Movie Review #9358 THE BOOK CLUB.

Not really my fare however Jenny was keen so off we went on  a Mon afternoon.

Starring four bastions of female thespianism in Candace Bergen, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Diane Keaton it centres on four lifelong friends who in their more mature years, taking time out to read and share thoughts on various books, until they come to Fifty Shades of Grey.

Each then appears to take an interesting turn on the romantic scene with Don Johnson, Richard Dreyfus and Andy Garcia showing up as love interests with Craig T Nelson as the husband in the one surviving marriage.

Essentially a movie of four romances and very much a chick flick, it’s all pretty predictable although Candace Bergen does a great job of the wronged wife who’s hubby shows up with someone half her age.

Along with themes of over protective daughters, excess female success, disconnected relationships and old flames, it makes for a Woman’s Day fest which I’m sure that audience will lap up and enjoy to the max.

6/10 from me. 

Movie Review #8256 THE INCREDIBLES 2.

Long delayed follow up to 2004’s The Incredibles sees our family of super heroes pick up where they left off (hadn’t aged a day either!), encountering a new nemesis in the form of The Screenslaver who’s special set of skills is based on hypnotic enslaving.

Carrying all the charm of the original and then some, this one sees a focus on the youngest Incredible Jack Jack, whom we were convinced in the first movie has no super powers but who proves everyone wrong in a big way. His epic battle with a backyard raccoon must rate as one of the all time great fight sequences of all time!

All the main voices return apart from Dash who’s voice double voice (like that?) should have long broken by now and voicing a 10 year old might have been a little difficult. No real new nuances as we dash from crisis to crisis while dealing rather matter of factly with the usual family issues and sibling rivalry.

Overall, just as enchanting as the first and although it doesn’t really rise beyond still provides a thoroughly entertaining romp through a 60s looking glass of superherodom.

8/10.

Movie Review #2644

SOLO. Another Star Wars story following Rogue One from 2016.

This one focuses on a young Han Solo and amongst other things explains how Han met Chewbacca, how Han met Lando and how Han acquired the Millennium Falcon. It also shows how he did the Kessel run in 12 parsecs, a little brag from him in the original StarWars movie.

As per my review of The Last Jedi, StarWars is a simple story, told well and executed accordingly: farm boy races off to rescue a princess and becomes the hero of the rebellion. It's a modern day fairy tale with a sci-fi base and a budget to make it one of the most popular movies of all time. Like most of the sequels, this one complicates things and moves further away from the original simple format.

We're not sure who is betraying who and sometimes Han is portrayed as somewhat of a smart*ss. Harrison Ford's Han Solo was certainly a scoundrel but never a smart*ss and I wonder whether the actor concerned Alden Ehrenreich might have done better to rather than portray a young Han Solo is to have portrayed a young Harrison Ford.

That said, it's the standard StarWars fare maybe with fewer comedic touches and odd creatures than usual but with the same bravado and exploitation of the StarWars universe. We also see an old 'friend' from one of the other sequels showing up towards the end which introduces more questions that will undoubtedly be addressed in future iterations. Woody Harrelson is excellent as Han's scoundrel mentor Beckett however not really any other performances of note.

Overall, did enjoy but not as much as Rogue One, 7/10

Movie Review #3976 SWEET COUNTRY.

Australian tale inspired by true events set in 1929 of an Aboriginal farmer, Sam, who murders a white equivalent, Harry, then goes on the run to avoid the inevitable bad ending, notwithstanding it being an act of self defence.

And the trail is fraught with old trackers, renegade locals, lots of 'f' words and the occasional gunshot as pursuer and pursuee, who brings his wife along for the journey, play the proverbial cat and mouse. Old Kiwi movie stalwart Sam Neill shows up as the local preacher and friend of aforementioned pursuee, with old Aussie movie stalwart Bryan Brown doing same as the cop who gives chase.

Numerous side characters give the proceedings much colour to match the vast Australian outback and the sense that this country just goes on forever. Numerous flash forwards too (opposite of flashbacks!) which can sometimes make things a little confusing and an interesting if not unpredictable conclusion at which we're left with a sense of frustration just as it appears that an all's well that ends well is on the horizon.

Awesome performances from Hamilton Morris as Sam along with those other two jokers plus a pretty crash hot supporting cast. Long but not overly so and attention is maintained throughout.

Overall 8.5/10. 
 

Movie Review #9257 PETER RABBIT.

CGI bunny fare based on the beloved Beatrix Potter children's story with a leading lady named Bea, as coincidence would have it who also draws bunnies very well if not much else.

I remember freaking out as 5yr old at the thought of poor little Peter being transmogrified into the nasty nasty Mr McGregor's pie. Mind you I also bemused as to why Peter, and Donald Duck for that matter, sported a jacket but never any pants, a question also posed at the outset of this little foray.

