Gideon58's Reviews

It (2017)
One of novelist Stephen King's most terrifying visions has been re-imagined for the big screen with It, a repellent and bone-chilling re-thinking of King's on-the-surface simple tale of childhood fears and the power of true friendship.

King's novel first came to the screen via ABC television in the early 1990's as a four hour mini-series shown in two parts that condensed King's novel in order to tell the entire story in a four hour time slot. The creative forces behind this remake have decided to tell the entire story by dividing it into separate movies. This film, subtitled "Chapter One" , is actually a more detailed account of what happened between the characters at the beginning of the mini-series that was economically packaged into about 45 minutes during the mini-series. This film lays out exactly what happened between the principal characters during the original that brought them all together when they learned that "he's back."

This film opens in the summer of 1989 shortly after the disappearance of a little boy named Georgie. Georgie's older brother, Billy has never gotten over his part in what happened to Georgie and has allowed it make him a social outcast at school. We are introduced to six other so-called "losers" who band together when they find themselves terrorized by a clown named Pennywise.

Director Andy Muscietti has taken the backstory of King's novel and made it the primary story, utilizing his camera, music, and imagination to tell a riveting story that doesn't answer all the questions that it should. What becomes apparent immediately is that as dangerous as Pennywise might be, his power is diminished as long as these seven kids stay together. They only face true danger when confronting Pennywise individually, which seems to be King's through line throughout this story...that true friendship and unity is more powerful than anything.

King and Musicietti keep you riveted to the screen primarily by making Pennywise's motives a mystery...it's never really clear what he wants from these children and seems more interested in scaring the bejesus out of them rather than actually harming, but Pennywise seems to be a manifestation of whatever made these kids "losers" and forces them to face it. And we absolutely understand their doubt about his demise and how they must reunite if he returns.

Musicetti's direction is intense and he has employed first rate production values with special nods to editing, art direction, sound editing, makeup, and a pulse pounding music score. The talented young actors cast here serve the story with Amy Adams-look-alike Sophie Willis' Beverly and Bill Skarsgaard's Pennywise standouts. Turn out the lights, grab onto something tight and watch. Can't wait for Chapter Two.

Portrait in Black
Portrait in Black is a glossy but overwrought 1960 soap opera that features melodrama queen Lana Turner doing what she does best, but the film produces a few more unintentional giggles than it should.

Sheila Cabot (Turner) is the glamorous trophy wife of a dying shipping magnate named Matthew Cabot (Lloyd Nolan) who is having an affair with her husband's doctor, David Rivera (Anthony Quinn). When David reveals he has accepted a job in Zurich, he and Sheila figure the only way for them to be together is to get rid of Matthew via lethal injection, but their plan goes awry when it is revealed that someone knows exactly what they've done.

The other pertinent players in this drama include Mason (Richard Basehart), Matthew's attorney who has been secretly lusting after Sheila for years; Sheila's stepdaughter, Cathy (Sandra Dee) who is dating Blake Richards (John Saxon) a Matthew Cabot wanna-be who gets screwed out of a contract with him and a chauffeur with a gambling problem named Cobb (Ray Walston).

This movie provides the same kind of unintentional giggles that the previous Ross Hunter/Lana Turner/Sandra collaboration Imitation of Life did. Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts have adapted their own stage play for the screen but director Michael Gordon plays most of his storytelling cards too quickly. From the moment we see Sheila and David onscreen together for the first time, we KNOW their having an affair, despite the fact that the actual reveal comes a little later. It would have been more interesting to have a little suspense regarding the plot point around which the whole story revolved.

I must credit Goff and Roberts for constructing a classic soap opera story rich with what we think are red herrings but turn out to be anything but. There is a moment near the beginning of the film where Matthew is livid to learn that Sheila has gotten a learner's permit so that she can learn to drive, which seems pointless during the scene, but it definitely becomes important later on in the story. I just wish director Gordon hadn't laid on the melodrama with such a heavy hand and trusted the story and his actors a little more. There's a moment where David looks at the hippocratic oath hanging on his office wall and goes into a meltdown that was supposed to be high drama but just made me laugh out loud.

