Red One (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Jake Kasdan

Starring:  Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, JK Simmons, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju

Red One feels like Blue Christmas.  It has a gray pall hanging over it even in the scenes where the sun shines.  Dwayne Johnson plays Callum, Santa Claus' head of security who plans to leave his post after several hundred years of service to Saint Nick (JK Simmons).  Callum has lost faith in humanity as he realizes the naughty list seems to grow longer each year.  Santa asks for Callum to believe in people, but glum Callum insists on tapping out.  However, the night before Christmas Eve, Santa is kidnapped by a witch named Gryla (Shipka), who also believes humanity is irredeemable and wants to imprison every person on the naughty list.  She holds him hostage and slowly saps his strength, which is considerable if you take into account how he's able to deliver billions of presents in one night.  

Simmons gives us a buff Santa Claus who needs to stay in shape to complete his duty on Christmas Eve.  No plump Santa in this movie.  Johnson, however, plays Callum as taciturn and gloomy when he should be having more fun.  The movie itself sets the same tone.  The heavily CGI-laden action scenes take up several minutes at a time, but the stakes just aren't there.  When Callum recruits expert hacker Jack O'Malley (Evans), who unwittingly gave the coordinates of the North Pole compound to Gryla, they go through the cop-buddy movie routine of dislike turning into like.  Neither actor seems to be enjoying himself.  They're going through the motions. 

Red One is not going to establish itself as a holiday classic anytime soon.  It's an action comedy with emphasis on action and not comedy, but soon we grow tired of both.  I enjoyed Simmons playing Santa not as a world-weary man, but as an ambassador of hope who just keeps plugging away until people's better nature takes over.  The rest of the movie feels very much defeated.  

Heretic (2024) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Scott Beck and Bryan Woods

Starring:  Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East

The opening scenes of Heretic are riveting, but when the plot mechanics set in and the mystery lifts, Heretic morphs into an average thriller where characters miraculously survive lethal stab wounds.  Heretic takes place mostly within the home of Mr. Reed (Grant), a seemingly genial man who welcomes two Mormons who knock on his front door into his home.  The women are Sister Barnes (Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (East), who came to the house because Mr. Reed filled out a card expressing interest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  

Mr. Reed is welcoming, awkwardly charming, and is baking a blueberry pie, as the aroma of the house would indicate.  The sisters state a woman must be present, and Mr. Reed assures them his wife is in the other room but shy about coming out to the living room.  The sisters take that explanation at face value, but soon find Mr. Reed isn't what he seems.  He engages them in a conversation about religion, but he clearly has an issue with the concept of religion and faith.  He says he has found "the one true religion", which the women discover to their horror later.  

Hugh Grant began his career as a romantic lead, but he is also an expert cad and villain.  He gives a fascinating performance here as a man who is angered by the idea of believing in a God who would allow these kind women to be fed to wolves like him.  In his mind, God has abandoned us.  The women try not to believe that, but it's hard to doubt the mounting evidence.  No matter whether Sisters Barnes and Paxton agree with Mr. Reed or not, their fate is sealed.  East and Thatcher provide effective counterpoints as two young missionaries who are naive and entirely too polite to protest and try to escape when it's clear early that Mr. Reed is deranged.   

Heretic's setup is so effective that the payoff can't possibly match it.  The final act morphs into the typical, which is a pity because the early atmosphere is suspenseful and creepy.  Heretic is a movie which can't quite grab the greatness within its grasp. 

City of Lies (2021) * *

 

Directed by: Brad Furman

Starring:  Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker, Shea Whigham, Neil Brown, Jr., Dayton Callie

Brad Furman's City of Lies delves into the unsolved murder of Chris Wallace (aka The Notorious B.I.G.), the famous rapper shot and killed in the wee hours of the morning of March 9, 1997.  This was nearly six months after Tupac Shakur's slaying on the Las Vegas strip.  The media speculated an "East Coast/West Coast" feud between rivaling artists.  Detective Russell Poole (Depp) is assigned to the case and finds he is stonewalled because some LAPD cops moonlight for Death Row executive Marion "Suge" Knight and Notorious B.I.G.'s death opens a Pandora's Box of LAPD corruption.

City of Lies opens nearly twenty years after Wallace's shooting, with Poole still trying to piece together who shot Wallace.  He kept a promise to Wallace's mother Voletta (playing herself) to solve the murder, even after he was kicked off the case and forced to retire.  Poole teams up with journalist Jack Jackson (Whitaker), who is writing a historical article on Wallace and finds himself trying to solve the murder as well.   Was Poole ousted because he was coming too close to the truth which would blow the lid off of the department's corruption?  They've already taken a hit with Rodney King, OJ Simpson, and the Rampart investigations.  Being implicated in Wallace's death would be one more turn of the screw.

Despite the strong performance by Depp as a dogged, but world-weary former detective, and some solid supporting work, City of Lies buckles under its own weight.  It doesn't crackle with intensity like a superb police procedural should.  It never lifts off, even though the public remains interested in the high-profile unsolved murder.  How is it Wallace's killing is still not solved nearly thirty years later?  City of Lies believes it has the answer, but it scarcely brings those answers to life.  

Here (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Robert Zemeckis

Starring:  Tom Hanks, Paul Bettany, Robin Wright, Kelly Reilly

Robert Zemeckis' Here is an experiment in which a camera is planted in a spot and documents what happened in that spot throughout history.  The movie starts with the dinosaurs up to the present day, with multiple stories zig-zagging through time.  The bulk of Here takes place in a living room in a suburban Pennsylvania house.  Across the street is an old colonial home once owned by Benjamin Franklin, and the land on which these homes are built are ancient Native American tribal lands.  We meet the owners from the 1910's through the 2020 COVID pandemic.   My girlfriend told me that the movie reminded her of Disney World's Carousel of Progress only with sad parts.  It is an astute observation, and Here manages to be more than that.  Some parts are hokey, but others earn the audience's emotional response.

Here's main storyline focuses on the Young family, with WWII veteran Al Young (Bettany) and his wife Rose (Reilly) buying the home shortly after the end of the Second World War.  They settle into suburban life, raising three children with the oldest being Richard, who will grow up to be played by Tom Hanks.  Hanks is a gifted artist, but at eighteen knocks up his high-school sweetheart Margaret (Wright) and marries her.  Richard abandons his plans at an art career to raise his daughter in his father's home.  Meanwhile, Margaret laments the sacrifices she made for her family and verbalizes them at her 50th surprise birthday party. 

After a shaky start, I began to appreciate Here's sweep through time.  Zemeckis' style doesn't dominate the story and the characters.   Hanks and Wright, even de-aged, are still effective while harkening back to their pairing in Forrest Gump.  Could I have done without the time-jumping aspect?  Yes, a linear story framing would've worked well, but I was still moved by what's presented in the film.                                   

The Old Man (Season Two on FX) * *

 

Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Alia Shawkat, Amy Brenneman, Joel Grey, Navid Negahban

The first season of The Old Man was terrific.  It told the story of former CIA operative Dan Chase (Bridges), who is forced out of hiding by assassins working for an Afghan warlord Faraz Hamzad (Neghban) looking for personal payback.  It turns out Dan fled Afghanistan with the warlord's wife and baby daughter Parwana, who grew up believing she was Dan's biological child.  The mother passed away and Parwana (Shawkat) goes by the name Abby Chase but also Angela Adams when she is working for the FBI under Harold Harper (Lithgow), who aided Chase in smuggling Hamzad's family out.  

The finale of season one saw Parwana/Angela/Abby kidnapped successfully by Hamzad and brought to his village where he controls a lucrative lithium mine in Afghanistan.  Parwana doesn't put up much of a fight in her acceptance of the villainous Hamzad and her family she never met.  Soon, Parwana's concern for her family outweighs her loyalty to Dan and Harold as they travel to Afghanistan to rescue her.   The first season's complicated history between Dan and Harold was in the forefront and it crackled.  In the second season, they bicker like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in Grumpy Old Men, but that is the depth of their relationship. 

