JUDY

Judy for an hour "When walking (thru life) is enough" How do you start the conversation about a legend's biography? The film captures the essence of the woman of the legend. The main focus is the Personable Judy underneath the Star Judy grounded in life with small back stories chiseled out of her family, her arrangement of hits, her battle with intoxicants, her costars, her husbands. The greatness of Judy Garland is her voice along with her immense communication skills in telling a story with that voice. Zellweger has a task before her like no other. She succeeds in a respectful portrayal, never becoming a caricature or campy Judy. Honest, vulnerable, grounded. She also sings for herself, which also demonstrates the cello-osity of Garland's voice. She can not match the pipes or even touch them. She can tell the tell but not with the singing, so her singing inflects Judy. Which is good enough. A moving dignified human approach is portrayed without the hyper focus on her "bad days" or "star terrible" moments. Tantrums are thrown by everyone, and thankfully we are not defined by them. Neither should Miss Garland. ---in all actuality, in this late time period, Judy's voice was worn down by the years of La Vida Loca peculiarly parallelly coincidentally like the last year of Whitney Houston who lost her voice as well---so Zellweger's vocal rendition is true to the time. Judy's voice was a shadow then too. Zellweger has her mannerisms gestures as natural as one could get and you feel "Judy", more so when She interacts with "normal people". Warmth, cheerfulness, loneliness, sadness, being a legend or being ordinary are extremely exposed with the tiniest scenes. Every moment Zellweger's silhouette impresses and hauntingly invokes, ramblingly walks like a Judy Galland postcard, a collage of sightings. The clothes, the coiff, the simple act of sitting backstage after a performance. There is just Judy. Ordinary people can't relay to the life lessons of huge stars, today when huge stars are doing world tours, every minute is planned - even restroom breaks are scheduled. But this film's Judy hasn't lost touch and is only embellished by her triumphs and losses. The sets, costumes, locations, supporting stars all enhance fleshing out Judy's private world. Now, how much this biography is actual true to life or is an invention doesn't really matter, unless Judy wrote it Herself. She didn't. She left clues about it in her artifacts of movies, songs, and tabloid fables. Gleaned from these the writers, director, and actor give us a heartfelt humourous caring Judy. What more could one want. I feel there will be mixed reactions, older people who knew her may turn beat red by saying that's not her, middle aged people will say it was quite a formidable film, and younger people will say Judy who. Nonetheless, Judy Garland is there and you are reminded why She is still and always will be loved. And that is good enough for me.

ABOMINABLE

The heart is a lonely hunter... for acceptance and validation A clever heartwarming animated film of family and each member's place and expectations without the saccharine. Like Hansel and Gretel, likewise there is always villainy folks who are out to get you or something. And these unscrupulous types push their way through at all costs. There is a bit of mysterious otherworldly spiritual magic sprinkled throughout which lifts this story to a very sublime unicorny nature tale. The color palette is lush, the backdrops are vivid, the landscape true to Chinese green forestry and sharp sloped mountains. Of course this is a family and children film, but there is more than enough for adults to enjoy without kids. This is a rescue, quest action film. And the main character is a Heroine. So for that, girls will have kindred feelings. Relationships and hearts hunt for understanding and value all through the adventure, by choices each character makes. What will happen? Follow my heart, follow my mind or follow the crowd.? It's a nice respite for everyone with no effort to just sit back, eat popcorn, and watch

