David Wak

At nearly three hours I feared this movie might be a historical slog but it really clipped along and was quite compelling through most of it. It was a clever mix of a psychological thriller and a courtroom drama. It's well acted as an Army Psychologist ( Rami Malek) is assigned to evaluate Nazi War criminal Herman Goering ( Russell Crowe) before the Allied powers decide whether or not to have a trial for Goering and other high ranking Nazis or just shoot them outright. The effort is lead by Supreme Court Justice Jackson ( Micheal Shannon) who realizes if he doesn't overwhelmingly win this case there's a chance the allies will look weak in the eyes of the world and cause Fascism to rise again soon. The movie focuses a lot on the relationship between the Psychologist and Goering, who Crowe plays with the right mix of charm and arrogance and he almost comes off as sympathetic at times ( until the jury sees film footage from the death camps that is). They play a cat and mouse game that's strangely filled with mutual respect and it leads our protagonist to the conclusion that what happened in Nazi Germany was not a German issue, as he and others assumed, but a human one. He even chillingly says that Americans are open to these Fascistic tendencies, especially if they're dressed up as patriotism, something we as a nation should take note of right now.

In the movie Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob, an ex revolutionary who lives off the grid with his daughter ( newcomer Chase Infiniti ), hiding from the world after being involved in radical activities 16 years prior with the girls mother, a militant black woman ( Teyana Taylor ) which brought them into conflict with Col Lockjaw ( Sean Penn) and forced Bob and daughter into hiding. Lockjaw has never forgotten them and pursues them again when he picks up their trail and they are aided along with way by a fellow revolutionary and karate teacher simply called Sensi ( Benicio Del Toro). The whole movie is a study of our feeling of modern paranoia and distrust where the truth is elusive. However, even amid this paranoia are some great moments of dark humor to lighten the mood, especially from DiCaprio who has a knack for slapstick. Most importantly the movie, which is set not too far in the future, shows the dark possibilities of today's America of heavily armed police and military in the streets of our cities, and unidentified Ice Agents snatching away people. In this future world the military, police and border patrol seem to have melded into one big military that rounds up illegals and black radicals with ugly efficiency that doesn't look too unfamiliar these days unfortunately. In this movie Anderson bravely shows us in the mirror of our times and it's often not pretty.

Not quite as funny as the original but it still maintains a lot of the first films charms. In Pt 2 we once again follow the three clueless British Rockers Spinal Tap ( Christopher Guest, Micheal McLean, and Harry Shearer) who are forced out retirement for a one last gig to fulfill a contract their late manager made despite having broken up and not spoken to each other for 16 years. This film revisits some of the first ones old bits and there are many funny " Where are they now?" segments with characters from the first film plus often funny cameos by real rock stars Paul McCartney and Elton John ( There was one scene where Paul is in the studio watching a row between two band members and kind of wincing, perhaps reminded of similar fights with his famous former band mates). The movie also touches on the reality of being an aging rocker in a world where we keep losing them and new pop stars come and go like the latest dance craze. These old rockers never change or grow much but they know and are honest about who they are and there's something touching and poignant about that. All in all not great like the first one but pretty decent overall and well worth a watch, especially if you're a fan of the original film.

This movie is a strange mix of slapstick and deadly violence that doesn't always work tone wise. In the movie s former MLB prospect ( Austen Butler) has run away from past tragedy to work in a late night East Village bar. When his Brit Punk Rock Neighbor ( Matt Smith) asks him to watch his cat (a feline scene stealer) Russian and Hasidic gangsters come looking for the Punker who has apparently stolen a lot of cash from the wrong people. Soon the gangsters are after our protagonist and will not hesitate to harm people in his life including his paramedic girlfriend or even his mother and the movie turns into a goose chase with a high body count. For those who were there this is nostalgic look at NYC in the grungy 90s and will likely delight New Yorkers. Butler plays his role with a charming mix of sweetness and innocence, qualities that get tested by the many people that come after him or betray him. Butler is todays " It" actor and I've enjoyed him in movies like Elvis and Dune but to me he was just sort of good looking but bland. ( I got more out of the cats performance). He's a good actor and reminds me a bit of Brad Pitt 30 years ago ( had they made the movie in the 90s Pitt probably would have been the lead) but he just didn't have much to work with here and his character is kind of boring to me. That being said there are other good performances here including a funny last minute frame where we find out who is playing his Mom who's voice we only hear on the phone until then. Overall I was expecting more. This was a good watchable movie but nothing overly memorable for me, except for the cat's performance that is.

The initial premise of this movie drew me in. The main character Ash, Riz Ahmed, is part of an organization that helps corporate whistle blowers avoid retribution and uses an untraceable relay phone system for the deaf to communicate with clients under the grid. He takes on the case of an attractive young executive, Lily James,who knows her Big Ag bosses are getting ready to sell a new modified family of grains that have serious health effects. As the two communicate using the relay system they are pursued by a squad of corporate spooks lead by a relentless hothead named Dawson played well by Sam Worthington. Without spoilers the movie reminded me of a theater version of the FX series Mr. Robot. Ahmed even wears a hoodie like Rami Malek and lives underground in plain sight in the middle of Manhattan. The movie draws you in but then it sort of draws and drags on until the end when things are resolved after a major plot twist. I think this movie could have been better with maybe 15-20 minutes cut and more of a Bourne Identity pace. I think it's cool to see an Arab American in a lead role though, especially these days.

