Movie Review: Polite Society (PG13 – 103 minutes)

 

Every once in a while, I see a movie that I feel like has crept in under the radar and is cool, different, really entertaining and I hope more people get to see it. In April of 2022, it was Everything Everywhere All At Once, which ended up doing just fine.  This year in April I saw Polite Society and I feel the same way, hoping it gets more eyeballs as the year goes on. 

I had seen the trailer for this movie and knew it would be up my alley.  Ria is a young English woman growing up in a Pakistani home with conservative and traditional parents trying to navigate the social and economic circles of their friends and family.  Ria’s passion is martial arts and she eventually hopes to become a stunt woman like her idol, Eunice Huthart.  Her older sister Lena, an art school dropout, helps her make online videos practicing her moves while she writes to Eunice for advice and guidance while the girls’ parents are discouraging both of their dreams. 

At an Eid Mubarak party hosted by a suspiciously wealthy friend, Raheela, Ria grows suspicious of Raheela’s matchmaking attempts for her son, Salim – but Lena finds him charming and suddenly they are dating and then engaged.  Is Ria right to be suspicious?  Or is she overreacting?  To find out, Ria enlists her friends and frenemy to discover the truth about Salim and his mother and rescue her sister from what may or may not be an evil plot. 

The movie is directed by Nida Manzoor who also did the show We Are Lady Parts.  The scenes between the two sisters are wonderful with Priya Kansara as Ria and Ritu Arya as Lena. It is very easy to believe their relationship and how far Ria will go to protect Lena.  I absolutely loved the support they show for each other and even when they are fighting, it feels like a gut punch.  I also loved the relationships between Ria and her school friends.  They were there for her when she needed them, but also called her out when she was acting unhinged. While you may expect the family and relationship drama portions to be great, what surprised me was how fantastic and epic the action sequences are.  Just about everyone is a martial arts master for no reason whatsoever other than it makes the fight sequences absolutely cinematic. 

Overall, this movie is fun, action-packed, hilarious, and also warm and touching. It is a genuine joy to watch.  I really loved it, and I hope you check it out – you can currently catch it on Peacock Premium.

9 out of 10

Movie Review: Transformers Rise of the Beasts (PG13 – 127 minutes)

 

I really enjoy the first one Bayhem Transformers movie from 2007 where Shia LaBeouf meets BumbleBee and helps the Autobots hide the Allspark from the Decepticons.  Then there were a few others, and I enjoyed the prequel (?) BumbleBee movie.  This one seems to not pay any attention to any other story continuity.  You’re probably best off if you just go in considering it a stand alone story.  Likewise, I remember watching the Beast Wars cartoon a couple of times, but I do not remember any particular stories from that series. 

In this story, Unicron is a giant ball of anger that is cruising across the galaxy eating planets.  He has a dude working for him named Scourge who has stopped on a planet that may be in the distant future?  On the planet are the Maximals – living machines that transform to and from animal shapes. To save the planet, one of them stays behind and battles Scourge while several of the others take the key Scourge needs to give Unicron access and go into hiding.

Years later in 1994 we meet regular human Elena Wallace who is working in a museum and does some research on a statue that has come in, accidentally activating the key.  Noah Diaz who is living in New York with his little brother and mother. His little brother Kris is having some health issues, and so veteran Noah is trying to pick up a job to help out. Struggling to find work he decides to take a quick car thief job and attempts to steal Autobot in disguise as a Porsche, Mirage.  Mirage connects Noah with the other Autobots who are stranded on earth for some time and want the key to get home (despite having arrived on earth in the 2007 movie at that time – like I said, do not get caught up on the details).  Noah agrees to help them in exchange for money, and he and Elena just barely escape an encounter with Scourge.  At this point, the Autobots meet Air Razor who takes them to meet the rest of the maximals who have been in hiding in Peru, guarding the other key. As they prepare for the final battle, Optimus Prime has to learn to put others before himself, Mirage has to learn teamwork, Noah has to learn how to trust, and everyone works together to defeat Scourge, his team, and prevent Unicron from showing up and eating everything. 

