Logan Lucky

Plot: Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum), his brother Clyde (Adam Driver) decide to rob the Charlotte NASCAR racetrack on race day. They spring explosives expert Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) from jail, and he invites his two idiot brothers into the gang. In a complex scheme, as in Ocean's Eleven, they steal the cash. (Soderbergh also directed Ocean's Eleven.) They return back home, and try to avoid attention as FBI agent Grayson (Hillary Swank) digs into the case.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: This is an crazy caper movie with strange characters leading to situation comedy humor -- not so many jokes or laugh-out-loud gags. The plot's silliness builds the humor early, and the scheme's cleverness keeps up the interest toward the end. x

All the characters are likeable, especially Daniel Craig's character Joe Bang and Riley Keough's Mellie Logan. At the end Hilary Swank shows up as an FBI agent, and I liked her take-charge persona. 

Our heroes are not Robin Hoods. The dim-witted Bang Brothers joke needing altruistic motive because they are born-again. The altruism is just a fig-leaf for their underlying criminality. Unlike most action movies, no one is killed. 

There are jokes about the dim-wittedness and lack of sophistication of country people, which is contrasted with the clever heist plot at the end. The silly country people win. 

Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes, 

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Written by: Rebecca Blunt, which is pseudonym for  Soderbergh's wife Jules Asner or possibly Soderbergh himself or maybe both. 

The Music: I liked the main score by David Holmes a lot. I even got the download. It is a jazzy mix of drums, and guitar like a 70's Bond film. The rest of music is assorted rock and country-rock that were new to me. David Holmes also scored the Ocean's Eleven movies.  

The Visuals: I kept wondering how they hid Adam Driver's arm. There were some cool shots of the race cars and of the tunnels under the stadium. 

Rating: 3.0 stars: Fun to watch

More: Soderbergh had said he was going to retire from film making and paint, however he made this movie instead.

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The Glass Castle

Plot: Jeannette (Brie Larson/Chandler Head/Ella Anderson) had a dynamic, larger-than-life and alcoholic Dad, Rex (Woody Harrelson). He and her Mom (Naomi Watts) lived an alternate lifestyle, moving to stay ahead of bill collectors, and trying to live in the moment. Rex was by turns caring and neglectful with imaginative play and often not enough food to eat. As the kids grew, they hated their Dad, and they all ran away.  Jeannette became a writer in NYC, but reconsidered everything when her Dad became ill.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: The best part is thinking about how Rex is like people in my own life -- chiefly my departed father-in-law Bob. I can relate to how son-in-law David (Max Greenfield) going though hell at family gatherings.  I also liked the heartwarming child-rearing parts of the movie, and the humorous car trips.

There were parts I didn't like. It was needlessly slow paced, and the story-telling was oral, not visual: sometimes I closed my eyes to listen only. Rex was not a likable person, and it was grating to spend so much time with him.

I liked the performances especially Woody Harrelson, but also the school-girl aged Jeanette, Chandler Head, as well as the adult Jeanette Brie Larson. Woody is plausible supporting actor nomination. 

Cast: Woody Anderson, Brie Larson, Chandler Head, Ella Anderson, Naomi Watts

Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton

Based on the book by: Jeannette Walls

The Visuals: Not very imaginative. As mention, you can follow the action just fine with your eyes closed. 

Rating: 2.5 stars: Glass Castle was not that much fun. Great performance by Woody Harrelson. A good story. 

 

More: Stay for the credits they showed the real family.

Even More: I liked the arm wrestling scene. I could easily see that happening.

Yet More: I really wanted to see Rex build the Glass Castle. I'm disappointed I didn't get to see it. It would have been cool.
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Dunkirk

Plot: Dunkirk is about the evacuation of the British army by boat as the Nazis take-over France. The British army is under attack from German planes, and many small boats are sent to ferry them to England. Many ships sink. One subplot shows an elderly man and his sons crossing the channel and picking up English pilots who crash in the water. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Dunkirk is one note. I've seen better war movies. The characters are not that engaging, and the endless death is a downer. 

Cast: Mark Rylance

Written and directed by: Christopher Nolan; Nolan worked on Interstellar, Man of Steel, Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Memento, and The Prestige

The Music: Rhythmic music evoking machine sounds and repetitive music to increase tension

The Visuals: Mostly scenes of wet soldiers. Several good shots of water disasters which can be hard to film. 

Rating: 1.5 stars: I don't think I am being too tough. Yes it is history, but this was nothing special. 

