Kong: Skull Island Reviews

Parents need to know that Kong: Skull Island is a very violent, action-packed reboot of the King Kong story. Set in the 1970s, the movie follows a group of scientists on a mission to survey a mysterious island in Southeast Asia. That's where they encounter several dangerous giant creatures, including an ape trying to protect his habitat (there are also giant birds, a spider, an octopus, and reptilian creatures). Things get pretty brutal, with victims being dismembered, stomped on, eaten, and tossed around; helicopters also crash and are ripped apart. So you can expect a high body count, with scene after scene of jump-worthy action, death, and gore. The language can also be strong, with one use of "f--k," plus several uses of "s--t," "ass," "bitch," etc. There's also some social drinking, but sex is limited to embraces and very brief implied prostitution in a couple of scenes set in Vietnam and Thailand. Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, and Oscar winner Brie Larson co-star, accompanied by a diverse supporting cast; themes include teamwork and courage.

Part reboot, part Apocalypse Now homage, this is the goriest and least approachable Kong to date. But Skull Island does have enough memorable creature battle scenes to make for a fun, if jumpy, moviegoing experience. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and the screenwriters give Kong a case of Coppola fever. From Jackson's bloodthirsty "love the smell of napalm in the morning" need for vengeance to the fact that a character is named Conrad (Apocalypse Now was based on Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad) to the aviator sunglasses and slow-motion shots of helicopter rotor blades, it's all there. Except instead of Marlon Brando's Col. Kurtz living among the natives, it's Reilly's goofy Capt. Marlow (also a Heart of Darkness name) who's been stranded there. Reilly adds much-needed levity to the intensity of the big-budget fight sequences, which are well-executed, if gruesome.

The actors are all talented, though Hiddleston seems like a slightly odd choice for his role. Yes, he plays Loki, but his name isn't exactly synonymous with action flicks, and there are times he seems too posh to be believable as a shady tracker battling serious demons. Among the supporting cast, Toby Kebbell's terrible Southern accent is somewhat distracting. But Shea Whigham and Jason Mills stand out as opposites-attract soldiers Cole and Mills, who have each other's backs. With so many more human characters, it's unsurprising that Kong himself is less "human" and more awesome, godly beast. For high-stakes, jump-out-of-your-seat popcorn fare, this will do the trick, but don't expect to feel quite as much for Kong as you might have in previous versions of the story.

Kong: Skull Island Details

Theatrical release date: March 10, 2017
Cast: Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Studio: Warner Bros.
Genre: Action/Adventure
Topics: Wild animals
Character strengths: Courage, Teamwork
Run time: 118 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13

Ghost in the Shell Movie Review

Parents need to know that Ghost in the Shell is a martial-arts action film based on a popular Japanese manga franchise. Like the anime version, the live-action movie features a high body count, though the violence is portrayed in a stylized, relatively blood-free way. Expect several intense martial-arts battles, close hand-to-hand combat, massive technological weapons, and shoot-outs that leave characters injured, dismembered, and/or dead. Language isn't frequent, but you'll hear occasional use of "s--t," "ass," etc. Sex is limited to longing looks, a shot of cyborg/A.I. prostitutes, and one scene in which Mira stares at and touches a human woman's face, since she no longer feels a "real" connection to her synthetic body. The movie poses several questions about humanity, purpose, and trust. And, given that it's been criticized for the casting of a non-Asian actress (Scarlett Johansson) in the role of a well-known Japanese character, it may also make audiences think about whether diverse characters should be more authentically represented in films.

adaptation of the beloved cyberpunk manga is visually arresting and pulse-quickening, but it's an action film that focuses much more on style than substance. The source material is a Japanese comic with an identifiably Japanese protagonist -- Major Motoko Kusanagi, the MVP of Section 9, a cybercrime enforcement squad. But because Johansson is obviously not Asian, the narrative must concoct a (fairly believable) story to explain the disconnect. The uproar over the movie's perceived whitewashing of an established character isn't likely to abate because of that explanation, but the manga creator himself had no objections, saying the character's appearance doesn't matter because it's not her "original" self -- one of the main themes of the story. And Johansson does play the part -- a sentient weapon who doesn't know whether she's real or just an expensive puppet on a string -- well.

