Jim Jefferies: This Is Me Now (2018)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Scott Zabielski

Cast: Jim Jefferies

Time: 70 minutes

In his latest comedy special, shot live on stage from London, England, Australian comic Jim Jefferies discusses such topics as Donald Trump, politics, hypocrisy, sexual assault, his life as a single father and much more.

Jefferies seems to take a lot of pleasure in his irreverence, and that kind of fun is contagious. He does not hesitate to tackle different subjects, and, in my book, he does it well. This show is not vulgar for the sake of being so. The comic has certain things to say and he wraps it all up in a very entertaining package. There were a few jokes that made me feel bad I laughed, like his anecdote about an audience member at a previous show who got extremely offended by one of his jokes about dead babies.

This show made laugh out loud from beginning to end, and it closed strong with a very funny anecdote about Mariah Carey and a certain birthday party.  

Rating: «««««

George Carlin: Again!

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Marty Callner

Cast: George Carlin

Time: 81 minutes

George Carlin’s second HBO comedy special was recorded live, in the round (where the audience surrounds the stage), at The Celebrity Theatre, in Phoenix, Arizona.

This special starts with a series of black-and-white pictures from Carlin’s youth, and the whole thing is narrated by the comedian. Then Carlin takes the stage and does a bit of his goofy material, with fake news, targets in Kleenex, frogs’ legs and more. After that, he discusses such topics as time and death, he revisits Al Sleet (The Hippie-Dippie Weather Man) and concludes with an updates version of the words you can’t say on television. The show ends with Carlin introducing his wife Brenda, who was a close collaborator of his. That was a sweet moment.

This show is a slight improvement from Carlin’s first HBO special. The rhythm is improving. Some of the goofy stuff is not as much my thing as some of his later material, but it is a nice indication of where he was at as a funny man.

Rating: ««««

Wildflower (2016)

Genre: Drama / Thriller

Directed by: Nicholas DiBella

Cast: Nathalia Ramos, Cody Longo, Alexa Rose Steele

Time: 92 minutes

Chloe is a college student who is having recurring nightmares about her difficult childhood, which force her to deal with her past.

Quite honestly, I completely lost interest in this film shortly after it began. The story was simply not compelling to me and the product on screen was unappealing.

Rating: «

Calvary (2014)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: John Michael McDonagh

Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly

Time: 101 minutes

Sitting in the confessional of his church, Father James receives confession from a mysterious man who says he was molested by a priest as a child. The man then tells Father James he will kill him on the beach the next Sunday, even though he is a good priest, because killing a bad one would not have as much of an impact on the church.

The opening scene of the confession was really well done and it hooked me, but what followed quickly let me go. First off, I found the accents of most of the actors really distracting. I can usually manage quite well with Irish, British, Scottish and other accents, but, here, I found myself constantly battling to understand what the heck they were saying. A lot of the acting was not very good either and I found that the story dragged along quite a bit.

Rating: ««

On Location with George Carlin (1977)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Marty Callner

Cast: George Carlin

Time: 85 minutes

This is George Carlin’s very HBO comedy special, recorded live at the University of Southern California. Since the famous comedian had just won his case for free speech against the FCC, the program starts with Newsweek columnist Shana Alexander explaining that this kind of language in entertainment was rarely seen on TV at that point.

Most of the material in this show is very tame, especially by today’s standards. Carlin discusses such topics as grocery shopping, food, walking, dogs vs cats, old folks vs kids, the news and brand names. Then, the show ends with the infamous bit about the dirty words you cannot say on television. Before that section starts, there is a pause in the broadcast with a written warning message about the language. The seven dirty words bit would evolve some more after this show and become a classic.

Carlin was just starting on HBO here and he had not hit his full stride yet. The flow and pace is not as tight as it should be and some of the material is not as strong as his later stuff would be. Still, it is cool to see where it started and there is still a loud of very funny material here.

Rating: «««

Les Innocentes (2016)

Genre: Franco / Drama

Réalisateur: Anne Fontaine

Distribution: Joanna Kulig, Agata Kulesza, Agata Buzek

Running time: 100 minutes

Mathilde Beaulieu, une jeune médecin de la Croix Rouge française, est postée en Pologne en 1945. Elle est amenée par une religieuse dans un couvent, où une nonne est sur le bord d’accoucher. Neuf mois plus tôt, un groupe de soldats soviétiques ont envahi le couvent et violé les sœurs. Sept d’entre elles sont maintenant sur le point d’accoucher, et Mathilde tente de les aider dans cette épreuve terrible pour ces femmes de Dieu.

