By “Cinema” Dave
http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

As late as Monday morning, Oct. 7, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie was supposed to open exclusively in Miami. Perhaps some studio executive read this column a few weeks ago because last Friday night, the film also opened locally, as close as the IPIC Boca Raton theater in Mizner Park. The first screening was packed and the ticket buyers were intimately aware of every nuance of this Breaking Bad history, while embracing some of the characters from Better Call Saul, a spin off.  This is noteworthy because El Camino also debuted on Netflix the same day — Friday, Oct. 11.

Like Rob Zombie’s 3 from Hell, Vince Gilligan’s El Camino is redefining the business model for a motion picture release. Neither film rivals the box office revenue of a Joker or The Addams Family, but both 3 from Hell and El Camino are relatively low budget productions, so the return of investment can be substantially larger, whereas a successful big budgeted studio production with many movie stars may never see a profit for many years after release.  Kudos to the independent streaks of Rob Zombie and Vince Gilligan for lighting the way for the creative part of the motion picture industry.

Despite being part of the Breaking Bad universe, El Camino is a standalone movie. One does not need to see the previous 62 episodes of the television series, but one will likely want to watch them now. The El Camino Jessie Pinkman (Aaron Paul) character is the gestalt of television version of Breaking Bad. Jessie, the boy, has become a man and is the whole of the sum of his 62 parts.    

El Camino opens  moments after the grand “Felina” of Breaking Bad. Jessie has escaped his captivity and is on the run from the police and sadistic criminal scumbags. After reuniting with his old buddies Skinny Pete (Charles Baker) and Badger (Matt Jones), Jessie seeks the services of Ed (the late Robert Forster), a man who runs his own private industry witness protection program.  

Given writer/director Vince Gilligan’s love of words, El Camino is a double entendre. While there is a Chevrolet car in the movie and the locations are set in New Mexico, El Camino is a Spanish word for “a path, a road or a journey.”

How Jessie goes from “Point A” to “Point B” is an entertaining story, yet this is a meditative story about potential redemption.  Throughout the film, various Breaking Bad characters appear in flashbacks. Each provide kernels of wisdom for Jessie’s journey to enlightenment.  

Sadly, the Oct. 11 release also marks the passing of Robert Forster. An actor with 50 years of motion picture experience, Forster provides a fine swan song performance as “Ed the Disappearer.” Suffering from Brain Cancer at the time of filming, Forster’s performance rings sincere and true. 

There are some great violent visuals to El Camino, but the quiet moments with Aaron Paul and Robert Forster will be the cinematic moments to savor. 

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

For multiple reasons, football is not as important as it used to be to me. In the past two years, the drama has been on the sidelines and off the field of play. When the Miami Dolphins play tonight, I will be more interested in how the commentators, Nat Moore and Bob Griese, both Dolphin legends, are doing.  The Dolphins opponent will be the Atlanta Falcons.

The film Brian Banks opens this weekend, and the Atlanta NFL franchise plays a part in this narrative. The dream of playing football is a big part of the film, but this movie is based on a true story about a 16-year-old male that is victimized by rumor, gossip and hearsay.

The film opens on a playground as Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) watches from a gated fence. He is enjoying the game of pee wee football, but is annoyed when he has to answer a call from his parole officer. 

Under a new California law, Brian is forced to limit his travel outside of Los Angeles. This law derails his chances to play football with a small time college, which opens up old wounds. He was a high prospect recruit for USC, but this was prevented when Brian was accused of sexual assault in a high school hallway. When a plea bargain deal failed, Brian spent his formative years in prison.

With only the support of his mother (Sherri Shepherd), Brian perseveres and obtains the aid of a civil rights lawyer, Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear). Yet, Brian’s case is mired in bureaucracy and legalese. A break in the case occurs when Brian’s accuser makes an overture to be his Facebook friend.

Brian Banks is a fascinating modern story, with echoes of great drama from Jean Paul Sartre, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Friedrich Nietzsche. In the darkest abyss of solitary confinement, Brian finds his true character when he remembers the inspirational words of his mentor (Morgan Freeman, in an unaccredited cameo). 

