Movie Review: Malcolm & Marie (R – 106 minutes)

 

Continuing safe pandemic movie-viewing, I watched Malcolm & Marie on Netflix.

Malcolm & Marie is unique because it was made entirely in the pandemic, with minimal crew, and only two actors doing their own hair and makeup while shooting entirely in the “Caterpillar House” in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

The movie covers an argument between movie director Malcolm and actress Marie after they arrive home after the premiere of his movie. We learn he forgot to thank her during his speech.  She is upset, not just because he did not thank her, but because she feels the movie is based on her life. He claims it is not. Things get heated and cool down, then get excruciating from there. They manage to seem to both truly hate each other and passionately love each other. 

The movie feels like it is a play, and perhaps writer-director Sam Levinson would have made it a play, but with no possible audiences or theaters during a pandemic, shifted it to a movie instead.  After shooting on HBO’s Euphoria shut down, he conferred with Zendaya for another project to tackle, and developed this story. Shooting it in black and white removes all distractions from the background and allows the focus to be the two actors as they proceed to act their assess off.  They both do a fantastic job, and the movie has a fascinating quality.  As with many other Oscar-y movies – I can tell you that the craftmanship is excellent, but that I did not care for it at all.

Both Washington and Zendaya are incredibly charismatic and watchable, but personally I do not want to watch a two-hour argument between two characters I cannot stand. Honestly, I thought the movie was two and a half hours long – I am shocked to learn it is just over an hour and a half.  It feels like it goes on forever, and while it raises some interesting questions (should Malcolm’s movies be considered political because he is a black director, even if that wasn’t his intent?), I found myself tuning out as they got more and more at each other’s throats. They both do an incredible job of bringing depth and soul to the viewpoints of each character.

I am incredibly curious if it was direction by Levinson or a choice by JDW to eat the mac-and-cheese the way he did. When they return home, he does laps around the living room ranting about the responses to the movie while Marie makes mac-and-cheese. After round one in their fight, he sits and eats the mac-and-cheese in the loudest, angriest way I have ever seen anyone eat. And while that is in no way key to the story (I don’t think? It is a metaphor? Representational?), it was so incredibly off-putting that I had a hard time moving past it! And then, of course, I wanted a bowl of mac-and-cheese.

3 out of 10 – again, grading on my taste, not the quality. It is very well made, and if you love character-study plays, you will probably love this. It is beautifully shot and expertly acted, but not at all my cup of tea.

Movie Review: Finding ‘Ohana (PG - 123 minutes)

 

Enjoying the year of Netflix weekly new releases, I found Finding ‘Ohana. 

If you do not remember from Lilo and Stitch, ‘Ohana means family.  In this fun family adventure flick, Pili and her older brother Ioane are siblings raised in Brooklyn.  Pili spends most of her time in geocaching competitions, something she really loves. She has just won a competition and is about to have the best summer of her life at a geocaching camp (which I did not know was a thing) when her mother, Leilani, learns that her grandfather Kimo has had a heart attack.  Leilani takes the family to Oahu for the summer where they get to connect with their Hawaiian heritage even if they were not planning to.

Pili finds a journal in her grandfather’s things that may or may not lead to buried treasure.  She connects with a neighbor kid, Casper, and together they head out to find the treasure.  Ioane and his new crush Hana go after them, and together, the four explore, bond, and search throughout some gorgeous landscapes and sets. Meanwhile, Leilani reconnects with Kimo and everyone gains a greater appreciation for their family.

This is the directorial debut of Jude Weng and the movie looks amazing. Now, filming in Oahu may be cheating, because there is not really a bad shot available, but besides the outdoor scenes, the bits inside caves and homes are also well put-together. The movie is predictable – you know Pili is going to learn to appreciate her family by the end – but that is never an issue with a family film.  The kids do a fine job through an adventure that feels very Goonies (on purpose), so much so that Ke Huy Quan cameos.

All four of the lead kid actors are perfectly find for kid actors – this is the debut of Kea Peahu as Pili and she goes from irritating to lead adventurer. Alex Aiono is apparently a huge singing sensation on the YouTube, and both Owen Vaccaro as Casper and Lindsay Watson as Hana help the siblings appreciate Hawaii. 

Kelly Hu is always fantastic and brings a grounding realism to Leilani as she struggles to get her father to understand how close he is to losing his home.

Seeing Branscombe Richmond as Kimo was a treat for me – I used to love the TV show Renegade. He pays the stereotypical grandfather here but fits the role perfectly as he eventually realizes his contribution to his strained relationship with his daughter.

