The movie industry, over the last year, not to mention the last decade, has been pretty grim, especially since the woke crowd took over. Here is the first of several movie compilation reviews:
The Truffle Hunters — A pleasing slice of life movie, offering an intimate portrayal of mostly octogenarian truffle hunters in rural Italy. We see their trials and tribulations, and the rapture of hunting for truffles. The pace is understandably slow, but the cinematography is special. Each scene is like a picture postcard and draws you in. There’s no compelling reason to stay glued to the 80 or so vignettes, and yet you do.
Free Guy — starring Ryan Reynolds. If you’re under age 35, you’ll probably find it enjoyable. For the rest of us there are some amusing moments and some interesting insights but otherwise the movie comes off as one long jangle of virtual high-tech claptrap.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — This over-overwrought tale is an amalgamation of every lame cliche ever created about the Far East, and it is at least 30 minutes too long. The film is dripping with philosophical and symbolic BS, from start to finish.
As with some other action/sci-fi flicks of late, there are “no boundaries.” The gravity-defying hero and heroines can do this, and then minutes or seconds later we find that they can also do that. Their powers range widely, actually they are far too wide. How anybody ever dies among these superheroes is beyond me, but then that would be too involved for the screenwriter to contemplate in advance. While the flick is occasionally clever and amusing, and has its moments, save your money and save your time.
Werewolves Within — If you’ve see any AT&T commercials over the years featuring ‘Lily,’ otherwise known as actress Milana Vayntrub, you will be surprised to see her in this film. Most of the other surprises are totally lame. The cast tries to do a decent job but the roles they’ve been assigned and the range of behaviors that their characters are supposed to exhibit exceeds credibility.
The plot is full of holes and, even allowing for that, you can’t wait ’til this fractured films ends. Apparently the screenwriter sought to derive a neat, catch-all explanation for what transpired, but that, too, falls flat.
Respect — A big production biopic of Aretha Franklin that is as good as the recent spate on, say, Freddie Mercury, Judy Garland, Elton John, and even years back, Johnny Cash, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, and Loretta Lynn (Coal Miner’s Daughter).
Jennifer Hudson mutes her otherwise outgoing, extroverted self to play the dutiful, highly talented, respectful, reverent, Aretha Franklin. Marlon Wayans does a star turn as her obsessive, over-controlling first husband, while Forest Whitaker does an adequate job as the possessive, over-controlling father.
The film offers great detail of the life of Franklin from age 17 on, but glosses over her multiple pregnancies and out-of-wedlock children, a rape at 10 years old by a guest of her father’s, and other elements of her early life. On balance, this is a movie of distinction.
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