MockingMovies

The Favourite

2018-10-10T19:41:00.002-04:00

Yes, here I go again with another period costume piece but this time it's not your usual drama but one with a sense of humor and the best kind of humor - the dark type. The backstabbing and manipulation in this contest to become Queen Anne's favorite looks like a bit of delicious fun.

The Favourite starring Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone will open in theaters on November 23rd.

Rocketman Teaser

2018-10-08T10:25:00.002-04:00

Based on a true fantasy

I feel these are the most important words in the Rocketman sneak peek. The life of the irrepressible Elton John would suffer in a straightforward biopic and this quirky, fantasy style suites me just right.

Rocketman starring Aaron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Bryce Dallas Howard and Richard Madden will blast into theaters May 2019.

A Star is Born

2018-10-06T22:40:00.001-04:00

Remakes elicit groans, yawns, moans and sometimes outright hostility these days, although I will point out we still line up to see them. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga star in this fourth iteration of the timeless story of fame and its consequences. I won't bury the lead here in that the buzz has been huge since the very well made trailer hit the big screen, the early reviews are pretty much over flowing with positive vibes and my audience reaction last night predicts only the best.

Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), a slightly faded but still popular country/rock (genre kept a bit vague) singer, has just finished a concert and is drinking with the full intention to do some more. His driver drops him off at the only open bar they find and he stumbles into a modern version of "meet cute' that is intended to quickly hook the audience. It's a gay bar with plenty of fans who recognize him and a drag show in full progress. Ally (Lady Gaga) takes the stage to perform, non lip syncing, and instantly catches his attention. What follows is one of those epic nights that we hope exists in real life. There's some not to miss fun with the drag queens, an almost bar fight and lots of talking about the power of music. Ally realizes she's being pulled into the orbit of a man who oozes a rough sort of charm and Jack finds himself in the presence of something he doesn't find very often - a truly talented singer and song writer.

Before she can take a deep breath, Alley is whisked away from real life with a romance that skips budding and goes full intensity, a viral YouTube video of her singing live on stage with Jack and the interest of the wider music industry. As this story tends to go, the love story grows and she rises to stardom, all the while with Jack's drinking and escapism deepening. The good, bad ugly of this situation simmers with the forgone conclusion that it will all come crashing down at some point.

I described the first meeting of Jack and Alley earlier as a "hook" and it does its job well. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have such intense chemistry on the screen that the audience could not help but ooh ahh and laugh in all the right places. All of this works to let you fall for the instant attraction and love story that you will need to enjoy the rest of the movie. I think the only lag in the story for me is when Alley begins to adopt a more "pop" attitude for her music. It's partially the fault of a label that she signs with but some parts are overly cringe worthy. There is a Saturday Night Live performance that had me guessing if it was intended to be as cheesy as I found it. Thankfully the loss of momentum doesn't stall the overall story. The music? Well if you've seen the previews, trailers and promotional scenes, you'll already realize the strength of both the veteran and newcomer performances.

So yeah, go see this movie and appreciate it on the big screen. It's an A+ effort. One last thing. If you see it with anyone who says, "Oh wow Lady Gaga has such a wonderful voice", feel free to give them your most non judgmental eye roll and say, "Keep up. That's so 2013".

If Beale Street Could Talk Teaser Trailer

2018-08-28T20:02:00.000-04:00

Back from a brief hiatus, I'm here to talk about the teaser trailer for If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by Barry Jenkins who is best known for the celebrated and infamous (ouch! that Oscars mix up) movie Moonlight. Light on plot details but heavy with atmosphere, I found this to be an excellently made trailer. Noticing how quiet the theater had gone, I looked around quickly to realize that everyone had their eyes locked on the screen. I think, like me, they were drawn in by the intense scenes of direct eye contact with the characters. After it was over, I wanted to stand up and say "Excuse me everybody but can we give Regina King an award of some sort right now?".

If Beale Street Could Talk based on the novel by James Baldwin and starring Kiki Layne, Stephen James, Regina King and Teyonah Parris will open on November 30th.

