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.

Causeway

Causeway           4 stars

I viewed another Oscar Nominated performance in Causeway, the recent movie by director Lila Neugebauer available on Apple tv+. This low budget drama stars Jennifer Lawrence (of The Hunger Games fame) as Lynsey, a soldier recently returned from duty in Afghanistan after suffering a brain injury in an IED attack. At first the movie is about her rehabilitation in New Orleans, seeing doctors and caregivers and going through physical therapy and the frustration  of trying to regain physical function. But it is also about her forming a bond with James (Brian Tyree Henry of Atlanta), a local Black auto mechanic who has suffered his own trauma (though not war related) who sees someone suffering and is in need of a friend. Lynsey also has her mother, but she is very self-centered and of little use in Lynsey’s recovery. The two find that despite their widely different backgrounds there is a connection between them though it gets a bit rocky along the way. It’s a straightforward story without complicating flashbacks that owes a lot to the great acting skills of Lawrence and Henry. Brian Tyree Henry is honored with a deserved Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The Quiet Girl

The Quiet Girl    5 stars

The Quiet Girl is the third award winning movie featuring the Irish I have seen this year, the others being The Banshees of Inisherin and Aftersun. This one actually deserves more attention than it received having been nominated for Best International Feature at The Academy Awards. The film is the first by writer/director Colm Bairead and is one of the most emotional ones I have seen lately. We meet Cait (newcomer Catherine Clinch) a girl of 9 or 10 who is painfully shy and who obviously has a tough life both at home and school. At home she lives with her parents and five siblings on a farm where money is short as is any empathy. Her father is both a drunkard and a gambler and not much of a farmer either. He even complains about how much his children eat. Now her mother is pregnant with the sixth child. The parents agree that in order to make things more manageable, Cait should spend a few months with a relative on a distant rural farm where she can be cared for until the baby arrives. There is no explanation of why her and not any of the other children. The relatives are an older couple and are obviously better off financially than Cait’s family. The woman, Eibhlin (Carrie Crowley) provides attention and care to young Cait like she has never had before. The man, Sean (Andrew Bennett) is at first aloof but then warms up to her, allowing her to help out on the dairy farm and challenging her to run to retrieve the mail as fast as she can. They even buy her new clothes and shows. Cait is still shy through this, clearly a cry for help, but gradually she becomes more talkative, using the dialect of Gaeilge. (Fortunately, the entire movie uses subtitles.) Eventually, we learn of events from the couple’s past that bring these people closer together. It is never forgotten that this arrangement is temporary which makes the ending of the film a truly memorable and emotional moment. The Quiet Girl should especially be seen by anyone who is a parent as well as a wider audience. It could have easily received a nomination for Best Picture. I hope that we see more from director Colm Bairead in the future.

Marry Me

Marry Me            2 ½ stars

I have seen a large number of romantic comedies including some that are really thin on plot. Marry Me starring pop icon Jennifer Lopez and talented funny guy Owen Wilson has to count among the lightest of them. From director Kat Coiro, we get the Cinderella story of recording superstar Kat Valdez (Lopez) who is scheduled to get married to equally super popstar Bastain (Colombian superstar Maluma) during a live concert. This is done to promote her hit song, Marry Me. But moments before the planned ceremony word of Bastian’s infidelity spreads leaving Kat at the altar. What can she do but shout to a single dad in the audience and say she will marry him, (literally some guy)? The guy happens to be Charlie (Wilson) who is a middle school math teacher who is there to accompany his tween daughter, Lou to the concert, along with a work friend (Sarah Silverman). Charlie actually goes ahead with the ceremony in front of everyone, but later has doubts about what he has done. But who wouldn’t want to marry a famous popstar? Kat’s production team is all over the plan as it is great for publicity. The rest of the movie is entirely predictable as the unlikely couple go from reluctance, to being friends, to involved only to run into the inevitable crisis that will bring about the moment of truth. It is good to see these two, who are among the most likable stars in the industry today, but they both deserve more interesting material than Marry Me. Both of them have done better in romantic comedies in the past. I do look forward to seeing Owen Wilson in his upcoming movie, “Paint” later this year.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

