Here Today (2021)

Genre: Comedy / Drama
Directed by: Billy Crystal
Cast: Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish, Fred Bernstein
Time: 117 minutes

 

Charlie Burnz is a comedy writer doing his best to live a normal life in spite of the fact that he is silently living with an aggressive form of dementia. Through a celebrity auction, he meets local singer Emma Payge, and this particular meeting will bring a friend in his life that might just what he needed.

Billy Crystal wrote the screenplay and directed this film, and he played the lead role. I loved it. Sure, it might be mushy at times, but it made me laugh a lot and it touched me also quite a bit, so I am willing to forgive the mushiness. I absolutely loved this film. Well done, Billy, you have made an even bigger fan of me.

Rating: «««««

The Paperboy (2012)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Lee Daniels
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman
Time:107 minutes

 

Based on the Pete Baxter novel of the same name, The Paperboy tells the story of idealistic reporter Ward Jensen, who returns to his hometown in Florida to investigate the case of the murder of a sheriff, for which a man is now waiting on death row.

Nicole Kidman’s performance was a clear highlight here, as she came off the screen with realism. Other than that, I found it difficult to get emotionally invested in this film. It just felt like there were too many unnecessary layers and a lack of direction. By the end of it, I was glad it was over.

Rating: ««

Death Wish 3 (1985)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: Michael Winner
Cast: Charles Bronson, Deborah Raffin, Ed Lauter
Time: 90 minutes

 

Following the events of the previous film, architect Paul Kersey spent about a year traveling to various cities doing his thing as a vigilante. He then comes back to New York City for the first time since he was kicked out of the city, to visit an old friend he met during the Korean War. Kersey arrives to find out his friend was beaten and killed by a group of thugs. He is first suspected of doing the crime, but, recognizing him, police chief Richard Shriker recruits him to collaborate with the cops. Kersey moves into his friend’s apartment and proceeds to try to clean up the city once again.

While the action is more intense at this point in the franchise, the acting really felt uninspired on everybody’s part. They just seemed to go through the motions.

Rating: ««

Major Payne (1995)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Nick Castle
Cast: Damon Wayans, Karyn Parsons, Michael Ironside
Time: 95 minutes

 

Major Benson Winifred Payne is a US marine who returns from a successful drug bust in South America to realize that he has been passed over for a promotion and that he is receiving an honorable discharge. Having a hard time with civilian life, he gets arrested. Upon his release, his former commander gets him a job at the Madison Preparatory School, in Virginia, where he will train a young group of JROTC students.

While some moments in this film made me laugh and others made me smile, on the whole, this is a pretty silly movie. Nice seeing Karyn Parsons again, as I had such a crush on her as a teen. All the characters are pretty one dimensional and cartoonish.

Rating: ««

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)

Genre: Biographical / Drama
Directed by: Kasi Lemmons
Cast: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders
Time: 146 minutes

 

This film goes over the life and career of Whitney Houston, from her beginnings in New Jersey with a mother that was a singer herself to her shot to superstardom, with the pitfalls that it can bring into one’s existence.

I was never the biggest Whitney Houston fan. I guess I never was her target audience. That being said, this movie was a great eye opener for me in regard to her impact on music. Her story is compelling and well told on screen. Most of the performances were good, though a few were a little overplayed. Minor detail, but still: I find the title too long ; adding the artist’s name to it seemed like a weird choice to me.

Rating: ««««

Dexter: New Blood (2021-2022)

Genre: TV / Drama
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Jack Alcott, Julia Jones, Jennifer Carpenter
Number of seasons: 1

 

Ten years after faking his own death by riding his boat in a hurricane, Dexter Morgan has relocated to Iron Lake, NY, where he is living under the name Jim Lindsay. He is trying his best to live a normal life, with a little cabin in the woods and a relationship with the Police Chief. One evening, his estranged son Harrison, now a teenager, come knocking, with mysterious motives. Soon enough, the quiet life in Iron Lake is turned upside down.

I loved the original Dexter series, and I was curious to see where they would go with it. The original ending was disappointing, so I had hopes for a better end. Well, in my humble opinion, this was not it. This one season follow-up had its strong moments, but, in the end, I was left disappointed again by an ending that made no sense.

 Rating: «««

Larry Crowne (2011)

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Directed by: Tom Hanks
Cast: Tom Hanks
Time: 99 minutes

 

Larry Crowne is a middle-aged Navy vet working at a big-box store. He is a hard worker, but, since he has no college education, he loses his job. Unable to find employment, he returns to college, and a class with blasé professor Mercedes Tainot will forever change his life.

 This rom com is cute, sweet and all, but is ends up being very bland. The whole thing feels uninspired, and, in the end, it is very unsatisfying. I think Hanks is better off concentrating on the acting alone.

Rating: «««

Air (2023)

Genre: Biographical / Drama
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis
Time: 112 minutes

 

This film based on true events tells the story on how Nike, then a neglected underdog in the sports shoe business, made a tremendous deal by convincing rookie basketball player Michael Jordan to sign with them and by building the Air Jordan sneaker around him.

This was a captivating tale of guts, determination and taking a chance in spite of uncertainty. Affleck did a good job as actor and director and the ensemble cast also did great work bringing this incredible story to the screen.

