Author Archives: Doc

Worth

Posted on by

Netflix debuted a new biopic this weekend starring Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci which dealt with the aftermath of the people who lost loved ones in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

Michael Keaton played Ken Feinberg, a Washington, D.C. lawyer, who was assigned by Congress to head the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and to ensure that the victims of the tragic events of 9-11 were taken care of monetarily. The biggest issue was trying to place a value, a worth on the lives lost on that terrible day. A formula was instituted to attempt to place a number on the human lives, a concept that did not set well with the families of those lost.

Spearheaded by community organizer Charles Wolf (Stanley Tucci), who lost his wife in the attack as well, many of the family members rejected Feinberg’s efforts and the formula he was pushing. Required to get 80% of the families to sign on to the plan, Feinberg, his firm’s head of operations, Camille Biros (Amy Ryan) and the rest of his team struggled to accomplish their task while trying to do what was right.

This felt very much like another Michael Keaton film, Spotlight, though the main topics could not be further apart. The film has a lot of different stories that felt very real. The recounts of the family members were one of the more powerful moments of the film.

We follow Feinstein as he desperately tried to do what he could do. By the time he finally accepted the fact that he needed to eliminate the formula, it was almost too late.

I love Michael Keaton. I have seen better performances from him. He is good here, but, to be honest, we spent a lot of time with Keaton hunched over and his head down. That was his go to move in this film. He was not as dynamic as he could have been. Now, that may have been a choice because of the real person that he was portraying, and, as I said, he was fine. When he finally made some adjustments, Feinberg became a better character.

The best part of the film was the stories and the side characters. There was an interesting story involving Karen Abate (Laura Benanti), a composite character of several different wives of firefighters who had given their lives on 9-11. He subplot was emotional and helped keep the power in the story.

With the anniversary of 9-11 coming up soon, Worth is a strong movie to help remember how that day affected the people of the country.

3.6 stars

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Posted on by

DailyView: Day 129, Movie 202

I chose Pan’s Labyrinth on Netflix to review today with the DailyView. Then, when I pulled it up, I realized that it was in Spanish and I would have to read the subtitles in order to watch it. I was not really in the mood to read my movie today so I was about to shut it off and look for something else. However, for some reason, I decided that I would go ahead and play Pan’s Labyrinth and read the subtitles after all.

Boy was that a great choice.

Pan’s Labyrinth, from director Guillermo del Toro, is a masterful fantasy movie that had all the elements of a fairy tale, but one made for adults. The film was graphically frightening at times, with some brutal violence to go along with the magical story.

Set in Spain during the last days of World War II, young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her pregnant and ailing mother Carmen  (Ariadna Gil) traveled to the post of Carmen’s new husband, the cruel Spanish captain Vidal (Sergi López), who was here to track down the rebels in the woods. Despite the dangers of traveling at this stage of her pregnancy, he wanted her to be with him before she gave birth to his son.

That night, a fairy approached Ofelia and led her to the faun Pan (Doug Jones), who told Ofelia that she was the daughter of the mystical realm’s king and that she needed to perform three dangerous missions if she wanted to take her place at her father’s side.

The film balances the beauty of the magical world and Ofelia’s efforts to perform her tasks with the the brutality and ugliness of the war and the cruelty of the Captain. While the fairy-tale world had a beauty, there was plenty of gross there too. It wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. It was more like giant, slobbering toads and child killing trolls with eyeballs in his hands.

Maribel Verdú played the character of Mercedes, a woman whose brother was among the resistance as she worked inside Captain Vidal’s camp. Much of the secondary story with Mercedes was extremely compelling and kept the real world in full view as these magical moments were going on.

The character design is brilliant and beautiful. The film did win Academy Awards in the areas of Art Direction, Cinematography and Makeup, and you can see why. The look of Pan’s Labyrinth is amazing and really holds up in today’s world.

I am so glad that I did not shy away from this master class in storytelling because I had to read some subtitles. Pan’s Labyrinth is an unbelievable accomplishment for Guillermo del Toro and everyone involved in the project. If you haven’t seen it, do it. Es una obra maestra. 