On the Basis of Sex First Preview

2018-08-07T00:13:00.000-04:00

I have a deep interest in politics but don't worry, you will not find that on this blog very often but there are times they intersect. This is a small intersection. On the Basis of Sex is the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and an early case that launched her on a career that would end up with her a Supreme Court justice. It's not a full bio-pic of sorts but seems to focus on a specific and ground breaking gender discrimination case with a twist.

In our current political climate, the release of this movie seems perfectly timed. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been enjoying a popularity that brings together hot button issues and pop culture. There is currently a documentary about her legal career, she has her own Funko bobble head, an action figure and (my favorite) The Notorious R.G.B. on everything from T-shirts to coffee mugs.

On the Basis of Sex starring Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux and Kathy Bates will plead it's case to the audience on December 25th.

Sorry to Bother You Rreview

2018-08-05T16:58:00.001-04:00

Sorry to Bother You was a movie that I fully intended to watch when it became available to rent because it just didn't seem a theater movie by my definition of such things. However, I have a MoviePass membership that seems intent on throwing itself into a death spiral every few days. So, I am determined to use it until it burst into flames and goes the way of the dinosaurs. With that in mind I set out to see Sorry to Bother You this week. So what's up with with this movie that appears to be biting satire of our modern age?

Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfiled, the "get out!" guy from Get Out), a guy full of ideas and deep thoughts with a slight absence of get up and go, is on hard times. He's living in his uncle's garage and has to elaborately fake his resume for job interviews. I can already hear the more judgmental of you say "oh those millennials". Through a friend he gets a prospect in a dismal telemarketing call center. He easily lands the job because they are only looking for people to take up space, sell and most importantly "stick to the script". It's all an utter failure until a fellow coworker introduces him to the "white voice" which sells like gold. It's the voice that white people believe they sound like. At this point, you'll realize you are watching a satire set in a world that is just slightly off sync from our own. The white voice works like gangbusters for Cassius and soon he is catching the eyes of the higher ups and offered a job in an elite sales team called "Power Callers". I'm going to abandon plot description here and just say that Cassius quickly finds himself in some ethical delimnas that are way above even his new high pay grade.

For a little over half of Sorry to Bother the satire and teasing of capitalism, poverty, politics and the 9th circle of hell known as the telemarketing call center flows easily with great laugh out loud moments and some more subtle "oh I see what you did there" jokes. At that point there is a twist that goes straight into sci-fi/fantasy territory. Absurd, grotesque and a little more than just scary comes to mind. I held on for the full ride and was glad to do so although the build up to the end dragged a bit. Frankly some viewers might have a WTF! moment that they never full recover from and others will see the politics of this movie as just too liberal. I give it strong, solid B though and think it's a worthy effort to inspire thought through an askew lens.

Oh wait don't go yet. I wrote this whole piece and failed to give a shout out to some really great performances. Sorry to Bother You also stars Tessa Thompson (the deceptively soothing voice of Dear White People), Steven Yen (RIP Glen you are forever missed), Armie Hammer (playing the face of evil capitalism all prettied up) and every odd ball character actor in the call center scenes.

Shazam! Trailer

2018-08-01T20:30:00.000-04:00

DC continues its extended universe of movies, rolling out two new trailers recently including this one for a definite light-hearted and whimsical take on the character of Shazam. It follows the story of teen orphan Billy Batson who gains amazing super powers after an encounter with the ancient wizard Shazam. He transforms into an adult version of himself and can use his powers by bringing down the lightning and uttering the words "Shazam!". It's worth noting that the character was originally called Captain Marvel but some legal wrangling solved that conflict and as we all know, Marvel movies have grand future plans for their Captain Marvel character.

I'm really feeling this except for the costume. My reaction was immediate and negative with flashbacks to The Greatest American Hero from the 80's. I promise I do not suffer from DC Derangement Syndrome and (how shall I put it) am not Mystified by All Things Marvel. It was my honest first reaction. I'm not a nitpicking buzz-kill that would let something like that ruin a fun movie though; so we shall see how this works out as we discover more about Shazam!.

