Munich (2005) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Steven Spielberg

Starring:  Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush, Ciaran Hinds, Daniel Craig, Lynn Cohen, Ayelet Zurer, Mathieu Almaric, Michael Lonsdale, Hanns Zischler

Munich's relevance is the same in 1972, when the PLO murdered eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, 2005 when the movie was released, and of course today when the war between Israel and Hamas rages on with no end in sight.  You could say that about the entire Israel/Palestine mess since its inception.  

Munich attempts to focus on the 1972 Olympics and the aftermath when Mossad assigned agents (off the record) to track down and kill those responsible for the deaths of the athletes.  Why does the Israeli government disavow the knowledge of the operation?  It's not clear.  You would think Israel would want the world to know publicly there would be retribution for killing its citizens.  However, Steven Spielberg has made a sluggish movie which should be crackling with intensity, but rarely does.  

Avner (Bana) is a former bodyguard to Golda Meir recruited to lead the missions to kill the terrorists.  With help from his crew, he carries out missions in which the killers are disposed of by shootings, bombings, stabbings, you name it.  Avner soon begins to question the viability of the operation.  One PLO member is killed, another more vicious person takes his place.  When Munich is over, we learn nine of the eleven members responsible for the Munich massacre were killed, but in the end it is a small victory for Israel.  Meanwhile, Bana suffers from PTSD and guilt.  He is not a killer by nature, but forced to be one on behalf of a government that does not acknowledge the operation and only communicates with him through a Swiss lockbox and a superior (Rush) who is caught in the middle. 

Only Avner is given any depth.  He is a father to a newborn who moves his family to New York to avoid having them killed.  The Israel/Palestine conflict is a cycle in which Munich is but another chapter.  Fifty-plus years later, the battle rages on.  Spielberg and writers Tony Kushner and Eric Roth understand that Israel's response to Munich did little to change anything, as did anything else before or since.  Spielberg tries to see both sides and that is noteworthy, but the movie itself despite a solid foundation is only a tepid near-miss.  

The Fabulous Four (2024) * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Jocelyn Moorhouse

Starring:  Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Megan Mullally, Bruce Greenwood, Timothy V. Murphy, Michael Bolton

The Fabulous Four (not to be confused with The Beatles) features four great actors wasted in a forgettable comedy.  It is intended to be a romp in which three women of a certain age take a trip to Key West to act as a bridesmaid for their friend Marilyn (Midler), who is getting remarried six months after her husband's death.  Lou (Sarandon) is a heart surgeon who dotes on her cats and is still angry at Marilyn for stealing away her man and marrying him many years ago.   The other friends, cannabis farmer Kitty (Ralph) and horny, CBD gummy-popping singer Alice (Mullally), trick Lou into coming to Key West by promising she can adopt a six-toed cat from Hemingway House if she promises to go there in person.  

Lou is not thrilled to have been tricked into coming to Marilyn's, but she stays and stews in her anger.  Marilyn, meanwhile, has become addicted to Tik-Tok posting, which I suppose gives her something to do.  The only woman of the four to have any children is Kitty, whose daughter has become ultra-religious and forced her gay grandson out of the house.  How this story arc begins involves the man stripping for Marilyn at a makeshift bachelorette party.  Kitty doesn't recognize him until she spots a mark on his keister, which is one of many contrivances The Fabulous Four expects you to believe.

Lou, while walking along the main drag of Key West, accidentally walks into a bicyclist named Ted (Greenwood), who owns a local bar.  A thief tries to steal the bike, but Lou uses a sex toy as a slingshot and knocks the thief off of the bike.  It seems Ted and Lou are lovestruck, and later, Lou drops by the bar and tells Ted the whole story of Marilyn's treachery.  I don't know how she told the story without once mentioning Marilyn's name, as this will come into play later in a plot point you see coming from miles away.   How that mishap is explained away is another ridiculous development. 

The Fabulous Four contains numerous scenes of characters getting stoned on gummies and one of Michael Bolton appearing on stage at another bachelor party.  How much does it cost to book him?  I'd be more interested to find that out than anything else in The Fabulous Four.  The foursome does what they can with this material, but their efforts are all for naught.  You're most likely not to recall much about the movie very soon.  

Deapool and Wolverine (2024) *

 

Directed by:  Shawn Levy

Starring:  Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackson, Emma Corrin, Matthew McFadyen, Morena Baccarin, Dafne Keen, Leslie Uggams, Rob Delaney

Even Deadpool in Deadpool and Wolverine states that the multiverse plot has seen better days, and this movie is irrefutable evidence.  Deadpool and Wolverine is over two hours of incomprehensible plot, lame self-mockery, meta awareness, abundant homoerotic jokes, and snark overkill.  No wonder Wolverine wants to punch Deadpool every chance he gets.  It is another lazy multiverse story where Logan/Wolverine, who died in the 2017 movie Logan, is now resurrected to team up with Deadpool to save the current universe from Professor Charles Xavier's sister (Corrin), who wants to destroy it.  If she could find a way to eradicate multiverses, we would really be on to something.  

