Death Sentence 2007 Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, John Goodman
I was expecting a movie similar to Death Wish with Charles Bronson or John Wick.
There is plenty of action. But the movie is more of a cautionary tale. Bacon’s first act of vengeance leads to horrifying consequences.
Kevin Bacon elevates a so, so script. I wish he had done more action films.
Grade C
Kevin Bacon and John Goodman.
Fackham Hall A mildly amusing parody of Downton Abbey and British cosy mysteries. There are some laughs, but not enough to justify seeking it out.
Hamnet Every year, there are eagerly anticipated movies that were darlings of the festival circuit and come with predictions of Oscars and other awards, only to fall flat with a dull thud. This is NOT one of those movies. Chloé Zhao delivers a beautifully realized story of Shakespeare and his wife (really, it’s a story about his wife). Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal deliver central performances that draw you into a tale of love, heartbreak, and redemption. The staging and cinematography is worth the viewing experience by itself (and, in the final scene I realized how brilliant and necessary to the story the costuming was). It’s probably not for those who love to nitpick historical accuracy, though frankly very little is known of Shakespeare’s private life, so the artistic license taken is probably allowable. For others I can’t recommend this film highly enough.
100 Nights of Hero A fable set in another world and another time. Women are expected to fulfill one purpose, to provide male heirs. This is a story about a woman who has not provided an heir and is give 100 days to get pregnant or she will be put to death. It’s a pretty simple story, but the central performances are spot on and if you are someone who enjoys fables, this should be for you.
A final question I have is: Did Chloë Sevigny have a love child 20 years ago and give it up for adoptions. Mika Monroe, the lead looks eerily like her.
Atomic Blonde 2017 Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella
On Max
I had trouble getting interested in the first 45 minutes of the film. All the characters seemed cartoonish and unbelievable. It reminded me of a MTV video from the early 90’s. The German music soundtrack is extremely annoying.
It got much better after they introduce the French agent love interest. I could finally see something in Lorraine beyond the blonde wig, ridiculously large sunglasses, and stilettos. That costume is garish and unbelievable for an agent that needs anonymity.
The story continues getting better as they attempt to extract Spyglass from East Germany.
My eyes were glued to the screen for the ending 20 minutes. The ending is excellent.
Grade B. It would be an A with a better beginning.
Just saw this last night. Downtown Abbey meets Airplane meets Python. Really liked it. Need to watch it again when it streams to get all the sign gags (I did catch a fairly obscure track and field joke that I would have missed if I blinked at the wrong time).
Jimmy Carr wrote it. Is it theater-only or hitting streaming/digital?
Theater only right now. Not sure of streaming schedule. Jimmy Carr is also in it in a minor role which matches his standup delivery.
No Other Choice
Recommended.
This is from director Park Chan-wook, who made Oldboy and The Handmaiden, two stellar movies. He also has other hits like Lady Vengeance and Snowpiercer.
This was good. Not great, not amazing, not stellar or through the roof terrific. But very good. A man loses his paper mill job and in order to get a new job, he pretends to start one, looks at the resumes he receives, and goes out to…eliminate his competition in the job market.
Good stuff, well acted, and extremely well made. I still didn’t find the movie as gripping as his two best movies(Oldboy and Handmaiden), but better than some of his other films(Decision to Leave and I’m a Cyborg and That’s OK).
Not the best movie of the year and not the best Korean movie I’ve seen from this year. That goes to “Good News”, a completely different kind of movie and one I liked more.
I suppose if this movie eventually gets an English dub, I’ll give it another go and see if there are any details I missed. I sometimes do that after I see a movie in its original language.
We watched a special in-theater showing of the 1949 film Holiday Affair, a rom-com-ish film about a war widow and single mother Janet Leigh being wooed by both exciting and rugged Robert Mitchum and staid, boring, but safe Wendell Corey. It was a weird film. Funny in ways I’m sure the producers didn’t intend. Considering it lost $300K in its initial release, I guess contemporary audiences didn’t think much if it, either.
Still, it was nice to watch a movie that I’d never even heard of, with no expectations. Sometimes you find hidden gems, and sometimes you turn them off after 15 minutes. It’s not going to become a holiday staple in our household, though!
Interesting little filmmaking tidbit: when we are first introduced to Janet’s son at their home, there is another boy there, and she ignores him and dotes on her son. We were like, what, do you hate your other kid? Why are you ignoring him? Turns out he’s a friend, a neighbor. He has no lines, and never appears in the film again! Why did they even bother?