Season two meanders often, with Dan and Harold trying to save Parwana (who isn't exactly jumping for joy at the prospect of being saved), and then uncovering a conspiracy involving Russians trying to usurp control of the mine and wipe out the villagers.   This involves a visit to their mentor Morgan Bote (Grey), who is pulling the strings behind the scenes, although how he is doing so isn't fully explained.  Morgan has Dan's lady friend Zoe (Brennaman) with him when Dan and Harold drop in.  Was she kidnapped?  Did she go willingly?  There is no explanation on that either. 

Bridges and Lithgow shine even if the plot and subplots weigh them down.  I feel Lithgow is the heart of the show, acting as Dan's conscience while seemingly one step behind the plot as we are.  Harper halfway still believes in institutions like the FBI and CIA, even while seeing their handiwork firsthand.  The first three episodes drag, with endless dialogue and Parwana's monologues about how she found what was missing from her in Afghanistan.   Things perk up occasionally after that, and who knew being kidnapped could be such a positive experience?  

 

Conclave (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Edward Berger

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, Carlos Diehz, Sergio Castellitto, Lucian Msamati

You wouldn't expect the conclave to elect a new pope would be the backdrop for a suspenseful thriller, but Conclave operates quite well within those parameters.  In the opening scenes of Conclave, the pope is on his deathbed and surrounded by the cardinals who aspire to take his place.  Among them is Dean Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes), who is put in charge of the conclave which will elect a successor.  

Lawrence himself is not campaigning to be pope, but he has his supporters.  He is as close to saintly as one could be, perhaps naively believing everyone in the Vatican is there to serve God and only God.  He will learn the hard way that this isn't the way things are.  Various cardinals jockey for position to win the title of Pope.  Among them are Cardinal Tremblay (Lithgow), the last cardinal to meet with the pontiff when he was alive, and may or may not be involved in a financial scheme while also allegedly trying to besmirch Cardinal Adeyemi (Msamati) with issues from his past.  Tremblay fervently denies wrongdoing, but we know better than to take him at face value.

Also in the running is Cardinal Tedesco (Castellitto), a conservative cardinal who laments the direction the church has taken and wishes to restore more traditional values, Cardinal Bellini (Tucci), who is against all of Tedesco's ideas and is Lawrence's best friend, and the newest member of the conclave, Cardinal Benitez (Diehz), who arrives secretly at the behest of the late pope.  As the daily voting takes place, candidates gain and lose ground, while others steadily climb.  Lawrence uncovers each cardinal's secrets, and navigates the territory while trying to keep his faith in the system.  Fiennes, a brilliant actor, is a sympathetic lead we can most identify with.  

The cast, of course, is stellar and how could it not be?  They could make reading a phone book compelling (if there are any of those anymore).  Conclave operates on the level of suspense and behind-the-scenes negotiating, bickering, and politics which make up this process.  Is it realistic or accurate?  I have no clue, but what's here is compelling.  The ending may appear to be a swerve for swerve's sake, but it raises questions about not only the direction of the Catholic Church, but about how many strings the late pope was pulling even from beyond the grave.  Would Catholics dismiss the movie out of hand for being "anti-Vatican" or would they follow it and be entertained?  I found myself siding with the latter point of view.  

Venom: The Last Dance (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Kelly Marcel

Starring:  Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Stephen Graham, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Andy Serkis, Clark Backo

Venom: The Last Dance is the third in this Marvel trilogy of a symbiote from another planet which co-inhabits the body of Eddie Brock (Hardy).  After three films, the two have a funny chemistry which isn't explored enough.  Instead, the movie concentrates more on an alien invasion which had to be explained and from what I could see, they're here to take over the world somehow and the symbiotes that are being studied in a lab below Area 51 can stop them.  The plot itself is a mess, but Hardy redeems the movie somewhat. 

I don't know if studied is the correct word.  They hang in suspended animation in large jars with doctors marveling at them, while another is inside a prisoner (Graham) who tells the doctors and military commander Rex Strickland (Ejiofor) of an imminent invasion.  Meanwhile, Eddie and Venom are on the run from the government for events from the second film which I can't remember to save my life.  I gave Venom: Let There Be Carnage a positive review, mostly because of the solidified relationship between Eddie and Venom.   This third and tired installment doesn't even choose to fall back on that positive development.  

Hardy is up to the task of giving us a sympathetic Brock who has learned to how to co-exist with Venom and vice versa.  There is even a scene in which he dons a tuxedo to get into a Vegas casino with a strict dress code.  This is likely a tip of the cap to the persistent rumors that Hardy is running to play the next James Bond.  He looks the part, although, like Venom, the Bond series should rest in peace.  

We Live in Time (2024) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  John Crowley

Starring:  Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Adam James, Grace Delaney

We Live in Time takes us on an unconventional romance between Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh) after Almut hits Tobias with a car.  It sure was a violent, shocking strike, but all is forgiven and the two engage in a years-long relationship in which Almut battles cancer twice.  The second diagnosis causes Almut to ask Tobias a question with no correct answer.   Do they put Almut through one year of chemo hell with no certainty that the cancer will remit?   Or live the rest of her life treatment-free and try to enjoy the moments, which may last roughly six months?  Tobias surely had to think long and hard about this, and who could blame him?

Tobias and Almut are nice enough people, but not memorable like Oliver and Jenny from Love Story, which is similar in story arc to We Live in Time, but more impactful.  Garfield and Pugh invest as much into these people as they can, and it's their performances that almost carry the movie over the finish line.  However, I watched We Live in Time and didn't feel there was much conflict or much to play against.  There is a brief interlude in which the two break up temporarily over Tobias' desire to have children, but that feels tacked on, and the reunion seems just as arbitrary.

Almut, a restaurant owner, also secretly engages in rehearsals for a prestigious European chef competition in place of her treatments, which also lacks a satisfying emotional payoff, even though it really tries to have one.  The entire movie is an exercise in a near-miss emotional experience.  

Smile 2 (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Parker Finn

Starring:  Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Drew Barrymore, Peter Jacobson, Raul Castillo, Dylan Gelula

Smile 2 is the follow-up to 2022's Smile, a horror tale of an invisible parasite which takes over your mind and drives you insane to the point that, when it's time to die, your mouth upturns into a malicious smile and you kill yourself.  If you happen to die in front of someone else, that person will now carry the parasite.  

I recall nothing about the original Smile.  I looked back and saw I applied a negative review, but I couldn't pass a quiz on it.  Smile 2, however, starts out with promise and Naomi Scott's performance is indeed terrific, but the horror aspects kick in and turns the movie into a mess.  Scott is Skye Riley, a pop superstar on the comeback trail one year after nearly dying in a car accident which killed her boyfriend.   Skye is recovering from substance dependency and is planning a nationwide tour kicked off on The Drew Barrymore Show.   However, the psychological and physical scars remain, and one night after a painful rehearsal, Skye visits her former drug dealer (Gage) in hopes of scoring painkillers. 

The dealer, though, acts erratically and is soon wearing the telltale smile before staring into Skye's eyes and smashing his own face with a barbell.  Skye leaves the scene and is haunted by troublesome visions which question her own reality.  Her mother (DeWitt) manages her career down to her sleep schedule, but soon is worried about Skye's erratic behavior which alienates her fans, her record label, and her best friend Gemma (Gelula), whom Skye hasn't spoken to in a long time.  Skye attempts to rekindle her friendship with Gemma, but soon we have to question what's even real. 

If Smile 2 were a drama about the life of a troubled pop star, it would've been compelling, but Smile 2 wasn't made to document Skye's life.  It was meant to be a horror film with gotcha moments and jump scares.  There are plenty of these to go around and would satisfy those who attended for scary moments, but soon Smile 2 flies off the rails to its inevitable ending, wiping out whatever goodwill the first half provided.  But, it's surely an improvement over the first film, for what that's worth. 

Jimmy Hollywood (1994) * *

 

Directed by:  Barry Levinson

Starring:  Joe Pesci, Christian Slater, Victoria Abril, Jason Beghe, John Cothran

Jimmy Alto (Pesci) is getting a late start on becoming an actor in Hollywood, but he doesn't lack confidence.  Like so many before and after Jimmy, he believes superstardom is one call away.  He even takes out a trade ad on a bus stop bench advertising himself.  When the phone rings, however, Jimmy is usually found hanging out by the pool of his apartment complex with his best friend William (Slater).  William is as quiet as Jimmy is loud and loquacious.  Most of Jimmy's dialogue is in fact a monologue, with William nearby just to lend his ears.   If William weren't around, Jimmy would be seen as someone who talks to himself or an actor reciting dialogue.  Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference.

