Drew Goddard co-wrote and directed the movie Cabin in the Woods, which was one of my favorite movies of that year.  When I heard that he was writing and directing the new film, Bad Times at the El Royale, I was excited and was looking forward to it.

I was not disappointed.

I was completely engaged with the story being told in Bad Times at the El Royale as well as the manner in which it was told.

Now the story was fairly complex as it involved a group of unlikely characters arriving at the hotel named El Royale, which was found directly on the border between California and Nevada, with motives of their own and a ton of secrets.

The acting is unbelievable in this movie.  Jeff Bridges is given the deepest, most interesting character on the page and he brings it big time.  Jon Hamm is great as Laramie Seymour Sullivan who is not quite what you expect.  Chris Hemsworth is fantastic in a menacing role that is different than anything else he has ever done.  Lewis Pullman shows all kinds of soul to the seemingly only staff member at the hotel.  Dakota Johnson whose character is deeper than it appears.

However, there is no doubt who steals this movie.  Cynthia Erivo has a star making performance as Darlene Sweet, a singer who has come to the El Royale the night before she is scheduled to perform at a club in Reno.  Erivo is a well respected stage actor and she has a Daytime Emmy Award, but this is one of the biggest performances on the big screen you are going to get.  Her vocal performance alone is mesmerizing.  The connections she makes with Jeff Bridges are some of the best moments in the script.

The film has a feel of a Tarantino movie, in both structure and development.  I felt as if I were watching Pulp Fiction.  That is a high complement.

Another thing that made me think about Pulp Fiction was how every question brought up by the film is not answered.  I understand that will probably upset some people (like those people who felt as if LOST needed to answer more than it did) but I like that.  There is one plot specifically involving a film recording that might make some people crazy.

The only issue I had with the film was it did drag a little early as things were being set up and it could have been a little long.  However, the third act was as good of a third act as you are going to get and it was completely original.

I was thoroughly entertained watching Bad Times at the El Royale and I think it is one of the best films of the year.  It was full of great acting, great storytelling and some of the best looking shots you are going to find.  The mystery of the story is compelling and engaging.  Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo do some of their best work, which is saying something.  Chris Hemsworth makes one of the best villains of the year.

Bad Times is full of Great Times.

4.85 stars

The brand new Comedy Central made-for-TV Halloween movie, Goose… What?  What do you mean this is not a made-for-TV movie?  Wide release in theaters?  You’re kidding me!

The quickly released sequel (sort of) to the fairly entertaining Jack Black film Goosebumps is nowhere near as good as that 2015 film.

A new group of characters come across one of R.L. Stein’s (Jack Black) unwritten books and accidentally release the evil ventriloquist dummy, Slappy (voiced by Jack Black as well) who is looking for a family.  When that doesn’t work for him, he decides to make his own family by causing havoc with his own monsters.

Jeremy Ray Taylor from last year’s huge hit It plays Sonny and Caleel Harris plays Sam.  These two kids are running their own junk salvage business and wind up going through one of R.L. Stein’s old houses.

I really did not like this movie much.  I have heard a lot of online critics say that they did not hate the movie, but did not like it much.  They all had what felt like excuses.  I’m not making any.  I disliked this a lot.

To say this felt like a TV movie would be an understatement.  The production, the script, the acting all felt like it fit better on the small screen than the big one.  The CGI looked cheap.  The story beats were boring and unoriginal.  None of the kids were bad actors, but none of them stood out at all either.  The humor did not work.  I found it a really poor theater experience.

I did actually like what was done with the character of R.L. Stein.  No spoilers, but I liked how that played out.

I think that a young child, around 10 or so, might find this to be somewhat entertaining, but, as an adult, it was work.

1.9 stars

Damien Chazelle is now three for three.

Director Chazelle’s first film was Whiplash, which was tremendous.  His second film was La La Land, which was critically acclaimed (while I found it okay) and brought him an Oscar.  Now, Chazelle has his trifecta with the story of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.

First Man tells the intensely personal story of Neil Armstrong and his losses and sacrifices during his life that led him to being the first man to step foot on the powdery surface of the moon.  The film goes from 1961 to 1969 and focuses on the man more than it does the moment.

