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.

Obsession

Leave a reply

Obsession           4 ½ stars

What is a guy to do when the girl he loves doesn’t quite feel the same way about him, but he really wants her to? This is the question that is asked and answered in Obsession, by second time feature film director Curry Barker who at age 26 has already been making short films for years. This film could also be called Be Careful What You Wish For. Poor Bear (or Baron) (Michael Johnston) is a nice guy who has a massive crush on longtime friend and co-worker Nicky (Inde Navarrette). But Nicky is comfortable with them being friends and working with him in a family-owned music store where they are also friends with co-workers Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless). Ian knows about Bear’s problem and gives him suggestions of things to try. Bear is still afraid but knows he has to do something. Then one night while in a novelty store looking for a necklace to give to Nicky, Bear finds a mysterious item called a One Wish Willow. The container says that if the user makes a wish and breaks the stick of willow wood, then his wish will come true. So, Bear figures why not. What could he lose? He buys the item and at an opportune time while with Nicky makes the wish that Nicky would love him back and breaks the stick. Almost immediately Nicky changes and is attracted to Bear but starts to exhibit strange behavior. Ian and Sarah notice that the two always seem to be hanging out together and become very concerned over the sudden change in behavior. Nicky becomes so obsessed with Bear that she can’t stand it if they are not together to the point that she becomes like a whimpering child or she lets out a piercing scream. When in the company of others Nicky even lashes out in a jealous rage when she perceives that someone else may be giving too much attention to Bear. It is like an inescapable force has taken over her and Bear’s lives. This is very upsetting to poor Bear, and he is once again in a quandary as to what to do. When he contacts the seller of the Willow, asking them to cancel the wish he is told that they don’t do that. He must live with his choice. Obsession starts out as pure psychological horror that slowly becomes increasingly extreme. Not everyone will survive the last night! What really makes the movie pay off is the performance of Navarrette as Nicky as she transforms herself from the lovable version of Nicky to the raging psycho that strikes terror in Bear and those around her. She doesn’t do much for women’s issues though. The movie is very similar in theme to 2001’s Wishcraft, with Obsession being the superior of the two. (In that earlier movie the special item was the penis of a bull, and it allowed three wishes!) I found Obsession to be entertaining, and I rank it among the top two horror movies I have seen so far this year (the other being Send Help). If you like bloody horror that is more than sudden gotchas, then I recommend it. Curry Barker’s next project is Anything But Ghosts which has a much bigger budget.

Greta

Leave a reply

Greta                                    2 ½ stars

Greta by writer/director Neil Jordan brings a different twist to the stalker movie genre.  It stars Chloe Grace Moretz as young naïve Frances who having recently moved to New York City finds herself making friends with a French widow named Greta (Isabelle Hubbert) whom she has recently met.  The two met after Frances returned a lost handbag to the woman after finding it left on the subway.  The two seem like a good match since Frances has recently lost her mother.  Of course this is all too good to be true as we find out that Greta has some rather sinister motives that put poor Frances in peril.  Fortunately for her (and the movie) she has a very concerned roommate with good advice and a beautiful apartment in Manhattan who is played by Maika Monroe (from that great horror film It Follows).  The film follows much of the formula that goes along with your standard stalker movies including misfortunes befalling a pet (a dog in this case).  There was nothing especially noteworthy about this film other than the performance by Hubbert who is especially well-suited to the role of Greta.  Also present in the film is Zawe Ashton of Velvet Buzzsaw fame.

First Man

Leave a reply

First Man                             4 stars

First Man from director Damien Chazelle gives us a spectacular look of what it must be like to be on board those early space missions of the sixties.  It follows the career of astronaut Neil Armstrong from 1961 until the Apollo 11 moon mission with all the perils involved in space travel.  I found the moments about the time during the missions to be mesmerizing, but the parts of his personal life to be less so.  Maybe Ryan Gosling was not best suited for the role.  That cannot be said about Claire Foy who played his wife who brought some very painful emotion to her role.  Chazelle is best known for previous works La La Land and Whiplash both of which I found to be superior films.  First Man comes close but just misses that level.  The visual effects were first rate and the movie received a well-deserved Oscar in that category.

