others; to keep is close.

Through different characters and situations, at a dinner party with his loving wife, Sherrie (Sedgwick), and speaking of his student Angela with another professor, Magda (Garofalo), he is given subtle warnings about her and the situation that’s building in general and doesn’t catch a single one. Through these warnings, the audience gets a glimpse of how dangerous having one’s ego stroked to this degree can be. Tension builds, you shake your head at him and though he tries to tell himself he’s only a mentor, maybe even a father figure, it’s not working with you.

This is a great strategy and Tucci is the perfect everyman to associate with. This story is fantastic. We see that the jig is finally up when he reads the line in the book, ‘I alone had the power to make a grown man risk everything.’ This is a brilliant way to finally give Ted an awakening, one of many.

Submission is a pleasure. It’s well written, well shot and the actors were remarkable. It unfolds to reveal two opportunists, one more vicious than the other. I’ll let you decide which one that is. *See it at Harkins Shea 14 tonight!

The Strangers: Prey at Night – Movie Review

March 9, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

If you’ve ever read any of my reviews for horror films, you’ll know I base how frightening the movie was by whether or not I have to leave the light on at bedtime. This is a leave, at least, a nightlight on type of situation. The main reason for that is because if you let the main theme of the film, people out to kill you who won’t stop until they do, sink into your psyche it’s quite distressing and can interrupt one’s plans for a good night’s sleep. The movie played a part it in, as well, of course. It’s a decent horror but it did have its fair amount of eye-rolling scenes, mostly due to things the characters do that no one in their right mind would. If they hadn’t continually done, well, stupid things that make you periodically root for the killers, Dollface, Pin-Up Girl and Man in the Mask, the flick would most likely keep you up all night. The very thought that people would want to kill indiscriminately because they’re bored is terrifying. When asked by one of the characters why she’s doing what she’s doing, Dollface responds, ‘Why not.’

The original movie, The Strangers, written and directed by Bryan Bertino, one of the writers of this film, was unique and more frightening than this but its sequel is filled with just as much blood and as many jump-scares as its predecessor. Dollface and Pin-Up Girl seem to always come out of nowhere to wrangle this family of vacationers right where they want them to be able to torture them with ease. The first film, starring Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, is similar in that they are a married couple who are terrorized at their vacation home by masked strangers. This time, it’s a married couple with two teenage kids, going to spend a vacation at a family members trailer park near a lake. What makes this all more frightening of a thought is where the premise of the screenplay originally came from. The Strangers came to Bertino because of two true events. Those of the Manson family, Tate murders, where several people were killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and also a series of break-ins that happened in Bertino’s neighborhood when he was younger, whereupon a stranger would knock on the door and ask if a particular person was home, just to see if someone was there. If no one was home at the moment, that was the place they hit. Combining these two ideas made it possible to construct a horrifying tale of unwitting victims unable to escape the circumstances they found themselves.

Christina Hendricks (Madmen) plays a mother named Cindy and Martin Henderson (Grey’s Anatomy) plays her husband, Mike, who decide to force their teenagers, Kinsey (Madison) and Luke, played by Bill Pullman’s son Lewis, to take a trip with them to a place where Cindy and Mike, more or less, have their kids to themselves. Well, they do get them to themselves but not for long.

They find that the trailer park is deserted and her uncle isn’t there to greet them so they’ll see them in the morning. It’s peculiar but god forbid anyone listens to the hairs on the back of their necks which are pointing the way out for them. They ignore their gut feelings and because of that decision, their family vacation never gets underway. The terror starts almost the very moment they get there… without a chance to play cards or reconnect. From earlier scenes, you can see that the siblings aren’t close but before long they’re having to save each other. They find themselves wandering alone, in a place they’re not familiar with, without help and no way to get any.

