It’s ‘Illumination’ time again with the wonderful song and dance filled latest sequel once again directed and written by Garth Jennings. As expected, the sequel includes a return of the all of our favourite characters from the first “SING” film, including our lead Koala Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), the adorably Mama Pig Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) along with all her piglets and husband, our in house rocker-chick Porcupine Ash (Scarlett Johansson), shy, sweet Elephant Meena (Tori Kelly), and our overly sensitive Gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton). But wait! As there are new friends and villain as well.
The film opens with a completely wonderful and wild performance of the Prince song, “Let’s Go Crazy” and at the center of it the story here is of course, Buster Moon, with the movie picking up where the last one left off. Buster is trying to impress a big city talent scout name Suki (Chelsea Peretti), who has informed him that his team is ‘cute’, but “not good enough”. See, Buster’s dream is to introduce the act on a global scale and take it to Redshore City, an Illumination version of Las Vegas. So in true Buster-style he gets the gang back together and along with our fun German accented Dad Pig Gunter (Nick Kroll), and of course his ever present assistant Gecko Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings), and they all hop a bus to Redshore City to get an unplanned audition with big entertainment mogul Lion Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Canavale), who runs Crystal Entertainment.
Sing 2
The key element here in SING 2 is Buster’s promise to Crystal to deliver the one and only, Clay Callaway (Bono), to the new production, though he hasn’t performed live or much less been seen in public since his wife passed away 15 years earlier. As well, he has to put Crystal’s spoiled daughter Porsche (Halsey), in the show as well, who while she can sing and fly like a bird, cannot act to save her life. So as not to spoil the whole story, just know it involves a lot more great music including songs from such artists as Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Billie Eilish, and The Weeknd, which all play well. There is a possible romance between Meena and newcomer ice-cream man Elephant (Pharrell Williams), and a sweet relationship between Johnny and a Lynx street dancer Nooshy (Letitia Wright). Put in some crazy moments with the piglets that kids and adults alike can’t help but laugh at, and of course the shenanigans of Buster dodging threats from our villain Crystal, all add up to just being a lot of fun and some great singing/dancing from the wonderful cast of animal characters.
The highlight of the movie hands down is Ash and Callaway with the climax of the show featuring them singing a version of Bono’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” that actually made me a bit emotional. As the film is so character driven one must mention the voice acting. As a rule they’re all great, but I’ve got to make some special notes for Bobby Cannavale who’s brilliant as the villain and for Halsey who does very well as his spoilt daughter. The entire original cast is still shining bright and one more special mention must go to Bono who does surprise performing the role of the aging recluse Clay Calloway.
Sing 2
Bottom line, having gone with an 8 year old and three adults, we all loved it equally as it’s a true family film for all ages. and I can’t wait to SING again.
Grade: B
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Review Screening: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 ~ Courtesy of Universal Pictures
“SING 2” is out in theaters on Wednesday, December 22, 2021//Worldwide in of January 2022
Set on a Montana cattle ranch in 1925, Jane Campion’s psychological Western is a slow burn. Her adaptation from the novel by Thomas Savage, depicts somewhat of a four-sided death waltz between two brothers. One is a tortured cowboy PhilBurbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), the other, his softhearted brother George Burbank (Jesse Plemons), who have drifted apart in their manner and outlook on the constant life on the range and running of the family ranch. When George marries a restaurant owner named Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst), a single mother with a delicate-seeming teenage son Peter (Kodi-Smit McPhee), the stress on their relationship deepens – especially since all four will now have to live on the family ranch together. The movie is divided into five chapters – none which are given a name, but simply an on screen number and these numbers are a clue as to how the story is going to unfold in progressive steps, with each act building into the next. The story that unfolds from this whole scenario is so many things, but mostly can almost be looked at as a cautionary tale, with it being told in a way that feels almost like a study of it’s characters. As the chapters ensue, the focus subtly changes as does the focus on what characters come to the forefront of issues in each of their lives. It’s a movie that demands your complete attention as the individual incidents often matter less than what isn’t shown, the underlying means of it all. Blink and you just might miss it all.