AD ASTRA

Bratt Pitt has Bette Davis Eyes. "You can go home again.." This film hits all the marks of a tour de force in classic filmmaking. It is not a cgi comic book battle generated saga. It is a simple story of inner loss of a boy grown into a man and what the loss made of that boy, placed in space tech world. But What Brad Pitt delivers is what Bette Davis delivered. It's a feat for any one actor to hold an audiences attention, yet Brad's performance mostly solo, seamlessly takes you along... One onion layer pealed back at a time. He's on screen so much that it's like he's right next to you and that you can practically smell him and wipe his sweat off. Really. So it's a story film, based on acting, set beautifully in space. Don't expect Star Wars, it's not, It's all pathos and empathy here. A lot of techy peeps will poo-poo the techno-sci-accuracy as faulty-off mark and space-not-like-dat; hey chill out , it's a film fantasy, not a technical documentary. Just like in Star Wars heroes survive and rarely get hit with laser blasts or bullets. These are campfire stories with campfire fantasy realness. All films are imagination sprinkled with realness. Not realness sprinkled with imagination. If you want realness or "more science based facts of a 5th grader", go to a lab and watch petri dishes grow If you want fantasy and a introverted ride, see this. Fyi: All movies have research teams, Harry Potter-Fantastic Beasts, Avatar... With beaucoup bucks spent to make sure stories follow storyline, latest science data, etc Or not to... It's up to the story teller/director to do whatever he wants to Obviously quite in your face obviously this director has the provenance and caliber and thumbed his nose at current accepted "fysics" facts and wanted to tell his story this way with his alternative facts. He chose this, they are not mistakes, or they should have known...he did and didn't care. This caliber of a director does his homework, as exhibited by the high quality of this movie, shots, cinematography, pic etc. Like Kubrick, Cameron et Al Hitchcock... You get what He wants to show you like a Dali melting clock in an alternative universe. This is His Dali-esque Space film. To hell with your "fysics" Anyone who tries to make films real and be accurate are looking in the wrong arena and will be unhappy at any film. Rambo is unreal, James Bond is unreal. All films are surreal story telling unless they are documentaries Relax

RAMBO LAST BLOOD

Rambo is as Rambo does. "There are bad (people) men in this world...(and) this world is darker...(and) people don't change. ...I keep a lid on it" In a nutshell that's this Mature Rambo. Wise Rambo advice. The film is all you expect and more from the vengeance, revenge, and retaliation in the arc of Rambo Vigilante Universe. A simple man with agility, scarred again and doing the do to right their wrongs. Bc this is Mature Rambo, he doesn't do sentimental parleys to get what is rightfully his, He doesn't plead...he asks. Woe to you to pick a fight with a twilight assassin. Now the film... Is it worth seeing?, u bet it is! It's jarring crunchy never cynicle but honestly reflects the current world with all it's technical baubles down to our unfiltered humanity or lack of. And exposes if you aren't aware: the ghouls are your neighbors, not a bogeyman, and unfortunately this story can be ripped out of any newspaper today, even sacred small towns. There was a short period where these events were fantasy, not any more. The early Rambo violence was a fantasy, like Clockwork Orange, but today we hope someone like Rambo is near by to protect us. The writing is natural, The acting is understandable The direction is on point It's clear and almost wistfully romantic, Wide angle shots of open farmland and horses showing if only the world could be this way... To a world of tunnels in the earth. It's sad. "I will always be sad" a character says about loss. Only age, time and poignant losses bring us humans to this kind of emotion looking back at our lives. Only "This" Rambo can do this. The Mature Rambo. None of the other Rambos have this, they look to the future. Believe it or not, there is still more Rambo movies that can come from this. This is not a swan song unless Stallone is done. Finally I feel besides being a Rambo film, Stallone is talking to each and every one of us to take our humanity back. Be a little kinder. Listen to your wise elders. And there are bad people too so be vigilant as well But in the end you will do you and you will live with the consequences, good or bad. So be patient, pause, listen and reflect before you act

IT CHAPTER 2

You can/can't go home again. In my little town I grew up believing.... "It's Ba-a-ck" The Carnival is back in town along with a revived evil. Older and stronger, these kids-now-adults should be able to hold their own. But the evil grows in strength, too. Terror takes on a heightened pyschological aspect which is filmed seamlessly. Spectacular Vignettes in all areas. Characters, scenes, and ghoulish theatrics. The director takes each character and element, and with precision beats lays out each story and back story. (Lots of "love" "unrequited love" "alternative love" secrets come out of the woodwork. Oh boy. And repressions. Things not dealt with, too late to deal with, and missed opportunity. Alas being young and dumb, or an old fool.) The task He executes is monumental. Lucky Lucky Him for having casting foresight and getting the actors He has as they all take their performances to great depths. The devil is in the details and He misses none. This explains the length of the film. Developing each narrative mood and thread with a ratio of economy and generosity to make each actor-scene-shot shine. Bc the first It movie was about the "scares"; you really can't "re-scare" with an old familiar villain. The Clown is the Clown, no matter how bedazzledly sinisterly He gets. IE. Alien and Aliens. First movie scarey, second movie actiony.... So the "scares" become pyschological "scares" or "repressions" that an audience can empathize with. Here in lies the narrative choices lays out. It chapter 2, will eventually be a film recognized for the director who captured characters from different times and ages, wove them together in a parallel smurfing blur that one could not exist by the other. Meaning, you can infer each movie to each other like a mirror. The reflection and the reflected. We know which came first but if we suspend that sequence knowledge, Which really is the prequel or the sequel. That's the masterful craftsmanship this director has exercised and executed. Touche.