For the most part, it’s cliché (a wounded girl can’t run) and it’s highly predictable (the victims moves toward the problem not away from it) and I just can’t say enough how ridiculous it is that the individuals in this film’s scenarios put themselves in danger more than help themselves out of it. That said, if you like a good, fun horror, you’ll get plenty out of it. There are a lot of jump-scares and the occasional clutch-your-seat scene to make this a worthwhile watch. There was particular care in making sure you heard people struggling to live. That was a plus. Director Johannes Roberts puts you into the action in a scene where Luke is being attacked by Man in the Mask in a pool. We go under the water with him, briefly come up for air only to be yanked back under giving us that feeling of all hope being lost at the same time Luke experiences it. Eerie. I would like Roberts to explain one thing to me, though. Why on earth is Man in the Mask a big fan of Kim Wilde and Air Supply? Perhaps to remind us that he is just a normal guy under there or that he’s a touch on the older side? Whatever the answer, it was odd. So is the film. Watch it anyway but I’d wait for cable.

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Gringo Movie Review

March 9, 2018 (updated March 7, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

The movie “Gringo” finds a way to mix humor into a horrific kidnapping situation. When a timid middle-manager is sent to Mexico to oversee a large corporation laboratory, he gets mistaken for the guy in charge. And when the guy in charge is pulling a fast one on the local drug cartel, then the results might not be so pleasant for that guy. But can the tables be turned on the corporation bosses and the cartel kingpin?

Harold (David Oyelowo) works for that large corporation which manufactures drugs. He is ignorant of many facts around him. His wife Bonnie (Thandie Newton) is having an affair and is going to leave him. His boss Rich (Joel Edgerton) is working side deals with the cartel, and is attempting to cover it up, so he can sell the business to a mega-firm. His partner Elaine (Charlize Theron) is all business, until her trysts with Rich are ending. Then she looks for a way to get even.

Harold goes down to the company lab in Mexico, where a cannabis tablet is being made. When it becomes legal everywhere in the States, then the company will have a gold mine. But Rich has been selling much of the product on the side to the cartel. Harold begins to see where the trail is leading, and he wants out. His wife is leaving him, he is dead broke and the company thinks he is expendable. The cartel wants Harold because they think he is in charge and can make the special tablets.

Harold happens to meet an American girl named Sunny (Amanda Seyfried), who is also in Mexico. Her boyfriend is planning on stealing the tablets and smuggling them back to make drug mule money. Harold is caught between the cartel thugs, and then some amateur thugs, when both try to kidnap him. Rich finally calls his brother Mitch (Sharlto Copley) who an ex-Special Forces guy and can get Harold back home safe. But Harold is not going to trust anyone anymore. Can anyone make it out alive?

“Gringo” takes serious subject and plays it for some laughs. Getting kidnapped in Mexico is not a fun thing. But David Oyelowo plays such a hilarious character that you want to root for the underdog. Joel Edgerton plays a great sleazy businessman in over his head who is courting disaster. Sharlto Copley does a crack-up job with a fairly brief role as Mitch, and he is fun to watch. The rest of cast is also well placed in the roles that they play. Nash Edgerton handles the direction with very few issues, and he keeps the action moving forward at a brisk pace. The action goes from Chicago to Mexico many times, and there are no dull pauses.

The movie takes a pretty good swing at being an action movie with a big dose of comedy. There are many places where it could have been a too dark for comedy, but it pulls it back just in time. The pacing makes it so each scene does not linger too long and become stale. And you even get to enjoy David Oyelowo singing along with “Getting’ Jiggy wit It”. That will warm the heart of any gringo!

A Wrinkle in Time Movie Review

March 7, 2018 (updated March 7, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

This is a story of light overpowering the darkness, good overwhelming evil and love’s triumph over hate. There are some magical moments in the film but a few instances of head-scratching will occur, as well. We are taken on a journey that a young woman, Meg (Reid), must take in order to move forward with her life. Doubting love, unhappy with life and questioning her self-worth most of all, the sweet and happy-go-lucky little girl of the past has lived the last four years in misery and prefers keeping to herself, the only person she can trust. She knows her little brother, the highly intelligent and gifted Charles Wallace, played by an adorable and very into the part, Deric McCabe, loves her. If she’s to believe in love, however, why did her father leave her if he loved her as much as she loved him? The central question eating away at Meg is if he could just walk away, so could anyone else so why get attached?