If the casting controversy is a dealbreaker, this isn't the movie for you. But audiences who are unfamiliar with the manga and unperturbed by the outcry will probably buy into the storyline. Visually, there's a lot to admire: memorable production design, the eerie precision of geisha bots, a Mad Max-meets-Blade Runner aesthetic. The supporting actors are capable, although Michael Pitt's over-the-top villain is a love-him-or-hate-him proposition, much like Jared Leto's Joker. The real standout is Danish actor Pilou Asbaek (best known in the U.S. as Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones) as Batou, Major's fellow Section 9 agent and the closest thing she has to a friend. His warmth and occasional humor are much needed opposite Major's intensity. For a moderately diverting entry in the genre of futuristic sci-fi action thrillers, Ghost in the Shell is surprisingly traditional. The twists are predictable, and the revelations obvious from the earliest of Major's interactions with Dr. Ouelet. But there's plenty of Johansson kicking and fighting and being fierce, and that's never a bad thing.

Ghost in the Shell Movie Credits

Theatrical release date: March 31, 2017
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Wincott, Juliette Binoche
Director: Rupert Sanders
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Science Fiction
Run time: 120 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: intense sequences of sci-fi violence, suggestive content and some disturbing images

Beauty and the Beast Movie Reviews

The Boss Baby Movie Reviews

Parents need to know that The Boss Baby is an animated comedy inspired by Marla Frazee's popular picture book. It addresses issues related to sibling rivalry (particularly an older child's fears that there will be less love after a new baby arrives) and has a fair bit of peril, though much of it is played for laughs. Expect chases, nick-of-time escapes, and plenty of slapstick confrontations between babies and children/adults. There are also potentially scary scenes imagined by 7-year-old Tim (attacking animals, creepy hallways, looming figures) and a sequence in which two kids investigate a mysterious dark room and subsequently get captured. Not surprisingly for a film about babies, there's also plenty of body/potty humor, including an explosive fake-barf sequence, bare baby bottoms, and use of words like "fart," "poop," and "doody." Other language includes some insults, and there's a scene in which it's implied that Tim tried a Long Island Ice Tea and didn't like it (champagne is also served in first class). The way the movie treats puppies -- like a factory-produced product -- may bother some viewers, and the fact that the boys travel to Las Vegas on their own may need some explaining ... as will the movie's take on where babies come from. But there are clear messages about the value of teamwork and the fact that there is enough love for everyone in a family. And parents who loved Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock will surely laugh (Boss Baby is basically a mini Jack Donaghy).

Considering that it's based on a cute but pretty story-lite picture book, this animated comedy exceeds expectations -- especially if you're a fan of Baldwin's work on 30 Rock. His character in The Boss Baby is pretty much a miniature Jack Donaghy; Boss Baby throws money at problems, dismisses someone as a "hippie," and, when asked to deliver a cutting insult, comes up with "you went to community college!" (There's also an in-joke reference to Baldwin's cutthroat-businessman role in Glengarry Glen Ross that may make some parents smile.) And the script in general is pretty witty, with clever lines and unexpected twists. Tim's Gandalf-like talking-wizard alarm clock, "Wizzie," is funny, as is a sequence in which Boss Baby tries to encourage Tim to ride his bike by rattling off lines from motivational posters.

The movie is sure to give families with siblings a way to talk about the challenges of being an older brother or sister -- with the nice reassurance that there's always enough love to go around. And Tim and Boss Baby do learn to work together; their eventual affection for each other is sweet. That said, the puppy mill-esque portrayal of Puppy Co. is sure to irk dog lovers, and Tim's parents are clueless even by cartoon-parent standards. But if you can overlook those issues -- and you don't mind some pretty epic barf scenes -- The Boss Baby is a fun, if not instant-classic, movie that parents and kids can enjoy together.