Since his recent passing, HBO has been playing the documentary The Many Lives of Nick Buoniconti, which recounts the man’s career as football player, a lawyer and as an advocate to cure paralysis. Like Brian Banks, Nick Buoniconti used football as a means to an end, but it did not define their lives. Brian Banks is a cautionary film about having a dream denied, but through character development, life does not have to be a nightmare.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

As I write this week’s edition of Flicks, Mom & I have been traveling through Florida, Georgia and Alabama for a family reunion. Once north of Orlando, I was pleased to discover that a sense of “Southern Hospitality” has not been lost among the people there.

There were plenty of stories to be told. It seemed that each waiter/waitress at the restaurants had a story to tell about their community or family. At our family reunion, we kept the memory alive of our dearly departed. My brother’s research through Ancestry.com revealed family connections to the Revolutionary War and Abraham Lincoln. As the United States of America celebrates 243 years of freedom, we are reminded that this nation truly represents Unity through Diversity.

What was noteworthy was the lack of movie theaters during my recent odyssey. I’ve always read the marquees to see what was playing on the local big screen. There was no sign of Avengers: Endgame or Toy Story 4 or Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

It seems appropriate that the documentaryToni Morrison:The Pieces I Amopens this 4th of July weekend. Born in Ohio in 1931, Toni Morrison is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is the author of The Bluest Eye, The Song of Solomon and Beloved, the latter of which caught the interest of Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah produced and starred in a movie version of Beloved which co-starred Danny Glover and Thandie Newton. A ghost story of sorts, Beloved focuses on a former slave who is haunted by a poltergeist who may be her dearly deceased daughter. Despite heavy marketing hype, Beloved bombed at the box office 21 years ago.  

As a documentary, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, overlooks this financial failure, but Oprah does share some anecdotes about meeting and working with the author. As a writer, there is much to learn from this documentary. For instance, while staring out at a pier by a lake, Morrison had a vision of a young woman crawling out of the dock. Morrison questioned the vision and wanted to know what happened next. This image was the birth of Beloved.

Party hearty this 4th of July weekend!

By “Cinema” Dave
http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

While waiting for Toy Story 4 to begin, this columnist sat through a series of previews — all films starring computer animation. It has been 24 years since the original Toy Story — what was unique, is now common place. Beyond the special effects and paying big time celebrities a load of money, computerized animation films have now entered the law of diminishing returns.  It is storytelling and respect for the written word, that will redeem the motion picture industry, both live action and computer animation.

Toy Story 4 suffers being the first film since Toy Story 3, the emotional and satisfying cap to the original Toy Story trilogy. Toy Story 4 continues the adventures of Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the ensemble of toys, under new management from a new owner, this time a little girl who is beginning kindergarten.

The little girl is filled with fear, so Woody sneaks in her backpack to assist her first day of school. Through the magic of improvisation, the little girl creates a new friend — Forky, a deformed looking spoon with pipe cleaner arms and mismatched eyes. Being a bit like the Frankenstein monster, Woody is forced to tutor Forky about the importance of being the little girl’s favorite toy.

Toy Story 4 provides entertainment for children of all ages, both young and old.  There are not emotional devastating moments like in Toy Story 3, but Toy Story 4 has a lighter touch with profound theories about personal attachment, maturity and growth.  There are also some Indiana Jones thrills featuring Woody, Buzz and a new character. Toy Story 4 does provide Saturday matinee popcorn eating fun, despite a sinister ventriloquist puppet that stalks Woody, Buzz and Little Bo Peep.

An evil doll returns to the big screen this weekend, when Annabelle Comes Home.  As part of “The Conjuring” series of movies, Annabelle is a demon doll who has made appearances in four movies. Annabelle appears to do nothing but to sit and stare, but this horcrux of evil inspires humans to commit murder of innocence.  

Ironically, the evil Annabelle Comes Home when the heroic Spider-Man: Far from Home opens the same weekend. Fortunately, this Marvel Comics superhero will be first appearing at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science IMAX Screen on a limited engagement. This Spider-Man installment looks at the Marvel Comic Universe after the events of the recent Avengers: Endgame, which is still appearing on the big screen this weekend.

