West Side Story Review

5.0 Stars 

Steven Spielberg presents West Side Story.  This is only the second full length feature film to be made from the popular musical, the first was in 1961.  If you don't know the story, two children from warring gangs fall in love at first sight.  Of course, their romance is forbidden, but all Tony and Maria want is to be free, to end the fighting, and to be together.  Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well.

West Side Story was first written by legendary Broadway team of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in 1957.  It was transformed into a movie in 1961 and has been performed in nearly every high school auditorium, college campus, or theatre venue that can take on a musical production.  It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's 1597 Romeo and Juliet except it is set in New York instead of Verona, it's the Jets and the Sharks instead of the Capulets and Montagues, and it's song and dance instead of thees and thous.  

So, we all get the gist of the story, many of us have seen West Side Story in some capacity.  Some of us may have even performed in a production.  So what makes this one special?  Well, it's Steven Spielberg. Spielberg's West Side has been nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.  It's been 60 years since someone attempted to make a West Side Story film.  But, it's not like a typical "remake" like The Day the Earth Stood Still or Planet of the Apes or Psycho or even Spider-Man or Superman.  In those remakes, fans are expecting to see a new, different, modern, hopefully better version of the original.  There's only so much you can change with West Side Story, or any Broadway musical.  Fans are actually expecting the songs and dialogue to be the same ones they've always known.  But there's only so much you can do with this, right?  Again, it's Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg clearly has took advantage of his abilities as a film maker and the modern technologies available to him in West Side Story that were previously impossible.  No, there's no dinosaurs or aliens.  But there are sweeping epic camera shots that just weren't possible in 1961.  Back then, it looked very much like it was filmed on a very large theatre stage.  

Spielberg made the decision to keep the look and the feel (costumes, buildings, hairstyles, cars) of the 1960's.  For the most part, the music, lyrics and story were the same.  But this was such a brilliant movie with every decision that was made.  The choreography from Justin Peck (New York City Ballet's resident choreographer) gave a breath of fresh life while paying homage to the original dances from 1961.  The costumes and set were perfect from the 1960's.  And Spielberg even reached out to his long time musical muse John Williams to perk up the music.  Williams instead suggested using Oscar Nominated composer David Newman and world-renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel to give Bernstein's music a fresh recording.

So the only thing left is the actors.  Basically you had Ansel Elgort as Tony (from Baby Driver and The Goldfinch) and legend Rita Moreno as Valentina and Ariana DeBose as Anita.  She was in Hamilton . . . though, she was part of the ensemble.  That's it.  The entire rest of the cast is a long list of nearly completely unknowns.  We have Rachel Zegler in the lead role of Maria.  This is Rachel's first feature film credit.  In fact, this is the first on screen performance of any kind for Rachel.  However, she is slated to play the lead in the upcoming live-action Disney remake of Snow White.  Another somewhat newcomer David Alvarez plays Bernardo.  

But this is one of Spielberg's strong suits.  He takes relative unknowns and gets the performances of a lifetime that creates an instant classic. And he did just that.  Everything about this 2021 version of West Side Story was perfect.  Every acting and singing performance was delicious, bright, intentional, sincere, beautiful.  Elgort and Zegler even sang a couple of their numbers live on set.  Officer Krupke, Riff, Chino, Anybodys.  They were all perfect.  There wasn't a performance that you had to overlook or forgive or justify.  They were amazing.  My gut instinct after watching this was to give it a rare perfect rating.  I gave West Side Story a very optimistic 4.5 Star Prediction.  I have spent the last day trying to think of any reason why this should be knocked down from a perfect rating.  Honestly, I can't think of any.  This was genius and worthy of 5.0 Stars.  If you haven't seen it already, do so.  I know I'm going to be watching this one again.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see . . . . 

West Side Story Preview

Steven Spielberg presents West Side Story.   It's amazing that this 2021 version is only the second full length feature film to be made from the popular musical, and the first was in 1961.  If you don't know the story, two children from warring families fall in love at first sight.  Of course, their families forbid their romance.  All Tony and Maria want is to be free, to end the fighting, and to be together.  Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well.

West Side Story was first written by legendary Broadway team of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in 1957.  It was transformed into a movie in 1961 and has been performed in nearly every high school auditorium, college campus, or theatre venue that can take on a musical production.  It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's 1597 Romeo and Juliet except it is set in New York instead of Verona, it's the Jets and the Sharks instead of the Capulets and Montagues, and it's song and dance instead of thees and thous.  

So, we all get the gist of the story, many of us have seen West Side Story in some capacity.  Some of us may have even performed in a production.  So what makes this one special?  Well, it's Steven Spielberg.  Spielberg exploded on the scene in 1975 with back-to-back hits in Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  His success continued with Indiana Jones and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.  His genius in epic dramas was on full display in The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, and Schindler's List.  His ability to break the barriers of film technology shone in Jurassic Park.  Hit after hit just kept coming: Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, The Terminal, Munich Lincoln.  And now, West Side Story.

Spielberg's West Side has been nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.  However, this is a tough one to predict.   It's been 60 years since someone attempted to make a West Side Story film.  But, it's not like a typical "remake" like The Day the Earth Stood Still or Planet of the Apes or Psycho or even Spider-Man or Superman.  In those remakes, fans are expecting to see a new, different, modern, hopefully better version of the original.  There's only so much you can change with West Side Story, or any Broadway musical.  Fans are actually expecting the songs and dialogue to be the same ones they've always known.  So then, what can go wrong?  The ability to stage a production on a Hollywood set have gotten exponentially better since the 1960's, so this should be a much better version by virtue of 60 years of advanced technology in film making, right?

Well, Baz Luhrmann proved that there are still many choices that can affect the film.  In 1996, Lurhmann brought a modern version of Romeo and Juliet to the big screen.  He kept Shakespeare's script in it's original Elizabethan, but set it to modern times in Verona Beach with guns instead of rapiers.  It was a wonderful concept.  For me, the problem was that the actors didn't seem to understand the words they were saying.  It felt like reading lines off a page.  However, you watch any Shakespeare from Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, you get a much better performance of the lines.

Spielberg clearly has taken advantage of his abilities as a film maker and the modern technologies available to him in West Side Story.  No, there's no dinosaurs or aliens.  But there are sweeping epic camera shots that just weren't possible in 1961.  Back then, it looked very much like it was filmed on a very large theatre stage.  However, Spielberg appears to have made the decision to keep the look and the feel (costumes, buildings, hairstyles, cars) of the 1960's.  What it's really going to come down to is the performances.

Ansel Elgort plays Tony and I'm honestly skeptical.  We don't see him sing in the previews.  And he's the pouty-faced pretty-boy from movies like Baby Driver, The Goldfinch, and Billionaire Boys Club.  And we have a wild card in lead actress Rachel Zegler in the role of Maria.  This is Rachel's first feature film credit.  In fact, this is the first on screen performance of any kind for Rachel.  However, she is slated to play the lead in the upcoming live-action Disney remake of Snow White.  And she is beautiful, authentic, and sings with passion and power in the preview. Another somewhat newcomer David Alvarez plays Bernardo.  There is one musical veteran in the film.  Ariana DeBose who was in Hamilton . . . though, she was part of the ensemble.  DeBose is up for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. 