Directed by Steven Caple Jr., the movie is fast paced, and like the other Transformers movies, looks great. The CGI is very impressive and while the story might not make a ton of sense, the action is entertaining. The big fight sequences set in the jungles in Peru were particularly striking.  While Noah and Elena are key to the story, the Transformers are the driving part of the story, which is nice because in some of the other movies, there are just too many humans.  All the voices for the transformers are great including the wonderful Peter Cullen and adding Liza Koshy, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, and Michelle Yeoh.  Also, Pete Davidson plays Mirage, and he’s still annoying, but since Mirage is supposed to be somewhat annoying – it works!

Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback are fun and do a great job of running and being terrified of giant robots until they need to step up and join the fight, then they are both great action leads as well. 

Overall, the movie is plenty of fun, just the right run time, and definitely worth a watch. Clearly Bumblebee is still everyone's favorite because he gets some truly fantastic moments even though Mirage is the 'lead' in this one.  Having graduated high school in 1994, let me tell you – easily my favorite part of this movie was the soundtrack – filled with a bunch of great songs that I haven’t heard in way too long. Supposedly this is the first in a new trilogy, and I’m excited to see what comes next.

7 out of 10

 

Movie Review: John Wick Chapter 4 (R – 169 minutes)

We may have finally reached what seems to be the end of John Wick’s ongoing journey of revenge.  In case you aren’t caught up on the John Wick saga – essentially Keanu Reeves plays a retired hit man who was quietly living his life and coping with the death of his wife when he encountered the son of a local crimelord. This jackass broke into his house and killed the puppy his wife had left for him.  John then proceeds to get back into the business to wipe out the kid and everyone around him. 

In the second and third movie, the story expanded as John continued to piss off hitmen and criminals who had been content to let him retire.  We learn about the various Continental hotels that provide safe havens for killers during the course of their business as well as the High Table – which seems to be the organization that collects and directs the various hitmen and assassins.  Although, really – none of that is important.  Wick stepped back in after being allowed out, and has spent the last couple of movies trying to find his way back out. 

In Chapter 4, Wick is still being hunted by just about everybody and the Marquis currently in charge of the High Table is sending more and more after him.  He even sends a Harbinger to close down the Continental in New York that had helped Wick.  As Wick pursues the Marquis, he encounters various allies and foes, battling all the way to the very end.

Again -the story doesn’t really matter here.  Wick is trying to find peace in the most violent way possible. Director Chad Stahelski once again elevates the stunts and action to be on even par with the story – perhaps even to be more important that the story as really what I remember most from this movie is various action set pieces and Donnie Yen being awesome. 

The movie begins with a high-octane desert horse chase as Wick chases down some folks and lets us know what his game plan is for the movie. Basically - eliminate the head of the table and get back to his retirement. 

There is an incredible battle in the Osaka Continental featuring the wonderful Hiroyuki Sanada versus the fantastic Donnie Yen.  I love that John Wick stepped aside so that action movie fans could really watch these two own the screen with the bonus of singer Rina Sawayama as Sanada’s daughter – who gets some great fight moments of her own.  

John also has to go to a raging EDM club to track down and eliminate ‘Killa’, played by the fantastic Scott Adkins in a fat suit for some reason. The battle between he, Wick, his henchmen, and Donnie Yen’s Caine is huge and wet.

Wick eventually gets to Paris to negotiate a duel with the Marquis beautifully framed on the Trocadero in front of the Eiffel Tower. The Marquis agrees to meet him at sunrise, but in the meantime, calls on every single hitman, assassin, and thug in town to eliminate Wick before he can get there.

There is an amazing sequence in a building that is shot from top-down and seems to be a single shot as Wick moves from room to room taking out henchmen as Shamier Anderson’s Tracker named Nobody makes things more difficult. It looks incredible and very much like a video game.

Another epic set piece takes place as Wick gets to Paris and is hunted by a group of killers in various cars around the Arc de Triomphe – if you’ve never been there, the traffic around that landmark is truly insane and this is the first movie I have ever seen that incorporates that crazy traffic into the action as the combatants have to dodge all the cars to make contact with each other.

