May The Fourth Be With You..."Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill,

Directed by Rian Johnson

The Story:

The one in which we continue to kill off characters to drive the story forward with a new generation of the cast.

Picking up shortly after the The Force Awakens, Rey (Ridley) tries to learn from Master Luke (Hamill) while the rest of the rebellion is trying to survive and outrun the Empire.

It seems like this one took a lot of flack from the fans compared to the previous installment.

I'm not really sure what the beef was.

While not as good as the last one, this one advanced the storylines, although it may have done so in rather expedient fashion.

It seems like a franchise that wants to hurry up and jettison the baggage of the old cast and move on to the new stories, and that's completely fine.

But it's an awful lot like treading water in some ways while also marathon sprinting in the others.

Some storylines that seem mysterious are quickly dissolved with some dialogue or a quick scene.

Others stretch over the entire movie before there is any sort of conclusion.

But everyone will be back in a year or so to see what happens next.

That's Star Wars for you.

Final Grade:  B-

Country Bumpkins..."Logan Lucky"

Logan Lucky (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig,

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

The Story:

Jimmy and Clyde Logan (Tatum & Driver) have decided that if they want to succeed in life, they have to stop getting walked on. So they set out to rob Charlotte Motor Speedway, but they need the help of safecracker Joe Bang (Craig). The only catch? He's currently behind bards...

And there you have the setup for an elaborate heist film that is filled with ups and downs, which actually seems to be the curse of the Logan family.

The heist itself is improbable and yet elaborately simple and complex, both at the same time.

The movie ends on a puzzling note, but for this film, that seems spot on.

Daniel Craig seems to be having the most fun of the cast, playing completely against type in this one. Of course when your type seems to be James Bond, it's fairly easy to play anything other than that.

But the role is very comedic in nature, and he seems to be relishing the whole non-leading man part and having a lot of fun while doing it.

If you've got Amazon Prime, this movie is currently available to stream.

Final Grade: C+/B- range

You'll Feel Yourself Aging Watching "While We're Young"

While We're Young (2014)

Rated R

Starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin

Written and Directed by Noah Baumbach

The Story:

Josh and Cornelia (Stiller & Watts) are in their mid-40s, they've got no kids and they are just going through the motions in their relationship while all of their friends are having kids. Josh has been working on his documentary for nearly a decade but is struggling to finish. Into their lives breeze Jamie and Darby (Driver & Seyfried) and Jamie is also an aspiring documentarian and they get to know each other and begin hanging out. Life starts to change as the 40s and the 20s begin to mesh and mold with one another.

Meh.

It's not funny enough to be a comedy.

It's not dramatic or engaging enough to be a full on drama.

You can also see where the movie is going as Jamie may not be as honest as Josh thinks he is, but that's a realization that he has to come to on his own.

The movie also takes a rather gross turn midway through the movie as vomiting becomes an extended long scene that is neither amusing nor engaging.

I even debate as I write this as to whether the movie gets a passing grade or winds up on the worst of the year list, and quite honestly, I still don't know.

There was one really great line about the documentary that Josh was working on, delivered impeccably by Charles Grodin:

You just showed me a 6 1/2 hour movie that was 7 hours too long.

Thankfully this one was just a bit over 90 minutes, but there were several times, especially like the puking scene, where I was wondering why I was still even watching this film.

After I finished watching the movie, I see that it was streaming on Amazon Prime. Streaming, I would have definitely clicked this one off and found something else to watch.

I guess that decides it...

Final Grade: D+ it is!

A Long Time Ago...And Not A Moment Too Soon! "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels,

Directed by J. J. Abrams

The Story:

30 years have passed after the fall of the Empire. Rising from the ashes are the New Order, and they are bent on finding Luke (Hamill) the last of the Jedi and killing him. Thankfully, the Resistance is led by General Organa (Fisher) and she has sent her best pilot (Isaac) to locate the whereabouts of her brother. However, nothing is ever easy for the Resistance, and if not for the conscience of a pacifist stormtrooper (Boyega) and a plucky desert scavenger (Ridley), the galaxy would be reduced to a pile of burning rubble.

