A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Please dont ruin my childhood !!
PRAISE: Sesame Street,Romper Room and High Feather some of the PBS shows that not only educated but also provided life lessons,but the king of them all was Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.It was simplistic and wonderfully hosted by Fred Rogers a seemingly genuine and sincere man.
Tom Hanks does a fine job of capturing the mannerisms of Roger's in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.This film isnt a biopic but a story of two men who handle emotions in very different ways, writer Lloyd Vogel, played by Matthew Rhys
reaches out to Rogers for a fluff piece for Esquire magazine .The film presents 2 men asking each other questions Rogers to Vogel:What is troubling you in life? How do you think you can get past the painful hurdles in front of you? Can you make peace with a past full of turmoil?
Vogel to Rogers: is it all just an act,your loving manner? your extremely attentive manner that you display to so many people? How do you see what's troubling someone and able to be so calming?
Also deserving praise is the rest of the cast which includes:Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Maryann Plunkett, and Enrico Colantoni
PROBLEMS: A couple of times Director Marielle Heller decides to do something with visuals that took me out of the film for a bit.I mean one was so extreme i thought the movie projector stopped !!
Still if you are in need of a wholesome couple of hours i perscribe A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Scale of 1-10 an 8½
Jojo Rabbit
Remember Springtime for Hitler ? .......welllllllll
PRAISE: This satire of Hitler Youth and bigotry seen through the eyes of Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis)
a gung ho but timid Hitler Youth member who looks to his imaginary friend "Hitler" for inspiration.
The talents of Davis and the entire cast which include :Thomasin McKenzie,Taika Waititi,Rebel Wilson,Stephen Merchant,Alfie Allen,Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson helped me to gravitate towards the films themes which walk a very fine line between black comedy and drama
There are a lot of sight gags and humor but Director Taika Waititi wisely weaves in messages about the ignorance of hate,horrors of war,the agony of loss and how love and friendship can overcome prejudices.
PROBLEMS: The film takes it's time to get to the aforementioned great moments in fact i found the first 20 minutes to be extremely repetitive.
This film is definitely not for everyone but definitely worth your time if you have a thing for dark humor with heart.
Scale of 1-10 an 8
21 Bridges
21 Bridges in New York City....i think ive only been on 6 of them.
PRAISE:The movie has a great start as we are introduced to Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) who lost his policeman father at an early age and is now on the trail of two thieves Stephan James as Michael Trujillo and Taylor Kitsch as Ray Jackson who get more than they bargained for in more ways than one,including the murders of eight cops.
I thought most of the cast had great enthusiasm and presence.I thought most of the action sequences were on point and intense.The story did it's best in the first half to be involving.
PROBLEMS: What's going on with these cop thrillers as of late? Great starts but slowly but surely fall apart as the film progresses.The film suffers from a character lacking a poker face which leads to predictable moment after predictable moment.
I could tell some of the actors roles were almost completely chopped down.
At times i felt like the film was begging me to suspend disbelief.
The ending was so drawn out and predictable i actually started laughing.
Wait for cable
Scale of 1-10 a 6½