But this is one of Spielberg's strong suits.  He takes relative unknowns and gets the performances of a lifetime that creates an instant classic.  Based on that alone, I am giving West Side Story a very optimistic 4.5 Star Prediction.  I'm putting a lot of faith in Spielberg on this one and hoping this will not only be worth the money in the theatres, but one that I'll watch again and again and that will find a home in my personal collection.  So, am I right?  We shall see . . . . 

Coda Review

3.5 Stars

A Coda is the concluding passage of a musical piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure.  This, of course, has a triple-meaning in the Best Picture nominated film Coda.  The Rossi family are a fishing family in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  And everyone pitches in, including 17 year old high school student Ruby (Emilia Jones).  Unlike the rest of her family, Ruby has dreams outside of the fishing business: she loves music and wants to study it in college.  But that's not all the separates her from the rest of her family.  Her father Frank (Troy Kotsur), her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin), and her brother Leo (Daniel Durant) are all deaf.  CODA is also an acronym for Child Of Deaf Adults.  There's your triple-meaning: the musical meaning, the acronym, and an allusion to the ending of the movie - the concluding passage that is an addition to the basic structure.

Coda was written and directed by Sian Heder earning her Oscar nominations for Best Picture of the Year and Best Adapted Screenplay.  Troy Kotsur also earned himself a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.   This is only Heder's second motion picture she directed, though she's been in the industry as an actress, writer and director for quite some time.  

This film was actually strongly recommended by my friend Erika and I should have watched this long ago.  Coda is a heartwarming, sincere, humorous drama about a girl torn between her family duty and her passion to live her own life.  

Emilia Jones was fantastic as Ruby.  Word is that she spent months learning sign language and fishing for the role.  And it paid off.  This is just the beginning of much more that we're going to see from this young actress.  Marlee Matlin was great as the matriarch of the family.  The logical one.  The one trying to be the glue holding the family together.  Unfortunately, that sometimes came at the expense of encouraging Ruby to follow her dreams.  Daniel Durant was honest and believable as brother Leo, trying to step up and be the leader he knew he could be, though no one else would give him a chance to shine.  Troy Kotsur was genius as the father Frank.  He was hilarious with his delivery and timing and expressions.  And the choir teacher, Bernardo Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez) was charming, for the most part.  At times, he was an exaggerated caricature of the stereotypical eccentric fallen Broadway star settling on a career as a high school choir teacher.  But most of the time, his true passion for pure music and talent made up for it.

The family is funny.  Their dynamic reminded me of the relationship between Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson in Easy A.  There is a scene at the doctor's office where Ruby must translate the graphic description her father details to describe his medical ailment around his private parts.  There is another scene at the dinner table where Frank and Jackie are helping Leo decide who to swipe left or right on as he scrolls through profiles on the Tinder dating app.  Ruby asks why listening to music is rude at the table, but Tinder is okay.  Jackie responds, "Tinder is something we can do as a family."  

Ruby begins to take private singing lessons from Mr. Villalobos to help her audition for a scholarship to Berklee Music School in Boston.  Her increased duties with the family cause her to miss lessons and Mr. V begins to question her dedication.  The family decides to self-distribute their own fish and enlist the cooperation of other fishermen tired of being ripped off at the docks.  And, after a government monitor's interference, a court decrees that there must be a hearing-capable person on the boat at all times.  Ruby decides to give up on Berklee and stay to help the family.  And they appreciate her sacrifice . . . until Frank sees her perform and truly understands what she is about to give up.

I don't want to give too much away.  I'll just add that the soundtrack to Coda was superb.  I'll be honest, I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I was going to.  I didn't have any inclination I wouldn't enjoy it, but I did like it more than anticipated.  That being said, I'm raising my prediction of 3 Stars and giving Coda a 3.5 Star rating.  Though I did enjoy it, I'll probably watch it again, but it probably won't find a home in my permanent collection, and those are the biggest criteria in my rating system.    So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see . . . 

Coda Preview

A Coda is the concluding passage of a musical piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure.  This, of course, has a triple-meaning in the Best Picture nominated film Coda.  The Rossi family are a fishing family in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  And everyone pitches in, including 17 year old high school student Ruby (Emilia Jones).  Unlike the rest of her family, Ruby has dreams outside of the fishing business: she loves music and wants to study it in college.  But that's not all the separates her from the rest of her family.  Her father Frank (Troy Kotsur), her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin), and her brother Leo (Daniel Durant) are all deaf.  CODA is also an acronym for Child Of Deaf Adults.  There's your triple-meaning: the musical meaning, the acronym, and what I assume is an allusion to the ending of the movie - the concluding passage that is an addition to the basic structure.

And there's another twist: the family is seen in court and a judge rules that there must be a hearing capable person on their fishing boat at all times.  Ruby is faced with the dilemma of staying home to keep her family's business and livelihood alive, or pursuing her own life and her own dreams by going to college to study music.

Coda was written and directed by Sian Heder earning her Oscar nominations for Best Picture of the Year and Best Adapted Screenplay.  Troy Kotsur also earned himself a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.   This is only Heder's second motion picture she directed, though she's been in the industry as an actress, writer and director for quite some time.  

This film was actually strongly recommended by my friend Erika and I should have watched this long ago.    It's also at this point that I need to remind you of the significance of my rating system.  My stars are given based on three criteria: how accurately the preview represented the movie, the movie in and of itself, and the likelihood of me watching it again and owning the movie in my personal collection.  A lower rating doesn't necessarily mean a bad movie.  I can see a movie and agree it is worthy of nominations and awards; however, if seeing it once is enough for me and I'll likely never see it again and definitely won't own it, it gets a lower score.  Conversely, a movie not nominated for anything can get a higher rating if I plan to watch it again and own it.  So, on to my prediction:

Coda looks like a heartwarming, sincere, humorous drama about a girl torn between her family and her passion to live her own life.  We can see in the preview how this decision is destroying her inside.  What makes the decision even tougher is that she has a great family.  They support her and they support each other.  And they are funny.  We see a scene at the dinner table talking about the Tinder dating app.  Her mother has no reservations about helping son Leo filter through the app and comments, "Tinder is something we can do as a family."  Ruby can be seen completely embarrassed, like any normal teenager would be in that situation.  But the family is sweet, loving, and completely bonded together.

That being said, I'm giving Coda a 3.0 Star Prediction.  While it looks charming, touching, and funny, it looks like one of those movies where seeing it once will probably be enough for me.  Maybe again if I'm scrolling through with not much else to watch, but most likely not earning a place in my home collection.  Remember, that doesn't mean I won't think it worthy of nominations or awards.  And it's just a prediction based on the preview.  So, am I right?  We shall see . . . 