And the film really started with a gut punch that I did not know was coming.  Of course, I knew who Neil Armstrong was, but I will admit to not knowing that much about him.  This biopic dove into details that place the American hero into a brand new perspective.  Armstrong’s family suffered a tragedy at the beginning of the film that, apparently, taints everything that happens after it.

Ryan Gosling played Neil Armstrong and, to be honest, I found the character to be quite a jerk.  He was withdrawn and isolated, even from those who loved him the most.  However, we also see how brilliant of an astronaut he was as the film showed us several instances where his skills were the only reason he and the other crew members he was with got out of those situations alive.

Claire Foy is brilliant as Armstrong’s wife, Janet.  She brought the humanity to the film and demanded that her husband be more than just the walking zombie that he appeared to be.  Foy’s performance was powerful and fit perfectly into the narrative.

One of the things I noticed was that Chazelle gave us some great shots throughout the film.  I would stop and marvel at several of these visual imagery on the screen and I was really impressed with the eye of the director.  There was one moment where Gosling’s eyes kind of melded into the darkness of space, but still stood out in the shot and it was amazing.

My only criticism is a personal one as well.  Some of the scenes in the shuttles were difficult to watch because of the drastic spinning.  I am sure this was a choice made that was intended to make the audience uncomfortable to increase the tension but I did not like them.  There were several moments where I had to turn away to maintain my own balance.  I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who really had trouble with motion.  At times, it reminded me about how I felt while watching Dunkirk, which attacked me physically and made the viewing unlikable for me.  This was not at that level, but there were definitely moments that caused distress.

There were times where First man felt a little slow, but that is not a bad thing.  It is a character study on Neil Armstrong and the events of his life that led him to become a myth.  We see in First Man that the myth has some reality hidden in it.

4.6 stars

This is the fourth feature adaptation of the story of A Star is Born and there is a reason why they continue to remake this film.  The movie is a classic.

Actor Bradley Cooper makes his feature film directorial debut with the remake, and he does an admirable job as director.  It cannot be easy to choose something so well known as your first directorial job, and then to be the lead actor as well can only make that even more difficult.  Cooper does a remarkable job considering all of the challenges he could have faced.

However, it was not just as a director that Cooper shined.  Playing the lead role of Jackson Maine, Cooper knocked it out of the park, practically making himself one of the leading candidates for an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

The story is familiar and this version does not detour from it in any real substantial manner.  Cooper plays Jackson Maine, a rock singer and kick ass guitarist who is on the edge of a downward path of his career.  He meets Ally (Lady Gaga), a young and shy singer.songwriter with a powerful voice, and he help introduce her to the world of super stardom.  The two of them fall in love, but the celebrity of Maine brings with it pitfalls galore that he has to try to overcome and that make their love story harrowing.

Cooper is tremendous, but so is Lady Gaga.  She is exceptional in the role of Ally.  She brings so much soul and heart to the role that a lot of seasoned actresses would be unable to accomplish what she did.  I have heard some criticisms that Cooper “tailor-made” the role for Lady Gaga and focused on her strengths and that seems to be a reason some people are downgrading her performance.  That is an obnoxious comment, as if actors and actresses aren’t having their strengths targeted by directors in every movie.  The attempt to belittle the achievement of Lady Gaga is unnecessary and borders on misogynistic.

The music in A Star is Born is unbelievable, and not just the Lady Gaga songs.  Sure, Lady Gaga is one of the best vocal performers in the entertainment biz today, but who knew that Bradley Cooper was as awesome as he turned out to be.  The first song performed by Cooper, “Black Eyes,” was a rocking smash.  There are so many emotional hits and rocking good times on the soundtrack that it is one that I am going to be looking into on iTunes.

Some of the side characters had amazing performances as well.  In particular, Sam Elliott, who plays Jack’s older brother, is just out of the world.  Sure, Sam Elliott is always great, but this is next level work.  Every second he is on the screen, Elliott is breathtaking.  Andrew Dice Clay plays Ally’s father and he is amazing here as well.  I did not expect to see Clay be such a transcendent figure in the film, despite his smart part.  David Chappelle makes a small, but memorable role as one of Jack’s old friends.  I do have to say that Chappelle’s part just kind of came out of nowhere, but that is a minor gripe as he was great when he was on screen.