Shazam! starring Zachary Levu, Jack Dylan Grazer and Asher Angel will strike theaters in April 2019.

Skyscaper Review -

2018-07-23T19:34:00.001-04:00

I guess you can go back to the story of the Tower of Babel to know that humans love to build higher and higher into the heavens. Just like in that story, the cinematic gods have met that hubris in the movies by knocking us back down Earth on numerous occasions. Ok that sounds a bit deep for a movie like Skyscraper; so let me just throw out how much I love 1974's Towering Inferno.

Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson), a former FBI agent and war veteran, experienced a horrible and career ending event. He's now started his own business and has been invited to Hong Kong by a former colleague (Pablo Schreiber) to asses security for a skyscraper to end all skyscrapers - called The Pearl. In tow are his wife, Sarah (Neve Campbell) and two children. If you've watched the trailer or are maybe just familiar with Dwayne Johnson movies, you will know this is not going to be an idyllic family vacation. Some very nasty people set an inferno of a fire at The Peal and essentially trap Will's family and the owner of the building (Chin Han) in The Pearl. Will battles to rescue his family and find out what the big bad guys (and one particularly lethal lady) want.

Every summer there is talk of when the dumb outweighs the fun in a "dumb summer blockbuster" and I get it. For example is Skyscaper just an updated Die Hard rip off? Sure that's a bit valid. Are some of the bigger stunts impossible to believe? Why yes they are. There's one particular scene that rivals Bruce Willis jumping a car Duke of Hazard style into a helicopter (thank you for that Die Hard or Live Free). All of the boxes are checked for a sit back and just enjoy type of summer movie and I don't think that Skyscraper inched to close to the dumb versus fun divide. During the movie it seems everyone is either fighting fire, running from fire or dangling over fire. Totally fine with me because I sat in the through the movie 2012 and came out with my intelligence mostly intact. One surprising aspect of Skyscraper? Neve Campbell. Her character, Sarah is given a genuine backstory that is actually used during the movie, making her intelligent, observant and physically capable. I had several flashbacks of "You go Sidney" (No I'm not a senile old man quite yet. That's a Scream reference).
I'm giving Skyscraper a B and say go enjoy it.

Mary Queen of Scots First Preview

2018-07-16T22:04:00.001-04:00

First and foremost I am a huge Saoirse Ronan fan, second I love costume drenched dramas even if they skimp on the historical accuracy and third I am an unabashed Anglophile. Someone might as well drop me off at the theater right now.

Mary Queen of Scots starring Margot Robbie, Saoirse Ronan, Guy Pearce, David Tennant and just about everybody with an accent (or can fake one) opens December 7th.

Ideal Home Review

2018-07-15T20:51:00.001-04:00

I'm here to today to talk about a Paul Rudd movie but not the one you're thinking of because that movie doesn't need any help. The one I am talking about is Ideal Home starring Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd who is sporting what I must say is a very sexy beard.

Coogan and Rudd play Erasmus Brumble and his partner in life and career, Paul. If you know much about Steve Coogan, I should not have to point out that he carries the absurdly delightful Harry Potter-esque name. He is a celebrity chef and cookbook author while Paul produces his popular Tex-Mex show called Ideal Home. If being sarcastic and snarky are high on your list of relationship goals, you will find Erasmus and Paul quite familiar. Most of the bickering originates with he fact that Erasmus is a convoluted bundle of bravado, rampant insecurities and childish behavior. There's some real affection underneath though and good night of partying with friends seems to soothe out the edges. Their antics could be fun to watch for a while but this is a movie; so some conflict is needed.

One evening while Erasmus is assailing his guests with foodie snob stories, a young kid shows up with a letter explaining he is Erasmus' grandson and he needs someone to take care of him for a while. It turns out Erasmus experimented a bit in the 80's and this resulted in a son who has not exactly gone far from the tree. He's constantly in trouble with the law and in some last minute desperation has sent his son, Bill (Jack Gore), to stay with Erasmus. So here we are with two adult male children taking care of a real adolescent who has an attitude and refuses to eat anything but Taco Bell.

