The Shallows

Plot: Nancy (Blake Lively) goes to a Mexican beach that her now dead mother visited. She has fun surfing, when a super-giant shark attacks. Injured, she is stranded on a little rock with the tide coming in. The rest of the movie is about surviving.    [imdb]    [photos]

Review: The Shallows is a good shark movie, but still a shark movie, which all turn into monster movies at the end.  Blake Lively does nice acting in what is almost a one-woman show. Kudos to her.

The shark is omnipresent, stronger than the Hulk, and smarter than a chess master. In the realm of shark movies this is a good one, but nothing genre bending.

Highlights were the water photography, Blake's acting, the suspenseful plot and the overarching presence of the dead mother.

The unmistakable generic shark with its stereotype master movie plot twists. 

Cast: Blake Lively

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

The Music: Two good songs; the best was a instrumental version of Trouble by Neon Jungle that they played during the surfing -- very fun. The closing credits song was also good: Sia's Bird Set Free. 

The Visuals: I liked the surfing scenes, and I am partial to jellyfish too. I'd love to get a tank of jellyfish.  

Rating: 2.5 stars: Fun to watch. Kinda mindless, but you knew that didn't you?

More: Blake Lively has great abs, and she had already had a baby when she made The Shallows. She is now expecting #2. I am sure Blake's bod is sending a lot of people to the gym.

Even More & SPOILER: How many girls really surf in a skimpy bikini? I noticed she had a one-piece in the epilogue.

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Temple Grandin (2010)

Plot: This is a biography of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who works as a professor at Colorado State studying Animal Husbandry. It shows her walking through many doors and overcoming many hardships.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Temple Grandin, the movie, is an inspiring story, while some parts are seem fictionalized, overall it is inspirational. Claire Danes does a wonderful job play Temple who is constantly troubled, or confused. It is with sympathy and with intellect.

It is a docudrama; it feels educational, but it is fun too. 

Cast: Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn, Catherine O'Hara

Directed by: Mick Jackson

Written by: Screenplay by Christopher Monger and Merritt Johnson based on the books Emergence by Temple Grandin and Margret Scariano, and the book Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin. 

The Visuals:  Nice use of visuals to show how to think in pictures, and nice work with the cattle photography.

Rating: 3.5 stars: Nice story. Great performance by Claire Danes

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Now You See Me 2

Plot: The four magicians [Atlas (Jessie Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack (Dave Franco), and new girl Lula (Lizzy Caplan)] from the first movie are in hiding and looking for something to do. Mastermind Dylan (Mark Ruffalo) gives them a new job, but it turns out to be an FBI sting, and they slide through tube all the way to China. They meet Daniel Radcliffe, and he is mad at them from the first movie. After this the plot becomes too complicated to write down, let's say lots of magic happens and then the movie ends. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Less than the sum of the parts. The mind just glazes over with all the wheels within wheels, and hats being pulled out of rabbits [sic]. It's not real magic, and not stage magic that actually has to work, it's special effect movie magic that is bound by no rules at all. Superimpose a twisty thriller plot, and I got lost and then bored, and actually napped during the middle.

The first movie was cool. The outlaw, Robin Hood-like magicians were so cool as they held these spectacular shows. In this movie they go global, with theoretically bigger illusions, but also way more far-fetched.

The best scene was the fight scene with Mark Ruffalo using magic tricks to get away. The worst was trying to remember what was going on with the plot. Who cares about this computer chip?

Cast: Jessie Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Caine, Moran Freeman, Sanna Lathan

Directed by: Jon M Chu

The Music: Lively orchestral music by Brian Tyler; nothing notable.

The Visuals: There are some cool visual during the performances. I liked the urban nightscapes in Macao too.   

Rating: 1.5 stars: Actually took a nap during the middle.

 

More: Your eyes are not deceiving you. Now You See Me 3, is already in production

Even More: And why was there an FBI van driving around in London? And why were they arresting people?

