By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With very little surprise, the summer blockbuster season has been dominated by comic book adaptations: Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming. With less fan fare, there have been a few low-budgeted motion pictures that became sleeper hits that will likely rack up high DVD and online streaming numbers: Annabelle: Creation, Baby Driver and the newly released Logan Lucky.

Described as a “red neck heist movie,” Logan Lucky has much in common with urban heist movies like the Ocean’s 11 trilogy. One common denominator of these four movies is that they were directed by Steven Soderbergh. Reuniting with his Magic Mike costar Channing Tatum, Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky has created a hybrid motion picture that is part Smokey and the Bandit, Mr. Majestic and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Logan Lucky opens with a touching scene. Jimmy Logan (Tatum) is working on the engine of his Ford pick-up truck with his young daughter, Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie). While he takes pride that his daughter knows the difference between a Phillips and a slot head screwdriver, Jimmy’s ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes) prefers Sadie to watch her diet since the little girl has a series of beauty pageants on the horizon.

After being laid off from a temporary construction job with the Charlotte Motor Speedway, he seeks solace with his bartender brother Clyde (Adam Driver), a veteran who lost his left hand in the sands of Iraq. When the loudmouthed Max Chilblain (Seth MacFarlane) angers the Logan brothers, Jimmy hatches a plan to steal money from his former employer.

Like any good heist movie (The Ladykillers, Who’s Minding the Mint?), assembling the team is half the fun. Sister Mellie (Riley Keough — Elvis Presley’s granddaughter) is a hair dresser with exceptional driving skills and knowledge of rush hour traffic patterns.

Seeking a mastermind who understands explosives, the Logan brothers enlist the aid of Joe Bang (Daniel Craig, who looks uncannily like Robert Shaw from an early James Bond movie, From Russia with Love). Despite a series of mental and physical challenges, the heist is launched during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600.

There is suspense to Logan Lucky, but the tone is filled with mischief and fun. A premeditated prison riot acknowledges racial stereotypes, but behind the scenes the prisoners are comrades in arms. The soundtrack features some fine rockabilly guitar playing with a touch of Bo Diddley and John Fogarty.

While not a box office success, Logan Lucky was a well-deserved critical success. For a Saturday matinee price only, this film will be a treat for Labor Day weekend.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Automatonophobia is a morbid fear of ventriloquist dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues and any inanimate object that simulates a sentient being. Besides having a similar sounding name, the most profitable movie of last weekend, Annabelle: Creation shares this morbid fear of inanimate objects coming alive.

Annabelle: Creation features the formation of the title character in the wood shop of Sam Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia). Sam’s daughter Bee teases her father by playing a game of hide-and- seek. After going to church with his wife, Esther (Miranda Otto), the future looks bright for the Mullins doll maker. Abruptly, Bee dies.

Twelve years later, a small orphanage moves into the Mullins house in the country. Sam is a bit gruff with Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) and the girls. The grieving man is generous enough to let the orphans loose in his home. However, Sam warns the orphans to not visit Bee’s old bedroom.

Being curious, Janice (Talitha Bateman), a polio survivor, sneaks into Bee’s room. Seeing a sealed closet door, Janice opens the door to find the Annabelle doll. Afterward, things go bump in the night and Janice gets involved with a supernatural game of hide-and- seek.

Winning strong mass critical acclaim with a good box office, Annabelle: Creation will be remembered as a classic scary movie. With links to the original Annabelle and the two Conjuring movies, this film features a dark standalone story.

Directed by David F. Sandberg, this film takes full advantage of rural stillness. Given that the title character is an immovable object, tension builds to a terrorizing level.  A crescendo is achieved with a soft, but disturbing denouement. Stay past the closing credits for a teaser featuring The Nun, the next movie of this original horror series created by James Wan. 

If you haven’t gotten enough of puppets, The Cult of Chuckie is penciled for a Halloween release, featuring the serial-killer possessed doll.

By “Cinema” Dave

Twenty nine years ago, Stephen King published a trade paperback titled The Gunslinger, which was promoted and sold by the old Walden bookstores. With a mixture of science fiction, horror and cowboy ethos, I envisioned myself portraying the Gunslinger, Roland, who sought the Man in Black.

The Gunslinger was revealed to be a small part of a much larger epic. In the appendix, King wondered if he would live long enough to complete this cycle of stories, which concluded in 2004 with the seventh book, The Dark Tower.  It is ironic that the first movie of a proposed long-term series would be the title of the last book.