Jimmy Hollywood, written and directed by the usually top-notch Barry Levinson, has such a strong setup, but it is sad when it degenerates into a crime story where Jimmy becomes a vigilante in order to gain fame and stop crime (in that order).  One night, Jimmy learns his live-in girlfriend (Abril) was mugged and later his car broken into.  He decides to wait for the thieves to come back and then have William videotape what happens.  The thief returns and Jimmy throws him into the trunk, depositing him in front of a police station with a note signed "S.O.S." which William thought was the initials for Steven O. Selznick, who he thinks was producer of Gone with the Wind.  It was David O. Selznick, but close enough.  Jimmy then names his vigilante "group" Save Our Streets, and because he can't resist the spotlight, he sends videotaped messages to the police as Jericho, the shadowy leader of the S.O.S. 

The first thirty minutes of Jimmy Hollywood are full of vibrant energy, mostly due to the wired Pesci performance.   Abril and Slater are much quieter and provide balance, especially Slater as Jimmy's disciple who hangs on Jimmy's every word.  But, then the plot kicks in, and the performances are lost in the shuffle.  However, the end credit sequences featuring Harrison Ford are not only funny, but an insider's view of moviemaking that would've served Jimmy Hollywood better than the vigilante plot. 

To Die For (1995) * * * 1/2

 

 

Directed by: Gus Van Sant

Starring:  Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Dan Hedaya, Illeana Douglas, Casey Affleck, Alison Folland, Maria Tucci, Buck Henry, George Segal, Wayne Knight

Suzanne Stone (Kidman) is destined for bigger and better things than being married to a regular guy like Larry Maretto (Dillon)...in her own mind.   She begins to resent her husband, who does nothing wrong except maybe only wanting to open his own restaurant while working long hours at his family's establishment.   Her resentment and ambition turns to a murder plot where she recruits three teenage losers to stage a home invasion and murder Larry.  One of them, Jimmy (Phoenix) has an affair with Suzanne and is convinced they are in love.  Suzanne's only love is herself, as if we really had to be told that.

To Die For is a study and satire of a quest for fame run amok.  Suzanne is a looker and works as the weatherperson for a local New Hampshire station.  But her dreams include a network role someday, and she believes with all of her heart that a documentary on high schooler opinions on various topics will be just the ticket.  The station manager (Knight) is astounded by her work ethic and even more by her overly ambitious nature.  She won't take no for an answer.  

It is obvious in social settings that Suzanne and Larry aren't a match.  His family thinks something is off about her.  She speaks like she just attended a self-fulfillment seminar and uses all the buzz words associated with it.  Her mind is always on work or her own narcissistic needs.  Everyone else is a means to an end.  Her most important relationship is with her dog, Walter.   Written by Buck Henry and directed by Gus Van Sant, To Die For is funny and challenging.  Most of the characters aren't especially likable, except Larry, played by Dillon with a regular-guy quality.   They operate for their own ends.   

The movie's tone is satirically based on a true story in which an overly ambitious femme fatale like Suzanne hires her teenage lover to kill her husband.  You might think people like Suzanne don't exist in the real world, but To Die For recognized this personality type long before Instagram and Facebook.  Could you imagine what Suzanne would be like on those platforms?   I shudder to think about it.  

Saturday Night (2024) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Jason Reitman

Starring:  Gabriel LaBelle, Cooper Hoffman, Willem Dafoe, JK Simmons, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Dylan O' Brien, Matt Wood, Nicholas Braun, Robert Wuhl, Matthew Rhys

Saturday Night could have benefited in the early going with an onscreen introduction to the numerous writers, producers, production team members, and assorted people running around backstage ninety minutes before the first Saturday Night Live episode was set to air on October 11, 1975.  Creator Lorne Michaels (LaBelle) puts out one fire after another in his quest to ensure the show aired, while NBC executives led by Dave Tebet (Dafoe), who is not shy about telling Michaels a Tonight Show rerun is ready to be played in Saturday Night's place if Michaels can't get the show's act together.

Saturday Night jumps from one problem to another for the ambitious Michaels to solve at a frenetic pace which is sometimes difficult to keep up with.  Having an insider's knowledge of the early days of the show doesn't hurt either.  The actors playing the Not Ready for Primetime Players are spot-on and not merely impersonators.  We sense the angst that the erratic John Belushi (Wood) causes everyone, and he refuses to sign his contract to boot.  Michaels is forever trying to talk him off the ledge, and we get the feeling he would have to do this numerous more times in the ensuing years.   Chevy Chase (Smith) is already seeing himself as the next big Hollywood star and SNL will be a stepping stone for that.  Host George Carlin (Rhys), high on cocaine, is not thrilled with the writing and sees hosting the show as a step backward for his career.  

There is so much more and it's impossible to recap, but LaBelle is a steadying influence with whom we sympathize.  He has a lot to carry on his shoulders and most members of the audience wouldn't want his job for all of the tea in China.  Michaels' boss, executive Dick Ebersol (Hoffman), supports Michaels but like everyone else wonders if the show will ever make it to air and if it does, what will it look like?  How will it play with audiences?  As SNL begins its fiftieth season, history has told the tale.  The movie Saturday Night has a correct sense of time and place.  It feels like the era of post-Vietnam 70's and even more about a period when late night television was all the rage, but the overall effect is one of good moments that don't make up a satisfying whole.  

Mr. McMahon (2024) * * * (Streaming on Netflix)

 

Directed by:  Chris Smith

Starring:  Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Levesque, Dwayne Johnson, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Shane McMahon, Mark Calaway (The Undertaker), Tony Atlas, Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff

It was a curious move for former WWE head Vince McMahon to ask viewers to "keep an open mind" when watching Netflix's new documentary series, Mr. McMahon.  The documentary itself consists of interviews with Vince McMahon, colleagues, family members, friends, and enemies recorded beginning in 2021 before Vince's ouster from WWE due to lawsuits and sexual allegations with former employees.  

Mr. McMahon takes us through the billionaire wrestling promoter's life from an abusive childhood which he doesn't talk much about to his rise to power in the WWF (which later became WWE following a lawsuit by the World Wildlife Fund).  McMahon did not meet his biological father, Vincent J. McMahon, then-owner of WWF until he was twelve years old.  Vince then followed his dad into the business and after buying him out circa 1983, he set his sights on nationwide expansion in an era dominated by territorial wrestling organizations.  It was a gentleman's agreement between promoters that they would not run shows in other areas, but Vince wasn't interested in being a gentleman.  As he states more than once, "I don't fight fair,"

Hulk Hogan was essential in aiding the WWF in becoming a worldwide phenomenon and he features heavily throughout many of the episodes, including being a witness at Vince's federal steroid distribution trial in which McMahon was found not guilty.  There is also extensive time devoted to New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick, who has it in for McMahon and the WWF for reasons not made clear, but whose steroid accusations paved the way for the government to file charges.   McMahon is no stranger to lawsuits, indictments, or accusations.  

Mr. McMahon serves the target audience, those who grew up enjoying professional wrestling, very well.  As a history of WWE, covering the famed "Montreal Screwjob", Wrestlemania, and the Monday Night Wars with WCW which nearly put WWE out of business, Mr. McMahon is well-crafted and thorough.  However, those wanting to learn the inner workings of Vince McMahon won't find much here that they don't already know.  McMahon is cagey in how he protects himself, like the magician who is reticent to reveal the secrets to his tricks.  We learn how he feels about certain things, but only superficially.  But, it's fun to take a look back in history anyway.  Then, the scandalous lawsuits happened, and McMahon cancelled the remainder of his interviews.  Mr. McMahon could've been renamed History of WWE and no one would've noticed any difference.  Anyone expecting insight into the wrestling mogul has come to the wrong place, but Mr. McMahon is a comprehensive look at the palace that he built. 