			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Single White Female (1992)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

DailyView:  Day 128, Movie 201





With the calendar flipping to September, the list of movies leaving HBO Max was refreshed and I can target some new films for the DailyView.  The first one that I picked off the list is Single White Female.  Probably did not make the best choice.





Allison Jones (Bridget Fonda) broke up with and kicked her lover Sam Rawson (Steven Weber) out of their apartment when she discovered that he had cheated on her with his ex-wife.  She needed to find a roommate and Hedra Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh) answered the ad.  Hedra revealed that she was a twin, whose sister died at childbirth.  She began to bond with Allison.  When Allison and Sam decided to get back together, Hedra began to lose her shit.





This falls into the category of films such as The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Sleeping with the Enemy, River Wild, Double Jeopardy, The Intruder, and a bunch of Tyler Perry movies.  Hedra comes in nice and loving, but she shows her real side as the film moves along.  And the real side is crazy.  Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.





This just becomes ridiculous.  So many dumb things happen only to be obstructed by the implausible things.  Honestly, as soon as Hedra turned her hair the same color and length as Allison, she would have been out on her ass.





There was nothing new here and nothing made sense.  These people were all just horrible characters that are anything but real.  





I feel like I am being too negative on this movie.  Still, I think it deserves the vitriol.   There are some good actors in Single White Female, but they do not seem to be doing much acting.  It is over-the-top and silly.











			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

I was always a fan of Shang-Chi, known as the Master of Kung Fu, in the comics, but it is clear that the character would require some loving care to transfer its troublesome background into the live action format of the MCU, not the least amount doing something with Shang-Chi’s father, the hugely racial stereotype Fu Manchu.  Marvel Studios took up that challenge and have created a movie that should do for Asian culture what Black Panther did for black culture.





Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a masterpiece as it seamlessly blended the Marvel franchise formula with plenty of parts that felt unlike any Marvel movie before it.  





Instead of Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi’s (Simu Liu) father is Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), the master of the mystical Ten Rings, the artifacts that the terrorist organization The Ten Rings, originally seen in the first Iron Man movie, use as control.  Though Xu Wenwu makes one reference to The Mandarin, the character that he is clearly based upon, he does not use that name, instead poo-pooing it as a name chosen by the idiot actor Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) used in Iron Man 3.





After the death of his mother Jiang Li (Fala Chen), Shang-Chi ran away from his father, to the United States, changing his name and living out his life.  Years living in San Francisco had seen Shang-Chi as a valet parking cars with his fellow under achieving best friend Katy (Awkwafina).  When Shang-Chi received a post card from his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), he began to believe she was in danger.  When he is attacked on a bus in San Fran, Shang-Chi was certain of it.





Shang-Chi and Katy headed to confront his father and find out exactly what he was planning to do.





There is so much to this movie.  It is one of the best origin stories Marvel has had in many years.  The film exists squarely in the MCU, but it also feels as if it is in its own universe.  The film does a masterful job of setting up the setting for the film and establishing the history and the rules of the locations.  





The martial arts scenes, in particular in the first half of the movie, are the best fight scenes in the MCU and has some of the greatest martial arts action in many years.  The fight on the bus, which you see some of in the trailer, is so amazing and breathtaking.  You see only the very slightest bit of that fight in the trailers.  Then, it gets topped by the fight in the scaffolding.  The fight choreography is superb and really carries the first part of the movie.  





The imagery is beautiful throughout the movie.   While the third act leans a little too much on the CGI spectacle, there is no denying that the look of these scenes are special.  It does an excellent job of highlighting Asian culture and history through several eras of the world.





The story of Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings was not what I expected it to be.  The relationship between Shang-Chi and Xu Wenwu was so different, so deeper than what the trailers led us to believe that it felt as if the family dynamic was to become a tragedy.  Xu Wenwu absolutely was more than just a villain.  He was a deeply flawed, complex character whose actions had reason to him.  





Flashbacks are used throughout the film to wonderfully deepen the connections between the characters, whether it be Shang-Chi and his parents, Xu Wenwu and Jiang Li or Shang Chi and his sister.  