This movie opens with an ominous tone. A Dark Tower separates our world from alternative worlds with different time periods. (Confused?  Yeah, I know I lost some readers already). Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) is having apocalyptic nightmares about the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) kidnapping children, blindfolding them and sucking out their brain waves. The brain waves are used to bombard the Dark Tower so that it will fall and the universe will be covered in darkness. The Man in Black has also picked a fight with Roland, the last Gunslinger (Idris Elba) from a golden age of law & order. Having killed Roland’s father (Dennis Haysbert), the Man in Black continuously taunts the gunslinger.

During an inner city earthquake in Manhattan, Jake discovers a portal machine that takes him into another world. Jake meets Roland, discusses mutual interests and decides to protect the Dark Tower. These actions set in motion a showdown between the Man in Black and the Gunslinger.

What was novel 29 years ago has become routine in the last 28 years of the summer blockbuster, movie experience. 

We see a series of action-set pieces that have no emotional involvement. By the time the hero and the villain have their showdown, the action feels repetitive.

With less than a two-hour running time, The Dark Tower feels longer in a dull way.   

I was saddened to learn about the passing of Haruo Nakajima this week.  While not a household name, Nakajima was an international superstar, best known for portraying the original Godzilla for nearly 20 years. A purely physical performance in a giant lizard suit, Nakajima managed to create a character that has endured for over six decades. Through a translator, Nakajima expressed a fondness for Godzilla and believed the monster was a tragic figure when I met him at a Spooky Empire convention three years ago.

I had arrived early at the DoubleTree Hotel and went into the gym. I watched this 85-year-old little man enter the gym and do many of the exercises that I did. Nakajima did not speak English, but, throughout the weekend, we shared a lot of smiles and a few laughs. R.I.P. Haruo Nakajima, a true class act.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Don’t rush to go see Dunkirk. Make plans to go see Christopher Nolan’s latest action movie. Sure Dunkirk fulfills the requisites for a typical summer blockbuster, but this film contains much depth of detail. This film is about loss and retreat, yet is filled with triumph.

The running time is less than two hours, but Dunkirk feels longer in a good, epic way. Given his previous work with Memento, Inception and Interstellar, it helps to understand Christopher Nolan’s conception of time. Dunkirk tells three stories that take place in one week, (The Mole), one day (The Sea) and one hour (The Air). 

Dunkirk opens on The Mole, in which British soldiers walk abandoned streets in Dunkirk, France. Paper propaganda from the Nazis tells the residents that Germany is in control of the city.  As Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) reads the propaganda, his mates are gun downed by an unseen enemy. Tommy escapes to the pier where a Red Cross ship awaits departure.

Volunteer civilian boaters are the focus of The Sea, which features Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) and his son. Rather than waiting for the British bureaucracy to figure out the proper procedure to rescue stranded soldiers, Mr. Dawson, his son and his special needs deckhand George impulsively join the rescue operation. Their first rescue involves a shell-shocked soldier (Cillian Murphy), whose behavior could create disastrous repercussions.

The Air ties up the entire narrative of Dunkirk. Three Spitfire airplanes (with Mercedes engines) are sent out to provide air support to the rescue operation. With limited fuel supply, the Spitfires are outnumbered by the Nazi airforce. When the team leader is downed, it is up to Farrier (Tom Hardy) to protect the British ships at sea.

Understanding the concepts of time and location in advance will enhance one’s viewing pleasure of this movie. As the timelines converge, we witness multiple perspectives of the same situation (i.e. the bombing of a minesweeper) and we see how it affects all the protagonists.

With limited dialogue, Dunkirk is a visual treat. With the exception of Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, Dunkirk features a cast of young faces with potentially strong careers in the future, most notably Fionn Whitehead as Tommy. Dunkirk will be an Oscar-worthy contender that is best seen on the big screen this summer. Go see it!

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

After 18 years of writing this column, I take pride that I am the longest film columnist in Broward County. Yet, across the Broward/Palm Beach County line, columnist Skip Sheffield bested me by a dozen years. A veteran of the old Boca Raton News, Skip had been a freelance columnist and, like me, had his own blog. As rival columnists, we crossed paths — but never swords. We shared joined interviews with Neale Donald Walsch and James Cromwell. We were not competitive and, afterward, we enjoyed conversations and swapped stories about other celebrity interviews that we had.

