Category Archives: Rated PG-13

Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 3

Pull out an arsenal of adjectives for this one: huge, mind-blowing, hilarious, emotional, loud, clever, surprising, uplifting, satisfying. They all apply. James Gunn has topped himself with Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 3. It’s a must-see!

The story, the effects, the art direction and the soundtrack are damn good. But it’s the character development of the Guardians that makes GOTG3 special.

Peter Quill aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt) leads the crew but focuses much of his attention on Gamora (Zoe Saldana) who rebuffs his romantic overtures. The best word to describe her character: fierce. 

Drax (Dave Bautista) is funnier than in the previous GOTG films and gives indications that he may not be as clueless as he sometimes seems. 

Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) play key roles as the Guardians’ mission is a total team effort.

Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) plays a bigger role in this newest GOTG and even—whoops, gotta stop before a spoiler leaps out!

Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper and others), his origin and the crisis he faces form the main component of the plot line. Again, dodging spoilers here. (You can find plot summaries online but I suggest you see the film with no more pre-knowledge than you can obtain from trailers.)

The first two GOTG films were notable for their use of popular hit songs. GOTG3 gets a bit more, um, adventurous in its music choices. The film kicks off with Radiohead’s classic Creep.

Manchester, Missouri’s own and SLU grad James Gunn (who wrote and directed) achieves full redemption for his years ago Twitter sins with GOTG3. Nothing can top the thrill of seeing the first Guardians film nine years ago but Vol. 3 comes close with its fun and surprises.

Brother Sean Gunn plays side character Kraglin who gets screen time at the beginning and end of the movie, along with his amazing dog Cosmo.

Two tips: You might want to buy your tickets before you show up at the theater—you could encounter big crowds this first weekend. Also, stick around for all the credits and extra scenes and hints about the future of the franchise. Runtime is 2:30. Rated PG-13.

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Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Is it as good as the book? Short answer: No. Because movies adapted from books are never as good as the book. Well, almost never.

But is it a good MOVIE? Yes. Entertaining. And, yes, charming.

Along with beginning to mature into a new life stage, Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) has to handle a move from New York City to the Jersey suburbs AND a spiritual awakening. The film’s other title character, God, gets significant attention in the story. Margaret’s frequent prayers and religious exposure from her grandma (Kathy Bates) and friends open her mind to new ideas and concepts.

Margaret’s parents are a Christian mom (Rachel McAdams) and a Jewish dad (Ben Safdie) who have chosen not to raise their daughter in either religion. This leads to an ugly episode when Margaret’s maternal grandparents come to visit.

Margaret’s interactions with her friends Nancy (Elle Graham), Janie (Amari Price) and Gretchen (Katherine Kupferer) are the highlights of the film. Their meetings in 2023 would likely be conducted via text messaging or other cyber connections. It’s nice to see them hang out in person in their 1970 world.

The important question here is: can a story set half a century ago still be relevant in our more sophisticated modern day? Absolutely. Sixth grade girls in 2023 are vastly different from those of 1970 but much of this tale is about the things all girls—and their parents—deal with as they transition from childhood into puberty.

Today’s girls are much better informed about many things, receiving details from their peers who are better informed than Margaret’s peers were. And, of course, the internet provides info. And today’s school libraries offer materials that tell girls more than was available back in the day.

Also, can a male moviegoer relate to this story of a young girl who is anxious about getting her first bra and her first period? Puberty is a weird time for boys, too, but women will identify with the film’s central characters and their travails more closely than most men might. 

Director Kelly Fremon Craig is to be credited for not overplaying the nostalgia aspect of the production. There are old cars, telephones with cords, girls wearing skirts and dresses instead of slacks, etc. But we’ve seen other filmmakers take the nostalgia route to such an extent that it distracts from the story. Craig, who also scripted the film, does an admirable job of weaving character development with storytelling in a quick-moving hour and forty-five minutes.

Fortson handles well her duty of carrying the title role which is always a concern with juvenile actors. Her talent is obvious. And she’s a cute kid without being cloying. Graham who plays Nancy is impressive as well and her career, too, bears watching. And McAdams always adds to any film she’s in. 

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. is rated PG-13. Might be okay for some preteens but that’s where your parental guidance comes into play.

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

A quest! To throw as many fantastic, magical happenings as can be crammed into just over two hours at a movie audience!

And to follow four likable questers as they try to avoid dungeons and dragons and evil wizards and other forms of peril. Throw in a few chuckles along the way. Result: success!

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves works on many levels, among them—with one notable exception—its casting. Chris Pine is Edgin who is seeking a magical tablet to bring his dead wife back to life. Pine is handsome but he can do the action stuff. Michelle Rodriguez is Holga, a fierce female who helps Edgin recruit two younger team members: aspiring sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith) and Doric (Sophia Lillis) who is an elf and a shape shifter.