Ideal Home really works for me mostly because of Coogan and Rudd. They play well off of each other and the chemistry (funny or explosive) is a lot of fun. I have always especially loved Steve Coogan. He's played this type of part a couple of times, most successfully for me in Hamlet 2. if you've seen that movie and loved it (don't even talk to me if you didn't) then you will instantly know what I am talking about. He goes all in physically and emotionally as a person just slightly divorced from the reality the rest of us live in. For a real person that can be really annoying but for onscreen laughs it is comic gold. There is some late plotting that explores all the ways that Erasmus' and Paul's relationship is not working and that sucks some air out of the fun balloon. However it's ok because they recover and tug at the heartstrings while supplying the LOLZ.

Everything is ok but not perfect in the end and you are left with a nice but not heavy handed message about the diversity of families. If that is ok with you then I say check out this B+ movie. If it's not then you probably aren't reading this and don't care about my opinion anyway. Ideal Home is in limited theatrical release but available to rent on iTunes and Amazon video.

BumblebeeTeaser Trailer

2018-07-07T11:58:00.002-04:00

A Transformers' movie that does not appear to be a loud, chaotic mess? Who would've thought it was possible. I've never been a Transformers hater so to speak but let's be real, Micheal Bay's obsession with "go big or go home" became cringeworthy at some point since we first met Sam Witwicky in 2007. I'm hoping for some scaled down and earnest storytelling here.

Bumblebee starring Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena will be in theaters December 21st.

The House With a Clock in Its Walls Trailer #2

2018-06-30T09:18:00.000-04:00

I posted the first trailer for this movie and thought it had great casting and an interesting story to tell and now we have a second trailer. It really doubles down on the Harry Potter vibes and fleshes out the storyline quite a bit but there is something I didn't really pay attention to the first time around. This movie was directed bye Eli Roth. He produced both Hostel movies and Cabin Fever; so he leans towards horror that is most definitely not for the kiddies. I'm really interested in what that sensibility will bring to this tween centric fantasy story.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls will be in theaters September 21st.

Welcome to Marwen First Preview

2018-06-21T15:34:00.000-04:00

This is definitely the most interesting trailer I have seen this week. Welcome to Marwen, based on a true story, details how Mark Hogancamp discovered an artistic and whimsical way to recover from a vicious attack that left him without much of his memory.

If this piques your interest, I would suggest reading about the real Mark Hogancamp. He seems like quite the character. Oh and I have not mentioned yet that he likes to occasionally cross dress. In a recent interview one of his comments about the movie was, "I hope Steve Carrell has nice legs".

Welcome to Marine starring Steve Carrell, Diane Kruger and Leslie Mann wil premier November 21st.

Dumbo Teaser Trailer

2018-06-16T10:06:00.000-04:00

I feel emotionally manipulated by the Dumbo teaser trailer and that's perfectly ok. Disney has always known how to tug at the childhood heart-strings. Enough said.

Dumbo, directed by Tim Burton and starring a whole bunch of people will fly into theaters March 29th 2019.

Ocean’s 8 Review

2018-06-14T20:51:00.002-04:00

I can easily imagine the doubts about Ocean's 8 and what was behind continuing the franchise that started with Ocean's 11 in 2001. With an all female cast, could it be a gimmicky ploy by a Hollywood that hears the constant drumbeat of "remake, remake, remake"? I am hear to tell you that Ocean's 8 is a slick, smooth and successful stand alone film.

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) belongs to what must be a genetically gifted family of charming criminal masterminds that includes her brother, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) from the original Ocean's movies. She is just out of prison on parole and shows off her skills by quickly and easily conning herself into some expensive cosmetics, a new wardrobe and a free hotel room. Right off the bat she has reconnected with former partner Lou (Cate Blanchett) and set out to put together a crew to pull off a heist years in the planning. A movie like Ocean's 8 can live or die on casting alone. Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter play the lovely ladies of larceny who each bring their special skills to the job. The goal is to get a ridiculously expensive hunk of a diamond necklace out of a Cartier vault and on the neck of "it girl" actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway). It will then be stolen from that neck and in a way that Debbie and her crew will not even be suspects.