Multiverse plots are free-for-alls whose purpose is to introduce past Marvel characters in uncredited cameos, eliciting applause from the audience.   Not much is done with the cameos once they're brought on to the scene.  It is not even clear why they're hanging around except to evoke nostalgia.  There are two famous Marvel characters who show up, fight in one of the movie's many, many bloody battles, and then aren't referred to again.  The villain has ten minutes of dialogue exposition to explain to Deadpool what his objective is, and we're still baffled.  

We're left with tiresome pokes at Disney, Marvel, etc. from Deadpool/Wade Wilson (Reynolds), whose character made headway in the far superior Deadpool 2 because he actually showed a caring side.  He wasn't simply a snarky antihero.  Deadpool and Wolverine forgets all that and presents us with an insufferable Deadpool and a Wolverine (Jackman) who wishes he were allowed to rest in peace.  Since Deadpool and Wolverine grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office this past weekend, it appears the Marvel Universe, which was on life support, is now back in full force.   

Have I lost my sense of humor, which is subjective anyway?  I think not.  I have nothing against vulgar humor.  Sometimes, the best laughs come from that material, if demonstrated correctly.  I have a hunch that if I asked anyone in one week or so what they found so hilarious about Deadpool and Wolverine, he or she would struggle to remember.  

The Dead Zone (1983) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  David Cronenberg

Starring:  Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Martin Sheen, Herbert Zom, Tom Skerritt, Anthony Zerbe

(spoilers present)

Johnny Smith awakes from a five-year coma after an auto accident and learns he can see a person's future by touching his or her hand.  Johnny doesn't want this responsibility, but finds he can't turn away from it, especially when he shakes hands with populist senatorial candidate Greg Stillson (Sheen), who Smith sees will one day be president and launch an unprovoked nuclear attack.  It is here where The Dead Zone weighs whether Johnny's powers are a gift or a curse.  

Johnny emerges from his coma to find his fiancee Sarah (Adams) left him to marry another man and having physical and emotional pain to contend with daily.  His doctor (Lom) is sympathetic to the point that Smith entrusts him with the information that he may need to kill Stillson in order to prevent his destiny from being carried out.   Sheen provides The Dead Zone with an amoral villain only interested in power who lets nothing or no one stand in his way.  We see that in his dealings with a local newspaper columnist who plans to publish a scathing editorial on him.  

This is one of Walken's best performances, a man whose powers haunt him and is wearing down from their moral implications.  Because he can see the future, how far will he go to alter it?  His doctor's response may surprise you and The Dead Zone deserves credit for following its story to a painful and not necessarily happy conclusion for its protagonist.  

In our present political climate, would Stillson holding up a baby to shield him from Johnny's bullets really be the end of his political career?  Would someone blame the baby?  Or the parent for having the baby on the stage (at Stillson's request)?  I'm being facetious...to a point.  

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Leonard Nimoy

Starring:  William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig

This is the best of the Star Trek film series.  It is goofy, unrestrained fun which gives the entire Enterprise crew a chance to steal some scenes and breathe life into their characters.  They aren't just sitting on the bridge following Kirk's orders.  

The plot, which is preposterous in the most entertaining way, involves a powerful alien probe which approaches Earth, rendering all power sources useless and wreaking havoc on the atmosphere.  The planet will be annihilated in a matter of minutes, unless there is some way to answer the probe's communication.  After some ingenious thinking from Spock (naturally), it is determined the probe is speaking in the language of the humpback whale, which has been extinct for hundreds of years.  The crew then time travels back to present-day Earth to retrieve two humpback whales and transport them to the 23rd century in hopes they can save all life on the planet.  

This mission is fraught with challenges, and not just because the crew are all fish out of water.  "Spread out, you look like a cadet review," Kirk tells the group when they arrive on the streets of San Francisco.  The ship (not the Enterprise thanks to the events of the third film) exhausted its power during the time warp and can only be energized using nuclear energy and then there is the logistical nightmare of beaming up two whales and accompanying water to the ship while Scotty has to construct a makeshift aquarium onboard.  

Kirk and Spock encounter sympathetic marine biologist Dr. Taylor (Hicks), who doesn't believe Kirk's story but at the same time distresses that the two whales at her institute will soon be released to the wild for budgetary reasons and thus in danger from whale hunters.   Her story arc doesn't result in a romantic relationship with Kirk, but follows its own logic.  If the whales make it to the 23rd century and can tell the probe to stand down, then Dr. Taylor would be the only expert on the planet with actual experience in working with these mammals.

There are further events which complicate the mission, naturally, but it isn't a spoiler alert to say everything turns out well in the end.   Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home doesn't get bogged down.  It is exciting and amusing, and after what Spock went through in the previous two installments, it is thrilling to see him fully recovered, living long, and prospering. 

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Nicholas Meyer

Starring:  William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban, Kirstie Alley, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Paul Winfield, George Takei, Bibi Besch, Merritt Butrick

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan begins the trend of superior Star Trek entertainments.  I'm not a Trekkie by any stretch, but I know when a movie is clicking, and The Wrath of Khan gives us what we hope for when watching Star Trek; a sense of wonder mixed with good old-fashioned space dueling.  

