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.

No Time to Die

No Time to Die                  4 stars

I finally took in the most recent James Bond film, No Time to Die from 2021 and was not disappointed. It’s hard to believe that it has been 15 years and five films since Daniel Craig took on the role of MI6’s most daring and successful secret agent, 007. This is Craig’s last outing as Bond and it is very emotional as well. There are all the usual attributes of a James Bond film, the international locations, the over the top action scenes, the villains scheming to dominate the world, Bond’s high tech gadgets and of course the fem fatales. This time around Bond has officially retired from service to MI6 and is living in Jamaica with Dr. Madeline Swann (a returning and stunning Lea Seydoux), but his friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright also returning) of the CIA shows up telling Bond there is a new threat endangering the world and his help is sorely needed. It seems a Russian scientist (David Dencik) has access to a technology of a tiny nanobot virus capable of killing people based on their DNA structure and that can spread throughout the world. Somehow MI6’s M (Ralph Fiennes) plays a role in this, but the plan has gone wrong with the weapon of choice falling into some very dangerous hands. Also returning are Q (Ben Wishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris). There are other notable characters played by actors bringing the franchise into the 2020’s: new MI6 agent Nomi (Lashana Lynch) who is very resourceful and a scrappy fighter, a suspicious CIA agent (Billy Magnussen of Bridge of Spies and Velvet Buzzsaw) and a newcomer agent, Paloma (a very sexy Ana de Armas of Knives Out and Blonde) who puts up a good fight when needed. For the bad guys there is the captured head of Spectre, Ernt Stavro Blofeld, a name that goes back to the Bond movies of the seventies. This time he is played by Christoph Waltz (of Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained fame) to great dramatic effect. But the real villain this time is a man named Lyutsifer Safin (a very menacing Rami Malek), who plays a notorious role in Dr. Swann’s past. The director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, new to Bond films has put this all together, but it is Craig who makes it more than just another action movie and brings some emotional depth to a character who has plenty to lose but must carry on to save the world one more time. Even though this is Daniel Craig’s last time out as 007, we are assured that James Bond will return.

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid          4 ½ stars

In 1989 Disney started a new era in their animated films with The Little Mermaid, a fairy tale featuring a female lead that became an instant hit and a classic. Now they have continued with their latest trend of making these animated stories into live action films bringing The Little Mermaid to life with heavy use of CGI as part of their movie magic. The star of the film is relative newcomer Halle Bailey who previously has appeared in sit coms and in some movies as a child. Now she combines her very expressive face and angelic voice to this fairy tale. We follow the story of Ariel, the curious mermaid who longs to see what is out there in the world of humans and so challenges Triton (Javier Bardem), her father’s thinking about staying isolated from the humans. Her curiosity only grows when she spots Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) on a passing ship and has the chance to rescue him from drowning when the ship encounters a violent storm. Everyone knows the story of the mermaid and her transformation into human form, giving up her voice, so she can be with the humans. I will just mention some of the better performances as I saw them. Beside Bailey there is Sebastian (Daveed Diggs from Hamilton) the crab who must keep an eye on Ariel and follow along with her mischief. He does an outstanding job with the Disney classic song Under the Sea. The most comedic role goes to Scuttle, the confused pelican played by Awkwafina of Crazy Rich Asians. She combines with Sebastian to perform a rap number called Scuttlebutt that is very entertaining. Of course Melissa McCarthy is appropriately villainous and glamorous as Ursula the sea witch who schemes to get Ariel’s voice and doom her to captivity. We get a little of her backstory about her being Triton’s brother and a tragedy than befell their mother. Credit must go to the animation too with all the musical numbers that feature the various dancing sea creatures. While making them alive with color and movement, we still get the feeling that they are animated and not just realistic images of animals generated by a computer. Lin-Manuel Miranda, a producer of the film played a significant role in rewriting the lyrics, giving them a more modern take. The film has a length of two and a quarter hours having been expanded from the animated version. This may be a little long for very young audiences, but hopefully it will keep their attention. All this was put together by director Rob Marshall who previously gave us Chicago, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns. It looks like he has another hit.