Thanks for this review. I’ve read the book, and I loved it. Glad to see the movie version lives up to it.
I rewatched Atomic Blonde and enjoyed it a lot more. The beginning 30 mins of the film finally made sense after my 2nd viewing.
A sequel is supposed to be planned.
Road house (1989). I had never seen this movie, though I had heard about it, and finally decided to watch it. It definitely has definite 80s feel to it, being an R rated movie of that era which meant lots of frontal nudity along with fights that featured very little blood. On the whole it was an OK movie. I think some of the characters were interesting and even though the story is quite old, an outsider comes to the town to save it, it added its own unique touches. I think Swayze was good in his role, while Gazzara as the villain was not as compelling, and Teague as the main henchman Swayze fights very much a caricature of a bad guy. I don’t really understand how it became a cult film, though maybe I will after a rewatch, which I am unlikely to do since it wasn’t compelling enough for me.
//i\\
The Carpenter’s Son (2025)
Very much recommended.
I am in complete disagreement with the Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic score. I like this movie a lot and am surprised it was poorly received. I think that trailers and ads, which I did not see, indicated this would be a horror movie with Jesus in it as a teen. If that was the expectation, this isn’t the movie people expected.
It’s a made up story about Jesus as a 13-16 year old kid. Satan, as a young woman(though I actually thought possibly gender neutral character-wise), tempts Jesus over and over.
Joseph, played by Nicolas Cage, is the co-protagonist with Jesus. What I loved is we get to see Joseph dealing with doubt. Is this kid God’s kid? Did Mary cheat and get pregnant? Is this whole miracle thing bullshit?
This is not a Christian movie. I could see Christians upset because Jesus is also unsure and unaware about his parentage. We get almost zero stories of teen-Jesus in the Bible except one where he went to the Temple…and taught the teachers instead of being taught.
Hey, I liked the movie a lot. I think there are some things in here that Christians can think about.
Not a horror movie. Just a movie about doubt, evil, and identity.
Check it out.
Note: I kind of love that Nic Cage is a lot older than the Mary actress. Possibly Biblically accurate to be honest.
I watched this again, this time with the family. A few of the songs have now stuck, and I’m still impressed with the singing and dancing (there’s one song that involves choreography with flashlights that I rather liked in particular).
But, again, it’s “decent mindless Christmas fare”, and while there are a lot of talented singers and dancers in it, Ferrell and Reynolds are not among them. But they’re still fun.
Spirited sounds like the title Studio Ghibli would use if they made their own version of Enchanted.
After Hours. This somewhat overlooked 1985 Scorsese black comedy has been among my very tip-top favorites since its release. Griffin Dunne is an apparently average single guy in NYC who goes out late one night to meet a woman. His fare money is blown out the window of his cab, the date doesn’t work out, and without money, he can’t get back home. The situation escalates through a series of bizarre coincidences, poor decisions, and plain ol’ bad luck. Eventually, he finds himself being chased by an angry mob that thinks he’s a burglar who has been plaguing the neighborhood. With an exquisite supporting cast that includes Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara, and Cheech and Chong playing an array of eccentric, strange, and/or downright weird characters.
We watched “White Christmas” last night. First time in about 20 years, which is probably the right interval for that schmaltz-fest.
And with Martin Scorsese himself (as an actor), Bronson Pinchot, and Linda Fiorentino. And Dick Miller, Will Patton, Rocco Sisto, Larry Block. Victor Argo, Clarence Feider, Verna Bloom, and Murray Moston, who all had small parts in many things. It’s one of my favorite movies too.
Correct me if I’m thinking of a different film, but I recall a scene in which Dunne has somehow been handcuffed and can’t get them off, and he and Arquette go into a store, where the shopkeeper, an older woman with a Scottish accent, offers a piece of advice:
“Lose the handcuffs, dearie.”
It was one of my favorite lines from a movie.
The woman was the mother of David Byrne (of Talking Heads). I knew her because I went to high school with Byrne’s sister. (I only met him once. long after high school.)
Pretty sure - but not quite positive - you are thinking of Something Wild (1986).
You are 100% right.
I mean, late night capers, Griffin Dunne/Jeff Daniels, Roseanna Arquette/Melanie Griffith, anyone could mix them up, amirite?
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