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.

Dream Scenario

Dream Scenario                 4 stars

One of the most prolific actors today is Nicolas Cage having appeared in some one hundred movies. He has also portrayed some of the oddest characters we’ve seen. Remember Adaptation and The Weather Man and of course Ghost Rider? He stars in Dream Scenario (directed by Kristoffer Borgli), a sort of fantasy horror about the price of fame in today’s society. Cage is Paul Matthews, a meek college professor of natural science who is bald, has a beard and wears glasses. There is really nothing special about him. He is whiney and still dreams of writing a book based on his graduate work from many years ago but has never done anything about it. One day strangers start to recognize him and then many of his students tell him that they remember seeing him in their dreams. They tell him that they see themselves in strange situations such as floating in the air or they see alligators crawling toward them, but Paul is there not doing anything, just walking by. Soon word spreads as hundreds of people report seeing him. Paul finds he has become famous, though his wife, Janet (Julianne Nicholson) does not experience the dreams and she feels left out. Paul hopes that the newly found fame will allow him to find a publisher for his book. But Paul finds the dark side of fame when a strange man invades their house and threatens the family. Things take an even worse turn for poor Paul as the dreams with him grow more violent and threatening to the point that people start to shun him, and his classes must be cancelled. When he is invited to a dinner party all of the other guests cancel because of him. He goes from being sought after for product advertising to possible appearances on Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson. The movie sort of feels like a darker The Truman Show where fame is visited on those who did nothing to deserve it. The fact that it is Nicolas Cage in the role only makes it more memorable. Cage’s movies are especially notable for having scenes where his anger is unleashed. (There was even a montage video that was made to show this.) Of course, the movie blesses us with a couple of Cageworthy scenes where he verbally attacks those who insult him. The film is put together well as the tone of the movie gradually shifts from light comedy to something approaching horror, (though nobody ever gets killed). It’s fascinating to see how a life can be forever changed with a little fame. Some have said the movie is an indictment of this society’s cancel culture. Borgli, as someone relatively new to directing, gives us a keeper in Dream Scenario. Also making appearances in the cast are Tim Meadows and Dylan Baker, both as friends to Paul and a bearded Michael Cera as the man trying to promote Paul as a celebrity. Anyone who likes quirky dark comedies should check out Dream Scenario. I wanted to see it the moment I saw the trailer!

Dune

Dune     4 stars

I finally saw 2021’s Dune by Denis Villeneuve having missed it in the theaters. It has to be one of the greatest challenges in making movies to attempt to bring Frank Herbert’s epic science fiction novel to the silver screen and Villeneuve was feeling up to it. In the story we follow young Paul Atreites who is destined to lead his house and people through a great struggle across the galactic empire. Timothée Chalamet with his ability to convey a dark sullen mood is excellently cast as Paul who is plagued with frightening visions of the future because he was bred to be the one to guide mankind through this period by the witches of the Bene Gesserit. If you are not already familiar with the book, I certainly can’t explain this complex story to you here, but I can say that the movie does capture the grand scale of Dune with the huge set pieces of the cities, the flying ships, the immense temples and of course the giant sand worms of Arrakis. The importance of Arrakis lies in its abundance of mélange, the spice that makes galactic space travel practical. There are some well staged hand-to-hand combat scenes both between armies and individuals that even show the effects of the Holtzmann shields. We get a good taste of the vastness of the Arrakis desert and the devotion of the Fremen to the land and their way of life. Many of the cast do credit to their Dune characters including Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreites, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Jason Momoa as the charismatic and loyal Duncan Idaho and Stellan Skarsgárd as the obese and beyond evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. There are many other cast members who played their limited parts well that I can’t name here. For the most part the characters seem faithful to the book. One change was to make the Fremen scientist Liet Kynes a woman as played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster. The character was even expanded compared to the book. Two characters missing from the movie are Feyd Rautha Harkonnen and Princess Irulan. The nature of the story requires a certain quality of mysticism, especially with the scenes dealing with Paul and the Bene Gesserit, so there is not always a completely human aspect to the story. The movie is necessarily the first part of a pair of movies so while it ends on a hopeful note, it does not feel quite complete. We are still waiting for part two which is promised to show up next year. I am to understand that the job of playing Feyd Rautha will fall to Austin Butler (from Elvis). I look forward to seeing what he does with that. There have been other versions of Dune in the past and this one is likely the most faithful to the book, but we will have to see what Part 2 has to offer. Also, I have read that there is a prequel in the works that focuses on the origins of the Bene Gesserit 10,000 years in the past.