Lana Turner does some of her best hand-wringing here wearing some gorgeous Jean Louis gowns, but the real pleasure here was watching Anthony Quinn as her leading man. Soap opera was never really Quinn's thing as an actor, but he completely invests in this character and definitely keeps this movie worth checking out. Basehart was appropriately greasy as Mason. Also loved Walston as Cobb and Anna May Wong as an Asian variation on Mrs. Danvers. First rate production values are a given with a Ross Hunter production, but I got the feeling this film produced a few more giggles than intended.

Daddy's Home Two
A sequel that proudly stands up next to the original, 2017's Daddy's Home Two follows most of my rules of a good sequel (see my review of The Dark Knight Rises) and provides pretty consistent laughs for most of the running time.

Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) and Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) are learning to peacefully co-exist in the murky world of step-parenting but discover that they've been dropping the ball where Christmas is concerned. Their plans for a single Christmas in a single location are disrupted with the arrival of Brad's dad (John Lithgow) and Dusty's dad (Mel Gibson).

Director and writer Sean Anders has decided not to mess too much with a proven commodity, that is the undeniable and hard to explain chemistry between Will Ferrell and Wahlberg but still manages to bring something new to the table by adding the boys' fathers to the mix, which keeps this sequel from being just a rehash of the first film.

Anders also scores in the casting of the dads, especially the return of Mel Gibson in front of the camera proving he still knows how to turn in a real movie star performance, Gibson's Kurt Mayron, a womanizing former astronaut who has not seen Dusty for five years, is a rowdy, foul-mouthed instigator who has no filter and finds nothing sacred, including his relationship with Dusty. The relationship between Dusty and Kurt is the funniest thing in this film and pretty much anchors the proceedings, thanks to surprisingly effective underplaying from Gibson.

Ferrell and Lithgow don't exactly fade into the wallpaper though...they have a lot of funny moments involving the cutting of a giant Christmas tree, an encounter with a snow blower and some Christmas lights and a clever scene in an improv comedy club. Even with all the father/son angst going on here, Anders never forgets what this story was originally about...the delicate art of step-parenting and how no one is perfect at it. We even get to see Sarah (Linda Cardellini) stumble as she finds it hard to hide her resentment of the new woman in Dusty's life (Allessandra Ambrosdsio). A fun sequel that was just as good, maybe even a little better, than the original.

Darkest Hour
A breathtaking performance from cinema's greatest chameleon, Gary Oldman, is the centerpiece of a slightly pretentious but well-intentioned historical drama called Darkest Hour, centering on one of our most controversial military leaders, that has earned six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture of the Year.

This film actually covers the same time in history as another Best Picture nominee, Dunkirk. but from a different angle. It is May of 1940 and Hitler has invaded France, Belgium, and Norway and the British Parliament is not happy with the leadership provided by Neville Chamberlain and reluctantly turn to Winston Churchill has a replacement. Even though it is never really said out loud. most of the Parliament think Churchill is a little bonkers and are not thrilled about him leading Great Britain through this critical part of a world war that the allies are clearly losing.

I won't lie, my knowledge regarding Churchill is limited to brief mentions of his name in history class, so I was curious as to how the character would be presented here. When we first meet Churchill here, we are introduced to a man who is not only up to the challenge of becoming prime minister, but has been alternately dreaming about it since childhood and being terrified of it at the same time. I liken his attitude about his position to an actor dreaming of being nominated for an Oscar and being terrified and feeling unworthy when it finally happens.

These conflicted feelings are the basis of this complex character, who is made surprisingly human and flawed through director Joe Wright's initial presentation of the character...our first glimpse of the character is in bed enjoying his breakfast of bacon, eggs, and scotch and screaming at his new secretary. His meeting with King George IV as he accepts the position of Prime Minister is probably his most humbling moment in the film, as Churchill's through line comes shining through...the only way to win this war is to fight, as opposed to entering peace negotiations, which is what the Parliament wants. It is also at this point that we realize that the lack of trust the Parliament has in Churchill is totally mutual. As the story progresses, we see that Churchill has very few allies and the ones that he has are quite unexpected.

