Author Archives: Ron

About Ron

I like to watch movies and share my thoughts on them. I have been writing reviews and distributing them since 2013.

Avengers: Endgame

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Avengers: Endgame                        4 stars

Avengers: Endgame picks up where Avengers: Infinity War left off with the defeat of the Avengers at the hands of supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) leaving many of the heroes turned to dust along with half of all living creatures. Earth has been left a shell of its former self with many of the remaining Avengers: Tony Stark/Ironman (Robert Downey, Jr.); Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo); Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans); Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson); Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) struggling to adapt to bleak prospects without so many of their companions and family. Then five years later Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) suddenly reappears from the past giving the heroes the idea of time traveling to the past, collecting the six Infinity Stones from before the tragedy and bringing everybody back to life. Any story involving time travel and superpowers is going to be mind bending, but the overall premise seems to work in this culmination of the Avengers story that was started back in 2008 with Ironman. The movie is certainly bloated with too many characters and an over long at a three-hour running time. But it has plenty to offer with memorable scenes (like Tony Stark meeting his long gone father), comic relief (especially from fat, alcoholic Thor and Smart Hulk) and of course all that action with our heroes battling the evil Thanos and his army of bizarre creatures. With so many characters it is inevitable that many of the cast are reduced to just cameo appearances displaying brief acts of heroism. (There’s Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olson) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to name a few.) I hope it is not a spoiler to suggest that events in the movie would tend to rule out additional Avengers movies, but we shall see. Even though I have not seen anything close to all of the movies of the series, I think the latest film should be satisfying to the devoted fans of the franchise.

Shadow in the Cloud

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Shadow in the Cloud                       4 stars

In this year’s Shadow in the Cloud we follow a young female pilot, Maude (Chloe Grace Moretz) on a secret mission on a World War II B-17 bomber out of New Zealand. This is without a doubt the best B-movie of the year so far. You can tell it’s a B-movie at the outset by the seventies style rock music so you know you are in for a treat. Maude is a last minute passenger on the mission and the all male crew is not at all happy about it, as they berate her with sexist language and force her to ride in the Sperry turret in the belly of the plane, the only place where there is room. We soon see that she can handle herself well in the aircraft as she maneuvers the turret, and fires the machine gun at approaching enemy aircraft. Then there is the matter of an actual gremlin on the outside of the plane who is determined to rip it apart and kill everyone inside. For much of the movie we only see Maude in the turret as she must content with the abusive crew, enemy planes and the destructive creature. After we see the premise of the movie, things only get more intense as Maude performs incredible stunts with determination to stay alive and defeat both monster and Jap fighters with actions that only get more and more preposterous. Like any good B-movie the audience must take it all in stride and just go along for the action. Moretz is very convincing in the role making us believe she is a 40’s star who can dish it out better than she gets. Shadow in the Cloud is the best B-movie I’ve seen since 2018’s Revenge, also a movie where the female lead must take command of life-threatening situations with implausible results. The movie is available on Hulu and is recommended for all action movie lovers!

In the Heights

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In the Heights                    4 ½ stars

For my first 2021 movie to be viewed in the theater I saw the musical extravaganza In the Heights. This is the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway musical about the joys of living in New York City’s Washington Heights, a primarily Latin community. Along with the wonder of the neighborhood are the struggles the main characters go through trying to find their place in life. The scenes go well beyond what could be done in the confines of a stage production using large set pieces with what must be hundreds of dancers and carefully choreographed numbers with moving cameras. The story centers on four or five young people who are all facing challenges and tough decisions as they search for their calling, be it in the community or in a new setting. The young cast is impressive but it is Anthony Ramos of the original Hamilton on Broadway who really steals the show with his convincing role as Usnavi, the Dominican Republic native who runs the bodega that he inherited from his parents. His well delivered hip hop lyrics to Miranda’s songs are masterful. The movie was released on home video, but it is best to see it on the big screen to really get the full experience.

I Am Not Your Negro

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I Am Not Your Negro                      5 stars

It has been four years since this documentary about writer and social critic James Baldwin was released and I finally got to see it. The renowned author of several books, plays and essays concerning Black’s place in American history was working on a new project when he passed away in 1987. The book was to be called “Remember This House” and concerned Baldwin’s personal memories of his friends Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. all of whom were assassinated when they were still young. This excellent documentary shows how articulate and eloquent he was through footage of speeches he gave and appearances on The Dick Cavett Show as well as readings from the unfinished manuscript read by Samuel L. Jackson. The scenes of angry white mobs and portrayals of Blacks in popular culture illustrate just how bad race relations were in America. More recent scenes indicate that we still have a long way to go, but there is hope. As Baldwin has suggested, you can’t study the history of America without studying the history of the Negro in America. The film is expertly put together and is deserving of the Academy Award nomination it received for Best Documentary.