The Holdovers

The Holdovers                   5 stars

Based on a list of several comedies I’ve seen over the years that includes Nebraska, The Descendants, Sideways, About Schmidt and Election, Alexander Payne must be one of my favorite directors. Now with The Holdovers, he has outdone himself. Payne is reunited with Paul Giamatti from Sideways to create a story about three lost souls that are forced to spend their Christmas break together at a New England boarding school for privileged young men in 1970. Giamatti is Paul Hunham, a professor of ancient civilizations who loves his profession, but despises the boys who have little appreciation for the insights Paul has to offer. Paul has been teaching at Barton Academy his whole adult life, but the staff and students all hate him. Since Paul previously found it necessary to fail one very politically connected student, the headmaster decided to punish him by selecting him to be the one to stay over Christmas break to supervise the holdovers, or those unfortunate students who have no place to go. Angus Tully (newcomer Dominic Sessa) is among the smartest yet most troubled of the students at Barton. He has been kicked out of three schools already and will have to go to military academy if it happens again. At the last moment he finds that he must be part of this small group instead of going to St. Kitts for break. Rounding out this trio is Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the African American head cook whose son graduated from the school, but then went on to serve in Vietnam and was killed earlier this year. She hasn’t gotten over the loss and you can just see the pain she experiences. The three combine to give us many humorous scenes, but also have a lot to share with each other about life and the struggles they are going through. Paul and Angus are both compelled to share critical moments from their past that shaped their lives. Oscar nominee Giamatti really gives a first-rate performance of the sad sack that is Paul who has an alcohol problem but keeps a positive outlook that hides the pain in his life. This may be Giamatti’s best performance to date or at least since Sideways. Sessa makes Angus a combative, smart aleck character who can also come to the defense of the unfortunate. I look forward to seeing more of him. (Also, fans of the series The Good Wife will recognize Carrie Preston in a small but important role.) The Holdovers will undoubtedly get several Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Everyone should see this one.

To Leslie

To Leslie               5 stars

One of the best based on real life, but largely unnoticed movies of 2022 must be To Leslie, directed by Michael Morris and starring British actress Andrea Riseborough (Nancy, Amsterdam). Riseborough expertly plays Leslie, an alcoholic single mother from a West Texas town who as we see from the movie’s first clip, won the Texas lottery. The movie picks up six years later when we see that she has squandered all the winnings on booze and abandoned her son at age 13. She is kicked out of the cheap motel she has been living in, so with a single suitcase is forced to live on the streets. Her son, James (Owen Teague), now a young adult finds her and takes her in on the promise that she not drink anymore. Naturally, she does not last even a day before she steals James’ roommate’s money and goes on another of her binges. This is too much for James to deal with, so she is kicked out once again and taken in by two estranged friends, Nancy (Allison Janney) and Dutch (Stephen Root) in her hometown where the cycle is repeated all over. Forced to face the consequences of her actions she has one last chance to figure out her life and make things right with those she has wronged. Riseborough strikes all the right notes in the role and is completely believable as the deceitful addict. She well deserves the Best Female Actor Academy Award nomination for this part. Marc Maron, the comedian, plays a large role in the film as a motel manager who befriends Leslie. He is perfectly cast in the movie. Young rising star Teague is good too as the son and you can see him next in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (but don’t expect to recognize him). The use of 35 mm film in making the movie gives it that gritty look of the seventies. If you missed this gem of real life when it was in the theaters, you can catch it now on streaming services.