Simu Liu is a star in the making.  He carried himself with such a gravitas that I would not have one bit of concern seeing him standing next to the powerhouses of the Avengers as this character progresses in the MCU.  Awkwafina is used in a perfect amount of moments, as she was funny and expressed what the audience was thinking many times.  She is given some very powerful moments during the film and does a lot to develop the character of Katy beyond just the comedic friend.





Ton Leung, one of the biggest stars of international movies (particularly China), is not as well known in the States, but his performance as the multi-dimensional Xu Wenwu is one of the best performances of the film.  He shows his conflict and his pain so well, along with his striving for power.  In the end, his goal is one that could be relatable for audiences even though his methods may not be.





Two post credit scenes and they are epic, especially the first one.  You may not understand what’s happening, but it is apparent that it has serious repercussions for the MCU.  





Great new hero.  Great supporting cast.  Amazing visuals and music.  Several surprise cameos that fit beautifully.  Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings feels like its own thing while perfectly fitting into the MCU proper.  This movie is a lot of fun and a thrilling action film with some of the best martial arts action in any MCU movie.  Shang-Chi is he best comic book movie of the year so far.  





5 stars 






			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Pay Day (1922)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

DailyView:  Day 127, Movie 200





Can’t sleep.





Tomorrow is also going to be very busy, packed full of things, including Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in IMAX.  So I decided that since I am not succeeding in going to bed, I may as well use my time wisely and get the 200th movie done for the DailyView.  That movie is the final two-reel short film for Charlie Chaplin, entitled Pay Day.





As for most of the other Chaplin films that I have watched during the DailyView, Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in the film.  He composed the music, which is of huge important in the silent film.  





Chaplin, in his typical Little Ramp garb is a laborer in a construction site.  After getting paid, Chaplin keeps some of the money from his wife so he could go out drinking.  He is able to return to his home just in time to act as if he had just woken up and to go to work.





Chaplin continued his mastery of the slapstick comedic form that he displayed in all of these movies.  There is a joke with an elevator at the work site that is pure wonder.





Edna Purviance appeared once again as Chaplin’s regular co-star.  Phyllis Allen played Chaplin’s wife.





These Chaplin films on HBO Max have been a godsend for me during the DailyView and, with just a few remaining ones left, I hope I can get by without them.





Now… off to be *fingers crossed*






			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Runaway (1984)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

DailyView:  Day 126, Movie 199





Tom Selleck was a huge star in the 1980s, a huge TV star, that is.  He tested for the role of Indiana Jones, but was locked in on his Magnum P.I. contract to take the role.  Instead, he wound up taking this role in the 1984 sci-fi/action film Runaway.  All’s well that ends well for Harrison Ford and the rest of us.  Maybe not so much for Tom.





Kiss bassist Gene Simmons starred opposite Selleck as the villain of the piece.  His name was Luther.  There was not much to him either.





In a futuristic society where robots did most of the common house chores and mundane work, Jack Ramsay (Selleck) was a police officer who specialized in stopping robots that were runaways.  One case found one of the robots was not a runaway, but had been tampered with to create a killer robot.  





There really is not a ton of sci-fi elements to Runaway, outside of the weaponry used by Luther and the box robots that rolled around the set.  Jack had a robot housekeeper called Lois, which was fun, very much like Alexa with wheels.





The film was surprisingly dull considering.  There were a few moments of intrigue but most of it was just a cliched cop drama with a few toys.





Selleck’s new partner was Thompson, played by Cynthia Rhodes.  Jack had a son named Bobby (Joey Cramer).  The scenes between Selleck and Cramer were cute, but fairly simple in depth.





This is not much of a film, feeling longer than the 100 minute run time.  






			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
What If…? s1 ep4


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

Spoilers for episode four of What If…?





“What If… Doctor Strange lost his Heart Instead of his Hands?“





Whoa.  Dark.





The first surprise was in the credits.  I was under the impression that Benedict Cumberbatch was not reprising the role of Doctor Stephen Strange for What If…? yet there his name was.  The fact that Marvel Studios have gotten as many of the original actors to come and do the voices for this animated series speaks highly of what these people think of their characters and of the studio itself.  





