Unplanned (2019)

On Friday a friend of mine who is very committed to the pro-life movement invited me to go see the new movie Unplanned, so my going was to me, rather unplanned. When I first became aware of the movie, and knew nothing of the plot, judging from the title and the poster I assumed it was going to be some kind of horror movie, and it is, though not in a conventional sense. Unplanned is the story of Abby Johnson, the one time director of a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic and her conversion to the anti-abortion cause. Given the subject matter the movie can at times be very difficult to sit through, there was even a scene or two where I had to look away from the screen.

The movie of course is an advocacy film, it wants its audience to feel disgusted about abortion. Now this probably is not going to be a problem because very few people who aren't already disgusted about abortion are going to go see this movie. Add to that the production company is having a very hard time finding venues that will even consent to run advertising for it, though when I saw it on opening day here in Utah the theater was packed, and I was surprised going in to see Glenn Beck there, in person, talking about the movie and its need for word of mouth marketing.

I don't know if I could 'recommend' this movie in a traditional sense, though I am okay with making people who might be curious aware of its existence, but know going in what type of movie your getting. This is probably the first R rated Christian film I've seen since The Passion of the Christ. The movie is remarkably well put together given its apparent budget, decent production value, really good structure, good writing, some of the supporting actors can be a little hokey, but a nice sometimes understated performance from lead Ashley Bratcher. The film felt pretty honest to me, though I'm sure Planed Parenthood disagrees with its portrayal. The last thing I'll say about the movie is that I didn't feel like it was outright contemptuous of people who disagree with its position, which is kind of what I was expecting so I wanted to acknowledge that. **1/2

Instant Family (2018)

Not the kind of movie I usually go out of my way to see, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. You know basically what your getting going in, but this comedy (with dramatic bits) about the trails and rewards of the foster program hits the right notes. Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne are good, and that Isabela Moner has a future. Also Julie Hagerty (the female leads from the Airport! movies) is in this, I think the last thing I saw her in was What About Bob? nearly 30 years ago. Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro's characters could be spun off as the tie in regulars on an anthology series about the foster care program, kind of like The Love Boat, only with social value. Inspired by a true story. ***

Apollo II (2019)

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary year of the first moon landing the new documentary Apollo 11 lets you experience the event on the big screen, and there is something to be said for that. Incorporating previously unseen footage and presenting events chronology using only period audio and video (no present day talking heads) it is a satisfying, some times stirring slice of history. Of all the things in the film I think what I responded to the most were the images of the crowds, average American's who traveled to Florida from all over so their children could witness history. You see them car camping on the cape, standing on motel balconies, or in a J.C. Penny parking lot, all in their period garb, sharing cokes, holding binoculars to their children's eyes, it's beautiful, more so even then the surface of the moon. ***1/2

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

"Gunfights every hour on the hour starting at noon" is the gimmick in Sam Raimi's revisionist western The Quick and Dead. Heavy on the style and lite on the substance I was disappointed, I had been curious about this one for two decades or so. While some performances more or less work, like Gene Hackman's and then newcomer Russell Crow's, some try a little too hard (Leonardo DiCaprio) and some just don't come off, such as lead Sharon Stone's. I had been thinking lately that Western's, especially post 1970 are one the hardest genera's to get right for me, with something like a 50% fail rate. Sadly The Quick and the Dead ended up on the wrong side of that draw. **

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

Ralph Breaks the Internet is the sequel to the 2012 Disney release Wreck-It Ralph, which is about sentient arcade game characters, only in this movie some of those characters visit "the internet', hence the title. Since the characters are visiting a representation of the world wide web circa 2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet is going to date faster then any Disney film since Victory Through Air Power, a strange hybrid mostly cartoon Disney film from 1943 which advocates for an air based offensive policy in World War II (worth seeing by the way). It is hard to imagine what a 7 year old child watching the movie in says 50 years is going to be able to make of the thing. Fortunately this movie has a different lesson to impart from the first Ralph film, which I suppose could be summarized as "don't let the internet ruin your friendships". Seldom laugh out loud funny Ralph 2 is generally amusing, occasionally innovative and one of the most unabashedly corporate synergistic films ever made, including multiple scenes of a dozen or so Disney princess conversing with Vanellope.***