The Boss Baby Movie Credits

DreamWorks Animation and the director of Madagascar invite you to meet a most unusual baby. He wears a suit, speaks with the voice and wit of Alec Baldwin, and stars in the animated comedy, DreamWorks' The Boss Baby. The Boss Baby is a hilariously universal story about how a new baby's arrival impacts a family, told from the point of view of a delightfully unreliable narrator, a wildly imaginative 7 year old named Tim. With a sly, heart-filled message about the importance of family, DreamWorks' The Boss Baby is an authentic and broadly appealing original comedy for all ages.
Rating: PG (for some mild rude humor)
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Kids & Family
Directed By: Tom McGrath
Written By: Michael McCullers
In Theaters: Mar 31, 2017  Wide
Box Office: $50,198,902.00
Runtime: 97 minutes
Studio: DreamWorks Animation

The Void Movie Reviews

The Void isn’t a horror that wears its influences on its sleeve. It’s a horror that proudly carves them into its claret-clogged chest. The blunter the scalpel, the better. Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski clearly know their way around a horror film collection, with repeated nods to the likes of Lucio Fulci, George A. Romero, Clive Barker and, particularly, John Carpenter, whose Prince Of Darkness is the most obvious template here. In less skilful hands, this litany of references would wear thin pretty damn quickly, but the duo — who got their breaks as an art editor and make-up artist respectively — prove themselves adept at conjuring a bleak, paranoid, foreboding atmosphere from the off. This gives the film a suitably sturdy basis on which to build — it’s quickly clear that this is no I Love The ’80s goof-off.

There are issues — the central story hinges on a series of outlandish coincidences, too many of the cast of characters struggle to make an impact, and the pacing is a tad too ponderous to really grip. But as the movie gradually becomes a creature feature with trimmings of cosmic dread, the directors’ love of old-school, honest-to-goodness, practical FX is a huge boon, underpinning several showstopping outbursts of icky gore that will win the approval of diehard horror fans. There’s plenty here to suggest it’s worth keeping an eye on the pair, who know their way around an arresting image, whether it’s a group of masked figures eerily lit by the cold, flashing light of a cop car, or a killer nonchalantly sliding a scalpel into someone’s eye. Carpenter would approve. As would Romero. And Fulci. And Barker too, most likely.

The Void Movie Credit

Directors: Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski
Writers: Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski
Stars: Ellen Wong, Kathleen Munroe, Kenneth Welsh

Their Finest Movie Reviews

Near the end of the stealth charmer Their Finest, the accidental screenwriter played by Gemma Arterton slips into a movie theater amongst the London public during the Blitz to watch the morale-building British Ministry of Information propaganda film she has helped to shape. Director Lone Scherfig pushes every required button to evoke the style of the era in this mini-narrative recounting a Dunkirk rescue mission by patriotic civilians — the quivering lips, the plucky determination, the humble heroism and the lush swell of sorrow and stirring sentiment. But don't be surprised if you find yourself getting misty-eyed during this lovely sequence as you surrender to every hoary cliché.

As proto-feminist protagonists go, Catrin Cole (Arterton) may be a little meek for modern tastes. But her quiet assertiveness seems truer to the period than it would have had she been given a contemporary spin and a lot of boldly declarative speeches. It also allows Arteron to explore the inner strength and resolve of this warm-hearted woman via subtle strokes that yield affecting rewards.

The performance acquires heft also from its position at the center of a sterling ensemble of British talent, from rising stars like Sam Claflin to veterans like Bill Nighy, Helen McCrory, Richard E. Grant and Jeremy Irons, the latter in a very funny self-satirizing cameo. Their Finest doesn't match the delicacy of Danish director Scherfig's best English-language feature, An Education. But just as that 2009 film captured Britain during the transitional time of the 1960s through the experiences of a young woman in emotional and intellectual bloom, Scherfig's latest does something similar with the 1940s, albeit through a far softer lens of sweet nostalgia.

Adapted by Gaby Chiappe from a 2009 novel by Lissa Evans, the story is written with a light touch but also a keen sense of the mood of domestic Britain in those darkest hours of 1940, when London was riddled with bombsites. That reality is reflected in the gloomy paintings of Ellis (Jack Huston), whose work is deemed too brutal and depressing for use by the War Office. Needing income, his Welsh transplant wife Catrin applies to the Ministry of Information for what she thinks is a secretarial position. But the head of the Film Division (Richard E. Grant) says her copywriting skills make her ideal to bring the women's perspective to pictures whose mandate is "authenticity with optimism."

Scherfig uses amusing recreations of such films early on to show how low the bar had been set, with clips of fretful housewives pegging out washing while turning to a cup of tea to calm their fears for husbands and sons off at war. Assigned to work (at a lower pay rate) with male co-writers Tom Buckley (Claflin) and Raymond Parfitt (Paul Ritter), Catrin learns that women's dialogue in those wartime reels is referred to as "the slop."

