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Dallas Movie Screenings started out as a mailing list on Yahoo Groups to facilitate finding free screening passes in the DFW area. When Yahoo Groups shut down, we are now posting screenings on our Facebook page at http://www..facebook.com/groups/dallasmoviescreenings
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Greetings movie gang. Hope you are enjoying the "cooler" weather. Plus the State Fair is happening which is wicked more exciting than sitting in a dark theater. At least the movie lineups are getting more interesting.
There are some Dallas Film Society member screenings happening featuring Robert Redford, who changed his mind about retiring from acting. It's not listed on our calendar as they are for DFS members. (I can't afford it either).
Sept 30 - Oct 6
Mon - Oct 1
First Man - 7:30 pm - Studio Movie Grill Arlington LIncoln and the Angelika Plano
Bad Times at the El Royale - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
I like and respect documentaries. One of my absolute favorites came in 1988 with Errol Moriss’s “The Thin Blue Line,” the story of Randall Adams, a wrongfully convicted man serving a life sentence on Death Row for a crime he did not commit. He was released in 1989, becoming a proponent of wrongfully jailed prisoners. Adams died in 2010.
Too bad the usually great documentary filmmaker Michael Moore dropped the ball on this one. I usually agree and concur with his matter-of fact tone that equates to simple common sense.
Moore’s notions sometimes run true, but his whole rhetoric often feels empty.
“Fahrenheit 11/9” also lacks focus, since it was supposed about Trump but delves into the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and the fact the residents were getting sick from lead tainted water, mass shootings, gun control and both political parties.
“Fahrenheit 11/9,” also looks at how people need to go out and support our country by continuing to raise the stakes at a local level and make a change by getting people to just go out and vote.
“Fahrenheit 11/9” traces Moore’s take on the presidency of Donald J. Trump, which as of current writing is just about half over in his four-year term. He tells how Trump brags about his success and feels he should just get re-elected and brings F.D.R. into the forefront, because he thinks he is doing such a great job and he’s the best at it, hands down.
Also interwoven into the story are comparisons of Trump to Adolf Hitler and his slow rise to power that quickly became Germany’s new normal.
Moore also tells how Trump mentions how much he likes the display that goes into the pageantry of leaders such as Kim Jong Un, and how he wants the same for our country (himself). He does not realize that he is admiring a dictator, something Trump does not even bother to think about or even fathom. Honestly, Trump just likes the spectacle and showmanship when it comes to certain ideas and such.
In this movie, Moore sees Trump as the ultimate evil in the world. Moore obviously does not like Trump in any structure or capacity. Moore pinpoints Trump’s bravura and hype as a man who always think he’s doing a great job.
As a filmmaker and documentarian, Moore sometimes strays from his topic and main focus. Unlike the great Oscar-winning “Bowling For Columbine” (2002) or the highly successful “Fahrenheit 9/11,” (2014), he does not know exactly where to steer the conclusion on this documentary.
From his catalog of stories and tales, I would probably put this one in the passable yet disappointed field of just sheer letdowns. Unlike the intriguing 1997’s “The Big One” or the so-so “Where to Invade Next” from a couple of years back, this one just putters out along the road and does not really end with an adequate resolve by movie’s end.
My personal opinion and belief is moot, since I’m just a lowly Entertainment Editor, who just covers the movie world and not much else.
Hope everyone is surviving the rain, thunder lightening and flooding last week. Hope those of you who lost power have gotten it restored.
There are movies this week, but why the heck they are scheduled on the same night!!!
I didn't get Venom or A Star is Born either. Please be patient, there will hopefully more passes out there.
Sept 23 - Sept 29
Mon - Sept 24
Maria by Callas - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
Tue - Sept 25
Little Woman - 7:00 pm - UA Fossil Creek and Irving MacArthur
God Friended Me - 7:00 pm - AMC Northpark
The Hate U Give - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
Small Foot - 7:00 pm - AMC Northpark
Brothers Sisters - 7:30 pm - Angelika
Night School - 7:30 pm - AMC Northpark
Wed - Sept 26
Colette - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
A Star is Born - 7:00 pm - AMC Northpark
This truly epic historic film directed by Kim Kwang-Sik about the Ansi Fortress siege will surely stand up to the Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings battles. It's filled with heroic characters and evil villainous opponents. The movie doesn't stand still for a second, keeping one at the edge of the seats. The sweeping score, costumes, locations, cinematography and acting are all breathtaking while running over 2 hours of CGI crazy mayhem and slo-mo fighting. It's the kind of movie that would work well in wide release, but unfortunately it's only open in a couple of theaters in the DFW area.
The time is about 600 AD during the Tang dynasty of China. The Emperor Taizong (Park Sung-Woong) is set on conquering the ancient Korean peninsula known as Goguryeo. The Tang troops number over 200,000 foot soldiers, archers and cavalry facing the 150,000 Goguryeo troops lead by General Yeon (Yu Oh-seong). In the end of the opening sequence only 10,000 are left in Yeon's army. He believes if his rival Ansi Fortress Commander Yang (Jo In-sung) had responded to his call for battle, they would have prevailed. Yeon sends cadet Samul (Nam Joo-Hyuk) on a secret mission to assassinate Yang. Samul is from Ansi, although the last of his Eulbul clan. He tries to convince them he's come back to fight at their side. What he finds in his old home town is a love and respect the citizens have for the commander.