This Doctor Strange episode got really dark, really fast.  As in the other episodes of What If…?, something different happens in the familiar story to send the tale into a new path.  In this moment, the car crash that was meant to take away Strange’s hands cost him his love, Christine, voiced by Rachel McAdams.  Her repeated deaths in the opening act of the show was tough to watch.










What stood out in this episode was the beautiful animation and the imagery that they used to create the story.  The direction of this was amazing.  I spent the whole show looking at these wonderful shots that truly stood out.










The Watcher gets a little more screen time this week as Doctor Strange being able to sense the presence of the omniscient observer.  It gave Jeffrey Wright, who voices the Watcher, something more to do than just see what was happening.  Of course, he does not interfere in what is happening.  It is not time yet for him to get involved.  For those of us who are aware of Uatu the Watcher, we know it is just a matter of time before he does break his sacred oath and get involved in the events.  It is inevitable.  I think you will see Wright’s Watcher at some point in the live action MCU and not just the What If…? corner of it.










This episode takes the trope of the “evil twin” and put a spin on it.  The Doctor Strange vs. Doctor Strange battle in the show was very well done.  The whole episode dove into the darkness and did not spare anything.  Seeing Doctor Strange absorbing the power of all those monstrous creatures, including what looked to be the same tentacled creature from episode 1 that fought Captain Carter, was trippy.  










The music was epic as well.  In particular when the two Stranges are fighting each other, the music was just tremendous.  It was the perfect fit for the episode.





When I think back on the comic What If? that I read as a youth, the stories always seemed to end with a dark twist.  There were never a bunch of happy endings.  The fourth episode is the first that has really embraced that form of storytelling.  The ending of the story was downright sad and the show transmitted those feeling magnificently.  This was the most artistic of the episodes so far and brought the darkest of the multiverse to light.






			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

DailyView:  Day 125, Movie 198





So I went to Starz tonight for the DailyView and pulled a film from the mid 1980s called Peggy Sue Got Married.  It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, of which I had no idea.  It featured the acting skills of Nicolas Cage and Kathleen Turner, again, which I did not know.  It was a time travel-type film.  However, I have to say, I was not thrilled with the movie.  In fact, I would go as far as to say that I disliked the movie.





Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) went with her daughter (Helen Hunt) to her high school reunion despite recently separating from her husband Charlie (Nic Cage), whom she had been with since high school.  When she was announced as the queen of the reunion, she passed out.  When she awoke, she was back in time, just before her 18th birthday with all her memories and the baggage that she had.  





The performances were fine, but Nicolas Cage was using the strangest, most annoying voice and I did not understand why.  It made me not care about his character.  





Kathleen Turner was fine, but her character, Peggy Sue, was all over the place.  I had a difficult time following the swings her character was taking.  She was the most inconsistent character of the film.  I never got an idea of what she wanted and her motives and desires were a total mishmash. 





Some of the side characters are interesting, but underdeveloped.  We get a short look at a young Jim Carrey, but his role is basically nothing.  There is more to do for Barry Miller as Richard, as the only person Peggy Sue tells about the future.  Not much else happens with this pairing.  There is the inclusion in Kevin J. O’Connor as the mysterious Michael Fitzsimmons as a character that has zero reason for being included.





This was disappointing.  Rotten Tomatoes score was high, but Peggy Sue Got Married was not for me.






			

	
	



			
				


			
				


	
	

		
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2:  Freddy’s Revenge (1985)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

DailyView:  Day 124, Movie 197





I have said multiple times that I was never a fan of slasher movies so I rarely watched them when  I was younger.  So while I was aware of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of films, I have actually seen very few.  I have seen the original film and I have seen the Dream Warriors (Part 3).  Tonight I put on A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2:  Freddy’s Revenge.  The Rotten Tomatoes scores were pretty poor (critic 41%, audience 33%) and, because of that, my expectations were fairly low.





Freddy Krueger(Robert Englund) returned to Elm Street and possessed new student Jesse (Mark Patton) by haunting his dreams.  Freddy looked to use Jesse to be his anchor in the real world and to continue Freddy’s reign of terror.  





