The Movie Guy

With an obvious love for the original film, writer/producer Jordan Peele’s (“Get Out”) “Candyman” is a credible continuation and makes the hook-handed boogeyman timely for the 21^st century (which is exactly what you want a sequel/reboot to do). Do you have to see the original “Candyman” to enjoy the new one? No, but you’ll appreciate it more if you do.

Writer/director Lisa Joy (HBO’s “Westworld” co-creator) uses her sci-fi savvy to fashion “Reminiscence,” a standard detective drama that’s overshadowed by its futuristic setting and sketchy logic. Add underdeveloped characters, clunky hard-boiled dialogue and technological leaps-of-faith and you’ve got a film too glossy to be the gritty gumshoe movie it wants to be.

Famous for his twists, M. Night Shyamalan gives audiences a slow turn (and burn) in his new film “Old.” While competent, it doesn’t connect as well as it should. By prioritizing the plight of too many people, their strange situation trumps your caring about the characters. Ultimately, “Old” has all the excitement of watching a butterfly in a killing jar and wondering if it’ll get out.

Overblown action sequences and a silly storyline are standard fare for comic book movies; “Black Widow” is no exception. Having grown up watching the ‘60’s “Batman” TV show, I wasn’t fazed. What came off as slightly campy to me was solidly sold by its stars-the cast makes “Black Widow” move at a better pace than it deserves.

This month marks our blog’s seven-year anniversary. Credit for this site goes to Bill who created it, came up with its cool look, and posts everything you see.

 In figuring out what kind of movie review site this should be, Bill wanted one question answered: “What’s the best movie I’m not watching?” (Bill’s directness and clarity is as piercing and succinct as his excellent impression of Terence Stamp’s General Zod in “Superman II”). Since 2014, I’ve brought attention to good movies by writing about them but there’s only been one movie I wish I’d written about and fits Bill’s query- underrated, overlooked and a completely satisfying film surprise. In appreciation for everything he does, I’ve decided to finally answer Bill’s question. To scratch that seven year itch, here’s the review that’s long overdue …from 2016, it’s “The Light Between Oceans”.

In the tradition of “Gone Girl” and “The Girl on the Train” and streaming on Netflix is “The Woman in the Window”- a tired “Rear Window” rip-off that leads you down an overgrown garden path until you’re bleeding from scratching against its thorns.

 If Taylor Sheridan (“Sicario,” “Hell or High Water”) hadn’t directed “Those Who Wish Me Dead,” you’d have a bland thriller. Instead, the balance of time between the good guys and the bad guys keeps you interested, the action scenes keep the story moving, and the actors believably sell their routine roles.

What director Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man” lacks in the humor of his previous crime films like “Snatch” or “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” he makes up for in an above-average throwback to one-man wrecking crew movies where a mysterious stranger appears and spells trouble for the bad guys who can’t quite make him out.

With the Oscars being presented on Sunday, April 25^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 2020 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:  

As a comedic copy of “John Wick,” “Nobody” shouldn’t work as well as it does. But thanks to Bob Odenkirk’s deadpan humor and realistically violent action scenes, “Nobody” does for the male machismo action film what “Deadpool” did for the comic book movie genre.