Anthony McCarten's screenplay is a little talky and pretentious, but it perfectly captures the sensibilities of the British people and their way of never saying exactly what they mean, which is probably why they consider Churchill crazy. One character in the movie said it best: "We never know what's going to come out of your mouth." Despite the character's lack of filter and his conflict about what he's doing, we know that no matter what his actions are on the surface, his feelings about this war never change.

The film is exquisitely mounted featuring spectacular cinematography, set direction, costumes, and Gary Oldman's phenomenal makeup. Oldman is completely unrecognizable in the leading role, if his name hadn't been in the credits, I never would have known what actor was playing this role. I'm pretty sure Oldman will finally win the Lead Actor Oscar that has alluded him and mention should also be made of Ben Mendelsohn as King George IV, Ronald Pickup as Chamberlain, and Kristen Scott Thomas as Mrs. Churchill. The pacing of the story is a little too leisurely, but Oldman and company do make this a journey worth making.

The Belle of New York
MGM went the Guys and Dolls route with a forgotten gem from 1952 called The Belle of New York,a tuneful and colorful musical fantasy that deserves a little more attention than it has received.

The story takes place in turn of the century New York where Astaire plays Charlie Hill, a rich, commitment-shy playboy who has just announced his 5th engagement to a female sharpshooter (Gale Robbins) who falls head over heels with a pretty Salvation Army worker named Angela (Vera-Ellen). Things get complicated when it's revealed that Charlie's rich aunt (Marjorie Main) is also Angela's boss at the Salvation Army (though it's not called the Salvation Army here).

Director Charles Walters, fresh off his triumph with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in Summer Stock has mounted an elaborate period piece with just enough plot not to get in the way of the terrific dancing by the two leads, individually, and together.

The melodic Harry Warren Johnny Mercer score includes "Who Wants to Kiss the Bridegroom", "Seeing is Believing", which is Fred's fantasy number floating over Central Park, "Oops", the jazzy duet with Astaire and Vera-Ellen dancing on a horse-drawn cable car, "Naughty But Nice", Angela's big coming out of her shell number and Fred's classic finale, "I Wanna Be a Dancing Man."

Of course, the MGM gloss is everywhere here, the film features some exquisite set decorations and some absolutely gorgeous costumes, especially in the ice skating fantasy about halfway through. The leads receive solid support from Main, Keenan Wynn, and the hysterical Alice Pearce, who worked with Vera-Ellen 3 years earlier in On the Town. This all but forgotten MGM chestnut is fun diversion that fans of the genre should definitely check out.

Seen a lot of praise for The Darkest Hour but it just doesn't interest me. I'd rather watch The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

@Gideon58 I've been waiting to see The Darkest Hour, glad to hear you liked it so much. I did see the other new movie about Winston Churchill called Churchill (2017), which I thought was pretty stupid.

I did see Portrait in Black, I can't remember it well enough to say much. I should watch it again as I love a good soap drama.

Same with Belle of New York, I've watched it, but I guess it didn't make a strong impression with me.

I think you would really enjoy Portrait in Black Citizen...I actually liked The Belle of New York a lot more than I thought I would. Vera-Ellen was really good.

I took your and CK's recommendation, and watched The Hero last night. Had you not showcased it I probably never would have paid it any attention. I'm glad that we did. My wife and I both enjoyed it.

It's the essence of a nicely done independent film, with the focus on the characters, and not trying to be deep or avant-garde. Elliot's work was first class, and there were very well done supporting rolls from both Laura Prepon and Nick Offerman. I particularly enjoyed Prepon's presence: a little ill at ease, but solidly in the moment. She was very believable, and at the same time looking both beautiful, but slightly over the hill, even though she's only 37 (same age as Krysten Ritter, who played Elliot's daughter).

The story could have easily spun off the tracks at several junctures, but director Brett Haley successfully kept it going on the right path. Hopefully he'll get some more opportunities for good films.

I'm a stickler for sensible endings. And although I'd like to have seen Elliot's character's career revived, the way it ended was reasonable. There again, a silly ending could have ruined the film.

