Men of Honor (2000) * * *

 

Directed by:  George Tillman, Jr.

Starring:  Cuba Gooding, Jr., Robert De Niro, Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook, Michael Rapaport, David Conrad

We should have more people in the world like Carl Brashear, who through sheer will, determination, and a never-say-die attitude became the first Black Navy master diver and was later restored to full duty even after he had part of a leg amputated following an accident aboard a ship.   Brashear is played by Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Men of Honor, who dials back his natural enthusiasm to give an honest portrayal of a man who doesn't quit even in the face of systemic racism and overwhelming odds against him.

Brashear, lacking even a high school education as the son of a poor sharecropper, joins the Navy after World War II.   Since the armed forces were slow to adopt President Harry Truman's decree to desegregate the military, Brashear's duty was limited to being a cook aboard a warship.   He witnesses Master Chief diver Billy Sunday (De Niro) rescue men thrown overboard and decides to be a diver himself, which was unheard of and not encouraged in the post-World War II Navy.   Sunday himself is demoted to the position of diving instructor at the Navy diving school in Bayonne, New Jersey after running afoul of his superiors.   Sunday is not welcoming to Brashear, deridingly calling him "Cookie" and turning his class against him because he is Black.   One of the moments which ring the most true in Men of Honor is when Private Snowhill (Rapaport), who befriends Brashear while the rest shun him, says as his reason:  "I'm from Wisconsin."

Sunday cruelly makes things hard on Brashear, hoping he'll quit the program, but Brashear's persistence and skill force Sunday to gradually change his mind.   Brashear may be the best diver he has ever seen, and even he has to admit it.   Sunday's commanding officer, the eccentric Mister Pappy (Holbrook), who views the school from his apartment atop a tower, orders Sunday not to pass Brashear on the day of the final underwater test, but Sunday refuses and is further demoted down the chain of command.

Brashear finds time to romance a local librarian and medical student Jo (Ellis) who helps him pass his classroom exams and later marries him.   However, Jo becomes but another in a long trail of movie spouses who dismays that her husband is placing career above family.  Maybe that happened, maybe it didn't (Brashear was divorced three times according to Wikipedia), but it feels more like cliche.   Also, I wasn't quite sure why Lt. Hanks (Conrad), a thorn in both the sides of Sunday and Brashear, is portrayed as such a smug villain.   I suppose it's to set up the grand finale in which Brashear shows him up by showing the ability to walk twelve steps while wearing a 200-plus pound diving suit.   I hope he never had to take thirteen steps because twelve was daunting enough.

Men of Honor is an easy movie to enjoy because its hero is one we can identify with and get behind with ease.   De Niro undergoes the expected change of heart, but doesn't give speeches concerning his newfound friendship with Brashear.   When asked why he's helping Brashear regain his full duty status after losing his leg, Sunday explains, "to piss people off."   Men of Honor is a movie about a hero who otherwise may have remained among the anonymous members of the military whose service we take for granted.   The difference is how much more Brashear had to endure and overcome.  

The Phantom of the Open (2022) * * *

 

Directed by:  Craig Roberts

Starring:  Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, Rhys Ifans, Jonah Lees, Christian Lees, Jake Davies, Mark Lewis Jones

With every PGA tournament, there has to be a golfer who tallies the worst score.   The Phantom of the Open is about "professional golfer" Maurice Flitcroft who shot a 121 in the 1976 British Open, the worst score ever in a major golf tournament.   Flitcroft had admittedly never played a full round of golf until the Open and it showed.   Thanks to a loophole in The Open admittance processes, including organizer Keith MacKenzie's naive belief that no one would ever lie about being a professional, Flitcroft does indeed play in the qualifiers and becomes a folk hero in the process.

Like the recent The Duke, The Phantom of the Open tells a story of a middle-aged, working-class British man determined to make something of himself.   Maurice is a crane operator at a shipyard when he witnesses Tom Watson win the 1975 Open in his first attempt.   Of course, Watson was an actual professional golfer and Maurice never even picked up a golf club, but Maurice is undeterred in his quest to play in next year's Open.  If Tom Watson won in his first try, why can't Maurice?   Logic gives way to obsession quickly. 

Maurice shoots the ungodly awful 121, earning local press coverage and MacKenzie's scorn.  MacKenzie closes the loopholes that allowed Maurice to play, so at Maurice's supportive wife Jean's (Hawkins) suggestion, Maurice plays his next Open as a Frenchman with a mustache and sunglasses.  He would later play in the tournament under different identities, playing a little better each time, but still being spotted.  Maurice's fame spreads to the United States, where a tournament is established in Michigan in his honor.  

I'm sure some embellishments were made, but after reading up on Maurice Flitcroft following this movie, it appears much of what happened in the movie occurred in real life.   The truth is stranger than fiction, but what carries The Phantom of the Open through is its humorous look at a man who ultimately was able to gain a footnote in the history of golf.   A movie was made about him starring Mark Rylance in a winning performance of a man who through sheer audacity and determination was able to have his named carved into golf's record books, even if it was for horrible play.   How many of us wouldn't want even those fifteen minutes of fame?  

Lightyear (2022) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Angus MacLane

Voices of:  Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Efren Ramirez, Jr. 

I was confused at first upon seeing Lightyear's trailers.  How would a toy have a backstory?  Buzz Lightyear is a toy.  Lightyear clears this up in the prologue when it describes the movie as the one Andy saw back in 1995 which made him want the Buzz Lightyear doll.   Now that this issue was resolved, I was ready for dive into Lightyear for some fun.   Not so fast...

