Saturday, May 12, 2018

Kam's Kapsules for movies opening May 18, 2018

Image result for deadpool 2

Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun  
by Kam Williams


OPENING THIS WEEK


WIDE RELEASES

Book Club (PG-13 for profanity and pervasive sex-related material) Romantic comedy revolving around four lifelong friends (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen) whose sex lives are turned upside-down after their monthly book club discussion of "Fifty Shades of Grey." Support cast includes Craig T. Nelson, Alicia Firestone, Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss and Ed Begley, Jr.

Deadpool 2 (R for sexual references, graphic violence, brief drug use and pervasive profanity) 11th installment in Marvel Comics' X-Men franchise finds the wisecracking title character (Ryan Reynolds) forming a ragtag team of superheroes to protect a young mutant (Julian Dennison) being hunted by a time-traveling, cybernetic soldier (Josh Brolin). With Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz and T.J. Miller.

Show Dogs (PG for suggestive and rude humor, action and mild epithets) Crime comedy about a police K-9 (Ludacris) who goes undercover as a pampered pooch with the help of his detective partner (Will Arnett) to prevent a looming disaster at the world's most exclusive dog show. With Natasha Lyonne, Omar Chaparro and Andy Beckwith, and featuring voicework by Shaquille O'Neal, RuPaul, Alan Cumming and Jordin Sparks.


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN

Carter & June (Unrated) Michael Raymond-James and Samaire Armstrong play the title characters in this mob comedy as ex-lovers who reunite to pull a bank heist which goes horribly wrong. With Timothy Omundson, Paul Rae and James Landry Hebert.

First Reformed (R for some disturbing violent images) Suspense thriller, set in upstate New York, revolving around a grieving pastor (Ethan Hawke) whose counseling the depressed husband (Philip Ettinger) of a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) fails in tragic fashion. Supporting cast includes Cedric the Entertainer, Michael Gaston and Victoria Hill.

The Most Unknown (Unrated) Frontier documentary following visionary scientists on the cutting edge as they explore new fields and seek answers to an array of unanswered questions.

On Chesil Beach (R for nudity and sexuality) Adaptation of Ian McEwan's best-selling novel of the same name, set in Dorset in the summer of '62, chronicling the courtship of a young couple (Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howie) that culminates in a bedroom crisis on their wedding night. With Emily Watson, Bebe Cave and Samuel West.

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (PG for mature themes and images of suffering) Papal profile taking the audience on an intimate, cinematic journey with Pope Francis as he pontificates about poverty, pollution and social justice. (In Italian, Spanish, German and English with subtitles)

Sollers Point (R for sexuality, drug use and pervasive profanity) Tale of redemption revolving around a just-paroled ex-con's (McCaul Lombardi) attempt to readjust to society while living under house arrest in Baltimore at the home of his father (Jim Belushi). With Imani Hakim, Zazie Beetz and Tom Guiry.

That Summer (Unrated) Leisure class documentary, set during the summer of '72, chronicling the comings and goings of pop icons and jet setters at Grey Gardens, the sprawling Long Island estate of socialites "Big Edith" and "Little Edith" Bouvier Beale. Featuring file footage of Ady Warhol, Lee Radziwill, Peter Beard and Paul Morrissey.

Posted by Kam at 9:14 AM 0 comments

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Life of the Party

Film Review by Kam Williams



Just-Dumped Divorcee' Returns to College in Bawdy, Midlife Crisis Comedy

Deanna Miles (Melissa McCarthy) was a junior in college when she got pregnant and dropped out of school to have the baby. She married her boyfriend, Dan (Matt Walsh), who finished his degree and kickstarted his career while she remained a stay-at-home mom.

Fast forward to the present and we find the couple dropping now-grown Maddie (Molly Gordon) off at their alma mater, Decatur University, where she's about to begin her senior year. She's happy to be moving back in with her girlfriends living at Theta Mu Gamma sorority house. 
 
On the drive home, Dan drops a bombshell on Deanna. He's canceled their planned, month-long vacation in Italy in favor of filing for divorce. Furthermore, the callous creep wants her out of the house, since it's in his name alone. 
 
To add insult to injury, he's putting it on the market with the help of his mistress Marcie (Julie Bowen), a realtor in town. And he has the temerity to rub salt into his shocked wife's wounds by explaining the ongoing affair with, "I just needed an upgrade." 
 
That cruel behavior frees Deanna to put some of his favorite belongings in a pile and set them on fire. Still, she's left in a quandary about what to do next, not having worked and or even graduated from college. 
 
Then she comes up with the bright idea of returning to Decatur to do her senior year right along with her daughter. Too bad Molly's mortified about the prospect of having her mom on campus.

But that is precisely the premise of Life of the Party, a midlife crisis comedy directed by Ben Falcone and co-written by Ben and his real-life wife, Melissa McCarthy. The movie marks the couple's third and most successful collaboration, following the less funny Tammy (2014) and The Boss (2016). This offering is most reminiscent of Back to School (1986), the Rodney Dangerfield classic about a dad who decides to matriculate at the same college as his son.