The Bear (Season Three) * * 1/2

 

Starring:  Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Oliver Platt, Olivia Colman, Matty Matheson, Jon Bernthal, Abby Elliott, L-Boy, Liza Colon-Zayas, Molly Gordon, Jamie Lee Curtis

The Bear sizzles when it depicts the grind of running a top-flight restaurant.  "Every second counts" is the mantra and a few lost moments can be the difference between a happy customer and a bad review.  The pressure to produce great food is intense, and the pressure to earn a profit even more so.  Chef Carmen Berzatto (White) orders the most expensive butter around to make his dishes stand out, but Uncle Jimmy (Platt) sees his investment and any chance of recouping his money flying out the window.  Is something wrong with Land-O-Lakes?  

Then, there is the other side of The Bear, in which characters engage in looooong conversations which certainly cause this viewer's attention to wane.  The episode in which Natalie (Elliott) is in labor is one extended conversation between her and her estranged mother (Curtis).  The acting is superb, but the incessant talking is not.  A balance between the two would bring The Bear back to the quality of the excellent first season.  The last two seasons, while they've had their moments, have not been able to match season one.  

The Bear is now open for business.  The first episode consists mostly of elliptical flashbacks and Carmen beating himself up for being locked accidentally in the walk-in refrigerator during opening night.  Usually, you have to wait until mid-season to see the filler episode, but The Bear gets it out of the way early.  Carmen has two expressions:  Mopey and more mopey.  He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, triggered by past trauma and verbal abuse by the head chef (a terrific Joel McHale) of the New York restaurant where he worked.  When Carmen has a chance in the season finale to confront this demon, it doesn't disappoint.   

We also witness the continuing evolution of Richie (Moss-Bachrach), who in season two learned under Chef Andrea (Colman) how to become a maitre-d and under his steely, shifting gaze, sees all in the restaurant and of course finds himself wanting to strangle Carmen more than once.   In the middle is Sydney, whom Carmen wants to make a partner but receives a tempting offer to be head chef at a friend's upstart restaurant.  She is tormented by the decision and the internalized pressure.  

Despite its strengths, The Bear's third season is a mixed bag.  The strong aspects are very strong, but then we have whole sequences of talk-a-thon conversations which lull us into boredom.   When we think they're over, they drag on.  I like these people and their camaraderie is infectious, but look out when they start expounding on things. 

My Old Ass (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Megan Park

Starring: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Maddie Ziegler, Percy Hynes White, Kerrice Brooks, Carter Trozollo, Seth Isaac Johnson, Maria Dizzia

Eighteen-year-old Elliot (Stella) is spending her last days at home before going off to college.  She finally lands the girl she always wanted to sleep with, and life seems pretty good.  One night, while high on mushrooms with her friends, her 39-year-old self (Plaza) appears next to her and tells her to avoid a guy named Chad.  Elliot thinks she's hallucinating, of course, but her older self is real.  Through some miracle, Elliot is also able to communicate via text and calls after her older version disappears.  

The next day while swimming in a lake, she meets the gangly Chad (White), a very sweet guy whom she takes a liking to despite the warnings.  He's seems perfect, and he'll even be going to the same school, so why should she stay away from him?  Does he have a dark, abusive side?  Is a drug addict or a criminal? Is he not who he says he is?  Elliot tries to contact her 39-year-old self to no avail.  She's going to have to figure this one out on her own.  

Elliot is not only confused by her feelings for Chad, but by her feelings for a man in general.  She always thought she was gay, until she met Chad.  But, what lies ahead?  My Old Ass is a time-bending drama which doesn't have the fun with the time travel elements like Back to the Future does.  The 39-year-old version of Elliot isn't on screen much.  When she does return, she reveals why she should've never met Chad, and it does pack some power, but if you're looking for a movie where Elliot tries to mess with the timeline to evoke a different outcome, you've come to the wrong movie.

There isn't anything wrong with a time-bending or time travel movie avoiding the pitfalls and cliches of the genre, but My Old Ass doesn't exploit the plot for all it's worth.  It's just kind of...there, and the movie follows itself to its destination solemnly.  You question why the older self showed up in the first place, since it doesn't change the trajectory much.  

Am I Racist? (2024) * * *

 

Directed by: Justin Folk

Starring:  Matt Walsh (as himself)

Conservative podcaster Matt Walsh goes undercover Borat-style in Am I Racist?, posing as a liberal who wants to learn about DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), but in reality wants to prove his belief that DEI is in fact an industry propped up by the need for mostly perceived or false racism.  Walsh doesn't exactly become a master of disguise.  He wears a wig with a man bun and wears different glasses, but otherwise he's Matt Walsh.  This disguise didn't fool a group therapy session in which the members call the police when they find out he's not a regular guy looking to rid himself of racist tendencies.   

Walsh has ranted on this podcast that no major media outlet or newspaper has reviewed the film, and to date he is correct.  Why is this the case?  Do these outlets fear actually enjoying or liking the movie and thus might be considered racist for doing so?  I didn't find Am I Racist? to be racist at all.  Walsh uses comedy to expose how the "mainstream media" overblows racism to perpetuate it and DEI authors and speakers charge exorbitant fees to try and "fix" the inherent racism found in "all white people".  Don't take just my word for it.  The movie itself shows us support groups, dinners, lectures, and other exercises in which whites pay and submit themselves to criticism by DEI experts.  Like Borat, Walsh gives his subjects enough space to make fools of themselves.  They expose their own hypocrisies all by themselves. 

Walsh himself takes an online course and earns a DEI expert card, which he proudly displays to all of his interview subjects.  He is not serious about becoming a DEI expert or a serious lecturer.  He later creates a class on Craig's List and charges several hundred dollars for whites to attend his session, which consists of the some of the most ludicrous exercises you can imagine.  This involves class members yelling at his wheelchair-bound "Uncle Frank" who allegedly told a racist joke twenty years ago, and providing whips so they can self-flagellate.  What is more amazing is that these "students" were willing to do this, those who stuck around anyway.  The point of Am I Racist? is that there is now a culture in which people are so full of guilt that they would even consider doing such a thing.  

Walsh, and numerous conservative outlets, are at war with the mainstream media over their alleged slant in reporting the news.  Many would simply ignore this as unsubstantiated, but when reputable outlets refused to review Am I Racist?, you can't help but wonder if what conservatives are saying about the media aren't at least somewhat true.  I find my own political leanings to be liberal, but I also acknowledge that arguments from conservatives aren't all automatically racist, hate-mongering, and cruel.  Just because an argument comes from "the other side" doesn't mean it's wrong or that someone like Walsh is not correct.  

I found Am I Racist? funny and illuminating.  Like Borat, you do wonder if any of it is staged, but for the most part, it requires an open mind.  When Walsh tries to recreate Jussie Smollett's ultimately false accounting of being assaulted by two MAGA-hat wearers in the middle of the night in Chicago, I laughed because there isn't any way it could've gone down the way Smollett alleged.  It would have involved actions which defied the laws of physics and sanity.  Does watching Am I Racist? and agreeing with some of Walsh's assertions make you a racist?  I say no, because disagreement with the DEI experts in this film isn't grounds for being labeled a racist.  It isn't hate, it's disagreeing and the last time I looked, that was something we all have a right to do.  I do wish the mainstream media Walsh criticizes understood this and had the courage to review the film.  

A Time to Kill (1996) * * *

 

Directed by:  Joel Schumacher

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Cooper, Ashley Judd, Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland, Brenda Fricker, Patrick McGoohan, Oliver Platt

A Time to Kill is one of John Grisham's first novels and studies the complexities of a Mississippi black man (Jackson), who kills his daughter's rapists and is now on trial for murder.  What would you have done in a similar situation?  The movie understands that such an act is justified, but there are still laws against murder.  Carl Lee Hailey (Jackson) hires local lawyer Jake Brigance (McConaughey) to represent him, partially because he is a family friend and also because Jake sympathizes with Carl.  Jake proposes a temporary insanity defense, which isn't preposterous and could be the difference between life and death.  

Jake's opponent is the experienced DA Rufus Buckley (Spacey), who thinks he has an open-and-shut case.  Jake is aided by liberal law student Ellen Roark (Bullock), who may be able to find a psychologist that will testify as to Carl's temporary insanity.  However, the case brings about unwanted scrutiny from protestors, the NAACP (who wants Carl to have a black lawyer), and the KKK, one of whom is the brother of one of the rapists Carl Lee killed.  There are attempts on Jake's life and more issues which are snugly fit into a 2 1/2 hour movie.  