The Mitchells vs. the Machines  4 ½ stars

I caught up with the Netflix 2021 animated feature The Mitchells vs. the Machines which tells how a typical dysfunctional American family dealt with the great robot apocalypse of 2020. This amusing action-filled movie connects well with young and old audiences with its references to how people are dependent, even obsessed with their wireless devices and what happens when those connections go away. 18 year old Katie (Abbi Jacobson) is about to leave home to start film school in California. She has been fascinated about making her own movies and posting them on the internet, but her father (Danny McBride) just doesn’t get her. He thinks it isn’t right that the family is so involved with their handheld screens all the time. So he changes Katie’s plans to fly to California and instead make it into a family road trip with Mom (Maya Rudolph) and son Aaron (Michael Rianda, also the writer and director), who also happens to be obsessed with everything dinosaurs. Katie is more connected to brother Aaron than to either Dad or Mom. These plans are upset when the next generation AI device, a mobile robot is announced by CEO tech wizard Mark Bowman (Eric Andre), which angers the digital assistant app known as PAL (voiced by the amazing Olivia Colman). PAL takes control of the thousands of gleaming robots and sets about on her plan to capture and enslave the entire human population. (Will we never learn what happens when robots are given the capability of AI?) The movie can be described as The Fabelmans meets Terminator. Somehow the Mitchell family along with their ugly pug dog, Doug escape capture, thus it is up to them to defeat PAL and rescue humanity. Entertaining comedy and action follow as the dysfunctional family must work together and come up with plans to battle the robots and find their way to the lair of PAL. They are aided by a couple of malfunctioning robots (voiced by Beck Bennett and Fred Armison) who see something redeeming in the humans. It’s an imaginative take on our dependence on our digital devices and the importance of remaking connections with our family and friends. There is plenty of cartoon violence that can be enjoyed by all audiences.

Scream VI

Scream VI            3 stars

The sixth installment of the popular Scream series that debuted back in 1996 descends on us in what is referred to as the sequel to the requel. I haven’t seen all of them but I think I know all the rules that have to be followed. There is a series of murders committed by a costumed figure called Ghostface using a large knife that are based on the movie franchise “Stab”. Characters return from previous movies that are apt to become victims of stabbings to come. The potential victims are also potential suspects. Each entry in the series must be more spectacular than the previous one. And there must be numerous nods to other horror classics like Halloween and Friday the 13th. (Also, the murdering tasks are typically shared by more than one Ghostface.) Many of these rules are explained to us thanks to a monologue from Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) where she outlines the whole series to us. The surviving characters from the previous outing in California have all migrated to New York City (minus Sidney Prescott, sorry Neve Campbell) where Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega of Wednesday) is now attending Blackmore University. Older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera of In The Heights), who previously dispatched the Ghostface from last year, followed her here to protect here and shares an apartment with several other young adults. Sam and Tara just happen to be the daughters of Billy Loomis who was the original Ghostface back in the nineties. It doesn’t take long before the bodies start falling with the appearance of Ghostface along with his menacing phone calls. Also appearing is the infamous Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox making her sixth appearance) who is now a news reporter trying to get a story. And Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere of Bring It On: All or Nothing and Amanda Knox) shows up again only this time she is an FBI agent sent here from Atlanta to investigate the murders. Local police detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney of My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Family Stone) becomes involved in the case after his own daughter becomes one of the victims. Before the killer or killers are revealed there are plenty of tension filled moments featuring confrontations with the masked killer and harrowing escapes, plus plenty of blood from all the stab wounds. Amazingly, some of the victims manage to survive deep knife wounds to the abdomen that should be fatal, leaving them with possible openings to return. But after six entries in this franchise things have probably gotten a little repetitive so it may be time to put Ghostface to rest.

