Director Christopher Nolan gets a lot of praise for his movies, some of it warranted. As decent as some of his directed movies have been, I have been slow to get on the bandwagon. I do believe his movies have flaws. But this is terrific!
Dunkirk is based on the true story of the 400,000 trapped British and French troops in Dunkirk in the dark days of WWII. The Nazi's had them pinned in with no way home, and sitting ducks on the beach. Then "home" came to rescue them. This is a tough story to watch sometimes as little went well there for the Allies, but this is a remarkable story told very well here.
Nolan's movies for me, have always have a flaw or two that are big. They have all been way, way too long, and many of them infused with him being far to infused into the movie. Most of his flicks check in at almost 3 hours, and just need less of "him" and more of "them" (the people in the movie).
Dunkirk is under two hours and the star of this movie is - the movie! This incredibly written story, (that Nolan wrote) is told exrtremely well through action, with little emphasis on dialogue. There is not a lot of character development, and needless side plots. And this doesn't smack of "I'm the smartest guy in the room" vibe.
This is filmed brilliantly, and acted same. The editing is amazing and we, and Nolan, can sit back and watch the movie itself tell its important story as if we are really there. This is exciting, suspenseful, and told as simply as it can, and as it should be. This is important stuff here, and the respect shown to the participants is really on full display. Adapted well, written well, and directed with a restrained skill and sharp editing blade, not generally displayed in Nolan films.
Dunkirk. Will get some Oscar buzz, and will be one of the best movies of the entire year. Just flat out great!
Friday, July 21, 2017
Saturday, July 8, 2017
MOVIE REVIEWS - In Theaters Now
Baby Driver
This us terrific! A great cast led by Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, John Hamm, Ansel Elgort, and Lily James. This gets a ton of originality points with me.
It's the story of Baby, (Elgort) a young hot shot getaway driver with a small group of big time bank robbers. Baby has a back story that is interesting and and original. He falls in love with Deborah, (James) and decides he wants out of the crime business. But his boss (Spacey) feels differently.
This is fun, fast, well paced and a story you have not seen before, with original characters and good performances. HUGE kudos to Lily James, she is amazing as the reluctant love interest and is a very nice break from the fast pace of the much of this movie.
Baby Driver - Flat out good!
The Beguiled
This should have been much better than it is, and that's a shame. All the parts were assembled together for this to be really strong. Adapted by Sophia Coppola, and starring Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell.
National critics are loving this, but the public is not. It's the story taking place in 1864 Virginia. A school for woman takes in a wounded Northern soldier (Farrell) in the waning days of the Civil War. He is badly injured and they bring him back to health, even though the are Southern Loyalists. Then the problems begin. They have not seen a man in years, and he a dishonest guy with ideas about how he can "benefit" from being locked up with many lonely women. How do they take revenge? Or deal with him?
This lacks teeth. Yes, there is some nice acting, and some twists that are interesting, but this lacks a any real direction, and there is really no strong end payoff. This could have been way more compelling and way more scary, but this just comes up as a movie packaged way better than produced.
The Beguiled - disappointing.
The House
Will Farrell and Amy Poehler can be funny people, or maybe used to be funny people. But quite frankly, I feel they are just out of ideas and have been for a while.
I am sure you know the premise here, and if you've seen the trailer, there is no real reason to see the movie. You have seen all of it. There is not one thing here that is new, original, and the laughs are few.
The House - Huge flop and flat out bad.
scott@wqmx.com
This us terrific! A great cast led by Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, John Hamm, Ansel Elgort, and Lily James. This gets a ton of originality points with me.
It's the story of Baby, (Elgort) a young hot shot getaway driver with a small group of big time bank robbers. Baby has a back story that is interesting and and original. He falls in love with Deborah, (James) and decides he wants out of the crime business. But his boss (Spacey) feels differently.
This is fun, fast, well paced and a story you have not seen before, with original characters and good performances. HUGE kudos to Lily James, she is amazing as the reluctant love interest and is a very nice break from the fast pace of the much of this movie.
Baby Driver - Flat out good!
The Beguiled
This should have been much better than it is, and that's a shame. All the parts were assembled together for this to be really strong. Adapted by Sophia Coppola, and starring Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell.
National critics are loving this, but the public is not. It's the story taking place in 1864 Virginia. A school for woman takes in a wounded Northern soldier (Farrell) in the waning days of the Civil War. He is badly injured and they bring him back to health, even though the are Southern Loyalists. Then the problems begin. They have not seen a man in years, and he a dishonest guy with ideas about how he can "benefit" from being locked up with many lonely women. How do they take revenge? Or deal with him?
This lacks teeth. Yes, there is some nice acting, and some twists that are interesting, but this lacks a any real direction, and there is really no strong end payoff. This could have been way more compelling and way more scary, but this just comes up as a movie packaged way better than produced.
The Beguiled - disappointing.
The House
Will Farrell and Amy Poehler can be funny people, or maybe used to be funny people. But quite frankly, I feel they are just out of ideas and have been for a while.
I am sure you know the premise here, and if you've seen the trailer, there is no real reason to see the movie. You have seen all of it. There is not one thing here that is new, original, and the laughs are few.
The House - Huge flop and flat out bad.
scott@wqmx.com
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