Skip died in his sleep last Thursday night. (pg. 12)

The last time I saw Skip was at a critic’s screening of The Last Word, starring Shirley Maclaine and Amanda Seyfried.  Typical of Skip, he arrived on his motorcycle shortly before the screening began and he left when the final credits began to roll. While I liked The Last Word more than Skip did, we both shared an appreciation for Shirley Maclaine’s performance. With Skip’s passing, my profession has suffered a major loss of a colleague who understood cinematic legends and community history.

The Midwife — a French film with cinematic icon Catherine Deneuve, opens tomorrow in area theaters. Though Deneuve is more of a supporting character, Catherine Frot portrays the title character, the Midwife. This drama starts off with serious heartbreak, but leads to comedic redemption by the final reel.

Besides being a midwife, Claire (Frot) is a single mother who has empty nest issues. Claire’s adult son is entering medical school. After a successful day of birthing babies, Claire is contacted by Beatrice (Denevue), a woman with a past. Beatrice had broken Claire’s father’s heart.

Claire and Beatrice are an odd couple. Whereas Claire is serious and focused, Beatrice is flaky with a tendency for melodrama. The two form a unique partnership because Claire is a caregiver and Beatrice is a hypochondriac. Clocking in at 116 minutes, The Midwife is a breezy movie that features good performances and many unique child births.

Steven Spielberg released Saving Private Ryan toward the end of the summer blockbuster season 19 years ago. Despite being a serious R-rated motion picture, that film dominated the box office during the summer of 1998. It looks like Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk will be repeating the cinematic history this summer. Grossing over $55 million in its opening weekend, this PG-13 rated war movie has generated much word of mouth on the street. Expect The Observer to review this future classic that has already created Oscar buzz.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

When the original Star Wars was released 40 summers ago, people began looking for deeper meaning in the film. Writer/director George Lucas admitted to be influenced by Professor Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which explores the theory of the “monomyth.” Regardless of culture, the story of the hero is a universal rite of passage. The same thing holds true in a different film, War for the Planet of the Apes, the final part of a trilogy in which we witness the rite of passage for Caesar, an ape who was destined to destroy the world as we know it.

After the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar (Andy Serkis) is the charismatic leader of the apes and proud family ape. When the Colonel (Woody Harrelson) raids an ape encampment, Caesar’s wife and child are killed. Caesar plans revenge and the rescue of his surviving son, Cornelius.

With his trusty associates by his side, Caesar pursues his course of action. He is sidetracked by a little orphan girl who cannot speak and bad ape (Steve Zahn), a clumsy chimpanzee who was previously incarcerated in a zoo. Despite his previous military success, Caesar’s quest for vengeance leads the heroic ape into the heart of darkness.

While it would help to see the previously released Planet of the Apes movies, War for the Planet of the Apes works as a standalone drama. The wages of war weigh heavily on Caesar, a heroic protagonist who is unable to find peace for himself. He is a character we have sympathy for, which makes War for the Planet of the Apes such a successfully subversive movie.

While Caesar’s motivation leads to enlightenment, the Colonel’s journey leads to a logical madness. With echoes of Joseph Campbell’s novella Heart of Darkness and Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, this Colonel is both Caesar’s antagonist and alter ego. When both confront one another, the Colonel compares this meeting with the time General Lee met General Grant to close out the American Civil War.

The War for the Planet of the Apes caps off the most intelligent science fiction trilogy of recent years. Using Caesar as our guide, larger issues like genetics, civil liberties and war are examined. The discussions between the Colonel and Caesar are fascinating, but this film has many throwaway moments and Easter eggs that are thought-provoking, but funny also.

Before Star Wars, 20th Century Fox’s most successful science fiction franchise was their five Planet of the Apes films. While pessimistic, these films provided satirical humor about 1960s humanity. With less cartoon humor, the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy is far darker, but it is an entertainingly told story.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Besides being Bastile Day, this Friday, July 14, marks the opening of Lost in Paris, an enchanting romantic comedy that features visual gags inspired by Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel & Hardy. The cinematography echoes La La Land, but makes Paris, the City of Lights, shine while providing a simple sweet-natured story seldom seen on the big screen these days.