Seriously, what's the point of writing any synopsis for this movie. Everyone's seen it by now, right?

Those that haven't either don't want to, or don't want to.
:)

Well, I wanted to, and I took the boys, and we had a blast.

When the lights dimmed, and the logo pops up with the John Williams fanfare...

I got a little misty.

This isn't a movie, this was an event 30 years in the making.

The future trilogy, as promised by George Lucas back in the 70s that he retconned himself into believing he never said, is finally here.

And Lucas is nowhere to be found because he sold the franchise to Disney.

They in turn handed the keys to the kingdom over to J. J. Abrams who successfully, like it or not, revamped Star Trek for a whole new generation.

As you watch this movie, there are many, many, many familiar beats to the story.

Sure, it's because J.J. took the entire original trilogy, dropped it in a blender and poured out The Force Awakens.

And you know what?

I liked it.

You didn't need to see the original trilogy to get what was going on here, but it certainly helps.

You definitely didn't need to see any of the misguided prequels.

Everything you need to know is right here.

J.J. Abrams basically said " I'm going to do one Star Wars film, and this is it." He bridged the gap between then and now and introduced us to a whole new cast of characters that we can get to know and love.

Little kids will now be able to be Finn, Rey or Poe out on the playground, if kids still do that pretend stuff in the 21st century.

Plus almost all of the stars of Star Wars have returned in one form or another, and we get to watch Han Solo (Ford) nearly steal the movie out from under his younger co-stars every time he's on screen.

The movie ends with a nice closing shot of what to expect in the next movie which should be here in about 18 more months.

Everyone's got an opinion about this film. This film is getting picked apart in ways I never dreamed possible. Even by people who claim to like it!

My opinion is: I had a lot of fun.

Welcome to 2016.

Welcome to the first film in the running for Best of the Year status.

Final Grade: A-

"What If" This Movie Had Been Better?

What If (2013)

Rated PG-13

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Megan Park, Rafe Spall

Directed by Michael Dowse

The Story:

Wallace (Radcliffe) meets Chantry (Kazan) and the two immediately connect. However, Wallace has been burned by love too often, so he's only too happy to remain friends with her, and that works for Chantry also because she already has a boyfriend (Spall). Of course, this wouldn't be a romantic comedy if the two didn't naturally want to take their friendship to the next level. As always though, crossing that line may not be easy, or desirable.

This movie was much funnier when it was called When Harry Met Sally.

:)

Otherwise, it's a harmless, mostly by the numbers romantic comedy that follows the typical stereotype that yes, men and women can just be friends, but invariably, someone might change their mind and want to take things further.

You'd think they could make one where the two don't fall in love, but then, that would be just like real life, and could be boring.

My first recollection of seeing either of the two leads in a film, alone or together. Their chemistry almost works as friends, but it's hard to believe either want to make a go of it with the other.

Would you believe me if I said this was the first film I've watched with Daniel Radcliffe in it?

True story.

Never was interested in Harry Potter, so never bothered.

He seems like a pretty good actor, if a bit bland.

I don't see him as much of a leading man candidate. He doesn't have the charm of a Hugh Grant or the personification of an action/thriller star.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm thinking this is Macauley Culkin 2.0.

Time will tell.

Final Grade: C

Cumbersome Title, A Couple Laughs... "This Is Where I Leave You"

This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

Rated R

Starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Dax Shepard, Timothy Olyphant

Directed by Shawn Levy

The Story:

After their father passes away, all of his family reunites at his house and is forced to stay their for a week due to Jewish customs. They naturally all find this very odd, since their dad wasn't Jewish... Naturally, whenever a dysfunctional family is forced to be together under one roof for more than about an hour, chaos and insanity ensues.

For a very funny cast, the laughs are few and far between.  If you're expecting a laugh riot, you will be disappointed.

It's a dramedy in every sense of the word.

Divvying up screen time to allow the stories of each of the children to unfold is naturally rather difficult. Most centers on Judd (Bateman) who starts the movie with a shock to the system, even before he finds out his father passed away.


The cast does a fine job balancing their angst with their humor.

Not a bad movie in any sense of the word, just nothing that memorable that would require another viewing down the road.

Final Grade: C+