Emperor Taizong believes he can easily take the border Ansi fortress with no problem. After all the village is considered traitors and they are no match for the Tang forces. Despite his huge army, he receives unexpected resistance from Ansi's 5000 warriors fighting from their almost indestructible fortifications made of rock and dirt. Yang knows that Samul had been sent to kill him, but tells him to wait until after the upcoming battle. He decides to make Samul his flagman who must stick to his side. Yang gives a great pep talk to his people that they are fighting for their families and their country. Meanwhile Taizong tells his troops they can rape and pillage when they win. The battle has everything from catapults hurling boulders to knock down the walls, archers filling the sky with arrows raining down, ladders to climb the walls, all the while Ansi is well prepared to fend their attackers. Even when they breach the gate, the Tang army was surprised by what waited for them inside. Taizong retreats and his advisers suggest they build a mountain of dirt to match the height of the fortress walls. The months long construction gives each army time to get ready.
There is nice character development with a bit of romance, friendship, betrayal and sacrifice. The battle scenes don't shirk from violent dismemberment, fiery wagon wheels, and fire arrows igniting oil. Sure some of the story line doesn't have too many surprises falling on expected tropes. But it sucks you into caring about the people and rooting for them to win. The Ansi siege is a little known piece of Korean history and hopefully this film will bring it some recognition.
(Review by reesa)
The Great Battle opens at the AMC Grapevine and Bluebonnet Cinema
Jack Black is always watchable, even going back to Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks!” in 1996. He was the gung-ho soldier of the family who met an untimely exit when his character was in Washington D.C. meeting the aliens from Mars.
Now, he has the lead in director Eli Roth’s “House With a Clock in Its Walls.” Roth has ventured into an arena I never thought he would go: a fun family film with some nifty horror splashes.
This one finds his Jack Black’s Jonathan Barnavelt playing uncle to nephew Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro). Whose mother passed away recently. Since he was part of the family tree, he was sent to live with his uncle.
Lewis is kind of an oddball kid, like the one who always gets picked last in gym class. Also contained in the family is Cate Blanchett’s Florence Zimmerman, who Jonathan claims is a close platonic friend.
Amusing to the proceedings is a group of monsters, where even the actors just say “Creepy.” They are ominous puppets, mannequins and the like that are just spooky and altogether eerie.
Also involved is Kyle McLaughlin’s Isaac Izard, who used to be a best friend to Jonathan before he ventured off to war. When he returned, his character was drawn to the dark side, which put Jonathan in quite the quandary.
The house essentially is a magic house. Think rather hard to a 2007 fun fantasy film titled “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” with Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman.
Black has a likable on-screen presence which suited him well with parts in “High Fidelity,” (2000) “Tropic Thunder,” (2008) “The Holiday” (2000) and one of my favorites, Texan director Richard Linklater’s “School of Rock.” (2003)
I interviewed him for that particular title, and like the fan boy I am, I brought my collection of titles he was in, including his turn as one of the bad guys in 1997’s “The Jackal,” wherein he supplies a heavy duty machine gun to Bruce Willis’s baddie, “The Jackal” of the title.
But director Eli Roth, early on in his career, seemed to me what was nothing more than sheer horror porn. His first movie was 2002’s “Cabin Fever,” which involved a sickness that spread like wild fire. Next, came 2005’s “Hostel,” wherein rich people pay to inflict grievous bodily harm on innocent victims. He also helmed the 2007 follow-up “Hostel II,” which contained more grisly death and dismemberment. Most recently, he delved into an adventure-drama-horror porn with 2013’s “The Green Inferno,” wherein a bunch of college kids venture into the Amazon and try to make peace with cannibals.
As aforementioned, this movie was as lot of fun and will hopefully spawn a bunch of sequels and follow-ups. I’m sorry, but I think Jack Black’s Poe in “The Kung-Fu Panda” franchise has run its course.
So readers know, Black recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a tourist attraction in Los Angeles, CA.
From some of the folks who brought us This Is Us and Crazy Stupid Love, this a film told in five distinct chapters. So as you can expect it's full of a wide range of emotions, drama, tragedy, highs and lows, and as the film summarizes, life itself. It's raw, at times very ugly, and it doesn't hold back in any way. I wouldn't call it a chick flick but emotions are very messy and the weight of the storylines in this film might possibly be for some.
The first is about a young couple's intense budding relationship from college (Olivia Wilde and Oscar Issac) through their eventual life together as a married couple, expecting their first child. The second is about a young child growing up under the care and watchful eye of her loving widower grandfather (Mandy Patinkin) and how her life begins to spin out of control as a young woman. The third is about a wealthy Spaniard (Antonio Banderas) who runs an olive orchard and how life evolves for him, his prized employee, and the employee's young family over time. The fourth is about a foreign student and his experiences at university at NYU, and the 5th is about a novelist.
They film begins interestingly enough narrated by Samuel L Jackson, as if he were the director on a movie set. In the beginning we feel that the film is going to be full of humor and although the script has its witty moments, this film becomes very dark and quite depressing. As a result, it takes us awhile to orient ourselves the how the stories in the film are going to unfold. Annette Bening plays a psychiatrist who is counseling a young man as mandated bye the terms of his release from a mental health hospital. And the stories unfold from there.