Ocean's 8 is a carefully choreographed movie with everything from the cinematography, the music and even the clothes giving the sophisticated feeling of Ocean's 11 but with added feminine edge. No complaints about the acting at all. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett who take up a lot of screen time have a natural connection and make their interactions seem effortless. Helena Bonham Carter gets some extra kudos for allowing us to see a past version of herself. The quirkiness remains but no screeching, villainous witch in sight. Instead she is a refreshing character with a lot of real vulnerability. The stage might gets a bit full at times and you'll wish that your favorite character got more screen time but I see it as a natural by product of a movie with such a big cast. One last gushing compliment and then I promise I will stop. For those that appreciate fashion, Ocean's 8 has some fabulous clothes. I think Cate Blanchett comes out ahead. Lou is a whirlwind of well cut suits, layers of jewelry and swagger (I can safely say that part is all her). I don't know if Ocean's 8 will spawn a franchise or rest on it's laurels as a fun summer movie but I give it a A.

Mary Shelley Review

2018-06-09T17:37:00.001-04:00

Picture it. Gathered at a gothic manor house for a weekend of drinking and free love canoodling are Mary Shelley (Mary Godwin at this point), her soon to be husband Percy Shelley and the infamous Lord Byron, among others. Spurred by a contest as to who could tell the scariest ghost story, Mary creates the iconic character of Frankenstein. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention to the trailer because that was the movie I was expecting and this is not that.

Mary Shelley is much more conventional telling of the life story of the woman known to some as the creator of modern science fiction. Mary was born from the unconventional relationship between the writers William Godwin (Stephen Dillane) and Mary Wollstonecraft who died during childbirth. You can read the word "unconventional" to mean the two never married. This means Mary grows up with a impressive literary pedigree but under the constant judgement of scandal. At age 16 she meets and falls hard for the rich, handsome poet Percy Shelley (Douglas Booth). She eventually finds out though that his idea of their romance is that he spends his time being a drunken man-whore while she stays home and takes care of their newborn. It's that moment that has happened many time before and continues to this day. You find out that the sexy bad boy has turned into just a bad life choice. The ups and downs of their relationship continue until that fateful weekend they spend with Lord Byron. It's true that a sleepless night there does give way to nightmares that seem to inspire her Frankenstein story but most of the screen time is just hashing out her domestic dramas with Percy. She decided to finally leave him and begins to work on Frankenstein in earnest. Telling Percy at one point that she is most qualified to write about a monster because she has been living with one (ouch!).

To give an opinion of this movie I have to separate what I thought it would be with what it actually is. It certainly lacked a real look at what was going on in Mary's mind that lead her to pen a dramatic, macabre and ultimately beautiful story. She's seen entertaining younger relatives with late night ghost stories and scribbling down stories while hanging out in a graveyard but that all seems a bit shallow. What Goth girl worth her salt hasn't done those things. In this way I'm disappointed. However it's not all a loss. The acting is good all around. I'm particularly impressed by Tom Sturridge in his small amount of screen time as Lord Byron. The time period is portrayed in a realistic, gritty way but nods to the romantic notions of the age. The costuming is gorgeous and everyone has a pallor that says consumption might be right around the corner. So, for the movie I was hoping to watch I give this a C but for what it turned out to be I'll say a B-.

A Star Is Born Preview

2018-06-06T18:23:00.003-04:00

I usually pride myself on knowing about upcoming movies but this came out of nowhere for me. Was not on my radar at all. The official synopsis is that a seasoned musician helps and subsequently falls in love with a struggling artist who is about to give up on her dreams. By "seasoned" I think they may mean Bradley Cooper is channeling a bit of Jeff Bridges from Crazy Heart. If he throws up in a trash can or two, he'll have nailed it. Sorry, I'm just having a bit of fun. I think this looks and sounds fantastic. I've always loved that moment when people who only associate Lady Gaga with over the top costuming first truly pay attention to her amazing voice.