Last, but not least, Yesterday opens this weekend. This film is about the world as if the British rock band never existed.

On Sunday, July 7, The School of Rock Pompano will perform at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood at 2 p.m. to prove the existence of the Beatles. This Band is set to perform five Beatles songs. Yours truly is scheduled to sing “Back in the USSR” and celebrate drummer Ringo Starr’s 79th birthday.

By “Cinema” Dave
http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With the monsoon rain we have experienced as of late, it would be easy to miss the summer solstice this week, the longest day of the year (Friday, June 21). School is out, the Stanley Cup and basketball championships have been decided, and all that remains is baseball and the movies.
The Spy Behind Home Plate is a documentary that opens this weekend. It is the story of Mo Berg, the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants who went to Princeton University in New Jersey, but who really wanted to be a baseball player. While his Jewish parents were distressed that playing games was more of a priority than getting a real job, Mo’s love of baseball provided a fringe benefit for the United States of America entering World War II.
Graduating Magna Cum Laude, Berg played catcher in the 1930s. He had a talent for grasping foreign languages, which became the key to understanding foreign cultures when Major League Baseball went on international tours.
Berg toured Japan. As the Nation of Japan was becoming imperial, he secreted a camera and took pictures of city geography. These photos were eventually used by the war department and were utilized during General Doolittle’s bombing campaign that lasted 30 seconds over Tokyo.
Like Woody Allen’s Zelig and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, The Spy Behind Home Plate shows Berg meeting many celebrities. He toured with the Great Bambino — Babe Ruth, and dated the legendary baseball player’s daughter. When World War II concluded, Berg took tea with Professor Albert Einstein in Princeton.
There is a great dichotomy between the public persona of Mo Berg and with the man who worked under Colonel Donovan, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s request. The film reveals photos of Berg’s radio game show appearances on Information Please! while developing espionage profiles with Ian Fleming, the author of the original 13 James Bond novels.
With The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg and Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, documentarian (and New York Mets fan), Alvina Kempner has scored the hat trick with The Spy Behind Home Plate. This is a good movie to celebrate this year’s summer solstice.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Since the early 1980s, John Lithgow has been a consummate character actor on the big and little screen. He was the villain to John Travolta and Nancy Allen in Brian de Palma’s Blow Out, yet was Oscar nominated for his gentle role as a transsexual football player in The World According to Garp and as a small town gentleman who helps Debra Winger in the Oscar-winning Best Picture Terms of Endearment. Lithgow earned an Emmy as the nasty antagonist to the serial killer Dexter and as Professor Dick in 3rd Rock from the Sun. Lithgow portrays the lightness and the darkness of human nature with equal conviction.

Lithgow’s new movie, The Tomorrow Man, opens this Memorial Day weekend. In the midst of comic book movie openings, The Tomorrow Man may be the quietest movie opening this weekend. It is definitely the most unique one.

Ed (Lithgow) is on the high side of 60 and is obsessed with the future. While grocery shopping for supplies for his hidden bunker, he observes Ronnie (Blythe Danner). Like Ed, Ronnie buys bulk supplies and pays cash. Ed suspects they are kindred spirits and he introduces himself.

Ed and Ronnie hit it off and share meals, have discussions and late night drives in small town America. We learn that Ronnie has suffered much loss and has a tendency to hoard. As the relationship grows, Ed’s estranged son asks them to join the family for Thanksgiving Dinner. The meal is comically dark, but changes the tone of The Tomorrow Man.

As we learned in the movie Storm Boy, a good story has to go wrong before it gets better. The Tomorrow Man is a story about growth and the inevitable. Yet, the theme of embracing the present is so strong. With empathetic actors like Lithgow & Danner, The Tomorrow Man is a gem of a movie hidden on the big screen, much like the treasures found in Ronnie’s house of hoarding.

Opening last weekend with a visitation from the writer/director (Celia Rico Clavellino) and leading lady (Lola Duenas),Journey to a Mother’s Room is a Spanish language movie about a mother and daughter separation. For 90 plus minutes, this film features two women performing mundane activities. The daughter goes off to pursue her dream job in London, while the mother suffers from empty nest syndrome. Though this drama does drag, the climax provides a worthy payoff.