John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4      4 stars

I have missed out on the John Wick movies until I saw Chapter 4, the latest in this action franchise featuring Keanu Reeves as John Wick, the greatest hit man ever. I have heard all about his grudge against a crime syndicate that was responsible for killing his pet puppy, but I didn’t realize the true scope of what is apparently the greatest action movie franchise of the past decade. The story is rather straight forward: There is an international crime syndicate called The High Table that has determined that John Wick must die so under the direction of the Marquis (Bill Skarsgard) hundreds of the organization’s best killers are gathered to track down and kill Mr. Wick along with anyone who helps him. However, the crime families have a rigid set of rules that will allow Wick to gain his freedom from The High Table and guarantee his safety. If he can challenge the Marquis to a one on one duel as a member of one of the crime families and defeat him he will be allowed to go free. The only problem is that there is an army of killers and assassins that have the incentive to kill Wick thanks to the bounty on his head that continues to rise as he kills each with amazing efficiency. The main point of the John Wick movies is to portray the high level of violence and the subdued way that the man in the well-tailored black suit is able to engage and defeat his enemies. The action sequences are done with long takes and moving camerawork that captures both the battling subjects and what is happening in the background. I greatly prefer this method to the closeups with quick editing done by so many action movies. Obviously, this requires painstaking attention to detail and some well executed choreography. (After seeing this movie, I will never think the same when I see France’s Arc de Triomphe.) There are some other important and colorful characters returning from previous outings that include Donnie Yen as Caine, a blind assassin and Shamier Anderson as Mr. Nobody who happens to have a dog that aids in the killing and then there is Ian McShane as Winston, Wick’s friend from the New York Continental Hotel who previously shot Wick. We also must say goodbye to Lance Reddick as Charon, the hotel concierge in one of his final performances. Now that I have a taste of the movie I think I will have to go back and view some of the earlier outings of John Wick.

Human Flowers of Flesh

Human Flowers of Flesh                2 stars

German director Helena Wittmann’s new movie Human Flowers of Flesh has been described as an exercise in elusiveness, with a procession of predominantly maritime imagery (Clayton Dillard). The film is about a woman who lives on a yacht with her crew who sails from Marseilles to Algeria where she becomes fascinated with the French Foreign Legion and then decides to travel to the headquarters of the Legion. I know this from reading the Imdb description of the film as I was not able to discern it from watching the movie. There is very little dialogue in the film itself and what little there is consist of short snatches of conversation among the crew about myths, the work on the ship and the collecting of letters and samples of plant specimens. The woman whose name we rarely hear speaks even less, but does spend much time swimming in the sea. The film focuses mainly on some spectacular images of the sea and marine life. There are some extended shots of a snail crawling a short distance and a long shot of microscopic creatures moving about the screen. The writer/director may be saying something about life being adrift with so much time spent at sea, but I find that very hard to tell from watching the movie one time. I don’t object to a movie having very little plot, but I at least expect to learn something about the characters and what motivates them. We don’t get much of that here. I very much liked Wittmann’s earlier film, Adrift, about a couple on a wrecked yacht trying to survive. But Human Flowers of Flesh left me very confused.

John Wick

John Wick            4 stars

Having seen the latest sequel in The John Wick series, John Wick: Chapter 4, I had to go back and see the original entry from 2014. This simple story about a retired hitman in New York City from writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski introduces us to John Wick (Keanu Reeves who returned to the screen after a notable absence) who has just lost his loving wife, when some Russian gangsters notice his 1969 Ford Mustang. The gangsters, including Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), not realizing who John Wick is, decide to deprive him of the car and in the process they kill his pet beagle puppy in what is likely the most famous movie dog killing since Old Yeller. Naturally, Wick must avenge the theft and the killing of his beloved pet by putting on his perfectly fitting black suit and arming himself with a myriad of weapons and seek out Tarasov who is the son of Russian crime boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). The elder Tarasov realizes what is at stake and alerts his army of henchmen placing a bounty on Wick’s head in order to protect the dimwitted Iosef. What follows can only be described as a bloodbath as Wick kills off each armed criminal coming after him whether it is in a crowded night club or on the city streets. We also get introduced to the Continental Hotel where Wick’s friend Winston (Ian McShane) is in charge. According to the strict code of the underworld, the hotel is a safe haven for hitmen where “business” must not be conducted under penalty of death. The level of violence while shocking does not quite compare to what is achieved in the later sequels but it is enjoyable for B action movie fans. I only wish I had checked this series sooner. John Wick is not somebody that you want to mess with!