Before the movie even introduces a weapon called Genesis, which can create life on a dead planet in a matter of hours, Star Trek II brings us Khan (Montalban), a vengeful megalomaniac whom Kirk exiled to a distant planet years ago and has been waiting for the opportunity to seek vengeance.  Khan gets hold of starship and tracks Kirk and the Enterprise while hoping to get a hold of Genesis.  Montalban plays a chilling villain, whose desire for revenge is seared into his body language and his very being.  Kirk, meanwhile, wants to protect Genesis (developed by his former lover Dr. Carol Marcus (Besch) and son David (Butrick), who is unaware that Kirk is his father) while trying to rid the universe of Khan.  Shatner's Kirk is steady and ready for anything, while the biggest changes occur in Spock (Nimoy).  

Spock is famous for telling anyone that he isn't human and not prone to human emotions, but he is loyal, brave, and sacrifices himself at a critical juncture of the movie when it looks like Enterprise has no chance of escaping destruction.  As Kirk puts it, "Of all of the souls I've encountered, his (Spock's) is the most...human,"  This adds a different dimension to Spock we haven't seen before, and presents us with a Vulcan at odds with his human self, or is he?   

Star Trek II is where the Star Trek movie series began to hit its stride.  Its characters are fleshed out, it has the best villain of the series, and a conclusion which keeps providing mixed emotions all the way until the closing credits.  That is a positive.  

Red Eye (2005) * * *

 

Directed by:  Wes Craven

Starring:  Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Jayma Mays, Robert Yeoman, Jack Scalia

The assassination the villains wish to pull off in Red Eye is needlessly complicated.  It involves firing a missile from a boat and blowing up the hotel room occupied by the Deputy Director of Homeland Security and his family.  But, that's not all.   It turns out the hotel manager Lisa Reisert (McAdams), who is taking a red eye back to Miami, is needed to authorize switching the director's normal room to one of the baddies' choosing to make it easier to launch the rocket.  A seemingly nice young man named Jack (Murphy), sitting next to Lisa on the flight, turns out to be the man tasked with ensuring Lisa makes the switch.  How?  By threatening to have an assassin murder her father.  This murder plot has as many moving parts as the JFK assassination, if you believe in such a conspiracy. 

While the plot of Red Eye is silly, the tension is not.  McAdams and Murphy play a cat and mouse game with McAdams having to essentially arrange for the death of one person to spare the life of another.  That's tough on one's conscience, but Lisa is determined to spare both if she can, which would not please Jack, whose last name is revealed to be Rippner.  This was surely done for a laugh, but Jack is menacingly and quietly played by Murphy, which makes him all the more scary.  No one goes over the top, not even when one of the characters is stabbed in the trachea with a pen.  The man would have a right to be livid, but he behaves reasonably under the circumstances. 

Red Eye is directed by Wes Craven, known primarily for the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream series, but Red Eye is not a slasher film, but it's suspenseful and tautly brought in at just under eighty minutes.  There is little fat on it, and despite all of the extra moves the assassins make, Red Eye is still lean and effectively gets the job done.  

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Michael Sarnoski

Starring:  Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Nico and Schnitzel (as Frodo the cat)

There isn't anything about A Quiet Place: Day One which differs from the previous two films.  Despite it being a prequel, it is the same recycled concept of aliens attracted to sound and the poor humans scuttling around shushing each other and trying to remain very, very quiet.  (I think of Elmer Fudd when writing that).  The slightest noise will result in the aliens pouncing on the person or object making it, except for when the plot doesn't require it. 

This A Quiet Place outing stars Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o as Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient who leaves her hospice for a field trip to New York City.  Unfortunately, it occurs on the same day aliens invade the planet and ruin everyone's day for quite some time.  Sam, along with her service cat Frodo, manages to survive the initial onslaught and survives by her wits and the gradual understanding that these aliens are blind and attracted to sound.  These aliens traveled likely light years to get to Earth and aren't even fully equipped to carry out their plans of mass eradication of humans. 

Sam discovers that the aliens won't hear you when it's raining or whether you're hiding under a fountain or waterfall, although the noise the fountain makes while running should surely attract these predators.  Oh yes, I forgot they're afraid of water too.   I suppose whomever was supposed to perform recon on Earth for the aliens forgot to mention that it's made up of seventy percent water.  Sam soon stumbles across the terrified Eric (Quinn), a suit-wearing law student who won't be learning litigation anytime in the near future.   They bond and work to make it to the dock where a boat floats in the middle of the harbor gathering survivors.  

A Quiet Place contains numerous scenes in the dark and with little dialogue.  The actors do what they can with the material, but this a movie where aliens are lurking around every corner and things are blown up.  Frodo, however, is adorable, sturdy, and unflappable in the midst of chaos.  A Quiet Place: Day One is the first movie I've seen with a service cat, and hopefully not the last.  