As well the acting is for the most part, on par with Cumberbatch not being anyone’s first idea of a cowboy. While he does well with the body of work, he is just not good with accents and this one as well, is all over the place. Plemons subtle turn as George is just divine and Dunst is fine as well, but heads above the rest is Smit-McPhee, who has the toughest task as the smart, somewhat devious, shy young man who consistently surprises the viewer – pay attention to this character as he is the underlying thread throughout as little pieces of him are given to you at times, that if you miss them, you won’t understand the absolute brilliance of his character. Thomasin McKenzie, Adam Beach and Keith Carradine fill out some of the fairly large supporting cast as well.
Grade: B-
“THE POWER OF THE DOG” is streaming on Netflix
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Having seen this one over a month ago, but not being able to even speak about it till Dec 6th, made me almost forget I’d even seen it. Or maybe that was just a wish that didn’t come true. Having highly enjoyed the original Kingsman: The Secret Service, and even somewhat Kingsman: The Golden Circle – I found myself looking forward to it’s prequel “THE KING’S MAN” as I was looking forward to some high paced fun. Instead for the first 45 minutes of this film I felt like I was in seventh grade history class and we had a substitute teacher who decided to show us a film all about what led up to WWI and who Rasputin really was. And not in a good way, but in an almost odd, campy way.
It starts with father and son, the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), the title character, and Conrad (Harris Dickinson), and wanders slowly through the beginnings of their relationship. Fiennes’ Duke of Oxford is at the right hand of King Edward (Tom Hollander) just as WWI is about to break out between England, Germany, headed up by Kaiser Wilhelm, also played by Tom Hollander, and the Czar of Russia, also played by you guessed it, Tom Hollander. Add in Rhys Ifans as Grigori Rasputin, the team of servant spies, including Polly (Gemma Arterton) and Shola (Djimon Hounsou), who are part of the few who can protect the Crown, and Matthew Goode as Morton, the good guy/villain. Add in a lot of camp with it’s first fun, action moment coming in right around the 60 minute mark, where by then three people had walked out of the screening, but Rasputin finally gives us this, and moments where you can actually see Fiennes action double take over, then this is your movie.
Honestly the main issue with The King’s Man is the script. It’s all over the place type jumbled and difficult to keep up with what the plan was because of everyone involved. The first half of this film feels like it’s moving slow because of everything that is being set up. Then, once they get into the actual story, it loses its footing, goes off the rails and tries to get into way to many storylines all at once. It felt like Conrad and the Duke’s relationship played a more important role than saving England from villains. In the end, both narratives end up fizzling out and the film never really creates any emotional connection to the original Kingsmen agency, or even father and son story which it goes into huge depth trying to explain to you in the first hour as well.
It was nice to see the who developed the agency as it at least gave Arterton a strong take in it all, but the story wasn’t executed well enough to make it as enjoyable as the others were. I think it there might be the camp who didn’t like the first two that will enjoy this one, and those that enjoyed the first two more, maybe won’t have the same feelings on this one and share mine. Who knows. But I can credibly say the campy nature of the espionage and the cheesy dialogue did not suit the era at all, which made some moments incredibly awkward and just overall, not my movie.
Grade: D+
‘THE KING’S MAN” is coming to theaters Wednesday, December 22, 2021
The first sports movie I’ve ever watched that didn’t involve the actual playing of sports scenes that usually would fill up a movie like this one. Instead, it’s a completely different type of sports story. Essentially, it’s a fictionalized version with it’s main topic being the college football scene and shows what a boycott against the NCAA would look like 72 hours before the National Championship game. Two students, LeMarcus James (Stephan James), the star quarterback who will be one of the top draft picks and a pretty much guaranteed contract for millions of dollars playing in the NFL – and fellow player and friend Emmett Sunday (Alexander Ludwig), not a draft pick and destined to be one of the thousands who don’t go on to the NFL. It’s an interesting concept that I believe was a huge subject a few years back of how they make billions of these guys, and then whether due to injury or just the fact there are more college teams/players than their are professional ones, they end up with nothing.
