April 11, 2023

The Woman King

Rating: 4 of 5 warriors
Well acted and beautifully filmed, including massive action sequences. with Viola Davis doing an incredible job as the primary protagonist. Very loosely based on historical events, it’s a facinating story of the woman army of an African King. And the dramatic license is used to explore interpersonal relationships, good vs evil, politics, slavery. All in all, a really well done film.

April 2, 2023

Nomadland

Rating: 4 of 5 overnight parking spots
A pseuo-documentary about present day Nomads, people who travel around, generally living in RV’s, or small outfitted Van RV’s, some doing seasonal work across the country as it comes up. Some by necessity, some by choice. Aside from a few actors, primarily Frances McDormand in the lead role, the cast are actual Nomads. Surprisingly little dramatic license, without traditional acts. I spent much of the film waiting for the big tragedy or dramatic event to happen, but it never arrived.

April 1, 2023

Breaking News in Yuba County

Rating: 2 of 5 lead actors
Starring a bunch of actors I like, looked like a decent black comedy, but ensemble productions are such a crapshoot. More often than not, the script doesn’t do the actors justice. Unfortunately, this follows that pattern. I liked the overall plot, and some of the performances, but not enough to keep things interesting. The story didn’t have enough material and depth to fill the screen-time. All in all, it was OK, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to watch it.

March 23, 2023

Nope

Rating: 2 of 5 Tube men
Avoided any information about this, so I wouldn’t have any secrets spoiled. Won’t give away any here. Thought it was just OK. It had some striking visuals, but motivations, or any real character development, was iffy. Story is either increadibly simplistic, or incredibly confusing, and I’m still not sure which. It had an ending, but if I understood what was going on, it was almost a “oops, we’re out of time/money, gotta wrap it up.

March 19, 2023

Barbarian

Rating: 5 of 5 jump scares
Excellent horror/thriller. Starts in a rainstorm, with an overbooked short-term rental. Slowly unravels some details, but only enough to keep you wondering what’s going on. Then, it gets creepy. Um, really creepy. As more is revealed, you realize it’s not a cookie cutter thriller. And, it was suprising (and creepy) all the way to the end.

March 19, 2023

Luther: the Fallen Sun

Rating: 3 of 5 Corpses
Lots of action, doesn’t let up much. Not a very intricate plot, but Elba is a solid lead, and Serkis is a bad bad guy. Some very disturbing visuals, and a lot of corpses.

March 15, 2023

We Have a Ghost

Rating: 4 of 5 Haunted Houses
As Stefan from SNL says “This movie has everything!”. It’s got a haunted house, a family working out family issues, drama, comedy, action. There are car chases, human chases, police, a secret government agency, a murder myster, Tig Notaro, and a ghost. All in all, an enjoyable flick good enough to overlook its flaws.

March 12, 2023

The 355

Rating: 1 of 5 shaking cameras
A lot of good material here, nearly all wasted by gaping plot holes, character inconsistencies, and silly tech mumbo jumbo. The annoying shaking camera work (I thought we finally got over using that as a thing) gets even shakier during action scenes, which are already cut in rapid angle change, making them virtually unwatchable. I imagine on the big screen, they’d cause motion sickness. But, during the unbearably long breaks between action scenes, where the plot literally stops dead, you’ll start begging for camera jiggle.

March 4, 2023

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Rating: 5 of 5 shells
Cute, hilarious, and emotional. It’s about an adorable if odd-looking 1" tall creature in a shell. That’s it. An documentary of his life. A tenant comes in the Air B&B, starts recording him, and puts the videos online. The dialogue is first rate, the special effects are not ILM, but work really well with the storytelling.

March 2, 2023

The Consultant

Rating: 4 of 5 golden bones
A dark, very creepy story about a mysterious consultant that shows up to take charge after its CEO is killed. Excellent acting (as expected) from Christoph Waltz as the lead. The series slowly exposes more information, while simultaneously creating more mystery. My only complaint is the tertiary characters have little depth to them, and could be played by cardboard cutouts. Only complaint is, the ending still left so many questions unanswered.