Ce film est d’une grande lourdeur, de par son sujet, mais il est fort touchant. On peut facilement comprendre le désarroi de ces femmes de foi qui doivent accepter une aide fort intime malgré le poids de leur religion et de leur pudeur sur leurs épaules. Le jeu de toute la distribution est fort solide.

Les Innocentes n’est pas un film qui se laisse prendre facilement, mais il vaut l’effort pour les cinéphiles.

Rating: ««««

Gladiator (2000)

Genre: Drama / Historical

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen

Time: 155 minutes

In AD 180, General Maximus Decimus Meridius leads the Roman army in its fight against the Germanic tribes. At the end of this war, he intends to return home to his wife and his son, but Emperor Marcus Aurelius wants him to replace him as ruler of Rome to save it from corruption. After being told of this, Aurelius’ son Commodus kills his father, assumes power and has Meridius arrested. The former General kills his captors and escapes, but finds his wife and son murdered. Being taken as a slave, he has to fight his way back to Rome to seek revenge.

This is truly an epic film, which is loosely based on true events. Stories about gladiators, knights and such things are not my cup of tea, but, in spite of this, I really loved this movie. It is beautifully shot, the writing is well done, the story is compelling and the acting is solid. Crowe and Phoenix are especially superb as Meridius and Commodus. They truly were invested in their respective characters and the viewer cannot help being pulled in.

Gladiator is very long, but, nonetheless, it’s a masterpiece that is well worth watching.

Rating: «««««

Len and Company (2015)

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Directed by: Tim Godsall and Katie Knight

Cast: Rhys Ifans, Juno Temple, Jack Kilmer

Time: 102 minutes

Len is a former rock star turned record producer who lives a secluded life in his country house. When both his son Max and his musical protégé Zoe drop by unannounced, Len’s life is turned upside down.

The premise offered lots of potential, with a story of a strained father-son relationship and of paternal rehabilitation, but I felt like a lot of those opportunities were left on the table. The characters and the actors portraying them were a little drab and underwhelming. In the end, I was left disappointed, never being fully pulled in enough to be emotionally invested in these characters.

Rating: ««

Armageddon (1998)

Genre: Science-Fiction

Directed by: Michael Bay

Cast: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck

Time: 150 minutes

A group of oil drillers are recruited by NASA and sent into space to disintegrate a gigantic asteroid before it hits and destroys most of planet Earth.

With great visuals and frenetic fast-paced action, Armageddon goes into overdrive trying to entertain and impress movie watchers. The acting is decent. Story-wise, it is far-fetched, exaggerated, silly and quite a bit cheesy. All things considered, this is a fun movie to watch at least once, even if you will not get much more out of it than entertaining fluff that is extremely predictable.

Rating: «««

Clinical (2017)

Genre: Thriller / Horror

Directed by: Alistair Legrand

Cast: Vinessa Shaw, Kevin Rahm, India Eisley

Time: 104 minutes

Dr. Jane Mathis is a psychiatrist who specializes in cases where patients are suffering from trauma. After going through her own traumatic experience with a young patient she had been treating, Dr. Mathis is having a hard time getting over it.

This Netflix original showed a lot of promise as it started, but, with very uneven acting and some weird plot twists typical of movie-makers trying too hard, it fell flat in the end. This certainly is not a memorable film.

Rating: ««

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Directed by: David Frankel

Cast: Meryl Streep, Anna Hatheway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci

Time: 109 minutes

Based on the Lauren Weisberger’s novel of the same name, The Devil Wears Prada is the story of Andy, a college graduate who goes against her nature in accepting a job as the junior personal assistant to Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, in the hope of later finding a job as a reporter or writer.

The subject matter could have given us a stupid piece of fluff of a movie, but the end result is a charming film, thanks largely to the acting performances. Meryl Streep is particularly great as Miranda Priestly, an overbearing monster of a boss. Streep manages to make a character we could easily detest somewhat sympathetic. That last look she gives on screen at the end encapsulates all the layers within the character she portrays.

