Red One

If you want to end up on the “Naughty List,” take your young kids to see Red One. This is not a children’s Christmas movie, nor is Die Hard. Somehow, this one earned a PG-13 rating, despite frequent violence, tons of profanity, and frightening mythical monsters. Kids these days! It’ll all work out in therapy.

Dwayne Johnson plays one of several versions of himself in this movie. There’s a reason he’s one of the top earning actors in Hollywood. He’s strong, good looking, funny, and can sing (Moana.) Is there anything he can’t do?

No, there isn't, and it takes a Body-by-Rock to look this impressive in a red and green ELF suit next to Chris (Captain America) Evans. For the record, Evans is one of the current crop of action heroes named Chris – Pratt, Hemsworth, Pine – who even joke about getting each other confused.

 

One exchange in Red One between Johnson and Evans sums it up:

 

            Evans: “You’re not human?”

            Johnson: “Do I look human?”

 

You can find out for yourself what E.L.F. stands for. It’s one of numerous opportunities to inject some humor into this Christmas action film. And along the way, every single belief about Santa Claus that kids eventually question is explained and demonstrated. You’ll find yourself believing again, if you ever stopped.

 

I guess this is one for the kid in all of us, with high entertainment value, spectacular sets, creatures and characters, a Santa’s sack full of battles and bad guys, and a sleigh that’s to die for.

 

69-year-old J.K. Simmons, who can play just about any part he chooses without being typecast, set aside his State Farm gig for a fun outing as a ripped Saint Nick who never gets fat. That, of course, is because he burns 380 million calories in one night. See what I mean? Santa’s diet explained. I suspect Johnson may have put him through some workouts.

 

Lucy Liu stepped out of her many TV and voice jobs to play Zoe, Dwayne’s boss in a secret agency that protects Santa. She can still kick and punch in best Charlie’s Angels and Kill Bill style as if she hasn’t aged since 2000. Despite all the technology hidden at the North Pole, Santa is kidnapped, and that’s when the fun begins.

 

See this now or stream it later, but it’s a fun addition to the growing portfolio of fringe Christmas fare. It leaves you feeling good, if a bit flabby.

 

Red One (2024) runs 2 hour 3 minutes and is rated PG-13

Wicked, Part 1

Have you seen Wicked? I never saw the play, and now that I’ve seen the movie, I’m not as eager to see the live production. There’s no way it can compare.

Of course, I’m something of an Oz purist. I have read all 14 of L. Frank Baum’s Oz books. Yes, there are 14, and another 19 by a subsequent author named Ruth Plumly Thompson. They have surprisingly little in common with either Wicked or the beloved 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz.

 

The two attempts at an Oz sequel by Disney, first in 1985, (Return to Oz) and 2013’s Oz The Great and Powerful generally disappointed audiences hoping for another trip “Over the Rainbow.” But in my book-bound world, Return to Oz nailed it. Anyone who saw it remembers the “Wheelers,” a frightening character right out of the book “Ozma of Oz.”

 

But back to Wicked. Here again, I read the book of the same name by Gregory Maguire in 1995. It was a wonderfully imaginative origin story of Elphaba Thropp, the green Wicked Witch of the West, and the loosely referenced source material for the Broadway play.

 

So, now that we’ve spent far too much time on the Yellow Brick Road leading to this movie, I can confidently say that it is one of the best of the year! Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good and Cynthia Erivo as the Wicked Witch bring the girls to life in story and song. And boy, can they sing! There will be awards.

 

AMC Theaters asked on network news that moviegoers refrain from singing during the showing of Wicked out of respect for those unfamiliar with the stage play. That sounds like a promotional stunt to me. But I guess there are fans who crave the interactive experience that The Rocky Horror Picture Show once was. We had no singing in our theater. Thank goodness!

 

Wicked is actually Part 1 of this origin story. And it is the origin of everything associated with Baum’s children’s books, including talking animals. Here, a note is in order. Think twice before bringing children to this PG-rated show. The music, colors, and action are stunning, but flying monkeys, no matter how they are portrayed, are the stuff of lifelong nightmares. And the winged primates in Wicked are scarier than ever.

