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Reviews
Acapulco (2021)
Charming, feel-good comedy
Sooooooooo many comedies today rely on a group of mean, petty, weird, and dishonest characters, inviting the audience to gawk and shake their heads at the situations that folks seem to trap themselves in. Think "The Office" and it's cookie-cutter equivalents. And while those types of comedies have their draw, it's a relief to have a comedy that's just good-hearted. Think "Ted Lasso" direction. "Acapulco" is winsome, silly, and a touch melodramatic. It just wins you over with it's friendship- and family-centered storylines. It's definitely worth some cozy cuddling with a loved one and some popcorn.
Bee (2020)
Brief, poignant, necessary
I stumbled across this short film on Kweli TV, a service that streams film productions from the Black Diaspora.
The story is about Bee, a young girl attending a new school. Bee is black; the school teacher and children are overwhelmingly white. The white schoolmates reject Bee, but she sees potential for friendship with Jessica, who is also black. But, of course, nothing can be simple between skin kin...
In just 16 minutes, the film tackles the harm of racism on family and the importance of black representation and black pride to self-identity. The script, costuming, and direction are solid, so the actors playing the teacher and the mothers of the two girls can work their parts well.
Definitely worth a watch and, when more widely available, a share in your networks.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Nope.
If you're a Spike Lee fan, this movie will absolutely disappoint you. This feels and behaves like the movie that a young director who *wants to be Spike Lee* would create, but one who lacks the talent, nuance, and chops to make a Spike Lee film.
Wasted talent. Ridiculously cliche characters and their backstories. A contemptible portrait of modern Vietnam. A score that actively undermined its scenes. And then an A-Team-league shoot out with a cliche White Boss type, an ending which anyone with half a memory of any action flick knew was coming.
Three stars is for the "it had potential" but it probably doesn't even deserve that. An appallingly bad addition to Lee's portfolio.
In the Tall Grass (2019)
Perhaps 3 stars is too generous...
A couple of young adults following a voice calling out in the high grass of a country roadside has a LOT of potential. NONE of it was realized by the film.
We don't know enough about the two main characters to care about whether they live or die. The "twist" that brings in the other characters could have changed that but didn't. We know even less about the others (mere caricatures of 1950s family) and thus have less concerns about their life or death. And the pseudo mystical elements were so half baked that I found myself wondering WHY AM I STILL WATCHING. (Answer: I was on a train and limited to this download.)
Recommended only if you want background noise. Three stars for the effort?
Nightflyers (2018)
My God, why?!?!
I finished The Expanse on Amazon Prime (what an amazing sci fi series!) and was left with a hole in my sci fi TV schedule. I didn't read any reviews before starting. That's the first wrong turn I took. The second was in actually watching each episode, which I did while doing anything but really watching it because DAMN, WHAT TRASH. Glad to hear that my +1 on the viewer count isn't going to contribute to it being pushed into another season. CANCELLED AND RIGHTLY SO.
Derivative in all the wrong ways. Characters that act irrationally, neither befitting their supposed roles on the ship nor common sense.
**SPOILER**
Because you really shouldn't see this series, know that the ship's captain (a non-organic creature that nevertheless coughs up blood and needs a water tank to survive) is actually just second string to his momma, who is literally controlling the ship ghost-in-the-machine style because she never wanted to die. And because mom can't go quietly into that celestial night, everybody else needs to be tortured and die. Not that anybody cares. You can literally kill on this ship and people still want to work with you. Because unique squills. But unique skills that also aren't so important because, oh lookie, you're not the only important psycho on board after all.
It's been AGES since I've given a 1-star review to a sci fi series. I know the genre has its critics who hate the whole thing. I want to support sci fi. So please go watch The Expanse instead.
How It Ends (2018)
Trust the reviews and just don't
I fell prey to the better-than-the-film trailer.
Anybody who's lived through a simple storm outage on the Eastern seaboard would feel the pill of disbelief here as, within a day, we're supposed to be believe the main characters have dropped into Mad Max: Thunderdome levels of social breakdown. This is the premise that haunts every (all) nighttime scenes. (Good things the baddies all clear out at daybreak! Apparently there's an under-cover-of-darkness clause for post-apocalyptic survival techniques among the thug classes!) So it's nighttime fights and daytime boredom throughout the script as we are supposed to invest in the developing bond between the two gun-toting heroes and their picked-up-for-nothing sidekick auto mechanic. (Horrible script couldn't be saved by that actress. And much sympathy to all the women of this movie. Damn.)
My 3 stars are for Whitaker, the video of the American landscape (at least during the daytime), and a script that had enough potential to create that trailer. And that's it.
Hold the Dark (2018)
Impressive acting, cinematography save an uneasy story
I did not read the book, so can only speak to the film. I'd stumbled across the trailer, thought "that's my kind of film," but didn't watch it (at first) based on the reviews. A sleepless night brought me back and, for me, it was worth it. This is not an easy story. The motivations of all (aside from the lead cop) are ONLY hinted at. So you cannot watch this movie without taking EVERYTHING as clues to why. Why the murder? Why the villagers versus the city dwellers and their police? Why the divisions within the village, among those who grew up together? Etc. Every weapon, every photo, every comment speaks to them.
Those who want a simple A-to-Z plot with a clear and "just" resolution will be understandably disappointed. And I rated it just a 7 myself because, as those who read the book probably know, a few characters are so opaque as to be almost useless without a novel's detail. (The writers could have thrown us viewers a few more bones, so to speak.)
Great performances (truly!) and beautiful cinematography more than make up for its flaws, for viewers who don't mind (or even enjoy) slow-paced stories with ambiguous endings. Recommended!
La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano (1998)
A hauntingly beautiful film
My husband and I attended a free preview showing of this film in 1999 with other members of the D.C. Film Society. Just two days ago, we found a DVD release of it and were quick to snatch it up. In the period in between (3 years) we were surprised that it didn't get a more notable reception on the independent film circuit. The skillful cinematography made some of the scenes-- with the workers in the belly of the ship, the narrator's "getting his sea legs" scene with the piano in the ballroom, the dual between 1900 and Jelly Roll Morton, and others-- so memorable that seeing it again was like homecoming. Although the narrator was a less than stellar choice and the "romance" was eye-rolling bad, I recommend this for any collector.
Men in Black II (2002)
Lacks the spirit and wittiness of the original
If the charm of the first film is driving your interest in MIB II, you're likely to be disappointed. Yes, it's got a hot alien babe, two-headed creatures and our favorites from the first movie (e.g. K's back and Jeebs makes an appearance). Unfortunately, that's about all it has. The plot is thin, the dynamic between J and (the resurrected) K isn't played well, and it's surprisingly humorless. I had a better time seeing the Powerpuff Girls. Really!