There are not the usual scene and prop clues to give us a solid feel for what time periods we are watching but we eventually learn that the stories are all connected in some way similar to the screenplays for Crash or Babel. What we take away is that all people experience pain, tragedy, illness, darkness and through the passage of time it is possible to emerge from those clouds and it better more positive place.
There are parts of the story line that weigh on the observer like a heavy weight on the brain or the heart and one keeps hoping that as the dots are connected that the end message is redeeming and positive. The full range of emotions and states is on display, in very intense colors and patterns, including intense love, loss, abuse, sacrifice, grief and mourning, misdirection, mental illness, connection and disconnection, the importance of family and twists of fate and serendipity. One just must keep going, no matter what one indoors or what life throws in your path because in the midst of darkness, the seeds might be being sown for someone else around the corner or down the road.
There's a fair amount of buzz that this is the worst movie of the year so far, which the writer/director defends as being because most reviewers are men and men can't handle heavy emotion, but I'm more inclined to allow each individual to make up their own mind for everyone is going to take something different away from it. The film had my attention the entire time, as I tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together, so that level of challenge was much appreciated. It's a fine line between feeling emotionally manipulated, cheaply and on purpose and the sense that the chapters were well thought-out and crafted as they were put down on paper.
I think each viewer will have their own opinion about it with reference to "Life Itself" because every individual will be bringing their past experiences, thoughts, and attitudes with them into the theater, so that the potential will be for everyone to take something different away from the exact same film. This is just not going to be the best first date film or a fun night out for a bunch of high schoolers. It's heavy, heady stuff.
(Review by Cheryl Wurtz)
As anyone on social media is aware videos of animals is a way of escaping for a few minutes of cuteness overload. Dogs are probably some of the hardest working critters doing sled pulling, police work, herders and guide dogs. Directors Dana Nachman and Don Hardy follow what it takes for a dog to become a guide dog for the blind. There is a good chance there will be some teary eyed moments.
The film opens with testimonies from people whose lives have been saved by their trained companions from speeding cars, stairways and escaping the 78th floor of the twin towers. These dogs were raised from birth to become guide dogs. Of the 800 dogs born to this path, only 300 actually make it all the way through. The story follows the adventures of five new Labrador pups that are given the names of Potomac, Patriot, Phil, Primrose and Poppet. At 2 months old they leave the kennels and given to "raisers" who foster the dogs giving them basic training. Social skills, manners, exercise and exposure the real world. The raisers are from all over the country and have volunteered their time, patience and energy for various dogs. Some are new at it and were a bit upset when they were told their dog was being transferred to more experienced raisers. The dogs wear a harness stating they are puppies in training. At 9 months old they are taught to walk on a short leash and learn how not to be distracted. Hard to do when you are a puppy. The raisers fill out daily reports on how they are progressing and they are evaluated every 3 months. If issues are not resolved, the puppy is given a "career change". By the time they are 16 months they are returned to the kennel there they will be considered for continued training, to be a breeder or sent out for another program or for adoption.
The remaining pups are enrolled in an intense 10 week formal training. They are tested on preliminary road work and obedience. If they fail, they are given another chance to improve. The dogs must know how to navigate traffic, sidewalks or non sidewalks, buildings, escalators and elevators. If any of the dogs have made it though these tests, they will graduate and be assigned to a blind person who must come to the facility to be trained with their new guide dogs. About 1100 people apply for dogs a year, and it usually takes up to a year before they are given a dog. The raisers also come to the graduation ceremonies knowing through their hard work and devotion the dogs were able to do their job successfully. Not all dogs have the temperament to be a good guide dog. Out of the five puppies at the beginning only two were able to be the pick of the litter.
(Review by reesa)
Michael Moore has produced another insightful film, this time about a very predictable subject. The title, Fahrenheit 11/9, is a play on words reference to the novel Fahrenheit 911, that is a clear reference to the day Donald Trump was elected and he quickly becomes the visible Target of Michael Moore's diatribe at the beginning of the film.
While going after Donald Trump and the current state of America, he asks us to examine closely and also realize that the worrisome issues are not entirely about our president but it is also about "us" and "ourselves". Moore implores the viewers to care, wake up and do something about it all before it's too late. The filmmaker truly fears that our democratic republic is at risk based on all the insanity and madness he sees everyday and about to show the viewers.
Presented in his typical humor- filled format, but with less than usual sarcasm and overt sensationalized drama, Moore examines several areas of hypocrisy and corruption in different parts of our country. The NRA and school shootings are closely examined via the Parkland Florida student advocates, as they are shown as great examples for how to get angry, take action and do something.
As he is a Flint Michigan product, of course the government corruption there that directly impacted his city's water supply and the health and well-being of thousands of children, primarily minority and poor children is examined in enough detail to make any viewer with a heart outraged. Power in numbers is demonstrated through an examination of the teacher strikes in West Virginia that snowballed into a red bandana movement all across the country, encouraging educators to band together, not only for pay but basic health care so that they can live above the poverty line.
He actually takes it fairly easy on President Trump for the portrayals and scenarios could have been much more embarrassing and damning, as Moore attempts to answer the question of how did he even get in the White House and how did we get into this current position. It's interesting to be reminded, as he points out, that he was one of the few that predicted that Trump could actually win the election, as the film begins with an in depth study as to how he actually won. Blames it all on Gwen Stefani. Go see the film to find out why.