Sam Elliot carried the starring role well, with believability and perfect pacing. It's nice to see that he got a good role to let it out in a sustained way.

~Doc

Glad to hear you liked The Hero. It always makes my day when someone finds a movie from my review thread, watches it, and likes it. And both you and Gideon like The Hero, very cool

Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Despite over-indulgent direction and a problematic screenplay, the 2017 legal drama Roman J. Israel, Esq. is worth a look for the reason one would suspect...another charismatic performance by Denzel Washington that has earned him his sixth Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor.

The title character was a partner in a two-lawyer, LA firm who did all the paperwork while the senior partner went to court. Roman is thrown when his partner has a heart attack and eventually passes away. This tragedy does lead Roman to a much larger firm where he actually finds himself having a voice he never had before. Roman then makes a move of questionable ethics that does provide a financial windfall, but initiates the downfall of Roman's principles as an attorney and a human being.

Director and screenwriter Dan Gilroy must be credited for coming up with a legal drama that never actually enters a courtroom. The story presented here was not the story I was expecting at all. When Roman is informed of his partner's heart attack, he is sent to cover for him during his several cases, instructed to get continuances only. This made me think we were going to see Roman walk into all these courtrooms and throwdown with the best legal minds in LA but this is not the story we get at all.

This central character and what happens to him becomes even more interesting because of the kind of person Roman is. Roman seems to be caught in a sort of 1970's time warp in terms of style and dress and social attitude and is socially inept, almost to the point of autism, like Raymond in Rain Man. Like that character, you can count on one hand the number of times Roman looks at other characters directly in the eye. The character was interesting to watch, but it was hard to swallow the pied piper effect he seemed to have on a lot of characters in the film, especially his new boss and a beautiful civil rights advocate.

The screenplay is a little too protective of this central character, almost stretching credibility until the final third of the film kicks in where Roman starts experiencing consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, this is where Gilroy's over the top screenplay is overshadowed by his over the top direction, taking the final third of the film into the realm of melodrama and not fitting in with the rest of the film.

However, Denzel is always worth watching and he makes this movie worth sitting through, though I think the Oscar nomination was given just because he's Denzel, it's the weakest of his six leading Oscar-nominated performances, but you still can't take your eyes off the man. There's a slick performance from Colin Farrell as Roman's new boss that is also worth a look, but it is Denzel that makes this sometimes hard to swallow story worth checking out.

The Florida Project
2017's The Florida Project is a pretty realistic look at a part of American society that most of us would like to think doesn't exist and those who do know, tend to look the other way.

Director and co-screenwriter Sean Baker takes an almost documentary-like approach to this look at life in a rundown Florida welfare hotel. The story is told through the eyes of a six year old girl named Moonie who lives at the hotel with her mother Halley, who pays her rent hustling, some of her hustles involve Moonie and some of them don't. We watch Moonie and other friends who live at the hotel wandering all over downtown Orlando and the various kinds of trouble they get into out of boredom and neglect.

Baker reveals a real eye and ear for the lives of these people and, more importantly, how it affects these children. It doesn't even occur to the viewer as the story unfolds that these children aren't in school. The question of why these children aren't in school is never really addressed, except for one brief scene between Moonie and her friend Jancey, where they are talking about something they heard about called recess. It's so sad watching these children being neglected to the point that they are seen wandering around Orlando doing anything they want, including burning an empty building to the ground.

I liked the way the story began with the children and then expanded into a look at their parents and the lives of everyone in the housing project, but Baker's pacing of the story is a little too leisurely, making these children initially very unappealing but when the way their parents are living is laid out for us, sympathy for these children does occur, but having the viewer wait so long for it was a little risky for a film like this. The film tries to explore why these people ended up here, but it sugar-coats it a little...there is no mention of drugs in the story and most of the people who live in hotels are doing it because they can live cheaply and still support their habit, but there is no mention of drugs in this entire film, which I found unrealistic.