Don't Look Up Review

4.0 Stars

A comet the size of Mt. Everest has been discovered by a pair of astronomers and it's what they call a planet killer.  It will impact in just over six months.  Grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) found the comet and her Professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) charted its ominous, destructive course.  Now comes the challenge of alerting those who can do something about it.

With the help of NASA's Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), they first attempt to warn US President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her incompetent son, who also happens to be her Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill).  They are more concerned with political optics than the pending doom hurling their way.  The trio are forced to seek alternative methods for spreading the word.

They start with a morning talk show with cheery, sunshine hosts Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry) who try to give a positive spin to the whole gloomy tale of apocalyptic proportions.  Some believe that the future of the planet is in danger.  Others have decided to politicize the whole event to save face and encourage the population to just "Don't Look Up".   Because if you can't see it, it isn't real.

Don't Look Up is a dark but silly satire written and directed by Adam McKay and is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar category.  McKay is no stranger to absurd comedies having directed the Anchorman movies, Step Brothers, and The Other Guys.  He's also quite familiar with the political dramedy genre with The Big Short and Vice under his belt.  

Social media influencers begin to share their own thoughts on the matter and their followers regurgitate their opinions and create opposing hashtag wars between #dontlookup and #justlookup.  And, of course, as an added plot twist, billionaire tech mogul Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) and his team believe there to be trillions of dollars worth of important tech material.

Half a dozen years ago, this would have just been a smart, nonsensical satire like Mars Attacks meets Armageddon.  Instead of aliens coming to a planet of nitwit, incompetent leaders, it's a comet.  But considering recent political and global events, this one hits a little close to home.  Things that were once absurdly blown out of proportion for comedic effect are now seen as, "Oh yeah, that's actually how our government works."  

Don't Look Up is a smart, funny, poignant mirror of our own society that's almost difficult to watch because of how just on the nose it hits.  If you remove current political talking points like "the election was stolen" or "the Covid vaccines are not safe" or especially "Covid isn't real" and you replace them with a planet-killing comet, you have this movie.  President Orlean, who is more concerned about upcoming mid-term elections, encourages her base to just "don't look up."  It's very reminiscent of former President Trump saying that if you just don't test for Covid, there would be less cases.  For those in the future reading this, yes, that really happened.  

Without giving away the ending, everyone in the film ultimately has to make a decision on how they will spend their final hours on earth should the inevitable actually happen.  What I will say is the end is beautifully done; however, stick around as the credits start to roll for the official ending.  

I was excited to see this movie and gave it a 4.0 Star Prediction.  I was dead on with my prediction and I'm going to stick with my 4.0 Stars.  I thoroughly enjoy Don't Look Up.  The performances were spot on.  And it was original.  Yes, there have been political satires, there have been apocalyptic films.  But this was so well done.  I'll definitely want to watch it again and it has a good chance of owning it in my personal collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Don't Look Up Preview

A comet the size of Mt. Everest has been discovered by a pair of astronomers and it's what they call a planet killer.  It will impact in just over six months.  Grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) found the comet and her Professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) charted its ominous, destructive course.  Now comes the challenge of alerting those who can do something about it.

With the help of NASA's Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), they first attempt to warn US President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her incompetent son, who also happens to be her Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill).  They are more concerned with political optics than the pending doom hurling their way.  The trio are forced to seek alternative methods for spreading the word.

They start with a morning talk show with cheery, sunshine hosts Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry) who try to give a positive spin to the whole gloomy tale of apocalyptic proportions.  Some believe that the future of the planet is in danger.  Others have decided to politicize the whole event to save face and encourage the population to just "Don't Look Up".   Because if you can't see it, it isn't real.

Don't Look Up is a dark but silly satire written and directed by Adam McKay and is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar category.  McKay is no stranger to absurd comedies having directed the Anchorman movies, Step Brothers, and The Other Guys.  He's also quite familiar with the political dramedy genre with The Big Short and Vice under his belt.  

In the preview of this Netflix original movie, the trio of astronomers drop the bomb of the comet to end the world in the Oval Office to President Orlean.  Her inept decision is to "sit tight and assess".   The astronomers repeat the phrase, astounded by what she just said.  Chief of Staff Jason clarifies what she means.  "The sit tight part comes first.  And then you have to digest it.  That's the assessment period."

Social media influencers share their own thoughts on the matter and their followers regurgitate their opinions and create opposing hashtag wars between #dontlookup and #justlookup.  And, of course, as an added plot twist, billionaire tech mogul Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) and his team believe there to be trillions of dollars worth of important tech material.

Half a dozen years ago, this would have just been a smart, nonsensical satire like Mars Attacks meets Armageddon.  Instead of aliens coming to a planet of nitwit, incompetent leaders, it's a comet.  But considering recent political and global events, this one hits a little close to home.  Things that were once absurdly blown out of proportion for comedic effect are now seen as, "Oh yeah, that's actually how our government works."  

Don't Look Up looks to be a clever, poignant,  dark satire with a wonderful cast that delivers a smart and funny performance in this film that would be ridiculously silly if it wasn't so plausible.  I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest Leo fan.  I didn't really care for him in any of his earlier works until The Departed, Inception and Django.  Again, didn't care for him in Gatsby or Wolf of Wall Street or even Revenant.  Here's the thing: I couldn't even really tell you why.  I don't have anything against him, I just never really got the hype.  But I really can't wait to watch Don't Look Up.  And not in spite of Leo being in it, because of his performance in the previews.  The story sounds smart and fun, the performances look spot on.  I'm excited to see this movie and giving it a 4.0 Star Prediction.  I think I'll thoroughly enjoy it and want to watch it again with a good chance of owning it in my personal collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Ghostbusters Afterlife Review

4.5 Stars

It's been 32 years since the Ghostbusters saved the city of New York from Vigo the Carpathian.   After their second successful standoff against a supernatural threat to humanity, the Ghostbusters began to quickly lose business.  It's not that nobody wanted them.  Nobody needed them.  Ghost sightings dwindled until there was just no business left.  Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) went back into academics.  Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) became a successful business man.  Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) went back to running his Occult Bookstore.  Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) severed all ties to his team and his family.  Somewhere along they way, he had a daughter Callie (Carrie Coon).  Egon predicted another humanity-threatening supernatural apocalypse.  He took all their equipment and went to the source of the future destruction: Summerville, Oklahoma.  The Ghostbusters never talked to him again.  His daughter never knew him.  The residents of Summerville thought he was just a crazy dirt farmer.  And that's where Ghostbusters Afterlife begins.  

Egon Spengler is seen racing away from Shandor's mine in his pickup truck.  A full ghost trap on the seat next to him.  A none-too-pleased spook chasing him.  Spengler leads the ghost to his farm.  A trap to catch the spirit.  A trap that fails and costs Egon his life.  To his estranged daughter Callie and grandchildren Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), he had a heart attack and left them nothing more than his worthless farm and a mountain of debt.  Not exactly what Callie needed having just been evicted from her current apartment, unable to keep up with the bills.

