Netflix continues to release content on a regular basis and it is difficult to keep up with it.  So, while waiting for The Irishman, I watched Between Two Ferns: The Movie, a mockumentary about a local public access show hosted by Zach Galifianakis.  The idea came originally from Zach Galifianakis uploading some shorts to Funny or Die.

The film has some laughs to it, that is sure.  However, the problem to this movie is clear.  Trying to stretch a short comedic bit into a feature length movie is usually a bad idea, and this is no exception.  The concept is strained and gets old quickly.

There are a lot of celebrities involved here.  Will Farrell is here, and I never liked him.  His performance here makes me dislike him even more.  I enjoyed the bit with David Letterman as his dry wit really helped to make this feel more important.

There is a mean spiritedness to the film that gets old after awhile.

The list of the celebs involved in the film is quite impressive.

In the end, I just did not enjoy the film that much.  There are some laughs but there are many more that fall flat.  This should stick to short bits.

2 stars 

There are good and bad things about 21 Bridges.

One major good thing… Chadwick Boseman is a star.  He is the lead of this movie and you can see the confidence and the energy he brings.  Boseman is one of the young guns in movies today.

The bad things… most of the rest.

Chadwick Boseman is brought in to capture or kill two cop killers loose in Manhattan.  After they lock down the island, he realizes that there is more to this story than he has seen.

The film is obvious.  Predictable as can be.  Every twist was painfully obvious and were absolutely no surprise.  J.K. Simmons was underused.

In the end, I do not have much more to say.  Chadwick Boseman deserves more than this.

2 stars

I have had few emotional responses to movies like I had with last year’s documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” about the American icon Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.  It was not like I was a huge Mr. Rogers fan either.  I watched it, but I was much more of an Electric Company guy (with Spider-man) and a Sesame Street fan (for the Muppets).  So the tears at that documentary was a major surprise.

Hearing that they were doing a Mr. Rogers biopic starring Tom Hanks made me very happy and I anticipated more emotions.

There were some differences for this film.  First, it actually was not a biopic about Mr. Rogers.  Fred Rogers was really a supporting player in a story about a reporter for Esquire magazine Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) who had been assigned to write a puff piece on Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks).  Lloyd and his family dynamic was the emphasis of the movie and Mr. Rogers played a part.  This was inspired by a true story and was based on the book, “Can You Say…Hero.”

Then, while this movie did have some good emotional feels to it, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood did not have the wallop that the documentary had.

That is not saying that this movie was bad because I enjoyed it a great deal.  It just felt as if the advertising made this out to be a Mr. Rogers movie where the main focus was on Lloyd.

Lloyd had all kinds of problems in his life including dealing with a new baby, an estranged father who had returned into his life, and an editor who gave him the interview with Fred Rogers because no one else on the list would agree to talk to him.  His reputation for hatchet jobs was becoming known and Lloyd went into his interview with Mr. Rogers with the idea of finding if he was “real” or not.

Matthew Rhys does a very solid job here, which is made even more compelling since he is sharing scenes with one of my generation’s greatest actors in Tom Hanks.  Hanks, one of the nicest people around, is the perfect choice to portray Mr. Rogers.  Hanks does not try to imitate Rogers, but instead encompasses the spirit of the man.  I never found myself thinking, “Oh, that is Tom Hanks playing Mr. Rogers” which is a complement for Tom Hanks’ ability.

Chris Cooper has an impactful role as Lloyd’s father Jerry.  Lloyd and Jerry had been estranged for years after Jerry left the children with his sick wife.  Cooper brings a lot of energy and life into the man attempting to reconnect with his family.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is heartfelt and enjoyable.  The scene they showed in the trailer of the children serenading Mr. Rogers on the subway is as charming and warm as any scene you’ll see this year.  I kind of wish they hadn’t shown it to us in the trailer.  The film is well written and brilliantly acted.  This world today would really use a man like Fred Rogers.