This movie's set up was great and really drew you in to it's big mystery. At the start 17 2nd graders from the same class, save one, go out into the night at 2:17 leaving parents, cops and other residents shocked and looking for answers even if they're the wrong ones. This leads them to accuse the kids teacher of some kind of involvement in their strange disappearance. The story is then told in chapters like a book where different characters are given their perspectives on the story almost ala Pulp Fiction. It's a great set up and each character chapter reveals more clues to the mystery and I was glued to the screen. Where this ambitious film fails is the big reveal which seems a bit rushed with too many unanswered questions lingering and the feeling that the end was kind of a rip off after such a great start. There are great performances throughout and the movie creates a unique mood but it's negated by it's clumsy end even though there is some delicious poetic justice at the end too.

I haven't seen a superhero movie this much fun since Thor Ragnarok or Director James Gunn's own Guardians of the Galaxy. The opening scene brings you in like a good Indiana Jones intro, I was immediately hooked and remained so until the end. The movie was fun and at times light hearted but also had plenty of commentary on the present state of the world and humanity like the nefarious influence of overly powerful Tech Bros and Social media. It basically portrayed Superman as a moral force in a world of unfeeling selfishness and cynicism. He struggles and suffers to do the right thing as if to constantly remind the people of earth what that actually is because they so quickly forget.

Despite mixed or outright negative reviews of this movie I was curious. I wanted to see what was called the first Covid movie and the stellar cast was a bonus but it just goes to show that a great cast can't save a bad script. The story takes place in the fictional town of Eddington New Mexico where Covid restrictions have taken hold and most of its residents are cooperative except for the sheriff Joe Cross ( Joaquin Phoenix) who thinks that while Covid is possibly dangerous it's an outside world problem that doesn't affect his rural county. He comes up against the town's mayor Ted Garcia ( Pedro Pascal) who is trying to enforce the mandates. Infuriated by the Mayors restrictions he decides to run against him. When his artist wife gets upset when he uses her troubled background as part of his increasingly unhinged campaign she(Emma Stone who looks sorry she signed up for this) leaves him for an online conspiracy theorist ( Austin Butler). After that he snaps and takes drastic measures against his perceived enemies until the whole story slides into ridiculous overkill, literally and figuratively. At this point the movie just becomes a mess, there's murder, cover ups, then just stupid gratuitous violence. Director and writer Ari Aster (Midsummer) seems like he was trying to make a big statement on Covid by throwing in too many themes without really expanding on them. There's allusions to Antifa, The BLM protests ( which are copied by the younger residents of the town and are strangely explosive for such a small place). There are plot twists that are unexplained and not followed up on clearly like a crazy gunfight where I'm not sure who the shooters were ( Antifa? Maybe I just missed it but many plot points seemed muddy to me). The acting was OK but somehow hollow, as were most of the characters, even Phoenix seemed to be playing his usual neurotic and self loathing character like he was trying to channel himself. All in all it's like Aster was trying to cram in all the anxieties and big issues brought up by the Pandemic into the frame of a small town when a smaller scale story about how the pandemic would affect the characters on a micro scale might have made for a more cohesive and intriguing story. As for the definitive Covid movie, I'm still waiting.

The race sequences were cool and a little dizzying when I saw it in IMAX but after awhile they get repetatative. The characters never really develop beyond tropes ( the old vet driver teaching the cocky kid) so I wasn't that invested in them. Had the film cut 30 minutes off the story might have flowed along better but instead it was just more of the same race scene wise. If you're a fan of racing then you're probably into that but for me it was like watching a fireworks display that was all Grande Finales, it loses it's punch after awhile. I was hoping for a " Moneyball on Wheels" but the two dimensional characters made me not care about them or their arcs very much.

This movie left me with a strange mix of feelings, it was laugh out loud funny at times yet the humor was often uncomfortable and cringe and I have no desire to see it again. It stars comedic actor/writer Tim Robinson ( best known for his TV series 'I think you should leave) as Craig, a socially clueless buffon who's also a narcissist with virtually no self awareness. His family is falling apart as his ever patient wife ( Rooney Mara, reviving the familiar suffering wife character who makes you wonder how she ever ended up with this loser) is recovering from a bout of cancer. He also has a kind and thoughtful son who can barely stand being around his idiot father. Craig is virtually friendless, which isn't surprising considering what a blatant fool he can be, until he meets new neighbor Austin, a charismatic local weatherman who takes him in briefly for a bromance where he shows Craig how to relax and live a little. When Craig proves himself to be just too weird and annoying to hang with Austin dumps him, leaving him to try ever more desperate measures to revive their friendship with funny yet uncomfortable results. This movie was funny and entertaining but it was also a hard watch. Craig's social awkwardness creates an abundance of uncomfortable scenes akin to some "Curb Your Enthusiasm" scenes or a bad Tom Green skit from the 90s. I laughed at times but it was mostly out of sheer embarrassment for Craig so it was hard to watch this train wreck of a character make a fool of himself over and over. Craig has few redeaming qualities either so it was hard to do anything like root for him. If you're a fan of cringe comedy you'll love this movie, me, not so much. It's hard for me to watch such an unlikable character for nearly two hours. Maybe the secret of the movie is you kind of know people like this guy, or even worse, you've been this guy.