With a little backstory involving that centers around Kristen Chenoweth, cast against type as head Coach James Lazor (J.K. Simmons), wife Bailey Lazor, who is sleeping with of all people, the labor law professor Elliott Schmidt (Timothy Olyphant), who is actually the one who inspired James to make his stand. The first good thing about this movie is the cast, especially J. K. Simmons as the old, broken college football coach with the desire of winning the national championship with his team, while dealing with his rebellious players, has his wife walk out on him. He again brought passion and energy to his role. His dialogues were powerful, and can be emotional too and then flip a switch and he can be both fearsome and convincing. As well, Uzo Aduba as Katharine Poe, a ruthless NCAA attorney who has a backstory of her own, which comes out in a stand up monologue near the end.
To sum it up simply, the movie it isn’t about “a” game, but it’s about “the” game, that’s being played by all the ‘executives’ involved in college level football. And to be fair, it might take sides here and there, but it also presents both sides fairly well. All in all, this is a decent watch and definitely scores a touchdown, though it does lack the extra oompha to give it the extra point.
Grade: C+
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Review Screening ~ Courtesy of STX Entertainment
“NATIONAL CHAMPIONS” is now playing in theaters – coming to VOD on Tuesday, December 27, 2021.
Based on J.R. Moehringer’s coming-of-age book, this is a somewhat sweet drama that tells the story of a fatherless boy Young Jr. (Daniel Ranieri), growing up with his loving, determined mother (Lily Rabe), his wise, advice-dispensing Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), and his eccentric Grandpa (Christopher Lloyd). As he gets older, he begins to pursue the Ivy League education his mother wanted for him, while also keeping a matter-of-fact outlook on life thanks to the time he spends in his uncle’s bar and the patrons within it.
Director George Clooney and screenwriter William Monahan don’t quite hit a home run with this familiar but likeable enough story, but it definitely has it’s moments of sweetness, drama and charm. Tye Sheridan steps in a the young adult version of Jr., but is quite bland and Ranieri definitely steals the role from him. Affleck comes through here playing a gruff, endearing character reminiscent of some of his best ’90s roles. Ranieri, Rabe and Lloyd are also strong, but the most memorable work is courtesy of newcomer Briana Middleton. She plays J.R.’s first love, an ambitious student who’s far more complex than the typical cinematic dream girl and makes their relationship over the course of the movie much more interesting than it otherwise might have come around as.
Still, the low-key approach taken here, accompanied by a wonderful period-appropriate soundtrack makes The Tender Bar a decent, heartfelt watch.
Grade: C+
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Review Screening ~ Courtesy of Ginsberg/Libby PR
“THE TENDER BAR” is now playing in select theaters in LA/NYC going nationwide Wednesday, December 22, 2021 / Global release on Amazon Prime Friday, January 7, 2022
Probably one of the most timeless, classic lines that is still uttered today. But behind the scenes of not only the “I Love Lucy” show itself, but the marriage between Lucy and Desi itself, was a very tumultuous relationship. This is the story of one week in the lives of these two larger than life characters known worldwide then, and still today.
So let’s get the elephant out of the room right off. Nicole Kidman does not look like Lucille Ball. Javier Bardem does not look like Desi Arnaz. Whether you choose to overlook this and instead concentrate on the performances and story itself, is up to each individual watching “Being the Ricardos”. As well, it was nothing as I thought it would be, hence Being the Ricardos is not a funny comedy like the show was, and while yes, it’s hard to fathom a film about Ball that isn’t at least accidentally a bit funny, Sorkin’s biopic instead, focuses his lens on the couple through one particular tumultuous week in their lives as a married couple, their very well known marital problems, as well as being co-TV superstars. And we can also be honest enough to say “should seen it coming” as comedy is not really Sorkin’s bag.