Overall, the movie is plenty of fun and certainly a great option for a family Netflix evening.  I particularly enjoyed the intercut re-enactments of the pirates who found and hid the treasure as Pili reads the journal with some pure silliness by Chris Parnell and Marc Evan Jackson. Also – cast fun over the closing credits will always leave a smile on my face!

6 out of 10 – perfectly pleasant.

Also – the fact that this movie includes a trip to the ‘film tour’ area of Oahu where you can see where they filmed Lost and Jurassic Park has now moved a trip to that park to my bucket list. They make fun of it in the movie, but hey – I would enjoy that!

Movie Review: Outside the Wire (R – 114 minutes)

 

Netflix has stated they are going to release a new movie every week this year, a process that kicked off with Outside the Wire.

Set in the not-too-distant future on the edge of a warzone in eastern Europe, Outside the Wire follows the story of military drone pilot Harp who makes a judgement call and uses his drone to blow up a threatening truck, which may or may not have saved 38 marines, but definitely killed two.  Because he defied a direct order, he is sent to report to Captain Leo. Leo is on a mission to deliver supplies to refugees ‘outside the wire’ of the zone between the factions and Harp is going to see his first ‘real’ action amongst the soldiers he is used to seeing only on camera. 

It is swiftly revealed that Leo is not human, but an advanced AI in a human shape. He and Harp set out on their mission and Harp begins to realize that Leo has some ulterior motives. It turns out that just because you put an AI in an Anthony Mackie-shaped form does not mean it will not come to the same conclusion that all movie AIs come to – humans are the issue. 

Directed by Mikael Hafstrom, the movie begins well and brings up some really interesting points. Do drone pilots have a disconnect from the soldiers they are protecting? Should ground forces be replaced with robots?  Is this particular AI too chit-chatty – I mean, why is he so interested in Harp’s girlfriend?  Setting the story in the near future makes it somewhat relatable, but the ambiguous ‘war zone’ has the opposite effect.  Harp’s actions in the beginning make it a little tough to cheer for him, and Leo is entirely too likeable for his inevitable swing to standard AI villainy. The action sequences are pretty great, especially the hand-to-hand bits where Mackie gets to pummel band guys very quickly.

Anthony Mackie is incredibly charming and watchable, even as a robot. It is interesting that his artificial person here is similar to his Altered Carbon season 2 sleeve.  He turns Leo into someone you want to root for, which is what makes his turn a little difficult to buy.

Damson Idris plays Harp and seems fairly one-note for a guy who should be a bit shaken having made the decision that killed two soldiers and a wife-to-be to get back to.  He seems perplexed by Leo’s operations outside the wire negotiating with locals. I found myself wondering if that was the direction or the choice.

I was happy to see Emily Beecham in this, having been a fan of hers from Into the Badlands. Here, she plays rebel leader Sofiya, who works with Leo to get what she needs to accomplish her goals. I am not entirely sure what those are.

Michael Kelly plays Col. Eckhart, the no-nonsense boss on the base who has no time for Harp, or his nonsense, or Leo, or Leo’s nonsense. 

Pilou Asbaek plays Victor Koval, who is set up as a near-mythical villain orchestrating the entire conflict, with followers so devoted they spray paint his initials in various locations.

Overall the movie was entertaining enough in the first two-thirds, but really fell apart in the last third. I can not tell if I stopped paying attention or if it stopped making sense. This is always going to be an issue with a streaming movie. I would have paid more attention had I seen it in the theater, but then, I would be less satisfied with the movie itself.

5 out of 10.

This is another one that is just fine for a streaming movie – but definitely feels like a January-theater dump action flick.  Since I never really mind those movies, I do not have a problem with this one, there were enough parts to keep me entertained as I enjoyed my popcorn. 

 

Movie Review: Superintelligence (PG – 106 minutes)

 

Since I have the HBOMax, I decided to watch Superintelligence and found myself pleasantly surprised!

Carol is an average woman going about her day to day existence when the ‘smart’ in her smart home devices starts talking to her. It has decided that she is the most average person on earth and it will spend three days observing her to determine if humankind should be saved or destroyed. And, since she is a James Corden fan, it will sound like James Corden. 

After sorting through her online life history, the SI recommends Carol connect with her ex, George, to see if she is capable of solving why they fell apart and gaining some closure and happiness.  Hijinks ensue.  Really there’s not much more to it than that. Carol does reveal the SI to her friend Dennis, for whom it sounds like Octavia Spencer, and he works with the government to try to get it shut down, but that doesn’t really have any impact on the SI making Carol rich and well-dressed while coaching her through reconnecting with George.