Past Lives

Past Lives            5 stars

Past Lives is another of the Sundance movies from this year that I did not see in Park City. Fortunately, it has hit the big screen and can be seen by all audiences. The movie brings out the concept of In-Yun, a Korean belief that people that are connected to one another and will reunite in other ways in other lives at different times, hence the name of the film. This movie Is a real emotional tear-jerker that is aided by some great performances from the main actors. The story takes place in three time periods. We first meet Na Young and Hae Sung as 12 year olds in South Korea where they are close friends, But Na Young’s family is about to immigrate to Canada so they must separate. Later the story jumps ahead twelve years and Na Young now goes by the name Nora (Greta Lee previously appearing only in supporting roles) and is trying to get established as a writer in New York. Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) stayed in Korea and is doing his mandatory military service, but has never forgotten his childhood friend, so he has done an online search for her and finally found her. The pair carry on an on-screen relationship where the pair relate well to each other and they are obviously close, but they must end things. Seeing one another in person is not practical. In the third act, an additional twelve years later, Nora has married Arthur, an American man, (John Magaro) another writer and received her Green Card. Hae Sung still has not forgotten his friend and arranges a trip to see her in New York. One may think this would create a very awkward situation but the writing of first time director, Celine Song is so honest and subdued that she makes the characters seem very real. There is still an obvious attraction between the two main characters, but the reality of their situations determines that they must remain friends. Hae Sung even says that it hurts to like Arthur, Nora’s husband so much. Greta Lee is impressive as an actress who can express feeling with a simple look and through long pauses that tell a great deal. By the end you are wondering what will be in store in their next lives. Some people have already said this is one of the best films of the year.

I Saw the TV Glow

I Saw the TV Glow            4 stars

One of the movies featured at Sundance made its way to the theaters so I took in one of the festival’s favorites by watching I Saw the TV Glow. This teen horror about fandom of a cult TV show is the second feature from writer/director Jane Schoenbrun and is unique with its style and presentation. (Her first movie was the horror film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.) It has the potential to be a cult classic and is meant to appeal to young audiences who see themselves as loners and misfits but find comradery in a mysterious TV show. In the movie we meet Owen (Ian Forman), a middle school student who lives with his parents and has no friends at school. One day while accompanying his mom (Danielle Deadwyler of Till and The Harder They Fall) to a voting booth, he spots Maddie (Brigette Lundy-Paine (Bill and Ted Face the Music)), an older girl, also a loner, reading an episode guide for her favorite TV show called The Pink Opaque. Owen has heard of the show before but could never watch it because it is on Saturday evenings after his bedtime. (The movie is set in the nineties before streaming and DVRs, so most TV shows are watched live.) The show is very campy with poor special effects but is popular with young audiences. It is about two teenage girls (actors Helena Howard and Lindsey Jordan) who meet at Sleepaway camp and become friends though they live far apart from one another. They have psychic powers enabling them to communicate with each other. Each episode they fight against the monster of the week that always appears in ridiculous looking costumes. (Think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, except on a much lower budget.) The monsters are controlled by a mysterious being called Mr. Melancholy who looks like the moon and is out to destroy the girls. Owen and Maddie aren’t close, (She is gay, and Owen isn’t sure what he is.) but they bond over the show after Owen sneaks over to her house to watch it. Then Maddie provides Owen with VHS tapes of episodes so that he can watch it on his own. A couple of years later Owen is still watching the show but he is then played by Justice Smith (The American Society of Magical Negroes). (In a note of irony, the high school they attend is Void High School (VHS).) It is only then after Owen’s mother passes away, Maddie mysteriously disappears with her TV set on fire in her back yard and The Pink Opaque is cancelled after five seasons, that we get the sense there is more to the TV show than we realized. The teens find that their very lives are intertwined with the show, and they can’t separate their lives from fiction. The neon colors and disturbing images of I Saw the TV Glow are designed to give us a sense of escapism, to get away from reality and not think about the troubles of our lives. Goth style music and dark unkept rooms aid in the nightmarish feel of the whole experience. I Saw the TV Glow may be a new cult movie that today’s Gen Z will relate to for years to come. I would like to see what Schoenbrun will bring us next.