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant                         4 stars

If you have seen any of Guy Ritchie’s earlier films you know that they are action packed and have a style all his own. His movie The Covenant that includes his name in the title certainly lives up to his standards. This time we follow the exploits of an army sergeant, John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and an Afghan interpreter, Ahmed (Dar Salim) as Kinley and his squad are tasked with hunting down IED factories somewhere in the wilderness of Afghanistan. It is 2018 so it is near the end of the war and Kinley is dedicated to this near impossible task with the threat of a Taliban attack at every turn. Ahmed is there because he is drawn to the job for the money and the promise of a visa to the US for him and his family. He also hates the Taliban for killing his son. As the pair face this challenge they learn to rely on one another despite the great cultural differences especially when they are being hunted by every available Taliban fighter in the area. The characters are not based on any particular men, but their story is symbolic of how the American military came to rely on the Afghan interpreters who were promised relocation to America and safety from the Taliban. The real meaning of the film’s title comes later when Kinley is sent back to the US with his family after being severely wounded, but feels the responsibility to get Ahmed and his family out of Afghanistan. He personally endures the frustration of dealing with government red tape and finally hires high priced mercenaries to help find Ahmed who has gone into hiding and get him to safety. The movie is thrilling as a war movie should be and full of harrowing scenes, and also shows the dedication of an American soldier and the loyalty to his fellow man. This is one that comes highly recommended.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed             4 ½ stars

The documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed by documentarian Laura Poitras tells two stories that are inextricably intertwined so must be told together. The maker of Snowden brings us inside the life and world of artist Nan Goldin and connects it to the struggle to hold the philanthropist Sackler family accountable for the opioid crisis that has plagued America for decades. Not having ever been addicted to drugs myself I have always found it confusing how something like this massive crisis could have happened. One should not go into viewing the movie expecting a complete analysis of what brought about this problem of drug addiction. The film is a deeply personal account describing the life of Nan Goldin from her upbringing including the death of her older sister, Barbara, her life in the art world in Boston and New York City in the seventies and eighties to her efforts in starting the activist organization Prescription Addiction Interdiction Now (PAIN) to fight the spread of opioids. Most of the movie consists of Goldin telling her own story through her photographs and slide shows from her artistic creations. She tells of her own struggles with drug addiction and dealing with abusive relationships as well as telling of the lives of some of the prominent artists of that time in New York City including Cookie Mueller, David Wojnarowicz and Vivienne Dick. Interspersed in her story are segments dealing with the PAIN protests against the Sackler family, the owners of the pharmaceutical company Purdue, who made billions in profits by selling OxyContin and other drugs and was largely responsible for the opioid epidemic that has led to the deaths of approximately half a million lives. The protests by PAIN are brought against the art galleries and museums that have accepted donations from the Sackler family that include the Met, the Guggenheim, Harvard University, the Louvre and numerous other universities. Goldin’s awareness of the Sackler family’s role in the widespread drug addiction started in 2017. The protests eventually led to the museums ceasing to accept Sackler money and the removal of the Sackler name from the institutions. The movie does not tell us the whole story of the opioid crisis which would include the roles of the medical establishment and the government in allowing this situation to exist for so long. Some background on the Sackler family is included, but the real focus is on Goldin’s life and her drive to do her part in stopping the crisis brought on by these drugs. This fascinating documentary received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary this year. I will say that I saw the film in a theater and it was followed up with audience discussion. Some of those present did not see the merits of the film and voiced puzzlement over why it would be shown.