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

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A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon                              4 ½ stars

That most mischievous animal on the farm, Shaun the Sheep is back for another full length animated picture, but this time around he is battling wits with a new visitor, the kind that arrives from outer space. The production company Aardman Animation has made this new stop motion animation movie using the lengthy process of photographing the clay figures one frame at a time, with wonderfully entertaining results. Shaun is up to his usual fun playing all sorts of pranks on the Mossy Bottom farm to the chagrin of poor Bitzer, the dog who must keep order. Things change one day when the visitor from space arrives in the form of a cute little alien with special powers who seems to just want to have fun too. Thus, Shaun and the alien get along quite well whether they are sampling the candy at the local store or navigating the alien spacecraft. The farmer in the meantime gets the idea of constructing a theme park on the farm with the name “Farmageddon” to take advantage of the craze about aliens that has taken ahold of the locals, only his herd of sheep are the ones that have to build the park. As you might guess there are obvious flaws in this plan. At the same time there is a government agent who has been sent to the town to track down the sightings of a mysterious UFO. All of these events combine to form a very amusing movie that will appeal to all ages. Be sure to watch for all the references to past science fiction movies and TV shows.

Nickel Boys

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Nickel Boys         5 stars

Nickel Boys by filmmaker RaMell Ross, based on Colson Whitehead’s novel about the experiences of two black teens sentenced to a racist boy’s reformatory in the deep South is certainly one of the most unusual films to come out in the past year. Its depictions of the nightmarish treatment of young blacks by white men in the south of the early sixties, while shocking, is not unfamiliar. There have been many films depicting the abuses suffered in the Civil Rights Era. (To Kill a Mockingbird, Raisin in the Sun, Selma). What makes this film unique is the way that Ross chose to construct the shots. From the beginning we see everything from the point of view of the main character, Elwood (Ethan Herisse of When They See Us), from his time as a young boy rolling in the grass, to his time with his grandmother and when he is offered the chance to go to a Florida university with all expenses paid. While walking to the college, Elwood is picked up on the road by a friendly driver, not knowing that the car is stolen. When they are stopped by the police, Elwood is falsely accused of the crime and is sentenced to the racist Nickel Academy, a hellhole based on the Dozier School in Florida. While there he makes acquaintance with another teen, Turner (Brandon Wilson of the Ben Affleck movie The Way Back) who befriends him. Then we start to see other scenes shot from the point of view of Turner with the scenes alternating between Elwood and Turner. The technique seems like a gimmick at first but pays off as it gives the viewer the feeling that they are experiencing the abuses suffered firsthand. The two boys have different outlooks on their situation. In Elwood we see the optimist as he records his activities in a secret notebook thinking that he will be able to reveal the truth of what Nickel is like and escape the brutal punishment. Turner is practical as he looks for ways to survive the abuse. It is all set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights struggle as we see clips of Martin Luther King and the moon mission of Apollo 8. There are flash forward scenes with Daveed Diggs playing the adult Elwood as he researches via the internet about an investigation of the Nickel site where bodies are being unearthed, reminding us of the wider abuses of the time. Plus, it assures us that Elwood survives the experience. Viewing Nickel Boys is an experience to be taken seriously. You will be thinking of it long after leaving the theater. The movie is one of the Academy Award Best Picture nominees, an honor certainly deserved.

Maria

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Maria    4 stars

Director Pablo Larrain has constructed not so much a movie but a portrait of Maria Callas, one of the greatest female opera singers who ever lived. In Maria, Oscar winning actress, Angelina Jolie gives one of her best performances to date, completely breaking from the action roles she is known for. In the movie we follow Maria in her final days living in her extravagant Paris apartment in the 1970’s where she remembers her greatest past performances while self-medicating with a variety of drugs. Her only company is her faithful butler and her housemaid who watch over her religiously. Occasionally, she is visited by her doctor who urges caution in the face of her deteriorating condition. He advises that she should not attempt singing anymore as it puts too much stress on her frail body. Even so she still goes to a vacant theater where she attempts singing with the help of a supportive pianist. She is visited by a TV journalist who records her telling of the important times in her life. The journalist exists only in her mind though and has the same name as one of the drugs she is taking. She even relates her long relationship with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Callas is framed in shots showing her almost in a trance, alternating to scenes of past opera performances made to look like old films of the fifties and sixties. Opera fans will adore hearing parts of pieces by Verdi, Bellini and Puccini in these segments. The voice of Callas is superb, apparently being a blend of Jolie’s voice and actual recordings of the opera star. The opera scenes not only serve to showcase Callas’s talent but also relate to parts of her life that she is thinking of in each particular scene. The production design of the street scenes in Paris and the fashion and contents of Callas’s apartment are done in such authentic detail you can imagine that you are really there. Of course, it is Angelina Jolie who delivers a performance that conveys the singer’s diva status as well as her lost sense of reality. Maria is nominated for one Academy Award, that being in Cinematography. The Academy did not see fit to nominate Jolie for another acting award, though she deserves it.

