(2016) Romantic comedies - at least, 98% of the ones made in the States - leave me cold. Formulaic and sentimental as the genre is by nature, normally when I watch them all I can see/focus on are the well-known, brand-name actors in the cast; they never fully come off as their characters to me. Ensemble casts sometimes break that mold, as in the case of a film like Love Actually, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Maybe the bigger the cast, the more variety of stories, helps. By contrast, when I find a really good romantic comedy from South Korea, I fall in love with the film and its characters - perhaps because I can see the characters shine through, as the actors aren't so instantly recognizable? Or maybe - just maybe - because, for me, they're just better films. Like for Likes is one of my favorites, telling three stories that all weave their way toward each other in very much a Love Actually kind of ending that dove right into my heart. Sentimental, yes, and I had a few tears in my eyes and the smile on my face to prove it. Whether an older, single flight attendant who refuses to suck up to her female boss for a promotion, and therefore ends up a beleaguered landlady to a temperamental chef whose fiancee ditches him just as he purchases the house ... to a brilliant but shy young male music composer who has never been in a relationship, who is harboring a secret from the girl he is finally falling in love with ... to a bitter and demanding lady television writer, a single mom approaching middle-age, who finds herself forced to work again with the arrogant young prick she helped turn into a star ... all the stories here have humor, heart, and characters worth falling in love with, even as you hope they fall in love with each other and make it work. Corny? Yes. And really, all kinds of wonderful. (not rated) 9.5/10 stars
(2016) Max Vatan (Brad Pitt), a Canadian intelligence officer in 1942 WWII, is sent on a mission to North Africa where he meets French resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard), the two working together on a mission to assassinate a high-ranking German official. When the two reunite some time later, the spark that started back when only flares up and they marry, Marianne becoming pregnant with a little girl - love blooming in the middle of war, until Max's superiors plant in him a seed of doubt about whether everything he knows is real. I was anxious to see this film, reminiscent as the trailer made me about all the great black-and-white wartime films I grew up loving, and I hoped this one would be similar. It might have been, too, had it not been for an error in casting; Brad Pitt, frankly, is a big rock in the film, trying to convey a variety of expressions with the same two or three fairly-constipated worried looks throughout. The rest of the cast and film are top quality, and it's a shame director Robert Zemeckis couldn't have pulled a more likable or believable performance from his lead actor; it would have made an okay film something far greater, I think, had a different actor been starring. (rated R) 6/10 stars
(2016) Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a blue collar hot-head working as a maintenance man for an apartment complex and is just getting by in a small Massachusetts town until he is suddenly called back to Manchester-by-the-Sea, when a fatal heart attack claims the life of his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler). While taking care of business with the funeral arrangements and Joe's teenage son Patrick (Lucas Hedges), Lee learns that - being the only family left - he has been entrusted, via Joe's will, to stay in town and be Patrick's guardian ... which Lee politely but absolutely refuses. In the course of 137 minutes (the film heavy with drama and at times moving with all the speed of a glacier), we learn Lee's story, that of a man bearing an unbearable secret and even worse pain, and stylistically this is a beautifully-made film with top-notch performances from the entire cast (Affleck and Hedges alone completely deserving of their Oscar nominations; Michelle Williams, in a much smaller role, barely created a blip on my radar). Just be warned: "upbeat" is a word that would never be used to describe this film, and to me Affleck is sometimes a bit wooden in it, playing a character quite similar in mood and style to that of Bob Muldoon in his film Ain't Them Bodies Saints. Both great performances, but this one not worthy of the Oscar win; not when held up to Andew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge or Denzel Washington in Fences - Washington's work, especially, being one of the best on-screen performances put onto film in years. Manchester by the Sea is a good, maybe great film - but too slow-paced and melodramatic for me, as well as just a bit too much of a downer. (rated R) 7/10 stars