The film itself is full of interesting information and talking points but it appears as Michael Moore ages he is going to be less caustic in his presentation methods. It is more than loaded with video clips, documentation, interviews and expert testimony to backup a multitude of claims and opinions. His earlier, more sensationalized films, have hopefully not put enough people off or affected his reputation adversely, so that they do not consider skipping this film.
There are plenty of important subjects to consider and pay attention to no matter what side of the political spectrum you align with. His point is well taken in that if you only think the problem is Trump then you are misguided because the president is a representation of who our society is today which is ultimately a reflection of who we are as a society and what we stand for as individuals. And if you don't like what you see in Washington DC, State governments or in your own mirror then it's time to make a change. Sooner than later.
What Michael Moore does best is to make his viewers feel something, anything. He also aspires to make them think and think hard. No matter what, go see the film and get out there and vote, with your heart and more importantly your brain.
(Review by Cheryl Wurtz)
For those who might remember, Black had a small role in director John McTiernan’s 1987’s action opus “Predator.’ His identity was the part of Hawkins, who meets his demise early in the story. He was part of Dutch’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger) team fighting a camouflaged alien in the jungle of a foreign land.
This one is just like the silly “Alien vs. Predator” entries in 2004 and 2007, in that death is taken with a grain of salt. Nothing more and nothing less.
With Black’s incarnation of “The Predator,’ any notions of being taken too seriously are thrown out the window early on.
In 2010, the studios, and more specifically filmmaker/producer Robert Rodriguez, tried to make a serious movie with director Nimród Antal taking the “Predator” franchise in a different direction. It didn’t work, so the idea of putting Oscar winner Adrien Brody as an action hero kind of blew up in the studios faces. The story took place on a foreign planet, one that existed in another reality altogether, not in the modern day America we know.
At the center of the story in “The Predator,” is returning soldier Boyd Holbrook’s Quinn McKenna who sent himself some alien artifacts he found overseas.
Cummings is paired with a bus full of misfit soldiers, including Thomas Jane’s Baxley, a soldier with a coarse vocabulary who suffers from Tourette syndrome. It is amusing, but highly inappropriate, but still amusing nonetheless.
Also on the bus are Keegan-Michael Key’s Coyle, a close friend of Baxley’s, Trevente Rhodes’ Nebraska, Alfie Allen’s Lynch, Augusto Aguilera’s Nettles along the way, they pick up Olivia Munn’s Casey Bracket, who witnessed firsthand what The Predator can do. She comments that calling it The Predator is a misnomer, because it is another entity altogether.
Jacob Tremblay is solid as Rory McKenna, a disabled child who opens up when anything to do with math is involved. His character is constantly bullied at school, but when he finally sticks up for himself on a trick-or-treat rendezvous, his encounter with bullies will be no more.
In a twist of irony, Jake Busey appears as a scientist investigating some “Predator” artifacts. His father, Gary, appeared in “Predator 2” as a scientist named Peter Keyes, who meets an untimely demise.
Black is an exceptional director as well, as well as writer, having dipped his hands in the Marvel universe with “Iron Man 3” in 2013. He also did a great job with 2016’s “Nice Guys” with the powerhouse teaming of Oscar winner Russell Crowe and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling. The pair shared great on-screen chemistry that looked and felt genuine.
“The Predator” is a must for the big screen, because the entire aura and scope of the movie is larger than life. I would recommend this when it goes to the discount houses, because it’s not necessarily worth the ten dollar plus admission price of tickets nowadays.
In “A Simple Favor,” the reason this one works is because the characters are so likable and intriguing. Anna Kendrick is Stephanie Sommers, a mommy blogger who befriends fellow mother Blake Lively’s Emily Nelson and gets wrapped up in a whodunit of sorts. The intrigue almost occurs at the beginning, wherein the favor of picking up Nelson’s son from day care turns into a giant spectacle for everyone involved.
The most recent thing I can compare “A Simple Favor” to is writer/director Shane Black’s “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (2005) wherein some good old mystery concocts with some murder and death. Lead Robert Downey Junior and Val Kilmer shared some great on-screen rapport and shared some great on-screen chemistry together.
“A Simple Favor” comes from director Paul Feig, who handled directing chores n the 2015 reboot of “Ghostbusters” as well as “Spy” with Melissa McCarthy. All of that is the past, since what he has done here contains one of the better plot twists of recent memory in that they are actually surprising and noteworthy.
Forget recent entries like filmmaker David Fincher’s 2014’s “Gone Girl” or anything from Brian De Palma has tackled recently because Feig, working from a non-fiction novel by Darcy Bell and writer Jessica Shazer, “A Simple Favor” does a great job of making a gem intriguing as all get out.
What is also amusing is the politics of signing up for anything at the school. Stephanie sometimes gets into trouble for too much volunteering. The other adult parents at the school look at her not so much with evil eyes rather “what now?” glances.
As the spouse, Henry Golding of “Crazy Rich Asians” is intriguing as Stuart Townsend, a teacher who gets mixed up in all the lies orchestrated by his wife Emily and Stephanie. He looks and appears baffled by the shenanigans that are thrown into his lap.