Their chance to have an impact on flagging national morale comes with a project based on the true story of mousy twin sisters Rose and Lily Starling (Lily and Francesca Knight), who piloted their drunken father's boat from Southend to Dunkirk to rescue wounded British soldiers. Sent to research the story, Catrin is crushed to find that newspaper accounts were greatly embellished. But her growing understanding of how the film industry works prompts her to write the story the public needs to see.

While Ellis wants to send her home to Wales, and cynical Tom is dismissive of her contributions, Catrin becomes determined to see the project through. A Ministry employee tasked with making sure the writers stick to the approved template (Rachael Stirling) confides to Catrin her view that men are scared of women refusing to slip back into their domesticated roles once they get a taste of life in the wartime workplace.

That feminist angle remains quite subdued. The real interest is in watching as the film comes together — in the screenwriters' office, on location in Devon and later in the studio — as Catrin maneuvers to stop Rose and Lily from being sidelined by male heroics. She proves a canny negotiator also with haughty thespian Ambrose Hilliard (Nighy), the popular star of a pre-war detective series now reduced to playing a supporting role he feels is beneath him. The sheer indignation on Nighy's face as he reads the description of his character in the movie ("a shipwreck of a man; 60s, looks older") is priceless.

Nighy's wryly self-mocking performance puts the exploration of Ambrose's vanity, his shaky pride and his awareness that his romantic-lead days are behind him among the movie's most enjoyable elements. He takes career advice with weary forbearance from his Polish agent and longtime friend Sammy Smith (Eddie Marsan). But when Sammy is killed during an air raid and his sister Sophie (McCrory) takes over managing his clients, her crisp authority and wily guidance introduce a lively spark into their scenes, with Ambrose's flirtatious manner adding some minor-key sexual frisson.

One of the film's funniest stretches springs from government instructions — issued by Irons' Secretary of War with the hilarious pomposity of a theatrical ham languishing in a bureaucrat's job — that a brave American must be incorporated into the story to encourage the U.S. to get on board as allies. The wholesome blond Air Force hero hired to fill that spot, Carl Lundbeck (Jake Lacy), is a lump of wood on-camera, but Catrin persuades Ambrose to add acting coach to his responsibilities.

Chiappe's screenplay lets the narrative wander at times, losing some of the secondary characters in the shuffle, such as Hungarian filmmaker Gabriel Baker (Henry Goodman), on a mission to prove his work can make a difference. But the principal thread is both absorbing and emotionally satisfying, as Catrin earns the respect of her colleagues while also acquiring deeper knowledge of herself and a broader sense of her career options. The romantic notes of her developing rapport with Tom remain muted for much of the running time, until a discovery about Ellis and a subsequent tragedy cause the floodgates of Catrin's feelings to open.

Arterton brings grace and understatement to Catrin's gradual belief in herself and in the magic of movies, while Claflin reveals maturity and dry humor that will be a surprise for audiences who know him primarily from his Hunger Games role or the weepy Me Before You.

While the strong ensemble cast is Their Finest's most valuable asset, the movie also looks quite handsome on what appears to be a modest budget, and includes some delightful glimpses of how screen effects were achieved way back in those handcrafted days. A reveal of the visual trick behind a Dunkirk scene lands a huge laugh. Rachel Portman's score isn't shy about pushing the sentiment, but that's in keeping with a film that celebrates old-fashioned screen storytelling with infectious fondness.

Their Finest Credit

Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations)
Production companies: Woolley, Posey Wildgaze, Number 9
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Helen McCrory, Eddie Marsan, Jake Lacy, Rachael Stirling, Henry Goodman, Paul Ritter, Richard E. Grant, Jeremy Irons
Director: Lone Scherfig
Screenwriter: Gaby Chiappe, based on the novel Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans
Producers: Stephen Woolley, Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer, Elizabeth Karlsen
Executive producers: Christine Langan, Ed Wethered, Robert Norris, Ivan Dunleavy, Thorsten Schumacher, Peter Watson, Zygi Kamasa
Director of photography: Sebastian Blenkov
Production designer: Alice Normington
Costume designer: Charlotte Walter
Music: Rachel Portman
Editor: Lucia Zucchetti
Casting directors: Kate Rhodes James, Lucy Bevan
Sales: HanWay Films, CAA