Okay, starting off, there was actually something among the premise of this movie that really worked.  The idea of Freddy Krueger tormenting the dreams of a young man in order to take control of his physical form is quite interesting.  The dynamics of the relationships and the potential for some deep character work is off the charts.   There are some themes hidden here that are intriguing, but not developed enough. 





Unfortunately, everything else here was below average to terrible.  The acting was atrocious.  What could have been a subtle and intense story of possession and mental illness was just over the top insanity and none of the actors invovled here were able to carry the potential of the premise.





Another issue was the dialogue.  It was bad.  It sounded like a middle school kid wrote it.  The weakness of the acting and the dialogue was too much to get past.  





The special effects were okay for a mid-1980s movie.  Unfortunately, there were not enough scares connected to the special effects.  In fact, there was one of the worst effects I think I have ever seen with an exploding parakeet.  The falling feathers was laughable.





Freddy’s Revenge had a chance to be more than what it was.  It was a chance that failed miserably.  






			

	
	



			
				


			
				


	
	

		
The Dirty Dozen (1967)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

DailyView:  Day 123, Movie 196





The Suicide Squad of the sixties?  The concept of the Suicide Squad is very much that of the war film that will be the DailyView for today, The Dirty Dozen.  





A group of murdering and criminal soldiers, awaiting or serving their punishment in prison, are brought together to become a special forces unit during World War II with the promise that any who may survive would see a reduction in their sentence.  Under the command of Major Reisman (Lee Marvin), the group of ragtag soldiers were trained and sent on a dangerous mission.





The Dirty Dozen has a huge ensemble cast.  Including Lee Marvin, the film features Donald Sutherland, Telly Salavas, Ernest Borgninie, Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Robert Webber, Clint Walker, Al Mancini, Ben Carruthers, and Richard Jaeckel.





We get a look at the main members of the group during the training, going from a group looking out for number one to a group of “we.”  Still, the crew is filled with so many reprobates that you are never sure when their true natures may surface.  





Telly Salavas, in particular, is one of the most off-balanced characters of the movie.  Named Archer Maggott, he was a religious zealot from the South who had troubles with Jim Brown’s Robert Jefferson.  Though never quite a part of the group, Maggott did enough to make you think he might be willing to work with the Dozen.  His uncertainty keeps the action suspenseful.





Speaking of suspenseful, the final act is just filled with it.  The raid on the German meeting is intense and dramatics, with plenty of twists and turns.





The Dirty Dozen is considered a classic of cinema and you can tell why.  A stressful story, strong performances and exciting action caps a very entertaining movie.






			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

Checking in on Netflix tonight to see if they had anything new thins week turned out to be a happy, little accident.  There was a documentary of EYG Hall of Famer, painter Bob Ross.  I’ve always liked Bob Ross so I thought this was a neat documentary to watch tonight.  Little did I know that there would be such a darkness found within the story of one of the most gentle and caring souls.





Bob Ross spent many years teaching, inspiring the world to paint.  He painted on PBS’s classic show Joy of Painting and he became an icon with a giant afro.  





Ross’s son Steven spends a good amount of time being interviewed about his father’s life, but the documentary takes a turn after Bob discovered he had cancer.  The time after Bob Ross’s death made for a true sad tale.  





Our documentary sets up some villains to the story, the Kowalskis, Annette and Walt.  In a way, the doc made me think about The Tiger King in the way it showed Carol Baskins as such a potentially horrible person.  Annette Kowalski was Bob Ross’s long time partner in his business, but after Bob’s death, there was a major legal battle over the Bob Ross name, I.P., and rights to his programs with the Kowalskis’ company, Bob Ross, Inc doing most of the suing.





It’s such a sad story considering what a wonderful and kind-hearted man Bob Ross was.  The first half of the documentary focused on Bob’s background and his life story, especially his love of painting and how he wound up being world renowned with his happy little trees.  The first sign of trouble in the doc was went it was suggested that Bob and Annette Kowalski had had an affair, something that Annette has refuted.





The documentary made it clear to the viewers that several people that had been lined up to be interviewed for the film had changed their minds in fear of being sued by the Kowalskis.  





This is a decent documentary and any fan of Bob Ross should seek it out on Netflix.  Reportedly, there had been several challenges to releasing the documentary.  It is worth watching.