Its been four years since she last saw her father, Mr. Murry (Pine), a brilliant Nasa scientist who believed you could fold time and move through it. Alone one night, he simply disappeared without a trace. At the time, he and her mother were working on a theory of projecting oneself through the universe with one’s mind. They introduced this idea to a group of scientists who weren’t ready to hear such a thing, not ready to hear that there were no rules to space and time. Her mother, played elegantly by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, a physicist and the more prudent of the two, knew telling them too early about the act of ‘Tessering’, moving from one place to another by closing your eyes, opening your mind and finding the right rhythm or frequency to travel, would not be taken seriously but her husband told them anyway only to be rejected. Not including her in another decision, he works in their lab and vanishes. Unsure if he left because he doesn’t love them anymore, the family is devastated and all work in science is halted… or so they thought. Young Charles Wallace has a secret to share with his big sister and the timing couldn’t be better.

He has been in contact with three divine, ethereal beings, referred to as the Mrs. as their names are (in order of appearance), Mrs. Whatsit (Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Kaling) and the blessed, more powerful, Mrs. Which (Winfrey). They’re colorful, otherworldly souls who are aware of Mr. and Mrs. Murry and their achievements. They inform Meg, Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin (Miller) that they have heard a call from Mr. Murry and that they intend to help the children find him. They also tell them that he may be in danger. The spirits teach a very stubborn Meg that she needs to believe and to open her heart to find the right pitch in order to leap or Tesser into another dimension. She’s suspicious but joins the group to find herself on another plain in the universe. At a later moment, Mrs. Which explains that to Meg that a lot went into making her and that she’s a part of this giant universe, too. She deserves love… is love.

Zach Galifianakis, who gives a wonderful and somewhat stirring performance as Happy Medium (a fun play on words), a seer who helps point them in the direction their father can be found, tries to break through the wall Meg has surrounded herself with. It’s at this point that they all agree they need to show Meg what’s at stake. The It, which is the darkest mind in the universe, that can reach any and everywhere, even earth, wants to bring pain, despair and darkness to the universe and is where their father is trapped. They must save him, and but the Mrs. can go no further. The children are given a few gifts to help them and are sent out on their own. Once they are on their own, the movie has visual delights that will fascinate and amuse all who watch, especially the youngest in the audience. Structures begin to move and change which is interesting. There are some creepy moments and surreal moments, all done exceptionally well. Michael Peňa makes his appearance in a scene you wish you could rewind to watch again, and before he’s gone, he grabs Charles Wallace and infects him with the evil energy. The actor playing Charles Wallace is wonderful here, portraying a loving child one moment and conjuring a demon the next. He tries to get Meg to join him but she fights for their lives against the darkness; fights for them all. Megs final Tesser is glorious and you’ll know what I mean by that when you experience it yourself.

The film is good. This will be the family movie of the year. Youngsters will have a wonderful time watching it and so will you. Forget about Madeline L’Engle’s fantasy novel, just enjoy the film. I had a few problems with how director DuVernay didn’t set up the connection with Meg and her father enough for the audience to truly feel the love and bond between and scene with them toward the end which makes him look like a complete coward and turns you against him. That doesn’t make sense but overall, she did an exceptional job directing these young actors and bringing this beautiful story to the screen. The score and the soundtrack are fantastic, as well. See this at the theatre to experience it all the ways it should be.

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The Lullaby Movie Review

March 6, 2018 (updated March 6, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Uncork’d Entertainment brings director Darrell Roodt’s vision of a horrific and twisted fairy tale for you to watch, available today on all platforms of VOD.

I liked the film, overall, but it’s hard to root for or feel too sorry for the main character, Chloe (Swart) who has just given birth to little Liam and is now doing everything she can do to stop herself from killing him. Why it’s hard to root for her is, though attempted, you never get a real liking for her. Instead, you feel more for her mother, Ruby (Puren), who is trying to bury her sordid past and makeup to her daughter whom she was anything but loving to. That’s not to say you’re not going to like the film or buy into the characters. All boxes for a great horror are checked and there are two scream queens here, in Swart and Puren and in a few scenes they’re battling it out for top position if they were so interested. They’re both magnificent in their roles.

Chloe is from Eden Rock, a town that has a terrible past. The story is introduced to us by a woman narrating, complete with sound effects that set the tone, the story of what the British soldiers did to the women of Eden Rock in 1901 while their husbands were away. They locked them in concentration camps, raped them and if any of the women had children, the priest and a midwife would take the child and kill it to save its soul from damnation. These scenes will have you on edge and squirming at the thought of what these women and their babies went through.