Standby Me (1986)

I wish I had come to this movie earlier, I think I would have appreciated it more. Based on the 1982 Stephen King novella The Body, Stand by Me is a well mounted, nostalgic coming of age piece helmed capably by Rob Reiner and featuring an impressive cast of teen actors. The best thing about this movie are those four central actors, its teens playing teens and that is exactly what this movie needed. Lose, rambling chemistry, lite juvenile reality to be counterpointed with the heaver, poignant and existential stuff. River Phoenix is probably best and most memorable in this, but now I finally get a sense of the talent people saw in a young Will Wheaton. Though rated R it feels perfectly suited to young teens, and might prove a good introduction to films with  heavy undercurrents. ***

Captain Marvel (2019)

While Captain Marvel has no shortage of haters online I thought the thing was just fine, I enjoyed it, a middling quality Marvel movie which is retro in a number of ways. It plays like an older superhero movie in that the story is pretty self contained, even while hinting at things to come later. The 1990's setting I enjoyed, we can feel nostalgic about the Clinton years now. The way they digitally de-aged Samuel L. Jackson in this, it feels like this technology has come along way, even in the 3 or 4 years since Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War. There is a brief moment of uncanny valley when you first see Jackson on screen, but its not long before the incongruity isn't even registering anymore, I've seen 1990's Samuel L. Jackson on screen before, I'm just seeing him again, no big deal. Interestingly this movie also offers some background alien political context for the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, we didn't' necessary need that but its nice to have. So yeah I liked Captain Marvel, though its no Wonder Woman. ***

Prisoners (2013)

Prisoners is a movie that I had been meaning to see for years. Very early in the film you can tell that this is going to be something a little bit different, something deeper then usual. There is a richness to the proceedings, it has the weight of a novel even though it was written directly for the screen. You can tell that things, even seemingly minor things in the film have been very thoroughly thought out, and the movie is very precisely constructed, at first it appears to be one thing and then revels itself to be something else, and more then once. The story of the disappearance and presumed abduction of two young girls from a suburban Pennsylvania neighborhood on Thanksgiving Day, every character in the movie comes to be a prisoner of those events, and the ways they react are deep explorations of their true characters. Fine acting from a strong cast anchored by Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenahaal but also featuring impressive work from Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano. Directed by French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who also did The Arrival, I really need to see more of the guys work. This movie pretty well bowled me over, and I think the emotion of the piece may have obscured some defects that might stand out more on a repeat viewing, but as an unusually strong drama with really surprising surprises, I'm going to give it  ****.

Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)

There are times when a certain naiveté can be quite charming, and there are those when it can be quite dangerous. The story of a child abduction in Pocatello, Idaho in 1974 and it's long fallout, Abducted in Plain Sight features many profoundly stupid decisions made, yet given the time, location and cultural context of the main players, I never really questioned their underlining sincerity. Robert Brechtold is a vile human being, but his cunning and persistence are impressive, if only it had been channeled constructively he could have been a very successful man. Best to go into this one knowing as a little as possible so as to better appreciate the "what the hell?" factor of the whole thing. ***

Amerigeddon (2016)

From the remainder bin at Best Buy comes Amerigeddon. A "The New World Order is coming after your guns" movie, the back of the box features endorsements from "Fox & Friends" (no specific Fox & Friends friend is named, just Fox & Friends generally is said to dub this the "ultimate political thriller") and InfoWars Alex Jones who appears in this movie as a United States Senator (Mr. Jones cameo necessities another, in this case bearded man playing the host of InfoWars in the movie). Directed by Chuck Norris's son Mike Amerigeddon principally follows three Texas families in the run up to and subsequent fallout from and EMP attack on North America. Said EMP attack is ordered by the apparently British "Chairmen" of the United Nations from his offices in Dubai. The movie is loaded with long standing often ridicules right wing conspiracy troupes, and some instances of rather bad acting, especially from the woman playing the "Chairmen's" wife, who comes across as having never been in front of a camera before, and the Russian colonel played by Chuck Huber, who goes out of his way to seem suspicious and like a caricature out of an 80's action movie. This picture also has a fair amount of low budget B movie charm, and most of the cast is passable given the limited demands of the picture. I especially liked Spencer Neville as the juvenile lead, and co-writer/ executive producer Gary Heavin's performance as "Charlie", which he plays as kind of a poor mans Gerald McRaney. The only actor whose career seems to have gotten bigger after this movie is India Eisley as the young love interest.