One of Them Days

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One of Them Days           3 ½ stars

I took a break from seeing the Oscar worthy films to take in a much talked about comedy set in South-Central Los Angeles, One of Them Days, starring two funny black women, Keke Palmer and pop star Sza. This is one of those all-in-one day comedies like Ferris Buehler’s Day Off where all sorts of crazy things happen over the course of a single day. Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (Sza) have been best friends since childhood and share an apartment in a complex in The Jungle. Dreux works in a restaurant and has an interview scheduled at corporate for consideration to run a franchise. Alyssa is a struggling artist. Early in the morning the landlord knocks on the door for the rent money surprising Dreux because she thought it has been paid. After some comic inquiry she discovers that Alyssa’s freeloading boyfriend has taken the rent money and spent it on t-shirts. The friends are told that if they don’t pay the rent by 6:00 that day they will be forced onto the street. Thus starts their adventure to find a way to come up with the rent money before time runs out. Plus, Dreux must make her interview a well! So we follow the pair through various spots in LA as they track down the boyfriend, and try various schemes to get the much needed money as the clock is ticking as we watch via the strategically placed graphics on the screen. The pair work well together and have good comic timing and handle all the physical comedy too. I’ve seen Keke Palmer in a wide range of movies going all the way back to Akeelah and the Bee in 2006, then Joyful Noise, Hustlers and then Alice. She always has a cheerful presence on the screen. Sza shows promise of comedic talent as well. Don’t take anything seriously in this movie. It’s strictly for laughs and the violence leans toward the slapstick variety. It is interesting to see the many places in Los Angeles and wonder what it looks like now in the wake of the recent fires.

By Design

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By Design            2 stars

If there is a movie genre for absurdity, then Amanda Kramer’s By Design would certainly fit that category. I am sure there are people that like this type of movie, but it’s not me (at least not this one). Camille (Juliette Lewis) likes to spend time with her friends, but she mostly listens to them, not participating in the conversations much. One day the friends go to a furniture store to look at the chairs they have on sale. One of them, a wood chair that is plain but elegant, attracts Camille’s attention and she must have it. Before she can buy it though, someone else purchases the chair and Camille is so upset that she transfers her soul into the chair leaving her own body behind in a trance. The chair comes into the possession of Olivier (Mamoudou Athie) who senses something special about it and essentially falls in love with the chair as if it is a person. In the meantime, Camille’s body at home is visited by her friends and her mother who have conversations with her as if she is engaged with them. Camille herself only stares into space without ever speaking. The movie sends a message that we are defined by the objects we possess. We have relationships with our possessions that can be as important to us as people. There are some interesting performances that can be called interpretive dance with bodies climbing over one another and over chairs. Some acting performances are very good, but at other times they have a bland speaking tone. Athie is especially good in his role. The movie tends to drag on too much and could have been better as a short. It was not a good start at Sundance with it being my first film. Amanda Kramer has directed several movies before, none of which I have ever seen.

Where the Wind Comes From

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Where the Wind Comes From 4 1/2 suns

From the country of Tunisia comes what I thought was one of the best films I’ve seen at the festival. Where the Wind Comes From is a sort of road trip movie featuring a pair of young friends on an event filled journey. Alyssa is 19, rebellious and tired of her boring life in Tunis and dreams of a better life away from her home. Mehdi, a 23 year old man is her close childhood friend, who is a talented amateur artist who has taught himself to draw. Alyssa learns of an art contest being held in a city across the country and sees it as a chance for the two of them to escape their boring lives in Tunisia and travel to Germany. She convinces Mehdi to enter and devises a rather haphazard plan to get to the contest which is tough since they have almost no money. Alyssa is a real risk taker, putting them in dangerous situations and it’s up to the calm and thoughtful Mehdi to keep things from getting out of control. There are some musical interludes that use animation as a way of showing Alyssa’s active imagination. The movie includes scenes that show the male dominated Arab culture and how this can be difficult for women. Generally, the movie is optimistic in tone and is about the relationship of close friends that have a shared interest. And it deals with African migration as those in tough economic conditions seek a better life. The two young actors portray their contrasting personalities, convincing us of the close friendship. The movie also features some beautiful Arabic music that was great to hear. The film is mostly in Arabic with some French. I am hoping that it wins some awards from Sundance and that it will be seen by a wider audience.