A Star Is Born starring Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott and Dave Chappelle will melodiously land in theaters October 5th.

The Pass

2018-06-06T12:59:00.003-04:00

LGBT movies whether they be considered indie or mainstream have come a long way. However, I certainly can remember a time, mostly in the 90's for me at least, when the promise was there but not always the execution. With the money and attention in short supply, a lot of movies with LGBT themes were saddled with cringe worthy budgets, bad acting and a reliance on salacious winks to the audience such as way too much nudity. I bring this up only because if you've watched the trailer before reading this, you may wonder if The Pass is going to rely on the obviously nice attributes of it's two main leads. I am happy to tell you that this is not the case.

The Pass is based on a play performed at The Royal Court Theater (London's West End) in 2014 and tells the story of two soccer (or football if you prefer) players in three acts each set 10 years apart. The first act which sets the stage is a night before a match in which Jason (Russell Tovey) and Ade (Arinze Kene) work out their nervous energy and talk about future prospects. Jason is a bundle of energy, bouncing off the walls and jumping from teasing that seems just cheeky at times and confrontational at others. It's soon obvious there is a lot going on between these two below the surface. Both realize that their careers are at a crossroads and most likely only one of them is going to still be on the roster for the next season. Oh, and then there is obvious sexual tension. Your never sure at first if it's reciprocated or if Jason is simply using it to get under Ade's skin. The movie then skips ahead ten years and then another ten so that we can see who made the big time and more importantly what exactly happened that first night in the hotel room.

The Pass never shies away from it's theatrical roots. There are only three settings, two main characters and two side characters. With that structure and the heavy theme of homophobia in sports, The Pass has the makings of a unrelatable disaster but it's not. Both Russell Tovey and Arinze Kene are a lot of fun although I have to say Russell Tovey dials it up a notch to almost perfection. In addition we get excellent performances from two actors I am not the least bit familiar with. Lisa McGrillis as Lyndsey, a woman inadvertently drawn into Jason's need to keep his public image "straight". She is given some fantastically witty dialogue that ends up owning the ever arrogant Jason. Then there is Nico Mirallegro as Harry, a hotel employee who is happily involved in Jason and Ade's final reckoning in the third act. With boisterous enthusiasm he plays that guy we all know. You invite him to your wedding and he gets drunk, knocks over the cake and hits on all the bridesmaids but you forgive him in the end just to have the stories to tell. I'm giving The Pass a B+. It is certainly not for everyone but takes all of the challenges of adapting a play and makes them opportunities.

The Darkest Minds First Preview

2018-05-16T20:17:00.002-04:00

Giddy with the power of my seemingly magical MoviePass, I went to the movies last night and as always I show up in time for the trailers because it's the polite thing to do. Several thoughts - (1) Ocean's 8 is ever so slowly growing on me. (2) I'm already sold on Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again; so I will gladly stop seeing the preview before every movie. (3) I'm a closet movie snob when it comes to comedies. Night School starring Kevin Hart made me cringe but I know I will in the future be tipsy with friends laughing out loud as we watch it.

The preview that most caught my attention was for The Darkest Minds. The keep it simple plot synopsis is that after children and teens worldwide develop amazing abilities, they are imprisoned by the government. No longer satisfied just to be on the run, one group forms a budding resistance to fight for their survival and find answers. Like so many movies starring the teen set, The Darkest Minds is based on a trilogy of young adult novels. I think it looks visually interesting and as a longtime comic book fan, the storyline is right up my alley. Also, since the next X-Men movies seem mired in reshoots and delays, this could feed my need for an X-Men type story.

The Darkest Minds is set to premier August 3rd.

Breaking In - Home Invasion All Done Up for Mother's Day

2018-05-16T11:45:00.000-04:00

You're a movie villain with what you believe is a perfectly laid plan but underestimate the regular folk. Before you know it everything is in tatters, you've lost some of your most accomplished henchmen and you're left with the sinking feeling that you could've gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky (fill in the blank). My point? In the words of Shirley Bassey, this is all a bit of history repeating. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The question today is whether Breaking In adds to or diminishes the home invasion movie genre.