4.4 stars 

I was not a fan of the first Frozen film from Disney.  I did not hate it like some did, but I found it to be a movie that I had trouble connecting with.  It had a great song in “Let it Go” no matter what you think.  Frozen was a massive hit though and it was clear that it was going to receive a sequel.  Would the second film be a better film or would I like it even less?

I am happy to report that I found Frozen II to be a much better movie than the original.  I am not sure if there is a song in the film as good as “Let it Go” but “Lost in the Woods” comes close.

Frozen II brings the audience back to the sisters Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) as the days continue on in Arendelle.  However, trouble strikes again after Elsa begins to hear a strange voice singing from the Enchanted Forest.  The crew of heroes started off in search of the source of the voice and trying to discover how it was connected to Elsa.

Frozen II has utterly beautiful animated scenery that could be real, actual images.  There are some times when I am not sure if the background were actually real images or if it were indeed animated.  Frozen II was a special movie when it came to the pictures on the screen.

The characters are more interesting this time around because we knew more about them and we have already developed our connections with them.  While Olaf (Josh Gad) is still hit and miss for me, he does a Frozen plot recap that is hilarious and one of the highlights of the sequel.

There are some good action involved here as well as our heroes moved into the Enchanted Forest to discover the truth behind the elements.  There are some creative character designs in these characters that fir very well with the rest of the crew.

However, the lack of a real villain does hurt the film and the ending was okay, if not a tad anti-climatic.

Above all else, I enjoyed this one more than I did the first one and the animation is as gorgeous as it can get.  It should be another huge hit for Disney.

4 stars

I got the opportunity to see an early showing of Rian Johnson’s newest film, the whodunnit murder mystery called Knives Out, which debuted at Toronto Film Festival in early September.  I had been anticipating this movie for awhile as I  enjoyed the trailers so I jumped at the chance to see the film about a week early.

It was so worth it. I loved this movie.

This will be a full NON-spoiler review, which means that I won’t be able to talk much about it, but I loved what Rian Johnson did with the murder mystery genre and the way that he played with the tropes.  Knives Out is a brilliantly plotted and extremely entertaining film that messed with my expectations throughout.

This has a sensational cast featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, LaKeith Stanfield, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Katherine Langford, Jaedon Martell, and Frank Oz.  The film is highlighted by the off-the-wall performance from Daniel Craig as a southern detective Benoit Blanc.

Craig is utterly perfect in this movie, which is to say he is hamming it up, chewing every last bit of scenery that he could.  The accent that he used for this character was something you just don’t hear much outside of Looney Tunes cartoons.  Somehow, though, it works and that credit must go to Craig.

However, Daniel Craig is not our protagonist of this film.  That honor goes to the young Ana de Armas, who plays Marta, a nurse who was taking care of Christopher Plummer’s patriarch character, Harlan Thrombey.  Ana de Armas has not had a ton of films to her credit, most notably being Blade Runner 2049 so it makes one wonder how she, in a cast like this, is the main character.  However, she is just tremendous and this character is well developed with a character trait that I have never seen before.  You’ll know it when you see it.

I should also single out Chris Evans.  Captain America himself looks to be having a blast playing a character unlike his heroic alter ego.

All of the members of the Thrombey family are just rotten people but, most of them, are real people and not caricatures.  They interact with each other in such a funny and real way that you forget some of them are so over the top.

Knives Out is laugh out loud funny, with biting dialogue and a wonderfully organized plot.  There will be some who will complain about a section of the film dealing with today’s political scene, but if that is what derails this movie for you, then I’m sorry for you.

I cannot recommend this movie enough.  It is due to come out nationwide Thanksgiving.  Do yourself a favor and go see it.  It is charming and funny,  an old fashion whodunnit featuring a ton of oddball characters played by iconic actors having the time of their lives.

5 stars

When you are enjoying your subscription to Disney Plus, don’t forget about Netflix, because Netflix just dropped one of the best animated movies of the year, just in time for the Christmas holiday (well…okay, Thanksgiving, but you get the idea.)