 

More: Those Spitfire fighters were real vintage planes, not CGI.

Even More: Here is a map:

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Plot: It starts with Valerian (Dane Dehaan) dreaming about the scantly-clad Pearl people, and how their paradise-like world was destroyed. Next Valerian and partner/love-interest Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are on a ship headed to a mega-spacestation. When we get there they are assigned to guard Commander Filitt (Clive Owen). Soon Filitt is kidnapped by the Pearl people. Valerian and Laureline go to rescue him, but along the way there learn things that lead to the final scenes. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Overall I liked it. It was imaginative with many creative alien races and different plot twists. The visuals were cool, and the banter between Dehaan and Delevingne was entertaining. It would have been better with a stronger performance from Dehaan who was never selling it -- too ironic. Delevingne was more in character.

There are many great moments pinned together with the bickering romance between Valerian & Laureline. I loved the introduction to the space station with dozens of countries and then alien people coming to join. Another highlight was the Rihanna's shoe-shifting dance sequence where she switches costumes and bodies over and over during a single song. There are also three duck people who are informants -- pretty funny. The opening scene with the Pearl people is imaginative with their sparkling skin and peaceful, happy life. Very much like the Na'vi in Avatar.

Valerian has no blood and only chaste kisses. There is a good deal of comic relief. It is lighter than most Marvel movies and all of the DC ones. The only place the lightness shows is the final battle which is only OK, but happily it doesn't go on forever.

Cast: Dane Dehaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen

Directed by: Luc Besson

Written by: Pierre Christin  based on the comic books by Jean-Claude Mezieres. 

The Music: Actress Delevingne has a song on the soundtrack, I Feel Everything, that is not bad. The orchestral tracks are by Alexandre Desplat. The closing credit is a pop song that is good. Maybe "A Million on my Soul by Alexiane. 

The Visuals:  I liked the Pearl people scenes especially the opening sequence. The Big Market was also cool. I liked the dance sequence with Rihanna too. 

Rating: 3.0 stars:  I liked it even with the weak performance by Dehaan. 

More: Director Besson fell in love with the comic book Laureline when he was ten. Here is a quote from an interview in Collider: “The first woman I fell in love with was probably Laureline. She was totally free and badass and it was a very modern heroine at the time and I was totally in love with her. The guy was also very cool.   I love the relationship since the beginning and that’s what drives me more than spaceship monsters and all this. It was the relationship of the two. It’s really Mr. and Mrs. Smith in space, you know they’re joking, fighting. So that’s what drive me since I’m young is that I love this team. Because they’re cops, super cops, they travel in the space and time but they’re fighting all the time, they’re so human."

Even More: Cara Delevingne is a top fashion model in Britain

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War for the Planet of the Apes

Plot: After the epidemic, the Colonel (Woody Harrelson) is hunting down Caesar (Andy Serkis via motion capture) and the smart apes. The Colonel is trying to contain the virus by killing the humans that get it, and that means another army unit is coming to stop him. Caesar is the leader of many apes living in the woods. The Colonel raid their home and kills Caesar's wife & son. There are three parts to the movie, the woodlands home that gets attacked, Caesar's journey to the army camp, and the prison escape. If you have read the title to the movie, then you know how it ends.

Here are links to my reviews of the first two movies in the series, Dawn and Rise  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: A stylish film with great visuals and a story told primarily visually.

The best part is the operatic sweep. Civilizations at stake which will either rise or fall. The visuals are operatic too with apes with machineguns on horseback, and the martial assemblies at the army base. While the film is titled War for the Planet of the Apes, actually there is a lot of talking, and not so much war.

Turnoffs were too much time staring at monkey faces and hairy monkey bodies. The monkey CGI is great and I praised it in my reviews of the other movies, but now it is a little boring. Do I really need to see a monkey face blown up three stories tall? Most of the apes spoke in monkey language or in sign language so we are always reading subtitles -- this is ok, but it is a lost opportunity for better acting. I liked the character of Bad Ape for that reason: he wore clothes and used modern language.

I liked the Nova subplot, but when reflecting back on it, I see it  as a plot device to make the apes more sympathetic. I liked introducing Nova from the original movie as a girl.

A weaknesses is that the film has to fit into the legend from the other movies, meaning this is the last gasp of humans and the rest need to be living like cavepeople without language. In the second movie, I thought it was clever that the same virus that killed most of the humans also made the apes smart, but having that same virus also making the human survivors lose their minds years later seemed silly. (I suppose it is good not to spend too much time on Sci-Fi details, but I would have liked something more clever.)