“A Simple Favor” does more left turns than a bonky twisted pretzel. The viewer almost gets settled in, but as aforementioned, Feig chooses another direction and road to take the viewers down.
The story threads and tales are in abundance here, always veering from one change and shift in story angle to another. The one thing Emily does not like is having her picture taken in any capacity. When Stephanie snaps a picture, Emily tells her to delete it. She complies, not questioning her, but does it for the shake of their friendship.
“A Simple Favor” does what it’s supposed to do in having viewers leave with a satisfied palate and smiles galore.
It's nice having several different movies to choose from during the week. It would be nice if they were not all on the same night!
Sept 16 - Sept 22
Mon - Sep 17
Small Foot - 2:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
Night School - 7:30 pm - AMC Northpark
Tue - Sep 18
The Oath - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
The House With the Clock in the Walls - 7:00 - Angelika Plano
The House With the Clock in the Walls - 7:30 pm - Cinemark 17
Ben is Back - 7:30 pm - AMC Northpark
Wed - Sep 19
The Dawn Wall - 7:00 pm - AMC Northpark
Life Itself - 7:30 pm - Angelika Dallas
One thing 1984 Detroit conveys in this film is that it was horrible year for fashion. Filmed in dark tones to highlight the once booming city now on the decline with deteriorating neighborhoods, filled with unsympathetic characters who can't catch a break and more unpleasantly knowing it is all based on the true story. Directed by Yann Demange and written by Andy Weiss, and Logan and Noah Miller, it tells the unfortunate story of Richard Wershe Jr. who was given a life sentence for dealing cocaine and being an FBI informant at the age of 17.
Richie Merritt in his debut role plays White Boy Rick who at the age of 14 is asked by the FBI to make some "controlled" purchases of crack so they can obtain intel to make busts in exchange for not arresting his father. Rick Sr. (Matthew McConaughey) is a bit of a hustler selling guns from his home or the back of this car. He has big dreams of opening a video store. His older sister Dawn (Bel Powley) leaves home to move in with her no good boyfriend who beats her and gets hooked on crack. Rick's best friend Boo (RJ Cyler) is brother to the twins Johnny (Johnathan Majors) and Leo (YG) who deal in cocaine. Because of his friendship with Boo, they take him under their wing. Rick is seduced by the fancy clothes and lifestyle. With the money he's earning from the feds, he is soon buying gold chains and fancier clothes. His dad finds Rick's stash of ill gotten cash under his bed in a shoe box. Despite his trepidation the Rick Sr can't seem to stop his son.
It doesn't take long before greed takes over as alternatives in their loser lives offer no ready solutions. Rick earns his nickname by being the only white boy in the gang. The story glosses over the true life fact that high school drop out Rick was already exhibiting criminal behavior. The FBI's using him to sell cocaine to make their busts, while he pockets the profits seems disingenuous. Especially when he ultimately gets busted and then they get him to rope in bigger fish by letting him think he will get a lighter sentence. The feds using a minor to do all these drug sales and buys are most likely illegal. The real life Rick didn't get parole until 2017 when the movie was being made.
McConaughey is as committed to his role as the father who despite all his failed plans in life remains a guy who sees the glass as half full. Newcomer Richie Merritt looks remarkably like the real life Rick gives a more nuanced performance as a young man whose child like innocence is jaded by the flashy lifestyle of his friends. Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie as the grandparents who live next door offer lighthearted moments in the family dynamic. There are no heroes in this and the jumbled story doesn't really allow any real reason why we had to time travel to the 80's outside of the injustice of it all.
(Review by reesa)
This revenge tale completely delivers the goods big time.
In “Peppermint,” Jennifer Garner is Riley North, is a distraught mother who returns to seek vengeance for her family whose entire family was wiped at the hands of a ruthless drug cartel five years ago. This is something that baffles me. Why do they pick five years as a significant earmark?
This tale marks actress Garner’s return to the action genre she knows all too well, following her stints on TV’s “Alias,” (2001-06) as well as turns as Elektra Natchios in the so-so “Daredevil” (2004) (Grade: C-) and the halfway decent “Elektra” (C+) in 2005. Garner was also cool in the underrated Peter Berg action-drama “The Kingdom” in 2007. Garner has a likable everywoman on screen presence.
The supporting cast all provide the right vim and vigor for their necessary roles. This includes Annie Ilonzeh as FBI agent Lisa Inman, who aids in the quest to bring Riley North in for questioning. Ilonzeh is a local girl, born in Grapevine, Tx. She has also appeared on “Arrow”as well as “Person of Interest” on newtwork TV.
Also important tom the story is John Ortiz as Detective Moises Beltran, who has a strong feeling of empathy for North’s battle with ridding evil from the world. Ortiz was great in the Oscar-winning “Silver Linings Playbook” in 2012. Ortiz shows off as a stern authoritarian figure who wants what is best for the city and its beloved residents within.
In the director’s chair for “Peppermint” is French director Pierre Morell, best known for 2008’s Liam Neeson-led “Taken.” Later, he would work with John Travolta in 2010’s “From Paris With Love” and the Sean Penn led tale with 2016’s “The Gunman.” The first in the bunch was a sheer piece of brilliance, but the latter two left a lot to be desired.