Lightyear is an animated feature with a pall hanging over it from which it never shakes loose.  Buzz (Evans) lands on a desolate planet and investigates the terrain before allowing his crew to leave the ship.  The planet's environment is hostile, so Buzz attempts to leave the planet.   Alas, he clips the ship on a jagged piece of a mountain during his ascent, damaging the crystal which would allow the ship to achieve hyperspeed.   Determined to make up for his mistake, Buzz attempts a mission to regain hyperspeed once the crystal is repaired in which he must whip around the sun and accelerate.   However, in a clever sequence which shows the movie understands Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Buzz's mission takes only four minutes, but the people on the planet have aged four years.   Buzz' sidekick Alisha Hawthorne (Aduba) has since met her future wife and has gotten pregnant.  

Buzz fails in his mission, but each time he attempts it, four more years tick off on the planet below.  In a tearjerker sequence, we see how Buzz has missed Hawthorne's wedding, the birth of her child, anniversaries, birthdays, and everything else he would normally share with his best friend.   Because Buzz is unable to reconcile that he made a mistake and is trying to correct it, he misses out on his best friend's life.   It wouldn't be Pixar and Disney without plugging in at least one sad montage from which the movie can't recover.   Lightyear, even with all of its plot twists involving the evil Zurgs (led by Emperor Zurg voiced by James Brolin), who has a connection to Buzz, and loud action, is never fully compelling.   

Buzz, unlike the previous four Toy Story movies, is not voiced by Tim Allen.  Chris Evans' voicing of the no-nonsense title character is close enough to Allen's so we are not distracted by the fact that it isn't Allen.   Others may disagree.   I've read online comments that not casting Allen as Buzz Lightyear's voice is heresy.  The voices are hardly the reason why Lightyear doesn't quite lift off to infinity and beyond.   

The Black Phone (2022) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Scott Derrickson

Starring:  Mason Thames, Ethan Hawke, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone

The Black Phone proves that suspense will always win out over slashing and gore.   As Alfred Hitchcock put it:  Shock is when a bomb explodes.  Suspense is waiting for it to explode.   The Black Phone is scarier because we can only imagine what will happen to Finney (Thames), a teenager kidnapped by the evil man known only as The Grabber (Hawke).   The Grabber has taken numerous kids from a North Denver suburb in 1978 and not one was ever seen again.   We see The Grabber, a part-time magician, driving around in an ominous black van looking for victims to snatch.   He uses a large bunch of black balloons to obscure his crimes from any potential witnesses.   Soon, the victims awaken in a dingy basement with a disconnected black phone hanging on the wall.   

In Finney's case, for reasons never explained, the phone rings and The Grabber's past victims are on the other end, issuing dire warnings and helpful hints to help Finney escape The Grabber's clutches.   The Grabber himself is a creepy man whose face is usually obscured by a mask.   He feigns sympathy and compassion, followed up by false claims that Finney will be going home soon.   We know this will not be the case unless Finney can figure out how to outwit his captor.  

Finney's life before his kidnapping was cruel and cold.   He was regularly bullied at school and his alcoholic father (Davies) abuses he and his sister Gwen (McGraw), who has seen clues in her dreams which may lead to finding Finney and the others.  The supernatural and otherworldly play a huge part in The Black Phone.   I've written before in movies about ghosts that if ghosts can move objects or perform other tasks from beyond the grave, then why can't they just speak to us?   These ghosts do, and they give Finney hope that he may escape their fates.   

The Black Phone has a keen sense of time and place which adds to the terror it creates.   Thames provides us with a sympathetic hero who we want to see escape, while Hawke embodies such sick, irredeemable evil that we root for his demise.  The Black Phone ups the human stakes while dialing down on the blood and violence porn which has plagued slasher films in recent decades.  John Carpenter's Halloween is a brilliant masterwork because it valued suspense over killing.   The Black Phone, set in the same year as the events of Halloween, understands this as well.   What is achieved is true horror.  

Sahara (2005) * * *

 

Directed by:  Breck Eisner

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, Penelope Cruz, Glynn Turman, William H. Macy, Lennie James, Lambert Wilson, Delroy Lindo, Rainn Wilson

Sahara cheerfully takes us through a series of action sequences and near-misses our heroes must endure in order to complete their mission.   The movie, and the actors, do this with spirit and gusto.  Gusto is not a word I use often, but it fits perfectly when describing the absurdly fun Sahara.  

Sahara opens with Dr. Eva Rojas (Cruz) and her WHO partner (Turman) discovering a plague with has killed six people in West Africa near Mali.  Dr. Rojas suspects the numbers will increase dramatically.  Eva crosses paths with treasure hunters Dirk Pitt (McConaughey) and Al Giordino (Zahn), whose home base is a yacht run by retired Admiral Sandecker (Macy) and supported by what seems to be one hundred workers.   Their searches are funded by a French billionaire industrialist (Wilson), who we aren't surprised to learn is allied with a Malian dictator and are poisoning the Niger River while making beaucoup profits.  

How are they making money off of this scheme?   Don't ask me.  I'll just take it on faith that they are.  Once Dirk, Al, and Eva stumble across this plot, they are now targets of the Malian army.   Oh, and the boys are also searching for a Civil War Confederate Ironclad ship which somehow made its way across the Atlantic and is now buried somewhere in the Malian desert.   The ship is alleged to have Confederate gold aboard, if it can be found.   How the ship is uncovered after spending roughly 150 years buried in the desert is among the absurd portions of Sahara.   That and the idea that somehow the desert was once a raging river not so long ago.   I knew climate change moved fast, but not that fast.

