Yeah pretty much. I'm seeing it again tomorrow!

AD ASTRA

Brad Pitt is sent on a mission to Mars to try to communicate to his (believe to be dead) father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who is on Neptune looking for other intelligent life forms. While visually this movie has some stunning shots, overall, it's a very dry and dull movie with mediocre performances by all involved. Pitt probably has the strongest performance but his character is so detached and non-emotional, I question how much of a stretch it was to pull off. If you have any interest in seeing this, I advise on passing. 5/10

Just watched the Joker. This will be perhaps the movie of the year. I highly recommend it. It takes alot of the issues around us in the real world and puts it front and center.

RAMBO: LAST BLOOD

I'm not sure this is how the character of Rambo should go out and I'm usually not a very big fan of the "I told you not to do that, now you got yourself in a jam, and I've gotta fix it" kind of movies. And really, the only violence this movie had in it was during the final showdown. We probably didn't need another Rambo and this was Stallone's attempt at parting ways with the character a la Hugh Jackman/LOGAN, but I don't see why this movie got such bad reviews. It's a decent action flick. 6/10

Maybe a controversial opinion, but I don't think Brad Pitt is a very good actor. For example, Seven and Fight Club are great movies but I think those movies worked well in spite of Pitt not because of him. Maybe that's harsh. Pitt was important to that movie [Fight Club] but because of his charisma, six pack and essence of cool, not any great acting ability.

He's little more than a pretty face.

I like Pitt. Never had a problem with him. He does come off as save and the cool guy, but he also doesn't seem to let it go to his head and seems approachable (at least that's my opinion of him anyway). Not the best of actor's but I've usually enjoyed his work more times than not.

I can deal with Pitt, he was good in Joe Black,.

Will Smith is in every other movie,,,, total overload.
Had enough of him

I'm checking out GEMINI MAN tonight staring him. Looks pretty interesting and it's in 3D. The trailer has me intrigued so we'll see what happens.

GEMINI MAN

With the cast (Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Clive Owen) plus director Ang Lee, this film should have been much better than it was. The de-aging technology used on Will Smith looked fine, however, the CGI used for the fight and action scenes was too cartoony and took away due to it's terribly obvious computerized imagery. The story is a mess, Clive Owen is barely in it and when he is, he's given nothing of note to do. The only semi bright spot was Winstead's performance, who actually throws down a little bit (can't think of many movies she's gotten physical in). 5/10

Joker

I saw this today. I thought it was good, not great. Like most if not all movies using comic book or superhero source material, it suffers from being a little too linear or simplistic in its storytelling. For example, the rioting in Gotham used as a backdrop as the movie approached its climax. Why were people rioting? IDK if Deux Ex Machina is the term I'm looking for but it just seemed to be a cheap storytelling tool to serve the movie. It wasn't very intelligently written IMO and I can see why people may take issue with its portrayal of mental illness. Some of the grittier scenes seemed to be there for shock value lessening their effectiveness. Great performance by Joaquin Phoenix, but I got the impression that's what the movie was ultimately hanging its hat on. Knowing Todd Phillips involvement, I went in expecting pretty simplistic and generic writing. Also, what's up with Phillips statement that it's open-ended as to whether Arthur Fleck is the Joker from Batman mythology? Of course he is. They retconned things so that it was him who killed Batman's parents and not run-of-the-mill hoodlums. Of course it's him!