Twisters (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Lee Isaac Chung

Starring:  Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, David Corenswet, Maura Tierney

Twister (1996), a movie which has no connection to Twisters except for the tornadoes, was centered by a love story between divorcing meteorologists played by Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.  Twisters doesn't have much of a story in between the devastation caused by the tornadoes.  Its leads are appealing, but are ultimately upstaged by the storms.  

The tornadoes are convincingly displayed and if you've come for tornado porn, this is your movie, especially as one of the characters excitedly yells "TWINS!" when he sees his team is chasing a tornado that split into two.  Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kate, who at the beginning of Twisters is attempting to win a grant by updating the Dorothy capsules which are drawn into a tornado and provide valuable information about it.  Okay, the Dorothy was also used in Twister, so there is a miniscule callback to the previous film.  That doesn't bother me anyway because I would prefer Twisters to be original and fresh rather than just recycling the first film. 

However, while chasing a tornado gleefully, Kate underestimates the power of the storm and witnesses two of her friends perish.  Five years later, Kate is working behind the scenes at the New York station of the National Weather Service when she is approached by her old friend Javi (Ramos), who survived the tornado from five years ago and asks her to return to Oklahoma to assist him in his venture working for a local developer.   Javi and his team study the aftermath of the storm destruction so the amoral developer can determine how much it'll cost to clean up so he can sell the land to other willing real estate barons. 

Also arriving on the scene is the charismatic charmer Tyler Owens (Powell), a storm chaser with millions of YouTube followers and a shameless marketer of t-shirts and memorabilia bearing his likeness.  Powell falls for Kate, of course, and gives us more dimension behind his ever-present cocky grin and shit-talking personality.   The camera loves Daisy Edgar-Jones and we can watch her even if in roles like hers in Twisters, where her job is to look guilt-ridden and unsure until the epiphany which turns things around.  

Those who came for the tornadoes won't be disappointed.  I understand with a movie titled Twisters that we'll get our fill of them, but after a while, the swirling winds, objects being carried away, and buildings crumbling all start to look the same.  You've seen one twister, you've seen them all.  It's all sound and fury, and you know the rest. 

Indecent Proposal (1993) * * *

 

Directed by: Adrian Lyne

Starring:  Demi Moore, Robert Redford, Woody Harrelson, Seymour Cassel, Oliver Platt, Rip Taylor

Indecent Proposal raises moral questions even thirty-plus years after its release.  Would you sleep with someone if you were offered one million dollars to do so?  Some say yes, some equivocate, some say no, but of course when the million becomes real and not an abstract concept, would the no turn to a yes?  Billionaire John Gage (Redford) puts the theory into practice by offering a financially struggling married woman one million dollars to spend one night with him.   

Rewinding to how Diana (Moore) and her architect husband David (Harrelson) came into such dire straits.  A recession causes financial woes.  David and Diana travel to Las Vegas to try and turn the last of their savings into beaucoup money.  They don't succeed, but Gage sees Diana, likes her, and offers the couple the proposal.  After they agree, with David having more reservations than Diana, lawyers draft up contracts to be signed and Gage soon flies Diana to his yacht, where the deed commences offscreen.  A lesser movie would have made the movie about the sex.  Indecent Proposal doesn't focus on the sex, but the pain it causes afterwards.  Jealous David has second thoughts and tries to stop Diana, but no luck.  He spends the better portion of the movie brooding and stewing.  He wishes they said no to Gage, but too late. 

Indecent Proposal provides unexpected dimensions in John Gage.  Why does he offer the money to Diana and David?   Because he can, and because we sense there is something missing in his life.  When he shows Diana his home, she says joy is missing, and Gage agrees.  He falls for Diana, and David's behavior nudges her towards him.  Gage is obscenely wealthy, but we also see he has a heart.  Another movie would've turned Gage into a stalker or a killer, with Diana and David putting their differences aside to defeat him.  Thankfully, Indecent Proposal doesn't go the thriller route.  It deals with an amoral act and its fallout.  

I feel the romance between Gage and Diana seems forced and Gage is simply a better choice for Diana than David, who in my mind wants to have the situation both ways.  The Redford performance shows us more dimensions than we expect from a character we think simply throws his money around.  He does, but there is also a tenderness there because he longs for the one thing money can't buy.  

Cop Land (1997) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  James Mangold

Starring:  Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta, Peter Berg, Cathy Moriarty, Annabella Sciorra, John Cooper, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, Janeane Garofolo, Noah Emmerich

If you look closely at the cast of Cop Land, you would think it was another Martin Scorsese movie.  Cop Land, however, is Scorsese-light.  It details a group of New York police officers who, through mob connections, live in nice homes in Garrison, New Jersey, a quiet town where you can see the Manhattan skyline.  Garrison's sheriff is the ineffectual Freddy Heflin (Stallone), who worships the NYPD, but was unable to serve with them due to being deaf in one ear.  Freddy spends his time pining for Liz Randone (Sciorra), the woman he saved from drowning as a young girl which cost him his hearing in that ear.  Liz is married to Joey (Berg), one of the crooked NYPD officers who lives in Garrison, which is just one more turn of the screw.

