A Who Dunnit For the Ages... "Knives Out"

Knives Out (2019)

Rated PG-13

Starring Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer

Written and Directed by Rian Johnson

On the night of his 85th birthday, Harley Thrombey (Plummer) gathers his family at his home to celebrate. However before the night is over, Harley is dead and everyone in his family is a suspect!


You can start with the old standbys when discussing Hollywood:

They're out of new ideas.
They don't make them like they used to.

Then Rian Johnson effectively says, "hold my beer" and dusts off the all-star murder mystery of days gone by and sends you on a twisty turvy ride that grabs your attention and doesn't let go.

Will you solve the whodunnit before the reveal?

Quite likely.

Will you still remain engaged throughout?

Absolutely.

I would almost dare to defy a movie lover to not enjoy this film.

I've bemoaned bloated running times and how many movies could/would have been much better if they had left 30 minutes (or more!) on the cutting room floor.

This film is precisely the opposite.

So well paced, it never feels like it stretches over the 2 hour mark, and I don't think I would have been bothered if there had been more scenes left in or extended.

It's a testament to Johnson's script and the assembled cast that they flesh out every character from the leads to the bit players and give everyone on a screen a fully realized three dimensional person.

The movie never cheats the audience or itself in the slow reveal of the entire story, and that in itself is worthy of praise.

A sequel is reportedly in the works, most likely centering on Benoit Blanc (Craig). If it's half as good as this first adventure, it will be a rollicking good time.

I Waited 40 Years For This? "Halloween (2018)"

Halloween (2018)

Rated R

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, and of course, Michael Myers

Directed by James Gordon Green

The Story:

For the past 40 years, Michael Myers has been institutionalized for the violent murders in Haddonfield Illinois on Halloween night, 1979. However, thanks to some Podcasters and a poorly timed prison transfer, it appears Michael might be getting out of jail free and returning home for some unfinished business.

I'm not even sure I know where to begin with this one.

Soooo... Michael has been in prison for 40 years, wiping away every sequel we've plunked down money (and time) to enjoy (or ridicule) since the original came out.

That's too bad, because I still dig Halloween 2.

Thankfully, that does include the Rob Zombie reboots.

:)

The movie opens with podcasters arriving at Michael's doorstep and they pull out his mask that the D.A. let them borrow.

At this point, I'm thinking, what are the odds the D.A. still had this evidence from 40 years earlier? And if they did, why on earth would they give it to a pair of podcasters?

I know, that thinking seems silly, but at this point, I became disconnected to the film, and never really got back into it.

The plot points lined up exactly, beat for beat at that moment, and you can tell exactly how, where, and why everything is about to happen.

Meanwhile on the other side of Illinois, little Laurie Strode (Curtis) is all grown up and spends her day in Sarah Conner cosplay.

The horror film is out the window at this point as it jumps back and forth between thriller, action movie and oh yeah, let's be a horror film every 10 minutes.

People do die at Michael's hands, literally, but many were given so little screen time, I just didn't care.

I'm not referring to the "odes to the original" deaths.  Those I got the symmetry for why they were done.

However, the best friends, the kids being babysat... there was no emotional connection with them to the point that we fear for their lives and hope/wish they might survive.

If anything, Halloween (2018) simply reminds me of how well Halloween (1979) really was.

A Great Movie Made With "Spare Parts"

Spare Parts (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring George Lopez, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos PenaVega, Jose Julian, David Del Rio, Oscar Javier Gutierrez II

Directed by Sean McNamara

The Story:

Four Hispanic high school students (PenaVega, Julia, Del Rio, Gutierrez) come together by different circumstances to form a robotics club under the mentorship of new teacher, former engineer Dr. Fredi Cameron (Lopez). Cameron is using teaching as a stopgap while he tries to get back into engineering and doesn't really care to be part of the robotics team at first. But with a trip to the underwater robotics championship on the line, the team is going to attempt to pull off a miracle.

Can they do it?

Should I mention that this is based on a true story?  Well, it is.

Think of this as an underdog sports movie, but now replace the sports with science.

Underdog nerds!

: )

Now, while Lopez, Tomei and Curtis receive top billing, it's the boys that carry the movie, and they do a remarkable job.

It's when the team arrives at the competition that things take an interesting turn.

They decide to take their high school team out of competition with the other high schools because they'd rather come in last taking on the college teams than coming in last against other high schools.

It's an insanely brilliant plan, but a funny thing happens on the way to failing.

I would prefer you watch for yourself, I think you'll like it.

As for me, it's one of a very small handful of movies in the running for best of the year honors.

Final Grade; B+

Throwback Thursday Streamer! "Trading Places"

Trading Places (1983)

Rated R

Starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche

Directed by John Landis

The Story:

The Duke Brothers (Ameche and Bellamy) make a wager that they can take a street bum (Murphy) and give him everything he could want while taking a life of luxury from someone (Aykroyd) which would cause him to resort to a life of crime. Their behavior experiment works at first, but when the two figure out what the Dukes are up to, the tables are about to be turned!

 And just like that, I snuck a Christmas movie in on you that you probably forgot takes place around Christmas time. :)

Eddie Murphy was on his meteoric rise to stardom, following up 48 Hours with this buddy comedy before moving on to star in Beverly Hills Cop.

The movie is still pretty fun, if a little dated, throughout.

However, for a movie over 30 years old, it's still got more than its fair share of comedy that still works after all these years.

 So, if you're still slowly easing into the holidays, here's another one that you can watch that's a Christmas movie, without being overly Christmas-y.

:)


Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: This one gets revisited every decade or so.