Of course, this is Memorial Day weekend and this columnist must acknowledge the PBS National Memorial Day Concert on Sunday night. The show is always epic and emotional, with this year’s emphasis on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. Also, on Thursday, June 6 at 2 p.m., the Percy White Library in Deerfield Beach will host a free concert conducted by the Senior Moments Unforgettable Band. Expect some patriotic Big Band swing!

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

It was 45 years ago that my parents and I sat on the porch and watched Susan Hayward’s Oscar-winning performance in I Want to Live, which featured Barbara Graham’s final days before visiting the gas chamber. As an 11-year-old, I kept waiting for somebody to clear Graham’s name and she would be spared the execution. Albeit to say, there was never a sequel produced.

Released in 1995 and directed by Tim Robbins, Dead Man Walking earned Susan Sarandon an Oscar for her portrayal of Sister Helen Prejean, a spiritual adviser to inmates on death row. Like I Want to Live, Dead Man Walking is based on a true story with artistic license.

Opening tomorrow, Trial by Fire falls into similar “death row drama” and may be more haunting than the previous two Oscar winning movies. Itopens with simplicity. In one sustained shot, we see a girl playing in her front yard while a house in the background bursts into flames. A man runs out the smoky front door, runs to his car, then runs to a window screaming a child’s name. The fire department arrives. The fire claimed the children of Todd (Jack O’Connell) and Stacy Willingham (Emily Mead), a couple with domestic problems. Based on circumstantial evidence and his nonchalant behavior, Todd is sentenced to death row. Labeled a “baby killer,” Todd is placed on the lowest rung of inmate hierarchy.

During his final years, Todd develops a relationship with a prison guard (played by local actor Todd Allen Durkin) and develops a pen pal relationship with Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), a recent widow raising two children. With her legal experience, Elizabeth investigates Todd’s case and sees a reasonable doubt.

Director Edward Zwick has created his own unique “death row” drama. The dark elements of the story naturally permeate the story, but the sunny cinematography provides an interesting contrast. Clocking in slightly over two hours, this film meanders, yet provides many “little moments” of character development. In particular, the relationship between Todd and his security guard grows and blossoms like the relationship between Dr. Frankenstein and his monster.

Trial by Fire is a good movie, but a serious movie filled with darkness of the human soul. It is a definite contrast to most films on the big screen. If you need a “feel good” movie, go see Superpower Dogs 3D at the IMAX at the Museum of Discovery & Science in Ft. Lauderdale.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Earlier this year when Glass opened, this columnist was disappointed with the low key fate of the Bruce Willis character, given the imagery this movie star cultivated with his Die Hard movies. Especially with the first Die Hard movie, it was entertaining to watch one guy best a group of terrorists holding people hostage.

Hotel Mumbai opens this weekend and is based on four days of terrorist attacks in India shortly after Barrack Obama was elected president.  Unlike the fantasy heroics of Die Hard, Hotel Mumbai captures the historical fear of people under captivity.

The film opens with a dozen terrorists from Pakistan rowing a rubber raft to the financial center of India, the city of Mumbai. Inside the Hotel Mumbai, we are introduced to the staff who believes that customer service means treating the guests as gods.

The godly guests are an international assortment of characters. Armie Hammer portrays an American who married into Indian royalty and is the father of a baby boy. Jason Isaacs portrays a Russian who delights in prostitutes and fine alcohol. In contrast, Dev Patel portrays a father who desperately needs to work at the Hotel Mumbai on this fateful day.

The action is swift, sudden and unexpected. It is an organized and coordinated attack, but with random targets. Given that the Special Forces unit is eight hours away, the Hotel Mumbai is a soft target. The suspense and terror feel real for the victims in hiding, who overheard the cold blooded directions of some mastermind seeking the most public executions possible.

Director Anthony Maras makes strong use of silence and noise. He also tampers with the nerves of viewers who suffer from either acrophobia or claustrophobia.  While Hammer, Isaacs and Patel are the most recognizable actors, Hotel Mumbai is an ensemble masterpiece.