Going back to “Peppermint,” the revenge angle works because one actually sees what happens to her entire family and the entire audience is along for the ride. When she sits in front of the jury, Riley is as shocked as the audience is as the entire troupe of her families’ killers are set free. “Peppermint” does what it’s supposed to do and just provide viewers with an escape from the everyday.
I liked this movie because it is just a solid piece of riveting entertainment. Sure, it presses the buttons, but with purpose and meaning. This movie proves once again that a woman tale can deliver the goods big time. Garner shows off all the emotions, despair and animosity one takes with them in everyday life.
Also important to the storyline is “vigilante” status, since society paints vigilantes in a positive light, rather than a blight on society. That is why I liked this movie so much, because it portrays vigilantes with a purpose. I recommend this flick because it does exactly what it’’s supposed to do and just entertain and engage the audience for a brief 2-hour spell.
Rating: Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Language Throughout, and Crude Sexual References
Run Time: 1hr & 47mins
Joel’s Review
*** (out of ****)
Like 1987’s Predator, this fourth film in the unlikely franchise – following the first sequel in 1990 and 2010’s Predators (both unseen by me), not to mention the two crossovers with the Alien series – works because it delivers what it promised us. Those promises are, to be fair, low-hanging fruit for anyone who might yearn for the relative simplicity of the first film, which was roughly as simple as high-concept action pictures from that era got: There was a quick introduction to the characters, a plot set-up, and a lot of gory, well-choreographed violence as the payoff.
For a movie about an alien hunting humans for sport, it worked pretty well within those simple guidelines, and The Predator works for the same reasons, though the screenplay does overextend in a couple of areas. First, there is a lot of exposition in this plot set-up, explaining the properties of the eponymous extraterrestrial, the reasons why a second, much bigger one might have shown up, and the science behind how their technology works. This is both expected and typical of the genre, but it is fun, at least, to see screenwriters Shane Black (who also directed) and Fred Dekker undercut those explanations with sarcasm.
The plot follows the Predator we have come to know, who has gone rogue and stolen a warship from its fellows in the opening moments, as it crash-lands on Earth, right in the middle of a sting operation in which McKenna (Boyd Holbrook), our protagonist, is the sniper. After the creature kills off all of McKenna’s unit, the soldier comes across its helmet and a high-tech arm band, both of which he sends off to the house where his ex-wife (played by Yvonne Strahovski) lives with their son Rory (Jacob Tremblay). Meanwhile, McKenna has been shunted off with a group of misanthropes to be “evaluated” (read: to have his memory wiped clean).
The second area in which the film overextends its welcome is in the sheer number of supporting characters who are present. There are the ones that matter, namely Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn), a scientist called in because of the potential for contact, and Traeger (a slimy, cheerfully profane Sterling K. Brown), the head of the research lab who becomes something of a human antagonist. The heroes know too much, Traeger and his men need to eliminate them for that reason, and meanwhile, neither the original Predator nor the new and improved one, which arrives to eliminate the first and track the missing cargo, really cares about the petty, human squabbles.
Then again, there are the other prisoners, each of which has an arbitrary characteristic and, if lucky, a single bit of character history: One chain-smokes and was dismissed from the military for trying to shoot his commanding officer. Another has Tourette’s and disrupts the proceedings with his tics (a “joke” that seems at odds with the film’s attitude toward Rory’s high-functioning autism, a condition that eventually becomes a plot point). Another is Irish. The remaining two are sexist creeps. Respectively, they are played by Trevante Rhodes, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Keegan Michael-Key, and Augusto Aguilera, and collectively, they are mincemeat.
This means that they are, indeed, problems but also that, at the end of the day, they mean less (and, thus, have less impact on the proceedings) than the presence of the dueling Predators, who are here to undercut the interpersonal drama that arises from these characters and to be participants in sequences of expertly choreographed sequences of brutal, gory, explosive violence, which imposes itself upon the heads, limbs, and viscera of the human chattel. When the exposition comes, the quips come as quickly as the violence, with one character introducing an idea and another character, having caught on quickly, boiling the idea down to its essence with a wink and a nudge. The Predator is a bit of a mess of contradictions, but for its attitude, its performances, and the grisly carnage it promises with the title, the movie, in its way, works.
(Review by Joel Copling)
Well there are a few movies to choose from this week. Hope everyone was able to obtain the pass you wanted. If you need help, you can ask the members of the group if they have an extra they are not using. Just remember to send your requests directly to the person offering or answering you.
It seems my logins to some of those ticket sites have been asking me to change my password, then it doesn't recognize my name. Anyone else having problems?
Sept 9 - Sept 15
Mon - Sept 10
The Predator - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
White Boy Rick - 7:30 pm = AMC Northpark
Tue - Sept 11
A Simple Favor - 7:30 pm - Alamo Lake Highlands
Night School - 7:30 pm - AMC Northpark
Wed - Sept 12
New Amsterdam - 7:00 pm - Studio Movie Grill Northwest Hwy
A Simple Favor - 7:00 - Cinemark 17
The Predator - 7:30 pm - AMC Mesquite
There's this trend of beautiful older actresses trying to break the mold of just being the dutiful girlfriend to take on action films like their male counterparts. At least Jennifer Garner has the Elecktra and Daredevil films to prove her action cred. This mindless intense film was directed by Pierre Morel French film director and cinematographer whose work include District 13, From Paris with Love and Taken. It's the kind of movie that will appeal to those who harbor secret fantasies of getting back at the bad guys. Judging from the reaction of the screening audience, there seems to be a lot.