All of these plot points neatly tie together, as you would expect.   We know a movie in which a female voice helpfully tells warehouse workers: "System error.  Please report to your escape routes at once." and then begins counting down to the time in which a bomb will explode, is something you would only see and hear in a movie like Sahara.   Sure, Sahara has a plot which doesn't hold up under much scrutiny and it doesn't matter.   We have fun watching it and the actors are clearly having a blast starring in it.   Put those energies together and you have a two-hour action adventure which flies by. 

Scary Movie (2000) * * *

 

Directed by:  Keenen Ivory Wayans

Starring:  Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Dave Sheridan, Cheri Oteri, Carmen Electra, Jon Abrahams, Kurt Fuller

Like Airplane! or The Naked Gun movies, Scary Movie was built as a ninety-minute yuk fest satirizing the trend in slasher movies of the time.   It made me laugh often enough to give it three stars.   A great number of visual, physical, and verbal gags are hurled at the viewer.   More often than not, they stick and that is what is expected. 

There is a plot of sorts in Scary Movie, in which teenagers are hunted and hacked to death by a masked slasher wearing the same outfit as the killer in the Scream movies.   Scary Movie skewers Scream, The Matrix, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Sixth Sense, and even The Usual Suspects.   Some of its targets are silly already, but Scary Movie finds an extra dimension.   

Scary Movie, in the Airplane! and Naked Gun tradition, will stoop to any depths for a laugh.  We even witness a man stabbed through the head with a penis via a glory hole.   That is something I haven't seen before or since.  The movie's poster promised "No Sequel".  There were many Scary Movie sequels, each lesser than the original, but what else would you expect?  

Meet the Fockers (2004) * *

 

Directed by:  Jay Roach

Starring:  Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner

Meet the Parents (2000) was a one-joke movie with the joke long exhausted before the movie creaked to an attempted happy ending.   Meet the Fockers is slightly better, mostly because Greg Focker's (Stiller) parents join the festivities and both find a way to exasperate Jack (DeNiro) simply by being themselves.  Greg's parents are Bernie (Hoffman), a retired lawyer and Roz (Streisand), a sex therapist specializing in senior citizen clients.   They are everything the tight-assed Jack is not:  Openly affectionate, expressive, and love their son.   They even go as far as to build a shrine to him displaying his ninth place ribbons. 

In case you forgot, Greg's birth name is Gaylord, or Gay for short.  This movie and its predecessor squeezed every drop of humor out of this fact.   These movies tend to do that.   The Fockers are proud to be who they are.   They're surely honest to a fault, specialize in TMI, and Bernie has a habit of using the toilet while Jack takes a shower.   But they aren't emotional stiffs like Jack, who Greg is desperately trying to impress and wants to keep his fiancee Pam's (Polo) pregnancy a secret from him. 

The trouble with Meet the Fockers is its tendency to take the slapstick road or gross-out humor avenue (a piece of foreskin flies into fondue, for example).   This is a sign of desperation.   At one point, Greg is injected with truth serum by Jack to get him to spill the beans publicly about a past relationship with the family maid which may have resulted in a son which Greg knew nothing about.  The scene unravels, as do many in Meet the Fockers which ultimately wastes some good comic performances in favor of the lowest common denominator.  

The Old Man (2022) * * * 1/2 (on FX/Hulu)

 

Starring:  Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman, Bill Heck, Christopher Redman, E.J. Bonilla

If the first two episodes of FX's new series The Old Man are any indication, this will be a humdinger of a show.    The opening scenes show an old man waking up at various times during the night to weakly urinate.   We then learn this is all part of a recurring nightmare featuring his late wife.   His phone calls to his daughter ominously refer to a past which he would rather keep hidden.   Doctor visits and walking two large, loyal Rottweilers are part of his routine, which is soon shattered when a man breaks into his home in the middle of the night.   The man shoots the intruder, who is armed with a gun with a silencer, and then flees after police ask too many questions about what seems to be a home invasion.

The man is Dan Chase (Bridges), who we learn was once a CIA operative who has killed many people many years ago.   Chase isn't his real name, but we suspect the latest in a long line of aliases used by a man in hiding for thirty years.   Chase calls his daughter to let her know he's on the run again and we figure this is not the first time they've had this conversation.   Then Chase receives another call from a friend from the CIA days, Harold Harper (Lithgow), who warns Chase the feds are closing in on him, likely at the behest of an Afghan warlord who did business with Chase and Harper many years back.  Harper and Chase have a respect and a history, both of which would rather have it buried, but it is now seeing the light of day.   

Harper offers Chase a chance to disappear.  If he doesn't, Harper will find Chase's daughter and put the screws to her as a way of bringing Chase into the light.   Chase refuses, which isn't the answer Harper was looking for.   Harper simply wants to return to his home and tend to his grieving grandchild who recently lost his parents.   The phone call sets up the entire story and the complex relationship between Chase and Harper.   Neither wants to be in this predicament, but each must act according to their natures.   Flashbacks in the second episode have Chase played by Bill Heck and Harper played by Christopher Redman.  Each captures the spirit and behaviors of their older selves as younger men.  

Chase can certainly defend himself, as we witness during a long, tiring fight with a younger agent tasked with capturing him.   Chase is no John Wick.   He is not indefatigable or immune to pain.  When the fight is over, Chase finds another place to hide to heal and figure out his next move.   Another fight like that may kill him.   It exhausted me just watching it.   Chase rents out a room from a lonely, troubled divorcee (Brenneman) with her own troubles.   It is here where Chase's sensitive nature takes over, consoling her while showing off his culinary skills.   A romance will likely take place, which wouldn't be in either person's best interests.  