No Hard Feelings

No Hard Feelings              2 stars

After taking some time off to be a mom, actress Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games and X-Men fame tries her acting chops in the R rated raunchy sex comedy No Hard Feelings, written and directed by Gene Stupnitsky. We know that Lawrence can hold her own in comedies. (Remember the David O. Russell movies Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle?) Here she takes on the role of an older woman trying to “date” an introverted nineteen-year names Percy who is about to go to Princeton. It seems that his rich parents, (Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick) are worried about his lack of experience with women so they put an ad on Craig’s List offering a Buick to a woman who would try to bring Percy (Andre Barth Feldman) out of his shell. Maddie (Lawrence) is in trouble financially since all the rich people moving into town have been forcing her property taxes up, so she is willing to try out this offer. Lawrence can deliver on the comedy which includes a few amusing physical bits, but there is something lacking in the writing making it not feel very authentic. It doesn’t go as far as many raunchy comedies like The Sweetest Thing or Neighbors, but it’s also not quite a romantic comedy given the premise. It feels predictable too as Percy is not supposed to know of this arrangement, but it is inevitable that he will find out, which of course he does. There are also a number of appearances by supporting cast that seem to go nowhere, making me wonder why they were even there. (What was the point for Kyle Mooney to be here?) Unless you are a real Jennifer Lawrence fan you can pass this one up and not lose much. You should check out the movie Causeway from earlier this year that featured Lawrence with Brian Tyree Henry.

Raya and the Last Dragon

Raya and the Last Dragon             3 ½ stars

In 2021 the popular animated Walt Disney release was Encanto, the story of a magical family in Columbia. That same year Disney released the animated movie Raya and the Last Dragon which didn’t quite get the same attention in the era of Covid. This fairly typical Disney story concerns a fictional land called Kumandra, where 500 years ago a plague of sinister monsters that could turn people into stone was stopped by a race of dragons who lived peacefully with humans. But over time the humans broke up into factions leaving only one village to keep the dragon gem safe that continues to protect the people. That village is led by Benja, who has a daughter, Raya, a sort of young ninja in training. The peace is broken when another village breaks the gem, stealing pieces of it which releases the curse of the monsters again, spreading havoc across the land. The only hope is for Raya, accompanied by her pill bug friend, Tuk tuk to find the last remaining dragon who can defeat the monsters. She finds the dragon, a comical, energetic creature named Sisu who is powerful, but somewhat immature and needing guidance. Somehow, Sisu was chosen to be the last dragon after all the others were sacrificed to the magic, stone creating monsters. In classic Disney fashion, the pair and their friends must deal with many action filled dangers along the way to saving their people. The movie is rich in action and color, but was written by a team of writers so it is quite an amalgam of characters and references to Southeast Asia. It is not really a Disney princess movie but contains elements from a variety of Disney movies that we have seen before. The movie is very suitable for young audiences even including the monsters.

The Hand of God

The Hand of God              4 ½ stars

Academy Award winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino creates a Fabelman-esque story in The Hand of God, a sort of coming of age story loosely based on his own upbringing in 1980’s Naples. If you have seen one of his previous movies, The Great Beauty, you know he has set some high standards. In The Hand of God, we follow 18-year-old Fabietto (Filippo Scotti) who lives with his mom and dad and spends his time going to large family gatherings, going with his brother Marchino to acting auditions and dreaming about sex and soccer (European football), though it’s hard to tell which interests him more. He also has an interest in the movies. The early scenes are amusing in this two hour and ten minute movie, such as when his aunt Patrizia takes the opportunity at a family outing to sunbath nude in the presence of the entire family. Other relatives create equally absurd situations. A central element of the film comes when real life Argentinian superstar Diego Maradona joins the Naples soccer team creating a sensation for young Fabietto and the whole city. It is when a great tragedy strikes that forces the young man toward making decisions about what he should do with his life and is steered toward filmmaking. The Hand of God is largely fictionalized, but it does mirror events from Sorrentino’s life including the life changing tragedy. (The meeting with film legend Frederico Fellini did not actually happen though.) It’s worth viewing provided you can commit for the full duration. The Hand of God was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Asteroid City