Graduation Movie Reviews

After winning the big kahuna in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and returning in 2012 with Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu competes once again for the Palme d’Or in Cannes with Graduation (Bacalaureat). Although this latest realist slice of life satisfies on many levels, fans expecting another scorcher from one of the Romanian New Wave’s premier-league directors are likely to feel mildly disappointed. This study of a family under pressure feels weirdly low-octane for a tale that encompasses sudden vandalism, criminal corruption, and an attempted rape. Sure, it has Mungiu’s usual visual brio, and thematically there’s a noticeable overlap with his previous stories of good-intentions reaping cruel rewards. But it’s an altogether cooler, quieter, more academic work than usual, one still likely to sell abroad especially to cinephile territories like France, but maybe not for the same markup.

In Cluj, a Transylvanian city famous mainly for its well-liked international film festival, Dr. Romeo Aldea (Adrian Titieni, from The Death of Mr. Lazarescu andChild’s Pose) is a helicopter parent, hovering over his only child, high-school senior Eliza (22-year-old Maria Dragus, who played a key role as a teen in The White Ribbon). Romeo’s wife Magda (Lia Bugnar) seems battered down by the steamroller of her husband’s quiet but crushing will for their child to succeed, and spends most of her time drifting around the family apartment in a depressive fog. Elsewhere, Romeo’s own mother (Alexandra Davidescu) is in declining mental and physical health.

Indeed, in Romeo and seemingly the film’s (and perhaps Mungiu’s) own view, the whole country in is declining moral health. In the very first scene, someone throws a brick through the window of the Aldeas’ apartment, and later one of his car windows is pointlessly smashed. Far more troubling, Eliza is assaulted by a strange man (he nearly rapes her but can’t go through with it, and her wrist is fractured defending herself) mere yards from the school gates.

Of course, Romeo’s first concern is for his child’s well-being. But Titieni and Mungiu suggest with occluded hints and expressions that Romeo’s even more het up about how this attack will affect Eliza’s performance on her final exams, tests that she must get high marks for in order to enroll at the British schools that have provisionally accepted her. Discussing the assault with the local policeman (Vlad Ivanov, the odious abortionist in 4 Months), Romeo works out that via a complex series of deals with Deputy Major Bulai (Petre Ciubotaru), who needs a liver transplant, and the chief exam inspector (Gelu Colceag), who in turn owes Bulai a favor, Romeo could ensure that Eliza gets the top mark she needs. As she agrees to be a co-conspirator, that is.

Muddying the already murky waters further, Romeo is having an affair with Sandra (Malina Manovici), a vampish teacher at Eliza’s school with a young child of her own (David Hodorog), a creepy little kid who nearly always wears a mask. Sandra has an agenda of her own, like nearly everyone in the film, including Eliza’s hottie of a boyfriend (Rares Andrici) who doesn’t want Eliza moving away because he loves her. Only Eliza herself is the unknown quantity here. Dragus keeps a poker face for most of the film (apart, naturally, from when she’s recovering from her attack). Anyway cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru (replacing Mungiu’s usual DoP Oleg Mutu) often films her the back of her head for whole scenes, partly in order the shift the visual focus away from the characters one would expect. This is particularly obvious in a crucial police line-up scene, where four potential suspects are brought in for Eliza to identify her attacker and her face is completely turned away. The audience can only see the men in the line-up and, tellingly, the face of Romeo, a man who in his own very different way has also hurt this young woman.

It’s clever grace notes like that which remind viewers, even unconsciously, why Mungiu has such an elevated position compared to his peers. Like Cristi Puiu, whose Sieranevada is also in competition in Cannes this year, Mungiu has a technical mastery of his craft which is so effortless, so subtle, and so insidiously naturalistic that less observant viewers can easily fail to spot the skill and think it’s nothing more than a bunch of Romanians babbling while the camera jerks around a lot. Graduation isn’t one of Mungiu’s finest, but even a restrained, emotionally measured work like this is more interesting and provocative than many another director’s best effort.