The NYPD officers are led by Ray Donlan (Keitel), who orchestrates some questionable moves during the course of Cop Land.   One is how he deals with Officer Murray Babich (Rapaport), his nephew who is wanted for questioning in the deaths of two young men.  Murray, while intoxicated, fires on two men he thought were pointing guns at him.   It turns out they have no weapons, and after Murray's friends try to plant a gun, Murray supposedly jumps off a bridge.  Internal Affairs detective Moe Tilden (DeNiro), smells a rat, and investigates further.   He tries to enlist Freddy's help, but Freddy declines because he hero-worships Ray and his obviously corrupt crew.  

It becomes apparent to Moe and Freddy that Murray is still alive, and Ray makes it easy to deduce when he throws Murray a party which everyone in town attends... hours after his sham funeral.   It is here where Cop Land begins to unravel.  Why would Ray, as smart as he is, throw a bash where Murray is the guest of honor even though he is supposed to be dead?   And considering Ray plans on killing Murray to tie up any loose ends, why throw a party for him?  Another wild card is Gary Figgis (Liotta), another member of Ray's crew who had a recent falling out with the bunch over the death of Gary's partner which occurred while in jail.  

Later, when Freddy confronts Ray about Murray, Ray doesn't even deny that he's even alive.  He says, "Like you, the kid's mixed up,"  What?   When Ray goes to Ray's wife (Moriarty) to find out where Murray is, she doesn't even respond:  "Murray's dead, don't you remember?"  As the Murray situation unfolds, we are utterly distracted by Ray's motives.  Freddy himself is weighed down by guilt, low self-esteem, regrets, and a touch of alcoholism.  That's more than any actor, especially one with Stallone's skill, should have to burden.   Cop Land never lives up to its potential.  You would think a movie with this cast and this setup should crackle with energy, but it becomes bogged down in events which don't make sense and makes you wonder how these characters were able to gain the power they have.    

My Cousin Vinny (1992) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Jonathan Lynn

Starring:  Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Gwynne, Lane Smith, Austin Pendleton, Maury Chaykin, Bruce McGill

My Cousin Vinny is a fish-out-of-water tale combined with courtroom comedy that succeeds at both.  If there is anyone in this movie completely out of his depth, it's Vinny Gambini (Pesci), a Brooklyn lawyer who has been practicing "for almost six weeks" when he is tapped by his cousin Bill (Macchio) and his friend Stan (Whitfield) to represent them after they are charged with murdering a store clerk in rural Alabama. 

Bill and Stan are innocent, but can't afford a decent attorney.  Vinny steps in as a favor to Bill's mother, but he is learning as he goes, which annoys Judge Haller (Gwynne), a stickler for procedure.  Vinny lies to the judge about his experience, saying he practices under the name Jerry Gallo, which leads to a funny payoff.  Vinny travels to Alabama from Brooklyn in his giant convertible with fiancee Lisa (Tomei-in her Oscar-winning role) in tow.  Both stick out like sore thumbs with their Brooklyn accents, direct manner of speaking, and clothes.  Vinny wears a black leather jacket and black t-shirt his first day in court, causing Judge Haller to throw him in jail for contempt of court.

Vinny is a smart man, but has to learn how to be an attorney on the fly.  Once he gains his rhythm, he is an effective attorney.  It didn't start out that way.  He screws up the arraignment and his inability to just enter a plea causes issues.  Stan opts to go with the public defender, whose stutter manifests itself in the worst way at the worst time.  I won't go further into how the trial proceeds, but there are other obstacles, including Vinny being woken by mill whistles, screeching owls, pigs, and a loud train coming by his hotel each morning at 5:00am.  Vinny and Lisa try to adjust to Southern ways with mixed results, but that's part of the charm of My Cousin Vinny.

Pesci plays the lovable smart-ass to a tee.  Tomei not only provides laughs by playing off Pesci, but Lisa's intelligence in the automotive field pays huge dividends later.  Gwynne, in his final film role, is the picture of exasperation as he clashes with Vinny's inexperience and his Brooklyn attitude.  Ultimately, My Cousin Vinny is a comedy gem because it doesn't just depend on formula, it finds the big laughs even in the smaller moments.  

Longlegs (2024) * *

Directed by:  Osgood Perkins

Starring: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt

Longlegs is so heavy on atmosphere the movie crumbles underneath it.  The opening credits are framed in home movie fashion and establish a uniquely creepy tone, but Longlegs doesn't build from there.  It's dull and flat, with a payoff that doesn't justify the buildup that nearly crawls to a stop.  

The Longlegs of the title is a serial killer played by Nicolas Cage, a Satan-worshipping cross-dresser made up like Marley's ghost.   He summons Satan's powers to force seemingly normal people into becoming murderers.  As Longlegs opens, he approaches a young girl before her mother intervenes and calls the police.  The girl grows up to be FBI agent Lee Harker (Monroe), a Troubled woman whose mother tells her to say her prayers.  We soon learn why.  Monroe is no Clarice Starling and Longlegs is no Hannibal Lecter, but they are connected.  