COUNTDOWN

Basic enough premise: you download an app with said title and it accurately tells you how much longer you have to live. Naturally, those with less time are trying to change their fate and beat the app by staying alive past their countdown. It's PG-13 so it's lite on the violence/gore with the studio trying to milk every ounce they can out of this with the rating. However, more gore wouldn't have done much to save this flop. Mostly scare jumps, with a weak story once it's revealed how the app is always right and what exactly is behind it. Do yourself the favor and avoid this, not just in theaters, but once it's on home video/streaming/cable. 4/10

THE HOODLUM (1951)

Habitual criminal Vincent Lubeck (Lawrence Tierney) gets paroled out of prison and resentfully goes to work for his brother Johnny (Edward Tierney, Lawrence's real-life brother), who's doubtful about him. In short order, Vincent, chip ever-present on his shoulder, seduces, impregnates and abandons Johnny's girlfriend, recruits a mob, and plans and executes a bank robbery. He dies on a garbage heap--"crime doesn't pay." This is a very trim little (61 minutes) B-level film noir, made credible and enjoyable by Tierney, a real-life tough guy, and through crisp direction by Max Nosseck, yet another of Hitler's gifts to the US. You can sign me up for anything with Lawrence Tierney in it.

Hush 2016.

Great Horror Flick

Wife gave 4 out of 5 Stars

I scored it a 7.5 out of 10

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE

This is the sequel to TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY that fans have been waiting for! Always great to see Linda Hamilton reprise her iconic role as Sarah Connor as well as Arnold as the Terminator. Some deaging technology is used early on in the film but I didn't find it as distracting as some other recent films. A great new addition in bringing Mackenzie Davis on board as can more than hold her own against anyone in her way. Lost some steam towards the end but a film that's enjoyable on the big screen for sure! 6/10

I'm waiting for Terminator: The Nursing Home Years.

DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995)

It's 1948 in LA, and Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington) is out of work and trying to hold onto his home. He readily accepts a lucrative offer from seemingly amiable gangster Dewitt Albright (Tom Sizemore) to find Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), fiance of a mayoral candidate, who's disappeared into the black ghetto. Rawlins soon finds himself way over his head in a never-ending procession of brutal cops, double-crosses, palace intrigues and violence. Somehow, he manages by courage, restraint at the right times, and street smarts, to survive and get paid--partly through deadly intervention by his murderous pal Mouse (Don Cheadle). The plot is way too convoluted to make sense much of the time. But, director Carl Franklin brilliantly evokes postwar LA, and the ups and downs of African Americans struggling to get by within and outside the law. Washington is perfect in his role, and Sizemore, always good, is even better than usual--a pleasure to watch him work. Cheadle, in a small role, chews up the scenery. Not bad at all.

I haven't seen it yet since it doesn't come to Netflix until Nov. 27, but I watched the previews of the Irishman and it looks quite good on a par with Casino and Goodfellas. I believe it's about Hoffa with Pacino playing that role and DeNiro and Peche (also Ray Romano).

I can't wait! I'll see it at my local theater but they don't offer it. It's 3 1/1 hours runtime too!

DOCTOR SLEEP

I didn't read the book so I went in to this blind and I did enjoy it; however, in the grand scheme of things, I came out of this movie the same way I went going in to it: a sequel to THE SHINING was unnecessary. The film doesn't take anything away from the original (thank goodness) and actually revisits it quite a bit towards the beginning and end, which was very enjoyable! I heard nothing but praise for Rebecca Ferguson beforehand and while I thought she was very good, I thought prior reviews gave her a little too much credit. McGregor I wanted to like at times as an older version of Dan (not Danny) Torrance. Sometimes I felt he worked, while other times I didn't. My favorite role was probably by Alex Essoe who's in a handful of scenes and to not spoil it, I won't say which part she plays. Overall, it was a fun, although long ride. The first 15-20 minutes and the third act are where I got my money's worth. 6.5/10

WOMEN'S PRISON (1955)

The Fifties gave us a subgenre of prison movies in which the prisoners are the oppressed and the authorities are the bad guys. This one focuses on a fragile housewife (Jan Sterling), sent up for manslaughter after accidentally running over a child. She meets the usual crew you'd find in a women's prison of that era: the brassy blond with the heart of gold (Cleo Moore), the musical black inmate (Juanita Moore), the stuffy, abrupt matron (Mae Clark, she the target of James Cagney's grapefruit in "The Public Enemy"). But the real action centers on the good guy prison doctor (Howard Duff), who's intent on protecting Sterling, and the bad gal women's warden (Ida Lupino), a sadist who's intent on breaking her down. The movie features some howlingly funny, politically incorrect dialog that is worth watching on its own. But director Lewis Seiler provides some interesting twists (a prison pregnancy when an inmate from the men's side gets over to the women's side and makes it with his imprisoned bride in a closet), and a thoughtful ending. I liked it a lot.