Klaus is a re-imagining of the Santa Claus mythos that is as charming and heart felt as any film I have seen in a long time.

A simple act of kindness always sparks another.

Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) was a spoiled brat of a man who exploited his family’s money to live a pampered and lazy life.  His lack of interest in the family job as a postman worried his father so he banished his son to an island called Smeerensburg with the near impossible task of sending 6000 letters in one year.  If he failed, he would be cast out and stripped of his inheritance.

Once in Smeerensburg, Jesper met an old woodsman named Klaus (J.K. Simmons) who was isolated and depressed.  Jesper discovered Klaus’s shed full of handmade toys and he formulated a plan to get the local kids to write letters to Klaus asking for toys in return.  Little did Jesper know how this would strike a positive note into the conflict-laden island.

Smeerensburg had a long time feud between the Krum and the Ellingboe families and the hatred between them had fueled the tone of the land for generations.  Joan Cusack and Will Sasso voiced the respective heads of the two warring families.  These two factions did not like seeing the positivity that had started to sweep through Smeerensburg causing the two families to form a tentative truce to face against a common enemy.

This film is extremely clever and provides a new explanation for many of the Santa Claus iconography such as the cookies and milk, the chimney and the flying reindeer.

The first act of this movie, however, has its share of scary images and moments.  The introduction of a lot of the story is surprisingly dark and even a little twisted.  Yet, by the end of the movie, it is full of warmth and heart and would be a fantastic holiday film that the entire family would enjoy.  The ending has all the feels too as the emotional beats are used prominently.

I also found myself laughing out loud several times throughout the run of Klaus.  It brings every bit of emotion into the film and succeeds in glorious fashion way more than it does not.

The animation is beautiful too, with the character designs standing out above everything else.  SPA Studios and Aniventure create the film, an English language Spanish animated film written and directed by Sergio Pablos.

Klaus was a genuine surprise and watching this made me feel such a range of emotions.  It could develop into one of those classic Christmas movies that you enjoy every year.  It is a triumph.  It is available on Netflix right now.

4.75 stars 

Charlie’s Angels has been around since the 1970s in one form or another.  The most recent version has arrived in the theaters from director Elizabeth Banks.

Unfortunately, I found the new version, with a few exceptions, to be dull and repetitive.  I was not interested in the story and I was surprised how unimpressive I found the performance of Patrick Stewart.

The Angels themselves were the best part of the movie.  Kristen Stewart, especially, was one of the more entertaining aspects of the film.  Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska were nice additions to the Angels and the three of them worked well together.  However, the writing and the dialogue had too many cringe-worthy moments.

I thought Patrick Stewart, who I almost always love, was just phoning this performance in here.  As one of the Bosleys, Stewart was uninspiring and disappointing.  A far drop off from the brilliance of his performance as Charles Xavier in Logan.

Some of the action in the final act was fine, and I did like how they took the decades of Angles lore into account in the new film, but I just did not find much more engaging.

2 stars

I ignored this movie the first week it was out.  I caught up with it this week and I have to say that I did not dislike it as much as I thought I would.  However, there are a couple of major issues with it that really make me uneasy about recommending it.

Emilia Clarke plays Katrina (or Kate as she insists), a young woman with a bad attitude that acts extremely selfish.  Her attitude has pushed her family away and has made her depressed with her life.

When she meets Tom (Henry Golding), an unassuming and kind man, she begins to fall for him, but he is very mysterious, disappearing for several days at a time.

I did enjoy some parts of the film. I thought Emilia Clarke was good as Kate and I thought a bunch of the secondary characters were original and well used.  There may have been too many side plots with these characters, but they were definitely intriguing.

I said that there were some major problems that kept me from fully engaging in this movie.  The biggest problem was that I knew what the big “turn” in the film was going to be back when I saw the trailer.  I kept watching the film, looking at each scene trying to see a place where I would be wrong, but, with each scene, I was even more sure I knew what was happening.  And, of course, I was right.  It is a bad sign when I can see the twist coming in the trailers (and that is without the trailers giving away too much as they sometimes do).

