Category Archives: 2022

Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul

Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul   4 stars

Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul written and directed by Adamma Ebo is a satirical comedy that takes on organized evangelical religion as its target, one that is well deserved. Regina Hall (of The Best Man, Love & Basketball and Girls Trip) is Trinitie Childs, the first lady to mega-church pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (This Is Us’ Sterling K. Brown) of an Atlanta megachurch that once was the church home to thousands. But lawsuits resulting from the sexual misconduct of the pastor led to its closing and now it is up to the super couple to bring it back to the glory of the past. The fictional story is done almost entirely in the form of a documentary with a film crew following the couple in the ornate church, their Italianate villa and Trinitie’s shopping sprees at the mall. The fake documentary style isn’t one of my favorites, but the comedy successfully skewers the self-delusion and complete blindness of the shortcomings of the Lee-Curtis character. Hall, one of my favorite comedic actresses does an excellent portrayal of the devoted wife who will do anything for the church and her flawed husband until it all starts to fall apart. The movie really rests on the two main actors as there is little for the various other characters representing former congregants, rival pastors and the victims of misconduct to do. I generally favor movies that target the rich and self-important as the move does, but the style of the fake documentary is not one I am used to. The movie was featured at the Sundance Film Festival this year where it first premiered. I suggest that you go see for yourself and have a few laughs.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever              4 stars

In 2018 the Marvel movie universe introduced us to Black Panther and the hidden African country of Wakanda. Then shortly afterward we learned that the star of the movie, Chadwick Boseman who played T’Challa, the king passed away from cancer. So, in the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the opening scene deals with the sudden death of the king due to an illness. T’Challa’s sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright) is unable to save him and faces the loss along with the rest of the kingdom. This movie is very international in scope dealing with geopolitics and Wakanda’s place in the world. Wakanda has the most advanced weapons and technology in the world due to their possession of the metal, Vibranium. That means everybody else wants it. But then it turns out there is another hidden superpower in the world. This one is Talokan, an underwater kingdom, led by a godlike man called Namor (Tenoch Huerta) who is over five hundred years old. The people are descended from a Mesoamerican race forced out of their land by the Spaniards in the 1500’s. Namor’s mission is to find and kill a university student named Riri (Dominique Thorne) who invented a machine that can find new sources of Vibranium. (The Talokan’s also have access to the metal and have advanced weapons.) This aspect makes little sense though, since we know that once something is invented it can’t be stopped by killing the inventor, but don’t let that get in the way of a good story. The Wakanda Queen, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri, Okoye (Danai Gurira) and T’Challa’s lover, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) decide to defend the student, making Wakanda an enemy of Namor, setting off a war between the two nations. This being a superhero movie, one must set aside the things that seem implausible and just enjoy the action. There are plenty of special effects with the vehicles and weapons causing mass destruction. The characters are kept interesting too, showing the grief they go through and their concern for one another. Ultimately, the situation does get resolved and it looks like we can expect another chapter in the story of Wakanda. And there aren’t even any aliens appearing in the movie!

See How They Run

See How They Run           4 stars

For a fun time you won’t be disappointed with the new whodunit “See How They Run” by director Tom George and writer Mark Chappell. The comedy mystery does a variation of the play within a play theme, using Agatha Christie’s popular stage play “The Mousetrap” that has reached its one hundredth performance in 1953 London’s West End. There is a plan to turn the hit play into a film version to be directed by Hollywood director Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody who I have not seen in ages) and written by Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Ayelowo). Early on in the movie one of the film crew turns up dead at the play’s after party, done in by a mysterious dark figure in a coat and hat. In steps Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell of Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) of Scotland Yard to be aided by rookie officer Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan of Brooklyn and Lady Bird) who are tasked with identifying the murderer. Stoppard sets about interviewing the myriad of suspects all of whom seem to have a possible motive while the enthusiastic Stalker tries to help in amusing fashion. (She writes everything down in her notebook including Stoppard’s advice of Do not jump to conclusions.) The suspects even include famous actor Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson) who stars in the play. The movie features multiple flashbacks and on screen titles to show the passage of time that all serve to fill in the details. Especially entertaining are the interactions between the experienced but put upon Stoppard and the rookie Stalker who proves to be somewhat annoying, but observant. Of course, we eventually reach the inevitable gathering of the suspects in a room that even includes the famed Miss Christie where the murderer is to be revealed. For Agatha Christie enthusiasts there are many references to her works and characters that I will not go into. The movie is a good time with a story containing many red herrings and a few twists as a good murder mystery should. The advice “Do not Jump to Conclusions” is a very good rule to follow.

