In “JoJo Rabbit,” Mel Brooks meets Wes Anderson, and it’s not a good match. Brooks is broad, vulgar, vaudevillian. Anderson is arch, aesthetic, a minimalist of sorts.
Tag: movie review
Posted inEleanor Ringel Cater
‘The Current War: Director’s Cut’ – a ‘dazzling’ yet ‘disappointing’ movie about electricity
As the title suggests, “The Current War: Director’s Cut” is one of those films whose backstory is easily as interesting as the one being told on screen.
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‘Parasite’ – an unpredictable superb movie by director Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon-ho’s superb new film “Parasite” is full of crazy rich Asians. Crazy poor ones, too.
In fact, it’s difficult to say who the true parasites are here: the wealthy but vacuous Park family or the conniving but under-motivated Kims.
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‘Zombieland: Double Tap’ – a disappointing sequel of original ‘Zombieland’ movie
“Zombieland: Double Tap” is all tapped out.
The first “Zombieland,” released in 2009, was funny, original and unexpected. And it had Bill Murray. (So does the sequel, but in a bedraggled post-credits sequence that sets zombies loose at a junket for “Garfield 3.”)
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‘Gemini Man’ – beyond technology, new Ang Lee movie disappoints
Even the ticket guy winced when I asked to see “Gemini Man,” the new Will Smith sci-fi-ish thriller.
Once I was watching the movie, I did, too.
But I winced most of all — or maybe I gasped – when the thing ended and the final credits read “Directed by Ang Lee.”
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‘Judy’ – Renée Zellweger delivers powerhouse performance
In the new movie “Judy,” Renée Zellweger doesn’t just impersonate Judy Garland. She inhabits her. Heart, soul, and amazingly enough, voice – or close enough. (Garland, like Streisand, will always be unique).
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‘Ad Astra’ – Brad Pitt as Roy McBride carries space journey movie
“Ad Astra” – Latin for “To the Stars” – is powered by one very bright shining star, Brad Pitt. And this performance, coupled with his superb work in the summer’s “Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood,” could propel him to a much-deserved Oscar. (Fingers crossed the two don’t cancel each other out).
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‘The Goldfinch” – despite talented cast, movie is inert and dull
If “The Maltese Falcon” is the stuff that dreams are made of, “The Goldfinch” is the stuff that dreck is made of.
Donna’s Tartt’s sprawling Dickensian novel was a favorite with critics and book clubs alike. In some ways, it’s the sort of movie Hollywood used to make in its sleep: prestigious, densely plotted, with panoply of colorful characters.
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‘Don’t Let Go – good performances almost hold movie together
I don’t know what cell phone plan David Oyelowo is using in “Don’t Let Go,” but it’s a doozy.
Probably best known for his starring turn as Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma,” Oyelowo here plays Jack, an LAPD detective who has a particularly close relationship with his adorable, precocious teenage niece, Ashley (Storm Reid).
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‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ – film disappoints despite powerhouse performance by Cate Blanchett
When a movie starring a two-time Oscar winner, directed by a multiple Oscar nominee and based on a best-seller opens in mid-August, well, something’s wrong.
And something is.
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‘Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood’ – ‘terrific’ movie belongs to Brad Pitt
You can’t say he didn’t warn us up front.
After all, Quentin Tarantino calls his newest film “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” which is, of course, not only an homage to Sergio Leone (“Once Upon a Time in the West,” Once Upon a Time in America”), but also the traditional way to start a fairy tale.
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‘Maiden’ – documents first female crew sailing the world
“The sea is always trying to kill you,” says Tracy Edwards at the beginning of the documentary, “Maiden,” about the first ever all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread round-the-world sailing race.
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‘The Fall of the American Empire’ – falls short in every way
“The Fall of the American Empire” does only one thing well: fall apart.
Gracelessly. Stupidly. And without a shred of self-awareness.
The Canadian director Denys Arcand, who may be one of the most pompous and annoying filmmakers in the northern hemisphere, has concocted a cretinous crime caper that seems strung together from bits and pieces of every ‘70s cop show ever made.
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‘The Chaperone’ – predictable tale of a prude who loosens up
“The Chaperone” is a rigged shell game. It lures you in with Louise Brooks, the charismatic silent-film legend best known for “Pandora’s Box,” and proceeds to tell you this tedious fictional tale about the woman who accompanied Brooks from Wichita to New York where the incipient Ultimate Jazz Baby found – what else? –fame and fortune.At least the movie can claim truth in advertising. It is, after all, called “The Chaperone.”
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‘Best of Enemies’ – a well-acted civil rights story worth telling
In a way “The Best of Enemies” could be likened to a made-for-TV version of “The Green Book.” But even if that’s meant as a compliment from a flat-out fan of the recent Oscar winner (which I am), it’s still a bit demeaning. Though the movies share a Civil Rights theme and a first-they-bicker-then-they bond plot, “The Best of Enemies” has its own distinct voice. That’s due, for the most part, to its pair of high-powered stars, Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell.
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‘Wonder Wheel’ – an underwhelming Woody Allen movie
Time was, when Woody Allen delivered a clunker, you wondered, in what back drawer the screenplay had been sitting — and for how long.
With his deeply disappointing new film, “Wonder Wheel,” you wonder how long the script might have been sitting in Clifford Odets’ back drawer. Or Arthur Miller’s.
Yes, it’s that stale.
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‘Money Monster’ has everything going for it, still goes wrong
Though it centers on a hostage crisis in New York City, “Money Monster” is no “Dog Day Afternoon.”
It is, however, a dog.
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‘A Hologram for the King’ allows Tom Hanks to portray re-birth of a life
In the pensive and nimble “A Hologram for the King,” Tom Hanks isn’t waiting for Godot. But he might as well be.
Hanks plays Alan Clay, once one of the best salesmen at one of the best companies in America: Schwinn Bicycles. But then he became part of a move to outsource most of the company’s labor to China (“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he ruefully explains) and before long, Schwinn was a mere shadow of itself, with hundreds of employees out of a job. (One of Alan’s recurring nightmares is the day he had to lay off all those people).
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‘Mother’s Day’ may be interesting – if this were 1986
Having ruined “New Year’s Eve” and Valentine’s Day,” Garry Marshall now takes dead aim at “Mother’s Day.”
Moms of every shape, size, and soap-opera lineage run amok in this insultingly simple-minded tribute to the holiday made in Hallmark heaven.
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‘The Jungle Book’ is simply breathtaking
For the second time in a matter of weeks, the supposed “kids” movie turns out to be the best thing on screen.
“The Jungle Book” is just wonderful. Better than wonderful. There’s more sheer WOW!!! in this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic than in a dozen superhero flicks.