Cage is creepily effective as Longlegs despite not having much screen time.  Blair Underwood, as Lee's bureau boss, gives off an elusively weird vibe, while Monroe is the straight-arrow hero trying to capture Longlegs before he kills again.   Writer-director Osgood Perkins creates a dark tale which isn't fun to watch.  A lot of scenes are overloaded in darkness and even the daylight ones are full of ominous clouds. Longlegs quickly becomes a slog to sit through, even though the Carrie and The Silence of the Lambs influences are clearly drawn.  Those were better movies. 

 

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) * * *

 

Directed by:  Keenen Ivory Wayans

Starring:  Keenen Ivory Wayans, Bernie Casey, Jim Brown, Isaac Hayes, Damon Wayans, John Vernon, Ja'net Dubois, Dawnn Lewis, Kadeem Hardison, Chris Rock, David Alan Grier, Antonio Fargas, Steve James

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka is an Airplane!-style sendup of 1970's blaxploitation films which tries almost anything for a laugh.  It's funny most of the time, with some of the actors satirizing their previous roles in those movies, held together by a plot in which our heroes try to depose Mr. Big (Vernon), a city crime lord dealing in drugs and gold.  In the opening scenes of I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, a young man is found dead and is covered in gold chains and medallions from head to toe.  "He OG'd," says the weary detective on scene, which stands for "Over Gold"  The man's brother, Jack Spade (Keenen Ivory Wayans), comes home from military duty and learns of his brother's death.   When he sees the crime scene photo, Jack asks, "How does he go to the bathroom with all that stuff on?"  Jack decides to take down Mr. Big.  

Jack recruits former neighborhood hero John Slade (Casey), who now runs inner city contests to see how fast a car could be stripped for parts or how fast a thief can run from pursuing dogs with a television on his shoulder.  Slade is the former lover of Jack's mother (Dubois), and still has a thing for her.  Slade brings his former cohorts Hammer (Hayes) and Slammer (Brown), who run a fledgling rib joint, back to take on Mr. Big.  Also along for the ride is Kung Fu Joe (James), whose teacher was Bruce Lee, but for acting and not martial arts. 

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka soon blends shootouts and action with laughs.  It is not always a smooth fit, but it's engaging enough.  Casey, Brown, and Hayes poke fun at their personas, while Antonio Fargas shows up as Flyguy, a former "Pimp of the Year" betrayed by Mr. Big and sent to prison.  Flyguy is released to find his shoes with miniature goldfish tanks on the bottom are subjects of mockery.  Like the rest of I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, he redeems himself in the end.  

Kiss the Girls (1997) * * *

 

Directed by:  Gary Fleder

Starring:  Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Brian Cox, Jay O. Sanders, Tony Goldwyn, Alex McArthur, Bill Nunn, Gina Ravera, Jeremy Piven 

Kiss the Girls is the first movie featuring Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, the FBI profiler/author whose meticulous attention to detail makes him a nightmare for criminals.  The case, however, in Kiss the Girls is also personal for him.  Alex's niece Naomi (Ravera) is a missing college student presumed kidnapped by a mask-wearing man who calls himself Casanova.  Casanova keeps numerous women imprisoned in a hidden dungeon somewhere in a dense North Carolina forest; hooking them on drugs, raping them, and killing them if attempt to escape.   Three women were found tied to trees and brutally murdered.  

Cross is aided by Durham detective Nick Ruskin (Elwes).  Soon Dr. Kate McTiernan (Judd) is kidnapped from her home by Casanova, but has the wherewithal and physical prowess to escape.   Kate is a strong, determined woman who refuses to play victim and assists Alex and the police in locating Casanova and the women still held captive.   Their travels take them to California, where plastic surgeon William Rudolph (Goldwyn) is a suspect.  Is he Casanova or an accomplice?  The findings lead Alex and Kate further down a sinister path.  

Freeman is, of course, a perfect Alex Cross.  He is the type of actor who could tell me 2 + 2 = 6 and I would believe him.  Judd is up to the task of becoming Freeman's de facto sidekick.   They would appear together again later in High Crimes to similar effect.  Kiss the Girls maintains an eerie mood with plenty of solid police procedural scenes adding to the suspense.   I have a quibble with the finale, in which Casanova's identity is revealed.  I don't know if the conclusion is the same as in James Patterson's novel, but it doesn't add up.  The Casanova who hides behind a mask and speaks softly to his victims has a much deeper voice and no trace of a Southern accent.  Did Casanova use a mechanism to disguise his voice?  And how did Casanova juggle his criminal activities with his day job?  Many movies employ this swerve and it leads to more questions than answers. 

Maxxxine (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Ti West

Starring:  Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Monaghan, Moses Sumney

Maxxxine is the last of the X trilogy starring Mia Goth as Maxine, who survived the slaughter of her friends and castmates from X.  Maxxxine picks up her story in 1985 Hollywood.  She believes her past is behind her as she attempts to move from adult film star to starring in a Hollywood studio movie.  She wins the role, but soon she receives an incriminating video cassette from an unknown source from the gruesome 1979 murder scene.  If you recall from X, Maxine was the sole survivor of a porno movie shoot which became the site of a murderous rampage by two farmers.  One of the farmers named Pearl (also played by Goth), was the subject of the second film (which I missed) of this trilogy.  