The movie is directed by Mr. McCarthy, Ben Falcone. He’s done a few of her other movies: The Boss and Tammy to name a few. I enjoyed this one a great deal – again, it may be the streaming effect – would I have enjoyed it as much had I paid full price to see it in a theater? I am not sure, but it is a charming rom-com with some very funny moments.

Melissa McCarthy is great at average-person Carol. She excels at physical comedy and I really could have watched the scene of her attempting to sit on an overlarge bean bag chair and try on ridiculous clothes for hours. She’s also great at genuine tender moments and she gets to do just a bit of both here.

Bobby Cannavale is always good and he’s very charming as the pleasant ex, George. I really appreciated that they had a very mature relationship and break-up. They don’t hate each other or not want to communicate, and they are both open to reconnecting. It’s refreshing to see a relationship like that on screen. Of course, he was in the movie Spy, and so now I am back to wanting a sequel to Spy.

Brian Tyree Henry continues to be the dude who shows up in everything as Carol’s best friend Dennis. Since he works in tech, he swiftly heads to the government with news of the SI and the threat once Carol brings it to his attention. There are some very funny moments where he is awkward with president Jean Smart.

Sam Richardson and Ben Falcone play two agents keeping an eye on Carol and recommending she work with them to put an end to the SI. I feel like most of their bits were improv, and I would really like to see the outtakes from them.

There are some other key bits that are a little more than cameos, but each gets to bring a little bit of light to their roles, my favorite is of course Michael Beach playing a general determined to save the human race.

Overall, the movie is simple, straightforward, and delivers what it promises, and you really cannot ask for more than that. It has some good funny parts and some good warm parts. A perfectly charming streaming flick.

6 out of 10

Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984

 

I really wanted to love this movie – I really did.  I just found myself so disappointed. It could have been fantastic! Instead at best it feels too long and too dense and at worst it is insulting.

We revisit Themyscira where Diana as a child is participating in a race/obstacle course in honor of the great Amazon warrior, Asteria.  She makes a careless error and ends up cheating to try to win, but her mother and the general prevent her from finishing because a win based on a lie is no victory and truth is the only acceptable path or something like that. It’s set up to be the very important theme of the movie, but I could not figure out how or if it came back into play.

The story then jumps to Diana is doing some general superheroing around a brightly colored and campy 1984 Washington DC. The fashion and shopping mall says 1984, the music does not. She saves some folks from traffic and a couple of other random events but really shows up during a bank robbery that goes from campy to terrifying quickly as one of the robbers threatens to drop a child from a balcony in a mall.  We meet Barbara Minerva, a scientist who works with Diana at the Smithsonian and is feeling unconfident and unseen.  They both consult on the receipt of a stone that was shipped to the museum. Oil businessman who seems to be terrible at his job, Maxwell Lord, shows up and takes interest in Barbara and the stone – because it grants wishes (eyeroll).  On the way home from work, Barbara stops to give a meal to her cheery homeless friend and is assaulted by a would-be rapist, but Diana shows up to save her. The next day, as they are both reviewing the stone, Barbara wishes to be more like Diana while Diana wishes for Steve Trevor to be back – because an actual goddess superhero would never be able to get over the one dude she knew for two days 70 years ago.  This calls back to my issue with the first movie where she could not step into her godhood without acknowledging she was in love with a man. 

In any case, they both get their wishes granted with some caveats while Max Lord steals the stone and wishes on it to become it, thereby gaining the power to grant wishes and take things in return.  Barbara settles in to her new growing powers, liking the feeling of being powerful, and Max slowly gathers power and strength while Diana has an 80s fashion montage and great time out with Steve whose spirit has been dumped into the body of some random guy.

Look, it’s not good. The cast is fine, some of the action sequences are great but the story is bloated and nonsensical. Patty Jenkins once again directs, and I really wish she had done some editing because the potential was there for a fantastic movie. The bits on Themyscira were great, they looked amazing and the action was fun.  Wonder Woman fighting bad guys was great, and really fun. If they had removed the Steve Trevor nonsense – allowing Diana to be an entire person on her own without pining for some man – and removed the entire Max Lord storyline – which, and I am not kidding – attempted to introduce daddy-issue backstory in a montage in the last 10 minutes of the movie, I may have loved the movie.  

Imagine if it began with he friendship between Barbara and Diana and focused on Barbara’s story – feeling unseen and jealous of Diana’s whole vibe. She could be granted the powers by the stone (which is cursed by the gods) and slowly grows more powerful into the Cheetah we all wanted to see.  Then, Diana has to step up to defeat her as she goes power-mad, upset that her once-close friend has become a cruel villain, determined to bring pain to all those she believed slighted her – Diana more than anyone else. That would have been tighter, cleaner, and better. 