What we sense from watching The Old Man is the personal stakes involved.   Bridges and Lithgow both expertly handle the nuances and dimensions of their characters, with many more to come now that events of the past rear their ugly heads.   They do things they don't necessarily want to do, but must to protect what they value most.   For Chase, it's his daughter.   For Harper, it's to avoid having to explain his actions from decades ago involving the warlord.   At the end of episode two, we see just how far Harper will go to keep his secrets.   

The Old Man isn't simply about one old man, but two, both with their pasts and both trying to forge a path forward as their worlds prepare to crush them.   Bridges and Lithgow are wonderful actors with a history of award-winning performances between them.   We may be seeing a couple more here in this riveting new series. 

Father of the Bride (2022) * * *

 

Directed by:  Gary Alazraki

Starring:  Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona, Isabela Merced, Diego Boneta, Chloe Fineman

The third filmed version of Father of the Bride isn't a retread, but like the 1991 hit starring Steve Martin, it covers different ground even if the storyline does not.   The latest Father of the Bride stars Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan as Billy and Ingrid Herrera, Cuban-American parents of attorney Sofia (Merced), who lives in New York and returns home to Miami to visit.   Billy and Ingrid, unbeknownst to everyone, have been undergoing marriage counseling and are now deciding to divorce.   They are about to break the news at a family dinner when Sofia announces her engagement to Adan (Boneta), a Mexican-American attorney who works with Sofia and will be moving with her to Mexico City to start a non-profit law firm there.  

This rankles Billy on many levels, including Sofia moving to Mexico City with a man she has only known for six months and he and Ingrid have never met.   Adan soon meets Billy and Ingrid and you wouldn't find a more devoted fiance anywhere.   He even comes from money.  ("My dad has a soccer team"), but Billy is still suspicious of a man who will follow his wife to Mexico City to open a non-profit (non-profit???) and doesn't watch sports.   Billy is a self-made architect who came to America with nothing and built his own architecture firm and proudly provided for his family.   Adan's father, while a nice guy, flaunts his wealth with lavish parties on yachts and a giant mansion.   Billy is much more humble and believes the Cuban-American family traditions will be gobbled up by the Mexican side of the family.  

Billy likes Adan, but with his own divorce looming, he questions the marriage and whether it will succeed.   The divorce is an element which wasn't part of the Spencer Tracy or Steve Martin versions of this story.   It adds another layer of insight into Billy's feelings and also how he views Ingrid, who he clearly still loves but can't quite find the right way to express it.   Garcia and Estefan create vivid, warm performances which propel Father of the Bride from being yet another remake of the classic story.  

Like the first two versions, this Father of the Bride exhibits warmth and gentleness while touching upon ideas not thought of in the other films.   

King Ralph (1991) * * *

 

Directed by:  David S. Ward

Starring:  John Goodman, Peter O'Toole, John Hurt, Richard Griffiths, Camille Codouri, Joely Richardson

Ralph Jones (Goodman) is a struggling Las Vegas lounge singer hit with great news at the best possible time:  He is the last of the Windham royal family after a freak electrocution during a photo session kills the entire royal family in one fell swoop.   He will be King of England, a job that provides as many pitfalls as rewards.   Yes, Ralph will live in a palace and access to untold riches, but he also must make public appearances where etiquette and couth count for something.   Also, Lord Percival Graves (Hurt) schemes to have Ralph discredited so he may claim the throne himself. 

King Ralph is a fish-out-water story with some obvious gags, but the slapstick isn't what makes it work.  It has a heart and Goodman is funny without even trying.   I also enjoyed O'Toole as Sir Cedric Willingham, King Ralph's private secretary who navigates him through the tricky, sometimes shark-infested waters of being a monarch.   Cedric has his work cut out for him with the oafish, clumsy Ralph.   Further muddying the waters is the appearance of stripper Miranda Green (Codouri), to whom Ralph is instantly attracted and for whom he is willing to throw away the monarchy.   

Writer-director Ward (The Sting) doesn't provide much freshness to Ralph's story, but observes the traditions well enough.    A scene in which Ralph breaks into song to liven up a party with the King of Finland as his guest of honor is simply thrown in so Goodman can belt out a musical number.   That scene falls flat, but others have charm of their own.  There are enough of the latter scenes to make King Ralph worthwhile.  

Murder on the Orient Express (1974) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Sidney Lumet

Starring:  Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jacqueline Bisset, Michael York, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Perkins, John Gielgud, Martin Balsam, Rachel Roberts, Wendy Hiller, Denis Quilley, Colin Blakely, Ingrid Bergman, Richard Widmark

There is nothing quite like an all-star cast having a ball with an Agatha Christie murder mystery.   This cast not only knows how to stage a murder, but they do it with panache and style.   Murder on the Orient Express is an achievement in simply keeping the names and players straight while working with all of the moving parts of a complex murder aboard the snowbound Orient Express train.  In the center is Albert Finney, whose Hercule Poirot has slicked back black hair which seems glued on to his head, beady eyes, a semi-handlebar mustache, and a nose for deceit.   Nothing escapes this man.   His interrogation style is to lure the suspect into a false sense of security (or insecurity) so they say more than they should.   Also amusing is Mr. Bianchi (Balsam), the Orient Express' head honcho and friend of Poirot's who believes they all did it.