Cast: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson

Directed by: Matt Reeves

Written by: Matt Reeves and Mark Bomback

The Music: Effective and spare soundtrack by Michael Giacchino. I liked Apes Together Strong

The Visuals: There are some grand visuals like the Colonel shaving his head while he addressed the troops, and all the acting in the rain. The apes are well realized. I still like the apes on horseback

Rating: 2.5 stars: I liked it while I was watching it; It seemed a little hollow upon later reflection. 

More: Here is Andy Serkis in his motion capture gear with director Reeves in front.

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Spiderman Homecoming

Plot: As introduced in the last Avengers movie, Spiderman (Tom Holland) is in high school, and poking around Queens preventing local crime. He stumbles upon a gang who salvages "tech" from alien crash scenes, and rebuilds it into superweapons. The gang's leader, Adrian (Michael Keaton), builds mechanical wings, and becomes the chief villain. Meanwhile Peter Parker*, goes to an interschool academic competition and to the Homecoming dance with his crush Michelle (Zendaya). Spiderman fumbles with his crime fighting, but gets bailed out by Ironman (Robert Downey Jr). In the end, Spiderman rises to the occasion, and foils the bad guys. [imdb]    [photos]

*Peter Parker is Spiderman's secret identity.

Review: It is great the Spiderman is a kid again. I didn't like Spiderman being a grown-up, and too serious and too competent. It's easier to sympathize with Superheroes when they are normal, and easier to identify with villains that are stealing boxes of stuff instead of trying to destroy the world. The movie is called Homecoming, and indeed there is a Homecoming dance, but that doesn't figure into the plot. I'd have liked to see more high school soap opera. Maybe in the sequel

Tom Holland does a great job, whether it is being worried or plucky, I liked it. Robert Downey is always good including his familiar Ironman role. 

Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon

Directed by: Jon Watts

Written by: A Committee: 12 people have writing credits

The Music: Zesty orchestral music by Michael Giacchino; not too drum heavy. I liked the pop songs in the opening scenes; sadly those arn't on the soundtrack. 

The Visuals: Generally good special effects. The photography is straight-forward not artsy or stylish. 

Rating: 3.5 stars: Enjoyable; 

More: Director Watts wanted the school to look like modern day New York, not retro or suburban.

Even More: .

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Baby Driver

Plot: "Baby" (Ansel Elgort) is a young getaway driver for mastermind Doc (Kevin Spacy). In spectacular fashion, he speeds away from the bank robberies. Baby is always listening to music, and he makes the windshield wipers flap to the rhythm of the music. His foster father Joseph (CJ Jones) is deaf and wheel-chair bound. During the movie he falls in love with diner waitress Debora (Lily James), and she figures into the final scenes with bandits Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza Gonzalez) and Bats (Jamie Foxx). [imdb]    [photos]

Review: So stylish. It like a Quentin Tarantino movie with style and visuals that punctuate a gritty violent story. The music is fun. Everything in the movie has the beat from the windshield wipers to the gun shots.

The key conflict is whether Baby wants to lead a life of crime with Doc, or reform himself as Joseph and Debora would want. Baby wants the latter, but the bad guys are pretty persuasive.

Director Wright says this is a heist film for the Grand Theft Auto Generation. The first robbery has a grand chase with a wild get away. The second and third have innocent people getting hurt and moral complexity. In the last chase, Baby needs to decide what kind of person he is.

I liked it. It was engaging, and fun to watch. Though the end is bloody, Baby Driver makes the moral choice.

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Eiza Gonzalez, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacy, Jamie Foxx 

Written and directed by: Edgar Wright

The Music: It's great. Mostly oldies that only sound great because they are perfectly matched with the mood and the rhythm of the action. I listened to the soundtrack and the individual tracks are less than the sum of the whole.

One new track, Easy by Sky Ferreira, who plays Baby's dead Mom, is beautiful. At the end there is a good hiphop track by Danger Mouse & Big Boi, Chase Me.

Of all the oldies, the only one with  replay value is Radar Love by Golden Earring. That one is timeless.

Honorable mention to Tequila made famous by The Champs and played in the movie by Button Down Brass; and Bongolia by the Incredible Bongo Band. 

The Visuals: Great chases both in the car and on foot. 

Rating: 3.5 stars: Fun. Engaging

More: The video for Chase Me is great. 

Even More: Director Wright says Baby is like the unpaid intern in a gang of bank-robbers.

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