BlackkKlansman

Leave a reply

BlackkKlansman                 5 stars

I finally watched the Spike Lee movie BlackkKlansman from last year and have to say the wait was worth it.  This film about a black cop in Colorado Springs in the seventies who infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan chapter in every bit as relevant today as it is for the times that it portrays.  The movie is quite graphic with the colorful language that the white racists to describe the blacks that live in their city.  There is little left to the imagination here.  And the cops who are working undercover to infiltrate “The Organization” have to appear to be every bit as racist as those they are investigating.  I understand that when Lee was introduced to the book it is based on, he took an immediate interest in it and wanted to include some comedic elements that he is known for and he wanted to relate it to events today.  To that end he shows us the confrontation that happened in Charlottesville in 2017 so that we are reminded that this hateful element of American society is still here and shows no signs of lightening.  Both John David Washington and Adam Driver were excellent in their roles.  And Topher Grace does a creditable job of portraying David Duke, the leader of the Klan.  The film well deserved its Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and will provide plenty of opportunity for discussion and analysis.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Leave a reply

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny      2 ½ stars

My tour of the Disney channel brought me back to the fifth and final installment of the classic Indiana Jones adventure movies first created by Steven Spielberg back in 1981: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The movie appeared fifteen years after the previous film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where Jones (Harrison Ford) did battle with a Russian speaking Kate Blanchett, which I was not impressed by at the time. It’s not Spielberg this time, but James Mangold (A Complete Unknown, Logan, Wolverine) who is running things from the director’s chair for his second Indiana Jones movie. (Yes, he did Crystal Skull too.) Now it’s a nearly eighty-year-old Indy who must battle the bad guys while trying to recover a valuable ancient artifact, in 1969 New York City. But before all that we must travel back to the closing days of World War II when the younger Indy (thanks to the magic of de-aging special effects) was escaping from the Nazis and fighting to keep one half of the Antikythera or Archimedes’ Dial out of the hands of the evil Professor Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round)), who believes it has time travel properties and that he can use it to change the outcome of the war. We get all the trademark scenes that the Indiana Jones movies are known for: the chase scenes at a breakneck pace and the narrow escapes as Indy dispatches the enemies, one by one. But then back in 1969, Jones is approached by Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag)), Indy’s goddaughter. She has been studying the circumstances of her father, Basil, and Indy’s encounter with the Nazis and thinks she has an idea of where the two halves of Archimedes’ Dial may be. But as things go before Indy can agree or not agree with Helena’s plan, Professor Voller, who has survived the war, appears and together with his former Nazi henchmen try to acquire the dial for themselves and get rid of Indy. So, it’s off to another wild chase, this one through the streets of New York (with Indy on horseback), in the middle of a parade that is honoring the three Apollo 11 astronauts who have returned from the first moon landing. And there also happen to be war protesters to add to the mayhem. But this is just the beginning. The adventure continues in places like Tangiers, Greece and Sicily, as Indy and Helena try to stay a step ahead of their Nazi pursuers, always with the obligatory fight scenes and imminent danger. And as usual, there is the required reference to Indy’s fear of snakes. Ultimately, we find out just what powers the dial does possess and they may not be what these villains expect. Mangold has incorporated all the elements of an exciting Indiana Jones here, but one cannot escape the feeling that this has all been done before and better. Perhaps it would be better to leave our favorite aging heroes be and just keep their heroic acts and death-defying feats active in our memories.