The victim is the cold and despicable Ratchett (Widmark), a shady American with a past to hide who is found stabbed twelve times in bed in his cabin.   The suspects, and there are plenty, include:  A loud widow (Bacall) who insists a man broke into her cabin in the middle of the night, Ratchett's dutiful manservant (Gielgud) and secretary (Perkins), a British officer on his way back from India (Connery), the officer's secret fiancee (Redgrave), a Hungarian count (York), his wife (Bisset), a Russian countess (Hiller), her maid (Roberts), and a Swedish missionary carrying around a heavy amount of guilt (Bergman).   Poirot delights in prying these suspects loose from their secrets.   Finney has such fun playing Poirot he can barely contain himself.   When he comes across clues which will help break the case wide open, he jumps and laughs.   This is a man who loves his work.

Murder on the Orient Express is directed by Sidney Lumet, no stranger to directing big-name actors all looking to take their turn to shine.   Lumet was one of the masters.   His filmography is a diverse and complex mix of genres of which he was equally adept at presenting to audiences.   The train itself is lavish and the scenery is majestic.   Most of the action takes place inside the stalled train which is awaiting rescue while it is stuck on the tracks.   The pressure is on Poirot to solve the case before help arrives and the messy case is ultimately turned over to the Yugoslav police.   No need to worry.  Hercule Poirot, the world-famous detective, is on the case which is not the news the murderer (or murderers) wanted or expected to hear.   

Rear Window (1954) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Alfred Hitchcock

Starring:  Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, Wendell Corey

The view in the picture is seen throughout Rear Window by L.B. Jeffries (Stewart), who is temporarily wheelchair-bound with a broken left leg and bored out of his skull.   Jeffries, or Jeff as he called by his friends, is a magazine photographer who hasn't been doing much photographing lately.   The cast, which runs all the way up to his waist, is due to come off in a week, but until then he mostly stares out his window observing his neighbors who helpfully keep their own windows open for the world to peer into their lives.   Then again, the temperatures have climbed into the 90's and the apartments likely don't have air conditioning, which is likely why everyone keeps their windows open.   One couple even sleeps out on the fire escape to keep cool.

One of Jeff's more peculiar neighbors lives across the courtyard.  He is Lars Thorvald (Burr), whose wife spends her days in bed.  One night, Jeff hears a scream and Lars is ducking out into the alley at 2am with a suitcase in hand.   Why such odd behavior in the middle of the night?   Lars' wife is soon seen walking out of the apartment with Lars and shoved off into a taxi.   The wife is never seen again.  A highly suspicious Jeff contacts a detective friend named Doyle (Corey) to investigate the disappearance.   Doyle is unable to uncover anything unusual.  Lars pays his rent on time.  His wife was put on a train bound for upstate and no sign of foul play exists.   No matter.  Jeff insists a crime has been committed.   Is his imagination running away with him, or is he on to something?  

Caught in the middle is Jeff's gorgeous model fiancee Lisa (Kelly), who visits Jeff nightly and despairs that he is unwilling to commit to her.   She clearly loves him and he may love her, although he keeps her at arm's length.   It becomes evident that the goings-on at the Thorvald residence takes precedence over Lisa's feelings.   Soon, Lisa grows interested in Jeff's obsession.   Does she really want to know, as Jeff does, what happened to Thorvald's wife?   Or is this her way to grow closer to Jeff?   At one point, Lisa puts herself in danger to assist Jeff and discover the truth.   We also have convoluted feelings about Jeff for allowing this to happen.   Then again, if an intelligent, loving beauty like Lisa isn't good enough for Jeff, then no one is.

Jeff finds something enthralling about peering through binoculars at Thorvald, who has no idea he is being spied on.   When it appears Thorvald has done nothing wrong, both Lisa and Jeff seem disappointed rather than relieved.   It's as if the two will have to finally confront their own feelings about each other instead of being distracted by Thorvald.   What to do?   Keep digging at Thorvald.  A dog belonging to one of the other neighbors is soon found with its neck broken, so Jeff now has another piece of the puzzle to solve.   

Because Jeff is played by Jimmy Stewart, we find ourselves sucked into his story more quickly than we might another actor.   Jeff is not heroic or ethical (he even questions the ethics of spying on Thorvald).  He can be downright salty at times and we just want to shake him into the realization that Lisa loves him and he should love her back.   Rear Window's main point of view is through Jeff and we find ourselves conforming to his vision.   Rear Window works wonderfully as a thriller and a mystery, but I found the mystery of Jeff and Lisa just as engrossing.   

Barry-Season Three (2022) * *

 

Starring:  Bill Hader, Henry Winkler, Anthony Carrigan, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Michael Irby, Laura San Giacomo

Barry successfully teetered on the edge of darkness in the first two seasons, but season three disappoints because of the curious lack of energy this time around.    The show is in the doldrums with themes of guilt and redemption weighing so heavily on everyone's mind.   Barry (Hader) himself mopes around disheveled and bearded and in serious need of a good night's sleep.   The weight of the world is on his shoulders, as it should considering how many people he has killed as a hired assassin and innocent people he had to off to cover up his crimes.   

As season three begins, Barry's friend and acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Winkler) has learned from Barry's former boss Fuches (Root) that Barry indeed killed Gene's beloved Det. Moss.   Gene is terrified at Barry's crimes, but Barry convinces Gene to keep quiet by having him hired on the television show which he also recently scored the lead role.   Gene, an egomaniac who has been searching his whole career for such a break, finds he can live with this trade-off.   

