Black Panther

Lots of anticipation on the first huge superhero movie of the year.  This is expected to take in about 180 million dollars this weekend, and it just might.  Up front, this is a comic book movie like you've not seen before.  This deals exclusively on the origins of what will be a series of the character, Black Panther.

This is wonderfully written, and the special effects will be very impressive to those who are taken with that type of thing. But you must be prepared to not see him save the world, or mankind.  Very little of this takes place in a city, or metropolitan area.  There really is no villain, such as we are used to.  But imagination here is high, as is creativity.  The scenes you see in trailers, are the exceptions, and not the rule.

But this will be very popular for many reasons, and among them is we've been waiting for a blockbuster to go to, and the look of this movie is very good.   This is available to you in various formats, 3D, IMAX, IMAX 3D and regular showings, so check the one carefully you want to see.

Back Panther.   Very original.

The 15:17 To Paris

This is a very brave idea.  Clint Eastwood directs a story completely worth telling of real life heroes, using the very heroes that were involved.  These guys clearly have never acted, and it shows.  But this is authentic, even when the acting isn't very good.  

These military guys happened to be on a passenger train from Amsterdam to Paris when a terrorist attempted to shoot up the train with 300 rounds of ammunition.  They stopped it, and are heroes, and that remains fact.  Eastwood is correct in that this story should be told.  What this does, is tell the back story of these three friends, and it is an interesting one.  Ending with a very authentic climax of the attempted attack.

This has limitations for sure, but it also is an interesting idea.  It's short at about 90 minutes, and you are ready for the story to play out.  The national critics are being very hard on this, and you understand why for a ton of reasons, fair or not.  But that may play out to be somewhat tone deaf, as fans may love to see a story like this told, no matter who is cast in it or not.  After all, there is a whole lot of really bad acting anyway in Hollywood, by professional actors themselves.

Is this Eastwood's best movie?  Of course not.  But in a town where there are very few original ideas, this is one of them.  Plus, it's a story that needs to be told.  If you want to see REAL superheroes, this could be your ticket. 


 I, Tonya

Well this is in limited release and this has been out for a while.  This also has a ton of award nominations and should not be missed, as this is very, very good.  This was a risky venture from the get-go, but this is slick movie making.

This interesting movie is the tragic story of former world-class figure skater Tonya Harding, and her horrible roots that was seemingly always in the way of any kind of real success in a sport that demands class, elegance and style. Harding had none.  This is based on extensive interviews of the important people in her life and her.  This is told in a semi-documentary, semi classic movie style and is written extremely well.  The performances of Margot Robbie (Tonya) and Alisson Janney (Tonya's mom) are amazing as well.

 
This movie reminds us just how great Harding actually was on the ice.  In fact, she may be the greatest ever athletically.  But her off ice antics and just her overall decision making prevented her from real greatness.  Toss in her horrendous upbringing and you have a recipe for disaster, and that is what she turned out to be in her sport and, most of her young life.  This makes you feel many different ways about Harding, and that's great writing.

I, Tonya.  Fantastic


Hostiles

There are movies that come out all to rarely, that make the script the total star. The new "Western" Hostiles is one of them.  This stars Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike and a real nice supporting cast, but with respect, it makes no difference.  The star of this movie is the writing.

This is set in the American West in 1892. Without giving you too much info, because that's part of the magic of seeing this, this is the story of a small band of people making a long journey through the perils of the West at the time, and how they survive - together.  This movie skillfully addresses every single in incredible issue of the era, and the horrific experiences of the lawless west.  It helps you understand from all sides the social issues of the day, and the conflict that raged within many during this painful time of history.

They may call this a "western" but it's not in the realm of Unforgiven, Wyatt Earp, or Tombstone. This is far more graphic.  This develops characters extremely well, and makes you feel many emotions.  It makes many great decisions on what they choose to show you and what they don't.  In short, this is simply terrific.

Hostiles.  Very adult, and very, very good.  Not to be missed.

The Darkest Hour

This is simply fantastic.  And right up front, Gary Oldman gives one of the best performances I have ever seen.  He stars as Winston Churchill in the incredible movie about the early and dark days of WWII in England, and his defiance of Hitler and even members of his own government.

Oldman should win about every award there is for this.  It's one thing to transform and invent a fictional character for a movie.  It's quite another to take on the awesome responsibility to play maybe the most important historical figure of the 20th century.  Oldman is amazing, and totally unrecognizable as he becomes Churchill.   In this, Churchill is real, good, fallible, and human.

The script is incredible, and the amount of dialogue that Oldman delivers is insane.  And he delivers it with unmatched skill.  His performance alone is not to be missed.

The Darkest Hour. Fantastic.

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