Doctor Sleep

Although Ewan McGregor does yeoman work as the grown up Danny Torrance from The Shining who is struggling with his inherited demons of alcoholism and violence, it's actually Rebecca Ferguson and newcomer Kyliegh Curran who steal just about every scene they're in. As Rose The Hat, the swivel hipped villainous leader of a group of effective vampires, Ferguson gives every impression that she knows what goes where and why, if you know what I mean. It's easy for the viewer (and in universe her child victims) to forget that she's mean as a rattlesnake and as relentless as a great white shark. Curran will hopefully have a long career in front of her as her interpretation of Abra Stone nails down the easy confidence and also naivete of youth. In a world where most people with the shining are like 300 watt light bulbs, Abra is akin to a hydrogen bomb. Curran and Ferguson were very well cast.

The movie lampshades some themes from the book but unless you read the book it's not worth mentioning. What is worth mentioning is that the film shows a little strain at trying to reconcile King's famous dislike of Kubrick's adaptation of his work, Kubrick's iconic scenes, and King's sequel. The result is that this is more of an action/thriller movie with supernatural overtones than a horror movie. This film lacks the isolation, coldness and creepiness that filled Kubrick's work. I don't think there will be any scenes from this movie that will still be referenced thirty years later. Still, given the constant threat that Rose The Hat and her "True Knot" of followers pose to children and the relative ease with which they prey on them, some film scenes may well give parents the heebie-jeebies. This film has a R rating, most likely for fleeting and implied scenes of violence against children. It could have just as easily got an R rating for scenes of Ferguson stretching.

This was a good, but not great film. It ran a little longer than I thought it should have.

Midsommar

This is another trippy, generally intelligent horror movie directed by Ari Aster, who previously directed Hereditary. Aster leaves bread crumbs throughout the movie in the forms of stylized murals, drawings, and blunt comments that hint at future events. Although this story follows the traditional horror theme of outsiders entering a strange isolated and even inbred community, it's wise enough to make the viewer look past that. In fact, the real horror, as the director has referenced, is the death of a relationship. If you've lived long enough you've probably been both the dumper and the dumpee. Neither one is fun.

Christian, an anthropology grad student, would like to get out of a relationship with his girlfriend Dani. His friends all think it's past time for him to do this. Christian is not getting his sexual or emotional needs met. All he really is, is an emotional support blanket for Dani, who has a ton of emotional/psychological issues. Christian and his friends, including the Swedish exchange student Pelle, are about to take a trip to Sweden for the Midsummer festival where they will live with and observe Pelle's extended family/commune, the rural Harga, engage in various traditional festivities and rituals. Christian's friends think that this provides the perfect opportunity to (1) make time with beautiful Swedish women (2) learn about traditional cultures and (3) dump Dani.

However when Dani's sister murders her parents and kills herself, Christian can't bring himself to dump Dani. Worse (from his friends' perspective) he tells Dani about the impending trip and invites her along. The Americans and a few other visitors find the Swedes to be friendly, initially. But when they witness a voluntary ritual that is shocking to American sensibilities, Dani and Christian (his name is significant) wonder if all the smiling toothy tall Swedes are all there, morally or mentally.

This movie also ran a little long but I liked how it used smiles and constant sunlight to set up increasing unease. The film's score was suitably creepy. There are other callbacks to Hereditary as well.

"Damn, Mouse. I told you not to kill him!"

"No. You told me not to shoot him. So I strangled him. Anyway if you didn't want him dead, why'd you leave him with me?"