The quartet faces challenge after challenge and has outrageous experiences and surprises, some of which may remind you of magical things you’ve seen in the Lord Of The Rings movies, the Harry Potter movies and even Game Of Thrones. Teleportation, reviving dead people, fending off monsters, etc. 

The exception to the film’s clever casting is Hugh Grant as Forge who starts the story as a rogue but becomes a lord. Grant is an excellent actor. Charming. Funny. But he’s badly miscast here. Did the producers feel they needed another big name? Is he supposed to be eye candy for moms and grandmas who bring their kids to the movie? Hard to justify.

Speaking of kids… D & D: H A T is rated PG-13. Little ones may be spooked by some of the scary bits. But I know that preteens today have seen more wild and weird stuff than I had seen when I and even my own kids were in that age range. So parental guidance is in order here.

Full disclosure: I have never played D & D but I have several family members who have told me in great detail about campaigns that they have been part of. Remember this is a movie, not a board game. It works as a movie.

The budget was $151 million and it shows. Almost all of the effects look great. Co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein have to be anxious to see how audiences respond to this movie that has been sitting on the shelf for nearly two years. My guess is they will be happy. Not just that the film is now finally released but also that box office and buzz will be good. 

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Ad Astra

Screen Shot 2019-09-19 at 8.47.55 AM

Is Ad Astra more than just another entertaining space drama? Not really. But if you want to layer some special meaning onto the story, that’s your privilege as a moviegoer.

Many males have complex relationships with their dads. This has been addressed in movies ranging from The Empire Strikes Back to Field Of Dreams to the under appreciated 2014 film The Judge. In this sci-fi tale set in the not-that-distant future, a son’s feelings about his father are a key element in the son’s psyche.

Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is an astronaut whose dad Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), also an astronaut, led a mission to the outer rim of our solar system and has not been heard from in decades. Power surges that threaten human survival have been linked to this distant outpost just off Neptune.

Roy is directed by leaders here on Earth to go there and fix the situation. He is directed to “fly commercial” to the moon before heading to a station on Mars. Along the way, he gets intel about his dad from a crusty Colonel Pruitt (Donald Sutherland).

Throughout the movie, Roy’s psychological fitness is periodically checked by AI devices. Many of Roy’s inner thoughts are shared via Pitt voiceovers.

On Mars, an evaluation of Roy’s mental state and his emotional attempt to communicate with his dad cause officials to scrub his further participation in the effort to mitigate the Neptune crisis. But he goes rogue and flies off to check on dad.

Ad Astra is filled with amazing effects and images but writer/director James Gray incorporates them in a way that’s not as flashy as those in some space flicks. His futuristic visions seem more matter-of-fact than included for jaw-dropping spectacle. (Or maybe I’ve just seen several space movies in recent years and my personal “wow” level has been recalibrated.)

Brad Pitt brings his usual A game to the screen and shows his range via a character who is wildly different from the one that will likely net him an Oscar nomination. (The expected nod would be for his Cliff Booth in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. But sometimes awards voters cast a vote for cumulative efforts so his work here can only add to his chances of a win.)

Also in the film are Ruth Negga as a Mars base staffer and Liv Tyler as Roy’s wife Eve.

Ad Astra is a film to be enjoyed for what it is. If you want to read more into it than is made clear in the narrative, go right ahead.

 

 

 

 

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Yesterday

Yesterday-Movie-1

Sweet, cute and funny. That’s a quick description of Yesterday, the new film from director Danny Boyle.

You’ve seen people like Jack Malik (Himesh Patel). Strumming a guitar and singing in the corner of a bar or restaurant. Not awful but also not great. Being ignored by most patrons except a handful of friends.

Jack has a day gig in a warehouse in the UK and is ready to give up on his musical ambitions. Encouragement keeps coming from his manager and biggest fan Ellie (Lily James). But then something outrageous happens that causes the entire world to erase all memory of the Beatles and their music.

Except Jack. He remembers. And his handling of this exclusive knowledge drives Yesterday’s narrative. I advise you to buy into the fantasy and not question certain plot points. You’ll like (and maybe even love) Yesterday more if you play along.

When Jack performs Beatles songs as his own compositions, people are impressed by these classic tunes. Because they are new to them. He’s stunned when Ed Sheeran (as himself) knocks on his door to draft Jack into his musical realm.

Jack enjoys the fruits of worldwide success but knows that he is a fraud. He likes the acclaim but is conflicted with guilt feelings. Meanwhile, Ellie, who is left behind when Jack goes abroad, keeps appearing on the edges of Jack’s orbit.

Will Jack’s fake songwriting ability be uncovered? Will Jack and Ellie become a couple? Will music biz manager Debra (Kate McKinnon in a hilarious role) ever let up the gas on her hard-nosed attitude?