The Devil Wears Prada 2

Leave a reply

The Devil Wears Prada 2                4 stars

It has been twenty years since a young Andy Sachs took a job at the high fashion magazine Runway where she worked for the most demanding and condescending boss in the industry; i.e. Miranda Priestly. That was The Devil Wears Prada in 2006, when Academy Award winner Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!, Sophie’s Choice portrayed one of her most iconic characters and Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries, Colossal) had one of her early film roles as Miranda’s assistant. Now they have returned in The Devil Wears Prada 2, again directed by David Frankel (Hope Springs, Marley & Me), where publishing has reached the digital age. (It’s hard to imagine it, but the original movie happened before smart phones.) Andy left Runway long ago, became a successful investigative journalist and won a prestigious award only to find out by text that she was fired. Fortunately, the owner of Runway, Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman) immediately hires her to be the magazine’s features editor where she will once again report to the highly critical Miranda who did not approve the new hire and is just waiting for Andy to fail so she can fire her. The ever-loyal Nigel (Stanley Tucci (Conclave, A Midsummer Night’s Dream)) is still there as the fashion director, where he helps to keep things running smoothly, having a bigger role than in the first film. A lot has changed in twenty years. In the internet age, Runway is no longer a print magazine and is now digital. When billionaires can buy out a company on a whim, journalism is not at all what it used to be. Careers can be quickly destroyed. Budgets get slashed. (Gasp. Miranda has to hang up her own coat!) And guidelines from HR must be followed. Miranda still humiliates her subordinates, but she has lost some of her bite in her later years. When the Runway team must protect their revenue stream, they pay a visit to Dior, one of their biggest advertisers, and find that Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt (The Smashing Machine, Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place)) now runs the place. Miranda now has to accept whatever deal Emily has to offer to the publication with no negotiation. Andy’s friend Lilly (Tracie Thoms (Grindhouse)) is still there to encourage her. Andy shows she still has it by landing a first interview with fashion icon Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu (Kill Bill)) who has been recently divorced from her billionaire husband, Benji (Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder)). Benji cares little about traditions of the past and is only interested in making more money in this new age. It is clear that the publishing business is not what it used to be, though there is still opportunity to meet celebrities of the fashion industry, particularly in one scene at Miranda and husband, Stuart’s (Kenneth Branaugh (Death on the Nile, Belfast)) sprawling house. (Many celebrities appear as themselves though I didn’t recognize them, save for Jon Batiste.) And what would a fashion movie be without a trip to fashion week in Milan? We get a good look at the latest eye-popping dresses on supermodels in the Italian city. (And there is a special appearance from a certain pop music star, that I will not reveal here.) The movie’s soundtrack is very appropriate to the times, including songs from Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa. The sequel loses a little of its impact from the original, but does have a feel-good ending, showing that despite being in a cutthroat industry, the characters do end up supporting each other. The Devil Wears Prada 2 may not be one of the year’s biggest hits but is certainly worth seeing. Look for Emily Blunt in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming Disclosure Day.

Captain Marvel

Leave a reply

Captain Marvel                 3 stars

I had the chance to see Captain Marvel unexpectedly because I was looking for something else that turned out not to be playing at that theater.  There has been a lot of attention on this movie because it is the first Marvel Comics movie that features a female lead.  Brie Larson stars in the lead role as Carol Danvers/Veers.   Not being a comic book person, this character is not one that I am at all familiar with.  She is best known for fine previous roles in Short Term 12 and Room.  Larson is a fine actress but seems to go through much of this film without that much expression.  The story is interesting enough, set somewhere else in the galaxy where a war is going on between alien races The Kree and The Skrulls.  Our heroine is having strange dreams that show she has memories from two different lives.  Eventually, this condition will be explained but it certainly takes a while.  Her journey takes her to earth in about 1995 where we get plenty of references to 90’s pop culture and technology. (Blockbuster Video, Nine Inch Nails)  There she meets Agent Nick Fury of Shield played by a CGI version of Samuel L. Jackson.  He is aged backwards by computer effects back to his “A Time to Kill” self.  We get to see plenty of action and a few plot twists until the big climax where comic book magic takes over giving Captain Marvel practically unlimited powers which is the point things become boring for me.  This is usually my problem with superhero movies, when the characters display their super abilities that have no place in our own universe.  Captain Marvel is a step forward in allowing women to have major roles in Hollywood, but it is much the usual story about big budget comic book action movies that are overblown and ultimately lose my interest.