A Time to Kill is propped up by impressive performances from the all-star cast.  The courtroom scenes provide the needed suspense and drama, with plenty of attention paid to racially-charged subplots.  McConaughey is confident and at-home in his breakthrough role.  He would go on to play attorneys so often that he could probably pass a bar exam.  However, I still scratch my head at his closing argument speech in which he appealed to the jury's inherent racism by saying "now imagine she's white".  Carl is then found "not guilty", but how so?  I'm no attorney, like Grisham, so he could enlighten us.  Until that point, though, A Time to Kill worked as a proficient courtroom drama which provokes the question, "What would you do?" if you were Carl Lee Hailey.  

Never Let Go (2024) * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Alexandre Aja

Starring:  Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony Jenkins

Never Let Go is a post-apocalyptic tale of a woman who lives in the forest with her two sons and is forever trying to keep them safe from "the evil".  They live in a log cabin with no electricity or running water and the three tether themselves with rope to the cabin so they can't stray far.  However, one of the boys starts to doubt whether the evil monsters which tormented their mother even exist.  

Halle Berry plays the mother as a haunted, tortured woman who is either mentally unstable or terrified because she's telling the truth.  The performances are effective even if the movie eventually crumbles under the heavy-handed plot.  The ending reveals the reality of their unfortunate situation, or part of it anyway.  Like many movies in which the protagonist is seemingly insane, it is unlikely that the surprise ending will confirm that notion.  Until that point, Never Let Go plods along like it is fighting against the fog which envelops the forest. 

Never Let Go is not exciting, but sleepy.  Director Aja tries his best to invoke a chilly atmosphere, but the movie never lifts off.   It's not poorly made, but the story doesn't match the production values. 

Speak No Evil (2024) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  James Watkins

Starring:  James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Scoot McNairy, Dan Hough, Alix West Lefler

Speak No Evil remains grounded and suspenseful when a lesser film would go off the rails.  The villains aren't invincible demons who rise time and again from certain death to keep coming after the heroes.  We know that something is definitely up with Patrick (McAvoy), who claims to be a retired doctor, and his family, which includes a son who was born with a tongue too small and thus cannot speak.  This will all be revealed to be bull, but Speak No Evil operates at its best in the buildup, where Patrick and his wife Ciara (Franciosi) take full advantage of their newfound friends' desire to be polite even in the face of unacceptable behavior.

Patrick and Ciara (along with son Ant (Hough)) meet the Daltons during a vacation in Italy.  Ben (McNairy) and Louise (Davis) are struggling in their marriage because of Louise's emotional infidelity with another man.  They live in London, mostly following a recent movie trend of Americans living abroad because the countries in which they're being filmed give tax breaks.   Patrick sends an invitation to the Daltons, who have a teenage daughter named Agnes (Lefler), to spend a weekend at their rustic country home.  The house is underwhelming and dirty, complete with stained bed linens.  As the weekend goes on, Patrick and Ciara participate in increasingly bizarre behavior which unnerves the Daltons, but they timidly keep their mouths shut.  

Patrick is an uber-masculine guy who engages in the sort of activities one would expect from him.  He hunts, he fishes, he smacks Ant around when he is unable to keep rhythm while dancing, and does scream therapy.  The McAvoy performance is the key to the movie.  If he is anything less than convincingly despicable, then Speak No Evil will fail.  McAvoy clearly relishes his villainhood, and we then root for him to be crushed when the time comes.  The arc of Speak No Evil is predictable, but that's why we went to see it.  We know what we'll get.  McNairy and Davis provide the opposite characterizations of nice people who stay polite to avoid confrontation, which is what Patrick is counting on to allow his scheme to work.  Ant's story plays a huge part in unveiling Patrick's real self in a creative and eerie way. 

I think of Neighbors (1981), John Belushi's final theatrical film in which he plays a polite stick in the mud who barely finds the strength to protest the behavior of his obnoxious new neighbors.  That was a comedy.  Speak No Evil is the dramatic side of that coin, and covers many of the same dark areas while keeping it thrilling for the audience. 

The Front Room (2024) *

 

Directed by:  Sam Eggers and Max Eggers

Starring:  Brandy Norwood, Kathryn Hunter, Andrew Burnap

The Front Room is a "from hell" movie, where the mother-in-law from hell moves into an otherwise happy home and turns it upside down.  The Front Room, however, is not a comedy, but a dull, serious attempt at horror, or is it suspense?  Who knows, but it doesn't operate on its intended level or any level.  It runs until the end credits and you would be fortunate to recall anything about it by the time you walk to the parking lot.  

Brandy Norwood stars as Belinda, a professor in the late stages of pregnancy.  She and her husband Norman (Burnap) eagerly await the baby and turn the front bottom-floor room into the baby's room.  These happy plans are upended by the death of Norman's father, who was married for many years to a manipulative shrill named Solange (Hunter) who disapproves of Norman's marriage and even more so that they're having a baby.  Solange, thanks to Norman's father requests in his will, moves into Norman's house and takes up residency in the baby's room of the house.

In a likely homage to Rosemary's Baby, Solange has strange visitors over to act creepily towards the baby and the family.  She also induces incontinence in order to focus the attention on herself.  What is Solange's endgame in all of this?  She doesn't seem to possess supernatural powers.  She's just mean, spiteful, and vicious.  Hunter gives a nervy performance of a character with very few redeeming qualities, but Solange and this movie should've been shown the front door a long time ago. 

1992 (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Ariel Vromen

Starring:  Tyrese Gibson, Ray Liotta, Scott Eastwood, Dylan Arnold, Michael Beasley, Christopher Ammanuel

1992 captures the atmosphere of the Los Angeles Rodney King riots but then it dissolves into a formulaic crime drama where the hero dispatches the villains like Rambo.  Mercer (Gibson) is a recently released felon trying to go the straight and narrow while raising his son Antoine (Ammanuel) and working at a catalytic converter plant targeted by thieves led by Bigby (Liotta).  Once the riots ensue, Bigby and company decide to break in and steal a safe's worth of platinum because the plant owners send everyone home for the day.

Mercer, after finding his son among the rioters, plans to hide out at the plant until the event calms down, but soon has to protect Antoine against the thieves.  Bigby is a cold-hearted SOB, but his son Riggin (Eastwood), who resents his father, has a soft spot in his heart for the African-American community.  His dialogue stating his support sounds more like a modern-day take than one that might be uttered in 1992.  This means Riggin can be Redeemed, even though he's trying to steal a shitload of platinum. 

Tyrese Gibson brings intensity as the moral center of 1992, but soon he transforms into an unstoppable action hero thwarting Bigby and his goons.  We know he can handle a gun as an ex-gang member, but realism flies out the window as 1992 goes into action movie mode.  The riots soon feel like a distant memory by the movie's conclusion.  1992 marks the final film appearance of the late Ray Liotta, who plays slimy villains with the best of them.  He will be missed.  The movie itself, not so much.   

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Tim Burton

Starring:  Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Belluci, Willem Dafoe, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Arthur Conti

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has too many characters, too many subplots, and is an overstuffed, bloated movie even at 100 minutes.   It's the sequel no one asked for, but here it is anyway in all its glory.  

I saw the original film only once when it was released in 1988.  I wasn't much thrilled by it and I haven't seen it since.  Fortunately, the sequel doesn't require a revisit to the original.  Michael Keaton returns to the title role as a devious ghost exorcist who is both friend and foe to Lydia Deetz (Ryder), who now hosts a television show about ghosts.  She receives word from her artist stepmother (O' Hara) that her father was killed by a shark following a plane crash.  The father wanders around the underworld with the top half of his body missing.  

Meanwhile, Lydia is being romanced and proposed to by her oily, sneaky producer/manager (Theroux), who clearly has a bigger agenda.  Lydia's daughter Astrid (Ortega) resents her mother, but comes home from college following her father's passing.  She and Lydia have a Past to contend with, but not so much that Astrid doesn't begin a potential romance with a good-looking young man who hangs out in a tree fort.  