Graduation Movie Credit

Production companies: A Mobra Films presentation of a Why Not Productions, Les Films du Fleuve,
France 3 Cinema co-production
Cast: Adrian Titieni, Maria Dragus, Lia Bugnar, Malina Manovici, Vlad Ivanov, Gelu Colceag, Rares Andrici, Petre Ciubotaru, Alexandra Davidescu, Emanuel Parvu, Lucian Ifrim, Gigi Ifrim, Adrian Vancica, Orsolya Moldovan
Director/screenwriter/producer: Cristian Mungiu
Executive producer: Tudor Reu
Co-producers: Pascal Caucheteux, Gregoire Sorlat, Vincent Maraval, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Jean Labadie
Director of photography: Tudor Vladimir Panduru
Production designer: Simona Paduretu
Editor: Mircea Olteanu
Sales: Wild Bunch

Gifted Movie Review

A schoolteacher’s amazed discovery of an apparently genius child; a custody battle bitterly dividing family members; a single father becoming romantically involved with his little girl’s elementary school teacher. Those are among the familiar, or, to put it less charitably, cliched elements of Marc Webb’s Gifted. But despite its recycled tropes, the comedy-drama manages to be both funny and moving even if its emotional manipulations are fully apparent.

Chris Evans, taking a break from saving the world as Captain America, plays Frank, the sort of gruff, stubble-cheeked loner who obviously has a heart of gold. Working as a boat repairman in a Florida coastal town, he shares a modest home with his 7-year-old niece Mary (Mckenna Grace), the daughter of his sister, who committed suicide when Mary was just six months old.

Mary, we soon learn, is a child prodigy, having inherited her mother’s brilliance for mathematics. So she’s understandably frustrated upon being asked to perform simple addition in her first-grade class. When kindly teacher Bonnie (Jenny Slate) discovers her pupil’s extraordinary abilities, she brings them to the attention of the school’s principal (Elizabeth Marvel), who promptly offers Frank the opportunity to place Mary in a school for gifted children, with a full scholarship.

Frank turns down the offer, explaining that he wants Mary to lead a normal little girl’s life unlike her mother, who was driven by her and Frank’s wealthy mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) to cultivate her math skills whatever the emotional cost. When Evelyn, with whom Frank has long been estranged, suddenly shows up out of the blue, she takes Frank to court to fight for custody of the little girl she recognizes as another prodigy. Meanwhile, Frank’s neighbor Roberta (Octavia Spencer), who serves as a mother figure to Mary, watches with concern from the sidelines.

The screenplay by Tom Flynn — whose only previous theatrical credit is the little-seen Watch It (1993) — features generous doses of humor that keep the proceedings from becoming too maudlin. And Webb, making a welcome return to indie films after his unfortunate reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, handles the blend of comedy and drama as effectively as he did in his acclaimed debut, (500) Days of Summer. But he’s not entirely able to overcome the story’s cloying aspects, including, believe it or not, a last-minute rescue from euthanasia of the family pet, which, in keeping with the film’s labored quirkiness, is a one-eyed cat.

More than a few scenes generate eye-rolling, including Frank taking Mary to a hospital waiting room so she can learn a life lesson by watching the delighted reactions of relatives receiving news about a baby’s birth. When Frank and schoolteacher Bonnie engage in a drunken flirtation but solemnly agree that it won’t lead to anything more, it comes as little surprise that the next shot depicts them giddily falling into bed together. Webb is even shameless enough to include a Cat Stevens song on the soundtrack.

None of that, however, will prevent you from succumbing to the film’s heartstring pulling, such as the wrenching scene in which Mary becomes hysterical when Frank is forced to leave her with foster parents. The gifted 10-year-old actress, who has already amassed a lengthy list of film and television credits, delivers a superb performance here that bodes well for her future. She handles her character’s wide-ranging emotional demands with consummate skill; perhaps her best moment is Mary’s deadpan reaction upon discovering her half-naked teacher in her home.

All of the performances are terrific, even if Spencer’s no-nonsense, voice-of-reason shtick threatens to become tiresome. Evans underplays to fine effect as the emotionally conflicted Frank; Slate is winsomely appealing as the teacher who finds herself drawn to her student’s hunky guardian; and Duncan displays a droll, deadpan humor that makes the grandmother surprisingly sympathetic.

