Mini Movie Reviews Archives
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Marriage Story
When asked to name my favorite director, a lot of filmmakers come to mind; However, when I boil it down to what I enjoy most in a movie – Thick with good dialogue, humor and empathy found in the big, small, uncomfortable and hard moments of life, quirky characters and unexpected silly scenes – I have to name Noah Baumbach as my favorite, because he always finds a way to deliver all that and more. In terms of families in process, we experienced the dysfunction of “The Squid and The Whale” and a couple going through mid-life crises in “While We’re Young” and now “Marriage Story” which is not about…
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Motherless Brooklyn
Well I think he was right to change the time period to 1950’s Noir, but at the same time, after the character Frank Minna (Bruce Willis) smirks his way to an early demise and Lionel (Edward Norton) starts his investigation, it soon becomes one of those “Maltese Falcon”/”Chinatown” type story that I tend to get bored following … Edward Norton is the writer/director/lead of #MotherlessBrooklyn, a passion project that took him 20 years to get to the screen, based on a 1999 novel by Jonathan Lethem. The story centers around solving the murder of Frank Minna, a private dick/hustler with a team of 4 misfit associates. His most loyal misfit…
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Last Christmas
by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor In my review of the “The Irishman” I admitted that I’m not the best person to review that movie as it’s just not my genre. But rom/coms, that’s something I know something about! And it’s sad when they don’t quite hit the mark; you want so badly to be charmed and yet you just can’t get there. “Last Christmas” is directed by Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids” “Spy”) and written by Bryony Kimmings and Emma Thompson, who co-wrote the story with her husband, Greg Wise. Based on the ubiquitous annual Christmas song of the same name by George Michael. Which I think comes in #2 on most…
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Charlie’s Angels 2019
It’s sad CHARLIE’S ANGELS 2019 tanked with a 8.2M opening, cause I really enjoyed it better than the first 2 Charlie’s Angel’s inspired (cause none of them will ever match the first 3 seasons of the TV series for me) movies. Sure those reboots had more action and recognizable names, but this one took on Elizabeth Banks‘ “Pitch Perfect” female bonding, light humor, genuine sense of fun. I thought the stakes were good and contemporary in terms of the case; I liked the addition of a male holistic healer/chef called Saint; and the production design felt sleek and just a tinge futuristic. It even officially took Kristen Stewart off my…
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Jojo Rabbit
Writer/director Taika Waititi (“Thor Ragnarok”) created a Wes Anderson-esque offbeat Anne Frank-ish comedy, which won the People’s Choice Awards at TIFF. JOJO RABBIT is set near the end of World War II. Jojo Betzler, played by a remarkable young actor (Roman Griffin Davis) who could give both Jacob Tremblay (Room) and the Stranger Things kids a run for the money) is a German 10-year-old Nazi enthusiast so zealously ready to join the Third Reich, his imaginary friend is a wacky Adolf Hitler (played by Waititi). This is Roman’s first professional role and he really seemed to understand the whole tone of the movie and how to play it straight with…
