The Reel World

“I wish I could live through something.”

Actress Greta Gerwig finds herself in the director’s seat for her first feature film, Lady Bird. No, it’s not a film about the First Lady during the Johnson administration. It’s an easy mistake to make. It’s not one of the most common monikers out there, and when I first heard of the project, that’s where my mind went. This is actually a warm coming-of-age story that feels very much like an autobiographic effort by Gerwig. There are certainly some common elements in the story and Gerwig’s own past, even if it’s just the Sacramento, California locations that give the film a nice anchor and rather immersive environment for the story.
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Touching and inspirational, the movie Wonder opens the eyes of its audience to the medical anomaly of Treacher Collins Syndrome.  It’s a gene glitch that causes a facial difference that happens in one of 50,000 people*.  Based on a book by R. J. Palacio, the film handles the material in the novel in such a way that one cannot help but fall in love with a boy with TCS named Auggie Pullman.  The movie becomes an inspiration to all children and a force behind anti-bullying.
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“We have to be ready. You, me, the others… there’s an attack coming from far away.”

The DC and Marvel rivalry can be quite fierce at times. I never completely understood the polarized fan base, however. Some of us are just fans of the genre and will welcome a good comic book movie from either and preferably both studios. When it comes to a cinematic universe, however DC has had some real issues with trying to bring together a combined hero world. Most of the films leading up to Justice League have been dark and filled with brooding heroes.
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“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

Going to see Wonderstruck is like going to see two movies at the same time. It’s a rather clever narrative that tells somewhat parallel stories from two different ages. There is a story that happens in Minnesota in 1977, while the other takes place in 1929 New Jersey. It isn’t hard to know which period you happen to be in, because they are filmed with distinct styles that match the environments of each time and place. The film is often beautiful to look at.
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I have to start by talking about the mustache. You’ve probably already seen the outrageous facial hair Kenneth Branagh rocks as Hercules Poirot, the brilliant Belgian detective who appeared in 33 Agatha Christie novels (including 1934’s “Murder on the Orient Express”). But it is truly a sight to behold on the big screen! Up close, it looks like a fake, ridiculously twirly mustache has been layered on top of an even longer fake, ridiculously twirly mustache. I bring this up because the two things that truly separate this sumptuous, all-star take on Poirot’s most famous case from previous (and superior) adaptations are the film’s eye-popping production values and…well, Branagh’s mustache.
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“Maybe it’s all psychological.”

The Killing of a Sacred Deer takes its title from the tragedy “Iphigenia at Aulis” by the Greek dramatist Euripides. I’ve published more than 800 reviews for this site, and that’s almost definitely the most pretentious opening line I’ve ever written. That might sound like an insult, but it’s actually quite fitting for this deeply unsettling movie, which uses a series of grandiose and idiosyncratic flourishes to explore one of the oldest and simplest concepts known to mankind: “an eye for an eye.”
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“Well, I tried to start a revolution, but didn’t print enough pamphlets so hardly anyone turned up. Except for my mum and her boyfriend, who I hate. As punishment, I was forced to be in here and become a gladiator. Bit of a promotional disaster that one, but I’ m actually organizing another revolution. I don’t know if you’d be interested in something like that? Do you reckon you’d be interested?”

DC has finally gotten a recent comic superhero movie right with Wonder Woman. We’ll know in just a few days if they can bring the streak to two films when Justice League hits the box office this month. Marvel, on the other hand, has a streak going that dates back to 2008
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“Once upon a time there was a great war that brought so much sadness to so many people. Hardly anyone could remember what happiness was like. But something happened that changed all that…”

