Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts

Saturday, December 10, 2022

"Spoiler Alert" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "Spoiler Alert" as well as the Brad Pitt action film "Bullet Train" and the romantic rom-com "Look Both Ways."  The Book of the Week is "Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit and Glamour of an Icon" by Kate Andersen Brower]


Spoiler Alert (2022)


The film version of Michael Ausiello's memoir "Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies."

We all know what a spoiler is, right?  It's when someone in an earlier time zone posts the winner of "Dancing with the Stars" before you've seen it or when you tell someone you are going to see a certain movie and she says "You know she dies at the end, right?" 

But spoiler alert?  Do you know what that is?  As someone who writes about the movies, I am acutely aware of that term because I sometimes get accused of telling too much.  And when I am aware that I am doing that, I am supposed to display "Spoiler Alert" prominently so my readers will know to stop reading in case I reveal a twist or ruin the ending of the film for them. 

That said, I think there are two different camps when it comes to spoilers.  There are those who will bite your head off if you give away too much about a film and then there are those who don't care, who just enjoy the journey.  I am part of that latter camp.  I don't really care if I know how it ends because I am much more into the journey that takes me to the end.

And speaking of the journey...the title of this film warns you about a spoiler and in and of itself is a spoiler.  First of all, Michael Ausiello's memoir upon which this film is based was titled "Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies" and if you didn't already figure out what was going to happen, the film begins with one of the main characters dying in the hospital and then the film proceeds in a series of flashbacks.  So I don't need to warn you with a "Spoiler Alert" at the beginning of this because it's already been spoiled...and not by me.  

But no worries.  Even though you know how it's going to end, like I said, it's all about the journey and there are many surprises along the way.

Jim Parsons ("Big Bang Theory") plays Michael, a young rather uptight gay man working as a journalist at TV Guide in New York City. He doesn't drink or do drugs and is timid emotionally since being traumatized by the loss of his parents at an early age.  His passions are Christmas and TV, so making a living writing about TV is a lifelong dream. Growing up watching soap operas with his mother, he imagined his life as a TV sitcom (a device which the movie recreates and it doesn't really work).  

Michael meets the handsome and outgoing Kit (Ben Aldridge), a sexually active fellow that Michael considers completely out of his league.  In fact, in an intimate moment, Michael reveals himself as a FFK - Former Fat Kid.  He's insecure about his looks and body, though he is no longer overweight, but the two connect and embark on a long term relationship despite Michael's obsession with Smurfs and diet Coke. But Kit has his issues, too.  He has not come out to his parents, Marilyn (Sally Field) and Bob (Bill Irwin), but eventually does in a very funny interlude. 

Michael and Kit have a witty and fun rapport and clearly love each other, but as happens in even the closest of relationships, after 13 years, Michael and Kit hit some bumpy patches and they separate, and then the film moves from a funny, witty rom-com to a drama as the film takes a tragic turn. Kit is diagnosed with cancer, something very difficult for Michael to deal with since he had lost his mother to cancer at a young age but despite their estrangement, and despite Michael's difficult past, Michael decides this is love and he is in it for the long haul, no matter what.

Naturally my friend and I were blubbering away at the end - that was the whole point, right? These kinds of movies bring up all kinds of feelings in us - fear of dying, remembrance of loved ones dying, remembering "Love Story," probably the first of the romantic movies with death-at-the-end genre.  There is homage here to "Love Story," when Michael gets up on Kit's hospital bed and lies next to him as he lay dying.  When Ryan O'Neal did that to comfort Ali McGraw in "Love Story," I completely lost it.  

But this time I also lost it as I remembered my Dad dying.  When he was dying, I was able to travel back home to help my mother and say goodbye to my Dad.  As he lay dying and gasping in the last stages and appeared to be out of it, one of the hospice nurses said that it would probably help him to go if I told him it was okay and that we would be fine.  So as I sat next to my Dad I told him that he had been a wonderful father, that it was okay to go and that I loved him. With that he was able to say "I love you too" and he left us. When that same sort of scene happened in this movie - Michael telling Kit what he had meant to him - it brought back that memory.  But it also reinforced in me of how important it is that we gather around our dying loved ones to say goodbye and tell them what they meant to us.  

Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge are engaging and believable as Michael and Kit, two men devoted to each other, and Bill Irwin and Sally Field provide some comic relief as Kit's parents. Speaking of Sally, she reminded me of what a good actress she is. Her Marilyn was so annoying that I could totally understand why Kit didn't want to tell his mother he was gay!  So Sally did a good job there! 

Watching the film, I was struck by the lack of films where the central theme is a gay love story.  Often when there is a gay love story, it is a tangential feature of a straight rom com.  Gay rom coms should be as mainstream as straight rom coms and every other romantic iteration out there. Hopefully this and the recent "Bros" are signs that more like this will get the green light.

A sweet Christmas movie. Despite the death part, it's all about love and family, and at this time of year, which is rife with emotion, there is nothing like a good cathartic cry and you will get that with this film.  Bring tissues.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a good movie will bring up memories and emotions and this movie written by David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage and directed by Michael Showalter ("The Big Sick") did just that because it is a good movie. (In theatres)




Bullet Train (2022)


A slew of assassins with different agendas all board a bullet train. Mayhem ensues.

Ooh, Brad Pitt.  I have never forgotten his first big splash in "Thelma and Louise" and he has just gotten better and more handsome as he ages. But like many really handsome actors, it seems like he does not want to rely on his looks and play romantic leads. Darn it, Brad. I want you to play romantic leads!  But it seems he wants to be taken more seriously, so he goes for the edgier stuff now and this film is edgy.  But, Brad.  What are you doing in this mess of a movie?

Here Brad plays a former assassin, code name, Ladybug, and he is in Tokyo for a job he doesn't really want. He has had a run of bad luck lately and has wearied of killing people but thinks that retrieving a briefcase should be a piece of cake. Not! Brothers Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), who happen to be assassins, are also on the train to rescue the son of a Russian-born Yakuza boss called "The White Death." Sadly, the son is poisoned and another assassin, "The Wolf (Bad Bunny)," thinks it was our boy Brad, so attacks him.  Then "The Wolf" dies. A schoolgirl character strangely called "Prince" wanders around the train getting involved leaving destruction in her wake. Then Ladybug gets into it with Lemon and other assassins and the whole thing is a big confusing mess, though it turns out all of the assassins are somehow related. I like action films, and I don't mind some violence now and then, but by the time it was all revealed, I didn't care anymore.

Written by Zak Olkewitz (based on the book by Kotaro Isaka) and directed by David Leitch, the film is part Japanese video game, part cartoon and part Tarantino-esqe dark comedy with some slapstick thrown in, but the violence overshadows what humor there is and it just all became wearying after awhile. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...despite Brad's presence, a very weird and not very enjoyable film experience. Brad, can't you make this old girl happy and do a romantic movie once in awhile? (Netflix)


Look Both Ways (2022)


What if you had taken that other road in life?

In her last year at the University of Texas, Natalie (Lili Reinhart) has sex with her friend Gabe (Danny Ramirez).  It's not about love and the two agree it wasn't a big deal. Natalie has a five year plan for her life after graduation and she means to keep it.  She plans to move to Los Angeles with her friend Cara (Aisha Dee) to become an animator. But a few weeks later, on graduation night, Natalie takes a pregnancy test and her life diverges into two parallel realities.  

In Reality #1, she is pregnant.  Reality #2, she is not pregnant.

Pregnant, Natalie moves back home with her parents who were enjoying the empty nest so they are not that happy to have her back. They are not too happy about Gabe, either, who is an aspiring musician.  But he steps up and the two struggle to coparent their daughter, Rosie.  But Natalie wants Gabe to have his own life and encourages him to date.  When he does meet someone, Natalie is not sure she has made the right decision to discourage Gabe.  But she throws herself into her artwork.