The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy       4 stars

The summer blockbuster season may have started a bit early with the release of The Fall Guy, directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw). The action comedy starring Ryan Gosling as stuntman Colt Seavers and Emily Blunt as movie director Jody is designed as a tribute to the stuntmen who make action movies fun to watch. Part of the fun is watching Colt prepare for each shot and endure one take after another of getting blown up and burned. In addition, Gosling shows that he is made to be a comedic leading man whether he is crying to a Taylor Swift song or giving one liners while taking punishment from the bad guys (of which there are plenty). The pair of Gosling and Blunt work comedy gold in their scenes together with dueling dialogue especially in an early scene when Jody questions Colt about his character’s motivation in front of the entire production crew. Remember that last summer Gosling was discovering his manliness as Ken in Barbie and Blunt was enduring marriage to Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer. (It is clear that Gosling has not lost his physique since Barbie.) The premise is that Colt, the main stuntman for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), returns from an injury to work on a movie in Australia being directed by his crush, Jody in her first directing opportunity. Her big budget movie is a sort of Mad Max action film with some fearsome looking space aliens and big explosions. During production, the movie producer (Hannah Waddingham) approaches Colt, telling him that the star, Ryder has gone missing, and Colt must track him down. And with what is an obvious MacGuffin, he must not tell Jody about the missing star. (A MacGuffin is a device that keeps the plot moving but may not make any sense.) When Colt discovers a dead body, he soon realizes that he is in over his head and he must face off against multiple villains in car chases and fight scenes, something he is surprisingly good at. After that the plot loses all credibility and little about the story makes any sense. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying it. I finally gave up on trying to make sense of it. But I did enjoy the fight scenes that included Stephanie Hsu (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once) as an assistant fighting a villain at the wheel of a large truck a la Indiana Jones. (And then there is the dog that helps Colt in fights, while only responding to commands in French.) The level of action is high like Leitch’s earlier movie, Bullet Train. It slows down a bit when Blunt shares the screen, with her contributing to the comedic nature of the movie. The score is very upbeat including a few renditions of I Was Made for Loving You Baby performed by both Yungblud and Kiss. So, turn off your brain for two hours and enjoy some real mind-blowing action.

Poor Things

Poor Things        5 stars

What if you took Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein about a mad scientist reanimating a human of stitched together body parts in the 19th century, but substituted a woman for the monster, made it a comedy and oh, added a lot of sex? You would have Poor Things, the new movie by director Yorgos Lanthimos (known for his previous outings Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Favourite). The Greek director has created a sort of alternate world set in Victorian London, but with a mixture of odd architecture and transportation and clothing styles that shouldn’t exist. Behind the dark comedy and the science fiction aspects is a story of discovery of the depravity of the modern world and female empowerment. Early in the film in London we meet Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), our mad scientist who has a very disfigured face, along with a young woman named Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), who is his “experiment”. In his household are a few of his earlier experiments on live animals such as a dog with a goose head and a chicken with a pig’s head. Bella killed herself before Godwin (or “God” as she calls him) retrieved her body and then brought her back to life but with a few changes. Her mind is wiped clean, and she is being retrained in how to live. She can barely talk and struggles to walk and eat normally. Behaving like a toddler without inhibitions, Stone pulls off the act with comic effect. With the aid of a medical student as God’s assistant, Max (Ramy Youssef) Bella gradually learns to behave more normally and is taught about the outside world, but also discovers free will and masturbation. She is confined to the house, but when a self-centered lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) finds her and is stricken with her he convinces her to join him in travels across Europe. Leaving Dr. Baxter, Bella sees the world and is enlightened about many things like dancing and fashion and how others perceive her. She also learns about pain and suffering in the world and has empathy toward the unfortunate. But there is also the sex that she finds so enjoyable or as she calls it, “the furious jumping”. She even finds out that women can make money by having sex with men and becomes very accomplished at it in a Paris brothel! Lanthimos uses some innovative techniques like filming the first part of the movie in black and white to make it look older and using wide lens shots at low angles. The music is unquestionably strange throughout. The selection of placing the movie during Victorian times when women were especially subservient to men makes Bella’s transformation into an independent, confident woman who won’t be owned by a man all the more stark. There are several characters that can be regarded as cads, but strangely, Dr. Baxter isn’t one of them. He could be described as being paternal toward Bella, wanting to protect her from the evils of the world. The movie held my interest throughout and had many fun moments of satirical comedy, and did I mention there is lots of sex?