Baker does utilize first rate production values here, including some beautiful photography and production design. I loved every time the camera entered a hotel room they were all very small and cramped and filled with stuff everywhere, barely giving tenants room to walk around in the space. Baker chose to put his somewhat compelling story first by not employing a lot of names in the cast. The biggest name in the cast is Willem Dafoe, playing the manager of the hotel, who received star billing and a supporting actor Oscar nomination for his performance. Not sure if the performance is Oscar-worthy, but he had one scene where he deals with a pedophile approaching the children on the property that was just fabulous. Bria Vinaite's in-your-face performance as Halley commands the screen and Brooklyn Kimberly Prince is just remarkable as Moonie. I also liked that, except for the finale, the film features no music, but the film is watchable and proves Sean Baker is an artist to watch.

I've been wanting to check this out based solely on Dafoe being in it.

Lucky Me
An energetic performance from Doris Day is the best thing about a bouncy musical from 1954 called Lucky Me that won't disappoint fans of its star.

Doris plays Candy Williams, a performer in a theatrical troupe working in a Miami nightclub who gets stranded in Miami when the show folds so she and her co-stars get jobs working in the hotel that they've just been evicted from.Candy accidentally meets Dick Carson (Robert Cummings) a songwriter in town trying to get a wealthy oil tycoon to finance his new show, but when he meets Candy, he pretends to be a garage mechanic.

Dick's ruse is quickly uncovered and he falls hard for Candy and decides to use her to sell his score to the oilman, but that plan is complicated by the oilman's daughter (Martha Hyer) who has Daddy wrapped around her finger and will make sure Daddy finances the show as long as she has Dick to herself.

Irving Elinson's screenplay is a little complex and talky but keeps the film from just being a bunch of musical numbers with dialogue inserted. The film immediately establishes the character of Candy as being extremely superstitious, as if it is going to be a major point plot that is going to affect the requisite happy ending. Unfortunately, it becomes less and less important as the film progresses, which was a bit of a disappointment because it seemed like a rather original hook for a musical comedy.

The film features a nice if unremarkable score from Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, who wrote the Oscar-winning "Secret Love" that Doris sang in Calamity Jane. The songs include "Men", "The Blue Bells of Broadway", "I Speak to the Stars", "I Wanna Sing Like an Angel" "The Superstition Song", and the title tune.

Cummings proves to be a charming leading man for Day and Phil Silvers, Eddie Foy Jr., and Nancy Walker are a lot of fun as the rest of Doris' theatrical troupe. If you don't blink you might also catch future I Dream of Jeannie co-star Hayden Roarke (Dr. Bellows) as Dick's agent. Jack Donahue's direction is a little leaden, making the film longer than it needs be, but Day fans will be in heaven.

Bad Moms
Bad Moms is an often outrageous, slightly raunchy comedy from 2016 that is a little contrived and wraps things up a little too neatly, but delivers consistent laughs and stays realistic.

The story focuses on three suburban mothers who meet accidentally and become instant best friends after getting drunk together in a bar after a really bad day for each. Amy (Mila Kunis) is a working mother of two who has just learned her husband has been cheating on her online; Kiki (Kristen Bell) is a frazzled mother of four who says how high whenever her husband say jump; Carla (Kathryn Hahn) is a loud and obnoxious single mom with no social or sexual filter who has a big goofy son who eats butter for dinner. After their evening of drinking and bonding, the three women admit that they are bad mothers and instead of wallowing in it, they decide to embrace it and say the hell with it.

Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who were responsible for the Hangover franchise, are also the creative forces behind this energetic comedy that displays the same kind of random insanity that the other franchise did. Lucas and Moore provide us with a screenplay where nothing is sacred, providing an up close look at how being a mother just might be the hardest job out there and making that scathingly accurate examination be very funny. Lucas and Moore's direction is surprisingly stylish, showing a skill with the slow motion camera that I haven't seen in awhile and with the aid of some crackerjack editing, produce scenes that will have you laughing and cheering, with a wild trip to a supermarket being a definite highlight.

What the screenplay also does is show changes in the character. These three women are not the same three women we meet at the beginning of the movie and even though how some of these changes came about is glossed over and the story wraps up a little too perfectly, the story has us behind these three women and there are scenes where I actually wanted to cheer.