In Reality #2, relieved that she is not pregnant, Natalie moves to Los Angeles with Cara and they start their careers.  Natalie gets her dream job and becomes an assistant animator and she meets Jake (David Corenswet), who aspires to be a movie producer. They embark on a relationship but Jake is sent to Nova Scotia for a job and they struggle with a long-distance relationship.

Which path taken will turn out to be the best one for Natalie?

Written by April Prosser and directed by Wanuri Kahiu, this is one of those "what if?" films reminiscent of "Sliding Doors," the 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow film that explored what would happen if you miss your train.  Here we get to see what would have happened if the road not taken was taken. Will two different paths lead to the same destiny? The film goes back and forth between the two realities which you might think would be confusing but it's handled in a very stylish and understandable way.

The young actors are engaging especially Reinhardt who is the reason this film is so affecting.  Most famous for the TV series "Riverdale," I will enjoy watching her movie career unfold.

How often have we wondered how our lives might have been different if we had taken that other road - if we had moved East, not West; if we had accepted that other marriage proposal or not gotten married at all; or we decided not to have children or given up a career? The film is a reminder that no matter which path we choose, there will always be bumps, regrets and what ifs but it's our path.  It's called life.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a sweet little story that will make you wonder about the path you chose but validate it. (Netflix)



***The Book of the Week***


"Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit and Glamour of an Icon" by Kate Andersen Brower (2022).



The definitive biography.

Elizabeth Taylor was the epitome of the Hollywood movie star and one of the last to come out of the old Hollywood studio system. In her over 70 years in show business, she starred in 56 films, 10 TV movies and was the first actor to negotiate a million dollar contract (“Cleopatra”) and the first to use her fame for Aids activism.  However, her personal life often overshadowed her accomplishments - Eight marriages to seven different men, by 26 she had been divorced twice and widowed once and she struggled with addictions to pills and alcohol. 

Considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, she was kind, creative, empathetic and smart but she was also selfish, greedy, vulnerable, volatile and childlike and Brower uses Elizabeth’s unpublished letters, diary entries, off-the-record interview transcripts and interviews with 250 of her closest friends and family to capture those many sides of Taylor. Taylor never wrote a real memoir (she died in 2011 at the age of 79), but this well-researched biography gets as close to telling her story in her own words as we will ever get.

Rosy the Reviewer says...there have been countless biographies but this will stand as the definitive one about the legend that was Elizabeth Taylor.


Thanks for reading!


See you again soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

"Good Luck To You, Leo Grande" and the Week in Reviews

[I review the new Hulu film, "Good Luck To You, Leo Grande" as well as  "Blacklight" and an anime classic that somehow I missed, "Spirited Away."  The Book of the Week is “Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and the Romance of the Century” by Stephen Galloway]


Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (2022)





Widow and ex-school teacher Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) hires a young sex worker so she can experience some good sex!

I never thought I would ever say a movie that is all about sex was sweet but I am going to say it. This film was sweet.  But it was also charming and wonderful.

Widow Nancy was married for 31 years and the sex was the slam-bam-thank-you- ma'am variety and she had never experienced an orgasm.  Her husband was also the only man she had ever been with. Oh, she has had opportunities to be with other men since her husband's death but they were all old.  She doesn't want old, she wants to be with a young man and to experience some good sex.  So she hires a young handsome (and I DO mean handsome) sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) to learn about the joys of sex. So she books a lovely London hotel room, meets Leo and is then utterly terrified and wondering what she has done.  Over the course of four meetings, Leo is patient, non-judgmental and amazingly understanding as Nancy works through her fears and old beliefs and patterns.

This film, written by Katy Brand and directed by Sophie Hyde, is what the Brits call a two-hander. It's just two people, Nancy and Leo, meeting over the course of a few weeks and Nancy trying to get up the courage to try all of the sex situations she has on her list.  So they talk...and talk...and talk.  But don't get me wrong. It is not boring.  In fact, it's quite wonderful.

