The Movie Guy

It’s amazing how a good sports movie can suck you in: take a talented, determined underdog who, with a small support group, overcomes obstacles to show they’ve got what it takes. “Gran Turismo” sucks you in.

Despite its drawbacks, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” treats its terror movie trope seriously, particularly in the logic and likable cast departments. More ghost story than gore fest, it’s decent enough to wind up being a decent movie in return.

Imagine spiritual possession as a party game and you’ve got “Talk to Me,” the debut horror film from Australian twin directors Danny and Michael Philippou that doesn’t cheat filmgoers with jump scares for jolts- they go right for the jugular.

Independent film lovers know the brains behind “Barbie”- director Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”) and co-writer/husband Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”) and the result is a smart satiric social commentary. Making Mattel’s iconic doll into a family-friendly film is its only weakness- “Barbie’s” bite doesn’t draw blood- and the movie’s musings never rise above amusing.

“No Hard Feelings” works as a sight-gag driven sex comedy where a punch-in-the-throat paves the way for opposites attracting. When it wants to breathe believability into its main characters with ‘getting-to-know-you’ talks, the movie sucks the oxygen right out of the theater.

With Jim Brown’s recent passing and the approaching Memorial Day holiday, what better movie to watch than Robert Aldrich’s entertaining and influential WWII adventure “The Dirty Dozen.”

Fans of Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” will enjoy the like-minded Ben Affleck film “Air”- a behind-the-scenes look at how an unorthodox approach proved to be the key to success and change the sports arena forever.

Thanks to extravagant sets, a Rogues gallery of interesting assassins and its hallmark fast-paced flurry of guns/knives/martial arts action, “John Wick: Chapter 4” may be the most entertaining entry of this formidable film franchise yet.

With the Oscars being presented on Sunday, March 12^th, I like to focus on the films and performances that I found most memorable. In keeping with the tradition of the late Siskel & Ebert’s “If We Picked the Winners,” here are my standouts for 2022 using the nominees in the main Academy Award categories. While others try to second-guess Oscar politics with who ‘should win’ or ‘will win,’ I like to keep it simple. In case you missed any of them, these are the films and performances I’ll remember- simply put, these are the ones:  

M. Night Shyamalan makes one of his best movies with “Knock at the Cabin”- a taut psychological thriller where hostages try to outwit home invaders sent on a mission of mercy…or murder.