 

Jeff Goldblum is fine as the Wizard but has become a bit too Jeff Goldblum-ish for me. The same goes for Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Dean of Sorcery Studies at Shiz University. (Note here: Shiz predates Hogwarts.) Are there no other mature Asian women in Hollywood? She’s being overused. The one person perfect for this tale, Peter Dinklage, did NOT play a Munchkin. I leave it to you to figure out who he was in the film.

 

Bowen Yang, from SNL, plays Pfannee, always at Glinda’s side, and is part of a gender-fluid coterie that makes Glinda come off as a Mean Girl. Some of them also fawn over Prince Fiyero, played by Jonathan Bailey, whose earlier work in Bridgerton and Heartstopper won him this role as an Ozian heartthrob.

 

Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu, sometimes feels like a Disney film. It is not. At others, it seems distilled from extra Harry Potter footage. The visual effects are fun and over the top, with numerous nods to the 1939 production. Watch for them.

 

When we reached the Emerald City, we felt as if Wicked might be five hours long. And that’s where having a Part 2 makes sense. Just about at the point where good and evil were Cuisinarted for about the fourth time, they wrapped things up and sent us home, having felt we got our money’s worth. This one is worth seeing in Imax if you get a chance, but definitely don’t wait to see it at home–unless you plan on singing.

 

Wicked, Part 1 (2024) runs 2 hours, 40 minutes and is rated PG

Saturday Night

On October 11, 1975, a fifty-year tradition began. It was an experiment with live television that seemed doomed to failure. The film Saturday Night documents the chaos of airing that first episode.

If you’ve been watching as long as I have, you remember the hype surrounding the premier of Saturday Night, which became known as Saturday Night Live in 1977. The host that night was George Carlin, whose “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” three years earlier altered the course of his career. Having him host a live show came with substantial risk.

 

Saturday Night counts down the ninety minutes before air time of the first episode. By the end of that gut-wrenching circus on the set at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, you’re ready to sit back and watch the resulting show. It's not really a spoiler alert to reveal that the movie ends where the show begins. To see it, you’ll need to rent the episode on Amazon or purchase the first season on DVD.

 

A thirty-year-old Lorne Michaels spent two years searching the country for comedic talent, many of whom came from Chicago’s Second City improvisational theater. He still produces the show, with a five-year break from 1980-85. The first season cast included John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin, George Coe, and Garrett Morris., collectively known as the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” Billy Preston and Janis Ian were the first musical guests.

 

SNL, as it is now known, has a history of “good” and “bad” casts, as well as episodes that either hit or missed the mark. But if you’ve been a faithful viewer for all of those years, you’ve seen numerous stars launch solo film and television careers. John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Dana Carvey, Mike Meyers, Martin Short, and so many others.

 

The show was a reflection of comedic and musical trends through the decades. As the casts changed so did our lives. As world events played out, SNL continued to entertain, even in the shadow of 911 and other tragedies. The show’s time slot on Saturday night became a refuge for those in need of a laugh, an escape from the headlines, and a comfortable place deep into the weekend.

 

I won’t reveal the many surprises woven into the fabric of episode one. How Michaels survived the event without a nervous breakdown is a testament to his strength of character. Despite a cast full of powerful creative egos, drug use, accidents, fires, fights, too many acts to possibly fit into ninety minutes, and a demanding NBC executive (Dave Tebets, played by Willem Dafoe) lurking around and looking for a reason to roll tape on a Tonight Show rerun rather than go live, the show debuted and has been playing ever since.

 

Director Jason Reitman effectively captured the insanity of a set under construction and the personnel mayhem that somehow came together when Chevy Chase announced, “Live, from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Saturday Night may not be for everyone, especially younger audiences. If you’ve been along for the ride since the beginning, this is a terrific nostalgic piece, and an intriguing view behind the scenes of what we took for granted so long ago.

 

Saturday Night (2024) runs 1 hour, 49 minutes and is rated R.

 

 

 

 

Twisters

Having been hit by a tornado four days ago, and plagued by recurrent tornado dreams my entire life, why not go to the movies and see it all in spectacular fashion on the big screen?

In 1996, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton played a couple on the brink of divorce, forced to work together chasing tornadoes to create an advanced storm warning system. The movie was called Twister, written by Michael Chrichton, who was then at the height of his writing career. His blend of science, technology, and thrilling plots took various forms, from The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man to Jurassic Park and a posthumous work just completed by James Patterson called Eruption. Chrichton was a 1964 Harvard grad who five years later got his MD, also from Harvard. His books all lent themselves to powerful visuals that were easily translatable to film.
 