After her estranged and wealthy father dies, Shaun (Gabrielle Union) travels with her two children (Ajiona Alexus and Seth Banee Carr) to her childhood home to tie up loose ends which includes selling the house. The house in question is a paranoid person's dream, tricked out with all types of high tech security. I'll pause to point out that ironically but probably for the best there is no literal panic room. What Shaun and her children do not realize is that the house has already been invaded by four men- Eddie (Billy Burke), Duncan (Richard Cabral), Sam (Levi Meaden) and Peter (Mark Furze)- seeking a big payday. In short order, Shaun is locked out of the house with her two kids at the mercy of the dangerous thugs.

Breaking In has all the pluses and minuses of this type of movie. There are little plot holes if you take the time to look too closely, The dialogue goes heavy on driving home the point that you don't mess with this fierce leading lady's children. Also, too many conversations between Shaun and main bad guy, Eddie, go something like this - "You don't know what I'm capable of!"..."Oh yeah, well you don't know what I'm capable of!!". I understand with the target audience why it is PG-13 but it's a bit flat when you have a character say "freaking" rather than drop the F bomb. If I were in this situation you should be advised there would be some creative cursing.

Overall though, this was a slightly silly but enjoyable way to spend some time in the theater. Speaking of time, one my favorite things about Breaking In is a runtime of 88 minutes. It's concise and compact. Why is Shaun estranged from her father? Don't know and in this case that is perfectly ok. My new rule is that unless there is some Thanos finger snapping action, I don't want to spend more than two hours in the theater seat. Sorry, but Avengers' references are still strong with me. I give Breaking In a solid B... actually no make that a B+. The plus is all about Gabrielle Union selling it big time in what I believe is her first all out action role.

Winchester - Truth May Not Be Stranger Than Fiction But Is Definitely More Interesting Sometimes

2018-05-05T13:51:00.001-04:00

When I first saw the Winchester trailer back in January, there were reasons for high hopes. Music with high pitch crashing chords, blood running down the walls and a dead eyed child creepily singing an otherwise innocent song. This is the bread and butter of a decent gothic, horror movie. Add in the classy Helen Mirren and the fascinating true story of the Winchester house and you have a good chance of going above and beyond the genre.

Set in 1906, Winchester centers around Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren) who is heir to her husband's fortune built by the invention of the Winchester rifle. Driven by guilt that her privileged life has flourished on the countless deaths caused by her husband's invention, she develops an obsession with spiritualism and an out of this world home renovation project. The Winchester house with it's confounding floor plan, staircases to nowhere and countless false doors is meant to be a final resting place or in some cases a prison for the souls of those killed by the rifle.

Against this backdrop we meet Dr. Price (Jason Clarke), a psychologist hired by the Winchester company to evaluate Sarah with the sole purpose of having her declared incompetent; so that they can take full control of the business. Dr. Price has a troubled and tragic past, a lot of debt and an addiction to laudanum (had to look it up too and it's basically the Victorian version of Oxycontin). He is a skeptic about the whole ghost thing but soon finds himself staggering around the deranged M.C. Esher style house constantly bumping into things that go bump in the night.

I started this review talking about all of the potential and unfortunately have to close by telling you that a lot of it is wasted. The story meanders and the acting talents of Mirren and Clarke are hampered by a sometimes painfully corny script. The deeper story about Sarah's guilt doesn't go deep enough and probably only serves to give uncomfortable chills to NRA members in the audience. What I'm describing plagues about three quarters of the movie but I will concede that the pace picks up and delivers some thrills in the last half hour. It really does feel like somebody injected some cohesion into the script when it all comes together and we find out what is actually going on in the Winchester house. My final score on this is a C. Give it a viewing sometime, knowing that you'll shrug it off pretty easily and not really have interest in repeating the experience.