The Boy and the Heron

The Boy and the Heron                  4 ½ stars

A lot of movie goers were surprised at the release of The Boy and the Heron, by Hayao Miyazaki, Japan’s master animator. Ten years ago, he released The Wind Rises saying it would be his final feature film. Fans of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli fondly remember his earlier classics My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. His style typically involves a fantasy world with strange creatures having human qualities, drawn in a way that evokes many emotions in the viewer. In his new final film, he bases the story on his own childhood growing up during World War II in Japan. The main character is Mahito, a 12-year-old boy recalling how his mother was killed in a hospital fire caused by a bombing attack. His father moves the boy to the country near the factory his father operates. Also in the new home are his father’s new wife, Natsuko, who is Mahito’s aunt and is already pregnant, as well as seven old grannies who tend to their needs in the house. Mahito is consumed by grief from the loss of his mother and spends time exploring the environs around the house. Only, he is routinely harassed by a persistent large gray heron wherever he goes. One day he follows the heron to a great decaying stone tower and tries to enter it to investigate but finds he can’t get inside the structure. Mahito is warned by the grannies not to go there and is told the tower was built by his mother’s uncle many years ago. Then one day Natsuko goes missing and the gray heron reveals that he is really an old, ugly gnome with a voice, telling Mahito that his mother is not dead, and she can be found in the tower. Mahito follows the heron into the tower entering a new fantasy world that is inhabited by the living and the dead. There are many strange beings there including a large flock of angry talking pelicans, a young pirate, thousands of balloon like creatures called the Warawara that float through the air, a girl named Lady Himi who protects the Warawara with fire, and a kingdom of giant parakeets led by the Parakeet king. Also, present is a version of Mahito’s great uncle who is striving to build a perfect structure out of stone blocks. He is seeking a successor to his job and wants Mahito to take his place. Some of the scenes may seem confusing and there is a lot going on here, but the point seems to be that Mahito is working through his grief and is struggling to do the right thing in his life. Like his earlier films Miyazaki uses many familiar techniques in The Boy and the Heron to illustrate certain life lessons. Here the lesson is how one is to carry on with living when weighed down by extreme sadness. This film is somewhat autobiographical and is different from most in that the main character is a boy where he usually has female lead characters. (Like in Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.) As in many of his other films it has a variety of odd characters, some likable and many with undesirable traits and questionable motives. I recommend it for animation fans, but perhaps not for the youngest of viewers because of some frightening images.

Mean Girls

Mean Girls          3 stars

Twenty years after watching high school girls battle for dominance in their pack in Mean Girls, the movie is remade in musical form with the same title, but this time it is updated for Gen Z to include the new weapon of social media and cell phones used in the art of put downs. Mean Girls is a movie based on a Broadway musical based on a movie based on a book. The same comedy genius, Tina Fey is again behind the writing for the film, but while funny, the magic of the original movie starring Lindsay Logan as Cady Heron, the homeschooled girl raised in Africa and transplanted to North Shore High School doesn’t quite carry through. We get almost exactly the same story with a group of high school mean girls called the Plastics who are determined to be feared by most while maintaining their exclusive club, only with the musical numbers from the stage production transferred to the big screen. There are some very well performed numbers like the emotional “What’s Wrong with Me” and an elaborately choreographed number involving what seems like hundreds of students in the school hallways. There are also times when the songs make too much use of the students’ cell phones, so you end up with a montage of TikTok like videos. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows do a good job reprising their roles from the first film as Ms. Norbury and Mr. Duvall. (I really enjoy seeing Tina Fey as a Calculus teacher.) The cameo roles of Jenna Fischer, Busy Phillips and Jon Hamm were barely noticeable. But be sure to watch closely and you will see Lindsay Lohan as the Mathletes moderator. Angourie Rice does an admirable job in the Lindsay Lohan role of Cady, the girl who forgets who her friends are when doing the full mean girl act. The best performance of the film must go to Renée Rapp as Regina George. She really makes mean look good as she instills fear with a stare throughout the school as she walks through the hallways. She can certainly sing, never missing a note. Rapp is continuing the role from the Broadway production, and we can see why. She is perfect in the role first performed by Rachel McAdams. (She has been making the TV talk show circuit for the past year or so and recently even made an appearance on Saturday Night Live.) If you really like musicals, you should see Mean Girls. Otherwise, I recommend going back and watching the original starring Lindsay Lohan with its message of staying true to your friends.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio                   5 stars

