Wednesday, February 24, 2021
The Mauritanian
See one man’s story about his years of imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp after 9/11. Tahar Rahim plays the detainee. Jodie Foster & Shailene Woolley are on his defense team & Benedict Cumberbatch is the military prosecutor. See the behind the scenes at GTMO & the government coverup red tape. The acting is superb & powerful in this emotional true story about the pursuit of freedom & justice that tests one man’s faith. Stay to the end for summaries & some real life footage.
Alien gives it 3½ “Guantanamo Diary” stars out of 4.
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Safer at Home
It’s “Songbird” meets “Unfriended: Dark Web” when 7 friends celebrate a birthday party via zoom during a pandemic lockdown. After they all take “molly” & begin their game night activities, things start to go wrong, disagreements & arguments flare, an accident happens, & bad only goes to worse as the night rolls on.
It’s interesting how this movie about a pandemic shot during a pandemic was filmed with split screens to carry all of the action. This plot may take you for a few unexpected twists & turns before it gets to the end.
Alien gives it 2½ “breaking curfew” stars out of 4.
Crisis
The lives of an undercover drug enforcement agent (Arnie Hammer), a tenured professor (Gary Oldman), & a soccer student’s mom (Evangeline Lily) come under great stress in this suspenseful drug trafficking tale. See how their stories intertwine & involve Armenians, Canadians, big pharma, a university, & a trail of dead bodies. Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans, & Lily-Rose Depp are among the supporting cast. Besides the obvious drug use dilemma, the film also points out issues with the large pharmaceutical companies as well as the university tenure & funding systems. Caught between a rock & a hard place, these three people struggle with doing the right thing.
Alien gives it 3½ “the next miracle drug” stars out of 4.
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Blithe Spirit
Facing writers block, novelist/screenwriter Charles (Dan Stevens) seeks inspiration from a spiritualist medium Madame Arcati (Judi Dench). However, during the séance, the spirit of Charles’ deceased first wife Elvira (Leslie Mann) is accidentally summoned. Hence, comedy ensues as Charles is the only one who can see his ghostly ex. Ruth (Isla Fisher) is the current wife caught in this eerie love triangle involving jealousy & revenge. This film is a remake of a 1945 film which was based on Noël Coward’s 1941 play. While entertaining & amusing enough, the humor & wit those times probably won’t hold up to today’s expectations.
Alien gives it 2 “Hell knows no fury like a woman’s scorn” stars out of 4.
A spiritualist medium holds a séance for a writer suffering from writers block but accidentally summons the spirit of his deceased first wife which leads to an increasingly complex love triangle with his current wife of five years.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Minari
Jacob & Monica (Stephen Yuen & Yeri Han) are Korean immigrants who are moving from California to Arkansas to start over. They have 2 young children, Anne & David who has an health issue. These parents work as chicken sex-ers so Jacob can fulfill his dream of a better life through farming. However, this new path is a hard struggle & leads to the couple constantly fighting. They arrange for her elderly mom (Yuh-Jung Youn) to come stay with them to help with the kids. This is a touching & moving story characterizing the American dream of finding success in a new land. This story is based on the real life experience of the director (Lee Issac Chung). The actors are terrific as the family you want to care about & root for. Prepare to read some subtitles translating the Korean dialogue parts.
Alien gives it 3½ “waterdropwort” stars out of 4.
Tuesday, February 09, 2021
To All the Boys: Always & Forever
Apparently, this is the third & final chapter of the Lara Jean Covey & Peter Kavinsky teenage love story. This one is all about college acceptance, the senior trip, prom, graduation, & a wedding amidst teenage passion & heartbreak for those who love tear jerking teen drama romance. Is this the end of LJ & Peter?
Alien gives it 3 “choices & decisions” stars out of 4.
Sunday, February 07, 2021
Leona
In Mexico City, young Jewish muralist, Ariela, falls in love outside of her faith in this coming of age story. This one is about forbidden love, family, religion, dating, passion, & heartbreak. It is about making hard decisions & the consequences. Spoken in Spanish with English subtitles.
Alien gives it 3 “lioness namesake” stars out of 4.
Thursday, February 04, 2021
Judas and the Black Messiah
In Judas & the Black Messiah or How I Became a Snitch for the FBI, LaKeith Stanfield & Daniel Kaluuya are excellent in their portrayals of Bill O’Neal (coerced informant) & Fred Hampton (charismatic Black Panther leader). This is a powerful film depicting civil unrest in 1968 Chicago as told thru the Black perspective. Martin Sheen has a small role as J. Edgar Hoover. Documentary footage & character summaries of these real life people appear at the end of the film.
Alien gives it 3½ “I️ am a revolutionary” stars out of 4.
Tuesday, February 02, 2021
Bliss
Recently divorced Greg (Owen Wilson) appears to be having a bad day at the office after an unfortunate work incident. Enter Isabel (Salma Hayek), a mysterious woman who he meets in a bar. From there, the story becomes more & more bizarre as Isabel tries to convince Greg that they are living in a simulation & they need to return to their actual reality. It’s a mind bending experience as the audience tries to comprehend what is really happening. This may be too strange & weird for some people. Is it a fun sci-fi fantasy adventure or a twisted psychology journey of a delusional man? Will you find it brilliant or disappointing? Look for a cameo from Bill Nye the science guy.
Alien gives it 2½ “brain box” stars out of 4.