Twisters is considered a stand-alone sequel, but is essentially a remake, with technology updates since the dark ages twenty-eight years ago. Daisy Edgar-Jones (Kate) and Glen Powell (Tyler) assume the combative lead roles, pitted against a common swirling enemy from the special effects department. There are plenty of rear-view mirrors here to remind us, that like T-Rex, an F-5 tornado may be closer than it appears.
 
Early in the film was a sequence in which four storm chasers are overtaken by a monster funnel. The challenge of finding safety is played out in excruciating similarity to a personal experience I’ve written about. It was as if our event became a scene in the film. Fortunately for us, our car and three of our friends were not sucked away and tossed into the guts of the demonic black vortex.
 
The ”sucked away” effect is a favorite of director Lee Isaac Chung. It’s truly disturbing, so clearly deadly and horrifying that I guess he felt it was worth repeating throughout the film. Another common stunt is the “hold-on” attempt that would rip shoulders from sockets.
 
It wasn’t that long ago that tornado imagery was relatively rare. But the advent of iPhones resulted in lots of really great footage, always and everywhere. Climate change has increased the number and territory of “the alley” in which they dwell. In a film like this, the multimedia artists bring to bear the full computing power of their advanced software and hardware, whereas in 1939’s Wizard of Oz, they spun bundled burlap tied together on a snaking spindle.
 
Impossible escapes alternate with horrific collapsing buildings and flying cars, trucks, barns and bleachers as the story progresses. The rivals discover that their ultimate goal of helping people is a common bond caused by a common enemy. But the relationship that develops is corny and predictable, with weak characters and only adequate acting. At one point a movie theater that has been almost entirely torn apart still has a projected image on the wall. I half expected a dinosaur to come gnashing its teeth through the screen into the front row.
 
Steven Spielberg’s production company supported this film. Perhaps Steven was waxing nostalgic on the good old days, with a kindred spirit pumping out blockbuster screenplays for him to direct.
 
The memorable, if not ridiculous, vintage scene in which Hunt and Paxton tie themselves to a pump handle and float inverted in the central column of a funnel is alluded to in Twisters, but I’ll never forget the flying cow and gasoline truck in the original. Those things were new then, now we expect to see the impossible, more dramatically and in greater detail.
 
This is probably a good one to wait for on your streaming vehicle of choice, but even with all its flaws, it held our attention and was consistently exciting.
 
Twisters (2024) runs 2 hours, 2 minutes and is rated PG-13.

 

 

The two books below belong to the "Park Ridge Memories" series which portrays life during the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. Collections of true stories take you from the Cuban Missile Crisis to The Summer of Love, Hot Dog Day to a trip down I-57 at 137mph, with lots of other stops in between. These books are about a place, but also a time, and lots of shared memories. Click on the images to find out more.

 

A Quiet Place: Day One

Sequels often disappoint, and prequels sometimes seem unnecessary. This film falls into the latter category. The producers may have been banking on return visits by moviegoers who were thrilled by A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place, Part II. That certainly influenced our decision.

 

If you’re not familiar with the franchise, this chapter in the series benefits from being able to stand alone and is fairly riveting like its two predecessors. Being constantly stalked and killed by ultra-violent aliens keeps the tension high throughout the movie. If they hear you, they will kill you.

 

Lupita Nyong’o stars as Samira, a cancer patient in a support group on an outing to New York City. She is understandably angry as a result of her terminal condition and is reliant on medications for some level of comfort. That becomes a problem when the city comes under attack, preventing her from returning home.

 

Viewers hoping to see the sound-seeking creatures that have arrived in a massive global attack got a satisfying look in A Quiet Place, Part ii. That film also showed the onslaught on day one, played out in greater detail here. Unlike in The War of the Worlds, where the invaders are generally seen at a distance, the Quiet Place monsters are everywhere–stampeding in the streets, crawling like giant spiders on buildings, lurking in alleys, dropping from bridges, and often right around the corner in the next room.