Pinocchio by Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro is not your Disney’s Pinocchio. It is not at all like the underwhelming live action Disney version that came out the same year (starring Tom Hanks). Del Toro’s movie is done with creative stop motion animation using physical carved figures and has a very dark aspect to it. There are the same basic elements from the original 1883 story by Carlo Collodi. It opens with Geppetto (David Bradley), the carpenter losing the son he loves, only here it is due to a stray bomb dropped from a war plane during World War II. It is set during the reign of Benito Mussolini, who we actually get to meet at one point. Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) was carved by Geppetto out of grief and was brought to life by some magic spirits. He has some very bad habits, always getting into trouble breaking things and skipping school like someone with ADHD. Like the original story his adventures include joining the circus and encountering a giant fish at sea and having a tiny cricket friend (Ewan McGregor) who looks out for him. In this version Pinocchio is crudely carved and is very puppet-like, with a large head and narrow limbs so that it is obvious he is made of wood. He would not be described as cute. And since he is very gullible it is easy for a carnival master (Christoph Waltz) to persuade him to join the circus. When it is learned that Pinocchio can be brought back to life after being killed, the local Podestà (Ron Perlman) sees that he will make the perfect soldier for the Fascist cause and forces him to join the army. He goes on to meet Il Duce who is not amused by Pinocchio’s antics so promptly shoots him! Each time he “dies” he is instructed by the Blue Fairy (Tilda Swinton) about his fate and the choices he is faced with. The movie has more violence than the Disney versions but even so is still suitable for children. It still has the same positive messages of the importance of love and family like the other versions. It is a natural story for del Toro to tackle adding it to his previous dark fantasy movies like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. It is very deserving of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature it received.

Sasquatch Sunset

Sasquatch Sunset             3 stars

I first heard about Sasquatch Sunset at Sundance where it premiered earlier this year. There was a lot of talk about this movie which follows a family of Sasquatches in the North American wilderness, so I naturally had to see it when it was released in theaters. I know that I previously said The Beast was the most unusual movie of the year so far, but I now must award that title to Sasquatch Sunset. This movie by the Zellner brothers (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter and Damsel) imagines what it would be like to observe a quartet of these mysterious creatures in their natural habitat, following them for a full year. The movie is imaginative and frequently comical but is a little short on plot. But you must be warned that many filmgoers reportedly walked out early in the film. The actors are covered head to massive toe in hairy costumes that are certainly convincing, communicating through grunts and waling. The movie has the distinction of having a complete absence of dialogue in any language. Without getting too graphic, imagine going to the zoo and observing monkey behavior for a whole day and you might begin to understand what you will be in for. At some point the creatures engage in just about every bodily function you can imagine including sasquatch sex and childbirth. (There is even the rebuff of sexual advances.) As in their previous films, the Zellner’s provide plenty of comedic moments as well such as an encounter with a turtle and the consequences of consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms. This odd family consists of a papa sasquatch (Nathan Zellner), a mama (Riley Keough), and two juveniles (Jesse Eisenberg and Christophe Zajac-Denek) who spend their days munching on leaves and berries and encountering various wildlife in their lush green environment. There are times when you feel they are marveling at the natural world around them by their staring and the expression on their faces. (One of them struggles with the concept of counting when he looks at the stars or a handful of berries but finds he can’t express the idea of numbers.) We also sense that they were once part of a larger community when they try to signal others by pounding on trees with sticks and then listen for a response that will never come. Combine this with their reaction when encountering evidence of humans and you get a feeling of doom for this hairy bunch. Sasquatch Sunset is certainly not for everyone but can be a fun way to spend an hour and a half.