Asteroid City      4 stars

Viewers of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City will immediately recognize the picturesque style and rapid storytelling techniques of the acclaimed director. This is apparently the eleventh film of Anderson’s going back to Bottle Rocket in the nineties. This one may be the most imaginative one yet. Here we get a story within a story as the film starts with a TV host in a 1950’s Actors’ Studio show telling us about the writing efforts of a famed playwright working on his play, Asteroid City. This part of the movie is in black and white, but when we travel to the play, set in a 1950’s southwestern town in the desert the screen switches to bright pastel colors so typical of Anderson’s movies. The town is the location of the annual Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention because it is the site of a crater created by an asteroid many centuries before. There, we see a large collection of interesting characters portrayed by many well-known Hollywood actors, including some regulars that Wes Anderson works with. They include Jason Schwartzman as a war photographer traveling with his Brainiac son, Scarlet Johansson as a Hollywood film star and Tom Hanks as a rich grandfather. Some of the actors have double roles portraying their Asteroid City characters and the actors in the play when they interact with the play’s director (Adrien Brody). There are too many notable characters for me to list here. You will have to see the movie to get the full experience. Eventually, there is a life changing event in the small town that brings the attention of the US military. We do get a fascinating story told with rapid fire dialogue and narration that’s familiar as was done in movies of the forties and fifties. You may experience some confusion about what’s going on as expressed by Schwartzman’s Jones Hall does when talking to the director, Schubert Green (Brody). His advice: “Don’t worry about it, just keep telling the story.” Wes Anderson’s movies aren’t always cohesive. They are more about being something to experience and Asteroid City is all about the experience.

Elemental

Elemental            3 ½ stars

The new Disney/Pixar animated movie Elemental takes on racism and the treatment of immigrants as well as the question of whether fire and water can coexist. In the much anticipated movie released in June, a couple from the foreign land of Firetown comes to Element City, a metropolis where the citizens are made up of the four elements: Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. They set up a shop in a rundown part of town and soon have a daughter named Ember, who grows up to be a young woman with a very fiery personality. It’s pretty clear that there are racist treatments toward the Fire citizens and that the Water inhabitants are the more privileged class in this modern land. Ember is destined to eventually run the shop, taking it over from Dad when he retires, but she has difficulty controlling a temper that can wreak havoc on the shop and the customers. When she causes a water leak in the basement, a Water city inspector named Wade appears who is overly sentimental and prone to crying spells. Wade threatens to report the shop over code violations, creating the necessary situation where Ember and Wade must work together to find the source of a water leak that endangers much of Element City. There is no bad guy here. It is just a case of decaying infrastructure, but it provides a way to show how the Fire citizens are treated and the excuse to get Ember and Wade together and find out if Fire and Water can exist together. There are some moments of great tension involving a sports arena and enthusiasm for a Wind athlete and one of his greatest fans, and then there are the inevitable meet the parents scenes. There are the usual comedic moments where we find a cute character. This time it is a young Earth kid named Clod who is destined to be a pest when he grows up. It is clear that the writers drew on some of their own experience as immigrants in developing the story, especially with the traditions from the old country and with the Fire people being excluded from certain events. The animation is first rate as expected with Pixar, but the story is a little thin in this one.

Sound of Freedom

Sound of Freedom          no review

I have not seen the Jim Caviezel movie Sound of Freedom, nor will I ever see it. The ads for it have been appearing regularly on television. The movie has had some very high box office numbers and has created a stir in the right-wing world so I felt compelled to make a public service announcement and warn people about it. The thriller action movie appears to be part of a crusade against child trafficking and features Caviezel as a sort of one man super hero out to rescue the victims of the sex trade. (Caviezel is best known for his portrayal of Jesus Christ in the Mel Gibson movie The Passion of the Christ.) In reality, it is a propaganda piece put out by the people who adhere to QAnon fantasy conspiracy theories such as the traffickers are harvesting children’s organs and extracting adrenochrome before killing them. The movie appears to be appealing to a mostly older white audience who are there to reinforce their views of what is wrong with the government and the country. Based on what I have read of the movie it is full of implausibilities and condemnations of the government. The movie was reportedly made in 2018 and it took this long to find someone to distribute it as it was considered to be a money loser. I have a suspicion that certain churches and right-wing groups have been buying out theater tickets in order to inflate the numbers. This has been a practice for other such propaganda movies. If you have not seen the movie you are warned to stay away from it. If you have seen it then you have my sympathy for enduring the pain.