Human Desire

This film was directed by Fritz Lang. It re-unites the cool as ice award winning stars of Lang's The Big Heat, Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame. Unlike The Big Heat, which features an almost straightforward cast of good guys and bad guys, Human Desire is a more self-consciously noir film, perhaps even one with an understated proto-feminist stance.

Once again, Grahame plays a woman for whom the John Lee Hooker lyric "She wiggles when she walks! She wiggle!" was likely invented but her character here is less self-assured and to my mind much more sympathetic than many of her other performances. Grahame is more than the bad girl with a sharp tongue and taste for furs that she was in The Big Heat.

If this movie were remade today it would almost certainly have a different ending and likely "corrected" sex stereotypes that would be just as cartoonish as some of the sex stereotypes of the 50s were. So it goes. This film's issues resonate today. The protagonist Jeff Warren (Ford) has just returned from the Korean War and is looking forward to a relatively slow paced easy life as a train engineer. One of his co-workers, the quick tempered, older and portly Carl Buckley (Broderick Crawford) has mouthed off to the boss and been fired for his troubles. Even humbling himself and begging for his job back didn't help. Buckley is too old to switch careers at this point in his life. But Buckley has another plan. His beautiful much younger supportive wife Vicki (Grahame) grew up in the home of an important railroad customer, John Owens (Brandon Rhodes). If Vicki will speak to Owens on her husband's behalf it's a cinch that Owens' influence can make the railroad boss rehire Buckley.

There's a problem however. Vicki doesn't want to speak to Owens. From the way Vicki stiffens when she hears Owens' name to her initial refusal to talk to Owens, it's painfully obvious to a modern audience (and likely would have been to the 50s audience as well) why the otherwise supportive and vivacious Vicki is reluctant to help. Carl's ugly persistence leads to unforeseen consequences that drag in Warren and change everyone's lives.

There's a lot to unpack in this movie. It combines wonderful use of light and shadow with typical snappy dialogue. I think it was one of Grahame's better films.

FORD V FERRARI

James Mangold is a little hit (COP LAND, WALK THE LINE, LOGAN) and miss for me (3:10 TO YUMA, THE WOLVERINE). But I went in to this expecting good things and while it's entertaining, with a lot of racing, the films seems basic to me. I've heard Oscar rumors swirling around Bale's and Damon's performances (Bale's I can agree with, Damon's is a bit of a stretch for me). Other than that duo, the film is pretty flat. 6/10

CHARLIE'S ANGELS

I shouldn't have been surprised by how poorly this film turned out. A movie that's "woke," where identity politics are constantly thrown at you. A female empowerment movie where females have evolved, but men are still stuck in their old, sexist, never growing ways. And naturally the villain has to be white and male. Putting politics aside, horrible "jokes" are spouted throughout the film to balance out a few bad fight scenes. And to top it off, Kristen Stewart's character came off as ditzy and annoying. The movies reviews are panning it and for obvious reasons. Hopefully they don't make a sequel to this trainwreck and I advise others to pass on this! 4/10

Enjoyable reviews for both DOCTOR SLEEP and MIDSOMMAR Lilo! Did you see the Director's Cut of MIDSOMMAR? It adds almost 30 minutes of footage and I personally think it's better than the original cut. Also, have you seen HEREDITARY and if so, which did you like better? Being that these are the only films I've seen from Ari Aster, I'm looking forward to seeing what he puts out next!

Thx. I didn't see the director's cut for Midsommar. With 30 minutes added it might be worthwhile if it alters the pacing or explains some things. I'll look for it. I did see Hereditary. I liked that film a little better. I thought that Aster's apparent irritation over his break up might have (in retrospect) made him put his thumb on the scale a bit insofar as who he wanted the audience to sympathize with.

I liked HEREDITARY a little more as well but MIDSOMMAR is definitely a mind trip of a film. If you are able to view the Director's Cut, I'd be curious of your thoughts and how it comes to the theatrical film.

Just saw "The Professor" w/ Johnny Depp..very funny & engaging..

Will check it out.

Thanx Hood