“Winnie the Pooh doesn’t know what to do …” starts a popular song written by Kenny Loggins, recorded first in 1970 by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with a more popular and enduring version by Loggins And Messina a year later. Hundreds of millions of children since the 1920’s know who Winnie the Pooh is. He’s the happy-go-lucky bear who lives in the 100 Acre Wood with Piglet, Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo. But Pooh’s best friend of all was a young boy named Christopher Robin.
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Thank You For Your Service is an enterprising look into what is like for some soldiers who return home from war. Some come back to find life has gone on without them, and so have the people they hold most dear. Some return only in body, with their minds reliving things that happened to them over there. Others will do anything just to go back, because that is the only reality that makes sense to them. All three of these circumstances are portrayed in a way that will hit close to home for some while allowing others an enriched perspective that will have them uttering those words with more emphasis than they would have in the past, “Thank you for your service.”
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As a director, George Clooney just hasn’t managed to reproduce the magic he had in his first effort Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.  I keep hoping that we’ll get another film at that caliber, but it seems over and over it is a swing and a miss.  Now he has his new film Suburbicon, and this could be his most divisive work to date.  There is nothing wrong with adding a social commentary to a film, but sometimes adding it can be a distraction from the film.  In the case of Suburbicon, it is a tale of two films that couldn’t be any more different from each other.  First we have a tale of a family attempting to keep their lives together following a home invasion, and then we have the story of a black family moving into a white neighborhood and the backlash that follows.
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Andy Serkis is mostly known for pioneering the industry of motion capture performance. Most of you may not know that he’s worked a bit behind the camera as well. He’s led a few second units as director but had not actually directed a feature film. Breathe is his first effort, and while it has some truly nice moments, it looks like a first effort. I have no doubt that Serkis will be eventually demand notice as a director. He demonstrates an incredible base of knowledge when it comes to filmmaking. He certainly understands how to make an emotional connection with characters that aren’t really there. The skills are evident. But I suspect Breathe won’t be called upon in a future list of Andy Serkis masterpieces.
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Based on a true story. We see those words preceding a lot of films these days. It’s almost as if we’ve started to chronicle our big moments via the cinema. If a story is tragic enough or portrays outstanding bravery or courage, you can expect it to eventually get a feature film. I can almost predict the big films of 2020 or so just by looking at the headlines in 2017. It’s become a little overdone for my tastes and can often appear exploitive in nature. These films are often devoid of originality. Of course they are. They’re based on something that real life has already written. I’ve seen bumper stickers that say “God is my co-pilot”. I’m waiting for him to get some screenplay credit or a chair in the writer’s room. Of course, he’d be expected to start paying dues to the Writer’s Guild. There’s also the added problem that the audience already knows how the film is going to end.
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When I first heard about The Snowman, this was a movie that got me excited, that we could possibly have a great thriller to look forward to. At one point Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the film. He eventually backed out of the project, though he is still credited as an executive producer for the film. To step in for the directing duties, Tomas Alfredson got the call, and it’s his involvement that initially got me excited. Back in 2008 Alfredson directed Let the Right One In, which I consider to be one of the greatest horror films to be released in decades. It’s hard for some directors to meet expectations when their first films are such a success.
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Action heroes are very much like sports superstars. So much of what they do is tied to their physical ability, and eventually time catches up to them. For sports figures they either try and accept it and go out on top, or they taint their legend by trying to hang on. The same can be said for action heroes, except there is a third alternative. Some action movie actors learn to adapt their material to their current skill level. Clint Eastwood, while not really an action star, was known for physical roles. He found a way to age quite well on screen with films like Unforgiven and Gran Torino. Jackie Chan appears to have learned that lesson, and The Foreigner, while not in the same stratosphere as Clint’s last staring efforts
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Up front I’ll tell you that the movie Happy Death Day has so many twists and turns that you would think you were on a wild ride at Universal Studios.  The fun but deadly storyline is a cross between Scary Movie and Groundhog Day, and the maze of thrills will have you spooked out until the very end. Or what you think is the end, so don’t get up out of your seat until it’s ALL over. Carrying the perfect movie rating, PG-13, the filmmakers sneak in what most teens are looking for without having to have a parent on hand to watch over them.  It’s has some rude stuff woven into the storyline and even some partial nudity that’s nothing more than a rear-end shot.  The shockers are the cool part, with the ugly killer popping in without notice.  Actually, when you feel the stalker is coming, it’s already there.
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“No one will ever remember that you were here.”

Few names ring as powerfully through the halls of legal history as that of Thurgood Marshall. One of the best legal minds of the 20th century, he became the first African-American to be seated on the United States Supreme Court. He participated in landmark decisions both as a lawyer arguing in front of the highest court in the land and as one of its nine justices writing milestone opinions. But the film Marshall isn’t really about any of that at all. Sure, there’s a postscript that tells us what any reasonably educated person already knew.
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“Backslidin’, how do you do? These slippery people gonna see you through.” 