My absolute favorite set piece happens as Wick is trying to make it to his final duel with the Marquis (played with slick evil by Bill Skarsgard) which will be hosted by Clancy Brown’s Harbinger. He has to make it by a set time, and it is set to take place in front of Sacre Coeur. Again – if you’ve never been there, it is at the top of a hill with 222 steps to get to the top. As Wick climbs the stairs with limited time, he has to battle Marko Zaror as Chidi and his various henchmen all the way up.  The last time I was there, I went up the back way since I had a wicked case of food poisoning.  You can also take a funicular (a little tram that will take you up).  It must have not been working that early in the morning as Wick has to fight up each and every stair. I’ve never seen anything like it and it was both exhausting and exhilarating.

It was a little painful to see the wonderful Lance Reddick reprise his role as Charon in this, and then get killed on screen as he had passed away the week before the release.

Overall, the action was fantastic, the characters continue to be intriguing, and if this is the last chapter – it was a great closer. It was way too long – it’s just shy of three hours, but honestly – I did not feel the length. The action is so consistent you don’t really notice.  I think this may be my favorite of the Wick flicks.

9 out of 10

Movie Review: 65 (PG13 - 93 minutes)

I love a good dinosaur movie – the problem is, they are few and far between.  As both a positive and negative, the Jurassic Park franchise has spoiled audiences with really fantastic practical dinosaur effects mixed with near-flawless CGI dinosaurs. That sets the bar really high for anything else promising dinosaur action.

65 tells the story of Mills, a pilot with a loving wife and ailing daughter.  In order to get the money they need for her very expensive treatments, he agrees to take on a two year job piloting a ship of folks from his planet to another.  While en route, the ship encounters an asteroid (those asteroids, always causing havoc for traveling ships) and breaks apart as he attempts an emergency landing on a nearby planet.  It just so happens that planet is our earth, 65 million years ago, and that asteroid mess he ran through is the planet killer that’s about to slam into the Yucatan and end the stretch of dino-dominance.

Once on the planet, we get varying degrees of Pitch Black-style setup as Mills realizes all the passengers are dead and decides to not call for help, but then finds one passenger has survived.  It’s a young girl and since she is from a different area of his planet and his universal translator is broken, they do not understand each other.  She gives him a reason to keep going, call for help, and search for the part of the ship that had the rescue vessel in it. The good news is that its intact and they can get off this planet, the bad news is that it’s on the next mountain over, the space between is filled with dinos, geysers, quicksand, and other scary hazards.  Oh, and that asteroid is still on its way.

The movie is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.  I appreciated the run time, any longer than an hour and a half on this would have been way too much. The action is good, and I liked that the story and character development was done through flashbacks and video watching. We learn that Mills’s daughter died after he launched on this mission and that adds to why he was so quick to give up once they crashed. 

Both Adam Driver as Mills and Ariana Greenblatt as Koa are great, I really enjoyed the translator being broken so they had to work to understand each other.  Driver is expectedly competent at portraying a man who is capable of action, but definitely aching and blaming himself about the loss of his daughter. Greenblatt is even better since we don’t understand her either, but she clearly communicates what she is all about – feisty and invested.  I loved that she had to rescue Mills a couple of times from both quicksand and help with climbing a cliff. It made their relationship more of a partnership and more engaging to watch. 

I was a little disappointed by the dinosaurs themselves. Of the various species portrayed in the movie, I recognized one for sure (oviraptor), another one as a maybe (Dsungaripterus), and then the others were a little confusing, but I assume that was a T-Rex near the end. They were all the same shades of gray and mostly appeared in the dark.  Again, we are spoiled by Jurassic Park which worked with paleontologists to ensure their dinos are mostly correct.  Here, some of them just seemed like the team went ‘close enough’ and called it a day.  But I did love the oviraptor – always one of my favorites. 

Overall, the movie is quick and fun, with lots of action. I loved the fact that the impending asteroid impact put a ticking clock on their efforts to get to the ship, and I really loved how they worked together on their adventure. 

6 out of 10 – perfectly fine and certainly entertaining enough, and reminds you to watch Pitch Black  again. 