Hotel Mumbai is a tough, but important motion picture to watch for historical reasons. For those who forget the lessons of history, one is condemned to repeat them. It was only four years later that American ambassadors were murdered in Benghazi, Libya, which was documented in the underrated movie, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Both movies remind us that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Captain Marvel has become the biggest grossing film of 2019 thus far, topping How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Glass.  This is the penultimate episode leading into the April 26 release of Avengers: Endgame, the climax of 11 years of Marvel movies.

Though an original story, Captain Marvel is filled with many Marvel Easter eggs, motifs and details that will reward the patrons of the late Stan Lee. In fact, the film opens with a  beautiful tribute to Stan “the Man” Lee, who created so many of the Marvel Comic superheroes who have struck box office gold.

The film opens when Vers (Brie Larson) and Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) are on a mission to infiltrate the Skulls.  Leading up to this mission, Vers has flashbacks involving American fighter jets and an older woman (Annette Bening).  When the mission goes haywire, Vers crash lands on planet Earth, circa 1990s.

After a confusing and convoluted opening, Captain Marvel settles into familiar territory, in which Vers meets S.H.I.E.L.D. Representative Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Gregg Clark).  Vers learns that she is actually Carol Danvers, an Air Force aviator who is best friends with Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) and the old woman in her dreams is actually her commanding officer, Doctor Wendy Lawson.  

Once the characters are established, Captain Marvel moves at a pretty brisk pace.  Unlike the serious nature of the recent Avengers and Captain America movies, the emphasis is on fun, much like the recent Thor, Ant-Man and Doctor Strange movies.  Like these previously mentioned  Marvel movies, this film succeeds as a standalone movie.

Being a comic book movie, it is filled with many visual big screen treats — the bigger the screen, the better [Head to IMAX in Ft. Lauderdale to see it on the six-storey screen] — that feature computerized special effects and practical stunt work. Yet, it is the character interaction that makes these movies special. While Danvers has a nice reunion with Rambeau and her daughter, it is the relationship between Nick Fury and Goose the Ferkel (who looks like a nice cat) that many ticket purchasers are talking about.

Being the 21st film of the Marvel Comic Universe, Captain Marvel is the final piece of the puzzle that will culminate with Avengers: Endgame opening April 29. This is a unique time for the movies, for this summer may be the swan song of the big screen motion picture experience. 

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

As much as this writer loves his monster movies and spends his Saturday nights watching Svengoolie on MeTV, I’ve never watched an episode of Six Feet Under, a cable series about a funeral home run by a family. The actual science and business of this practical business is more likely to give me nightmares, compared to watching legends like Vincent Price and scream queen Linnea Quigley roaming the graveyards in search of flesh and brains.

To Dust opens this weekend and is a comedy/drama about death and decomposition. As expected, this is a serious and sad movie. Yet, for those in the medical profession with a dark sense of humor, To Dust is a movie for you.

The film opens with the sound of labored breathing with a respiratory machine. When the breathing and machine stops, the husband Shmuel (Geza Rohring) cuts his coat in grief [as per Jewish custom]. As the hospital staff begins the purification rites, Shumuel questions his wife’s soul and current state of pain.  

Shumuel seeks answers through science.  After attempting to find answers through higher level learning at university centers, Shumuel decides to pick the brain of a high school science teacher named Albert (Matthew Broderick).  Reluctant at first, Albert gets involved in the study of bodily decomposition as if he were trying to win the school’s science fair.

With echoes of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, Albert and Shmuel’s pursuit of science takes them from one bizarre situation to another.  Despite being a Kosher Cantor, Shmuel uses the corpse of a pig to determine the actual time of bodily composition, since a pig’s anatomy is similar to that of a human [pork is not kosher]. 

To Dust is filled with many of these contradictory scenes of the human condition. When a classic black & white monster movie plays on a television at Albert’s house, that somehow feels normal. These little details offset the gruesome subject, making To Dust a humane film in the long run.

As the blockbuster release of Captain Marvel has been revealed, the summer box office blockbuster is fast upon us, with Dumbo set to open at the end of this month.  Unique films like To Dust, The Last Resort and Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel will likely be pushed aside. See these unique films on the big screen when you get a chance.