Beetlejuice, meanwhile, has to avoid his ex-wife Delores (Bellucci), who somehow has returned from another afterlife, I suppose, and has designs on revenge.  Beetlejuice tells his story of how Delores came to be his ex-wife and how he wound up a ghost.   There are long stretches where we forget she's even in the movie.  Other unnecessary characters like Willem Dafoe's Wolf Jackson, an afterlife detective who was an actor when he was alive.  We wait for his arc to develop and it never does.  

Beetlejuice himself is a mystery.  He's a hero one moment and a villain the next.  We can't keep track of him.  It's telling that the character everyone loves the most is Bob, the guy with the shrunken head and bulging eyes who can't speak and meets a terrible end at the hands of Delores.  Bob doesn't deserve that ending.  What we're left with is a movie with people we don't care about carrying about subplots we have no interest in.  I'd love to know more about Bob, though.  Maybe he can get his own movie. 

Blink Twice (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Zoe Kravitz

Starring:  Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Simon Rex, Liz Caribel, Adria Arjona, Geena Davis, Levon Hawke, Christian Slater

While watching Blink Twice, I found it disturbing and off-kilter, but I was never bored or disinterested.  As suspense was building, I was wondering what the hell I was watching, but my mind was engaged.  It brought about a reaction, which means it was working for me on some level.  

Blink Twice stars Channing Tatum as Slater King, a tech billionaire on a media apology tour for undisclosed abuses of power, which are likely sexual in nature.  Despite his ickiness, waitress Frida (Ackie) likes him enough to want to meet him following a party she's working in which he attends.  The seemingly kind Slater takes a shine to Frida and invites her and her friend to his island paradise along with his male friends and their female companions.   The time at the island is one big party of swimming, dinners at night, drinking, and drugs.  But, something is...off.   Slater asks Frida often whether she's having a good time, others take Polaroids, and Slater's sister and manager (Davis), acts as if this is something she is far too familiar with. 

I'll tread lightly not to reveal plot twists, but director Zoe Kravitz creates an eerie atmosphere which plays like a nightmare where parts don't fit and drug-induced visions may conceal a darker truth.  Meanwhile, we ask whether Slater is truly reformed.  He seems attentive and repentant for past indiscretions, and is gentle with Frida, but again, he is just...off.   We are used to seeing Tatum play heroes, but in Blink Twice he masterfully gives off sinister vibes in keeping with the movie he's in.  Will Blink Twice cause debate?  Sure, but then that reflects that it isn't simply a #MeToo story or a take on the movement, but something deeper.  

Alien: Romulus (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Fede Alvarez

Starring:  Cailee Spaeny, Aileen Wu, Isabela Merced, David Johnson, Archie Renaux, Daniel Betts

Alien: Romulus takes place in the Alien universe between the original 1979 film and 1986's Aliens.  It is technically sound, but it plays like Alien for the video game crowd.  The characters use various weapons to kill the creatures only to have a seemingly infinite number more materialize.  They lurk around every corner and hang on walls and ceilings waiting for their prey.  After some are killed, more come out of the woodwork and there is no end in sight to the carnage. 

There isn't much in Alien: Romulus that we haven't seen in previous incarnations of the series that won't die, right down to the gross thing grasping onto someone's face and impregnating the poor soul.  The actors aren't given much to do except to either kill or be killed, including the "synthetic" Andy (Johnson) who is a surrogate brother to the orphaned Rain (Spaeny).  These two and a couple others board a nearby abandoned vessel as a means of escaping the mining planet on which they toil endlessly.  They discover the remains of Ash (likeness of the late Ian Holm), the cyborg from the first Alien who acts as a narrator and then a villain.  

The alien creatures remind us of spiders on steroids.  They are slimy and creepy parasites that exist only to be destroyed and then multiply.  Reproduction is not a problem for these guys.  They're never really dead, just like this franchise which should have been ended after the original film.  Everything after that is superfluous action.   In space, no one can hear you snore.  

It Ends with Us (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Justin Baldoni

Starring:  Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Brendon Sklenar, Jenny Slate, Amy Morton, Hasan Minhaj, Isabela Ferrer, Alex Neustaedter

Justin Baldoni's adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel is a story of a love triangle in which abuse is a central theme.   Lily Bloom (Lively) witnessed her father abuse her mother as a teenager.  Lily tries to deliver the eulogy at her father's funeral, but flees after realizing she can't say a kind word about him.  She moves to Boston, opens up a flower shop, and meets neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni).  The first thing she sees from him is him kicking over a chair after a frustrating day at the office.  Lily likes him, he likes her, they flirt but keep their distance, and soon wind up dating.  

It Ends with Us then flashes back to Lily's teenage years, when she met and fell in love with a homeless schoolmate who lives in an abandoned house across the street.  Atlas (Neustaedter) is a shy kid ashamed of his situation, and Lily (Ferrer) befriends him.  You gotta love the names Atlas and Ryle, straight out of a romance novel or soap opera.  Lily loses her virginity to Atlas, and soon beaten to within an inch of his life by Lily's father.  They don't see each other again until Lily takes Ryle and her mother (Morton) to a restaurant owned by Atlas.  

Atlas and Lily recognize each other instantly and fall back in love, but don't act on it especially after Ryle attempts to do to Atlas what Lily's father did to him decades ago.  Ryle seems sweet, loving, caring, and doting, until he isn't.  After an argument, Ryle seemingly strikes Lily by accident trying to remove a burning roast from the oven.  After another fight, Lily falls down the stairs.  Ryle has plausible deniability in that both looked like accidents, but it allows us and Lily a chance to see another side of this man.   Lily learns she is pregnant after the fall, and now must decide whether Ryle fits into her life anymore.  

It Ends with Us takes its time to develop Lily and the other characters.  They aren't just pretty faces.  There is depth there and more than one dimension.  Is Ryle abusive or were these just accidents?  What drives him?   Thankfully, It Ends with Us isn't abuse porn like Mommie Dearest or What's Love Got to Do with It?  These scenes are subtle, but get the point across, and makes us wonder if Ryle is beyond redemption.  It Ends with Us contains vivid performances especially from Lively, whose smile hides deeper scars, which could also be said for the other characters.  

Quiz Show (1994) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Robert Redford

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, Rob Morrow, John Turturro, Paul Scofield, Martin Scorsese, Mira Sorvino, Hank Azaria, Christopher McDonald, David Paymer

"NBC will go on, Geritol will go on, even the quiz shows will be back.  Makes me wonder what you hope to accomplish here,"  This line is stated by Geritol CEO Martin Rittenhome (Scorsese) to congressional investigator Richard Goodwin (Morrow) in a frank one-on-one conversation before Rittenhome testifies at a hearing on the rigging of Twenty-One, a popular 1950's television quiz show. 

In his brief appearance in Robert Redford's Quiz Show, Scorsese's Rittenhome is the most practical in his approach and outlook.  ("The public has a short memory, but corporations never forget,")  The entire Twenty-One scandal began when longtime champion Herb Stempel (Turturro) is told by producer Dan Enright (Paymer) to lose on purpose so the handsome, WASP Charles Van Doren (Fiennes) can become the new champion.  The sagging ratings indicated that audiences were tired of Herb and a change had to be made.  Charles, an author and professor who is in the shadow of his famous father poet Mark Van Doren (Scofield), eagerly agreed to go along with the fix and for his record-breaking run was given the questions and answers in advance.  Van Doren's winnings and fame grew, while Herb, a Brooklyn Jew, kvetched from home and tried to blackmail Enright into producing a new show for him.  When that didn't happen, Herb spilled the beans and a congressional inquiry followed. 

Charles is an affable, intelligent, well-off man who comes from a wealthy, famous family.  He yearns to make his own mark, but finds he must cheat on Twenty-One in order to do so.   He can live with that.  Goodwin meets with Charles and they strike up a friendship, which blinds Goodwin to the idea that Charles indeed was in on the fix.  Richard's wife Sandra (Sorvino) calls him the "Uncle Tom of the Jews" for his willingness to give Charles a pass while not doing the same for Herb or NBC.  Herb may be loud and grating, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.  It is here where he see one of Quiz Show's many themes:  The more attractive, handsome person who lies is more appealing than the disheveled, uncouth truth teller.  Even quiz shows were not immune to being manipulated for the sake of ratings, money, and how much product sponsors like Geritol can move based on the show's audience size. 