Lucas and Moore also work wonders with their terrific cast. Kunis proves to be very adept at physical comedy and Hahn's over the top Carla is a lot of fun. David Walton is funny as Kunis' scummy husband and Jay Hernandez is seriously sexy as the hot widower who falls for Kunis. There is also a fabulous performance from Christina Applegate as the PTA mom from hell and villain of the piece. It's not Merchant/Ivory but it's a lot of fun. And yes, there is a sequel called A Bad Moms Christmas.

I just watched this and didn't really care for it. It was better than the other Churchill movie, called Churchill (2017). But I sure didn't feel it was Oscar worth. Either was Dunkirk. And that's the only two Best Pic Oscar nominations I've seen. Hopefully the best picture wins. Have you seen them all?

Yeah, I just read your commentary commentary about Darkest Hour. I have not seen the other two Churchill interpretations you mentioned and really don't know much about the man, so getting into Darkest Hour was a little easier for me. Yes, I have seen all nine Best Picture nominees. I think Three Billboards is going to win, but if it were up to me, The Shape of Water would win.

The Crown is a Netflix original mini series. It's well worth watching if you like melodrama.

I hope to see both Three Billboards and The Shape of Water, one of these day. Have a good evening! I'm off to watch a movie.

Call Me Madam
Ethel Merman was one of Broadway's biggest stars, creating several classic musical comedy heroines from Annie Oakley to Mama Rose Hovick. The only time Merman was allowed to recreate a role on film that she originated onstage was the 1953 film version of Call Me Madam, a lavish and colorful confection which features one of Irving Berlin's most famous scores and a talented cast backing up the star.

Merman recreates her stage role as Sally Adams, the Washington DC hostess who is appointed by President Harry Truman to be the US Ambassador to a fictional country called Lichtenburg, accompanied by Kenneth Gibson (Donald O'Connor), a former reporter who talks Sally into letting him be her press attache. Upon arrival in Lichtenburg, Sally wants to negotiate a loan to the financially struggling country which forces her to deal with the country's foreign minister, General Cosmo Comstantine (George Sanders), but their mutual attraction muddies their negotiations. Meanwhile, Kenneth has fallen in love at first sight with the country's Royal Princess Maria (Vera-Ellen) even though she has been promised in marriage to another in order for her to someday inherit the throne.

In 1953 MGM still ruled in making the best musicals in Hollywood, but 20th Century Fox did give them a run for their money with films like this and There's No Business Like Show Business. This film has all the elements of a classic musical that you expect, including a somewhat complex story that tends to occasionally get in the way of some terrific song and dance numbers. It was a pleasure seeing Merman actually being allowed to recreate a role onscreen that she created on Broadway, even though, if the truth be told, Ethel Merman pretty much played Ethel Merman in every role she did, but with those pipes nobody really ever cared.

This splashy musical features one musical highlight after another. Merman's opening number "The Hostess with the Mostess" is a winner as is her plea to the General "Can You Use Any Money Today", Donald O'Connor's silky vocal on It's a Lovely Day works beautifully into a dance with Vera-Ellen as does another song, "Something to Dance About" Vera-Ellen also has a lavish production number called "The Ocarina" staged by Robert Alton which I think might have been an inspiration for his "Mandy" number in White Christmas. Needless to say, the musical highlight was the melding of two songs "Wonder Why" and "You're Just in Love", flawlessly performed by Merman and O'Connor. Mention should also be made of a terrific dance solo from O'Connor called "What Chance Have I with Love" where a drunken Kenneth destroys an outdoor cafe.

I have never seen the show onstage, but I would like to think that this movie is pretty close to the stage show. Walter Lang's direction is very structured, if a little self-indulgent. There are a couple of slow spots that make the film a little longer than it need be. Fox poured a lot of money into this film, evidenced by the elaborate sets and the breathtaking costumes received an Oscar nomination. Alfred Newman did win an Oscar for the scoring, but it is the rare chance to see Broadway's greatest Diva strut her stuff onscreen that makes this one worth checking out.

I wouldn't say I disliked Bad Moms but I'm not interested in the sequel. That scene in the grocery store was funny.