Gifted Movie Credit

Production companies: FilmNation Entertainment, Grade A Entertainment
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Cast: Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Slate, Michael Kendall Kaplan, John M. Jackson, Glenn Plummer, John Finn, Elizabeth Marvel
Director: Marc Webb
Screenwriter: Tom Flynn
Producers: Karen Lunder, Andy Cohen
Executive producers: Glen Basner, Ben Browning, Molly Allen
Director of photography: Stuart Dryburgh
Production designer: Laura Fox
Costume designer: Abby O'Sullivan
Music: Rob Simonsen
Editor: Bill Pankow

Cezanne and I’ (‘Cezanne et moi’): Film Review

What appears to be one of the greatest bromances in cultural history has finally been brought to the screen in Cezanne and I (Cezanne et moi), writer-director Daniele Thompson’s flowery, fictionalized account of the affectionate if caustic friendship between the titular French painter and his lifelong bestie, the writer Emile Zola.

Starring Guillaume Gallienne (Me, Myself and Mum) as Cezanne and Guillaume Canet (Tell No One) as Zola — both Guillaumes decked out in constantly evolving facial hair that merits its own above-the-line credit — this easily digestible though very kitschy tale of creation and destitution, prosperity and rivalry gets points for taking such liberties with two 19th century masters, who come to life here in some surprising ways. But Thompson’s heavy-handed storytelling, along with a nonstop score of pure mush, brings this closer to telenovela territory than to the Louvre, making for a fanciful period piece that could run up modest numbers both at home and abroad.

Set between the year 1888, when a nearly 50-year-old Cezanne confronts Zola about his novel L’Oeuvre (whose main character — an ambitious but failed painter — struck way too close to home for the artist), and a slew of flashbacks recalling how the pair became school pals in Aix-en-Provence and grew up to share a mutual love of art and beautiful women, Thompson’s script keeps the action moving along while pinpointing the differences between the two stubborn creators: Zola, who was fatherless and poor, dreamed of becoming a writer and eventually joined the very bourgeoisie he seemed to mock in his youth; while Cezanne, who grew up rich but with major daddy issues, wound up rejecting society to focus entirely on his work, which was only recognized at the very end of his life (he had his first solo exhibition in 1895).

For fans of art history there are definitely a few tidbits to chew on, with painters Edouard Manet (Nicolas Gob), Auguste Renoir (Alexandre Kouchner) and Camille Pissaro (Romain Cottard) — a group that the increasingly prickly Cezanne was close to at the start of his career — all making cameos, appearing in scenes that attempt to recreate famous paintings like Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Les Grandes Baigneuses, replete with bottles of wine, white sheets and frolicking French girls in the nude. Another sequence, set at one of the controversial Salon des Refusés art shows of the 1860s, turns into an all-out brawl that resembles an Impressionist Wrestlemania.

Thompson (Avenue Montaigne) — who in the press notes claims she did so much research that “Cezanne and Zola became like family” for her — has no problem fantasizing how her heroes both loved and loathed each other, in a decades-long friendly feud where they fell for the same woman, Alexandrine (Alice Pol), who would become Zola’s wife, while intimately discussing their personal lives. At one point, Cezanne sums up his marital woes with wife/muse Hortense (Deborah Francois) with the line: “I f— her too quickly and paint her too slowly.” Is that a direct quote?

Much of this can come across as maudlin, with Canet and Gallienne shifting between quiet moments of contemplation — though the quietness is ruined by Eric Neveux’s overbearing music — and dramatic screaming matches that are almost embarrassing to watch. The underlying artistic argument, pitting Zola’s socially charged writing against Cezanne’s coldly formalistic painting, is not an uninteresting one, especially when the hindsight of history shows how the latter’s work paved the way for modernism, while the former’s naturalism remained more or less stuck in the 1800s. But those aesthetic bouts are too often buried under Thompson’s eye-rolling dialogue and obvious direction, not to mention the piles of dirty laundry getting aired out at all times. (Cezanne, especially, seems obsessed with sex and his inability to get it up.)

Shot partially on location in the south of France, the sweeping cinematography of Jean-Marie Dreujou (Wolf Totem) captures many of the landscapes that would be memorialized by Cezanne’s canvases, especially the different views he produced of the Montagne Saint-Victoire in his beloved Provence. Other tech contributions are extremely polished in a film that does a good job painting a broad picture of two major figures in art and literature but fails to depict them with any credible detail.

