Okay, this one is crazy.

Eli (Charlie Shotwell) is a young boy who, because of a rare disease, cannot live outside his bubble and his parents (Kelly Reilly and Max Martini) are desperate to try anything to save him.  So they take Eli to an experimental facility where Dr. Isabella Horn (Lili Taylor) has claimed that she can save him.  Soon though, Eli discovers that the facility and the good doctor may not be what they seem.

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit and then the film went absolutely crazy.  I was not sure what was going on at this facility but I did not guess the result even slightly.  I love when a film surprises me.

I found Eli to be clever and mysterious.  There were so many things going on that I would be curious to see what they would be like upon a second viewing.

As it was, the film bounced me around and I was unsure what was going on.  There were plenty of red herrings and theories that were looked at, which helped to make this all the more shocking.

Charlie Shotwell does a fine job as the young Eli, who has to carry the load of work in this movie.  His confusion and fear truly are realistic and help develop what we would see later.  Sadie Sink (Max from Stranger Things) appears as Haley, a girl who shows up outside the window and talks to Eli.

This movie caught me off guard and surprised me and I love it when a movie can do that.  This one is one of the better horror movies of the year.

4.4 stars

This was my second movie sequel of the day.

As opposed to Zombieland, I was not much of a fan of the original Maleficent film Disney released five years ago and I was not waiting for a sequel.

Much like Zombieland: Double Tap, the trailers for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil did little to excite me.

Also like Zombieland: Double Tap, I enjoyed this movie.  Unlike Double Tap, I liked this movie more than its predecessor.

The “daughter” that Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) raised, Aurora (Elle Fanning), was planning on marrying the prince of the neighboring land, Philip (Harris Dickinson), which meant that Maleficent had to be introduced to the King (Robert Lindsay) and the Queen (Michelle Pfeiffer).

Problem:  Queen Ingrith was not what she seemed.

I do not want to spoil the movie, but I will state that the first 20-30 minutes of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is fantastic and contains perhaps the best dinner scene in years.  The tension between Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer is off the charts and worth every second.  It is easily the best scene in the movie.  Unfortunately, the remainder of the movie is only okay.

I did not expect to like this movie, so there is that.  Angelina Jolie is absolutely stunning as Maleficent and every second she is on screen is magic.  Unfortunately, even though there is a fascinating back story involving Maleficent and her race, the dark fae, we do not see enough of Angelina Jolie.  She seems to disappear in the middle of the movie, and it suffers for it.  Every moment she was on the screen I was taken by her beauty and her absolute appeal.

Pfeiffer, after that initial dinner scene, really slips into a one note character and never really catches the momentum that was lost after the first act.

The movie was desperately predictable too, although that is not the worst crime.  There are some things that were quite silly that happened in the third act that brought the film down some, but the overall performances and the beauty of the look were able to overcome some of the films distinct flaws.

Sadly, Chiwetel Ejiofor was totally wasted in the movie.  Some initial chemistry with Jolie is wasted as the amazing actor is in the background, and, because of that, I did not feel the connection the film hoped that I would between Ejiofor and Jolie.

There were some intriguing storyline ideas that were brought up in Mistress of Evil, but were not given enough attention.  There was a potential genocide in the film, but since it brushes past it quickly, there was not enough weight given to these plot points to make them anything more than surface level.  It is impressive that the plot points are here at all though, since this is a family film from Disney.

This film was helped by the fact that I did not enjoy the original film much and, despite its flaws, this is definitely better than that.  While the overall film is fine, the scenes with Angelina Jolie are wondrous.

3.2 stars

I was very wary about this movie.  I absolutely loved the original Zombieland.  It was such a surprise when I saw it because I did not expect much of anything.  I remember clearly watching the movie is our local theater and just being completely engulfed in the world and the humor of the movie.  It was so great.

However, I have to say that the idea of a sequel eight years after the original release had me picturing such failed films as Dumb and Dumber To, Zoolander 2 and Vacation.  Worse yet, the trailers were anything but huge successes for me.  I was unimpressed with what I had seen so far. So the combination of this made me nervous for this film.

Zombieland: Double Tap (which, if you remember, double tap is rule #2 on Columbus’s list of rules, fitting for the second movie) does not reach the heights of that first film, but it is an enjoyable and funny film with heart and a group of characters that we care about.

Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) had no one her own age to be with and her “family” was getting on her nerves.  She was tiring of Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) acting as a surrogate father and her sister Wichita (Emma Stone) and Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) carrying on their relationship.  She decides to leave the White House, where the group had set up their “home” and find her own path.

Unfortunately, the zombie world had become more dangerous with the evolution of some of the zombie types so the others followed after Little Rock in an attempt to protect her.

Honestly, the narrative structure of this movie was one of the glaring weaknesses because it felt more like a series of short skits strung together with little connectivity outside of life in Zombieland.  Still, most of those skits were funny and reasonably charming so the lack of a true narrative and some pacing issues did not hurt the film much.

The strength is, of course, the great cast of characters that we met in the original and return to here.  There are some fun new additions too, especially Zoey Deutch’s Madison, the blonde airhead who stole every scene she was in.  The always great Rosario Dawson was also a wonderful addition to the cast as Nevada.

I was not a huge fan of the arrival of Albuquerque (Luke Wilson) and Flagstaff (Thomas Middleditch), although I do love how EVERYBODY is using the city where they were from as their name now.  This pairing felt like it was an old cliche and not worth the time it spent.  Plus, the result of the situation with these two resoled itself exactly the same way (or so we thought) that Madison’s situation had resolved.  It felt like a cheap repeat.

The use of the rules on the screen continued to be a lot of fun, as did the “Zombie Kill of the Year” joke.  It felt as if these running gags might get old, but they seemed to have enough gas for this movie still.

While it does not match the original, Zombieland: Double Tap does not flop as bad as many comedy sequels do, especially after such a long lay off between films.  Zombieland: Double Tap is a fun time at the movies and worth the watch.

3.75 stars

Because I watched Jexi directly after Gemini Man, it made Gemini Man seem better than I remembered.

But it is not good.

Will Smith played Henry, one of the greatest sharpshooters around, wants to retire and live a more peaceful life.  However, the government does not want to lose him so they send an assassin to kill him.  And it just happens that the assassin they sent was a younger version of Henry, called Junior.

Why would they do that?  The main villain, the man who raised Junior, Clay Verris (Clive Owen), seemed to want to treat Junior as his own son, unless the plot did not need that to be.  The third act with Clay was ridiculous.

Then, the de-aging technology (which is apparently just CGI and not the de-aging tech used in Marvel movies and such) is truly not as great as what I had heard.  There were times when the tech looked fine, mainly in the dark, but the rest of the time, that CGI is terrible.  There just is not any emotion in the face.

The dialogue is horrible.  There is so much exposition in this movie that is repeated over and over again.  The plot is dull.  Most of the action is boring or stupid.  There is a decent motorcycle chase, but it ends with such stupidity that it ruins the entire scene.  Otherwise, it is just a bunch of shooting.

Will Smith was good, but he could only do so much.  There is no reason why old Will Smith and young Will Smith’s relationship flipped multiple times and for no real reason.  I did not buy what happened even a little.

In the end, this one was not good.  It was long and dull and the CGI was nowhere near as amazing as some people think it was.

2.2 stars

I had not heard much about this movie. After watching it, I understand why.

Jexi is a film starring Adam Devine as Phil who is obsessed with his smartphone and who spends very night home, alone and staring at the screen.  When his phone is damaged, he has to get a new one and his new phone comes equipped with an A.I. (like Siri) named Jexi (Rose Byrne).  However, Jexi is unlike other operating systems.

Jexi is mean.  Jexi swears at Phil.  She insults him.  She dominates him and she takes over his life.  As this is happening, Phil meets the lovely Cate (Alexandra Shipp) and falls for her.  Jexi tries to help Phil with this relationship until things go south.

Things went south in this movie five minutes into it.  I was bored early and the scant run time of 80 minutes felt double that.

The film was desperately unfunny and the writing, dialogue and storyline was an inane as it comes… and predictable as well.  I considered a couple of times of leaving the movie, but I thought, if I can stick it through Holmes and Watson, I can make it through this one.

The film rides the one note joke about the phone being mean and swearing often throughout the movie.  The first couple of times it was worth a chuckle, but it grew old really fast.  And then, when the film implies (and not even subtly) that Jexi the A.I. caused a terrible injury to someone so Phil can be promoted, the film brushes it aside as if it never happened.