As for Lucy herself – well she was at the time, Hollywood’s most bankable comic genius. Ball was the biggest TV star on earth, a massive moneymaking machine whose eye for physical comedy was like no other. Those working on the then biggest soundstage at the infamous Desilu Studios, in the writers room around her — Co-stars Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda), William Frawley (J.K. Simmons), Jess Oppenheimer (Tony Hale), Madelyn Pugh (Alia Shawkat) and a bland Bob Carroll (Jake Lacy), who contribute to a fractured work dynamic that is on the verge of collapse due to a leaked news story about Lucy being a member of the Communist Party. On top of that, pictures of Desi appeared front page of the biggest of all tabloids at the time, the Confidential, with another woman. And to add the icing to the cake, Lucy is pregnant and both her and Desi want to televise her pregnancy as part of the show – something that just wasn’t done in those times. These were the days when married couples still had separate beds on TV. So a very big deal indeed.
While writer-director Aaron Sorkin places three different events in the same week – but did they take all actually take place during the same week? Not really knowing much about all the events of the time, doing a little research paid off in droves to find out the following points of fact:
Point #1. The Walter Winchell accusation about Lucille Ball being a Communist took place on September 6, 1953. This accusation is what kicks off the events in the film.
Point #2. Lucille’s second pregnancy with her and Desi’s son, Desi Arnaz Jr. who was actually born on January 19, 1953. This would make the pregnancy announcement actually being made at some point around July of 1952.
Point #3. Desi’s cheating scandal plastered on the front of Confidential tabloid as the magazine was considered to be THE gossip magazine of the 1950’s – well, yes, they did run an article about Desi cheating on Lucy. The film implies the photo was from six months before, but the truth is that the affair had happened many years before. The article also ran as the cover story of the January 1955 issue versus the same week as everything above was listed.
So all this has of course been taken the liberty of making it all more intense of a week than what probably really happened. Look, there’s no denial that Lucy and Desi had their marital problems, nor is there any doubt about the complex (to put it nicely) relationship between the two in their private and professional lives. However, Sorkin just tries to combines too many incidents in telling this story and while we all love going behind the scenes of TV and film stories, Being the Ricardos just goes about this the wrong way.
The performances though are all quite on par. Kidman actually really comes through as Ball, even doing one of the most favourited Lucy shows of all time, the stomping of the grapes. Bardem as well, let’s you know that while Lucy is always front and center, he is the true head of the show. Nina Arianda really comes through as Vivian Vance showing how things really were for her as being the side-kick of the show and her resentment of being so much younger than her ‘show husband’. As well, when does J.K. Simmons not come through with a character performance and he does so here on point.
With good performances like these they could have left the taking of liberties with the timeline of the story itself seem unnecessary and might have been better served if staying a little more to the actual true timeline it really was, rather than trying to push making a tense drama of it all happening at once. In essence a more cohesive biographical telling of the story of such icons would have been enough.
Grade: C+
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Review Screening ~ Courtesy of Ginsberg/Libby PR
BEING THE RICARDOS opens in theaters Friday, December 10th and debuts on Amazon Prime Video December 21, 2021.
Who would have thought we would see the day where Steven Spielberg makes a musical – and not just any musical, but a remake of the very famous classic “WEST SIDE STORY”. The original which was nominated for 11 Oscars, going on to winning 10 including Best Picture. It was a film that at the time, that defined the acting careers of Natalie Wood and the wonderful Rita Moreno, as well, it further established musical theater phenoms Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim (RIP) as bona fide household names. This movie, based on the 1957 Broadway musical, of which I actually have an original poster of that I acquired in the late 1990’s from an agent I worked for as a parting gift – right after I had finally seen the 1961 original, which is of course based loosely on the classic Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet story. Could there really be a bigger challenge for Spielberg after his long and industrious career? Probably not. The question is: Does he succeed?
Original Broadway poster on my wall
Even in our remake/reboot/sequel/MCU clogged movie world, doing a film like this is still a massive undertaking and also a bit fun for some to complain or discuss the “why’s” of any and all big screen reboots, even if they’re brought to life by oh, just one of the greatest directors of the past 4 decades, Steven Spielberg. Having had the filming pushed back for more than a year due to various pandemic-related issues, the last few months have only further primed audiences to wonder exactly this. Why?