While Melissa McCarthy has undeniably been hilarious in buddy flicks and as part of an ensemble, a la Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013) and Ghostbusters (2016), she remains yet to prove an ability to maintain that level of laughter carrying a star vehicle. That being said, this female-centric variation on Back to School is well worth the investment.


Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, partying and drug use
Running time: 105 minutes
Production Studios: New Line Cinema/ Warner Brothers / On the Day Productions
Distributor: New Line Cinema / Warner Brothers Pictures


To see a trailer for Life of the Party, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTyfkQrr6M4

Posted by Kam at 2:37 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

A Perilous Path

 
Book Review by Kam Williams

A Perilous Path
Talking Race, Inequality and the Law
by Sherrilyn Ifill, Loretta Lynch, Bryan Stevenson and Anthony G. Thompson
The New Press
Hardcover, $14.99
126 pages
ISBN: 978-1-62097-395-0


“We are definitely in challenging times. A lot of things so many of us fought for are being deliberately and actively rolled back, trampled on.
But what we're really seeing, which we have not seen in fifty years, is the peeling away of the role of government--the move away from protecting the disenfranchised, the move away from speaking to those who don't have a voice, [and] the move away from lifting up people who have been pushed down."
--Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch (pages 10-11)


 

This book is basically a candid conversation among talking heads revolving around the issue of racial justice in America. In fact, A Perilous Path is literally an edited version of a spirited chat which took place on February 27, 2017, during the launch of NYU School of Law's Center on Race, Inequality and the Law.

On the dais were four African-Americans luminaries of considerable stature: former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, President of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Sherrilyn Ifill (cousin of the late Gwen Ifill), MacArthur Genius and best-selling author Bryan Stevenson, and NYU Professor of Law Anthony C. Thompson. 
 
The topics they explored ranged from the historical, such as why emancipation of the slaves failed to usher in an era of freedom and true equality; to the visionary, such as assessing the prospects for minorities in the age of Trump. 
 
In terms of the former, Stephenson asserts that "The North won the Civil War but the South won the narrative war. The South was able to persuade the United States Supreme Court that racial equality wasn't necessary." He laments the thousands of lynchings and other forms of terrorism which ensued that no one was held accountable for. 
 
Similarly, he says, "We won passage of the Civil Rights Act. But we lost the narrative war." Consequently, the segregationists waving Confederate flags were still able to maintain de facto white supremacy, evidenced by schools named after disgraced rebels like Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. 
 
I doubt you'd find any statues of Hitler and his henchmen scattered around Germany. Why not? Because not only did the Nazis lose World War II, they also lost the subsequent cultural war, which explains why Stephenson concludes for our purposes, "The challenge we face is a narrative battle."


Posted by Kam at 11:16 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Top Ten DVD List for May 8, 2018

by Kam Williams

This Week's DVD Releases
 
NOVA: Great Escape at Dunkirk

Dear White People: Season One

Midsomer Murders: County Case Files


Ackley Bridge: Series 1

PBS FRONTLINE: Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: The Complete Fourth Season

GI Jews: Jewish-Americans in World War II

Fifty Shades Freed

Bubble Guppies: Bubble Puppy's Awesome Adventures



Posted by Kam at 7:58 AM 0 comments

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Kam's Kapsules for movies opening May 11, 2018

 
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun  
by Kam Williams


OPENING THIS WEEK

WIDE RELEASES
Breaking In (PG-13 for violence, bloody images, menacing, sexual references and brief profanity) Suspense thriller revolving around a single-mom's (Gabrielle Union) efforts to rescue her kids (Ajiona Alexus and Seth Carr) being held hostage by a gang of burglars barricaded inside her recently-deceased father's Malibu mansion. With Billy Burke, Christa Miller, Richard Cabral and Jason George.
Life of the Party (PG-13 for sexuality, partying and drug use) Midlife crisis comedy about a just-dumped housewife (Melissa McCarthy) who decides to go back to college to complete her degree at the same school as her mortified daughter (Molly Gordon). Featuring Maya Rudolph, Gillian Jacobs, Jacki Weaver and Stephen Root, with a cameo appearance by Christina Aguilera.


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN

Always at the Carlyle (PG-13 for suggestive content, partial nudity and drug references) Reverential retrospective about the iconic, NYC hotel which has served as the favorite haunt of several generations of Jet Setters. Featuring commentary by George Clooney, Woody Allen and Anthony Bourdain.

Anything (R for sexual references, drug use and pervasive profanity) Romance drama about a widower (John Carroll Lynch) who moves from Mississippi with his sister to L.A. where he takes a fancy to his transgender, next-door neighbor (Matt Boomer). Support cast includes Maura Tierney, Margot Bingham and Michael Boatman.

Beast (R for profanity, sexuality and disturbing violence) Psychological thriller set on a tiny English island where a young woman (Jessie Buckley) leaves home to move in with a free-spirited newcomer (Johnny Flynn) only to discover that he's the prime suspect in a string of brutal murders. With Geraldine James, Trystan Gravelle and Shannon Tarbet.

Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Unrated) Prestige biopic chronicling the late artist's life prior to his rise to fame.