Orphan: First Kill

Orphan: First Kill               ½ star

Orphan: First Kill is the prequel to the 2009 movie Orphan about dwarf young woman who passes herself off as a child who also happens to be a psychopathic killer. Judging by First Kill I won’t be seeing the earlier one. The movie explains how Esther, the diminutive 30 year old and the most dangerous inmate of an asylum in Estonia escapes and makes her way to America and convinces a grieving family that she is their lost daughter who disappeared four years earlier. First Kill breaks one of the rules of horror movies at the start by leading with scenes of bloody mayhem instead of waiting the customary 20 minute minimum. After that it asks way too much of the audience to believe as the premise plays out. In the first Orphan Esther is played by a 10 year old playing the part of a 30 year old pretending to be a 10 year old. In First Kill the same actress is a 25 year old playing the part of a 30 year old pretending to be a 10 year old. I can’t tell which is harder to believe. Perhaps we are supposed to blame the victims for falling for such an absurd trick. There are other inconsistencies that are not explained such as the lack of any genetic testing in this modern age of DNA and how the medical doctors could be fooled by the masquerade. There is an attempt to make things more interesting with a twist that is introduced midway through the movie with Esther not being the only one with a secret to hide. I advise everyone to stay away from Orphan: First Kill, especially with so many interesting movies coming out in the next few weeks.

The Woman King

The Woman King              4 ½ star

The historically based action drama The Woman King opened with much anticipation and succeeded in delivering. The mostly female production staff tells the story of an African tribe in the early 1800’s that was home to an all female army of fierce warriors who defend their home and people from neighboring warring tribes. This is in the period when the slave trade was still practiced in West Africa, though the United States was done with the trade by this time. The slave buyers here are represented by the Portuguese speaking Brazilians who pit the African tribes against one another, encouraging them to provide human slaves from their enemies. Viola Davis appears as the battle tested Nanisca, the general of the Agojie, the elite troops of the kingdom of Dahomey. Her role here is unlike any other she has had before (Fences, Doubt, The Help) as she goes full on action hero, charging into the enemy ranks and overseeing the training of the female soldiers. She has plenty of battle scars from her years of service and is very circumspect about her own situation in the quiet down times. One can tell there is a story from her past that is slowly revealed in the film. There is also the story of one of the young soldiers, Nawi, (Thuso Mbedu of The Underground Railroad) who is given to the army by her father after she refuses to be married off to an old rich man. Her path to becoming a warrior is equally intriguing to that of Nanisca as she learns the consequences of disobeying orders, but becomes key to the developments in the story. John Boyega of Star Wars fame does an impressive job in the role of the King of the Dahomey, who must decide what is the best path to take for his people and find a way of ending the practice of selling humans for profit. Like any good action movie there are plenty of scenes of fighting with the weapons of the time: swords, spears and flintlocks causing great loss of life and bloody wounds on both sides of the conflict. These scenes put together by director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Old Guard) become quite extended and realistic. The script is by Dana Stevens based on a story by Maria Bello and others. I don’t know just how much of the story is true, (It is an “inspired” story.) but it is well past time that this episode of history of African women fighters is recognized.