 

Samira and her pet cat reluctantly team up with Eric (Joseph Quinn) a British law student, studying in the States at just the wrong time. He is initially a hindrance, in such a state of shock that he can barely speak. As the pair eventually begin a somewhat ridiculous journey to find a favorite pizza restaurant, he becomes helpful, even a kindred spirit, going on a solo quest to find Samira’s meds in a half-destroyed pharmacy. The cat seems unfazed by the invasion and chaos, perhaps serving as an odd metaphor for the will to survive. It certainly exhibits nine lives.

 

John Krasinski shares writing credits in this outing. He wrote, starred in, and directed the first films in the series.

 

None of the films explain why the aliens have arrived. I guess it’s assumed that they are planet conquerors, perhaps paving the way for a subsequent repopulation. They destroy buildings, busses, and people with equal facility, never stopping to feed on a victim or take captives. As such, it becomes possible that these are bio-engineered attack drones paving the way for a higher intelligence, albeit a remorseless one.

 

The ending is unsatisfying if you’re looking for a happy resolution. Earth is left, locked in a perpetual struggle for survival, and a deafening silence that reminds us what a noisy species we are.

 

The post-apocalyptic special effects are well done, combined with disturbing close-ups of drooling alien mouthparts. Pretty scary stuff, and worth seeing if there’s nothing better at the theaters.

 

A Quiet Place: Day One runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and is rated PG--13.

The two books below belong to the "Park Ridge Memories" series which portrays life during the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. Collections of true stories take you from the Cuban Missile Crisis to The Summer of Love, Hot Dog Day to a trip down I-57 at 137mph, with lots of other stops in between. These books are about a place, but also a time, and lots of shared memories. Click on the images to find out more.

IF

John Krasinski (Jim from The Office) continues to broaden his portfolio as an actor, writer, and director. Here he’s in all three roles with a charming movie that is rated PG in an era when not even the evening news can make that claim.

It’s not ruining anything to reveal that IF is an acronym for Imaginary Friend. There are a number of other things I could spoil, but won’t.

 

This is a sweet coming-of-age story for those of us who may have forgotten what it felt like. Krasinski plays the father of “Bea,” (played by Cailey Fleming) his twelve-year-old daughter who insists on no longer being treated like a child. Her father is continually clowning, spewing one Dad joke after another, either verbally or through situational comedy. Bea rolls her eyes and begs him to stop. “Never,” he replies.

 

Bea is terrified of a repeat occurrence of previous childhood trauma. Therein lies the need for a coach to help her through her day-to-day life in Brooklyn Heights, an upscale area of New York along the East River with spectacular views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. So when Bea goes out at night to a local convenience store, you can holster your typical New-York-at-night reflexes.

 

Bea goes to stay with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) for a while in a third-floor walk-up, down the hall from a man named Cal, who has an assortment of unusual friends. Cal is played by Ryan Reynolds in a decidedly non-Deadpool persona but with a bit of his trademark humor. Together they visit the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island and set out to find Bea a “job.”

 

You’ll recognize Steve Carell’s voice as one of the other major characters. Likewise with Louis Gossett Jr. Although the film is live-action, there are some nicely animated supporting roles. SNL alum, Bobby Moynihan has a nice small dramatic part. 

 

Krasinski, whose roles span from special agent Jack Ryan to the dad in 2018’s A Quiet Place, taps into the Jim Halpert side of his resume for this sweet film. It’s a feel-good movie that makes you cry. There was quite a bit of sniffling in the audience during our viewing. The story is appropriate for children, therapeutic for adults, and despite a slightly corny ending, satisfying for all.

 

If there’s a message that underpins the plot in IF, it’s that nothing that is loved is ever forgotten. Sometimes we just need to be reminded to remember. And sometimes when you look back from an adult perspective, things begin to make sense in a recontextualized new way.

 

IF (2024) runs one hour, 44 minutes and is rated PG.

For seventy stories about growing up in Illinois during the '60s and '70s. Click below for a link to Amazon.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

This is one of those films with a difficult title to remember. Even the ticket taker at Regal stumbled over it as he confirmed our purchase.
 
            “Boy, that’s a mouthful,” he laughed.
 
We proceeded to sit through 25 minutes of the most violent previews we’ve ever seen. That was a hint of what was to come, despite perky Maria Menounos urging us not to eat our popcorn before the movie, since “I’ll be watching you!” We could have eaten dinner and dessert by the time the movie started.
 
