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.

Navalny

Navalny                5 stars

If you are going to see one documentary from 2022, Navalny by Daniel Roher must be the one to choose. Alexei Navalny is the Russian dissident who challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling out the brutal nature of the government and the lies he tells the people of Russia. The film follows Navalny and investigative journalist Christo Grozev starting from the attempted assassination of Navalny until he is arrested and put in prison upon his return to Russia. The film plays like a thriller as we see him suddenly fall ill on a flight to Moscow forcing the plane to land in Omsk to seek medical attention for him. There he is kept by the authorities, however his colleagues fearing the worst find a way to fly him to Berlin, Germany where it is determined he was poisoned, a sure sign that the Kremlin was involved. While in Berlin and on the path to recovery, Navalny and Grozev undertake an investigation using telephone records and flight records to find possible candidates for assassins with Kremlin ties. The rest is fascinating to watch as the truth is uncovered and the crime is broadcast around the world revealing the monstrous practices of Putin. All of this happened well before the invasion of Ukraine, thus we now know just how corrupt Putin is and what he thinks of the common people. The film also includes moments with Navalny’s family so we see what he is risking with his political moves. The film serves as an effective reminder of how bad things can be when living under an authoritative dictatorship. This is the film that won Best Documentary at the Academy Awards this year. If you are interested in documentaries that tell provocative stories as they happen, you should really see it.

Luca

Luca       3 ½ stars

Luca, the animated feature from Pixar/Disney and directed by Enrico Casarosa, takes the theme of The Little Mermaid and puts it on the Italian Riviera. Thus we get some Italian flavor including a seaside village, some homemade tagliatelle, and riding bicycles over cobblestone streets. We also see a friendship formed between two young boys, the younger one being Luca and the older one is Alberto. They have a secret though. They are both sea monsters who are masquerading as humans. It seems that these creatures who live in the sea are occasionally glimpsed by humans from the village but after they leave the sea and dry off they can transform into human form and have the ability to walk and speak normally. This experience creates the desire in Luca to learn all about his new surroundings including to ride a Vespa and to make friends with a local human girl, Giulia. Unfortunately, for our sea monster friends they are under constant threat of getting wet which can make them change back to monster form and be revealed to the humans. It has some other elements similar to other Pixar movies like a local bully and a climactic event like a bicycle race so is not particularly original, but should be very enjoyable for the younger audience. Luca is not Toy Story but is worth a look.

You Hurt My Feelings

You Hurt My Feelings     4 ½ stars

The new movie You Hurt My Feelings, written and directed by Nicole Holofcener first premiered at Sundance this past year and was one of those I heard good things about but didn’t get the chance to see. Now it is in theaters and thankfully can be seen and appreciated by movie fans. The previous Holofcener movies I have seen, Friends with Money, Please Give and Enough Said all have a special comedic style. They feature relationships between people that care for each other and have conversations where slight amusing cuts are made between them. They are not cute but also are not vicious; they are for the most part honest. In this movie Beth (Julia Louis Dreyfus), a writer and writing instructor is happily married to Don (Tobias Menzies), a therapist. Beth has written a memoir about her relationship with her father that was a success and is now working on a work of fiction but can’t get a publisher to accept it. Her sister, Sarah (Michaela Watkins) is an interior designer and is married to Mark (Arian Moayed), a stage actor. The couple discuss everyday things and go about their jobs until one day Beth and Sarah accidentally overhear Don telling Mark that he thinks Beth’s new book is awful but is afraid to tell her that and instead only gives her more encouragement. This causes great distress for Beth but she is afraid to say anything and is now worried that her marriage is all a lie. All of this is handled in comedic style with the combination of Holofcener and Dreyfus giving us plenty to laugh at. Dreyfus’s acting here is not at all like her angry character in Veep. She plays it more subdued and really brings out Beth’s insecurities toward everything. Holofcener and Dreyfus worked together previously on Enough Said and it’s great to see them collaborating again in a light comedy. I find Julia Louis Dreyfus to be one of the funniest actresses working today. This pair working together has given us a real gem of a comedy.

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.