Giving a few early answers: Spielberg and his team wanted to cast differently than the original version, he looked into a variety of Latinx stars in the Shark parts i.e., more roles tailormade for actual Puerto Rican actors versus the 60’s where makeup was used to make them ‘look’ as though from Puerto Rico. Also seemingly wanted to lean into the sense of the actual division between people as it were, and the from my understanding, shifting the arrangements of the musical numbers to better reflect the original musical stage production from 1957.
Moving on as all that sounds well and good, adding touchups and all, but something like “West Side Story” stands tall all on its own, so did it really need those touchups? Turns out, yes it did, as Spielberg’s first musical is not only vibrant, rich with colour, somewhat wild, and a satisfying show of an updated version of the classic. While fans might initially take exception at if and how faithful it seems to its predecessor, Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner take and use those familiar beats to find some new ones as well, in this classically loved story which is pretty much the same, and the one thing I couldn’t help thinking is it might not actually be the greatest story ever told. Girl meeting boy from wrong side of the tracks, and falling in love in what seems like minutes, then to run away together to avoid family strife and a street gang fight. Which is of course not successful as the fight between the Jets (white immigrants) and the Sharks (Puerto Ricans) is one of the major plot points and highlights of the film.
Early on, we get our first conflict between the rival gangs, which introduces us to Riff played by one of the Broadway play breakouts, and truly wonderful in this role is Mike Faist – who as the quick-tempered Jets leader so desperate to protect the neighborhood. Then we have Ansel Elgort as Tony, the former leader of the Jets attempting to find a new path for his life after spending a year in prison for nearly killing an Egyptian immigrant in a rumble, with all the singing skills and charisma of a wet blanket. Rounding out the men’s side is David Alvarez as Bernardo, Maria’s older brother and proud leader of the Sharks – whose goal is to carve out a place in the new land as equal citizens. And then there is Chino, Maria’s ‘date’ to the dance who is clearly enamored with her, played by Josh Andres Rivera. And the dance is also the first run-in with local cops, Officer Krupke (Brian d’Arcy James) and Lt. Schrank (Corey Stoll), neither of whom care what happens to whom, just as long as it doesn’t happen on their watch. But make no mistake here who rules this movie as I’m getting to that. I covered the men and again, Faist as Riff is wonderful and a force to be reckoned with throughout the movie, but the characters of Tony (Elgort), who is dry and listless, and Bernardo (Alvarez), who while he can dance and sing well, there just was something missing from his portrayal and maybe I just had to much 1961 Bernardo (George Chakiris) imagery in my head, but he just didn’t do it for me. In a way most things related to The Jets a bit on the insufferable side, and to be honest, most of The Sharks are as well. And you ask why.. well it should come as no surprise that the ladies here do all the heavy-lifting.
Which leads me into getting into the nitty gritty of this film and that my friends is hands down the three amigas all giving such strong performances. This is Zegler, DeBose, and Moreno’s movie without a doubt. This film is by far ruled in every way possible by first-time star Rachel Zegler as Maria, whose voice is a massive revelation that I don’t think too many saw coming, but it’s also the the other straight-from-the- Broadway production, actress Ariana DeBose as Anita, who is so fierce when she takes the lead on “America”, making one of the most inspiring and fun musical numbers ever on screen. In addition to her singing and beyond terrific dancing skills, DeBose delivers a superb performance in the role that won an historic Oscar for none other than the original herself, Rita Moreno in the 1961 film. Speaking of the one and only Rita Moreno, who is still wonderful and beautiful at 89 years old – she also appears as Valentina, the widow of Doc as she now runs Doc’s Drug Store and is somewhat of a surrogate mother-figure to Tony. It’s certainly no cameo, and though there is no dance number, she does get to sing “Somewhere”, and breaks your heart with her version and this time she is on the valiant end of the rape scene. She is the connect to the original film gives the film a presence where needed.