Don’t Worry Darling

Don’t Worry Darling        2 ½ stars

By now everyone has heard some of the behind the scenes drama about Don’t Worry Darling, the Olivia Wilde directed vision of a utopia of married couples set in a 1950’s suburban paradise where the wives relish in house cleaning, modern dance lessons and preparing epicurean meals for their husbands who spend their days at work on a mysterious project called The Victory Project that no one understands. That drama is something I don’t need to go into, but in the movie itself it doesn’t take long to get the feeling that something isn’t right in paradise. Alice (Florence Pugh does a fantastic job!), the housewife to husband Jack (Harry Styles) starts to see signs that things are amiss in her world. She hears strange tunes, sees food that is not real and imagines the walls of the house are closing in on her. Her seemingly happy neighbors who all share the same cul-de-sac and with whom they all indulge in wild drunken parties don’t see the same signs and deny that there is anything sinister going on. The one exception is Mary (Olivia Wilde) who wants to put a stop to Alice’s suspicions. There is plenty to be suspicious about as the head of The Victory Project, Frank (Chris Pine) is treated like the worshipped leader of a cult. There is something demon like about him and in this case Pine is suited to the role. This type of dystopian society film has been done many times before only in a less preachy manner. Eventually, we get to an explanation via a heavy use of flashbacks. There is a definite feminist message against a very repressive society and a praise for those who would rebel against it. One gets the feeling that there was a lot of anger behind the writing of this film. For a superior treatment of a similar theme, only from a racial perspective I much prefer Get Out, the 2017 horror film by Jordan Peele. But it does appear that Don’t Worry Darling has its fans. Don’t count me among them.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam        4 stars

The new comedy mystery drama Amsterdam by writer-director David O. Russell has a very long and winding plot that takes us through three countries over 15 years, involves a murder mystery of a war hero, a murder frame job, an extended love affair, a massive political conspiracy and a truly lasting friendship at the heart of everything. Those familiar with some of Russell’s past works won’t be too surprised at this. (See I Heart Huckabees, American Hustle and Joy for some very involved plots.) In Amsterdam we meet our three close friends who meet as a result of The Great War and the injuries sustained in this war to end all wars. There is Dr. Bert Berendsen (a very talkative Christian Bale) whose mission is to care for all those war veterans suffering after the war and honor them at an annual gala. His best friend is Harold Woodman (John David Washington who we remember from BlacKKKlansman), who he met while commanding a unit of African Americans in France in the war who is to become an accomplished lawyer. And there is the American nurse Valerie (Margot Robbie) who cared for them after they were severely wounded in battle. Together, the three banded together in Amsterdam to care for damaged soldiers from the war. When we jump ahead to 1933 the three of them become ensnared in the suspected murder of their commanding officer from the war that may lead to one of the greatest political conspiracies this country has ever experienced. Did I say that the movie has wandering plot? It needs to have a lot going on to give its all star cast the roles that tell the story. Apparently, Hollywood stars are clamoring to work with Russell as I counted no less than sixteen recognizable names among the cast. This includes Michael Shannon and Mike Myers, as two ornithologists who work for the government (British and American), Matthias Schoenaerts and Alessandro Nivola as two cops investigating a murder and Taylor Swift as the daughter of the murdered victim. Much of the comedy seems to be in the tradition of the zany comedies of the nineteen forties, especially that of Robbie who really lets it fly. You will have to be patient to get to the point when all is revealed. Eventually the climactic scene is reached when a critical choice must be made that will affect the lives of millions. Many people will see it as a cautionary tale about what America is going through today, but the film has been in development for many years so you can judge for yourself. In the end the film is about the friendship of our trio of heroes that wins out in an ending that is reminiscent of Casablanca. You may hear some negative reviews about Amsterdam. Many critics hold the meandering plot against what Russell has done here, but I found it all to be very entertaining.