Gal Gadot is just fine as Diana and I wish she had gotten more hand to hand combat action sequences because I think she’s great in those. The swinging from cloud to lightning on her lasso (what?) and the forced invisible jet bits were forced and not great. Let her just beat up crowds of bad guys.

I was pleasantly surprised by Kristen Wiig, I thought she made a good Cheetah and did exactly what was asked of her in this role – which apparently was to mimic Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman deal.  I would have liked to have seen what she could have done with the main storyline of the movie.

Pedro Pascal is a treasure and chews all the scenery with his terrible, terrible storyline. He’s great, but I wish the character was not in this movie.

Chris Pine is again, but it is so completely unnecessary to have him in this movie. What is happening to that guy whose body he takes over? And he can fly a jet in 1984 - to say nothing of the fact that it becomes her invisible jet. And aren't they in a hurry? How long are they going to take to leisurely fly through fireworks? Ugh. 

I haven’t even mentioned the fact that once Barbara starts to get powerful, she beats up that rapist who went after her which is supposed to signal that she is turning bad? Also, I loved the Lynda Carter cameo, but wouldn’t it have been better if she had an actual role? Give us Asteria’s storyline, why has she been living in man’s world, does she want her amour back? And why was there no great 80s pop music in this movie since they were so insistent it was in 1984? And what happened to the theme of truth? Max Lord was simply granting wishes to everyone who he could come in contact with, and that didn’t really have anything to do with truth or lies.  The final Cheetah/Wonder Woman fight was all CGI, which is a shame. I wish we got stunt work in costume.

4 out of 10 – I’m sorry, I really wanted to love it, but it just kept making me more and more angry. Oh well. They’ve already greenlit another one, and I will continue to be hopeful that one will be better!

Here’s something I will say – I got HBO Max for this, and while the movie is a letdown, I have been watching Titans, which I have been enjoying – and it does have the 2009 animated Wonder Woman movie, which is fantastic. Watch that and imagine if that had simply been translated to live action.

Also - what would this Lucy Lawless version of Wonder Woman from Justice League New Frontier think about her live-action counterpart still being hung up on a dude 70 years later? 

 

Movie Review: Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (PG – 122 minutes)

Jingle Jangle is a new Christmas movie that is streaming on Netflix.  It opens on a grandmother reading a story to her granddaughter who believes in magic and can see fairies in their fire, and to her grandson, who seems to be more of a realist.  As she tells the story, we follow along through vivacious live action and engaging animated sequences.

Jeronicus Jangle is a toy inventor living in Cobbleton. He lives with his wife and daughter Jessica and is waiting on a missing piece to make a new toy for all the children for Christmas.  He creates a tiny matador toy that comes to life and has a problem with Jeronicus’s desire to make millions of him. The matador whispers into the ear of Jeronicus’s assistant Gustafson – who is already feeling slighted and ignored – that he should take Jeronicus’s book of ideas and inventions.  Gustafson takes the book and leaves Jeronicus, eventually becoming the best-known toymaker as Jeronicus slowly loses everything: his business, his wife, and his desire to work.  Jessica eventually moves away and has her own daughter, Journey.

Journey is enamored with stories of her grandfather and wants to visit him. Eventually Jessica relents, and Journey goes to spend time with Jeronicus – in the process helping him defeat Gustafson and remember why he invented toys in the first place. 

The story is sweet and the movie is a visual feast. It is written and directed by playwright David E. Talbert (who also did the wonderful Almost Christmas) because he wanted an inclusive and representational family holiday film.  It does feel like a play and I will not be surprised if it gets adapted to a stage musical. The costumes were inspired by Frederick Douglass’s clothes on his visit to Victorian England and are absolutely Oscar-worthy as is the production and set design.  The music is also incredible with assistance from John Legend - and that’s coming from me – someone who does not generally like musicals.  This movie should become annual Christmas classic viewing.  There are a few plot holes here and there, but really it’s more about the visuals and music than story.  It’s good for the whole family, even though it can get very sad when Jeronicus is losing everything. Because it has such a happy ending, it balances out.  The cast is spectacular.

Justin Cornwell plays young Jeronicus and Forest Whitaker plays the older Jeronicus. Both do a wonderful job and each get a big time song moment. 

Miles Barrow plays young Gustafson and Keegan-Michael Key plays the older Gustafson. Key again manages to steal every scene he is in and is working to establish himself as a big-time song and dance man between this and The Prom. 

Anika Noni Rose plays Jessica and yes, gets a big song. Newcomer Madalen Mills plays Journey, a role model worthy of any little girl who prefers their STEM classes to any others. She is bright and inquisitive and clever, orchestrating not only the entire visit with her grandfather, but the escapades to help bring his latest toy to life.  She is fantastic.