Class Rank (Unrated) Romantic comedy about a couple of couple of college-bound teens (Olivia Holt and Skyler Gisondo) who hatch a plan to improve their admissions chances by having their high school abolish its student ranking system. Supporting cast includes Kristin Chenoweth, Bruce Dern and Kathleen Chalfant.

Mountain (Unrated) Willem Dafoe narrates this documentary exploring the history of and extolling the virtues of mountain climbing.

Revenge (R for profanity, sexuality, graphic nudity, rape, gruesome violence and drug use) Action thriller set in France where an American socialite (Matilda Lutz) decides to take the law into her own hands after being raped and left for dead by a friend (Vincent Colombe) of her married millionaire lover (Kevin Janssens). With Guillaume Bouchede and Avant Strangel. (In English and French with subtitles)

What Haunts Us (Unrated) Paige Goldberg Tolmach directed this investigative documentary connecting the dots between the suicides of six of her high classmates all of whom had been molested by the same teacher.

Posted by Kam at 7:57 AM 0 comments

Thursday, May 3, 2018

American


Film Review by Kam Williams


Inter-Generational Drama Recounts Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII 

A couple of months after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. In accordance with this directive, over 100,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry were herded up and taken to internment camps for the duration of World War II. 
 
American, though set in the present, revisits that shameful chapter in our history. It is appropriate that the poignant picture stars George Takei, best remembered as Lt. Sulu of Star Trek fame since, at the tender age of 5, he and his family were forced out of their home at gunpoint and relocated to parts unknown. 
 
In American, he plays Clinton Nakamato, a 94 year-old veteran who proudly served his country in WWII, despite having been shipped to a concentration camp on account of his Japanese heritage. At the point of departure, we find him volunteering at the Japanese-American National Museum as he recounts his unfortunate ordeal on U.S. soil to a visitor (Rachel Michiko Whitney) with an impressionable young daughter (Araceli Prasarttongosoth) in tow.

As Clinton conducts an impromptu tour for them, we learn what life had been like for him when housed behind barbed wire. Ironically, he started every school day began with the Pledge of Allegiance to the country imprisoning him. Nevertheless, when he came of age, he opted to enlist in the army. 
 
The plot thickens when the little girl shows him a picture of her grandfather, who had also been a member of the 442, a Japanese regiment which suffered very heavy casualties while fighting the Nazis overseas. The photo triggers a battlefield flashback in Clinton which ultimately leads to a couple of touching tableaux it would be unfair for me to spoil. 
 
Directed by Richie Adams (Of Mind and Music), American is a character-driven drama which packs quite an emotional punch, given its duration of less than 18 minutes. Kudos to George Takei for this labor of love doubling as a very timely teachable moment about racial tolerance.

 

Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 18 minutes
Production Studio: River Road Creative
Distributor: River Road Creative

For more information, visit: https://www.americanshortfilm.com/

To see a trailer for American, visit: https://youtu.be/XpNy0dhZsfs



Posted by Kam at 2:02 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Bad Samaritan

 
Film Review by Kam Williams

Burglar Discovers Psychopath's Lair in Riveting Suspense Thriller


As an adolescent, Sean (Robert Sheehan) was dragged by his mom from Ireland to Portland, Oregon so that his step-dad could take a construction job that ended up lasting only a few weeks. Seven years later, Sean's now an aspiring artist who ekes out a living parking cars at a trendy restaurant.

Against his better judgment, he and a fellow valet, Derek (Carlito Olivero), hatch a plan to burglarize homes of well-to-do customers while they're dining. The scheme seems easy as pie, since most people hand over all their keys when checking their vehicles.

But what the partners in crime didn't bank on was that they might break into a house owned by a homicidal maniac in the midst of a killing spree. That's precisely what transpires the night they decide to rob Cale Erendreich (David Tennant), a condescending snob whose multimillion-dollar mansion is located just minutes away from the bistro. 
 
As soon as the filthy-rich heir enters the establishment, Sean drives off in his Maserati, leaving Derek behind to serve as lookout. While ransacking the place for valuables, he's shocked to find a young woman (Kerry Condon) bound and gagged in a well-fortified, soundproof room.

But before he has a chance to help her, he gets an urgent call from Derek letting him know that Mr. Erendreich has finished his meal and is impatiently asking for his automobile. So, instead of freeing the captive, Sean simply leaves without taking anything. Trouble is, it doesn't take Erendreich long to figure out who has trespassed on his property. 
 
That is the intriguing point of departure of Bad Samaritan, a riveting thriller reminiscent of such suspense classics as Psycho (1960) and Silence of the Lambs (1991). Directed by Dean Devlin (Geostorm), the pulse-pounding film features a talented cast which has expertly executed a captivating script guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. 
 
An old-fashioned cat-and-mouse thriller with a frightening villain certain to haunt you long after you've left the theater.



Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for violence, drug use, pervasive profanity and brief nudity
Running time: 111 minutes
Production Studios: Electric Entertainment
Distributor: Electric Entertainment

To see a trailer for Bad Samaritan, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyuRdsik_P0


Posted by Kam at 10:09 AM 0 comments

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