The story itself is an emotional one, and will definitely require tissues before it is over.  There are amazing moments of joy and other moments of heartbreak as well, as Jack deals with his addictions and Ally deals with her new found fame.

The one problem is that the story is a bit predictable.  It follows a formulaic pattern and it does not deviate from those beats much at all.  Since it is the fourth version of basically the same story, I can see where some people might not be surprised with the events that happen in the film.

There are also some pacing issues and, because of this, the film does feel a little long.  However, the amazing chemistry between Cooper and Lady Gaga helps to push those issues to the side.

A Star is Born has been remade four times, once in 1937, 1954, 1976 and now in 2018.  This new version works on a ton of levels and should be one of the big Oscar nominated films for this year.  The film is carried by two powerhouse performances by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, whose seamless chemistry makes even the doubters change their tune.  It is a great movie and a remarkably entertaining time at the movies.

4.5 stars

Well, it is not as bad as I have heard, but it is nowhere as good as it could have been.

Sony Picture’s Venom arrived in the theaters with some big time baggage from negative reviews on Twitter and the internet, and I can certainly see why some people would not like Venom.  I am not going to claim that I loved this movie either.  In fact, it might be one of those that gets worse the more I think about it, but my initial thoughts were that it was okay, but no great.

Tom Hardy plays down on his luck reporter Eddie Brock, who loses his job and his fiance after an ill-advised interview with the crooked head of Life Corporation Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed).  Brock’s life takes a strange turn when he bonds with one of the alien symbiotes that the Life corporation were studying and they become Venom.

The tone of this movie was unexpected.  It was really more of a buddy comedy than it was a horror film, which was what I had expected.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I am afraid most of the jokes did not hit for me.

Hampering the jokes even more was the horrid dialogue that was tearing down this script.  There were laughable lines, but not laughable in the funny way.  More like the “turd in the wind” way.

I will say that, despite its early flaws, I was having a decent time watching Venom for the first part of the film.  However, the third act, in particular, went down hill fast and hard and really wasted the good will that I had built up.  The third act felt totally rushed.  It was nothing more than a sloppy CGI fest between Venom and Riot that was not fun to watch and had little to no stakes. The film tried to pretend it had stakes, but it was absolutely just pretending.

Tom Hardy was fine as Eddie Brock, though he did seem kind of whiny at times.  His physicality of the role was solid and I did like the interactions between Brock and Venom, despite the lackluster dialogue.  There were some really good action sequences in the film, one in an office building and the one where Eddie fights in his apartment.  There is a poor car/motorcycle chase scene though that was overlong and was peppered with too many unneeded explosions.

Riz Ahmed was a terrible villain, stereotypical and rather boring.  Ahmed is way too good of an actor to be placed in a role with so little development.  Michelle Williams is also in this movie.  She played the worst female character in a comic book movie in a long time.  She too is too good of an actor to have this material given to her.  I did not believe for one moment in the relationship with her and Eddie.  I was actually more interested in her relationship with good guy Dr. Dan Lewis (Reid Scott).

I did not mind the origin of this version of Venom sans Spider-man as it seemed at first that Carlton Drake would take that role.  However, the film did seem like it was missing something for Venom, a counter balance to him that is perfectly provided by Spider-man.  And while it might not be fair to say this, I do think this would have been a stronger movie had Spider-man made an appearance and was tied into Venom’s world.

There is really only one post credit scene, as we see the world’s worst wig.  At the end of the credits, though, they show an extended clip from Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse animated film that is coming out in December, starring Miles Morales, and it looked absolutely amazing.  Watching that clip, I had a serious sense of wonder that was lacking from Venom.  I did leave the theater with a happier feel than I did after Venom was over, so there is that.

Venom has its moments where the film was enjoyable, but, unfortunately, there were more scenes where it was pretty dumb.  The dialogue was terrible.  There were too many talented actors that was not provided a sufficiently weighty role.  The third act took the film, that was hanging on by a thread, well off the rails and rushed through to an unearned conclusion.  Tom Hardy was good though and there were some good moments (though too many of the best scenes were in the trailer).

This Venom was better than the Topher Grace version, but not by much.

2.75 stars