King Richard

 King Richard (2021)

Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green

Screenplay by Zach Baylin

Stars: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn, Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew, Daniele Lawson, Layla Crawford and Erika Ringor

When I heard the title, I thought the movie was a Shakespeare play. I was so wrong.

I heard of the William sisters story growing up. None of what happened in this movie was a surprise to me. When you know what happens in a movie, you get bored. Guess what? I got bored. Did I want to see a stage mom movie that is thirty minutes too long? Not really.

I know that Smith is getting a lot of buzz with this movie. It reminds me of the work he did in The Pursuit of Happyness. Compare those two performances. Very similar. I thought Aunjanue Ellis was a powerhouse here.

Did the movie need to be nominated for Best Picture? No. I don't see the merit in it.

Rating: 5/10

Dune

 

Dune (2021)

Directed by Denis Villneuve

Screenplay by Denis Villneuve and Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth

Based on the novel by Frank Herbert

Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgård. Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem,  Babs Olusanmokun, and Zendaya Coleman 

Full disclosure: I have not read any of the Dune books nor the 1984 movie. Going into this movie completely was not the best course of action. I had no idea what was happening. Is this more lore that I need to know? Who is the emperor? Are these people fighting over spices? Who are these blue eyed people? Why is the baron so big, but can float?

Being unfamiliar with Villneuve's work, I can see that he loves big sci-fi epics as of late. Good for him. 

The portion of the movie that stuck out to me with the relationship between Jessica (Ferguson) and Paul (Chalamet). The visuals of the film are top notch. I walk away with the feeling this story is another white savior story. A vanilla man comes into a culture, be one with it and becomes the new leader. This trope has been done to death. This hinders my enjoyment of the movie.

Rating: 7/10

Belfast

Belfast (2021)

Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh

Stars: Jude Hill, Jaime Dornan, Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds, Lewis McAskie, and Olive Tennant

I understand that this movie recieved a lot of hype during this awards season. As soon as the first sequence was over, I knew that this movie was not right for me.

Knowledge that this movie is loosely based on Branagh's childhood in Belfast is great and all, but I could connect with it. I have never been an Irish boy growing during a culture war in the late 1960s.

The theme of 2021 is filming your movies in black and white. I am tried of this style of film making. I saw it with this, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and C'mon, C'mon. I was to be flippant and say, "filming in black and white. Groundbreaking," but I won't.

I understand that this movie was deeply personal for Branagh. I get it, but I don't see anything special about it. I don't understand why Dench and Hinds were nominated. It was grave omission not having Balfe nominated instead. It boggles the mind.

Rating: 5/10

Cyrano

 

Cyrano (2021)

Directed by Joe Wright

Screenplay by Erica Schmidt

Based on the play by Edmond Rostand

Stars: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Ben Mendelsohn, Monica Dolan, and Bashir Salahuddin

I was hearing awards buzz with this movie, in particular with Peter Dinklage as the titular character. I am upset that this performance was overlooked. It's a crime.

Full disclosure, I am unfamiliar with the story of Cyrano de Bergerac in the fictional sense. I came into this movie with different feelings. No idea that this movie was a musical. That threw me for a loop. It took me out of the movie when the character broke out into song.

There were mentions about Dinklage's singing voice being compared to Pierce Bronsan in Mamma Mia! I wouldn't get that far. Brosnan's was an abomination. Dinklage was serviceable here. It brought a Sondheim cadence. The talk singing.

I thought that Haley Bennett as Roxanne was very good. I loved her singing voice.

I'm surprised the movie's solo Oscar nomination is for the costumes by Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran. The costumes were very lush, especially Roxanne's and the ones for the sisters.

If this movie is in your area, please see it.

Rating: 7.5/10

Noah's Shark

 

Noah's Shark (2021)

Directed by Mark Polonia

"Screenplay" by John Oak Dalton

Stars: Jeff Kirkendall, Ryan Dalton, Jaime Morgan, and Tim Hatch

One of my Facebook friends mentioned this movie, I immediately watched the film on Prime Video. Holy shit! What did I watch?

Let me try to explain the "plot." (I am using quotes because this was almost of a movie.) Father Benna (Kirkendall) hears about the demonic possession of Noah's Ark. A bastard son had a pet shark that protects the ark. A documentary crew teleport to Turkey(?) to find the ark, but there is a secret cult and flashbacks to a guy "127 Hour" himself.

I was not intending to watch this film, but I knew it was going to be godawful. (Pun intended.) I was laughing at the beginning of the movie and the end. The middle was boring as hell. The "plot" was nonsense. Not a clue what was happening. The "acting" was passable.

The CGI. Oh, boy. The CGI was atrocious. Every time that damn "ancient shark" flopped on screen, I laughed. Awful. The fire and water effects left a lot to be desired. 

I had a lot of questions at the end. What was up with the echo effect on the voice-over? How can an "ancient" shark maneuver a (lake? creek? stream?) that is snowing to jump out of it? I thought the movie was about a tale of a shark that killed the animals of Noah's Ark or something. Nope. Got this.

 Rating: 1/10

Nightmare Alley

 Nightmare Alley (2021)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan

Based on the novel by Lindsay Gresham

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, David Strathairn, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins and Ron Perlman

Oh, boy. How do I start this? I love Guillermo del Toro. His movies from the past five years have been a miss for me. The Shape of Water was another movie of his that I did not like. I was bored to tears with it, because I could not connect with the characters. It's the same with this movie that I am reviewing.

The visuals of the movie are gorgeous. The costumes, the production design, the cinematography are immaculate, but the biggest problem with this movie is the story. You follow this grifter (Cooper) as he falls into the carny life. The thing is I don't care about Cooper's character, Stanton to get me invested in the story. I was bored to tears with this movie. No character was fully fleshed out. They were cupboard cutouts that could talk. I would rather watch the original Nightmare Alley than this.

Rating: 4/10

West Side Story

 West Side Story (2021)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Screenplay by Tony Kushner

Based on the original 1961 screenplay by Arthur Laurents

Stars: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Josh Andrés Rivera, Brian d'Arcy James, Corey Stoll, and Rita Moreno

It feels so good to be back reviewing films again. I have always had a passion for cinema. No matter how much is waned over the years that flicker was still there.

Recently watching the original 1961 version, I prefer Spielberg's version than the Robbins/Wise one.

Now that is out of the way, this re-imagining tweaked some problems I had with the original movie. The speedy love story between Tony and Maria had more weight to it. The timeline is over two days and a lot happens in those days. The pacing was air tight. Even though the movie is two and half hours long, it doesn't feel like it was long. The orchestrations were lush. The choreography felt more realistic. I was not seeing gangs dance fighting. It would take me out of the experience. The costumes were bright and vibrant.

The two standouts of the movie are Rachel Zegler as Maria and Ariana DeBose as Anita. They are the lifeblood of this movie. I'm surprised that movie flopped at the box office. Maybe it was the Elgort in the room. I don't know. 

 I want everybody to see this movie. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards and it deserves it. 

Rating: 8/10

Guess Who's Back In The House?

 Hello, my tens of followers out there.

I have been gone for almost eight years from this blog. I never thought I would see myself back here, but here I am. I missed this platform so much. My love for movies ebbed and flawed over the years, but it was still there. I wanted to turn my back on the movies. They have been there for every major life event in my life.

I will post my (hopefully) brief reviews on my movies that I have seen. It's good to be back.

Yours,

Wyatt