Overall, while this was not my typical genre, I really like this movie.

Rating: ««««

Dwayne Perkins: Take Note (2016)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Ian Curtis

Starring: Dwayne Perkins

Running Time: 68 minutes

Taking the stage in front of a Los Angeles crowd, Dwayne Perkins discussed such topics as the place of America in the world, sports vs activities, violence, racial perceptions and more. Perkins manages to tackle difficult topics without really relying on coarse language, which is a feat it itself. This is a funny show with a good rhythm and some laugh out loud material.

Rating: ««««

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Directed by: Mike Nichols

Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Running Time: 100 minutes

This film is based on the true story of how US congressman Charlie Wilson and CIA operative Gust Avrakotos combined their efforts to launch Operation Cyclone, a program destined to support the Afghan mujahedeen during the Soviet-Afghan War .

The onscreen chemistry between Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman is what carried this film to its high quality result. They both did such an awesome job inhabiting their respective characters and they worked well off each other; it’s a wonderful thing to witness. Julia Roberts, on the other hand, not so much. She came off as over the top and fake.

This film is heavy in substance and can be hard to get into, but it is well worth the effort.

Rating: ««««

Blue Jay (2016)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: Alex Lehmann

Starring: Mark Duplass, Sarah Paulson

Running Time: 80 minutes

While on a trip back to his hometown, to renovate and sell his mother’s house, Jim bumps into Amanda, his high school sweetheart. The two former lovers spend some time together, revisiting a past filled with good times, passion, music, regrets and lost love.

The choice of shooting this film in black and white was a good one in my opinion. It did a good job setting an intimate tone for this particular story, where the time stops for a brief moment between two long lost lovers. The acting was quite good also. This is a story with subtle feelings and emotions many of us can identify with and the actors did a solid job delivering them on screen with the proper restraint.

The tone was a little drab at times, but, for the acting and the compelling story, I give this one high marks.

Rating: ««««

Hereditary (2018)

Genre: Horror

Directed by: Ari Aster

Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, Gabriel Byrne

Running Time: 127 minutes

After her mother and young daughter die one after the other, Annie Graham, a miniaturist artist, is reeling with grief and looking for a way to cope with the pain. A mysterious woman offering a compassionate ear and a shoulder to cry on points Annie in the direction of spirits and séances, which very well might open a door that will never close again.

With a great storyline, this film had mad potential. The acting was decent too, but the directorial work was a mess. The whole thing was badly channeled, and, by the end of this overly long film, I could not wait for the closing credits to come.

Rating: «««

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Directed by: Joel Coen

Starring: George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush

Running Time: 100 minutes

Miles Massey is a shark of a divorce lawyer, with an impeccable rate of results in his favor. After he ruins Marilyn Rexroth’s plans to get a huge money settlement out of her divorce from her husband, the frustrated woman strikes up a plan to seek revenge on the lawyer who put a kibosh on her plans.

Considering the Coen brothers wrote and directed this film and considering the main cast involved, I expected much better from this movie. The acting was badly over-the-top and it was really tough to get invested in the characters. The typical Hollywood ending was also predictable and lame.

A few lines made me laugh, but, overall, this is a very skippable title,

Rating: ««

Casablancas: The Man Who Loved Women (2016)

Genre: Documentary

Directed by: Hubert Woroniecki

Starring: John Casablancas, Woody Allen, James Brady

Running Time: 89 minutes

Shortly before his death, John Casablancas, who founded the supermodel representation agency known as Elite, sat down to discuss his life surrounded by beautiful women.

The life being discussed here sure was an interesting one and this documentary is full of compelling information. Since it is one man telling his story, it comes off as unidimensional and a little dry, but it was still worth watching.

Rating: ««««

Identity (2003)

Genre: Thriller

Directed by: James Mangold

Starring: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina

Running Time: 90 minutes

A group on ten strangers find themselves stuck at the same motel with no way out because of a rain storm. Soon enough, members of the group start dying and the question becomes: Who did it?

Identity starts off as a typical story of whodunit, in the tradition of Agatha Chrsitie. But, by the end, it goes into left field territory. While the various twists are compelling, they are more than a little far-fetched.

Some of the acting performances were pretty good but others were a little weaker.

All things considered, Identity had its moments bu it could have been so much better.

Rating: «««