Phylicia Rashad plays the grandmother reading the story, and is all at once magical and grounded.  Ricky Martin has some really fun moments as the Matador doll and true villain of the story.  Lisa Davina Phillip plays Ms. Johnston, who has a crush on Jeronicus that she has to be very obvious about in order to get him to notice.

Overall the movie is wonderful and certainly perfect holiday family viewing. Hooray for streaming – get the family in their new Christmas pajamas and watch Jingle Jangle on Netflix with that big tin of tri-flavored popcorn.

8 out of 10.

Movie Review: Ava (R - 96 Minutes)

 

In continuing to check out new streaming options, Ava dropped on Netflix this weekend. 

Ava is a recovering addict who is recently feeling less fulfilled by her job as international assassin.  She’s starting to chitchat with her targets just before offing them, something her bosses are finding annoying.  Her mentor and boss recommends she take some time off so she heads home to Boston to reconnect with her family after not seeing them for eight years.  Family squabbles and attempted assassinations ensue.

Ava had left eight years earlier after her father lied to her mother about an affair and deflected the accusation by shifting the situation to stating Ava had stolen money for drugs from her mother.  Upset that her mother took her father’s side over hers Ava immediately left, joined the army, got clean, and then was recruited by Duke, her mentor, into a high-level collection of assassins. Hearing that her father has passed is the reason she heads home, only to find her sister is now with her former fiancé and is now pregnant.  The former fiancé is back to gambling and her mother has mastered side shade and throws barely veiled insults her way constantly. Unable to explain to any of them exactly why she left, she instead feels guilty.  Of course, her company takes this opportunity to fire her and sends a hitman to ‘cancel’ her.

The movie is directed by Tate Taylor, who also did Ma, The Girl on the Train, Get on Up, and The Help.  The movie promises to be an action thriller but is actually a character study.  It is a tough balance, and I am not entirely sure this movie was successful.  The action sequences that are present are fantastic so I did find myself wanting even more of them.  The story is familiar (Peppermint, Columbiana, all the versions of La Femme Nikita, Alias, Long Kiss Goodnight, etc.) and needed a little something extra to rise above other ‘hitman with a conscious’ movies.

Jessica Chastain is certainly capable as Ava and does great in the hand to hand combat sequences. I also thought she was great in the family scenes as someone who has worked hard to be completely blank but is still affected by these people and their opinions of her. The blankness did make it hard to connect with the character - despite the massive amounts of external character development.  I thought she was good, but I couldn’t help myself from wondering what the movie would have been like with someone else in the role, or if she was less blank and more firey.  

John Malkovich plays Duke, Ava’s mentor, recruiter, and father figure.  He is genuinely only interested in doing what is best for Ava and ensuring she is okay, despite the fact that he is John Malkovich and so you continually wait for him to be the bad guy.

Colin Farrell is the actual bad guy, Duke’s other protégé named Simon.  He has worked his way to the top of the company and is the one who determines that Ava is too much of a loose cannon.  There’s an interesting aspect in his character where he keeps taking business meetings at his house during family gatherings and has recruited his oldest daughter, Camille, into the company as the next hired killer – I wanted a little more from that storyline. Also, I sometimes forget how watchable Farrell is and he’s particularly good as a creepy bad guy. 

Jess Weixler plays Ava’s sister Judy who is good but does not have a ton to do except for be angry at Ava for leaving eight years ago with no explanation and leaving her to deal with their mother’s bitterness and father’s death. Common plays Michael, Judy’s fiancé and Ava’s ex.  Again, not much for him to do but remind Ava of who she used to be and what she gave up. 

Geena Davis plays Bobbi, Ava’s mother and is exceptional as she throws little insults at Ava nearly constantly. She is especially good in the one scene where she and Ava play cards and clear the air.  Of course, because I just re-watched Long Kiss Goodnight last weekend, once I learned Geena Davis was playing her mother, this seemed like a natural setup for a Long Kiss Goodnight sequel. I mean, her daughter is an assassin – clearly the perfect vehicle for Charly Baltimore to step back into the game and eliminate some fools.  Oh well, I guess we have to keep waiting for that.

Ioan Gruffudd shows up as the character-establishing victim in the front of the movie and Joan Chen plays a crime boss to establish previous character for Ava. 

Overall, the movie is certainly entertaining.  Again – this is that weird situation where I was perfectly happy with it watching it at home on Netflix. If I had seen this in the theater, would I have liked it as much?

6 out of 10 – Also, it finishes a bit open-ended, I am curious if they have future plans with Ava.