Apollo 11

Leave a reply

Apollo 11                             4 stars

The first Sundance movie I’ve seen since being at Sundance is Apollo 11, the thrilling documentary about the 1969 moon landing.  The movie consists entirely of footage from the time of the historic mission including film shot from onboard the space capsules.  The film is edited expertly to keep our interest throughout and has an effective score as well.  It includes footage of conferences with astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins and quite a lot showing an army of support personnel at mission control.  Especially compelling is the part showing the actual landing on the surface of the moon bringing reality to the fact that the small ship was just seconds away from running out of fuel at the critical time.  Anyone who can remember being glued to their television during the mission will appreciate seeing Apollo 11.  Those too young to remember it should see it for the amazement of what these people were able to accomplish with the technology available in the sixties.  The film was showing at Sundance this year but I believe the demand for it was very high.  I’m glad to have had the chance to see it in the theater.

The Christophers

The Christophers             5 stars

Steven Soderbergh has directed, written and done cinematography for more great movies than I can count including Sex, Lies and Videotape, Magic Mike and the Oceans Eleven series. Now he has done it again with The Christophers, a film that takes on the subject of what makes art great while also criticizing the influence of the rich in valuing art. Plus, it shows off the talents of two great British actors working today: Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings series and the dreadful Cats) and Michaela Coel (Mother Mary). McKellan is Julian Sklar, an aging accomplished artist who hasn’t painted any new works in thirty years. He is known for painting a series of portraits called The Christophers but never finished the last series of paintings. It is rumored that the partially done works are stashed away in his attic. Now he has become a recluse, hiding away in his London house while collecting checks for his appearances as a judge on a TV reality show. Coel is Lori Butler, who once had a starting career as an artist but now works as an art restorer, as she is known for her ability to mimic the styles of famous painters. Lori is approached by Sklar’s two greedy children (James Corden (Cats) and Jessice Gunning) who offer her the chance to make some money by getting hired as Sklar’s assistant. The plan is for her to gain access to the house, find the unfinished paintings, complete them to make them look like Sklar’s work, and put them back. Then, after the artist dies his children will “find” these lost works, put them on the market and make millions. Sounds like a great plan, right? What could go wrong? If you have ever seen a similar crime movie, the answer is plenty, right? The appeal of the film doesn’t depend on how the plan will turn out. We are pretty sure the crime won’t go according to plan. The real interesting thing is watching how this pair interact with each other, relating their experiences in the art world, while engaging in a battle of wits against each other. The two are masters in mind games against the other. At times Sklar becomes abusive, issuing caustic comments, walking around dressed in a bath robe and criticizing Lori. Lori stands up to him but keeps silent when needed. When she gets fired, she refuses to accept the termination. Most of the movie takes place in Sklar’s home and special recognition must go to the production team for creating something that looks like it would belong to an artist who has lived there for decades. The house is filled with tools of the trade and various knick-knacks that one would expect. It is a pleasure to see these two stars on the screen together. Can it be too early to think of Oscar nominations for both?

Gloria Bell

Gloria Bell            4 stars

Gloria Bell, starring Julianne Moore as Gloria, a middle aged divorced woman who loves to go to clubs and dance to seventies music is one of the most fun movies I have seen so far this year.  It is directed by Sebastian Lelio, who also directed the previous version, Gloria made in Chile, a few years earlier.  In the movie, Gloria seems happy, but she is dealing with her two adult children, who don’t seem to have time for her and have their own problems.  She also is trying to start a relationship with a newly divorced man, who she likes, but soon finds out that he is certainly not right for her.  Through it all, Moore puts on a convincing performance as a woman who is resilient and won’t allow others in her life stand in the way of her own happiness.  I encourage everyone to see this one while it is still in theaters.