Coming to grips that this run down shack is now their home, Callie and her kids attempt to make the best of their situation.  Callie begins sorting through her dad's "junk", Trevor gets a job at the local burger shack, and Phoebe enrolls in summer school where she meets Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd).  Immediately, they find equipment left behind by Egon, they begin seeing inexplicable phenomenon, and there are seismic rumblings that don't make sense.  Mr. Grooberson recognizes the equipment and shows the children video footage of who the Ghostbusters were.  It is soon revealed, they are the direct descendants of Egon Spengler, the Ghostbuster. 

Ghostbusters Afterlife is being hailed as the sequel fans have always wanted.  And for good reason.  After the success of Ghostbusters 2 in 1989, several writing efforts went into making a 3rd installment, but some of the cast (namely Bill Murray) were more than just a little hesitant.  In 2016, instead of a sequel, a reboot was made and failed to deliver the same magic.  The original team got to work and created Ghostbusters Afterlife.

Ghostbusters Afterlife is truly a family reunion project.  It was directed by Jason Reitman (son of the original director Ivan Reitman); it was written by Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman and Dan Aykroyd; it was produced by Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd; and the list of appearances from the original films include Sigourney Weaver, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, the Ghost-mobile Ecto1, and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.  What more could you want?  

The biggest question I had going in to the film was the kids.  They're young, but they're seasoned veterans and this style of film should be right in their wheelhouse.  Finn Wolfhard is best known for his roles in Stranger Things and the modern Stephen King's It.  Mckenna Grace has an even longer resume with roles in The Handmaid's Tale, Designated Survivor, Ready Player One, and Amityville: The Awakening.  Neither are strangers to the big screen and both have experience in the spooky and the supernatural.  They were perfectly believable as the two Ghostbuster descendants fully capable of picking up the proton packs on their backs to carry on the legacy.

The story is the same plot line as the original.  Gozer the Gozerian wants to take over the world and needs the help of The Gatekeeper and The Keymaster to do so.  In the original, it was Dana Barrett (Weaver) and Louis Tully (Rick Moranis).  In Afterlife, it's Callie and Mr. Grooberson.  The special effects were perfect.  Reitman and his effects team took the original creatures and weapons from the original but just made them so much cleaner and realistic.  

I gave Ghostbusters Afterlife a 4.5 Star Prediction.  Remember, my rating scale doesn't necessarily mean this will be an Oscar-worthy film.  It really has to do with how honestly the preview portrays the movie and how much I enjoyed it and want to watch it again.  And this movie delivers everything fans would want and modern movies will want to see.  It is smart, new, fresh, funny, entertaining, with just the right amount of spooky.  I am sticking with my original prediction and giving Ghostbusters Afterlife a 4.5 Star Rating.  There was just enough nostalgia for fans of the original to get their sentimental fix while still making it a movie that stands on its own for today's audience.  

I only had a few small critiques of the film.  It took me a while to warm up to Trevor.  For about half of the movie, I didn't really see the point of his character.  Half-way through, it seemed the only point he really served was that he was old enough to drive.  But then he quickly turned into a formidable Ghostbuster and I bought into him for the remainder of the film.

I have mixed feelings on Egon Spengler's appearance.  It was similar to the feeling of seeing a digital Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia at the end of Star Wars Rogue One.  It was good, very well intentioned, but just felt a little off and not quite right.  But it was still sweet and certainly done to pay huge homage to the late Harold Ramis. 

Another fun touch I think they could have worked in in a subtle way was a descendant of the antagonistic Environmental Protection Agency inspector Walter Peck (William Atherton).  His character was just so juicy and easy to hate in the first movie.  He set in motion the events that lead to the final climax and he got what he deserved in the end with a shower of exploding Marshmallow Man.  I feel like they really could have found a place for a Peck presence in this film.

And I was missing a "Bill Murray" character.  Understandably, there is no one like Bill Murray, but it was a missing element from the film.  Phoebe was a clear descendant of Egon with her mind, mannerisms and humor.  Her friend Pod Cast seemed to fit the Ray character, and they share a special bond at the end of the film.  Trevor's love interest Lucky (Celeste O'Connor) fit the Winston position as the late-comer but equal contributor to their overall success.  Grooberson and Callie seemed the modern Dana and Louis.  And then there's Trevor.  If he was supposed to be the Pete Venkman of the bunch, it was a complete failure.  It looks more like Reitman agreed that there was no replicating Bill Murray, so they didn't even try.  Not a huge deal, but a noticeably missing piece of the original movie.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Ghostbusters Afterlife for both it's nostalgia and it's originality.  There were audible cheers and laughs from the audience with the throwbacks to the original film and for the new cast and story.  It's one I'll want to watch over and over again.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Ghostbusters Afterlife Preview

It's been 32 years since the Ghostbusters saved the city of New York from Vigo the Carpathian.  A single mother, Callie (Carrie Coon) and her two children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) are evicted from their home and move to a dilapidated farmhouse in Summerville, Oklahoma.  You'd think things would be quiet and boring in the middle of nowhere, but inexplicable earthquakes and other strange phenomena happen upon their arrival.  

From the trailer for Ghostbusters Afterlife, it looks like the kids discover some of the old Ghostbusters' equipment but have no idea what it is.  Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd) recognizes the equipment and shows the children video footage of who the Ghostbusters were.  As it turns out, there's a reason why the equipment is in their farmhouse.  It belonged to their grandfather, Egon Spengler, making them direct descendants of the Ghostbusters. 

Ghostbusters Afterlife is being hailed as the sequel fans have always wanted.  After the success of Ghostbusters 2 in 1989, several writing efforts went into making a 3rd installment, but some of the cast (namely Bill Murray) were more than just a little hesitant.  In 2016, instead of a sequel, a reboot was made and failed to deliver the same magic.  The original team got to work and created Ghostbusters Afterlife.

Even without a preview, Ghostbuster fans will be lining up to watch this long-awaited continuation.  Here's all you need to know:  it was directed by Jason Reitman (son of the original director Ivan Reitman); it was written by Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman and Dan Aykroyd; it was produced by Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd; and the list of appearances from the original films include Sigourney Weaver, BIll Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, the Ghost-mobile, and they Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.  What more could you want?  

If that wasn't enough, the preview should sell you.  Jason Reitman seems to show restraint and pay homage to the original films using the same effects for the ghost-catching equipment.  The ghostly creations just look cleaner, while still embodying the same feel of the original movies.  Modern CGI technology should enhance the effects in this installment, but not completely isolate itself from the 80's hits.  

The only question is the kids.  They're young, but they're seasoned veterans and this style of film should be right in their wheelhouse.  Finn Wolfhard is best known for his roles in Stranger Things and the modern Stephen King's It.  Mckenna Grace has an even longer resume with roles in The Handmaid's Tale, Designated Survivor, Ready Player One, and Amityville: The Awakening.  Neither are strangers to the big screen and both have experience in the spooky and the macabre.  And the preview shows them perfectly believable as the two Ghostbuster descendants fully capable of picking up the proton packs on their backs to carry on the legacy.