(2016) Never been a big fan of Tyler Perry. To me, his writing and direction are both very average, and he cranks out material so fast his films and TV series often suffer for it. Just ... never been a fan, even while I applaud the fact that he's turned mediocrity into a brand that's made him rich. That said, when she's at her best I LOVE Madea - Perry's sassy, felonious, take-no-prisoners alter ego and ex-stripper senior citizen, whose personality is even more gigantic than she is physically. I am sad when Madea is moderately funny, and like a kid on Christmas morning when Madea is at her best - which is all a prelude to the fact that, with all its faults, I thought Boo! A Madea Halloween was darned hilarious in places, and between Madea and brother Joe (also played by Perry), along with sidekicks Aunt Bam (the wonderful Cassi Davis) and Hattie (a hilarious Patrice Lovely), I have already watched this film multiple times and it's like visiting an old friend. Here, Perry also takes on the third role of Brian (Joe's son), a divorced Atlanta federal prosecutor whose eldest daughter - 17-year-old Tiffany - is a mouthy handful. Brian's going out of town and Tiffany refused to stay with her mom, so when he gets wind that she's sneaking over to a nearby frat party that night he enlists the aid of Madea and company, who show up to keep the girl in line - but then, led by Madea later, are forced to invade the frat party themselves when Tiffany goes MIA (Bam - recently getting her legal marijuana card - is anxious to join in, while Hattie - the horniest old lady in Georgia - is there for the "fresh college men"). The visit stirs up trouble for the frat guys, who plot there own revenge, and yes the film is silly and contrived, with acting skills about on par with the writing and direction ... but for me, sorry, it was also fun; one of those guilty pleasures you put on whenever you're feeling blue and just want to laugh. Even the 180-degree turn to seriousness toward the end, with the typical Tyler Perry message of faith, love and family amidst the comedy, actually works kind of nicely here with one speech in particular that Perry utters as Brian, that's dead-on. Long Live Madea! (rated PG-13) 6/10 stars
(2016) A few minutes in to Jackie, Natalie Portman's voice and way of talking as the iconic former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy seemed forced and just ... odd. Then I checked out some video of the real former Mrs. Kennedy on YouTube, particularly the White House tour reconstructed in this well-made biography, and realized how spot-on Portman was in her performance. Jackie opens with a journalist (Billy Crudup) showing up at Jacqueline Kennedy's door just weeks after the death of her husband, determined to write her story in the aftermath of the shooting while in turn Jackie sets the tone by informing the writer that what gets into print will only be what she wants to get into print (even after she and her children left the White House, Jacqueline Kennedy was determined to keep her husband - and Camelot's - legacy alive). Portman carries the film on her slim shoulders, deftly portraying both the fragility and iron-willed strength of a woman trying to do right by her husband, kids and country, and it's certainly a performance worthy of the Oscar nomination she received - even if the film itself occasionally comes across as chilly and emotionally distanced as its subject. Having been born just eleven months before JFK's assassination, for me Jackie was a fascinating look at a side of the story I'd never seen told before. And even while capturing her aloofness to perfection here, Natalie Portman still manages to masterfully create a portrait of a woman whose pain, beneath all that strength and will, was so heartbreakingly real. (rated R) 7.5/10 stars