Director Boyle, whose resumé includes Trainspotting, The Beach and 127 Hours along with Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire, delivers a movie that is consistently visually interesting—at times to advance the story and at other times to keep his audience involved. Musical performances in film can sometimes be tedious; in Yesterday they all look good.

The script is by Richard Curtis who has also has an impressive curriculum vitae. Films he’s written include Notting Hill, Bridget Jone’s Diary, War Horse and Love, Actually. Yesterday is a movie that’s funny but not annoyingly so. The romcom angle may be subtle to some viewers but will be plainly obvious to those looking for it.

A must-see? Maybe not. But this fun, light story—featuring some of the best pop music of our lifetimes—will make you happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Captain Marvel

brie-larson-captain-marvel

Can Marvel make a successful comic book fantasy movie with a female lead? The answer is yes. Captain Marvel is a solid effort by all concerned. (Including the dozen or so digital effects companies I counted in the closing credits.)

Captain Marvel may not be the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie ever. And Captain Marvel may not be the greatest MCU superhero ever. But the new film starring Brie Larson accomplishes much in just over two hours.

It introduces and establishes a new movie franchise player and sets up future Captain Marvel stories. It delivers a cool backstory for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). The movie is set in the 1990s and dishes a bunch of fun nostalgia for that decade. And it features a cool cat (an actual feline) named Goose.

Action/fantasy films sometimes have pacing issues and often have effects overkills but co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck keep things moving ahead at a consistent clip, with occasional respites. And the many confrontations among characters tend to resolve within reasonable periods.

The story? Well, there’s a lot going on here. Of course, it’s always about good versus evil. But it is not always clear who is a good guy (or woman) and who is a bad egg. Captain Marvel works to solve a mystery about her own background (including her life as Air Force pilot Carol Danvers) and about a scientific discovery that Wendy Larson (Annette Bening) is developing. Carol/Captain Marvel’s time among the Kree aliens on the planet Hala is a key plot point.

Brie Larson handles all the physical tasks of playing a superhero well. She has a good head of hair, which is only reined in near the end of the movie. (Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman at least had a band across the front of her hairline when she was in action.)

The cast also includes Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn and (as Carol’s Air Force friend Maria) Lashana Lynch.

Captain Marvel should garner strong ticket sales and whet appetites for Avengers: Endgame whose release is just seven weeks away. As Black Panther showed last year, a superhero movie can be released in late winter and still attract a huge audience.

Of course, you should stay until the very end of the credits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Welcome To Marwen

Marwen

Welcome To Marwen is weird. The film’s first trailers hinted at an Oscar push for Steve Carell who portrays a man damaged in many ways by a savage gang beating. The trailers also showed a tiny village the character has created where he depicts scenarios using dolls, including one that looks like him.

The story of the challenges Mark Hogancamp (Carell) faces after the attack dials up audience pity as he flashes back to the encounter with local rednecks. His mental state is fragile but Carell never goes “full retard,” to use the non-PC term coined by character Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) in the 2008 film Tropic Thunder.

The weirdness comes in those scenarios with the dolls and their depictions in the film as animated narrative episodes in which his attackers become Nazi soldiers. In many of the episodes, several of the women in his life become a gang of voluptuous babes who come to his defense.

On one hand, the dolls provide subject matter for Hogancamp’s artistic photos, which he manages to get booked for a show at an art gallery. On the other hand, they fuel his nightmarish replays of the attack as well as other fantasies. One imagined scenario involves new neighbor Nicol (Leslie Mann) who spurns his romantic intentions.

It’s an ambitious attempt to bring to the screen the mental goings on of this troubled man whose recovery appears doubtful. But it is too much. The doll scenarios occupy huge chunks of screen time and many are redundant. The fantasy world becomes tiresome.

The women, seen as dolls as well as real people, include Gwendoline Christie, Meritt Wever, upcoming R & B singer Janelle Monae, Eiza Gonzalez and Leslie Zemeckis, wife of the film’s director Robert Zemeckis. (Diane Kruger appears only as a doll.)

But… does Carell stand a chance at getting awards love? His performance is good in a flawed film. Carryover from his work in the film Vice and the general good will he seems to convey in real life may go along with Welcome To Marwen to get his name in the mix. Playing a damaged individual is often the path to an acting nomination. As long as one does not go “full retard.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian

The musical performances in Bohemian Rhapsody are brilliant. Exciting. Thrilling. The biopic that surrounds the music is okay but not as special as trailers might have suggested.

Freddie Mercury’s (Rami Malek) story follows that familiar showbiz path: obscurity, success, excess, debauchery, downfall and, finally, redemption. Whether it’s vital that an actor resemble the real-life person he/she is portraying can be debated, but Malek does look like Mercury, especially with the moustache.