Emma as Nancy displays the whole range of emotions that a woman of a certain age might feel meeting a gorgeous and very young kind man, a woman trying to spread her wings and, uh, have an orgasm.  Thompson is a wonder of an actress and is at the top of her game. But McCormack holds his own.  As I said, he is gorgeous so just watching him gave me a bit of a flutter.  But he is also a good actor who shows vulnerability and kindness.

Yes, it's all about sex, but there is much more.  The film also deals with aging, body image, self-empowerment, not to mention a plug for legalizing sex work but all-in-all, it's a lovely, er, satisfying film experience that is not to be missed.  And I predict a long successful career for McCormack...as an actor!

Rosy the Reviewer says...no matter how you feel about a movie about sex, this one will make you smile.(Hulu)


Blacklight (2022)


Liam Neeson is a deep cover FBI operative with a shadowy past and when his past catches up with him, he has to save his family.

Okay, I know, I know. How many iterations of “Taken” is Liam going to star in? But you know what? I don’t care. He has “a very particular set of skills” that I like, so they could film him putting on his shoes and I would watch. Yes, you might think he is getting a bit long in the tooth for this stuff but, c’mon, look at that movie poster. He’s still got it. He is such a nice big tall man and with that Irish lilt in his voice…sigh. What woman wouldn’t want to…well, you know…ahem…be rescued by him? Yes, you will chuckle at some of the really serious lines he delivers but I believe everything he says and does.
Anyway, this time Liam plays Travis Block, a deep cover FBI agent with some OCD, a penchant for Bud Lights and the desire to retire and become a good grandpa. His job is rescuing other deep cover agents who have lost it or gone rogue. But when Sofia Flores, a progressive politician who is running for Congress and who looks just like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, is mowed down in a hit and run and one of Block’s operatives contacts a reporter with information about it that implicates the FBI, Block discovers corruption at the FBI (I guess the FBI didn't like progressives). He confronts his boss, who he thought was his friend and mentor, but it doesn’t go well and then his daughter and granddaughter disappear – IT’S GAME ON!
Written by Nick May and Mark Williams (from a story by Brandon Reevis) and directed by Williams, this has all of the usual Liam Neeson thriller tropes: ominous music, rather unbelievable fist fights, guns, car chases - though I had never seen a Dodge Charger chasing a garbage truck before - and Liam using his “particular skills” to nail the bad guys – all the usual stuff you have come to expect in these Liam Neeson thrillers, though in light of recent events, the gun fight was rather stomach churning.

Rosy the Reviewer says...is it a good movie? Not really but if you enjoy Liam in his predictable troubled hero role and want to see the bad guys get what's coming to them, you will probably like this. (On DVD, Apple+ and for rent on most platforms)



Spirited Away (2001)


A ten-year-old girl finds herself in a strange fantasy world.

I have to confess a little crack in Rosy the Reviewer’s movie cred. I just don’t understand how I missed this one. I mean, I worked my way through all of “The 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” book, and I guess I thought I had seen this one, but when it came to my attention recently as the most celebrated animated film of all time, I had to ask myself, “Had I?”
I had not.
When I say the most celebrated animated film ever, I’m not kidding. It was not only Japan’s highest grossing film of all time, it is considered by some the greatest animated film ever. It is #6 on IMDB’s “1001 Greatest Films of All Time” and won the Oscar for Best Animated feature film in 2001, the only non-English animated film to have done so and it was hand-drawn as opposed to all of the computer generated films we now have.
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and dubbed in English, it tells the story of 10-year-old Chihiro (voice of Daveigh Chase) who is on her way to her new home in the suburbs with her parents when they take a wrong turn and discover a mysterious tunnel. They explore the tunnel and find themselves in what looks like an abandoned amusement park. Chihiro’s parents discover a food shop that is open, the counter filled with food. Her parents stuff themselves with the food (Chihiro isn’t hungry) and are turned into pigs, and it’s all one crazy adventure after another for Chihiro as she makes her way around this strange fantasy world, “Alice in Wonderland” style.
This is one of those animated films that will appeal to all ages. Kids will enjoy it because there are all kinds of wild shape-shifting creatures and a lesson about friendship. Adults can get into the deeper messages of western consumerism and the environment as well as the beauty of the animation itself and be blown away by the fact that it was so meticulously hand drawn frame by frame.
Rosy the Reviewer says…I am not usually a huge animation fan but this is a very special film that everyone should see. Am I glad I finally saw this? Yes! You will be too!
(Available on DVD, on HBO Max and for rent on most platforms)


