Posts by John Delia

By John Delia, Jr.

During the 1950’s, being a private investigator wasn’t always a safe and sure way to make a living. But it was a popular way to make some cash for returning soldiers or ex-police officers. During these times things were beginning to modernize, and the world was becoming more dependent on advancement in the skyline. With these changes, corruption and deceit became more evident, and private investigators became more popular. When Frank Minna’s (Bruce Willis) agency gets a chance to make some real money, things begin to get ugly fast. In his crew there is Lionel Essrog (Edward Norton), an orphan with Tourette's syndrome that Frank took under his wing when Lionel was 13; they have been friends ever since. Then there is Tony Vermonte (Bobby Cannavale), Gilbert Coney (Ethan Suplee), and Danny Fantl (Dallas Roberts). Frank has known these guys for many years and trusts them with helping to investigate the cases for his company.

It may be similar to other sci-fi films of its kind, but Gemini Man tips the scale with action and storyline.  The CGI is incredible, and the re-aging of Will Smith amazing in this assassin vs. clone movie that will knock your socks off. Oh, and the answer is yes, Will Smith plays both parts with seamless detail. A crack shot and assassin for a US government special ops, Henry Brogan (Will Smith) has set himself up on a hill readying himself to kill someone in a fast moving train.  As the train passes by he makes the kill shot, but it almost puts a bullet in a child nearby.  Deciding to retire, he tells his boss that it’s time because there’s a good chance he’ll botch the next job.

In a small out-of-the-way village in the United States, Brogan makes his first day of retirement a chance to do some fishing.  Going to the pier he meets Danny (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), the person in charge of boat rentals. His keen sense for trouble and his ability to identify when someone is not who they say they are leads Brogan to believe he’s being set up.  With the help of Danny he escapes the hit, and the two go on the run looking for answers.

”AQUARELA takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. Captured at a rare 96 frames-per-second, the film is a visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element. From the precarious frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angel Falls, water is AQUARELA’s main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky capturing her many personalities in startling cinematic clarity. The film will be shown in theaters at 48 frames-per-second, double the typical 24 frames-per-second, as projectors with the ability to project at 96-frames-per-second are extremely rare today, but when the time comes that the capacity is there, AQUARELA will be one of the first films to be shown at that speed.”

When you turn on the faucet and out comes water, do you really know where it all comes from and how much of it flows on the Earth? Enter the documentary Aquarela, with its lavish cinematography of water in all forms everywhere. The movie was made by Victor Kossakovsky, in which he says that his movie “takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty of the raw power of water.” The film is not a political statement for a cause or even a warning of any kind.

Making the film Don’t Let Go a bit of a fantasy works for the target audience.  It reminds me of a few other films that get involved with solving a crime or saving a life by using a time warp.  In this film, however, the excitement mounts, and there’s enough of a twist to make it all come to a thrilling finale. The film opens with the introduction of Ashley Radcliff (Storm Reid), a young teen who has not been picked up by her dad from school. Not connecting on the phone with Garret (Brian Tyree Henry), she calls her Uncle Jack (David Oyelowo), a police detective, to pick her up.  It turns out to be an opportunity for the two to spend some quality time together.  Days later Jack gets a call from his niece, Ashley, that’s very disturbing. Going to her home, he finds dead bodies in the house, one of them his niece.

After the funeral, Jack and his partner, Bobby (Mykelti Williamson) investigate the crime with very few results.  Then a strange thing happens, Jack gets a call on his cell phone from Ashley. With four days to save her life, he tries to find a way to get evidence on her killers that could possibly save the girl.  So begins a mystery that leads to a twisted tale of crime, drugs, and a possible rewind of time.

If you think the movie Get Out was shocking, wait until you see the diabolical Ma. You won’t have a clue to what this party woman has cooked up until just the right moment.  Then, as it unravels, even some of the hints are misleading.  When you do know the truth, then it’s just one sick scene after another. Being transferred from LA to a new school in her mom Erica’s (Juliette Lewis), small hometown in Ohio, Maggie gets noticed by a clique.  The in-group members, Haley (McKaley Miller), Andy (Corey Fogelmanis), Darrell (Dante Brown), and Chaz (Gianni Paolo) are the wild bunch of the school crowd who like to get drunk and smoke pot.  But, Maggie likes that they were the first to greet her and makes friends with them. She also has an instant connection to Andy.

Maggie gets invited to a gathering at the rock pile, but first the group needs to get some booze.  When Chaz fails to convince someone to purchase it for them, Haley tells Maggie to try.  Approaching Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer), the woman just pushes her off, but as luck would have it she recognizes some of the other group and decides to purchase liquor for them. But the second time it happens she tells the kids that they have to drink it at her house so she knows that the driver will not drive drunk when they leave.

A very creepy, violent, and disturbing film, Us, enters theaters, and it’s probably going to be there for some time. Not only is the plot haunting and filled with terror, the acting that makes it work is superb under the guidance of Jordan Peele who gave us the film Get Out.  Adding more to the potentially Oscar-worthy film is the dank and fear-inducing cinematography with a soundtrack to match. If you like your horror nonstop, then Us is for you.

Young Adelaide (Madison Curry) is having a fun time at the seaside amusement park of Santa Cruz, California with her father and mother.  The night is getting her a bit weary, but she’s still hanging in there, as her father seems to be having the time of his life with the carnival games.  Before her mother seeks out a rest room, she tells her husband to keep an eye on Adelaide.  When he gets challenged by another guy in a game of Wack-a Mole, Adelaide wanders off and walks into a side show called Merlin’s Forrest.  Like in a house of mirrors, the maze gets her confused, but as luck would have it, she comes to a clearing where she meets a girl her age with her same likeness.

It’s Julianne Moore at her best, showing the great performer she is in a romantic comedy with heartbreak.  As Gloria Bell, she makes the lead role compelling and full of life giving her all and even more. It’s perfect for a date night, so grab your best guy or gal and check it out. And it has an explosion of a sound track that includes “Gloria” by Laura Branigan and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler. A steady visitor to the night club scene, Gloria (Julianne Moore) dances away the hours with men she meets at the bar after a long day working at an insurance office.  Not a spring chicken and divorced, she has been an easy mark for any kind of romance as long as she can dance.  Her family has supported her, especially her mother who’s constantly in her life either on the cell or showing up for lunch. But her life is starting to be empty, that is until she meets Arnold (John Turturro), a free-spirited guy who asks her out.  From then on Gloria starts to blossom all over again, even showing him off to her ex-husband.

Director Sebastian Lelio takes a second look at the script he wrote and filmed in 2013 in Santiago, Chile, and casts English speaking actors for the roles with a setting in L.A.  It’s a chance however for Moore to shine in a vibrant role, and as Gloria she nails it, breathing life into the woman’s boring past. Lelio knows how to work his actors, and he puts Turturro through his paces as the guy who picks up Gloria and makes her a believer in him.