Movie Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania (PG13 – 124 minutes)

 It’s been a few years since Ant-Man was the catalyst to help bring everyone back in Endgame, and Quantumania begins with Scott Lang truly living his best life.

He saunters around town, meeting fans, and doing appearances. His relationship with Hope Van Dyne is going great as she is working to run her father’s foundation.  He is working to rebuild his relationship with his daughter Cassie – since he missed a crucial five years and she has become a bona fide social justice warrior in the meantime (seemingly with help from Hank and Janet).  All in all, things are looking up for Ant-Man.

He then learns that while Janet has been reluctant to discuss her time in the Quantum realm, Cassie (who is now a electrical engineer/quantum realm scientist?) has created a beacon of sorts that will send a signal down to the microscopic realm. Panicked, Janet asks her to stop – but they all end up sucked into the Quantum Realm.

While down there, Scott and Cassie meet a group of freedom fighters who are under attack from a cruel and conquering invader, while Hank, Janet, and Hope meet up with some old friends of Janet’s from her time down there who vary from odd to menacing.  Eventually, they all get to meet Kang and learn that he was exiled to the realm by all the other Kangs (he regularly interacts with all his variants from the multi-verse).  Angry at being exiled and desperate for revenge, he enlists the Ant team to help him get what he needs to get out. 

Like the other two movies, this one is directed by Peyton Reed and does have a similar tone – due mostly to Paul Rudd, these movies tend to be a little more light-hearted.  Rudd is still fantastic as Scott – an Avenger by association who loves the attention but is also a genuinely good person who wants to help. Rudd is so charming and fun he is wonderful to watch even when the story wanders a little.

The other Ant team folks are equally good – unfortunately there is less for Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp to do here then she has had in the past, but the central story is Scott connecting with his daughter, so I guess it makes sense?  She’s so great as the Wasp that I found myself missing some great action sequences for her.  Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer are fine – but there are moments when Janet is struggling with the sudden reconciliation of things she has hidden and it reminded me how good she can be as a villain and I hope we get to see her do that somewhere else soon.  Katheryn Newton is good as Cassie – eager and determined with perhaps more confidence than skill at super-heroing, but she will get there.

The team of freedom fighters our heroes encounter in the quantum realm are charming with Katy O’Brian as Jentorra, William Jackson Harper as the extremely irritated mind-reader, Quaz, and David Dastmalchian stealing multiple scenes as Veb – the only bright spot in not having Scott’s Ex-Con crew in this is that Dastmalchian gets to be Veb, but I still wanted he, Michael Pena, and TI to show up at least once. Especially to have Pena summarize what happened in the previous movies.

The true star of this movie is Jonathan Majors. From the moment the menacing, charming, and engaging Kang shows up, he perfectly chews all the scenery and makes sure you know and understand he is going to be the big bad for the next phase of films. He’s gleefully determined to eliminate anyone who stands in his way, and I cannot wait to see what he does next – both post credit sequences were Kang heavy – literally.

Overall, the movie is fun and non-committal. It may not be required viewing for casual Marvel fans, but I definitely enjoyed it.  Because so much of it is spent in the Quantum Realm, it was far more CGI-loaded than the other Ant-Man films, which have felt a little more street-level real-world. That is a bit of a detriment, but the quantum sequences did look great.  

8 out of 10

No, I didn’t mention Modok. Did we need Modok? Not really, but honestly – I liked the way they did it!

2023 Oscars

 

It is already time for the Oscars and this year I have my lowest percentage on the Best Picture nominees that I have had in many years – just two of the ten!  However, most of them are easily accessible on streaming services now, so I will try to at least fast forward through them prior to the ceremony.

Top Gun Maverick:  I just never got around to this one. It’s streaming now on Paramount Plus I believe, and I still haven’t made the time.  I was never a huge fan of the first Top Gun and this one just never did anything for me. It is possible I will check it out before the ceremony, but chances are slim.  I understand it looks great and was a big blockbuster, but I figure once you’ve seen Tom Cruise fly a plane really fast once, you’ve seen it enough.