Barry's girlfriend Sally (Goldberg) experiences the high of starring in her own sitcom and the low of having it cancelled after one episode because, according to network suits, it didn't hit certain demographics.   Which ones?   Who even knows.   Prior to this, Barry and Sally have a loud argument which frightens Sally to the point that she breaks up with Barry.   Also on the scene is NoHo Hank (Carrigan), the Chechen mobster who is having a secret affair with Cristobal (Irby), the son-in-law of the leader of the Bolivian drug cartel warring with the Chechens.   Fuches himself is in exile on a remote European farm, seemingly happy, until a phone call from Barry springs him into action attempting to destroy Barry by informing victims' families that Barry was the killer of their loved one.  One is Det. Moss' father, who forces Gene into giving up Barry.  

Barry is feeling the heat of having victims' relatives trying to kill him while seeking absolution and forgiveness.   This life is surely weighing on him, so I suppose we can forgive him if he misses a few days' worth of shaving.   Barry doesn't lack for activity, but it feels bogged down by unseen forces.  Barry was always black comedy, but the black has overtaken the comedy.   The ending of season three is appropriate and the plotlines seem to tidy themselves up into neat conclusions.   Will a fourth season be necessary?  I say no. 

Hustle (2022) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Jeremiah Zagar

Starring:  Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah, Juancho Hernangomez, Kenny Smith, Maria Botto, Anthony Edwards, Jaleel White, Robert Duvall, Ben Foster, Heidi Gardner 

Hustle is, I'm sure, accurate in its portrayal of the NBA rookie combine and the training it takes to even earn a slot in it.   For Bo Cruz (played by real Utah Jazz player Hernangomez), an untapped raw talent who terrorizes the pickup games in his native Spain, it takes not only talent but an ability to cope with pressure which comes at you from all angles.   But, it is a dry story with a limited emotional arc.   We see enough training montages to make Rocky Balboa envious, but in the end we're left with a a competently made movie with good performances which plays more like an advertisement for the NBA than an actual flesh-and-blood story.

Hustle assembles quite a cast at the service of a lukewarm tale.  Stanley Sugerman (Sandler) is a longtime scout with the Philadelphia 76ers who is soon promoted by the team's owner Rex Merrick (Duvall) to an assistant coach position.   It is the break Stanley has dreamed of, but no sooner is Stanley celebrating with his wife Teresa (Latifah) that he learns of Rex's death which scuttles his promotion.    Merrick's son Vince (Foster), with whom Stanley has butted hands over the years, returns Stanley to his scouting position and sends him on a trip to Spain.   

It is here Stanley discovers Bo, a construction worker and father of a little girl, blocking shots in pickup games like nobody's business and draining three pointers.   Stanley believes Bo could be the next Dirk Nowitski (who appears in a funny cameo on FaceTime), and sets him up with a tryout with the Sixers.  Bo has the raw talent and the tools, but word leaks out about a previous aggravated assault charge and, following a disastrous tryout, Bo's future in the NBA is in doubt.   Stanley's longtime friend and former college teammate Leon (Smith) pulls strings to get Bo a spot in the combine.   The aforementioned, overlong training montages follow and Bo is soon attending the combine after video of him dominating on the playground goes viral. 

Hustle is not My Giant (1998), thank goodness, with Sandler in the Billy Crystal role mentoring a giant athlete.   It is not even a comedy, although there are amusing moments.   Sandler can easily handle the dramatic scenes and makes for a convincing basketball lifer.   His love of the game is evident, as if he's living a dream standing on the Wells Fargo Center court.   Hernangomez maintains a quiet, sometimes too quiet, screen presence, but he carries himself with authenticity.   I also liked Minnesota Timberwolves player Anthony Edwards as an opponent of Bo's who knows how to get under his skin.  Queen Latifah's role is rather limited to supporting her husband, but she does what she can with it.  The trouble is:  The characters take a back seat to a larger NBA-centric milieu which engulfs the project.  

Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) * *

 

Directed by:  Colin Treverrow

Starring:  Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeff Goldblum, Campbell Scott, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Isabella Sermon, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, B. D. Wong

Jurassic World: Dominion attempts to invoke the magic of Jurassic Park by bringing back three of its original cast members (Neill, Dern, and Goldblum) to reprise their roles here.   This leads to a case of overcrowding in the hero department as dinosaurs roam the Earth years after being cloned.   The idea of dinosaurs inhabiting the planet along with humans was an amusing aspect of The Flintstones.   Now, in the sixth installment of the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise, let's face it:  This scenario is played out.  The fascination of having living, breathing dinosaurs around has been replaced with the complexity of a video game.   The dinosaurs are creatures to be shot at or avoided.   What a shame.

As the movie opens, the world isn't thrilled with having to share space with the free-roaming prehistoric creatures.   A billionaire (Scott) opens a sanctuary somewhere in Europe which will hold and study dinosaurs.   Soon, giant, genetically-enhanced locusts are destroying crops all over the world, except for those grown by the billionaire's company, Biosynth.   Hmmm.   Dr. Ellie Stadler (Dern) is on the case.  She recruits Dr. Alan Grant (Neill), who still carries a torch for her, to go with her to Biosynth, steal locust DNA, and then take it to Congress or the New York Times or something.   However, if it is obvious the locusts were trained not to eat Biosynth-produced crops, then it's obvious something is afoot and Dr. Stadler need not go out of her way.

Meanwhile, there is business of a cloned granddaughter of John Hammond, the creator of the original Jurassic Park, who is living with Owen (Pratt) and Claire (Howard) out in the desolate woods in hopes of protecting her.   I'll be honest.   I don't recall how the cloned girl Maisie came into being, but here she is to exist as someone to be kidnapped and studied by Biosynth.   This company has a lot of balls to juggle. 