3.9 stars 

			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

DailyView:  Day 122, Movie 195





This movie proves that, no matter how many times it happens, seeing someone getting struck in the groin is funny.  Every time.  





Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story was not a movie I expected to enjoy.  I usually tie Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller into the group of comedians that I do not like (such as Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell etc.).  However, I have like a few of Vaughn films during the DailyView, and Stiller has some that I like too (especially Mystery Men) so maybe I should not have categorized this film the way I did.





Dodgeball is a stupid movie.  No way around it.  But it was stupid funny.  It is silly, fun, entertaining and downright ridiculous.  





Yes, it is predictable.  The story is pretty basic.  There are a couple of things that happen that are stretching credibility remarkably thin.  But the biggest rule in comedy movies is, it doesn’t matter how stupid a movie is, as long as it is funny.  And this film is very funny.





It takes some time to develop this group of losers playing dodgeball to try and save their small, failing gym, Average Joe’s, from being taken over by the mega gym Globo Gym, run by White Goodman (Ben Stiller).  The $50,000 prize money for the national dodgeball tournament would help save the day.  It is just, the team fielded by Average Joe’s is les than inspiring.





There are some epic cameos in this movie, from William Shatner to Chuck Norris.  





The cast is filled with some solid character actors including Justin Long, Alan Tudyk, Rip Torn, Stephen Root, Chris Williams, Gary Cole, Hank Azaria, Christine Taylor and Missi Pyle.  The standout of them all was the Dodgeball tournament color commentator, Pepper Brooks, played with an amazing insanity by Jason Bateman.





The film is quickly paced at just over 90 minutes, but every minute is worthwhile.  There is a post credit scene with Ben Stiller that can must be seen to be believed.





Likable characters and funny writing, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is a real surprise for me.






			

	
	



			
				


	
	

		
Candyman (2021)


				

			Posted on  by 		

			


		

		

The second new horror movie I saw today was the bigger of the two films.  It is the continuing story (or sequel, if you must) of Candyman, from director Nia DaCosta and screenwriter Jordan Peele among others.





In 1992, the first Candyman movie was released and it was a solid horror film featuring a story that really plays into this new film.  In this movie, Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his partner Brianna (Teyonah Parris) moved into recently gentrified Cabrini, on the site where the old Cabrini Towers (from the first movie) once stood.  Anthony was an artist looking for a new inspiration when he comes across long time resident William Burke (Colman Domingo), who revealed the story of the first movie and of Candyman.  





With his creative juices now flowing from the tales of the past, Anthony created an art exhibit of his work called “Say My Name” which triggered a return of the hook-handed Candyman (including several appearances by Tony Todd).  





The film starts as a slow burn, building tension and character.  They used this technique of shadow puppets to do some of the exposition which I thought was absolutely brilliant.  It created a very ominous mood and kept the audience off-balance with the animation.  I really liked that technique.





As the film reaches the second and third act, it becomes very brutal and more graphically bloody and gory than I expected.  The Candyman kills are decent.  It is especially well shot as the victims can not see Candyman outside of the mirror in which they have just summoned them.  Again, it is a very cinematically shot film.





Let me address the controversy that seems to be blowing up over social media and on the internet.  There has been some shouts from those people who do such things that the new Candyman movie is “woke” or too much “SJW” and embrace the ideals of BLM.  I really hate the term “woke” because it is such a ridiculous term.  What does it even mean?  Doesn’t it mean we give opportunities to people of all races and backgrounds?  That we do not turn our attention away from the prejudice and racism in our society?  I don’t understand why that would be a considered bad thing.  There are screams of this film having an agenda and pushing their political beliefs.  To that I say that all movies have an agenda and plenty of them have political concepts, including the original Candyman.   Yes, there are themes of racial conflict in Candyman and, perhaps it could have been more subtle in its execution, but these are important ideas and there is nothing wrong with them.   I never once felt preached to during Candyman and some people are just looking for something to argue about.





This film does set up for future installments.  I do believe I liked the original more, but the “spiritual sequel” is solid piece of entertainment with a strong message.





3.8 stars