Triangle of Sadness: Not going to lie to you – I genuinely had not heard of this until this month.  Apparently it is about a cruise for the super-rich and is a commentary on wealth and class.  It’s currently streaming on Hulu – so it’s even easier to check out! Will I? Probably not!

Elvis: Baz Luhrmann’s take on Elvis’s story and his relationship with Colonel Tom Parker that required Austin Butler to dive so deep into Elvis-speak that he just talks that way permanently now. An interesting side fact that seems to be what is discussed more than the movie itself.  It’s on HBOMax, and I have liked some of Baz Luhrmann’s pieces in the past, well, I liked Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge, the others, not so much.  I never really enjoyed Elvis or his music, so I did not feel especially motivated to see this one.

Women Talking:  Directed by Sarah Polley, This is the obligatory Frances McDormand depressing Oscar piece and in this one, she and other women play members of an isolated religious colony. The men have drugged and raped the women and this features them discussing what to do.  This sounds very upsetting, and while the performances might be amazing – it’s going to be a very tough watch.  You can stream it on Amazon Prime.

The Fabelmans: This is Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical movie about his upbringing and his love of movies that lead him to become one of our most notable movie directors.  I did get this trailer confused with the trailer for Armageddon Time and thought they were the same movie for a bit. You can rent it on Amazon Prime and I may check this one out at some point. Spielberg is a great director, and I am intrigued about his presentation of his youth and formation.

Tar: In this movie, Cate Blanchett plays Lydia Tar, who is considered one of the greatest living composer/conductors. As she is preparing to recording the symphony of her life, the universe seems to be against her. This is one of those movies where as soon as I saw the trailer, I figured it would get nominated. It’s a showcase piece for Blanchett, who deserves it – but I still have no interest in watching it.

Everything Everywhere All At Once:  I actually saw this in the theater when it first came out in April of last year and gave it 9 out of 10 – that’s how ahead of the game I was on this one!  I loved it and thought it was different and lovely and interesting and fun.  But I did think it was a version of The One with Jet Li.  Michelle Yeoh is a treasure and Ke Huy Quan is incredible. The movie is complicated and visually amazing, but at its core is about the love and appreciation of family. If multiverse surrealism is not your cup of tea, this may be too much for you – but it is definitely worth a watch. It has a limited rerelease back in theaters.  Also, Michelle Yeoh is a lock for best actress and man, does she earn it in this piece.

All Quiet on the Western Front: Yes, this is the fourth movie version of this, because it’s a proven work. This version ups the quality of the visuals and features Daniel Bruhl, so if you want another version, or enjoy WW1 movies, this one is for you. Definitely not for me.

The Banshees of Inisherin: Martin McDonagh takes Brendan Gleesan and Colin Farrell out of Bruges and dumps them in an isolated Irish town where Gleesan’s character decides to end their friendship. This is another one where the trailer made it very clear this would get nominated for multiple awards. It feels crafted as an actor showpiece, and again, both these guys are great and deliver wonderful performances, but not in something I want to see. It’s on HBOMax now, so you can watch these two slowly hate each other in the comfort of your own home!

Avatar The Way of Water: the second of the list I saw in the theater!  I honestly did not write a review of it, because I could not think of anything to say. It looks great. It’s beautiful and I saw it in 3D, so it looked even better. James Cameron really stepped up his game on the visuals.  In terms of the story, well, it felt the same as the original, so nothing new. I tuned out anytime the characters were standing around talking and the stunning visuals were not the centerpiece.  Plus, the beautiful establishment of the whale creatures as characters the people spoke with and related to only to brutally murder a mother and calf was just too much for me and felt unnecessary. We already understand how terrible the colonists are – did we need that to prove it again? And how dare you rope Jemaine Clement into that!

In terms of my favorites from last year, in case you were wondering what I saw instead of those eight others, here’s my list – in reverse order of love!

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: Nicholas Cage plays Nic Cage hired by Pedro Pascal to come hang out with him and chaos ensues.  This movie is so random and fun and shows that Nic Cage can poke fun at some of the ridiculousness of his own life.  It’s bizarre and charming and definitely worth checking out.