But his prosthetic teeth eventually become distracting, almost like the ones Mike Myers wore in the Austin Powers movies.

Speaking of Myers, he plays a record exec who snubs the song Bohemian Rhapsody because of its length. Interestingly, the song is not performed in its entirety in the movie. Too long, maybe? (Snippets are heard.) The depiction of the recording of the song is one of the film’s highlights.

Myers’ casting appears to be payback for his giving the song new life in the 90s by using it in Wayne’s World.

I like Queen. I played their music on radio. I appreciated that they delivered a variety of sounds and styles in their tunes. The song Bohemian Rhapsody stands tall among the mostly tired and overplayed music genre known as “classic rock.”

Hardcore Queen fans will find much to like here. Boomers and Gen-Xers who thrived on Queen’s music will enjoy the nostalgia and may pick up unknown or unremembered tidbits about the band’s time in the sun. Millenials and Gen-Zers who adore Malek in Mr. Robot will want to check him out in this role.

With all those constituencies already titillated by the preview trailers, Bohemian Rhapsody should be a gorilla at the box office. Enjoy the music!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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First Man

Firstman

Can the landing of the first man on the moon be… anticlimactic? In First Man, it almost is.

For a couple of reasons. We know how it turns out. The video is iconic. The “small step/giant leap” quote is ingrained into our beings.

But mainly, First Man delivers tension, suspense and the threat of peril in the life and career of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) well before the moon landing. By the time Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) are ready to moonwalk, the film has already presented the stoic Armstrong in situations that put him through intense physical and emotional challenges.

Yes, the moon landing is First Man’s money shot. And, yes, there’s a tingle that comes when the lunar vehicle is looking for a landing spot. But what precedes that event is what makes the movie another winner from director Damien Chazelle of La La Land and Whiplash fame.

The real life Armstrong was not as outgoing as other U.S. astronauts. Shepard, Glenn, Aldrin, Cooper and others were more visible via media. Armstrong, though not a recluse, did not seem to savor the limelight.

Gosling is excellent in his portrayal of a man who generally keeps his emotions in check. I’d argue that it’s harder to portray this kind of individual convincingly than to play more flamboyant types.

First Man shows Armstrong as a family man dealing with crises at home as well as a space pioneer applying his knowledge and talents to his job. His wife Janet (Claire Foy) provides needed support but also confronts him just before the moon mission, demanding he talk to his sons about the danger and risk ahead.

As other space films have shown, there is friendly competition among astronauts but a special camaraderie also exists. Armstrong’s grief when fellow spacemen-to-be suffer bad fates is deeply felt.

The soundtrack by Justin Hurwitz complements the visuals and the action beautifully.

The story of the Neil Armstrong you never knew (unless you read the book that First Man is based on) adds meaningful context to recollections of the space race and that singular accomplishment America achieved one Sunday evening in July 1969.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Old Man And The Gun

Redford

The Old Man And The Gun has all those classic indy film elements: quirky characters, quirky plot, a few slow periods where little happens, a mediocre song and a general low budget look.

But this one also has Robert Redford! He may have lost some speed on his fastball, but he still cuts an impressive figure on a movie screen. And he is fun to watch in this one. (Redford just turned 82 in August, FYI.)

Forrest Tucker (Redford) was a real life bank robber. (Not to be confused with the “F Troop” actor.) For Tucker, robbing banks is a bit of a sport. He’s polite to bank staff (and to the authorities who arrest him), not like the fearsome trigger-happy criminals often seen in films and on TV.

As he flees the film’s opening heist, Tucker stops to help a woman whose truck is broken down on the side of the road. He invites her to join him for a bite. So begins his relationship with Jewel (Sissy Spacek). She is charmed and they begin to get together often for apparently non-carnal reasons.

Casey Affleck mumbles his way through his role as Dallas police detective John Hunt. After the feds take over the pursuit of Tucker, Hunt sniffs out Tucker’s backstory, which features a life of crime and incarceration. Also in the cast are Tucker’s sometime accomplices played by Danny Glover and Tom Waits.

For a movie about a bank robber, with car chases and other tense situations, The Old Man And The Gun is relatively light entertainment. Redford’s smiles and chuckles play a big part in softening the feel of the film.

David Lowery is the movie’s writer/director. He did an interesting crime drama I enjoyed (also featuring Affleck’s mumbles) in 2013 with the puzzling title Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.

Supposedly this is to be Redford’s last movie. But, as with many music acts who’ve had farewell tours and then later reappeared on stage, there’s a Bond title that applies here: Never Say Never Again. Whether he returns to the screen again or doesn’t, it’s good to have one of one of filmdom’s greats back in a starring role right now.

 

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