Working for Biosynth is Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum), who lectures on the premises about the ills of corporate greed and human interaction with other species which will soon cause the extinction of life on Earth.   As I recall, Goldblum appeared in the last film spouting off the same rhetoric, although it isn't clear why he is employed by Biosynth.   Many other things are not made clear in Jurassic World: Dominion, such as:

*  How does Owen sticking his palm up in a "talk to the hand" motion actually calm ferocious dinosaurs?

*  Why is it always raining when the dinosaurs are shown at night?  Even if it's not raining anywhere else?

*   How does Owen speed around Malta on a motorcycle avoiding villainous, trained raptors and know exactly where to turn to evade the creatures?   Thankfully, he knows where every escape route is.  Maybe he has been to Malta many times.   

*   How does Owen not freeze to death after emerging from a plane crash with no layers except a shirt which exhibits his new physique?  And then plunging into a freezing cold lake to avoid a dinosaur?  

I could go on.  But, why bother?  Jurassic World: Dominion has all the trappings of a franchise which has lost any sense of wonder and surprise.   The dinosaurs are simply excuses in which to have more chases, fights, and destruction.   It's all rather ho-hum by now.  And actually pretty much was after the initial Steven Spielberg blockbuster almost thirty years ago. 

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words (2016) * * *

Directed by:  Thorsten Schutte

"He is anti-music," said a fan of Frank Zappa's when interviewed following a concert.  This is a phrase which stuck with me as I try in vain to describe Zappa's music.   It is amusing to hear him referred to over and over as a rock musician and composer, but I'm not sure Zappa himself would agree with that.  His works legendarily defy description and pigeonholing into any genre.   At times, it is pointed satire while other times it is made of dissonant chords which sounds like the band is hitting a record number of clunkers.   

Your mileage may vary as to your enjoyment of Zappa's music.   What is not in dispute was his ability as a maverick to write, record, and release it.   His music was such an eclectic hodgepodge of styles that you would think a Zappa interview would reveal an off-the-wall madman.   Eat That Question is composed entirely of music and interview clips which show Zappa as a thoughtful man with a disdain for music convention and a champion of expression.   Zappa had a burning cigarette in his hand in almost every interview, but was not a drug user.   His rule for the members of this band, The Mothers of Invention:  Do what you will when they're not touring, but stay away from drugs while touring.  The last thing Zappa wants is to wonder why his drummer was thrown in jail when he should be on stage performing.   

This is not an interview with talking heads engaging in their views of Zappa.   In a unique setup, Eat That Question focuses entirely on Zappa himself.   His wife and children are briefly mentioned in an interview, but they are not seen nor heard from.   I found this style refreshing and doesn't dilute its subject.   Zappa's only U.S. top 40 hit, Valley Girl, is only mentioned once and not performed in the movie.   Eat That Question is interested in the artist himself and showing us how a misunderstood musician created music in which the word unique may not be sufficient enough to describe it.   

Eat That Question doesn't beg you to like Zappa.   His music doesn't resonate with me, although I can appreciate its contribution to pop culture.   Instead, Eat That Question, without slipping into hagiography, presents us a musician and composer who was silenced by prostate cancer in 1993 at age 52 and the likes of whom may never come again.   If I were to describe Zappa, I'd say he was to music as Andy Kaufman was to comedy.   They were mostly interested in pressing the limits of what music or comedy could be.   Whether you liked what they produced came a distant second.  

The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022) * *

 

Directed by:  Loren Bouchard and Bernard Derriman

Voices of:  H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, John Roberts, Kevin Kline, Zach Galifianakis, David Wain, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman

The Bob's Burgers Movie, based on the popular Fox series, wasn't made for neophytes like me.   I may have seen one episode many years ago, but that's it.   Nothing about the movie makes me want to start binging the show's previous episodes.   The Belchers, who run a small burger joint, are nice enough people, but not compelling.   I approached the movie with eyes wide open, but it's meh.

The Belchers run their burger establishment every day until a sinkhole opens up in front of their store causing the entrance to be blocked.   It doesn't help the Belchers were turned down for an extension on their loan payment and must fork over the entire balance in ten days or the bank will foreclose.   They may be able to swing this if their crusty landlord would extend his rent deadline, but soon the landlord is charged with the murder of a man whose body was discovered in the sinkhole.   The Belchers must help prove their landlord's innocence, otherwise the rent will come due and the Belchers are up the creek.

From what I was able to surmise, Bob's Burgers teeters on the edge of the bawdy humor made famous by Family Guy and The Simpsons, two other animated shows which are well past their sell-by dates.   There are musical numbers which are as forgettable as the movie itself.   I didn't find myself much engaged in the proceedings and I'll leave the Bob's Burgers world to those who may appreciate it more than I.  

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Joseph Kosinski

Starring:  Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Glen Powell, Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis

Top Gun: Maverick is an emotionally involving and visually spectacular sequel; miles ahead of its iconic, but superficial predecessor from 1986.   I wasn't crazy about Top Gun, but its second installment moves at a quicker pace with higher human stakes involved.   Cruise's Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell remains a daring, resourceful pilot with a habit of pissing off his superiors, but we sense he has learned a few things since the first film and is allowed to be haunted and complex.   The dogfighting scenes in the sky aren't bogged down by CGI, but are realistic and easy to follow.   We know who is where and why.   