You really wouldn't need to see X to follow Maxxxine.  Maxine is ultra confident since hey, she survived nearly being killed six years earlier and the lurid adult film scene, but when she's followed by sleazy New Orleans private eye John Labat (Bacon), she becomes rattled.  Her past may ruin her chances at stardom, and she soon enlists her slickster agent Teddy Knight (Esposito) to help her get rid of Labat and find out who is stalking her.  Teddy goes above and beyond the call of duty as Maxine's agent.  He knows people in the removal business and we'll leave it at that. 

Goth's Maxine isn't always likable, but the pressure on her to get rid of this obstacle jeopardizing her future (and her life) is palpable.   I also liked Elizabeth Debicki, the no-nonsense, straightforward director of Maxine's movie who tells Maxine in no uncertain terms that she fought for her to be cast and that any slip-up will result in her being replaced.  Like X, Maxxxine has a strong sense of time and place and an undercurrent of religious intolerance which fuels repression and thus a stronger desire for the forbidden world of porn and sex.  

Ti West's previous film I've seen (Zola and X) did not work for me on the level Maxxxine did.  Maxxxine is a suspenseful whodunit as well as a commentary on the 1980's, which was the decade of excess and a period in which warning labels had to be placed on albums for explicit lyrics.  Like George Carlin said, "You can talk about fucking.  You just can't say fucking,"  Maxxxine understands that dynamic.  

Fly Me to the Moon (2024) * * *

 

Directed by: Greg Berlanti

Starring:  Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Ray Romano, Woody Harrelson, Jim Rash, Anna Garcia, Donald Elise Watkins, Noah Robbins

Fly Me to the Moon takes us back to the early days of NASA and the buildup to the moon landing on July 20, 1969 with a twist.  It incorporates the age-old conspiracy theory that the mission was faked, so the stories of the real landing and the fake landing are told simultaneously.  It's not only fun, but the movie does not detract from NASA's incredible accomplishment nor does it shortchange the phony landing created on a soundstage not far from where Apollo 11 was launched.   

The fake mission was proposed to NASA's new publicist Kelly Jones (Johansson) by Moe Berkus (Harrelson), a government bureaucrat who may or may not work directly for President Nixon and ruthlessly blackmails Kelly into working for NASA and then overseeing the staged landing.  Why perform a phony moon landing?  On the off-chance that NASA fails and thus the nation is spared another humiliation for the space program.   The faked footage will be substituted and no one would be any the wiser. 

When we first meet Kelly, she is a marketing whiz who pretends to be pregnant in order to snag a high-profile client.   Once the ruse is discovered, she's fired but then immediately hired by Moe to work for NASA raising needed advertising dollars for the program.  Kelly is a con artist on the run from her past and gleefully accepts working for NASA instead of going to prison.  Kelly butts heads with Apollo 11 launch director Cole Davis (Tatum), a straight-arrow who struggles daily with the loss of the Apollo 1 astronauts and fearlessly leads his team up to launch day.  He isn't made aware of the staged version until a crucial point when Kelly falls for him.  

Also in tow is Lance (Rash), the flamboyantly gay director charged with filming the phony moon sequence on a soundstage built in a remote hangar on Cape Kennedy's property.   Lance treats the actors playing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin disdainfully because they can't seemingly recreate walking on the moon in zero gravity.   He tells another of his actors, "You have a future in show business, not as an actor, but still,"  His complaints about the sets and actors causes Kelly to say, "We should have gotten Kubrick,"  Rash gives us a standout comic performance.   I could've done without the Johansson/Tatum romance, which feels pigeonholed in and perfunctory, but in the way Fly Me to the Moon dovetails history with urban legends, it pulls this off in splendid fashion.  

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Mark Molloy

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Joseph Gordon Levitt, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, Paul Reiser

In a twist I surely didn't see coming, I enjoyed Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.  It worked in its intended way, with Eddie Murphy returning to the role of Detroit detective Axel Foley, who for the fourth time in the last forty years will be traveling to Beverly Hills to take care of personal business.   He should keep an apartment there.  

Axel is now a divorced man with an estranged daughter (Paige), and he still does things his way and wreaks havoc.  Chases after criminals usually results in exorbitant amounts of property damage and Axel's captain having to bail him out.  In this case, Axel's captain is Jeffrey Freidman (Reiser), his buddy from the first two films who recently submitted his retirement papers after being chewed out over another of Axel's antics.  