Ant-Man and the Wasp New Trailer

2018-05-03T21:27:00.000-04:00

Still feeling a bit out of sorts about the dark cloud hovering over the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Avengers : Infinity War? Here is a reminder from Marvel that they can still do kooky action adventure. Don't expect any answers to all of your questions though. Released after Avengers : Infinity War, this is actually set before those events. You will be able to enjoy all the fun in theaters July 6th.

Deadpool 2 Final Trailer

2018-04-23T11:38:00.000-04:00

Everything just keeps getting better as far as Deadpool 2 trailers. In this final trailer, we get a lot more action, a bit more fleshing out of the plot and are introduced to Deadpool's crew who will accompany him on this zany, reference laden adventure. Best of all, we meet Peter who has quickly become a fan favorite and been affectionately dubbed "Powerless Peter". Deadpool 2 premiers on May 18th

Rampage - The Rock, A Giant Gorilla, A Giant Wolf and a Giant Alligator Walk Into a Bar.......and Oh Yeah, the Giant Wolf Can Fly

2018-04-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

A Quiet Place was knocked out of the top spot last weekend by its complete cinematic opposite. Replacing the quiet but "grip your seat tense" movie experience was a spectacular-spectacular of noise, destruction and giant monsters. I've included a trailer above with Dwayne Johnson having a little fun at his own expense, and some big, dumb fun captures why Rampage succeeds despite the obvious urge to roll your eyes.

What to say about Ramapage's plot? Well there is one fortunately. An evil corporation (darn you, Citizens United) run by siblings Claire and Brett Wyden (Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy) have gotten their hands on a concoction that can "edit" the genetic structure of living creatures in incredible ways. It will take you a quick minute to realize they are not using it for warm and fuzzy purposes. Due to poor planning and an accident, samples of the chemical end up crashing to earth in three different locations and spawn the three monsters. One is found by George, a extremely intelligent gorilla, cared for by Davis (Dwayne Johnson) who works with animals dislocated by loss of habitat and poaching. Mainly he's a big, scary giant of guy with a heart of gold. When the monster chaos busts loose on the screen, the remaining two main characters show up. There is Kate (Naomie Harris), the scientist who developed the genetic editing and got herself in a bit of trouble trying to keep it from being used to create weapons and Harvey (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who works for a shadowy government agency trying to contain the situation. All of our bad guys, good guys and monsters end up in Chicago for the destruction-fest finale.

Rampage survives or falls on two things - the quality of the abundant amount of CGI and the actors who have to "act" in relation to all of that technologically rendered fake stuff. I have trouble judging CGI but I thought it was really well done here. From the small stuff such as dust particles to the bigger set pieces, I never reached that point where I was knocked out of the fantasy by it all being just too much. Dwayne Johnson flexes his muscles as a natural showman with a knack for comedy; so that's nothing too surprising. His chemistry with Naomie Harris was spot on and never seemed forced. I liked that because I've only seen Harris in pretty weighty fare like Moonlight or Collateral Beauty. Jeffrey Dean Morgan worried me at first because he was talky and smarmy in a way that made me cringe and think "Oh great it's Walking Dead's Negan minus Lucille" but that was dialed back as the movie progressed. So there, I give Rampage and A. It's corny and you might think you're not supposed to enjoy it but I bet you will.

The Equalizer 2 First Trailer

2018-04-19T22:34:00.001-04:00

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, I was a fan of a TV show called The Equalizer about a seemingly every-man who possessed what we would call today "a special set of skills" and used those to equalize the odds for people in trouble. In 2014 Denzel Washington starred in a movie version and guess what? It was great, hitting all of the right chords for an action movie and had a slightly over the top finale that I refer to as "1001 ways to die in Home Depot". Now there is a sequel.

The new movie appears to have dropped the contained storyline of the original for a more international thriller feel that you might associate with a Bourne movie. Hopefully, the desire to go bigger that is a hallmark for most sequels won't do much harm. The Equalizer 2 starring Denzel Washington, Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman will land in the theaters on July 20th.