I am giving Ghostbusters Afterlife a 4.5 Star Prediction.  Now, remember, my rating scale doesn't necessarily mean this will be an Oscar-worthy film.  At the same time, a film I can admit should win Oscars and accolades, does not automatically mean I will give it a higher star rating.  It really has to do with how honestly the preview portrays the movie and how much I enjoyed it and want to watch it again.  I feel like, even if this wasn't somewhat of a redemption for the failure of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, this movie would be a huge success.  Smart, new, fresh, funny, entertaining, with just the right amount of spooky.  It's one I hope I will thoroughly enjoy for both it's nostalgia and it's originality and one I hope I'll want to watch over and over again.  So, am I right?  We shall see.

Finch Review

2.5 Stars

In the not too distant future, a massive solar flare destroys the earth's protective ozone layer resulting in the obliteration of crops and livestock.  The temperature is an average 150 degrees outside, the ultraviolet radiation is deadly, and the planet, now a post-apocalyptic wasteland, is largely uninhabitable.  Finch Weinberg (Tom Hanks) and his dog Goodyear are two of the survivors.  Finch is a robotics engineer and uses parts from his company's St. Louis laboratory to build an assistant rover, Dewey, to assist him as he scavenges for any food or resources he can find.  

Finch reads books on post-apocalyptic survival to get by and the effects of UV radiation to understand his quickly approaching fate.  He builds a robot who's prime directive is to protect the dog.  The internet is no longer available, so he scans the contents of carefully selected books to give this robot a base wealth of knowledge.  But his timetable is unexpectedly accelerated with an approaching electrical storm due to hit the next day and last for 40 days.  Finch scrambles to get the robot functional enough to flee for a safer destination.  They have no idea what or who they might encounter along the way, but they'll do it together as the robot learns to think, feel, and communicate . . . even with Goodyear.

While the Covid-19 Pandemic makes it feel like it's been a while since we've seen Hanks in a leading role, he's actually been keeping quite busy.  Finch is his fifth feature film in the last three years.  His other works have been the fourth Toy Story installment, the role of Fred Rogers in the dark and touching A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a naval Captain in Greyhound, and a messenger of hope and current events in News of the World.

Finch looked like it could be a possible mix of Cast Away (one of Hanks' previous films about a man stranded for years on a deserted island) and Pinocchio (the next in a trend of Disney live-action remakes of animated classics in which Hanks will play Geppetto, a toy maker who builds a wooden boy companion who comes to life). On his deserted island, Hanks was kept company only by a volleyball he named Wilson, the brand of the volleyball.  In Finch, at least he has a dog that's actually alive and he builds a robot with whom he is able to communicate.  Food, shelter and other necessities were scarce on the island.  While food and water are in short supply in Finch, but he has more options for material resources, travel, and shelter.  And the environment on the island was much more hospitable than in Finch where he can be immediately severely burned from simply exposing his skin to direct sunlight.

It's unclear from the preview what the end-game is in Finch.  The impending storm forces Finch and his band to flee their shelter in St. Louis.  Using a map he has been using to keep track of areas he has surveyed and scavenged, Finch decides to head west to San Francisco hoping there might be more resources, but hopefully no people.

Finch was directed by Miguel Sapochnik.  Who? is exactly the right response to that.  This appears to be one of the few full-length feature films Sapochnik has directed as his repertoire is mostly populated with TV series.  Now, the shows he has directed have been very high caliber: Game of Thrones and True Detective, for example.  But, it still didn't give us more clues as to what we can expect from Finch as would say a director like Stephen Spielberg, Tim Burton, or Martin Scorsese.  What we got was not noteworthy.  

So, honestly, my main motivation to watch this movie was purely Tom Hanks in the leading role.  I  tepidly gave Finch a prediction of 3.5 Stars.  I am lowering that rating to 2.5 stars.  Hanks was fine.  I really think it was the script overall that was lacking in substance.  In Cast Away, Hanks developed such a relationship with the volleyball Wilson that we were brought to tears when they were ultimately separated.  That relationship was not replicated in this movie with Goodyear the dog, Dewey the scavenger rover, or the robot protector they eventually named Jeff.  And there were so many opportunities to do so.  Immediately upon having his power switch activated, Jeff has a personality, but we have no idea where he got that personality, his mannerisms, his cadence, and it never really develops from that point during the movie.  Unfortunately, he and Finch don't get to spend much time together for teaching moments as they evacuate less than a day later.   

There were so many moments where we could have seen the understanding and capacity for human thought in Jeff that just weren't there in the movie.  Instead, Jeff is somewhat of a bumbling, often annoying robot who inexplicably has a very distinct and developed personality of his own.  His cadence seems to be fashioned after the Borat character of Sacha Baron Cohen.  There were so many moments where Jeff could have slowly broken down the walls of distrust between he and the dog Goodyear.  Those moments are few and far between.  There were missed opportunities for Finch to have us buy into his relationship with Goodyear that ultimately comes down to a touching story of how they came to find each other.  And there were opportunities missed to show the importance of Dewey to Finch making a scene in which Jeff believes he is learning to do the right thing ends up resulting in tragedy that could have been very moving, just fall flat.  The music during that scene didn't help either.  

Overall, Hanks was fine.  It wasn't his best work, but I think he was limited by a mediocre script.  I wasn't expecting much going into the movie, but Finch ultimately delivered even less.  It was flat and mostly emotionless which is a shame since it stars one of the masters of character and story-telling.  It wouldn't be worth paying full-price in the theatres, I might watch it again on a rainy day for free with absolutely nothing else to do, but this won't find a home in my permanent collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Finch Preview

In the not too distant future, a massive solar flare destroys the earth's protective ozone layer resulting in the obliteration of crops and livestock.  The temperature gets to 150 degrees outside, the ultraviolet radiation is deadly, and the planet, now a post-apocalyptic wasteland, is largely uninhabitable.  Finch Weinberg (Tom Hanks) and his dog Goodyear are two of the survivors.  Finch is a robotics engineer and uses what remains in his company's St. Louis laboratory to build a robot, Dewey, who's prime directive is to protect the dog.

Time is of the essence as Finch anticipates another deadly flare.  He scrambles to get Dewey functional enough to flee for a safer destination.  They have no idea what or who they might encounter along the way, but they'll do it together as Dewey learns to think, feel, and communicate . . . even with Goodyear.

While the Covid-19 Pandemic makes it feel like it's been a while since we've seen Hanks in a leading role, he's actually been keeping quite busy.  Finch is his fifth feature film in the last three years.  His other works have been the fourth Toy Story installment, the role of Fred Rogers in the dark and touching A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a naval Captain in Greyhound, and a messenger of hope and current events in News of the World.