Top Gun: Maverick gives us an early sequence as to why Mitchell has earned his handle of Maverick.  Mitchell, who should've been promoted to admiral like his former rival turned best friend Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (Kilmer), is heading up a test piloting of a new Navy plane which could hit mach-10 speed.  Maverick's superior (Harris) will be putting Maverick's program on ice in favor of drones, but that won't stop Maverick from conducting his own test defying his admiral's orders, but giving us a breathtaking flight.

As we learn, Maverick's butt is saved yet again by Iceman, who calls in another favor and places Maverick back at Top Gun, where the Navy's best pilots are trained and seasoned, and calls for Maverick to train a group of the Navy's best pilots to undergo a secret, deadly bombing mission.  Maverick's presence is none too welcomed by Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson (Hamm), who makes his disdain for Maverick well-known.   Hamm has carved quite a niche for himself playing authoritarians who revel in just plain being a dick to the hero.   We learn in a few sentences and one tearful meeting just how close Maverick's and Iceman's friendship has grown over the years.   

Cruise, of course, maintains his movie star smile and swagger, but the Maverick of Top Gun: Maverick is more mature and insightful.   The son of Maverick's late buddy Goose (who was killed in the first film) is one of the pilots Maverick must train.   He is Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Teller), who resents Maverick for past issues.   One thing that weighs heavily on Maverick's mind is the possibility of Rooster perishing like his father did, something that Maverick may not be able to live with.   Maverick also romances local bar owner Penny (Connelly), a romance that isn't as empty as the one he pursued with Kelly McGillis in the first film.

Besides a few minor quibbles, such as the pilots Maverick must train, never really developing into individuals, Top Gun: Maverick is a deeper action film which flies by as fast as an F-18.   It has a mind, a heart, and wasn't made to sell a soundtrack.   Imagine that.  

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Gabriele Muccino

Starring:  Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandiwe Newton, James Karen, Brian Howe

The Pursuit of Happyness is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a salesman who in 1981 San Francisco was homeless for a time while working as an unpaid intern for Dean Witter trying to land a coveted broker position.   If it weren't for bad luck, Chris would have no luck at all.   He invests his life savings in buying bone density scanners which he attempts to sell to doctors as an upgrade to x-rays.   His inability to sell them all in a timely manner causes financial strain which causes his wife Linda (Newton) to leave him and his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith-Will's real-life son) high and dry.   

Unable to pay the rent, Chris moves himself and Christopher out of their apartment and into a motel.  Fortunately for Chris, he runs into Jay Twistle (Howe), a partner at Dean Witter impressed by Chris' sales skills and his ability to solve a Rubik's Cube.   He offers Chris an internship spot which will lead to a permanent broker position if he's able to impress Jay and his partners enough.   Things don't start smoothly, as a paint-covered Chris shows up to the interview in a t-shirt.   This was the day Linda moved out.  

Chris is barely making ends meet.   At one point, he is evicted from the motel and forced to spend a night in the bathroom of a subway station.   Other nights, if he's fortunate, there is a bed available at a local homeless shelter.  Through it all, Chris never lets this trauma deter his determination.   He gains whatever edge he can, including not drinking water so he takes fewer bathroom breaks and not placing the receiver down in between sales calls.   This saves seconds which turn into minutes and allow him to place more calls than the other interns.  

The Pursuit of Happyness is moving without resorting to corniness.   When Chris finally receives a stroke of good fortune, his joy is earned.   Smith, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role, disappears into the role, forgoing his natural exuberance and replacing it with determination and resourcefulness.   It is heartbreaking as he tries to protect his son from the gravity of their situation as the pressures mount within him.   Chris is never less than sympathetic and The Pursuit of Happyness succeeds because of it.   We learn after earning the broker position, Chris became rich enough to eventually form his own brokerage firm.   We can't say he didn't fight and scratch for it.  

Independence Day (1996) * * *

 

Directed by:  Roland Emmerich

Starring:  Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin, Will Smith, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, Randy Quaid, Mary McDonnell, Brent Spiner, Adam Baldwin, Vivica A. Fox

Independence Day works because it engages the emotions while also being reminiscent of sci-fi movies from long ago when alien visits were never friendly.   The gargantuan spacecrafts which hover over Earth's major cities poised to annihilate them are frightening images.   They don't attack right away, which leads world leaders to hope their visit may be peaceful.   Not so says former NASA scientist David Levinson (Goldblum), who was able to intercept the ships' transmissions from Earth's own satellite system.   A clock counting down to Doomsday appears on David's screen, which leads him to head to Washington to warn the president (Pullman) of an impending attack.   David and President Whitmore aren't on great terms for reasons which I think were explained, but this is no time for petty squabbles.

Also in the mix are fighter pilot Capt. Steven Hiller (Smith), whose July 4 leave was cancelled thanks to the invasion and plays a major role in David's plan to thwart the aliens, Hiller's stripper girlfriend (Fox), Russell Casse (Quaid), a former pilot who claims to be once abducted by aliens, and First Lady Marilyn Whitmore (McDonnell) who is trapped in Los Angeles once the attacks commence.   The Oscar-winning visual effects seem primitive today, but back then were groundbreaking.  Such is the way with technology.   Still, these effects don't detract from the action. 

What makes Independence Day such a crowd-pleaser even today is the universal joy we exude when a seemingly unbeatable enemy is defeated and when David discovers the way to weaken the mother ship's security systems, it is still a fun "eureka" moment.  The aliens are intergalactic bullies who need to be taken down a notch.   Earthlings respond accordingly and we feel pretty damn good afterward.  Independence Day is not all explosions, chases, and effects.   There is a heart here.