Cezanne and I’ (‘Cezanne et moi’) Credits

Production companies: G Films, Pathe, Orange Studio, France 2 Cinema, Umedia, Alter Films
Cast: Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Gallienne, Alice Pol, Deborah Francois, Sabinz Azema
Director-screenwriter: Daniele Thompson
Producer: Albert Koski
Director of photography: Jean-Marie Dreujou
Production designer: Michele Abbe
Costume designer: Catherine Leterrier
Editor: Sylvie Landra
Composer: Eric Neveux
Casting director: Pierre-Jacques Benichou
Sales: Pathe

Alive and Kicking Reviews and Synopsis

That movie is alive and kicking, and then it’s dead as a doornail. Then it’s alive and kicking and then it’s dead…it’s like the worse (sic) relationship I’ve ever had," Reynolds shared. "Everybody has a different idea as to how you’re supposed to do it, and for me, it’s been tough because it comes and goes like the tide…I never know where it is." Sounds like he’s just dripping with positivity, right? I mean, obviously the Deadpool movie is a tough sell, based on the project’s violent nature and self-referential comedy, but it can’t be that bad, right?

"It’s risky for everybody involved," he continued. "It’s not as commercial as they would like it to be. It’s a property that is excessively popular and successful, just as a comic property. So you certainly don’t want to mess that up. And if you’re a studio you certainly don’t want to put something out there that you can’t get back." It’s a good thing Reynolds is giving consideration to the movie studios, since Deadpool fans would probably gather in droves to put studio execs’ heads on pikes in order to get this movie made. I don't understand why they can't just make a low-risk $40 million Deadpool movie to test the waters. Not every major comic book film needs to break a $100 million budget just to be legitimate.

On a humorous note, Reynolds shares a fourth-wall breaking joke from the Deadpool movie "In the latest iteration of the script, Deadpool is aware of the Wolverine movie. He doesn’t say anything disparaging about it but he does at one point play with the Deadpool action figure with some curiosity." And he again expresses his assuredness that this is his role: "I know the character so well, but more than that, I know how to do it." But in the end, we’re still just left hoping Kick-Ass 2 destroys at the box office, which could help the Deadpool movie out if studios see that audiences aren’t afraid to spend money on R-rated comic book movies.

This kind of story gets my blood pressure rising, since I prematurely expect a Deadpool movie will be the most enjoyable film of whatever year it’s released in. In the meantime, play the recently released Deadpool game and check out the rollicking fanmade film Deadpool: A Typical Tuesday below.

Colossal Synopsis

Colossal centers on Gloria (Anne Hathaway), whose life has pretty much fallen into complete and utter disarray. Her boyfriend has left her, she has no money, and she has been getting blackout drunk. One day she wakes up from a bender to find that a giant monster has emerged and is running loose somewhere in the world. This world-changing event is made even stranger when she realizes that the monster mirrors her every move, and that she actually is in complete control of the giant beast. What follows is a journey to get her life back in order and tame the creature before it hurts anyone else who happens to be in its path.

Anne Hathaway is clearly the star of the show here, but it is worth mentioning that Colossal has definitely enlisted some stellar acting talent. In addition to Ms. Hathaway, Colossal also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, and Tim Blake Nelson.

Of course, in a grander sense, it's fairly obvious that the giant monster in this movie has a more metaphorical significance. It appears in Anne Hathaway's character's life during a tumultuous period where nothing seems to be going her way, and her mastery of the monster will likely lead to her vanquishing it once she manages to overcome her personal obstacles and personal demons. In a certain sense, this actually feels somewhat reminiscent of the recent Australian-Canadian horror classic The Babadook -- which similarly framed the central monster of the film as the embodiment of the heroine's grief, anxiety, and psychological struggle.

Granted, Colossal looks like it is not going to embrace many pure horror elements of the creature. There are plot details that remind us of The Babadook, but this is a far more lighthearted movie at its core.

THE CASE FOR CHRIST SYNOPSIS

Based on the true story of an award-winning investigative journalist -- and avowed atheist -- who applies his well-honed journalistic and legal skills to disprove the newfound Christian faith of his wife... with unexpected, life-altering results.

THE CASE FOR CHRIST RELEASE DATE

In Theaters April 7, 2017

THE CASE FOR CHRIST CREDITS

Starring: Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway, and Robert Forster
Written By: Brian Bird
Directed By: Jon Gunn
Produced By: Karl Horstmann, Brittany Lefebvre, Michael Scott, and David A.R. White
MPAA Rating: [ PG ]
Distributor: Pure Flix

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Logan Movie Reviews