Meanwhile, Axel's daughter Jane is defending an alleged cop killer who was framed by corrupt cops.  Jane's car is soon dangling from a parking garage with Jane still in it.  Axel is soon on the next flight to LAX, where he hopes to rendezvous with his old friend Billy Rosewood (Reinhold), who is now a private detective after quitting the force over his discoveries of corruption being ignored by his former partner and now police chief John Taggart (Ashton).  Billy is kidnapped by the bad guys, and Axel and Jane, along with straight-arrow cop Bobby Abbott (Levitt), try to find out what's happening.   The villain is Captain Grant (Bacon), who wears suits far too expensive for a cop's salary, has goons at his disposal, and may as well be wearing a t-shirt stating his intentions.

Axel and Jane fight and reconcile as expected.  Par for the course.  But even though Axel F. has one too many chase scenes which run long, it's slick and entertaining, with Murphy clearly having a ball.  It's also good to see some of the old faces from the previous films, although Pinchot's Serge was only funny in the first film.  His appearances in part III and Axel F. are rambling and endless.  The movie also takes potshots at Beverly Hills Cop III, which I think are undeserved.  It's the weakest film in the series, but I still found myself liking it.  I'm in the minority I'm sure.   

 

Horizon: An American Saga Part I (2024) * * *

Directed by: Kevin Costner

Starring:  Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Luke Wilson, Jena Malone, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Danny Huston, Abbey Lee, Tom Proctor, Georgia MacPhail

Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga is expected to be a four-part epic series about the settlement of the Old West.   The first week box-office receipts aren't boosting confidence of the series' financial viability, but the series is off to a promising start.  Horizon is epic in scope by telling stories of taming the west where settlers have to fend off ferocious Native Americans who don't want settlers taking over their land.  Towns are destroyed before they've had a chance to get off the ground in San Pedro Valley, while in Wyoming and Montana, the settlers made more headway.  Then, there is a wagon train led by Matthew van Weyden (Wilson), who understands the dangers of even getting to the destination.

The San Pedro Valley settlement is attacked and set fire to by the local tribes, with the U.S. Army Calvary arriving soon after the attacks and assisting the survivors.   One of which is Frances Kittredge (Miller), who lost a husband in the battle.   She finds herself falling for Lt. Trent Gephart (Worthington), who tries to perform his duties while concealing his attraction to Frances.   In Wyoming, trader Hayes Ellison (Costner) finds himself unwittingly helping a prostitute (Lee) on the run from killers looking for revenge for the attempted murder of an abusive man in Montana by her mother Ellen (Malone).  Ellison is a man passing through a small mining town, but he also epitomizes decency and humanity by helping Marigold, the hooker who is now the guardian of a young boy.

Costner's Horizon is a labor of love which may be intended as a companion piece to his Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves (1990).  He loves the West and all of its aspects.  Horizon, as stated by Costner in a recent Howard Stern interview, is about the struggle of settlers to even create towns which would become cities and civilize an untamed land with indigenous people who fear having their land stolen.  The characters are people trying to make their way in uncharted territory both physically and emotionally.  In Frances' case, she suffered not only family losses, but had to be uprooted and living elsewhere without any guarantees that attacks won't happen again.

Costner also stated that in Westerns on TV and in movies, the towns were already up and running, with the action taking place there.   Horizon gives us a unique perspective of how those towns came to be.  The movie runs three hours, and naturally could've been tighter in some spots, but it makes us care enough to see what's next. 

Bulletproof (1996) * *

Directed by:  Ernest R. Dickerson

Starring:  Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler, James Caan, James Farentino, Kristen Wilson, Jeep Swenson, Allen Covert

There is nothing wrong with buddy comedies.  Bulletproof is a tired one which started with a unique perspective and then devolved into cliches and chases.   Keats (Wayans) and Moses (Sandler) are two low-level criminals who form a years-long friendship which is torn apart when Keats is revealed to be an undercover detective during a bust.  Keats was using Moses to get in with crime boss Frank Colton (Caan), and now that Moses vouched for Keats, Moses is a hunted man.  Moses is hurt by this betrayal more than he is concerned that Colton wants him dead.   In the melee, Moses accidentally shoots Keats in the head and goes on the lam. 

Some time passes, Keats is able to recuperate and regain use of his faculties, plus has a new girlfriend Traci (Wilson), the nurse who assisted him in his recovery.   Moses is apprehended and becomes a witness against Colton,  Keats is assigned to protect Moses as a witness until the trial.  There are hard feelings from both men,   Moses still stings from Keats' revelation and Keats still can't get over being nearly killed, even if it was accidental.   The opening moments shows a deep friendship supposedly formed between Keats and Moses.  I was reminded of the more powerful scenes of 2016's The Infiltrator, in which the drug lord an undercover FBI agent had to bring down was emotionally injured by the man he thought was his friend and let into his world.   

However, Bulletproof strays from this early and becomes an awkward road buddy movie.  Keats and Moses bicker and gripe at each other before mending fences and taking down Colton.  Sandler brings the energy which defined his comic persona in the films following this one, which generated big box office.   Wayans does the straight man thing as well as can be expected.   However, Bulletproof as a whole doesn't add anything new or fresh to the genre.  Keats and Moses fight, then hold a begrudging truce, then develop a bond, then become friends with a goal of bringing down the villain.   It's all just blah.