Redford surely understands that fixing quiz shows is a deception, but he also gives us the aftermath.  Quiz show fixing may not seem like a big deal, even Rittenhome says they could just make the questions easier because people follow the money anyway, but the idea that show business overrides everything is evident in politics, sports, and anything else you can watch.  Goodwin would probably learn in the coming years that he was able to plug in one hole of the dike, but then many others would spring a leak.  Quiz Show gets that and Redford presents it in an entertaining, challenging fashion.  

Hitch (2005) * * *

 

Directed by:  Andy Tennant

Starring:  Will Smith, Kevin James, Amber Valletta, Eva Mendes, Adam Arkin, Jeffrey Donovan

Alex Hitchens (Smith) must make a damn good living as a "date doctor", someone who, for a hefty fee I assume, guides lonely men into irresistible studs who land the women of their dreams.  He has a huge Manhattan loft which must cost a fortune in monthly rent, and dresses to the nines.  The opening credits show a montage of Hitch's success stories with his mightiest challenge: slovenly, portly accountant Albert Brennaman (James).  Albert is desperately in love with world famous model and entrepreneur Allegra Cole (Valletta) to the point that he hires Hitch to help him win her.  Hitch has his work cut out for him.  Albert is a kind, bumbling soul who knows Allegra is way out of his league, but as Hitch puts it, "You swing for the fences,"

While Hitch works with Albert to improve himself, he finds himself drawn to undercover newspaper columnist Sara (Mendes), who hears urban legends about a date doctor and tries to determine if he's real, not recognizing that Hitch, who takes her out on disastrous date after another, is the one she's after.  How could she believe Hitch would be a specialist in romance?  Their first date ended with Sara being knocked into the river and the second has Hitch going to the ER with a shellfish allergy.  Whatever advice he gives others isn't working for him.  Hitch doesn't advertise his services and works under the radar.  An expose on him would be devastating for his business.

Hitch is a gentle romantic comedy with nice people, except for the movie's quasi-villain Vance Munson (Donovan), an arrogant sleazeball who wants to hire Hitch to land a one-night stand with Sara's friend and is immediately rebuffed.  Unlike Albert, it doesn't swing for the fences.  Smith's charm carries a bulk of Hitch and James is a lovable lug with the capability of surprising Allegra and us.  I also enjoyed Valletta as Allegra, who has her own insecurities and truly takes a liking to Albert, who goes against much of Hitch's advice and succeeds anyway.  It might be time for Hitch to find a real job after this.  

Carbon Copy (1981) * * *

 

Directed by:  Michael Schultz

Starring:  George Segal, Denzel Washington, Susan Saint James, Jack Warden, Dick Martin, Paul Winfield, Tom Poston

This is a comedy you wouldn't see made now for two reasons:  One, multi-racial families are more common.  Second, Carbon Copy is a satire on race, stereotypes, and misguided assumptions about both.  Are we capable of laughing with these topics anymore?  

Carbon Copy stars George Segal as Walter Whitney, an executive at his father-in-law's company living the high life in a nice California mansion.  Walter's real last name is Wiesenthal, which he changed at the behest of his father-in-law (Warden), and he's frustrated by his wife Vivian (Saint James) who won't sleep with him and his stepdaughter's attitude towards him.  One day, a young black man named Roger (Washington) stops by his office, informing Walter that he is his son from a long-ago relationship Walter had with a black woman.  Walter ended the relationship also at the urging of his father-in-law, who tells him "the wind blows white, not black,"  Roger's mother has died, and Walter now feels responsible to take care of Roger. 

This leads to outlandish complications, including Walter being ostracized from his family and his home, losing his job, and forced to live in the ghetto with Roger while struggling to gain any meaningful employment.  Roger, however, seems to have a slight amount of bemusement about Walter's misfortune, stemming from his anger over Walter leaving his mother before he was born.  When Walter winds up in jail trying to protect his son from the police, Roger has a heart-to-heart with Walter which stems from truth.

Walter has false preconceptions about Roger which lead to some funny moments, such as assuming Roger is good at basketball because he's black (leading to a hilarious payoff at a pickup game) and also believing Roger is a high school dropout.  But Walter and Roger bond and learn to speak honestly to each other over race and their beliefs.  Segal is the natural straight man able to shoulder the difficulties which have befallen him.  Washington, with his wide, but knowing smile, is at-home and confident in his first film role, a genesis of later roles for the superstar actor.  Some may find Carbon Copy offensive strictly because it pokes fun at taboo topics which shouldn't be taboo, but I found it humorous and, in a way, reconciliatory.  

Footnote:  When I first saw this movie in the early 1980's, I suspected with no evidence that we wouldn't hear much from Denzel Washington after this movie.  I liked him and his performance, and it's obvious from Washington's career trajectory that I didn't know what the hell I was talking about.  

The Perfect Storm (2000) * * *

 

Directed by:  Wolfgang Petersen

Starring:  George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Reilly, John Hawkes, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Cherry Jones, Bob Gunton, William Fichtner, Allen Payne, Christopher McDonald, Diane Lane

The Perfect Storm is based on the true story of the fishing vessel Andrea Gail, captained by Billy Tyne (Clooney), which was lost at sea during the "Perfect Storm of 1991".  The perfect storm was a tropical storm clashing with two separate hurricanes in the Atlantic.  All three storms formed into one and late in the film we see through dazzling visual effects the damage it inflicted on Andrea Gail as well as others trapped in its grasp. 

We watch The Perfect Storm waiting for the storm to arrive.  Until then, we meet the Andrea Gail crew members at a local Gloucester, Massachusetts bar days before the boat is heading back out to sea.  There's Bobby (Walhberg), who promises his girlfriend Christina (Lane) this will be his last trip, Murph (Reilly) who is going through a sad separation with his wife, Bugsy (Hawkes), a lonely guy, along with newcomers Sully (Fichtner) and Alfred Pierre (Payne).  Sully's presence brings tension aboard since he is seeing Murph's wife, so there are obligatory fights and arguments between them. 

A Boston meteorologist (McDonald) discovers that these storms will indeed converge soon and watches the radar intently.  Tyne and his crew are aware of the dangers, but keep plugging away because they need to score a big catch of swordfish.  When they do, the freezer storing the fish breaks and Tyne decides to try to navigate through the pending storm in order to save the catch and avoid financial ruin.  As skilled a captain as Tyne is, working his way through his rough seas and tall, deadly waves is too much even for him.   

What The Perfect Storm lacks in the character department (these people are thinly drawn), it makes up for it with the spectacularly convincing storm.  We are unaware that these are visual effects.  The boat looks as if it'll be gobbled up by the monstrous ocean.  Tyne has to realize he's running a fool's errand by combating these waves, but he holds out hope, like we do, that he can win this battle.  The Perfect Storm was nominated for an Oscar for visual effects and somehow lost out to Gladiator, a poster child for early CGI and its flaws.  The lions in Gladiator were clearly phony, but the hurricanes in The Perfect Storm looked chillingly real.  

Swimfan (2002) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  John Polson

Starring:  Jesse Bradford, Erika Christensen, Shiri Appleby, Dan Hedaya, Clayne Crawford, Jason Ritter, Kate Burton

Swimfan is a Fatal Attraction-esque story of a high school senior named Madison (Christensen) who obsessively pursues school swimming superstar Ben Cronin (Bradford) long after Ben called their relationship quits following a "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" in the school's pool.  Like Dan Gardner in Fatal Attraction, Ben makes the mistake of having sex with this alluring young woman and then trying to keep it secret from his perky girlfriend Amy (Appleby).   I don't think Madison kills any rabbits, but only because Ben didn't keep any as pets. 

Ben is near saintly and even works in a hospital part-time.  Madison takes a liking to Ben, flirts with him, and finds he is willing to be seduced.  Because Swimfan is not R-rated, Ben and Madison finally get it on in the swimming pool where all of the action occurs underwater below their necks.  Guilt-ridden Ben tries to cut off any future involvement with Madison, but by now, she is dug in like a tick and won't let go.  The parallels between Swimfan and Fatal Attraction are such that they can't be coincidences.  On that level, however, Swimfan still has suspenseful moments, mostly because Ben's situation (while self-inflicted) is a universal one.  The movie doesn't absolve Ben of cheating on his girlfriend, but we do sympathize as he desperately tries to prevent Amy from finding out, and then provide damage control when she does learn of the one-night stand.