Anyhow, it's all lovingly set in Mr McGregor's English country garden, with veges for pilfering aplenty & an eclectic array of farmyard friends including a nervous badger, a rather dandy pig and the usual sly old fox. A slight twist on the traditional tale with another McGregor on the receiving end of the mayhem while Peter, Mopsy, Flopsy, Cotton Tail and idiot cousin Benjamin duck and dive throughout, laying traps, falling into traps and generally setting off traps all round.

CGI is nicely done and there's nothing too pretentious, engendering a sense of a page out of one's childhood imagination brought to life. And while most definitely a children's movie, there is usually enough in these types to keep adults on movies duty amused and entertained as well and there is here too, but barely.

Overall reasonably well done although perhaps marginally too sooky for my liking, no nefarious intent to be seen anywhere which is good in some respects as younger populations I'm sure will love it. 7/10. 

Movie Review #2975 RAMPAGE.

Another opportunity for Dwayne Johnson to show off his steroidal overuse this time with a large, & growing larger, albino gorilla in tow.

The Rock is a primatologist, monkey man to the rest of us, who's charge George gets a wiff of some nasty gene-altering experimentation stuff and starts to exhibit some definitely anti-social tendencies, along with a wolf and an alligator also so afflicted.  The chase is then on with muscle-man teaming up with the customary pretty female geneticist to stop the aforementioned animalia from reaching Chicago and levelling it.

This after the evil creators of experimentation stuff manage to use it to put out a distress call to retrieve George & his mates. It's one thrill after another as Dwayne and George bounce their way across America getting into some pretty hopeless predicaments and out of them again with seemingly consummate ease. Along the way they encounter one Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a southern drawled, smart a** FBI man who turns a favour or two to get chasers and chasees to the Sears Tower on time.

Pretty mindless fare really with a few smirk turns but nothing particular memorable. Johnson probably earned another cool 20mill for it which he will no doubt invest in more gym equipment to get ready for the next one.

No more than a 6/10. 

Movie Review #8258 A QUIET PLACE.

Another post-apocalyptic earth sojourn and this time we've no idea what happened.

There's also these nasty monster things around that hunt by sound, we don't know whether they're aliens or what, whether they caused the apocalypse or not but we do know make a noise and they'll have you for breakfast pretty darn quick.

So a family of survivors must communicate by signing otherwise they become nasty fodder and there's plenty to get tense about including  mum deciding to have kittens with a nasty in the house while dad is out hunter gathering. Usual monster movie thrills and spills along with interspersed family dramas and innovative anti-nasty solutions that eventually pinpoint a weakness, as they always do.

Nothing particularly original here although the tension is pretty constant throughout and amusingly, we don't even find out the names of the family until the credits roll at the close.

This after probably the most frustrating ending this critic has seen in a movie for quite a while. However as far as monster movies go, overall I've seen lots worse and while this is no Alien, it does come off slightly better than most.

7/10. 
 

Movie Review #2964 DEATH WISH.

Remake of the 1974 Charles Bronson vehicle which, coincidentally was my very first R16 movie. I think I'd just turned 14 and me and my ole schoolmate Robert Crockett donned our best platformed shoes to convince the ticket lady we were of age (and at least this time I didn't ask for half!).

Anyway this one has Brucie Willis in the main role and this time he's a doctor not an architect, which begs the question what happened to the Hippocratic Oath when it comes to the doc blowing away bad guys after his wife is attacked in a robbery gone wrong. Sufficiently cringeworthy in some scenes when the retribution is being dished out and Dr Willis proves to be no slouch when figuring ways to best do so.

Unfortunately a very average script makes it all a bit bland and predictable and it lacks the edginess of the original. No real noteworthy performances either as it's not really a noteworthy performance movie although everyone's second-favourite actor Vincent D'Onofrio turns in a decent shift as the little brother.

Yes violent & blood-curdling but not overly so and Brucie's inventive ways of getting bad dudes to talk is about the only creativity present. The original also spawned a bunch of sequels, hope that doesn't become the fate of this reboot.

 7/10. 

Movie Review #9357 THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI.

Very Coen-esque tale of a grieving mother resorting to an unusual method to prevent her daughter's murder case sinking without a trace.

Frances McDormand, actually in real life Mrs Coen takes the centre stage as Mildred Hayes, aforementioned mother with ex-Cheerser Woody Harrelson as the local boss cop and Sam Rockwell a numbskull deputy who has a habit of putting foot in mouth with alarming regularity.

It's typically dark, (very) subtley (is that a word?) comic with some brilliantly placed  little quips and gems that you need to be on your toes to catch, think I missed a few! The plot dips and dives, sets you up then hauls you back down again and works an unpredictability that is quite refreshing albeit frustrating at times.

McDormand is superb, Woody-boy equally so and Rockwell complete with gormless haircut floors everyone with a keen performance and a character who turns a corner during the proceedings. Other notable characters are the chief's wife Anne, Peter Dinklage with the hots for Mildred and Mildred's ex who parades his young but dumb trophy girlfriend around the show.

It shows that given a good script and masterful screenplay, actors have license to shine and certainly this cast does that very well. Bound to be in award contention and wouldn't be surprised to see it take a hatful.

9.5/10.