Speaking of Clint Eastwood (who I referred to in my review of Maudie), possibly his oddest starring film is the 1971 Civil War drama The Beguiled, which this film remakes with Colin Farrell in Eastwood’s role of Union soldier John McBurney […]
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Maudie (2017) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Yet another movie that is off-putting is a Canadian film, Maudie, which tells the story of how shy, introverted Maud Lewis (Sally Hawkins) boldly moves out on her own, hires herself out as a cleaning woman to a grumpy fisherman (Ethan […]
Continue reading »Beatriz at Dinner (2017) ☆ ☆
This movie sort of threw me; weeks after seeing it I’m still not sure what to think of it. Written by Mike White, it follows a holistic healer, Beatriz (Salma Hayek), who is invited to stay at a fancy dinner […]
Continue reading »Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Disney’s unusual and immensely popular Pirates of the Caribbean series has now reached its fifth, and hopefully final, installment. It has defied expectations and provided spectacular sights for fourteen years now, and with its conclusion that takes place ten years after […]
Continue reading »The Book of Henry (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
Another film with a flawed final act is The Book of Henry, but like Baby Driver it boasts a very good first half and characters that truly resonate, and that helps it through its inevitable rough patch. It is inevitable because of […]
Continue reading »Baby Driver (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
This film revives the age-old cinematic debate between substance and style. Baby Driver, which borrows its title from a Simon and Garfunkel song (which plays over the closing credits), is adrenalized with style. It’s a good looking film with good […]
Continue reading »Cars 3 (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
After the misfire of Cars 2 I was not excited about the newest (and supposedly, last) entry in Pixar’s Cars series, but Cars 3 is much better. With flashbacks to the first film, including several scenes with Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), and a […]
Continue reading »Megan Leavey (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
It’s interesting to me that the title of this film is the woman who joins the Marines hoping to kick-start her life into gear, when the most important character in the story is the German Shepherd named Rex. Bonding with […]
Continue reading »Rough Night (2017) ☆ ☆
Five women meet in Miami for a bachelorette weekend, as one of them is due to be married soon. Their wild frivolity soon rages out of control, leading to rampant drug use, the accidental death of a stripper, ridiculous attempts […]
Continue reading »The Exception (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
Wartime dramas involving historical figures can be fascinating — as this one eventually is — but they are tricky to do. I am no expert on World War II but as events in The Exception began to unfold I kept wondering […]
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