Christensen, despite being the villain, is still interesting in the Glenn Close role.  It is understandable how Ben can fall under her spell, at least for one night.  When her eyes narrow, though, watch out.  Bradford is no young Michael Douglas, but he seems like a nice guy and we can root for him because Madison grows homicidal.  Swimfan then follows the playbook of slasher films to a tee, including Madison becoming an unstoppable force who can escape from any situation and resist being killed.  Alex Forrest could learn a thing or two from Madison.  

Training Day (2001) * * *

 

Directed by:  Antoine Fuqua

Starring:  Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Snoop Dogg, Eva Mendes, Scott Glenn, Harris Yulin, Tom Berenger, Dr. Dre, Cliff Curtis, Macy Gray

Denzel Washington leaps into his villainous role of LAPD detective Alonzo Harris with all of the zeal and glee he could muster.  He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Training Day, turning an amoral, unethical cop into someone hypnotically watchable and fascinating.  All of the events in the film take place over one day, with Alonzo acting as the mentor to rookie Jake Hoyt (Hawke-in an Oscar-nominated performance) and providing a crash course in the streets that lend itself to its own brand of justice. 

Jake wants to join narcotics because he wants to rid the city of drugs and dealers.  He will soon find that not only isn't this possible, the system is a perpetual vicious circle.  Alonzo has no qualms about raiding a dealer's house with a phony warrant and stealing the man's cash and supply.  Jake has many qualms, but tries to go along as far as his conscience will let him.  Training Day packs a lot of activity into the day, which soon stretches the limits of credulity.  We will witness Jake take a hit of marijuana, supposedly to follow Alonzo's demands to make him more authentic, but later a different agenda is revealed.  Jake saves a teenage girl from being raped in an alley, which has a payoff later.  Then, Alonzo and his crew raid the home of a former cop (Glenn) sitting on millions under the floor of his kitchen.  It turns out Alonzo killed a connected Russian mobster in Vegas the previous weekend and needs to quickly raise $1 million to prevent himself from being rubbed out.  

When Alonzo and Jake visit "the three wise men", powerful cops who are at the head of the table overseeing the department's corruption, we see the full scope of the state of the police and wonder why Jake would subject himself to that.  Training Day doesn't operate in reality, or I hope it doesn't, and is effective on its intended level.  Instead, Training Day works in the grey areas, the shadows, and the blurred lines between morality and practicality.  Alonzo tells Jake that the suppliers and dealers work outside the law, so the police sometimes have to do the same.  The world mostly operates in the gray areas, including when Alonzo kills the former cop and forces Jake to go along with the official story or be framed for the murder.  

The first ninety minutes of Training Day are a well-crafted, tense foray into daily police life.  The final twenty venture into more typical shootout territory where the villain can't be killed and the hero leaps from a roof on to the hood of a car without any injury.  Washington delivers his famed "King Kong has got nothing on me" speech, but we still ask why the people act the way they do towards Alonzo.  The final frame is puzzling, but the first two acts are over-the-top and continually entertaining, mostly because of the effective byplay between Washington and Hawke, who represent the ends of the spectrum in police morality.  

Borderlands (2024) * 1/2

 

Directed by: Eli Roth

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black (voice), Edgar Martinez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Florian Munteanu, Ariana Greenblatt, Gina Gershon

Borderlands is a forgettable movie featuring a slumming A-list cast.  How can Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, with three Oscars between them, star in this film?  Well, the movie was shot beginning in 2021 before Curtis won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but the question remains.  Borderlands is based on the popular video game, which I'd never heard of so I'm going into Borderlands cold, but I doubt it matters.  

Cate Blanchett stars as bounty hunter Lilith, who is hired by a powerful man to retrieve his kidnapped daughter on Lilith's home planet of Pandora, a desert wasteland populated with what looks like a few junkyards and scrap metal lying in heaps every few miles or so.  This is no Tattooine from Star Wars.  Lilith teams up with fellow bounty hunters, a hockey-mask wearing hulk striking an eerie similarity to Lord Humongous, and others to find their way to the mythical Vault.  The Vault supposedly contains either riches or powers beyond universal understanding.  Many have sought it, and the daughter named Tina (Greenblatt) allegedly is the key to opening the vault.   No points for predicting that Tina isn't the chosen one. 

Blanchett, being the professional and astounding talent she is, tries her mightiest to make Lilith into a person and not a typical cynical soul who knows this world like the back of her hand.  Borderlands curiously lacks energy.  It seems bored and in turn it bores us.  Jack Black is on hand as the voice of Claptrap, who is R2-D2 that can speak English.  He is the comic relief, but unfortunately, the amount of relief he would need to provide to make Borderlands palatable is too much to ask of anyone.  

American Gangster (2007) * * * *

 

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Starring:  Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, John Hawkes, Roger Bart, Carla Gugino, Lymari Nadal, John Ortiz, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Joe Morton, Ted Levine, Armand Assante

Frank Lucas was a Harlem drug lord who broke crime barriers which would be applauded if he didn't deal in heroin.  He was ruthless, focused, and creative.  As the former driver and right-hand man for Harlem godfather Bumpy Johnson, Frank learned to dress well, stay under the radar, and always think of the next move.  When he's chastising his brother over his attire, Frank says, "The loudest person in the room is the weakest," which is advice he should've applied to himself when he attended the first Ali-Frazier fight in a fur coat.  

Before then, Frank ran a lucrative operation with insane profit margins because he cut out the middle man.  He traveled to Thailand during the Vietnam War and bought directly from a general who ran the local poppy farms.  The heroin was shipped to the U.S. using military planes (and later hiding the drugs in the coffins of dead soldiers).  Frank then branded the drug "Blue Magic" and sold at lesser prices than his competitors, forcing them out of business, and also keeping the Mafia out of his business.  It's capitalism no matter how you slice it.   Later, Frank works out a distribution deal with the Mafia where he expands his power.  This was unheard of in an Italian mob dominated crime scene.  

American Gangster's other story is of Detective Richie Roberts (Crowe), a mostly honest cop who became famous (or infamous) for finding nearly one million dollars in drug money and turning it in.  Instead of making him a hero, he becomes a pariah within the department.  If Richie doesn't share the wealth, how can cops trust him?  Richie, who attends law school at night, soon is hired by the feds to run his own team and take down the New York area drug kingpins.  American Gangster doesn't make the mistake of turning Richie into Saint Richie.  He has his flaws, including neglecting his wife and son.  In one scene, he bails out his partner who killed a junkie by wheeling the dead man out on a gurney, propping his eyes open, and pretending he's still alive.  When the partner, who is strung out on heroin, asks Richie to file a false report, that is a bridge too far.  

American Gangster is on a collision course between Frank and Richie.  In the mix is corrupt Detective Trupo (Brolin), who has no compunction about shaking down Frank for his cut, which turns out to be fatal for his prized Shelby Mustang.  Brolin plays Trupo as the embodiment of sleazy corruption, someone both Frank and Richie can despise for their own reasons.  Washington and Crowe give us multi-dimensional performances of driven men on different sides of the law.  Washington is a charmer when he needs to be, but also someone not to be trifled with, not even by his brothers and cousins he brings up from North Carolina to work for him.  Crowe's Richie is charming to the various women he beds, including his divorce lawyer, but otherwise he's a tenacious bulldog tearing little by little at the fabric of Frank's empire.  

The movie is nearly 2 3/4 hours but it hums along efficiently and fascinatingly as a dual character study with plenty of violence mixed in.  American Gangster is a superior crime film, taking its time to see the full scope of Frank's and Richie's activities.  We're never lost or confused, while seeing each character for all of their dimensions, faults, and even their good qualities.   When Richie and Frank meet face-to-face, it is a riveting several minutes of Frank trying to pull out all of the stops to unnerve Richie, who stoically stares down Frank and answers each of his attempted manipulations with the same strength which brought them together in the first place.  What a gem of a movie.