And while this is the update Spielberg version, you have to give kudos to Justin Peck for some truly masterful work that builds on the brilliance of what Jerome Robbins originally created. It’s not perfect by any means, but the casting of a more actual ethnic cast – as in no makeup to make anyone ‘look’ like something they are not, to the role ‘Anybodys’, a non-binary, always watching things, character played by Iris Menas, to the Spanish dialogue without subtitles where the strong acting and situations make clear what the scenes are whether you do or don’t speak the language. But for my mind, if you’re going to do a re-make and make positive changes, then why keep the slurs of character words still in there – why make a scene completely of Jets where they gain sympathy in the police station. But again, these overlooked parts is what made it not perfect for me – still highly enjoyable, with just beautiful dance scenes where you see such colour and grit.
At the end, you realize it’s a nostalgic, yet contemporary version that may not have you completely charmed in one way or another, but it WILL have you in awe with the story, dancing, music, acting, and story.
Grade: B+
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Review Screening ~ Monday, November 29, 2021 Courtesy of @RosasReviews as her guest.
“WEST SIDE STORY” from 20th Century Studios is in theaters beginning on December 10, 2021
Well to say this film went into the unexpected might not quite sum up completely as writers Joe Barton and Michael Pearce, whom directs as well, take us on a road trip journey of science fiction – adding in a very personal side to the lead character, that at first is just thought of as being a crazy person, but it really goes much deeper than that.
Malik Khan (Riz Ahmed) is a ex-Navy Seal/Marine who is on a mission. But not the kind you would think it would be like the ‘too busy saving the world’ kind so he rarely gets to see his sons, who live with their mom Piya (Janina Gavankar), and her new husband Dylan (Misha Collins), but as young boys do, they miss him dearly, and vise versa. One night Malik shows up unexpectedly and persuades his two young sons, Jay (Lucian-River Chauhan) and Bobby (Aditya Geddada), to come with him but won’t explain the urgency of why or where they are going to his them. He has convinced himself and in short, tries to convince his sons that something has happened, something more important than the initial mission apparently, or rather, the ‘mission’ has come to their home.
ENCOUNTER
Malik’s mission as he finally explains it while on the run is this. A comet has brought alien micro-organisms to Earth, and the organisms use mosquitos to transplant themselves into humans where they can manipulate their behaviour. While it might sound far-fetched saying it out loud, think about it, mosquitos do carry things. So in essence he makes it feel very real to them and even somewhat to us, the audience, as he tells his kids, though they might not have observed it first hand, but the aliens had already infected their mom, and it was only a matter of time before she in turn infects them. So Malik is taking Jay and Bobby to a base where they will be safe, while, in the meantime, their mother has reported them missing, and there is an all out alert for Malik for kidnapping. The only person he has trusted so far is the person he has to report and check in with for the past few years, Hattie (Octavia Spencer), and even she is baffled and confused by what he is doing, and while she keeps noting to those hunting for him, how this isn’t really him and he would never hurt his boys. This is where I started to realize what the deeper part of the film was, and it’s clear that Malik is delusional, traumatized and suffering from some sort of PTSD. And it seems the boys are picking up on this as well.
Honestly, Riz Ahmed once again proves once again that he will always pick roles that challenge him and that he somehow pulls off without a blip as he lives up to his reputation of engaging an audience with an intense, committed performance. As well, the kids are scene-stealers with both of the young actors showing real intensity and just the right amount of kid-cuteness to make it all realistic. The long desert cinematography was all quite encompassing aside from the three leads and their obvious chemistry as a family.
This is a hard one to put a label on as yes, it’s Sci-Fi, but it’s underlying tension of what is real and what isn’t, keeps you well alert long after whatever you realize is actually going on. It’s also very much about the bond between a parent and children. It also handles a surprisingly hard subject of PTSD in a such a sympathetic and realistic manner when Hattie is speaking for him, yet the others think he’s going to hurt the kids, it’s done so well, but also in the most different original manner ever. Yet somehow it all works, as there is tension, love, aliens and a road trip all in one film. Colour me Alien-rated as I quite enjoyed this for it’s originality of idea and how that idea was told.
Grade: C+
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Review Screening ~ Courtesy of Ginsberg/Libby PR
“Encounter” will be in theaters December 3, 2021 for a limited release // Coming to Amazon Prime on December 10, 2021
Peggy at the Movies ~ Film Critic | Movie Maven | Reviews & More"
Peggy at the Movies 