***The Book of the Week***


Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and the Romance of the Century by Stephen Galloway (2022)


American audiences probably know Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind” and possibly also as Blanche Du Bois in “A Streetcar Named Desire (she won Oscars for both performances)” and Laurence Olivier gained widespread acclaim as a movie actor as Maxim de Winter in “Rebecca” and as Heathcliff in “Wuthering Heights,” but what Americans might not know is before that, they were both British stage actors, most notably Olivier, who brought Shakespeare to the masses.
But perhaps what made them even more famous was their epic love affair and the aftermath.
When the two met, they fell “truly, madly” in love. Unfortunately, they were both married to other people, and in those days, a woman, unless she could prove abuse or abandonment, could not get a divorce without her husband’s permission. Yes, you heard me. And Vivien’s husband was not about to give her a divorce. But Olivier and Leigh couldn’t live without each other and eventually did marry. They lived and worked together for 20 years hoping to become the British version of Lunt and Fontaine until Vivien’s mental illness drove them apart.
Though Galloway’s prose is at times a bit overly dramatic, the Olivier and Leigh love story was a dramatic one and he includes new research, unpublished correspondence and interviews with family and friends and lots of behind the scenes anecdotes. It’s juicy.
Rosy the Reviewer says…if you are fans of Leigh and Olivier or want to know more about them or you miss The Golden Age of Hollywood, this is for you! And here’s a fun fact. My little beloved poodle, Tarquin, was named after Olivier’s son!
(Check it out at your local library)!


(Tarquin as Romeo)

Thanks for reading!

See you again soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)

Friday, January 12, 2018

"All the Money in the World" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the movie "All the Money in the World" as well as DVDs "War for the Planet of the Apes" and "Atomic Blonde."  The Book of the Week is "Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell."  I also bring you up-to-date with "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die" with "Nightmare of Elm Street."]




All the Money in the World


Dramatization of the 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III, the grandson of J. Paul Getty, then the richest man in the world.

People might be more familiar with the scandal surrounding the making of this movie than the name J. Paul Getty.  Kevin Spacey was slated to play Getty, who was not only the richest man in the world in the 1970's, he was the richest man EVER.  The kidnapping of his grandson, J. Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) for a $17 million dollar ransom was a news sensation in 1973 and the centerpiece of this film.  But the allegations of sexual assault against Kevin Spacey led to his being fired from this movie after being featured in the trailers and only a month before its release and 88-year old Christopher Plummer (no relation to Charlie) stepped in at the last minute.  Spacey was edited out and Plummer edited in as if Spacey had never been there. And seeing this film, ironically, it's difficult to imagine anyone else besides Plummer playing Getty, especially comparing Spacey in the original trailer and his over-the-top make-up to Plummer, himself who in reality is much closer in age to what Getty would have been.

J. Paul Getty made his money from oil.  Everyone seemed to know there was oil in Saudi Arabia but nobody could figure out how to get it.  But Getty did.  He made a deal with the Bedouins and discovered oil there four years later. But then how to get the oil out of Saudi Arabia so that he could sell it?  Getty invented the supertanker.  And that, folks, is how you become the richest man in the world.  But Getty was also a miser.  He famously had a pay phone in his house so visitors would not run up his phone bill. 

But when Italian thugs kidnapped Getty's 16-year-old grandson, John Paul Getty III, known as Paul, they didn't know that.  They kidnapped Paul, demanded $17 million and were confounded by the fact that Getty said he wouldn't pay.  In fact at first, everyone thought Paul had engineered his own kidnapping to get some money from his grandfather, but when Paul's ear (yes, his actual ear - I will let you use your imagination) appeared at a Roman newspaper, everyone realized the kidnapping was indeed real.  But even then, the elder Getty wouldn't pay, priding himself on his deal making and not wanting to part with the cash.