Garner is Riley North, a typical working mother with her precious daughter and loving husband. She has a thankless job at the bank, her husband is in car maintenance, Riley and her daughter get bullied by the snobby scout mom for living on the wrong side of the boulevard. But that doesn't seem to bother Riley who lives and breathes for her family. Her happiness is shattered when a cartel gang gun down her family. Her efforts to identify the killers is show down by the judge who remands her to mental health facility, obviously having been bought out by the drug dealers. The action skips 5 years ahead near the anniversary of the tragedy. Only spotty background from all over the world is given the transformation of Riley. She is skilled in fighting, explosives, all manner of weaponry in which she single handed manages to take down all the gang members. It doesn't take long for the Police to figure out who is wreaking havoc and body count all over the city.
It would have been nice to understand where she got her training and the expenses. She lives in a van filled with guns in skid row, that for some reason has been crime free since she moved in. Her reputation has become a folk hero in the neighborhood and on social media. There is one scene where she bullies an alcoholic dad to spend time with is son. She grabs for his ID and was kind of expecting her to say "What's in yuur wallet". That aside, the action is relentless. Yet you root for her to extract justice from all who did her wrong. By then end, you can probably expect the skid row angel to be back for another story.
(Review by reesa)
Hell hath no fury......or so we find out in abundance when Riley North (Jennifer Garner), scout mom and wife, loses her family to gang members on a mission, when out celebrating her daughter's birthday with her husband near the holidays. In an instance her life is forever changed as she recovers from her injuries and the emotional fallout. In five years time, she plots her revenge on every single soul that escaped legal vengeance. Her vigilante revenge feels palpable and any mother will understand the madness and rage. She chooses to hide out in the city's homeless area of Skid Row, becoming their protector, while living out of a van packed like an arsenal.
The story line is very predictable and while her successes are explicit and pretty unbelievable, they are no less satisfying. This is a great film if you are harboring resentments towards someone and want to imagine the gang members are your wrong doers and you are the assassin. Devoid of script and legit soundtrack, it's clear the budget was put into special effects and stunt doubles. The action is pretty great and satisfying. Not very probable but fun nonetheless in you are into that sort of smash em up, shoot em up, knife them in the eye sort of film. It will be no career saver for Jennifer Garner nor does it truly contribute to showing her "range" since it's pretty easy to be driven, angry and singularly focused. But it's a film that fills a space and serve a purpose for the niche audience that enjoys a long drawn out slaughter. It white possible it will qualify for some Razzies but consider what such a film is worth, in entertainment value.
Warning: lots of gratuitous violence. No young kids, please.
(Review by Cheryl Wurtz)
A Surreal and Sometimes Harsh Navigation Through Childhood and Coming of Age Tale
Title: We the Animals
Rating: Rated R for Strong Sexual Content, Nudity, Language and Some Underage Drug and Alcohol Use
Run Time: 1hr & 34mins
Joel’s Review
*** (out of ****)
We the Animals has no plot. Do not take this as a criticism. It is, instead, an observation. Writer/director Jeremiah Zagar, making his narrative feature debut, wants to immerse us in the experiences of the film’s trio of children – brothers living with their parents in rural Upstate New York. The novel on which the film is based, written by Justin Torres and adapted by Zagar and co-screenwriter Dan Kitrosser, is a bildungsroman, after all. That literary style knows no established structure, so it would only make sense that the film adaptation adopts a similar attitude toward its characters.
And to be clear, these characters exist largely within their own heads. The brothers are Jonah (Evan Rosado), Joel (Josiah Gilbert), and Manny (Isaiah Kristian), and their parents are simply known to them as “Ma” (Sheila Vand) and “Paps” (Raúl Castillo). This is a series of volatile relationships, starting at the top when Paps punches Ma in the face during an argument and tries to pass it off as preparation for a visit to a dental hygienist. The detail is small but contains multitudes. In that moment, we understand how this household operates, with its violence kept secret with a series of white lies.
The film follows part of the family’s attempt to leave behind such an existence, with a series of speed bumps and one baffling reconciliation along the way. If nothing else, through the rhythms of the performances and the textures of the filmmaking, this family seems like a real one. Parents in an abusive relationship really do ebb and flow in and out of each other’s lives. After all, this man is the father of her children. Who can blame Ma for returning to Paps, even after the episode that leaves her bruised at the mouth and struggling to remember how she got in this state?
We know what the character should do, but Zagar’s film is all about current headspace, the decisions that inform the future, and the experiences that unite us. There is something elemental about that, both in the way the filmmaker strips the dramatic treatment to its bare essentials and in the way his attention to the atmosphere and landscape seems to drive the events of the movie. The performances from the child actors – two of whom (Rosado and Kristian) are newcomers altogether, with Gilbert having only two other credits to his name, both of which were released around the time of this movie – expertly mirror that formalistic tendency. All three are dependably naturalistic and unaffected.
When it comes to the parents of the piece, Castillo is quite good in a limited role as Paps, who has an anger issue and a problem with keeping a job. There’s a pitiful quality to the man that’s downright pathetic. Vand is superb as Ma, a woman who must swallow a lot of abuse and keep the peace for her children. The narrative, such as it is, eventually narrows its focus upon Jonah as he comes of age and connects to the wider world surrounding this tightknit family. A regular sojourn to a friend’s house, where an adult video channel opens a new avenue of feelings in young Jonah, is a chance for the trio to rebel.