Rating: «««««

Death Wish 2 (1982)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: Michael Winner
Cast: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Vincent Gardena
Time: 88 minutes

 

Approximately 8 years after the events of the first film, Paul Kersey has relocated to Los Angeles. He is working as a freelance architect and dating a local radio reporter. After his housekeeper and his daughter both get assaulted and killed by a group of thugs, Kersey turns back to vigilantism by hunting down the muggers who did the horrible deed.

The production of this sequel seemed to have been surrounded by controversy from the get-go. It is not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a fun little piece of entertainment that deals with vengeance and retribution. Is Kersey a hero? This film makes him out to be one. In reality, it is another matter. But, who cares really? I enjoyed this movie for what it was.

Rating: «««

Evil Dead 2 (1987)

Genre: Horror
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
Time: 84 minutes

 

Ash Williams travels to an isolated cabin in the woods for a romantic getaway with his girlfriend Linda. At the cabin, they uncover a recording of archeologist Raymond Knowby, the previous occupant, reciting from the Book of the Dead. After the recording is playing, the young couple is attacked and possessed by an evil force.

It is cool to revisit an old classic like that. I am not big on the supernatural thing, by nature, but I can see that this was played mostly for laughs, and I enjoyed it as such.

Rating: «««

Siberia (2018)

 Genre: Thriller
Directed by: Matthew Ross
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Ana Ularu, Pasha D. Lychnikoff
Time: 104 minutes

 

Diamond merchant Lucas Hill travels to Siberia to recover some rare blue diamonds, that he is set to sell to dangerous gangster Boris Volkov. The diamonds are missing and Volkov is not a very patient man.

 Honestly, this movie left me Siberia-level cold. The story is convoluted and not really interesting. The acting also felt uninspired. A few scenes gave me hope here and there, but, alas, it never led to much.

Rating: ««

White Men Can't Jump (1992)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Ron Shelton
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez
Time: 115 minutes

 

Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane are two street hustlers doing their thing on the basketball courts of Los Angeles. When their paths cross, they start out as adversaries, but they soon realize they are even better working together.

I first saw this film when it came out, in the 1990’s. It was cool to revisit it so many years later. Snipes and Harrelson have a good chemistry on screen, and Rosie Perez brings a lot of energy to the mix. Here is a fun story well told on screen with the help of talented actors. All things considered, a very good movie.

Rating: ««««

Cry Macho (2021)

Genre: Western / Drama
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam, Eduardo Minett
Time: 104 minutes

 

Mike Milo is a washed-up retired rodeo star whose life fell apart after his wife and kid were killed in an accident. His ex-boss asks him for a favor: Travel from Texas to Mexico, to bring back the son he left behind with the kid’s mother years before.

This neo-western drama is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Richard Nash. I always have been a fan of Eastwood’s movies. He has a knack for keeping it simple and delivering characters you can relate to and care about. This movie is no exception to that. It’s not hard to care about Milo’s quest and about the kid he is trying to bring back to the US.

I must say, though, that, as an actor, Clint is starting to look his age. It is less and less believable to see him going on like that, though he at least did not make himself out to look totally macho and badass, which would have been too much of a step. The movie carries a cool message about macho being overrated, but the whole thing felt a little incomplete, as if there were some missing elements to the story. Not a bad film, just not up to the usual Eastwood standards.

Rating: «««

Y'en aura pas de facile (2010)

 Genre: Franco / Comedy
Réalisateur: Marc-André Lavoie
Distribution: Rémy Girard, Denis Bouchard, Emmanuel Bilodeau, Mahée Paiement
Durée : 94 minutes

 

Alors qu’il s’inscrit à un site de rencontre sur Internet, Réjean, un biographe spécialisé dans les biographies non autorisées, est invité à faire une vidéo où il se décrit et raconte son histoire. Plutôt que d’y aller avec la vérité, Réjean fait comme il le fait avec ses livres et il s’invente une vie remplie d’aventures rocambolesques.

Ce film était passé sous mon radar à sa sortie. Somme toute, c’est un divertissement correct contenant quelques bons moments. La brochette d’acteurs qui font des apparitions dans ce film est spectaculaire. Le matériel en tant que tel m’a fait sourire souvent, mais j’aurais aimé que ce soit plus punché, plus drôle.

Note: «««

Death Wish (1974)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: Michael Winner
Cast: Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardena
Time: 94 minutes

 

After his wife and his daughter are both brutally attacked by three thugs — leaving his wife dead and his daughter heavily traumatized —, successful New York architect Paul Kersey decides to turn to vigilantism as a way to fight back against the violence in his home city.

While this film, which is based on the novel of the same name, lacks a lot in the subtlety and first-rate acting departments, it still manages to be entertaining. As man with important women in my life, I cannot help wondering what I would do in a similar situation. I would rather not find out, but this sort of film joggles my emotions. It is easy to root for Charles Bronson’s character here.

Rating: «««

The Evil Dead (1981)

Genre: Horror
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Bakerive iv
Time: 85 minutes

 

A group of 5 college students travel together to a wooden area for a vacation in an isolated cabin. Soon after they arrive, they discover an audio recording that sets a chain of events in motion. The group comes under attack by a legion of evil spirits and demons, and four of them start suffering from demonic possession. The fifth student, Ash Williams, must then fight for his life to survive the onslaught.

This film is a fun little piece of campy horror. The special effects are often ridiculous, and the acting is usually over-the-top, but, while it lasts, we enjoy the ride. A true cult classic that is worth revisiting for the fans of supernatural horror flicks.

Rating: «««