Paul's mother, Gail (Michelle Williams) was divorced from Getty's son who was a failure and had given his life over to drugs, drink and general hedonism.  When they divorced she had given up any claim to Getty's money in return for custody of her children so when the kidnappers contacted her, she had no means to pay them so the film concentrates on Gail's frantic attempt to get the miserly Getty to pay and to save her son.

Directed by Ridley Scott (with a screenplay by David Scarpa adapted from the book "Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty" by John Pearson), this is a smaller film than we are used to from Scott, who famously directed "Blade Runner (the first one)," "Gladiator" and more recently "The Martian," but Scott shows his skills in his ability to reshoot and edit Plummer into the film at the very last minute as well as his evocation of 70's Europe. But the film is not just a biopic but a thriller and a film with a message - a reminder that all the money in the world can't buy happiness.  Money also can cause people to do bad things.

The film focuses on Williams as the mother desperately trying to save her son, and she is reliably good and gets the most screen time, but Plummer has been at this game longer and just steals the show as the misanthropic and miserly Getty who, disappointed by people, only finds comfort in beautiful objects and dies miserable and alone. It's also nice to see Mark Wahlberg playing a straight dramatic role as Fletcher Chase, the ex-CIA agent the elder Getty hires to find Paul, instead of his usual action heroes fighting transformers or oil rigs.

Speaking of Wahlberg, did you hear about the big flap concerning how much money Wahlberg received to do the reshoots versus what Michelle Williams received? - something like 1000 times more - and Williams was the star!  So I guess Ridley Scott not only suffers from gender discrimination but didn't seem to learn from his own movie - you know, that part about money making people do bad things.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a compelling story with a performance by Plummer that deserves a Best Actor Oscar nomination.





***Some Movies You Might Have Missed***
(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)!

On DVD







War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)



Number three in the Planet of the Apes prequels.

This is the third in the prequel trilogy which began with "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," where the genius ape, Caesar, was created and a Simian flu killed most of humanity.  That was followed by "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," where Caesar and his ape friends try to get along with the few remaining humans. However, Koba, a rogue ape, attacked some humans, which in turn caused a war, so now with film #3 the war continues 

However, you don't need to have seen the first two to enjoy this one, because this film does a good job with an introduction that brings you up-to-date but if you haven't seen the original film - and I'm talking about the 1968 film starring Charlton Heston - you absolutely must see that one.  That one is the inspiration for the three films that followed so that you would understand what happened before Charlton came along.

As film #3 begins, Caesar (Andy Serkis), the leader of the apes, is trying to save himself and his fellow apes who are being hunted by the mean old colonel (Woody Harrelson) who had found Caesar's command center and killed Caesar's wife and child.  But the Colonel is not just mean, he's crazy.  The Colonel believes that the Simian flu has mutated and is turning people into apes, so he is bent on wiping out the apes.  But the Colonel is also a rogue and an army is on its way to arrest him, so he is building a wall and getting ready to fight them off so he can continue his genocide on the apes. He says that if they lose against the apes, the world will become a planet of apes.  Get it?

Since the Colonel and his men have found Caesar's secret command center, Caesar leaves the camp so that his followers can escape and find refuge somewhere else while at the same time seeking revenge on the Colonel because he killed his wife and son.  So with two trusted soldiers, Maurice (Karin Konoval), the wise Orangutan and Caesar's right-hand-man and the gorilla, Luca (Michael Adamthwaite), Caesar goes after the Colonel.  Along the way they encounter and join forces with "Bad Ape (Steve Zahn)," a scared, formerly abused zoo chimpanzee who believes that's his name (I don't even want to think about what he went through to get that name) and a young girl who can't speak who they name Nova (Amiaha Miller).  Unfortunately, Caesar gets captured and is put in a work camp overseen by the Colonel and forced to work on building that wall.  His motley crew now must save Caesar.