Yet More: Filming was in London and Macao. Macao looked to authentic to be anything else. I wonder if there are more Chinese language scenes in the Mandarin version.

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Popstar -- Never Stop Never Stopping

Plot: Conner (Andy Samberg) and  his two friends form Owen(Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) form a boy band. Afterwhile they get in a fight and Conner begins a hugely successful solo career. Conner gets all the trappings of stardom and then becomes an asshole to his old friends and everyone else. After while his stardom fades and Conner has to deal with it. The film is cut like a documentary that is intercut with interviews with music types from Ringo to Simon Cowell. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Popstar is a comedy and a satire. It pokes fun at the music business and the culture of celebrity. There isn't much plot or character development is a simple sitcom story that is mined for jokes, including some subtle jokes. It is refreshingly free from potty humor -- though there are a lot of penis jokes, and a very funny missing penis joke.

Some of it was very funny, but it is pretty forgettable too. It was always interesting, and mostly fun-to-watch. It would have been better if the characters were a little deeper. 

Cast: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer who form the music/comedy group Lonely Island

Directed by: Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone

Written by: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer

The Music: Many songs by Lonely Island; some very funny.

The Visuals: They had a big enough budget to all the scenes they needed. The big venue shows look good. 

Rating: 2.5 stars: At the theater, I liked it well enough for 3 stars. On the other hand, it is devoid of serious ideas and interesting relationships, but it had funny parts. 

 

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The Nice Guys (2016)

Plot: In 1977 Los Angeles, two private eyes, Jackson (Russell Crowe) and Holland (Ryan Gosling), search for the cast of a pornographic art movie before they are killed by unknown thugs. Holland's daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) tags along. They criss-cross LA with parties, meetings, car chases, and shoot-outs.   [imdb]    [photos]

Review: The Nice Guys is both a detective movie and a spoof of a detective movie. It emphasizes exaggerated characters instead of a high joke count. The plot mocks the twists of thrillers, and it sets-up humorous sitcom scenes.

I liked Russell Crowe, and he commanded the scenes that he was in. Ryan Gosling played an unlikeable character, and I didn't care for him. I don't know if it was the writing or the acting. Angourie Rice's character provided the lightness to the movie and gave it personality. I am certain we will see the fifteen year old in a more movies.

I was entertained but some parts dragged. They achieved a high body count, but most of the fighting not bloody. There was one scene where they come up an elevator into a gun fight, and they just stay in the elevator and go down without people seeing them. Pretty funny.  I did not care for the political parts or trying to blame crime on the auto industry. 

Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice 

Directed by: Shane Black

Written by: Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi

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The Music: 70's oldies with drum-heavy orchestral music during the action sequences. I wish it was all 70's disco. You can skip Kiss and America.

The Visuals: The outdoor scenes of LA were great and the initial shots at Holland's house impressed me.  The action scenes are just OK. 

Rating: 2.5 stars: Kind of fun to watch. 

 

More: The Nice Guys was based on a true story! From Wikipedia:

Most of the interjected humor for the plot are based on the true events of Jay Joseph, a Marine Corps veteran who also worked as a private investigator and mole while stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina in the mid-to-late 1990s. Producer Joel Silver had briefly met Joseph while he was performing contract work at Silver's Auldbrass Plantation estate in 1999. Joseph's adventures as a young, new investigator, paralleled with his tenacity as a Marine, seemed to always lead to him being placed in comical - albeit dangerous - situations. Silver always thought that some of these events would be great fodder for a detective plot. Some of these stories, simply through word of mouth, were also used in the 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, written by Shane Black, who also wrote The Nice Guys. One quote in particular for this movie, ''You're the world's worst detective'', was a line that was actually spoken by Joseph's younger sister after he told her a story about sleeping with a woman that he was supposed to be conducting surveillance on for adultery.

Even More: Writer Shane Black is responsible for Iron Man 3 and the Lethal Weapon movies.