It took me awhile to figure out how I felt about this movie as a movie, until I realized that it really doesn't play like a traditional movie at all. Rather it plays like the pilot movie of a TV series as there are so many unresolved story lines introduced over the course of its 90 minute running time. Principally of course the big question is what happens now, after the groups first battle with U.N. forces, but also how do our characters deal with Beatty's cancer, does Roger ever make it to Austin to warn the governor, does Charlie ever revel his true feelings to Kelly? I kind of want to know these things in spit of myself. This movie is not good per say, but not as bad as I was anticipating, in fact its kind of likable, in a corny way. *1/2

Bloodlust! (1961)

Based loosely on the Richard Connell short story The Most Dangerous Game, Bloodlust! is one of those 'trapped on an island with a guy who hunts humans for sport' movies, and there are several. Robert Reed, the dad from the Brady Bunch, is one of the young huntiess, Wilton Graff is the hunter, and its the kind of part and performance that one most readily associates with Vincent Price. One of those movies where the characters routinely make dumb decisions, Watchable enough in the first half and then it gets pretty boring. June Kenney's skill at the judo flip, set up in an early scene, is paid off towards the end in a rare instance of competent writing. *

The Hearse (1980)

The Hearse compares rather unfavorably with The Changeling, a haunted house movie that came out the previous year and also featured Trish Van Devere. Ms. Van Devere here plays a recently divorced school teacher who decides to spend her summer vacation in the country at the house of her late aunt. It turns out the locals in the small town of Blackford are none to friendly, for the most part, and there are odd, clichéd supernatural happenings at the old house as well. In his review of the movie Roger Ebert stated that The Hearse is a great example of 'the idiot plot', which is a plot where everyone has to act like idiots for it work. *1/2

Lion (2016)

In 1986 5 year old Saroo Brierley fell asleep on a train in northern India, it took him more then 1600 miles from his home and authorities were never able to determine where that was as young Saroo confused the name of a local shop with the name of his village. Eventually Saroo was adopted by a nice Australian family and grew up in Tasmania and had a nice life, only he never forgot his biological family and 25 years after his disappearance was finally able to reunite with them. I find that I liked this store more then I liked this movie, it is well done, it is sometimes inspiring, but it is slow and long and doubtless better suited as the book its based on then as a film. Dev Patel plays the grownup Saroo, because of course he does, Rooney Mara plays his girlfriend and Nicole Kidman plays his mom, Patel and Kidman were both Oscar nominated and the film got a best picture nod as well. ***

Bumblebee (2018)

I have not seen any of director Michael Bay's 'Transformer' movies, and from what I hear I'm not missing much. Bumblebee, a prequel film set in 1987 is focused on one of the franchises most popular characters. Directed by Travis Knight Bumblebee is essentially a remake of E.T. in plot, only crossed with Edge of Seventeen, so now there are two movies where Hailee Steinfeld plays a teenage girl grieving from the heart attack death of her father. This is an enjoyable pleasant outing with the requisite retro flair and sentimentality, and a great 80's soundtrack. John Cena continues his audition to be the new Dwayne Johnson or Arnold Schwarzenegger, playing a government agent who rightly questions trusting the alien robots seeking Bumblee by pointing out that "They literally call themselves Decepticon's." ***

Night People (1954)

Night People was the directorial debut of screenwriter Nunnally Johnson, who also co-adapted the screenplay from a story by Jed Harris. The plot is about an American army private kidnapped by communists in West Berlin, and the efforts, principally of his father (Broderick Crawford) and a Military Police Colonel (Gregory Peck) to get him back. Like a lot of Johnson's work both as director and writer the story is heavy with the docu-drama vive, so the first half of the movie is rather slow and talky. The second half of the movie, which takes place principally over the course of one long night, is much more satisfying and anchored by a fine part for Gregory Peck, who would reteam with Johnson two years later for the much better remember The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. The latter film is a classic, but this first movie is principally interesting as an early cold war time capsule. **1/2