The best thing about these movies is Andy Serkis, who plays Caesar and who despite all of that ape make-up is still able to evoke drama and pathos.  Some people have said he deserves a Oscar nomination for his performance and he is very good.  The tender moments in the film actually got to me. Naturally, the apes are more human in a good way than the humans so this is also one of those "what makes us human" films.  It's also a tense thriller with lots of action and a dramatic story with depth and tenderness. The CGI and make-up also certainly play big roles.  I had to laugh that the ape make-up is so good that the only way to tell the girl apes from the boy apes is that the girl apes wear earrings.

Directed by Matt Reeves with a screenplay by Reeves and Mark Bombackthis is a great action film that pays homage to war films, most notably "Apocalypse Now" with Woody Harrelson seeming to channel Brando's Colonel Kurtz.

Rosy the Reviewer says...You will be rooting for the apes.






Atomic Blonde (2017)



An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and to recover a list of double agents so that it doesn't fall into enemy hands.

And that undercover MI6 agent is a badass blonde named Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) who wears sexy clothes, beats guys up with her stilettos and says things like "I'm my own bitch now!"

All I could think at first while watching this film was "Why? Charlize, you are an Academy Award winning actress.  Why are you playing this part?"

But then as I got into it, I thought, "Who wouldn't want to play a beautiful stiletto-wearing badass woman who gets all of the best quips and gets to beat the crap out of the bad guys?"

It's Berlin, 1989, right before the fall of the wall.  A British secret agent has been killed and MI6 spies have been compromised.  A watch that includes a list of all of the MI6 spies has disappeared and Lorraine needs to go to Berlin and find it before it falls into the wrong hands, read: KGB, especially since the list contains the identity of Satchel, a double agent.  Her contact is David Percival (James McAvoy) who is undercover in Berlin as a skinhead.  He is a bit dodgy and has actually taken on the skinhead lifestyle, but Lorraine teams up with him anyway to find Spyglass (Eddie Marsan), a guy who has committed the list to memory, and get him safely out of Berlin.  There are lots of fight scenes - there is one fight scene starring Lorraine that literally goes on for 15 minutes.  Well, maybe not literally but it felt like it.  There are also car chases and the usual other spy movie stuff but there is also a very big twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

Directed by David Leitch, with a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad, the film plays like a graphic novel (and in fact it's based on the graphic novel "The Coldest City" written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Sam Hart) filled with glamorous cartoon characters, but that's OK because the 80's music is terrific, the pop culture references are fun, we get to see Charlize in a series of body suits, thigh high boots and garters, and it's just a very stylish, thrilling ride.  

As over-the-top spy movies go, I actually liked this.  When I saw the trailers for this film, I originally thought it looked shallow and silly, but Charlize pulled it off.  I guess that Best Actress Academy Award Theron won was actually a testament to her acting abilities.  She had the skill to take this shallow character and make me care about her. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...unexpectedly good. 






***My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project***



160 to go!

Have YOU seen this classic film?





Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)



A serial killer has this penchant for killing people in their dreams.

I know, I know...I can just hear you saying, "What?  You never saw "Nightmare on Elm Street?!" No, I haven't because unlike some people I am not particularly fond of blood and guts and slasher films.  Anyway, that's the reason, but despite my fears about that kind of thing in a movie, it seems that when I do actually see it, I am often shocked at how tame the film was and wonder what all of the fuss was about.  And this one was no exception.  In fact, watching it I had a very hard time figuring out why this film is considered one of the best in the horror genre.  I know it's Wes Craven and all of that but it was really dumb.

Though Craven had already directed "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Swamp Thing," he was far from a mainstream director when he brought us Freddy Kreuger.  But the success of this film started him on the road to fame as one of our foremost horror film directors and which led to "Scream."

The basic plot features Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her teenage friends who all live in a quiet, seemingly safe little town. When her friends start dying and Freddy starts appearing in her dreams, Nancy is convinced Freddy is the culprit.  Who is Freddy?  Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) is a nightmare character who infiltrates these kids' dreams. He was originally a former child killer who was burned to death by a mob of furious Elm Street parents. I would be mad, too, if some weird guy killed my kid. Years later, he has returned from the grave obsessed with revenge on the teen offspring of those parents by getting into their subconscious and attacking them as they sleep.  If they fall asleep, they all have the same dream and get killed while they are asleep.  Once the kids figure this out, they must fight a seemingly hopeless battle to stay awake.