In my mind, Phil knew what had happened and that was when he should have looked into solutions to the phone problem, but he did not seem to care at all.

Michael Pena, who is a very funny actor, is a total mess here.  His character is such an over-the-top caricature it is ridiculous.  If it were trying to satirize a type of person, then they need to make this closer to someone who might actually exist.  For such a great actor, this performance was one of the year’s worst.

The film is trying to go for a message of how people become dependent on their phones, but it is, at best, surface level.  There is nothing deeper here and that message gets left behind several times.

I do like Alexandra Shipp, who, despite the crappiness of this script, looks like a star.  She is a lovely presence on the screen, but she cannot save the garbage that she is thrust into by the writers.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.  One of the worst of the year.

0.9 stars

I was a late arrival to Breaking Bad, and even then, I almost gave up on it.  As I was binging the series, I got to the plane crash part and I nearly stopped watching.  I really hated that section of the series.  However, I am so glad I did not because right after that misstep, the show became unbelievably great.

Still, I have only ever watched the series once, and it is not one where I know every little detail (sans LOST) so the new film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie which debuted on Netflix on October 11 did not strike me as much as it would some other Breaking Bad fanatics.

Don’t get me wrong, it is still very good.

The story picks up for Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) moments after the ending of the series finale of Breaking Bad.  Pinkman had just escaped and now he is on the run, avoiding the police for his role in the meth empire with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and trying to come to grips with his past.

With that past part, there are a lot of flashbacks involved in this original story, written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.  There are plenty of call backs in the flashbacks to the series and, since I am not necessarily a Breaking Bad aficionado, I may not have gotten the most out of those scenes.

Yet, Aaron Paul is absolutely tremendous as Pinkman, the troubled young man desperate to find a future for himself.  Paul, a multiple time Emmy winner, may have given his best performance ever in El Camino.

This film is truly a character piece encircling the life of Jesse Pinkman and providing satisfying closure to the character’s arc as well as the series’ run.  This tells the story that fans of the finale felt was missing.  Knowing what happened to Jesse may not have been necessary for the series, but the wrap up gives respect to Jesse and his legion of fans.

I’m not sure if the movie is watchable if you are not a Breaking Bad fan, but, if you are not a Breaking Bad fan, then may I suggest a series binge?  It is certainly worth the time.  Then come to see El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie for the whipped cream on the top of the sundae.

4 stars 

With full disclosure, I fell asleep during the third act and missed the ending of this movie.  Not necessarily a great sign for my thoughts on the new animated version of the old TV show, The Addams Family.

So I am going to proceed with this review without having any idea how the film turned out.

Of course, I could probably guess and not be too far off.  This film was less than groundbreaking.

The Addams family moved into a new neighborhood, into an old, abandoned asylum with ghosts and living trees.  Just what they were looking for.  Then, a woman from a TV home repair show wanted to “fix” their home so their presence did not affect the selling of other houses in the area. Meanwhile there were a bunch of other side stories that ranged from inane to mildly entertaining.

Although there is a great cast of voice actors here- Charlize Theron, Oscar Isaac, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Bette Midler, Nick Kroll, Allison Janney and Conrad Vernon, some of the voices felt miscast.  In particular, Finn Wolfhard, who I love, just sounded wrong as Pugsley.  Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron were solid as Gomez and Morticia though.

The plot was slow and dull.  It had several storylines that were not what I had hoped to see.  The aforementioned home repair show featuring the film’s main villain, Margaux Needler, is the worst of the bunch, which is saying something since the whole Pugsley-has-to-do-Addams-family-fencing-dance to become a man storyline was cringe-worthy.  The only storyline that was, at all interesting, was Wednesday and trip to middle school.

However, my favorite part is clearly Lurch.  This character is the break out character of the film,  with his organ playing being the highlight.

There were a few gags that drew a giggle out of me, but it became pretty clear that this film was not targeting me.  It was made for the little kids.  Problem was that I am unsure if it is exciting enough for the short attention spans of children.  I have a feeling The Addams Family will bore the kiddos rather quickly.

There are some dark moments in the film, but no where near the recent live action films, which are both considerably better than this.  The characters are introduced to the new audience, but I am not sure that we learned enough about them to care.

I wish this were a better film.  It is not as bad as some, but it could have been much better.

2.6 stars