Fresh: I happened across this on Hulu and I have to tell you, what a random and terrifying little horror/thriller gem. I do not typically enjoy horror, but I do enjoy Sebastian Stan, so I watched this and was glad I did.

Everything Everywhere All At Once: As mentioned – I really liked this movie. It’s rare that the Oscars list and my list cross over, but this is really fantastic and I recommend it.

Here clustered at the top are the MCU releases for the year – Yes, I loved all of them. I found Thor Love and Thunder fun and silly. I really enjoyed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which added some Sam Raimi horror/comedy to what could have started to feel stale. But the absolute top of the year for me was Black Panther Wakanda Forever. Angela Basset is definitely going to win Best Supporting Actress because my goodness – she is incredible in this.  I loved the movie as a whole, even though it was not flawless (there’s way too much Riri – didn’t need all that), but the introduction of Namor, his background and people – the stunning costumes and settings, the way Ryan Coogler was able to handle the near-impossible task of the loss of Chadwick Boseman while allowing Letita Wright’s Shuri to step up and fully into her leadership role on multiple levels – it was fantastic and I loved it.  My favorite of the year.

Just about everything I saw last year was at least entertaining – there were a few that were not great, but nothing I hated!  Jurassic World Dominon had some cool dinosaurs and brought back the original trio – but slowed itself down with side quests (locusts?) and too many humans.  Death on the Nile was slow but had some fun bits. Moonfall was ridiculous but featured some really cool shots of the moon lurking closer and then rising in a really intimidating way as it got too close!  AmbuLAnce had some quality downtown LA Bayhem. And Morbius, oh Morbius – what a beautiful mess that was!  Certainly a character Jared Leto was meant to play, but not entirely sure that movie knew what it was doing.

There’s a quick summary of last year cinematically and hopefully provides you a couple of things to add to your watchlist!

Movie Review: Magic Mike’s Last Dance (R – 112 minutes)

 

The first Magic Mike movie was a Steven Soderbergh character drama film that lied about being a fun movie about male entertainers. In the second movie, Magic Mike and his fun friends from the first movie have a fun road trip down to a fun convention and have fun hijinks on the way. In case you missed my opinion there – the second movie was way more fun. Perhaps because it was directed by Gregory Jacobs instead of Soderbergh? But also because it include some actual dancers instead of some actors they tried to teach to dance. I’m not complaining – they tried their best! But, having Twitch in any of the sequences will make you realize just how unskilled the rest of the cast (except for Channing Tatum) are.

This third entry into the franchise brings back Soderbergh as the director, but he apparently listened to audience feedback because this one definitely includes some big time fun.  Mike is working as a bartender at an exclusive party (apparently that custom furniture business he keeps trying to start is still not working?), he gets talked (or bought) into performing a steamy lap dance for wealthy (crazy wealthy) recently divorced Maxandra.  Inspired, she takes him to London with her to put together a show in a theater she has just gained as part of the divorce.  Max and Mike work together to bring some fun and sexy to a show while navigating developing feelings for each other.

This third one may be my favorite of the group. The relationship between Max and Mike is interesting and Soderbergh-style moody enough without clouding over all the fun dance sequences. And my goodness – there are finally a ton of fun dance sequences! Hiring a large group of really talented dancers made such a difference. Again – no shade on Matt Bomer, Joe Maganiello, Adam Rodriguez, and Kevin Nash’s terrible knees – they certainly were having fun.  The sequences of Max and Mike finding, recruiting, and choreographing with the dancers in this movie are great. Of course, none of those characters even get names. They are just there to dance.  

Channing Tatum has such an effortless every-guy charisma that he is fun to watch in non-dancing moments and he’s such an incredible dancer that he is fantastic to watch in dance sequences. The final number in this movie with he and the ballerina is amazing. 

Salma Hayek is certainly believable as Max, both in the barely-keeping it together divorced aspect and the looking to do something fun and unique with the money aspect. The daughter gets to narrate and move the plot along and I found her charming as well. I am not sure I buy how in love Max and Mike are by the end of the movie, but it certainly provides a good finish.  

Overall, far more entertaining that the first and slightly better assembled than the second. Absolutely worth a watch.

6 out of 10