Finch appears to be a possible mix of Cast Away (one of Hanks' previous films about a man stranded for years on a deserted island) and Pinocchio (the next in a trend of Disney live-action remakes of animated classics in which Hanks will play Geppetto, a toy maker who builds a wooden boy companion who comes to life). On his deserted island, Hanks was kept company only by a volleyball he named Wilson, the brand of the volleyball.  In Finch, at least he has a dog that's actually alive and he builds a robot with whom he is able to communicate.  Food, shelter and other necessities were scarce on the island.  While food and water might be in short supply in Finch, it appears he has more options for material resources, travel, and shelter.  And the environment on the island seemed to be much more hospitable than in Finch where he can be immediately severely burned from simply exposing his skin to sunlight.

While I'm not sure what the end-game is in Finch from the preview, we know many things before going in to this movie, even without the preview. . . because it's Tom Hanks.  The acting will be effortless, sincere and believable.  Hanks is one of the best all-time at this and has two Oscars to back that up.  Though, personally, I think he was robbed for not even being nominated for his performances in Saving Mr. Banks and Captain Phillips, but I digress.   We also know there will be a steady balance of character development, relationship building, humor, dramatic obstacles, and tear-jerking moments along the way.

Finch was directed by Miguel Sapochnik.  Who? is exactly the right response to that.  This appears to be one of the few full-length feature films Sapochnik has directed as his repertoire is mostly populated with TV series.  Now, the shows he has directed have been very high caliber: Game of Thrones and True Detective, for example.  But, it still doesn't give us more clues as to what we can expect from Finch as would say a director like Stephen Spielberg, Tim Burton, or Martin Scorsese.

So, honestly, my main motivation to watch this movie is purely Tom Hanks in the leading role.  I'm not sure if I'd be as interested in watching this film if another actor was portraying Finch.  With that, I am tepidly giving Finch a prediction of 3.5 Stars.  It doesn't look like a film that will be nominated for Hanks' performance or for it's original script or special effects or anything else.  I'm not expecting to be blown away.  I'm expecting to smile, maybe tear up once or twice, but ultimately be entertained.  I may want to watch it again, but it probably has little chance of becoming one that I will own in my personal collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Promising Young Woman Review

4.0 Stars

Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is smart and determined and was working her way through medical school when tragedy rocked her world.  Her best friend Nina was raped by their classmate Al Monroe.  The school and the legal system failed her.  Nina took her own life and Cassie never recovered.  Now, pushing 30, she lives at home with her parents in Ohio and works at a coffee shop to make ends meet.  

Promising Young Woman is Cassie's revenge story.  Her parents and friends (well, the coffee shop owner) are worried about her.  She's out late a night, she has no friends or boyfriend.  They're afraid to even think what she's doing.  What she's doing is trying to stop what happened to Nina from happening to anyone else, one sleazy man at a time.

The film starts in a club.  Three business men are at the bar, cursing up a storm, being misogynistic, complaining about a female co-worker when they notice Cassie completely drunk sitting by herself on a nearby couch.  One of the men (the one who actually seems like a decent guy) offers to take her home.  Like every other guy, he tries to take advantage of her inebriated state.  She lets him get just far enough before revealing her sobriety.  I thought from the preview that Cassie killed the men to teach them a lesson.  Spoiler alert: she doesn't.  She just hopes to scare them to the point they never do this again.

One day, while she is working in the coffee shop, a former classmate Ryan (Bo Burnham) enters.  He is sweet and goofy and endearing.  After tripping over his own words, he tells her she can spit in his coffee if she likes.  He'd deserve it.  Without hesitating, she does.  He responds by asking her out.  He also tells her that Al Monroe is getting married.  Thus begins the conflict: she really likes Ryan, but she is on a mission.

The preview for the movie began with Cassie speaking with Dean Elizabeth Walker (Connie Britton).  Cassie is there under the pretense of being interested in resuming her medical schooling.  When asked about her previous departure, Cassie reminds her of what Al Monroe did at that school.  Dean Walker dismisses Cassie by saying they get accusations like this all the time.  The revenge she gets on Dean Walker, well, let's just say it's personal, and it's gets her point across.

Promising Young Woman was Written, Produced and Directed by Emerald Fennell.  Other than a short film in 2018, this would be Fennell's directorial debut.  She is nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.  Carey Mulligan is nominated for Best Leading Actress.  This is Mulligan's second Oscar nomination.  She was previously nominated for her role in An Education in 2009.

I originally predicted 4 Stars for this revenge flick.  I thought it might be akin to a Quentin Tarantino film, namely the Kill Bill Volumes.  I thought it was going to be clever, but bloody, yet funny and dark, all at the same time.  It was a lot of those things, but it wasn't bloody as I anticipated.  Carey was fantastic in the leading role with her dry sense of humor and often subtle delivery mixed with a deep and intense need for revenge.  There were several unexpected and unwanted twists and turns in the movie.  It was often uncomfortable, painful, infuriating, but also smart, sweet, and fun at times.  I am going to stick with my original prediction for Promising Young Woman and give it a solid 4 Stars.  It would have been worth the money in a theatre, it's something I'd want to watch again, and it may have a chance of finding a home in my permanent collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Promising Young Woman Preview

Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is smart and determined and was working her way through medical school when tragedy rocked her world.  Her best friend Nina was raped by their classmate Al Monroe.  The school and the legal system failed her.  Nina took her own life and Cassie never recovered.  Now, pushing 30, she lives at home with her parents in Ohio and works at a coffee shop to make ends meet.  

Promising Young Woman is Cassie's revenge story.  The preview begins with Cassie speaking with Dean Elizabeth Walker (Connie Britton).  Cassie is there under the pretense of being interested in resuming her medical schooling.  When asked about her previous departure, Cassie reminds her of what Al Monroe did at that school.  Dean Walker dismisses Cassie by saying they get accusations like this all the time.  Walker asks Cassie if the alleged rape was reported and who it was Nina spoke to.  Cassie reminds Walker that it was her that Nina went to for help.

Thus begins a rampage of not only revenge against those Cassie holds responsible for what happened to Nina, but against those who engage in this behavior.  She frequents bars and parties and acts completely inebriated.  She waits for guys to attempt to take advantage of her before revealing her sobriety. 

There is another preview that apparently shows how Cassie's fire for revenge was ignited.  She is working in the coffee shop when a former classmate Ryan (Bo Burnham) enters.  He is sweet and goofy and endearing.  After tripping over his own words, he tells her she can spit in his coffee if she likes.  He'd deserve it.  Without hesitating, she does.  He responds by asking her out.  He also tells her that Al Monroe is getting married.  There's the fire.

Promising Young Woman was Written, Produced and Directed by Emerald Fennell.  Other than a short film in 2018, this would be Fennell's directorial debut.  She is nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.  Carey Mulligan is nominated for Best Leading Actress.  This is Mulligan's second Oscar nomination.  She was previously nominated for her role in An Education in 2009.