Close

Close     4 ½ stars

I took advantage of the Chicago International Film Festival taking place last weekend to see one of the foreign films being shown. The one I picked, Close, turned out to be an outstanding movie. This film from France and Belgium is the second offering from Belgian director Lucas Dhont. The story is about two 13 year old boys who are best friends and are entering a new school where they don’t know many classmates. The two have been close friends for years and are at the point when they are just starting to mature physically. The peer pressure at the school has its effect on the two and Leo takes an interest in ice hockey, which he is not especially good at, and starts to draw away from Remi, his best friend. Remi is more interested in playing an instrument in the orchestra. I hope I am not giving too much away when I say that this is really a movie about suicide and the effect it has on those that remain after the tragedy. The young star, Eden Dambrine as Leo is in nearly every scene and has a real power at expressing emotion just with his facial expressions that one wouldn’t expect in someone so young. That may be due a lot of coaching from the director but whatever it is, it worked. Through the shots of soccer, playing ice hockey, riding bicycles and listening in classrooms, the audience gets the sense that they feel what the character is feeling, his look is so intense. This has to be one of the most emotional films I can remember and one that dares to address a subject rarely seen in the movies. The struggle to cope with the loss is shared by the parents, siblings and classmates as they all try to understand what happened and share their pain. This is one that won’t be soon forgotten. The movie is in French with subtitles and was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

Halloween Ends

Halloween Ends                2 ½ stars

It has been four years since the night of terror in the town of Haddonfield when the inhabitants tried to take revenge on Michael Myers only to have him mysteriously escape. Things are quiet now as Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is putting her thoughts into a book about her fight against the evil entity, while some people continue to blame her for the cursed events. This third film by director David Gordon Green takes a departure from the earlier Halloween movies as we get a lot more back story about the characters that includes a relationship between Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichek) and the bullied Corey (Rohan Campbell) who is blamed for an unfortunate babysitting accident. (Nothing turns out well for babysitters when it’s Halloween.) Frankly, it takes too long for Michael Myers to turn up along with his version of mayhem, but he is still there when October 31st arrives. When he does emerge he carries out the usual knife wielding bloody executions in his efficient style. We get a montage of past scenes from the earlier movies and that familiar theme music as well as a view of a scene from John Carpenter’s The Thing. We even get the long anticipated final showdown between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers as promised, even though Curtis doesn’t have the focused role we see in the earlier films. Jamie Lee Curtis says this is her final Halloween movie. Will there ever be another repeat of this franchise? It’s hard to see how but I wouldn’t bet against it.

Till

Till           4 ½ stars

In this season of Halloween when children become little monsters begging for candy, a film has come along that reminds us there are real monsters in the world that bring terror greater than what we see portrayed in the movies. Till brings a retelling of the all too true and familiar story of the kidnapping and murder of teenager Emmett Till who was visiting cousins in 1955 Mississippi and made the mistake of whistling at a white woman in the Jim Crow south. The well-known crime and the trial of the men responsible is told primarily this time from the point of view of Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler (from The Harder They Fall as a male character!)), the boy’s mother, who went from grieving the loss of her son to becoming an icon of the Civil Rights Movement of the fifties and sixties. The screenplay is a straight forward telling of the events that shows us her concern for her boy’s safety and her historic decision of putting Till’s battered body on display for the world to see. We are fortunately spared any scenes depicting the actual torture and murder, but do see the terror of the family when Till was kidnapped during the night by the two men who committed the act. The importance of the event becomes clear when the NAACP becomes involved and Mobley is encouraged to go to Mississippi to testify at the murder trial. The heartfelt performance of Deadwyler is absolutely engaging as she expresses the pain and resolve of dealing with the overwhelming situation. I definitely look for an Academy Award nomination for Deadwyler. Other than young Jalyn Hall as Emmett the rest of the cast is not nearly as memorable. The highly accurate sets and the use of the popular music of the time evokes the feeling of what fifties were like. As a reminder of where we have come as a country and where we are today, Till needs to be seen. Also, for a good documentary on the history of lynching in the US, I highly recommend Always in Season from 2019.