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.

Send Help

Send Help            4 stars

If you’ve ever seen a Sam Raimi directed horror movie you know you are in for plenty of comic violence, bloody gore and perhaps a moral message as well. And it’s certainly going to be fun. In Send Help you get all that and more from the Director of The Evil Dead movies and Drag Me to Hell and Executive Producer of Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess. When I saw the preview, I knew I had to see this one. In the headquarters of a nameless corporation, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams in a role unlike any of her earlier ones) has been faithfully working in the Strategy and Planning Department for seven years and has been promised a position as vice president by the president if she sticks with it. She is very smart and well read at survival techniques (being a big fan of the TV show Survivor) but not well liked by her co-workers. Bradley (Dylan O’Brian) arrives as the new president after the sudden death of his father, the previously mentioned company president. Bradley doesn’t appreciate Linda’s disheveled looks and openly mocks her. He then promotes his fraternity brother, who has been there only six months to the coveted vice president position leaving poor Linda in shock. Bradley can’t get rid of Linda because she is too valuable to the company. So, he takes her along on his private jet to an important meeting concerning the impending merger in Bangkok. But before the plane lands it encounters a terrible storm that causes the plane to crash somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Linda survives the crash and finds herself on a deserted island. Before long though she finds Bradley has washed up on shore, unconscious and with an injured leg. She nurses him back to health and the two of them survive on coconuts, native fruits and fish. All that survival knowledge comes in handy, and she relishes this environment where she is the one in authority, but Bradley resents the circumstances where he has no valuable skills and must be subservient to Linda. Their stay on the island becomes a battle of wills with each eventually feigning a spirit of cooperation but also holding something back from the other. Along the way there is conflict growing between them, plenty of exaggerated gore (in Sam Raimi fashion), injuries (real and implied) and vomiting. McAdams really sinks her teeth into this role, gleefully relishing the circumstances she finds herself in. O’Brien is convincing as the obnoxious rich kid who has had everything handed to him, smirking at those who are less privileged. You really want to hate him. The dark comedy accelerates to a dramatic and violent conclusion that only Sam Raimi can pull off. I was laughing my head off. So go see the movie and have a great time for two hours.

Everybody to Kenmure Street

Everybody To Kenmure Street         5 suns

In the category of World Cinema Documentary comes the story of a community coming together to save undocumented immigrants from deportation.  In 2021 the UK police executed a dawn raid in a neighborhood in Glasgow, Scotland, picking up two men from their home and loading them in a police van for deportation to their home countries.  Before they could leave though, a spontaneous crowd of neighbors appeared in the streets and in an act of civil disobedience they formed obstacles and demanded that the men be freed.  Since this happened in the age of social media there was plenty of video recording being taken and word spread through the surrounding area.  The movie combines the video footage with narration from witnesses and some reenactment of events.  The film could not be more relevant to what is happening in the US today with the current administration.  It shows what can be accomplished with peaceful resistance to a tyrannical government. The movie is inspiring and moving.

The Lake

The Lake.      4 suns

The Lake concerns an environmental time bomb that is affecting the Great Salt Lake in Utah.  For years the water level in the lake has been dropping as the surrounding area has been using more water for the residents and for agriculture.  The land near the lake is becoming contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals and the wildlife is dying.  When the wind comes huge dust storms threaten the wellbeing of the human population.  Three government researchers are featured in the film who present their findings and talk of the need for more study and for more government funding to reverse the trend.  They express their frustration of getting the attention of elected officials and the people. They emphasize that of all the cases of lakes in decline around the world, never has a lake been saved from disaster. The film ends on a very hopeful note.  The researchers were present and expressed optimism at getting funding to fix the monumental problem.  Only time will tell if the Great Salt Lake and the surrounding environment can be saved.

No Other Choice

No Other Choice               3 stars

Man-su is the kind of man who has it all.  A good paying job, a beautiful wife, a house in the suburbs and two children.  He is a successful middle manager in a Korean paper company and a past Pulp Man of the Year.  But suddenly an American company has bought out the company and that can only mean job cuts. Man-su finds himself out of a job and after a year of searching still has not landed a new one forcing spending cuts at home. What can a man do except kill the competition for what openings there are in his industry? This is the premise of Park Chan-wook’s comedy drama No Other Choice.  It seems I don’t see things the same as most of the critics as I didn’t appreciate the change in style going from serious drama to slapstick comedy.  There was too much of a change in tone that bothered me.  Man-su (played by Lee Byung hun of Squid Games) takes out fake job ads for a paper company to find the best candidates so he can find them and murder them.  Then he will be the most qualified man remaining.  The problem is that Man-su is really bad at killing, often getting mixed up in the victim’s lives. Then he bumbles his way through each situation. The movie is a long way from being plausible, but apparently that is what Park has in mind.  I wasn’t buying it, which ultimately made the movie less interesting for me. It doesn’t get my vote for Best Foreign Film Academy Award.