It has been a long while since I have witnessed a pop song’s lyrics fit so poetically into a feature film. “Slippery People” is a track off the groundbreaking Talking Heads album, Speaking in Tongues, released in 1983. Not only does this song fit the plot of American Made within its lyrics (hints of backsliding with a lot of slippery people), but it also represents a specific aesthetic for one of the many years shown throughout the film.
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When it comes to ranking the top 10 cool movies of the past five years, Kingsman:The Secret Service would easily make the list.  From the opening sequence to the final credits, the movie was simply a fun ride with so many kick-ass moments. I mean, the fight in the church alone is worth the price of admission. The moment I heard Matthew Vaughn was returning to helm the sequel, I instantly got giddy with excitement. Heck, ever since his first film Layer Cake, the guy has managed to produce a stream of cool films that I’ve enjoyed. It’s when the trailer for the sequel first dropped something didn’t feel right;
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In case you’ve been living beneath a rock and out of contact with any and all social media, this weekend the long-awaited film adaption of Stephen King’s It releases. Some of my friends look at the trailer for the new film and instantly reject what they see; they immediately cling to their memories of how the original mini-series scared them. One thing you’ll hear them all saying is how Tim Curry made such an impact on their lives and to this day gave them reason to fear clowns. While I respect their opinions, when you revisit the film, you can’t help but notice how dated the film is, and really, if you’re over the age of 10, it just isn’t scary.
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Every once in a while a film comes along that not only takes you by surprise but exceeds all expectations and just sticks to you. Last year it was La La Land, and this year for me it is Good Time.  Checking out the trailer after the film began to pick up some buzz on the internet, I thought that it looked good, but nothing about the trailer stood out to me to lead me to believe this was anything special.  But the thing that the trailer just doesn’t seem to capture is the experience. As you often see the tagline “a thrill ride”, this may be the first time in a long time where I feel this generic tagline actually fits, because that is precisely what this film is.  From the moment the film takes off, it doesn’t let up till the closing credits begin.
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– “It’s my job to keep you out of harm’s way.”

– “I am harm’s way!”

In The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Samuel L. Jackson is the very definition of badass as contract killer Darius Kincaid. Which begs the question: why would a prolific hitman need a bodyguard? That question is a great source of entertainment throughout the film’s duration. Needless to say, the bodyguard is not necessary, but no one could ever doubt that the pairing of Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds is comedic gold. The Hitman’s Bodyguard is without question one of the best films of the summer.
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Following the success of The Conjuring, it was no surprise that sequels would follow, but I have to admit seeing an Annabelle film was a bit unexpected. While The Conjuring was based on true events (as true as one may or may not wish to believe in the paranormal), Annabelle was mostly a work of fiction. I’ll admit I’m a bit of the fan of the Warrens and have read plenty about their investigations, and I certainly feel their life is ripe for the Hollywood treatment along with the hundreds of case files they developed over the years.  While the first Annabelle did well at the box office, it took a beating by critics, but those involved at the studio see that there is still money to be made as they continue to expand the franchise.
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It’s difficult to be original and innovative when it comes to tackling a haunted house film. Ghost stories have been around for ages and told just about every way you can imagine, so what do you do to give the audience something they have never seen before? After coming back from directing Pete’s Dragon, writer/ director David Lowry a delivers a small intimate film that manages to take the haunted house story and makes it something unique from all the rest. Though when I say unique, and when I say innovative this may not be a positive for some. The film begins by introducing us to a couple played by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara; their characters are simply credited as C & M.
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John Wick was an action film that seemed to sneak up on everyone. Sure, it had a great trailer, but I don’t think anyone expected to walk away from just how great it actually was. What made it so effective weren’t just the well-choreographed fights and the stylish look of the film, but it was the characters that while over the top, were also ones the audience could relate to. Atomic Blonde is helmed by half the directing team that gave us the first John Wick, and from what the trailers first teased us with, I came into it with hopes we’d get something special.  While on the surface I can’t say that this film surpasses John Wick, what it does is stand alone for being a culturally and socially important film as it delivers not just the ultimate badass female in an action film, but I believe the first that belongs in the LBGT community.  It’s a big deal what this character represents, but how does the rest of the film fare throughout the fistfights and shootouts?
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When Christopher Nolan has a new release, it’s an event to get excited about. There are few directors I can say this about. Sure, there are directors that I like, but still there are few who manage to capture what makes going to the cinema an experience. Dunkirk is his latest cinematic opus. Despite it being his shortest film, with the exception of The Following; this is the first time he has shot a film entirely in IMAX form. What’s the big deal? Well, aside from the picture being twice the size of the regular format, what he does with these cameras is deliver a beautifully striking picture of destruction and survival.  There’s a lot of buzz going around with this film, and already it’s being looked at as the first real Oscar contender of the year.  Is the film worth the hype?  Is it really Nolan’s best picture?
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