Thumbnails Aug 18

by Tony Medley

Puzzle (9/10): One of the things I appreciate about being a film critic is that I get to see films I would ordinarily eschew if I were just a paying customer looking for entertainment. For example, I never would have gone to see Maudie last year, but it blew me away. That’s the way I feel about Puzzle. Would I have any interest in seeing a film about someone who enters a contest for putting together jigsaw puzzles? Never! That said, I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (9/10): The music is, in a word, wonderful; the production numbers and orchestrations spectacular. The Mediterranean (Croatia) locale cinematography is dazzling. And the acting by lead actress Lily James who plays Donna, Meryl Streep’s character in the first iteration as a young woman, is a knockout, completely overshadowing a weak script and story that portrays a woman of extremely loose morals. Much superior to the weak original, there are some questionable casting choices, to wit, Donna’s three boyfriends, who don’t really come across as guys who would be that interested in a woman. More good news is that Streep (who ruined the original for me) is dead throughout the movie and only appears at the end to sing one song! Written and directed by a new person who was not associated with the first, Ol Parker, ABBA’s music is aptly served by this production. Many of their well-known songs like “Dancing Queen” and “Mamma Mia” are reprised here and several new ones added to other ABBA standards, including performances of “Fernando” and “Waterloo,” two of their biggest hits, and the choreography matches the wonderful music.

Searching (8/10): This is a splendidly devised thriller that is told in such a captivating way that it is almost impossible not to enjoy. John Cho’s daughter has gone missing and the only clues he has are what’s on her computer. The unique and clever cinematography opens with a computer screen and somebody typing into it. Get used to that because half of the movie is shown that way, with people texting and speaking with one another on their computers

The Equalizer 2 (7/10): Director Antoine Fuqua has made extremely profitable movies whose main force is graphic violence, like Training Day (2001) and the first Equalizer. This one, like most modern thrillers, is patently absurd. Even though protagonist Denzell Washington does not have superhero powers, he takes on bad guys galore and dispatches them with, well, dispatch, no matter the number. Despite the implausibility and the troubling violence that Fuqua always forces on his audience, it is an entertaining film.

Skyscraper (7/10): This is yet another in the Die Hard series. Maybe it’s not advertised as such, but that’s what it is. In fact, about the only thing different is that Dwayne Johnson plays the role usually occupied by Bruce Willis who is probably getting a little long in the tooth for such things. It’s full of action and tension, I guess. Nobody’s going to fall asleep in it, that’s fairly certain. But if you’ve seen one Die Hard  movie, you’ve seen them all. The bottom line is that they have all been entertaining, if ridiculous.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (3/10): A more derivative film you will rarely see. After one interminable idiotic car chase after another through the streets of Paris and what seemed like 4 hours, I looked at my watch and there were still 90 more minutes to go. Even after the so-called plot was resolved it went on for five more maudlin minutes. I’ve seen all of these. If there are any more, include me out.

Shock and Awe (2/10): I was looking forward to this film because my opinion is that the second Iraq war was a huge mistake and was forced on us by an inept president who seemed to want to gain familial revenge for his father’s failures. So, despite the political bias of its filmmakers, I was predisposed to like this film which makes a case that everyone in the Bush Administration was lying to bring the country behind starting a war with Iraq.  Considering the fact that Rob Reiner has been a talented director and that Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, and James Marsden are competent actors, I never dreamt it could be so bad.