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Money Monster

Plot: On a network like CNBC on a show like Jim Cramer's, a viewer who lost money following the host's advice takes him hostage on live TV. Host Lee Gates (George Clooney) is afraid, and steely director Patty (Julia Roberts) keeps the cameras running while the gunman Kyle (Jack O'Connell) demands answers, and the SWAT team prepares. In the background, network reporters dig into back story of the company involved.    [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Money Monster is primarily suspense with a sprinkle of satire and farce.

Highlights were Julia Roberts' acting which had equal parts determination and fear. I liked the tightly focused story; it keeps moving. Low-lights were the unrealistic story which reduced the intensity of the action, and kept reminding me I was watching a movie. Perhaps this was intended to be farce comedy, but it didn't work.

Bad guy Kyle is a bumbler, and not someone to be scared of. This is because he is victim not a real villain, and by implications all the investors are also victims. Kyle's girlfriend Molly (Emily Meade) comes on TV and tells him off on TV with plenty of funny insults; welcome humor at Kyle's expense.

I thought Money Monster was trying to be educational about high-frequency trading in the way The Big Short was about the 2007 crash, but then it undercut itself with the its ending that had a different kind of bad guy. I suppose the message is that Wall Street is crooked -- like Bernie says. There was a bit of satire of the TV business, but primarily the cast is shown as sincere good people. 

Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell

Directed by: Jodie Foster

Written by: Alan DiFiore, Jim Kouf

The Music: Suspenseful electronic & acoustic music by Dominic Lewis

The Visuals: OK

Rating: 2.5 stars: I liked it OK. I'd recommend it to people, but it isn't a great suspense.

 

More: Director Jodie Foster says the film is about the rage people feel in America. People who work hard and are taken advantage of. More here. 

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Sing Street

Plot: Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) lives in poor neighborhood in Dublin in the 1980s, and starts at a new school. At the new school he meets Raphina (Lucy Boyton) who says she is a model. He lies that he is in a band, and then needs to form a band to cover his lie. He meets Darren (Ben Carolan) and Eamon (Mark McKenna) who start writing songs, and then producing a video with Raphina in it. Soon Cosmo is writing songs and flirting. It ends with a big concert at the high school.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Sing Street is a musical sitcom. The best part are the songs, and the you-can-do-it-optimism that only kid's movies have. The movie has go-for-it theme. It reminds me of my favorite song from the movie: Drive It Like You Stole It, which I bought immediately after I got home. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo can sing, and he is likeable.

The low points are the acting which wasn't engaging, both the kids and the adults. I am tired of sex abuse jokes about priests too. Even though Brother Baxter (Don Wycherley) was a highlight, especially when he washed the make-up off Cosmo.

 I found many of the boyish high school scenes cringe-inducing because of the embarrassing situations the kids find themselves in.

The positive, you-can-do-it attitude comes organically, so it does not feel like an afterschool special -- except in hindsight.

Cast: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton

Directed by: John Carney

Written by: John Carney

The Music: Some songs were composed by writer director John Carney with Gary Clark, an 80's producer

The Visuals: OK. I liked the fantasy dance concert, otherwise its obviously low budget. 

Rating: 2.5 stars: Maybe two stars? My wife Jenny, loved it, and wants me to give it 4 stars. 

 

More: I liked seeing Maria Doyle Kennedy. She also play Siobhan from Orphan Black -- one of my favorite shows.

Even More: As you might have guessed, the film is a semi-autobiographical version of writer John Carney's life. I wonder who is Raphina was?  Carney says that he did form a band, and it did get the bullies of his back. And he says [he] "got the girl that I fancied." More here.

Yet More: Oh and the real life Eamon had rabbits, just like in the movie.

MAJOR SPOILER: Director Carney said that having Cosmo and Raphina drown in the sea might have been a better ending. "He is like the brave captain, but it is all in his head." More here.

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