MOVIE REVIEWS - In Theaters Now

The prime movie season is here now, and the movies are coming out fast and we will keep up.


Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Real quick here.  Reviewing Star Wars is almost futile. Fans of this franchise simply love every frame of this series, and this movie before ever seeing it.  And if you're a fan of this, you will love this.

There is lots to like here, and it's a visual feast for sure.  But this is a bit lengthy at 2 hours 20.  And to me, as I am not a super fan of this series, many of these are now really looking much the same.  What this is, is simply another Star Wars flick, and not a terribly great  - movie.  But many times franchises as large as this are compared against each other and not other movies.  So it's a solid Star Wars movie.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  Solid, entertaining, and a favorite for its fans.


Jumangi

It would be very tough to release a movie that is better timed in its release than this one.  Jumangi is the continuation of sorts of the 1996 original and it is updated very nicely for the new century and more up to date movie making.  This stars, The Rock, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and a really nice supporting cast, that is well casted and flat out funny.

This time, our heroes go inside the game of Jumangi instead of the game coming to them.  The effects are fun, the script is very solid and the imagination here is really the star.  It would have been very easy to make the same movie over again, but they did not.  This does a great job of tipping the cap to the original and just keeping the fun going.

Many people may wonder why this has been rebooted, and the answer is clear.  This is funny, entertaining and virtually good for everyone to see.  This by the numbers will be no Star Wars, but this will be the family fun movie of the Christmas season.

Jumangi.  Flat out fun. Well done!


The Shape Of Water

This is nominated for a ton of Golden Globes and there is a lot to like here.  This movie has a huge check in the positive category.  It is an original. A story you have not seen told this way before. Although this borrows a few "feels" from some classic stories, TSOW, is an original.

It takes place in 1962 in Cold War America, Baltimore being precise.  The US Government has captured a "swamp type creature" in the Amazon, and brought him to America.  Many think he could provide keys to winning the space race with the Soviet Union, as he possesses many incredible traits.  Problem is, he's a creature, and there are those that want to kill him and examine him.  All except a young, lonely, pretty, and mute woman, Elisa.  She is on the cleaning crew.

She falls in love with the creature, and he with her.  And you can take it from there.  The question is, can he be saved, and can they be "together" forever?  There are moments this is really nice, and exciting, and there are moments this is really  - weird!  This overall looks great and takes you back to 1962 very well, and is very original.

The Shape Of Water.  An acquired taste.


3 Billboards Outside Of Ebbing, Missouri

This is in very limited release, and should not be missed. This small, independent movie is a remarkable story of a woman in small town Missouri, who takes out a blatant billboard campaign against the local sheriff who has not found her young daughters murderer in over a year.

This is a hard R rated movie, and should be. A GREAT cast of Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell, bring this highly original story to life.  This is gritty, powerful and extremely well acted and directed.  This is tough to watch sometimes, as there is a fair amount of direct violence, but is is central to the story.  This is Fargo like in its feel and in it's timely dark comedic moments. 

And this is very, very good.

 scott@wqmx.com