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse                 4 stars

The Lighthouse is a very dark moody horror film that follows the interactions of two lightkeepers who must work together on an isolated island somewhere in New England in the 1890’s.  This film is by the horror movie master, Robert Eggers who made The Witch a couple of years ago.  This movie may not have quite the supernatural elements that that excellent horror movie did, but certainly scores on its hopeless mood using black and white filming, a smaller screen and some very mournful music and sound effects.  The two actors portraying the lightkeepers give us amazing performances.  Willem Dafoe is the aging experienced man who gives the orders, instructing the younger worker, Robert Pattinson in some of the worst back breaking, miserable work you can imagine.  Both give us haunting and masterful performances.  If there were an Oscar for the best curses uttered by an actor, Dafoe would win easily.  The story centers on the conversations and interactions between the two men as they alternate from hating each other to showing genuine concern for one another.  But ultimately the movie is about a slow descent into madness with a few fantasy elements thrown in.  It is up to the viewer to interpret what these fantasy scenes are about.  And since it is a horror movie there are some very unsettling scenes involving human bodily functions and sexual images.  This film is definitely a downer about humans in a deteriorating situation, but does it in a most impressive manner.  It is not a movie for everyone.

Jojo Rabbit

Jojo Rabbit                          4 stars

In a time when our society seems to be tearing each other apart in the culture wars who would conceive of a satirical comedy about Adolf Hitler and the Nazi campaign to exterminate Jews?  Here comes Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit to take on the task of telling us the insensitive, comedic story about a 10 year old German boy who is a member of the local Hitler Youth during World War II, where the children are taught to fight for their country and to hate the Jews.  Besides all this, young Jojo as he is called, has an imaginary friend who just happens to be Adolf Hitler.  There is plenty of comedy here that is used to poke fun at the hate being spread against our fellow man.  When little Jojo has to return home to his mother, he happens to discover that Mom is secretly hiding a young Jewish girl in the house.  Jojo considers turning her in to the Gestapo, but is reluctant when the girl promises to cut off his Nazi head if he does.  Given this stalemate, Jojo decides to learn about what Jews are like by quizzing the girl who tells him all sorts of nasty things that Jews do.  Of course by doing so the two are only becoming closer and come to realize how much alike they are.  The film delivers on its message with the help of fine performances from Thomasin McKenzie as the Jewish girl, Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo and Sam Rockwell as the incompetent Captain Klenzendorf who serves as the camp commander for the local Hitler Youth.  Waititi brings us a movie with a message of hope amid all the slapstick humor and dramatic moments.  I highly recommend it.

Zootopia 2

Zootopia 2           5 stars

Do you remember following the adventures of Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) as these two adventurers fought to solve crimes in the animal city of Zootopia? Well, they are back officially working together as partners on the police department in the Disney movie Zootopia 2. This time they really messed things up causing multiple mishaps and property damage, resulting in them being referred for remedial training for mismatched partners. In this colorful city where all species of land animals coexist, regardless of predator/prey statis or habitat, there are many amusing popular culture references to notice if you are watching close enough. They have streaming platforms like EweTube and HuluZoo. I saw references to Mulholland Drive, The Shining and Silence of the Lambs. I am sure if you look closer there will be a few more that I missed. In this film we learn of the origins of Zootopia as they are getting ready to celebrate the city’s centennial. Decades earlier the Weather Walls were designed by an ancestor of the Lynx family that made the city of animals possible. Only, all reptiles were excluded since they were regarded as enemies of the other animals and were not to be trusted, so they survive on the outskirts of the city. But at the city celebration Hopps and Wilde make acquaintance with Gary (Ke Huy Quan of Everything Everywhere All at Once), a snake who is out to clear his family’s name. Gary claims that it was his ancestor that created the Weather Walls and it was the Lynx family that stole it from the snakes. Hopps and Wilde are all too willing to accept his story and are off on a new quest to find out the truth. The charming thing about the movie is the way that Hopps and Wilde interact with one another. Hopps is very enthusiastic about the case, and Wilde is interested in his own safety but must go along with Hopps to keep her out of trouble. There is a certain amount of sexual tension between these male and female characters that reminded me a lot of Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago on my favorite cop show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. (It’s interesting that Andy Samberg is in the cast but here he is Pawbert, one of the Lynx family.) Just like in Zootopia, there is a wide variety of amusing characters, including Dr. Fuzby (Quinta Brunson), Police Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) and a politician named Brian Winddancer (Patrick Warburton). There is even an appearance by the slow moving three toed sloth, Flash Slothmore, one of the favorites from the first movie. Zootopia 2 is fun for all ages and in Disney fashion, teaches a lesson of acceptance of others despite our differences. I look for Zootopia 2 to be nominated for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award and possibly win just like the original. Let me know if you have noticed more pop culture references in the movie.

KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters                     4 ½ stars

I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about for the Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters, so I viewed it months after it was in theaters and viewed by record crowds. I know very little about KPop, having some awareness of BTS but that is about it. The movie is very colorful and action packed, following a very popular female musical trio called Huntrix, voiced by Arden Cho, Ji-young Yoo and May Hong. The story is rather light with the premise being that there are demons trying to get into the souls of music fans by means of capturing them with popular tunes. Huntrix can resist the threat with their own popular tunes as long as they can write and perform the best songs for their fans. The problem for them happens when the main demon character comes up with a scheme to defeat Huntrix by enlisting a boy band that challenges them to a competition to become more popular with their fans. At least that is what I took from it. The real entertainment comes from the very catchy and upbeat tunes in the movie. These include their top hit, Golden. (I kept hearing it in my head for days afterward.) So, if you are ready for some rather mindless entertainment, you should see it. Then you can understand what all the kids are excited about. I understand that it broke the box office record for animated movies. And it is sure to receive an Academy Award nomination for Animated Film and probably will win.

It Was Just an Accident

It Was Just an Accident                  4 stars

It Was Just an Accident, by the noted Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi is a revenge movie but is deeper than that as it questions the cost of revenge. I have never seen any of Panahi’s other films, but I understand that he has many productions to his name and is well regarded. A minor accident at the beginning of the film sets in motion a series of events that will have a lasting effect on the lives of several persons that were held captive in a notorious prison run by the oppressive Iranian government. Vahid is a mechanic who one day hears the sounds of a customer in his shop who is being served by his partner. He thinks he recognizes the customer’s limp as the prison guard who tormented him using “enhanced interrogations” while he was being held in prison years earlier. The man is Rashid, a man with a family, who walks with a limp because he has an artificial limb. Vahid schemes to find Rashid’s home, follow him and kidnap him, then sets about trying to bury him alive in the desert. But Vahid’s problem is he can’t be absolutely sure he has the right man since he was always kept blindfolded while in prison. So, he sets out to find other people who were also held prisoner and tortured by the same guard, bringing them all together to identify Rachid and confront their own past nightmares. They have heated arguments about the situation discussing whether to let him go or execute him. Things get even more complicated for them when they find out that Rachid has a wife who is in desperate need of medical aid and they must help her and the couple’s daughter. They find that given the chance for revenge, the cost to their being and sanity may not be worth any satisfaction they may receive. The ending is very powerful and not what I expected. Jafar Panahi was himself held prisoner by the authoritarian regime and was prohibited from making more films, but he hasn’t let that stop him. You can understand why the Iranian government doesn’t want him to express his views. He made this movie without the knowledge of the government using amateur actors and what could be termed as low production techniques, filming it all in Iran. Nevertheless, he has produced a powerful film, one that achieved critical success and won awards at the Cannes Film Festival last year. I was lucky enough to find it in the theater where I saw the full effect of the drama. Don’t be surprised to see it mentioned in the Academy Award nominations in a few weeks. It happens to be the official Academy Award foreign film submission from France.

Colette

Colette                 4 ½ stars

Another movie from last year that I just caught up to is Colette, a film that created a lot of buzz at Sundance in 2018.  This film stars Keira Knightley as Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the acclaimed female French writer of the early twentieth century.  In the film, the young Colette from rural France marries the successful Parisian writer, known as Willy (Dominic West) and is transported to be among the intellectuals in Paris.  Willy is not really that much of a writer but he has created an industry of creating literary works by having writers ghost-write under his name.  Soon he figures out that Colette has a talent for writing and persuades her to write about her experiences creating the series of novels about “Claudine”.  What follows is a story of redefining gender roles and telling of stories that overcome the societal restraints of the time.  Some of these norms that are overcome even involve women in bisexual or homosexual relationships, quite a break from the traditions of the early 1900’s even in France.  Eventually, the couple reaches a crisis when Colette asks that she be given the rights to her own work.  The film was directed by Wash Westmoreland and was co-written by him and his partner, Richard Glatzer.  Sadly, Glatzer did not live to see his project reach the screen.  But you can have the opportunity to see Keira Knightley’s acting talents in this film based on the true story of one of France’s finest female writers.