This film looks painful, yet witty.  Dark, yet sweet.  Angry, yet heroic.  Carey looks fantastic in the leading role with a dry sense of humor and delivery mixed with a deep and intense need for revenge.  It's not the first movie to deal with revenge.  In Carrie, the 1976 Stephen King thriller, we saw Sissy Spacek exact a bloody revenge against her bullies.  Russell Crowe got his revenge in 2000's Gladiator.  But the preview for Promising Young Woman reminds me a bit of another revenge movie.  Two actually.  Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2 by Quentin Tarantino.  Tarantino is one of the all-time masters of tackling extremely uncomfortable issues (slavery, drug use, sodomy), stringing the storyline together with as much violently bloody and over-the-top graphic scenes as possible, and sprinkling in just enough smart and necessary humor to keep things somewhat balanced.  I'm expecting the same type of reaction to this film.  Uncomfortable, graphic, violent, but also smart and fun.  I am going to give Promising Young Woman a 4 Star Prediction.  It looks like it would be worth the money in a theatre, something I'd want to watch again, and have a good chance of finding a home in my permanent collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Judas and the Black Messiah Review

2.5 Stars

Judas and the Black Messiah is the latest film by Director Shaka King.  While this isn't exactly his directorial debut, this is only his second full length feature film and is certainly his most noteworthy.  Other than a spattering of TV episodes and a couple short films over the last 8 years, King's previous work as a Director was Newlyweeds.  He directed 5 episodes of the one-season sci-fi comedy People of Earth which I thought was a clever, witty, dark comedy and was disappointed it didn't get more seasons.  Now, seemingly out of nowhere, he brings us Judas and the Black Messiah that is nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture.

William "Bill" O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) is caught stealing a car and impersonating a Federal Agent.  He is given a choice: several years in prison, or become an FBI informant.  FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) sees the Black Panther Party as the biggest threat in America and commands the FBI to take down their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya).  With his FBI handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), keeping close tabs on him, O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois Black Panthers to keep tabs on Hampton.  

The film is based on true events.  Which sometimes makes it really tough to criticize.  If you're watching a movie about Malcolm X, for example, you can't really be upset with the movie maker when Malcolm X is murdered.  That actually happened.  In 1989, O'Neal gave an interview to PBS for a documentary called Eyes on the Prize II.  O'Neal died in a traffic accident less than a year later.  It was ruled a suicide.

Judas and the Black Messiah starts with O'Neal entering a bar in a trench coat and fedora impersonating an FBI agent.  After he is caught and asked why he didn't just rob the place with a gun like most thieves do, he replied that they aren't scared of guns, but they're scared of the badge and the army of back-up that comes with it.  After stealing a car from one of the men in the bar and barely getting away alive as they chase him down, O'Neal is quickly apprehended by the FBI. 

He is interviewed by Agent Roy Mitchell who lists the charges and jail time he faces, unless he agrees to infiltrate the Illinois Black Panthers and provide the FBI important information to help take down their organization.  Mitchell befriends O'Neal, asking him if he was upset by the recent murders of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.  He tells O'Neal that the Black Panthers are no different than white supremacists who are hell bent on violence and mayhem rather than peace and equality.  Mitchell takes O'Neal out to eat at nice restaurants, pays him for good intelligence.  He invites him over to his house and allows him to meet his family.  

I think we were supposed to see the inner conflict in O'Neal.  As he gets closer to the Panthers, he realizes they are not terrorists.  They are good people trying to do the right thing and stand up against racist oppression.  But O'Neal's life was in danger more than just a couple times as the Panthers challenged his stories and identity.  LaKeith Stanfield, who played O'Neal, really didn't have a good poker face, nor did he have subtle facial expressions.  There was a scene where the Panthers were in the same bar O'Neal robbed.  Afraid of being recognized, he comically attempted to hide in the corner and conceal his identity.  He was just as exaggerated under the same circumstances in the headquarters of a rival gang.  

Later, O'Neal is challenged by other Panthers to hotwire the car they're in to prove his story.  He does so and let's out an exaggerated deep breath and roll of the eyes showing relief that he pulled it off.  And there is yet another scene at a rally welcoming Panther leader Hampton back from prison where Agent Mitchell shows up and blends in with the crowd.  O'Neal sees him and is visibly disturbed by his presence there.  He just seemed to lack any nuance in his performance.

In fact, I found the inner turmoil of Agent Mitchell to be more compelling.  You could see him struggling to convince O'Neal that taking down the Panthers was a good thing.  You could see his faith in his own FBI waver as fellow agents willingly put another informant in harms way and left him out to dry.  You could see his hesitancy to carry out the order to eliminate Hampton before he was to go back to prison.  And you could feel his conflict when he had to threaten O'Neal with prison time when O'Neal called him desperately wanting to stop being an informant.  

Daniel Kaluuya burst onto the scene in 2017 with his outstanding performance in the twisted thriller Get Out.  He is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Black Messiah.  While I thought he was convincing and charismatic and accurately portrayed the Panther Leader, I don't know that I'd consider his performance Oscar-worthy.  LaKeith Stanfield has been around, but this is definitely his most prominent role to date.  He is nominated for Best Actor, and I certainly don't think his performance warranted the nomination. 

I didn't know what exactly to expect from Judas and the Black Messiah.  It was easy to deduce that O'Neal was Judas and Hampton was the Messiah based on clips in the preview.  I assumed it would be an emotionally charged film about the racial tensions in the late 1960's in Chicago, but this film failed to elicit much of an emotional response from me. 

Like I said, films based on historical events are hard to critique.  I would have appreciated more of a back-story on O'Neal so we could see how he ended up in the bar that fateful night.  I would love to have seen more of Mitchell's family life and his conflict between morals and duty.  I cautiously anticipated 3.5 stars for this movie.  I will say that one of the things I love about Oscar season is that I push myself to see movies I normally wouldn't necessarily be inclined to watch on my own.  Trying to see all the Best Film nominees pushing me to explore just the ones I think I would personally find entertaining based on the previews.  

After watching Judas and the Black Messiah, however, I'm going to have to lower my rating to 2.5 stars.  I was hoping it would be powerful, emotional, well-acted and a tough look at our country's ugly recent history.  Overall, I felt it was underwhelming, missed opportunities to have the viewer invest more in the characters, and was almost comically melodramatic at times.  I might have found it worth a matinee or a rental, but it's not one I anticipate seeing again, and it will not be finding a home in my personal collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see . . . 

Judas and the Black Messiah Preview

Judas and the Black Messiah is the latest film by Director Shaka King.  While this isn't exactly his directorial debut, this is only his second full length feature film and is certainly his most noteworthy.  Other than a spattering of TV episodes and a couple short films over the last 8 years, King's previous work as a Director was Newlyweeds.  He directed 5 episodes of the one-season sci-fi comedy People of Earth which I thought was a clever, witty, dark comedy and was disappointed it didn't get more seasons.  Now, seemingly out of nowhere, he brings us Judas and the Black Messiah that is nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture.

William "Bill" O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) is caught stealing a car and assaulting a Federal Agent.  He is given a choice: several years in prison, or become an FBI informant.  FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen) sees the Black Panther Party as the biggest threat in America and commands the FBI to take down their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya).  With his FBI handler, Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), keeping close tabs on him, O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois Black Panthers to keep tabs on Hampton.  