(2016) Might as well lay this out first, and take the abuse straight off: I love Jennifer Aniston. I don't know why, to me there is something about her that just seems real and unpretentious; like the kind of gal pal you could sit and have one rowdy night of drinking in a bar with. Maybe it's because I've met Lisa Kudrow (not a friendly gal) and Courteney Cox (polite, no issues, and all business), but sight unseen Aniston is the Friend I think I'd most like to have as a friend. She's also the main reason I watched Garry Marshall's last film as director, Mother's Day, which centers around a few loosely connected plotlines of various moms and the holiday's effect on them. Sandy (Aniston) is okay with being divorced until her ex-husband (Timothy Olyphant) surprises her by marrying his much-younger girlfriend, awakening feelings of inadequacy in her, especially when the new step-mommy - nice as she is - plays up to her kids. Jesse (Kate Hudson) is a wife and mom who has managed to keep her marriage to an Asian man a secret due to her parents' conservative, racially-insensitive views ... even as her sister Gabi (Sarah Chalke), living across the street with her female partner, is out enough to not care - until, on Mother's Day, Jesse's parents show up on their doorstep for a surprise visit. Meanwhile, Bradley (Jason Sudeikis) along with his young daughters, is still mourning the death of his wife the year before, while new mom Kristin (Britt Robertson) is dodging pressure to marry from her stand-up comic-wannabe boyfriend Zack (Jack Whitehall) - while home shopping guru Miranda (Julia Roberts), unmarried and without kids, is trying to ignore the holiday entirely even as a surprise is heading her way. A lot of characters and storylines, yes - and it's part of why the film doesn't quite work, even though I liked it much better than I thought I would; there are moments of both good comedy and drama, and with a cast like this it can't be a total loss. But overall, while the sentiment is strong the execution is a bit scattered emotionally. Worth a look, but could have been so much more; and Julia, what's with that hair? (rated PG-13) 6.5/10 stars
(2015) Heart surgeon Tommaso (Marco Giallini) is a strict, actually quite prickly husband and father who also happens to be a big-time atheist. Fancying himself quite the free thinker otherwise, when Tommaso realizes his quite handsome son Andrea (Enrico Oetiker), back from being away, is about to come out to him and the family as gay, Tommaso prepares his wife, daughter and idiot son-in-law to be supportive, letting Andrea know he is loved and accepted no matter what. Matters take a different turn, however, and it's Tommaso who is challenged when Andrea finally works up the nerve to reveal ... he wants to become a priest! This freaks out Tommaso's world, sending him on a quest to not only find the popular, modern-thinking father who sent his son on this path (Alessandro Gassman), but - when he learns of Don Pietro's less-than-stellar past - to do everything he can to discredit the priest and show his son the fraud religion is. Truly enjoyed this film, which I only found because a poster for it popped up as a recommend on my Pinterest feed (!); the cast is uniformly excellent, especially Giallini and Gassman, and at times the movie is downright hilarious with some of the crazy things Tommaso does to try and tarnish his son's mentor. Comedy aside, the film also plays very realistically, displaying both sides of the faithful/atheist coin, and has a terrific ending that's neither too clean or concrete, but instead left this viewer with an emotional and spiritual resonance deeper than i expected to experience. Lovely film, and a reminder of how badly behind I am on Italian cinema. (not rated) 8/10 stars
(1973) The Belasco House, also known as Hell House, is a creepy gothic mansion supposedly haunted by ghosts - in particular the ghost of its owner, a sadistic serial killer. Previous groups of mediums and ghost hunters who've entered the home trying to debunk its ghostly heritage have ended up mad or missing or just plain dead ... making the legendary residence a most attractive challenge for physicist Lionel Barrett (Clive Revill), who along with his wife agrees to spend a week there as part of a team seeking to prove or disprove the mansion's grisly reputation once and for all. Roddy McDowall and especially Pamela Franklin as a pair of young psychic/mediums - along with Revill - add a lot to this spooky, slightly kinky ghost-fest, but while some scenes are downright under-the-skin creepy while others are just plain odd, the film builds up some good suspense before ultimately being a bit of a letdown in the end "when all is revealed". The brilliant horror writer Richard Matheson, who wrote the novel this film is based on, claims to have toned down the overtly sexual stuff for the screenplay in favor of a "brooding" atmosphere to the film, and it shows in what feels like a half-commitment to that part of the storyline, when the film might have been better served taking an "all or nothing" approach instead. Good, even a couple moments of greatness perhaps, but the 70's was a great decade for horror films that had some genuine skin-crawling creepiness to them - even those with the lowest of budgets - and for the most part Hell House falls a bit short by comparison. (rated PG) 6/10 stars