Chloe had left her mother and Eden Rock, but she needs help and Ruby has taken her back in. It’s not hard to put two and two together and see that since it’s the same town and that babies are involved that a haunting is about to happen. Chloe has rejected her baby and Ruby takes it upon herself to try and get her some help as she falls deeper and deeper into depression. Chloe’s mood darkens when horrible visions of Eden Rock’s midwife begin to assault her. She becomes more aggressive while protecting the child. As the visions have shown the intentions of the midwife which is to see the child is killed.

Ruby decides to get some help from a therapist who’s also an old friend named Dr. Reed. He believes Chloe’s issues are just hormonal. He suggests and encourages Chloe to do as the visions suggest. Maybe he knows more than he’s letting on? His demeanor will lead you to think there’s something not quite right with him. Actor Brandon Auret does a superb job of bringing the creepy character to life. Even with his help or maybe because of it, Chloe grows uglier and more unhinged. She admits she’s a black hole; feels empty inside. A simple case of the baby blues hardly leads to what happens to this young woman and those around her.

The movie is good. I enjoyed the sound design tremendously. Spine-chilling sounds such as creaking floorboards, screeching, the crackle of a fire, shrieks and screams all helped in shaping the overall cadence and allows the audience to feel the pulse without missing a beat. Manipulative camera angles and adequate editing assisted considerably in the broad understanding of both Chloe’s and Ruby’s plight while keeping in mind that poor Liam’s soul is on the line. I close with this last thought. These two wonderful actresses, one playing a woman who’s desperately trying to reconnect with her child and one who’s doing everything she can to stay connected with the world, are tremendous. It would be a shame not to see a lot more of them in the future. I hope we do.

Theaters where you can currently see The Lullaby:

Phoenix – Valley Art

Los Angeles – Laemmle Music Hall

Philadelphia – PFS Roxy Theater

Chicago – Facets Cinematheque

Atlanta – Plaza Theater

Dallas – Texas Theater

Cleveland – Cedar Lee Cinemas

San Francisco – Roxie Theater

Miami – Cinema Paradiso

Denver – SIE Film Center

2018 Academy Awards Winners List

March 4, 2018 (updated March 6, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

2018 Academy Awards Winners List

These are the winners

Best Picture

Call Me by Your Name

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Get Out

Lady Bird

Phantom Thread

The Post

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Director

Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk

Jordan Peele – Get Out

Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird

Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread

Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name

Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread

Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out

Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour

Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel

Best Actress

Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water

Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Margot Robbie – I, Tonya

Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird

Meryl Streep – The Post

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project

Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water

Christopher Plummer – All the Money in the World

Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress

Mary J. Blige – Mudbound

Allison Janney – I, Tonya

Lesley Manville – Phantom Thread

Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird

Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water

Best Original Screenplay

The Big Sick – Written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani

Get Out – Written by Jordan Peele

Lady Bird – Written by Greta Gerwig

The Shape of Water – Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Written by Martin McDonagh

Best Adapted Screenplay

Call Me by Your Name – James Ivory

The Disaster Artist – Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

Logan – Screenplay by Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green

Molly’s Game – Aaron Sorkin

Mudbound – Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Best Animated Feature Film

The Boss Baby

The Breadwinner

Coco

Ferdinand

Loving Vincent

Best Foreign Language Film

A Fantastic Woman (Chile) in Spanish

The Insult (Lebanon) in Arabic

Loveless (Russia) in Russian

On Body and Soul (Hungary) in Hungarian

The Square (Sweden) in Swedish

Best Documentary Feature

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

Faces Places

Icarus

Last Men in Aleppo

Strong Island

Best Documentary – Short Subject

Edith+Eddie

Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405

Heroin(e)