O'Neal is torn.  As he gets closer to the Panthers, he realizes they are not terrorists.  They are good people trying to do the right thing and stand up against racist oppression.  The FBI doesn't see it that way and he is told that Hampton must be taken down by any means necessary.  Things get tense as the Panthers suspect a rat in their midst and O'Neal struggles between his morals and his duty.

Daniel Kaluuya burst onto the scene in 2017 with his outstanding performance in the twisted thriller Get Out.  He is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Black Messiah.  LaKeith Stanfield has been around, but this is definitely his most prominent role to date.  He is nominated for Best Actor. 

I honestly don't know what to expect from Judas and the Black Messiah.  I mean, I can easily deduce that O'Neal is Judas and Hampton is the Messiah from the title.  I can tell this will be an emotionally charged film about the racial tensions in the late 1960's in Chicago.  Malcolm X was shot and killed in 1965, only 100 years after the 13th Amendment officially ended slavery.  Martin Luther King JR. was shot and killed just a few years later in 1968.   I know that films like this are never comfortable to watch.  As a society, we never enjoy being reminded of how horribly we've treated people in our country's history.  Partially because it's such an ugly time in our past, and also because we still have a long way to go.

Like I said, I enjoyed King's recent work on the TV series People of Earth, but Black Messiah is neither sci-fi nor comedy.  I enjoyed Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out, but this is not a thriller.  It's a heavy and relevant topic.  Now, if someone like Quentin Tarantino was directing it, you could be sure it was overly bloody and irreverently and uncomfortably funny.  But it's not Tarantino.  I will say that one of the things I love about Oscar season is that I push myself to see movies I normally wouldn't necessarily be inclined to watch on my own.  Trying to see all the Best Film nominees pushing me to explore just the ones I think I would personally find entertaining based on the previews.  That being said, it does make it a little difficult to predict ratings for these kinds of films, especially with how my personal rating scale works.

So, I am going to cautiously predict 3.5 Stars for Judas and the Black Messiah.  I think it will be powerful, emotional, well-acted and a tough look at our country's ugly recent history.  I have my doubts about whether I'll want to watch it again or add it to my permanent collection, however.  So, am I right?  We shall see . . . 

Soul Review

 

4 Stars

It's been a tough year for the film industry.  There were a total of 329 movies released in 2020 in the United States and Canada.  There were nearly 800 released the year before.  It's amazing that movies were released at all.  Ticket sales for movie theatres plummeted 80% to their lowest numbers in nearly 40 years.  Disney's animated release back then was The Great Mouse Detective.  That's also the year Pixar Animation Studio began, though it would be about ten years before they carved their name in the history books with Toy Story.

Soul is Pixar's latest animated feature film released by Disney.  From the moment he wakes up in the morning until the moment he falls asleep at night, music is all Joe (Jamie Foxx) thinks about.  He was born to play jazz and it's his reason for living.  Those are very carefully chosen words for this middle-school music teacher who feels he's missed his calling in life.  Joe gets a call from a former student and offers him a chance to play with the legendary jazz musician Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett).  Joe is so excited at the opportunity, he doesn't see an open manhole in the street in front of him, he plummets and doesn't survive the fall. His "soul" ends up in line with other souls on the great staircase to The Great Beyond.  But Joe isn't ready. He jumps out of line and falls to a place called The Great Before, where new souls get their personalities before they go to earth. There, he meets up with soul number 22 (Tina Fey) and embarks on a journey to return to his life on earth.  

Without giving everything away, Soul is deep and tackles some really intense philosophical, moral, theological and metaphysical topics in this animated film.  Before souls can leave The Great Before and enter their human form on earth, they must get a "spark".  Joe and 22 mistakenly assume the "spark" is your purpose in life.  For Joe, that's his music.  22 is completely happy where she is and has no desire to go to earth.  But she is inspired by Joe and decides to help him return to his human form.  In order to do that, they must enlist the help of free-spirited Moonwind (Graham Norton) in a place called The Zone.

Writer / Director Pete Docter, like every Writer / Director at Pixar, has strung together hit after hit.  He burst onto the scene with Monsters, Inc and followed that triumph with the highly acclaimed Up.  In 2015, Docter wrote and directed Inside Out, an animated film that introduced us to the emotional characters that drive us as individuals.  We met Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Disgust within ourselves.  In Soul, he takes an even deeper look as we meet the Souls who are . . . us to our core.

Soul has been nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Original Score, Best Animated Feature Film and Best Sound.  Since the Animated Feature Film category was created in 2001, Pixar studio has won the trophy 6 times.  Many professional and amateur Oscar predictors believe Soul will give them their 7th statue.

It's Pixar and Pete Docter, so of course the animation was amazing and groundbreaking.  It would be a disappointing distraction to watch a Pixar film that didn't constantly advance the art of animation.   For me, in Soul, it was the realism of the musical instruments and they way they were played in the film that really struck me.  The story is original.  There are plenty of movies and stories about what happens in the afterlife: Heaven Can Wait, Defending Your Life, What Dreams May Come to name just a few.  This tackles the concept of our souls existing before they take on a human form.  It's a pretty heavy subject matter, especially for kids.  But Pixar has a way of telling these kinds of deeply thoughtful, emotional, imaginative stories in ways that touch and entertain children and adults alike.  Soul takes on so much more than The Great Before.  It touches on who we are as individuals, what our purpose is in life, death, what happens after death.  I said out loud a few times during the film, "This is so deep."  

One of the biggest draws of the movie is the music. Real-life jazz musician Jon Batiste was a key musical consultant for the film.  He composed, arranged and performed many of the songs featured in the movie.  To hear Batiste talk about the music in the film and the story that the music tells was emotional and inspirational, even without the movie.  You could hear the sadness, the joy, the pain, the triumph as Batiste described and played pieces of the songs during the interview.  And the movie did not disappoint.  The music was just as much a character integral in the telling of the story as was Joe or 22 or Moonwind or Dorothea.  

I anticipated a 4 Stars rating from Soul and I'm going to stick with 4 Stars as my final rating for the film.  Although I couldn't watch it in the theatre (which I miss tremendously), it would have been well worth the price of admission, it's certainly worth seeing again, and it has a great chance of making it to my home collection.  It's original, clever, witty, intelligent, thought-provoking, deep and fantastic.  The only thing slightly missing from Soul that has been almost a hallmark of Pixar films is the tear-jerking moment.  The opening sequence for the movie Up, Andy's goodbye in Toy Story 3, Woody saying goodbye to Buzz in Toy Story 4, Sully saying goodbye to Boo in Monster's, Inc. and Bing Bong's Death in Inside Out are some of their quintessential pull-out-the-tissue moments.  Soul didn't really have that.  But it dealt with so many heavy subjects through the entire film and just kept piling them on relentlessly that I don't think my emotions could have handled it if they did.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to see it again.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see . . . but it's most likely going to be one of the Best Picture nominations.