Then, why does this film have such a connection to the music of George Michael?  We get a ton of George Michael songs and Wham songs, whether they make sense with the story or not.  I know Last Christmas is a Wham song (although I do not think I had ever heard it before today) but why does that mean we need “Freedom!” or “Faith.”  I found all the George Michael distracting.

Directed by Paul Feig, Last Christmas was co-written by Emma Thompson, who also appeared as Katrina’s mother, Petra.

I am very split on this movie.  It was better than I expected it to be, but the problems with the movie prevented me from enjoying it fully.  I am on the fence with this.

2.9 stars

I am not a fan of auto racing, not even a little bit.  So when the critics say that you do not have to like auto racing to like the new movie, Ford v Ferrari, you can believe them because I loved this movie.

Ford v Ferrari is the true story of how the Ford Motor Company decided to compete and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race in France that had been won by rival car company, Ferrari, for several years.

Ford Company, led by Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), hired former race car driver Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to help design a car that could beat the cars from Ferrari.  Shelby brought in brilliant, but troublesome driver Ken Mills (Christian Bale) to help create and eventually drive the car.

Ford Motor Company had personal problems with Ken, especially weaselly Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) who held a personal grudge against Ken.  Ford consistently threw roadblocks in the path of Ken, before the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Honestly, the movie is not really Ford v Ferrari as much as it is Ford v Ken and Shelby.  The rivalry with Ferrari is in the film, but it is significantly in the background of the narrative.  It was vitally important for Henry Ford II to jump into Le Mans, but after that, it is an after thought.

Christian Bale is always great, and this is no exception.  He loses a lot of weight for this role once more and throws himself into Ken Miles.  We get a lot from Ken and his family, his wife Mollie (Caitriona Balfe) and son Peter (Noah Jupe).  Jupe has been a wonderful child actor and he has some really solid work here too.

Matt Damon is every bit as much of the star of this movie as Bale.  Shelby starts off with a heart problem that forces him out from behind the wheel of the race cars.  Damon and Bale have amazing chemistry with one another and you fully believe in their friendship.

The race scenes are very well done and, apparently, are combinations of practical effects and CGI.  I can honestly say that I could not tell what was practical and what was CGI.  I saw the film on the IMAX screen which showed this film in the best possible aspect.

The film is very long (over two and a half hours) but truly did not feel as if it were long.  The flow of the movie moved along tremendously well and kept everything working together.  There are some scenes of emotion that work as does the humor.

Ford v Ferrari is a very strong film with some top notch performances and a compelling story.  The third act race is about as well done as you are going to get.

4.4 stars

The Good Liar is the new film from director Bill Condon, featuring two legendary actors, Sir Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren.

McKellen is a con man, out to find a wealthy widow that he can scam out of her money.  He has plenty of irons in the fire but he was looking for that windfall.  Mirren is that wealthy widow who is searching for something since the death of her husband.

They hit it off immediately and seem to form a bond, to the dismay of Mirren’s grandson.

There is no doubt about the best part of this film.  Helen Mirren has always been a personal favorite of mine.  She always is fantastic, even if the film itself is not good.  And Ian McKellen made his name in geek culture as Magneto and Gandalf.  Putting these legends together is a wonderful treat.

Watching these characters interact was charming and warm, even though you knew there was a darkness at the heart.

I was enjoying the film as it was moving along, but I had some real problems with the third act.  The film feels as if it falls apart in the end for a couple of reasons, both of which would be considered spoilers so I am going to have to just say that the third act was quite a step down in my opinion.  It was painfully obvious what was happening making it pretty predictable and silly.

Even though the ending was not as strong as the first part of the movie, I enjoyed the rest of the film enough to give this a pass.  There were some satisfying, albeit hard to believe, moments in the end and two amazing actors.

3.15 stars