Opening and closing the film with a Currier & Ives setting, Lost in Paris introduces us to the headstrong and independent Martha (the late Emmanuelle Riva) and her niece Fiona. Many years later, Fiona (Fiona Gordon) is a librarian in Canada and she receives word that Aunt Martha is in distress in Paris. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Fiona gets lost in Paris.

While Martha and Fiona keep missing each other, both women cross paths with Dom, (Dominique Abel, who co-wrote and co-directed with his wife, Fiona Gordon) a hobo who pitches a tent by the River Thames. Through misidentification, miscommunication and with plenty of slapstick, the three protagonists find a resolution when they arrive on the tippy top of the Eiffel Tower.

From beginning to end, Lost in Paris is a delight. Gordon and Abel are a fine team both behind the scene and with onscreen chemistry. Minus big budgeted special effects, this film features theatrical visual gags that would inspire “oohs” and “aahs” with a live audience. It will be remembered as a timeless movie, a modern movie that celebrates its cinematic silent movie past.

With very little surprise, Spider-Man: Homecoming blew up the summer box office last weekend. Having appeared last year in Captain America: Civil War, this new Spider-Man movie features an actor (Tom Holland) who is closer to the age of the teenaged Peter Parker found in the comics. For all of his web-slinging superpowers, creator Stan Lee never lost sight that he was telling the story of a teenager going through his rights of passage.

The film references the original Avengers movie which featured the “Battle of New York” post carnage. Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) is a sanitation engineer who is originally commissioned to clean up the mess. Prevented by government bureaucrats, Toomes steals the alien refuge and creates his own mercenary business, complete with new technology, and adopts the moniker “the Vulture.”

Spider-Man battles the Vulture on three occasions, with the first two battles being the most thrilling. However Spider-Man: Homecoming is a human story featuring a flawed hero and his antagonist. This is a character-based story that is as unpredictable as human behavior.

This weekend, enjoy both of these entertaining movies.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Previewed at the Sundance Film Festival and hailed as the film of the Trump era, Beatriz at Dinner is being promoted as a satirical dark comedy. Starring Salma Hayek (as the title character) and John Lithgow as (her antagonist) Doug Strutt, Beatriz at Dinner has more sadness than laughs.

Beatriz is a very likeable character. She raises her animals in her small studio apartment and performs massage for terminal Cancer patients and rich people like Kathy (Connie Britton) and Grant (David Warshofsky). When her car stalls, Kathy invites Beatriz to her prearranged dinner party with celebrity mogul, Doug Strutt, a man Beatriz senses that she met before.

Despite some funny one-liners and cultural humor, this film descends into a depressive darkness when one character says, “no matter what they do, everything is dying.” For fans of movies like Melancholia, or stories where dogs, goats and other animals die, then this film is for you.

Film Noir is a cinematic art form that has infiltrated the American Motion Picture industry since the 1940s with films like Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil. The influence of noir can be seen and felt in movies like Planet of the Apes, Blade Runner and Frank Miller’s Sin City.

Baby Driver is a musical comedy noir that is highly entertaining. Baby (Ansel Elgort) has a hearing disability, but is an excellent getaway driver for organized crime master mind Doc (Kevin Spacey). Despite working with multiple scumbags, criminals and sociopaths (played by Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzalez), Baby is basically a nice guy who cares for his foster father Joseph (CJ Jones), a deaf man in a wheelchair.

Baby develops a conscience when he meets a waitress named Debora (Lily James), who is intrigued by this young man, who constantly wears earphones and listens to music. While the two lovebirds develop a strong connection through music, Baby’s criminal connections threaten to destroy their happiness.

Writer/director Edgar Wright has crafted a fine motion picture that will be studied and analyzed for years. While some critics will say this writer/director is the next Quentin Tarantino, Wright’s influences go historically deeper. Baby Driver features homages to film noir classics like Detour, The Mechanic and Payback.

Like the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Baby Driver features a great soundtrack of good songs. Go see Baby Driver.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

In the past decade, we have witnessed five Transformers movies from Paramount pictures, the studio that sold off their Marvel movie franchise to Disney. In the previous four incarnations, I would drag myself into a screening, but would leave pleasantly surprised with having been drawn into this science fiction world of man and machinery symbiosis.

This 5th film, Transformers 5: The Last Knight features nonstop action for the first 40 minutes of the film, takes an exposition break, and then pummels the viewer with another 45 minutes of computer-enhanced special effects that take place on a science fiction dead planet and Stonehenge, England.