The film has the classic teen horror film tropes:

  • Good looking young people in skimpy attire
  • A seemingly safe middle class neighborhood where nothing bad could possibly happen
  • Cheap shots of people jumping out of the shadows that make you jump in your seat
  • Lots of fake blood
  • Killer bent on revenge
  • Teens getting killed after having sex because we know that's BAD
  • One final good girl left to fight off the forces of evil

The best thing about this film is seeing a very young Johnny Depp in his film debut before he developed all of those Johnny Depp mannerisms he has now.  The worst is Ronee Blakley as Nancy's mother.  Her performance is so flat and unemotional that she makes this film look like a zombie movie.  It is just unbelievable that nine years earlier she had been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in "Nashville."

Why it's a Must See: "[This film] creatively combined horror and humor, gothic literary motifs and slasher movie conventions, gory special effects and subtle social commentary.  And it let loose a new monster in America's pop culture: the wise-cracking, fedora-wearing teen killer, Freddy Kreuger."
---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"

I think the deeper meaning here (if there is one) is that growing up can be scary.  Or maybe it's just "Don't fall asleep!"  This film may have been something special back in 1984 but it just doesn't hold up today unless you really like campy bad acting.

Rosy the Reviewer says...OK, so now I've seen it.



***Book of the Week***





Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Jaffe (2017)


A biography of singer/songwriter, Joni Mitchell.

For all of the impact Joni's music had on my young years, especially the albums "Blue" and "For the Roses," reading this biography, I was surprised how much I didn't know about her.  I didn't know she had polio as a young girl; that she was married again after Chuck Mitchell (to a much younger man); that Prince was a huge fan of hers; or that she had such a healthy ego. I'm putting that nicely.  Suffice it to say that David Crosby said "She was about as modest as Mussollini," and that's saying a lot coming from him because he is no slouch in that department either.

She also had strong opinions. According to Yaffe, she couldn't stand Joan Baez; was disappointed in Dylan; she called Madonna "Nero;" she thought John Lennon was a mean drunk; and Jackson Browne was just mean, especially to women.  She also wouldn't give Judy Collins any props for making a hit of her song "Both Sides Now" which helped Joni become a star in her own right and she even made some snarky remarks about CSN's harmonies.

Born Roberta Joan Anderson in Alberta, Canada, Joni knew early that she was going to be someone and her belief in herself, her innate poetic talent and single-mindedness led her out of Canada to become one of the most influential singer/songwriters of our generation.

Yaffe does an excellent job of outlining Mitchell's life and career with interesting details about the making of each of her albums and how her career changed from the successes of the 1970's to some strange choices in the 80's to an inability to write in the 90's. 

She was a chain-smoker (four packs a day and a smoker since she was 9) and  in recent years suffered an aneurysm and is currently still recovering from that.

Yaffe paints a picture of Mitchell as a rather angry person with an opinion on everything and in most cases found her peers wanting.  Unlike the biography of Stevie Nicks that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago where the author gushed, Yaffe is a bit irreverent about Mitchell, which I think is healthy for a biographer, and in so doing, has created a very complete picture of Mitchell's life and career while still acknowledging her importance.  I just can't help but wonder what Mitchell's take on this would be.  I am sure she would have an opinion!

Rosy the Reviewer says...one of the best biographies I have read this year about one of the most influential singer/songwriters of my generation.



Thanks for reading!

 
See you next Friday 

 
for my review of 


"The Greatest Showman"



 and
  
The Week in Reviews
(What to See or Read and What to Avoid)



 and the latest on



"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before 


 I Die Project." 


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Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). 

Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll down below the synopsis and the listings for the director, writer and main stars to where it says "Reviews" and click on "Critics" - If I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list.