Knife Skills

Traffic Stop

Best Live Action Short Film

DeKalb Elementary

The Eleven O’Clock

My Nephew Emmett

The Silent Child

Watu Wote/All of Us

Best Animated Short Film

Dear Basketball

Garden Party

Lou

Negative Space

Revolting Rhymes

Best Original Score

Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer

Phantom Thread – Jonny Greenwood

The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – John Williams

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Carter Burwell

Best Original Song

“Mighty River” from Mudbound

“Mystery of Love” from Call Me by Your Name

“Remember Me” from Coco

“Stand Up for Something” from Marshall

“This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman

Best Sound Editing

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Sound Mixing

Baby Driver

Blade Runner 2049

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Production Design

Beauty and the Beast

Blade Runner 2049

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

The Shape of Water

Best Cinematography

Blade Runner 2049 – Roger Deakins

Darkest Hour – Bruno Delbonnel

Dunkirk – Hoyte van Hoytema

Mudbound – Rachel Morrison

The Shape of Water – Dan Laustsen

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Darkest Hour

Victoria & Abdul

Wonder

Best Costume Design

Beauty and the Beast

Darkest Hour

Phantom Thread

The Shape of Water

Victoria & Abdul

Best Film Editing

Baby Driver

Dunkirk

I, Tonya

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Visual Effects

Blade Runner 2049

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Kong: Skull Island

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

War for the Planet of the Apes

Death Wish Movie Review

March 2, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

Death Wish is nothing if not intense. We open on 911 calls and statistics of crime rates that plague the city of Chicago. Most of the violence being reported, on TV stations, radio stations and other types of media, is due to guns which tells me one thing… there’s a clear message being made in the film and from the trailer to this smack in the face opening, it’s definitely not hidden.

Bruce Willis plays Dr. Paul Kersey who works as a surgeon in a Chicago hospital that cares for many of the wounded from this gun violence. He sees it every shift. He saves most victims, he loses some, but he isn’t prepared for who’s about to be in the operating room next.

A scene set up a little earlier than our meeting his character is our introduction to his wife Lucy (Shue) and daughter Jordan (Morrone) who are stalked by a valet and his accomplices who break into their home, demanding money and anything else of value. It’s a jarring scene and though director Eli Roth, more known for horror films such as Hostel and Cabin Fever, spares us the visuals, he doesn’t let us out of being terrified out of our wits for Lucy and her only child who are about to suffer for no reason but being present during a burglary. The scene is primed well enough that we’re vested in Lucy and Jordan when we’re there alone with them, fighting for Jordan’s innocence and fighting for both of their lives.

After the scene, we move to the hospital and are with Paul who is leaving one hospital room, ready to go to the next. Unaware of who has been brought into the operating room, he’s encouraged not to go in and is told the horrific news. Luckily, his daughter survives the home invasion, but her mother does not.

Jordan is in a coma when Paul buries her mother. While there, an idea is planted in his mind. The basic idea of which is that the police can’t stop a crime from happening if they’re not there when it happens. He vows to not only find the men who did this to his family but to be there for others… unlike the police.

This is different from the 1974 Death Wish movies that starred Charles Bronson. The concept is the same, but it has been totally modernized to fit more of what the U.S. is going through today versus what it was facing in the 1970’s. That difference is appreciated in Roth’s flair for gore and his creativity when it comes to ending human life and it’s represented here quite well. You won’t be disappointed.

He also shows the American audience how easy it is to get a gun, no matter where you are and who you are. It’s a scary thought, as much as the film’s premise is. If you have the money… you have a weapon. No problem.

After Paul decides to take matters into his own hands, he arms himself, throws on a hoodie and walks the streets. When he sees a crime in progress, he steps in. When necessary, he kills with as much ease as he does with saving lives in the operating room. Soon, as you suspect would happen, a witness to his heroism captures him on video, which she immediately uploads to the internet. The video, of course, goes viral. Memes of him are created! Though he’s killing people by being judge, jury and executioner, there’s no question to their guilt so he doesn’t carry any himself. At this point, he’s being called the Grim Reaper. He smiles at the irony of it all.

I’ll give it to you straight. It’s fun. If you were a big fan of the original film, don’t go into this thinking you’re going to find Bronson. As I stated, this isn’t the same movie. If you like Roth and Bruce Willis, there are plenty of reasons to see this. It’s filled with cringe-worthy moments and, believe it or not, the script has some flashes of comedy which make the film worth seeing even more but I would say this is more for home viewing or a save for matinee. It’s not the ‘must-see on opening weekend’ film of the year. It’s exciting, the cast is excellent and it’s well put together but nothing you haven’t necessarily seen before.

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