Essentially, much of this film is truthful and honest in its portrayal of navigating childhood and the relationship from which childhood is possible in the first place. Even as the film never quite acknowledges a world outside of itself and slips into the routine of daily life, Zagar rarely slips in his focus on these characters and their worldview. We the Animals nails a very specific melding of tones – those of reverence to and rebellion from the strictures of a coming-of-age drama – and artfully deconstructs the very need to adhere to a definition of them. That is a significant achievement for such a modest, scrappy, surprisingly touching movie.
(Review by Joel Copling
“Kin” has a few moments of brilliance, but as with all science fiction movies of late, it just runs out of steam somewhere along the way.
There is something very positive to say in that the brother duo of Josh and Jonathan Baker have crafted quite the intriguing tale of two brothers coming to terms with each other amidst a backdrop that knows no time or place. In looking back on each of their resumes, neither has done a stand-alone feature.
For comparisons sake, the easiest movie I can reference is Walter Hill’s little seen release of 1984’s “Streets of Fire.” It was a period wherein there is no direct reference to anything pop culture based, rather a period where taxis existed but cell phones did not.
Dennis Quaid is solid as the caring father of sons Jimmy (Jack Reynor) and Eli Sobinski (newcomer Myles Truitt). Jimmy is an ex-con trying to get back on the straight and narrow. Eli is a fourteen year old kid who finds a giant alien ray gun while looking for metal scraps to sell to buyers.
The trouble with the movie is it rests on the fact that his character perishes way too soon in the movie’s structure.
Leading the way as the antagonist of the story is James Franco as a drug dealer named Taylor Balk. I only bring this up because he’s played this kind of character before, namely the Sylvester Stallone-scripted “Homefront” with friend and colleague Jason Statham.
Eli receives a lecture from his father, Quaid’s Hal, about taking other people’s property. The fact the metal scraps came out of somebody else’s pocketbook.
Zoe Kravitz, who appeared from one of the best movies in the past decade, 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” stars in “Kin” as Milly, a mistreated exotic dancer. She strikes up a friendship with both Jimmy and Eli, who are some of the last customers she will ever dance for.
Going back to the acting appearances, Reynor has been around for years, with appearances in “Transformers: The Age of Extinction,” “Free Fire,” “ 2015’s “Macbeth” and one of the most underrated movies from the past couple of years, 2016’s “Sing Street.”
Although “Kin” is not necessarily a great movie, it does something that I want more of. Along with directors such as Brad Bird, Christopher Nolan and even Guillermo Del Toro, I’m very intrigued to see what the pair tackles next.
To me personally, watching a movie is like picking out your nightly meal. You know you will be watching something, but you are not sure how it will turn out in the end.
That is why I know what I’m getting into when watching something about the Holocaust or anything related to either World War I or II. “Operation Finale” delves into the latter, wherein Oscar Isaac’s Peter Malkin must face one of the most despicable villains of World War II in Ben Kingsley’s Adolph Eichmann, one of the partial instigators of eradication of countless individuals of Jewish descent from the world.
Both Isaac and Kingsley have very strange resumes when looking back on their past work. With Isaac, it is him playing both the hero (“Star Wars: A New Hope,” “Inside Llewyn Davis”) as well as the despicable baddie (“Sucker Punch,” “Ex Machina”). The same can be said for Kingsley, who won a Best Actor Oscar for his work in director Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi” in 1982.
Since then, Kingsley has played in a plethora of flicks, namely Steven Spielberg’s multiple Oscar-winning 1993 release of “Schindler’s List,” “Sexy Beast,” “House of Sand and Fog” and Martin Scorsese’s multiple Oscar-winning “Hugo” in 2012. His send back to sender includes duds such as “BloodRayne,” “Species,” Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder” and last year’s abysmal “Collide.”
“Operation Finale,” however, is about bringing justice to all of those individuals who were extinguished during the war itself. Like the aforementioned “Schindler’s List,” the movie is a tough watch. Although it is graphic in spots, director Chris Weitz knows where to place the camera and set ups for the perfect lingering detail.
The shifts that occur within the story are a bit hard to digest since one sees images of his sister that was lost during the war. One almost feels like they are a double-take of what actually occurred.
What was nice to see is that promises made earlier in the story are actually kept. At one point in the structure, Malkin promised Eichmann that he would see his wife again before he passed.
A solidly acted ensemble all around, “Operation Finale” is worth the full price of admission, but be warned it is a tough watch in spots.
Sure, portions of the movie are predictable, but they are just used as earmarks for the entire ensemble. As much as I hate to say it, a copy of this movie will not be going into my collection at home.
I liked it and respected it, but I think if I owned a copy it would be collecting dust just like my unopened copy of “Schindler’s List.” Both are too heartbreaking to watch again.
Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend, if you are lucky enough to have one, As usual with holiday weeks, there's only 2 screenings coming up, both on the same day.
Looks like it's going to rain anyway...
Sept 2 - Sept 8
Wed - Sept 5
Peppermint - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
The Nun - 7:00 pm - Angelika Dallas
The Nun - 7:30 pm - AMC Northpark