FORD VS FERRARI

A Fine Bromance "Keep your eyes on the prize" The simplistic title Ford vs Ferrarri nails it and let's you know all you need to know. 2 low key sensitive testy ace car jockeys just trying to get thru life 2 power ceos just trying to prove who's to the bigger heavy. Circa 1965-1968. You can't buy a win but you can buy the one who will give you a shot a it. Hmph? Do you fight back, fight on, weather it out, take your lumps? What makes you a failure or a success, a hero, a coward, or a loser or a winner? Context and Attitude. Decisions and Politics. The Bloodiest nasty battles that scar with no physical marks. Like Scratching and Itching, Unsinkable Friends who eat each other up, a scrapy scruffy brittle book-ends bromance -- Who unquestionably trust each other's self satisfying full moon face jack-o'-lantern grins implicitly. And that's 100% adrenaline brotherhood. All that makes a 60's super soupy soap opera. Last time I seen besties spat like that was Turning Point with Anne Bancroft and Shirley McLain slugging it out with pocketbooks by the Lincoln Center's fountain. Yuck yuck. There is no jukebox driven moody distractions either. Just the lone twang of guitar, the sky like blue burnished torch flame and the engine's roaring rumble. Director Mangold directs a begining- middle - ending chronological narrative. Building all the storyline elements slowly that make ordinary people and lives extraordinary on film. The Undressed "60's" is the backdrop. No fish nets, no mini skirts, No minorities. No psychedelics no hippies No hip twerking Elvis this is the doggier side of Viva Las Vegas. No James Bond no mothballed James Dean. Is this really the "60's"? Yes it is. There are enough 1960 films about the "60's". This is not that film. This plain blue jean 60's It's all long skinny black ties Navy blue suits pencil silhouette slacks crewcuts white collar world vs blue collar jumpsuit grease monkey factory Both types of men who's construction is really A man who's got to do something and walks with a broomstick up the wazzooly very fast like it's important so we pay attention... But in the end It's just a car race But like sports to males It's everything. The Action is set among expanding and confirmed cramped spaces. Claustrophobic sports cars Miles and miles of dessert Glass window offices Car repair shops and race tracks The screen play and dialogue is like drinking ice tea in real glass tumblers for 2 hours, add ice, add tea, add sugar, repeat. This is the calm 60'ers. It wasn't complicated with technology. Actor Christian Bale portrays a cantankerous cranky crusty know it all to Matt Damon iron pants hold my line what I got to do Maverick In a fraternal Siamese twins' tryst. If you step back they're one another's "other". One baby changing another baby's diaper, I mean this with the highest respect. They're in this together. Champions can only understand Champions. Final thoughts. The film, the lives and the great racing it covers Is like: Frothing ice cold milk for a giant cappuccino From high pitch squealing violin to a nuanced low cello rumble to silently bubbling boil. All phases are passed through. Experience informs an expert telepathically what's going on. Everything is unfolded expertly. "...at 7000 rpms everything fades and the machine becomes transcendent and the body weightless in space..." the teaching moment Only an expert could relay this distilled Zen Event It took lives, a film maker, a crew to replay and relay it. This is why film making is the finest exemplary. In 2 hours, full whole life experiences are spoon-fed for a pittance fee. Lucky us. Thanks Mangold et Al

SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

"Believing what you have read costs dearly..." Funny creepy stories, nosey-kids, and a misguided revenge on bogeyman. All the elements needed for a horror flick to sail or sink. This films delivers the goods and steams on. Everything is done well. Colors pop, heads pop, soda pop. Oh and popcorn. Don't let the unknown b-list actors cause you pass on this and miss it. An excellent script relys on story, setting, and acting to propel it to 5 stars. And once again proves you need either or both: a good actor to make a bad script good, a good script no one can mess up, and/or good acting and good script. This has the third plus great direction, cgi, and cinematography. Since Hitchcock, Twilight Zone, Friday 13th, et all...most of the Horrorescapades in Horrorland have been filmed...so pretty much there are no new shocking horrorology. What is left is what always has been there. The re-telling. Similarly we have fashion every year with the same look. It's still pants, suit, dresses and gowns. Right. Nope! Similarly, It's how you film/tell a scarey story. This one is an enjoyable bump in the night Gem.