The exposition scenes are the most interesting moments in this film. This is the point when major characters come together at an English castle and discuss their hypothesis. It helps that one of these characters is portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins, a newcomer to the franchise. With echoes of a luncheon hosted by his characters from The Remains of the Day and Hannibal, Hopkins listens to (leading man) Mark Wahlberg’s and (young Megan Fox lookalike) Laura Haddock’s plans to save the world.

While the subtext reviews the Arthurian legend of King Arthur, Merlin and The Knights of the Round Table, there are assorted clever details that link the previous four movies to The Last Knight, including a subtle dig to former Transformers leading man Shia LaBeouf (Remember him?) The palace scene also allows a moment of self-deprecation in which Sir Anthony Hopkins delivers an inspirational speech, complete with a soaring musical score.

Besides confronting the end of the world, Transformers 5 deals with Optimus Prime’s identity crisis and Bumblebee’s attempt to find his own voice. (At least this Transformer is wise enough to use John Wayne’s voice when the going gets tough.) Yet, once the good Transformers fight with the bad Transformers, one can hardly differentiate which side one is supposed to cheer for.

Cars 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Wonder Woman and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales are more fun to see on the big screen these days. Also Megan Leavey is pure drama for people who like to laugh, cry and feel patriotic.

As a vacation from computer-enhanced special effects extravaganzas, check out Filmed in Broward at the Savor Cinema in Ft. Lauderdale this weekend. The most recognized features include the Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) presentations of Boyfriend Killer and Girlfriend Killer, both starring actress/producer Barbie Castro and directed by Alyn Darnay. Be on the lookout for films featuring local talent Diana Rice and many others. The screenings are free, but there will be a fee for the parties, receptions and extravaganzas afterward. [On Saturday, July 1, from 9 a.m. to noon, Darnay will be the guest speaker at the Actor’s Cultural Theater (ACT Broward), 10 SW 11 Ave., Ft. Lauderdale. That is a free event in which he will be discussing acting, writing and directing]. For information contact 954-525-FILM or visit www.FLIFF.com.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Receiving much praise since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, The Hero opens locally in neighborhood theaters. As the ironically-named title character, Sam Elliot has earned his best notices in years as an iconic actor whose career peaked many decades ago. A man out of time, Lee Hayden (Elliot) makes a living doing voice-over for barbecue sauce and spends his free time getting stoned with an old actor friend, Jeremy (Nick Offerman).

Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, Hayden attempts to make amends with his estranged daughter Lucy (Krysten Ritter) and his ex wife, Valarie (Katharine Ross -Sam Elliot’s real life wife). Having burned emotional bridges many years ago, the reconciliations are cold. While toking with Jeremy, Lee makes the acquaintance with Charlotte (Laura Prepon), a stand-up comedian. Through Charlotte, Lee is given one last dose of living fully. While attending an awards banquet, he is given career redemption and, through moments of generosity, the actor becomes a social media sensation again. But, through Charlotte, Lee is given a brutal reminder about his vulnerability and fatality.

The Hero sets false expectations for a Sam Elliot film in which he wears a 10 gallon hat. The title is meant to be ironic. Elliot takes full advantage of his public persona, while revealing painful truths about aging. His voice is as strong as ever, but as the film progresses, the tough-looking cowboy fades into a pot smoking has been. The Hero is hard to watch, but is a truthful statement about a generation of actors whose time has passed them by.

Having not seen the previous Cars movies, I was drawn to Cars 3 on Father’s Day when mainstream critics questioned if this film was meant for children. It does provide enough slapstick to hold a child’s attention, but this new Disney Pixar animated movie has themes and emotional content that relates to middle-aged adults. It is a reminder of Pixar’s award-winning films like Monsters Inc., Wall-E, Up and Toy Story 3.

After many successful years on the racing circuit, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is defeated by a younger rival who is faster, stronger and more scientifically aerodynamic. Taking advice from his dearly-departed mentor, Doc Hudson (the late Paul Newman), McQueen trains “old school,” but is forced to work with young Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo), a perky trainer with unrealized dreams. Cars 3 has an adult appeal for people who like The Karate Kid, Cinderella Man and Rocky Balboa.

Being a Pixar/Disney release, Cars 3 includes a brilliant short subject film titled Lou. Set in a playground, Lou feels like an Aesop Fable with a subject about bullies and loss. Both Cars 3 and Lou create a life-affirming afternoon at the movies.