This is a story based on true events, a secret mission known as Operation Postmaster, and that’s quite disturbing. The film is set in the darkest days of World War II when Hitler was on the brink of world domination. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill needed to give the United States hope that crossing an Atlantic infested with German U-boats was possible. Germany was a seemingly unbeatable foe. England desperately needed help from America.
 
Have you noticed how movie Germans are not only bloodthirsty, sadistic, and industrious, but are also so blinded by confidence and power that they are routinely duped? It’s a good thing since all was lost at several points in that horrific war, until the Nazis were outwitted and betrayed, in this case by an equally bloodthirsty band of psychopaths who saved the world.
 
Sort of a mashup of Inglourious Basterds and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I felt this was reminiscent of The Dirty Dozen. That film brought together names like Borgnine, Savalas, Bronson, Marvin, and Cassavetes in an unlikely assemblage that worked. A cast full of tough guys during the 1960s.
 
In “The Ministry,” Director Guy Ritchie teamed Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, and Elza Gonzalez as the A-Team of espionage and butchery, which is exactly what was needed when going after a Nazi stronghold. It was an utterly covert mission kept at arm’s length from Churchill. Ritchie’s films range from Aladdin to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and 2021’s Wrath of Man. This one kept the tension high and the action virtually nonstop.
 
Cavill, with his cartoonishly powerful chin hidden by a beard, has played Superman and currently stars in Argyle. He leads Churchill’s team due to his ruthless nature and reputation for breaking all the rules. Alan Ritchson plays Anders Lassen, a muscular bow & arrow-wielding assassin who prefers knives and takes far too much pleasure in killing. His credits include Fast X and Reacher. Elza Gonzalez is currently on Netflix in 3 Body Problem and also has a history with the Fast franchise.
 
And guess who was part of Churchill’s team? Ian Fleming! What better classroom for character development in a subsequent career as the creator of James Bond?
 
In a way, this story has many elements that make Bond stories work. Impossible missions overcoming improbable odds, with a cast of heroes and villains that are devoid of conscience when in the duty of God and Country. Well, at least Country.
 
Ritchie makes effective use of close-ups and dampened audio to build tension during scenes in which Nazi bad guy Heinrich Luhr (fictional, played by Til Schweiger ) is seduced by Marjorie Stewart (a real person but portrayed as a Mata Hari type here.)
 
You’ll need to be able to stomach extreme warfare violence to sit through this film. Ritchie seems to relish shock value. Perhaps that’s how he stayed married to Madonna for eight years.
 
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) runs 2 hours and is rated R.

The two books below belong to the "Park Ridge Memories" series which portrays life during the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. Two collections of true stories take you from the Cuban Missile Crisis to The Summer of Love, Hot Dog Day to a trip down I-57 at 137mph, with lots of other stops in between. These books are about a place, but also a time, and lots of shared memories. Click on the image to find out more.

 

Wonka

The theater was surprisingly full for a Saturday matinee of this family-friendly film. That was a happy post-pandemic reality. And it wasn’t until a point about three-quarters of the way through its nearly two-hour length that we found ourselves thinking, “This movie is too long.” But they wrapped it up in short order and we considered it to be a thoroughly enjoyable, colorful romp through Willie Wonka’s origin story.

Forget much of what you may love about Gene Wilder in 1971’s Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, if you can. There are plenty of musical reminders from the classic original and one memorable Oompa-Loompa played by Hugh Grant. But the somewhat sinister Wonka character in Wilder’s hands is played here by a younger, more auspicious, and magical Timothee Chalamet. Still, they both have a similar devilish sparkle in their eyes and exude comparable confidence in the transformative powers of their chocolates.

 

Wonka begins with Willie’s arrival by ship in a whimsical city that seems like a Disney World Epcot hybrid of London and Paris (it’s a Warner Brothers film.) He almost immediately falls victim to a nefarious couple of scammers who trick him with voluminous “small print” on a contract to rent a room for the night. He then joins forces with a half dozen similarly duped victims in a laundry dungeon where they hopelessly try to work off their debts.

 

Local law enforcement is corrupted by an evil triumvirate of cartel-like chocolate bosses who control the availability of a huge liquid cocoa supply. Bribes to the chief of police are paid in boxes of candy by Prodnose, Slugworth, and Fickelgruber to prevent Wonka from selling his chocolate.

 

Wonka is thus forced into a chocolate war on two fronts, using magic and secret recipes to create diversionary confections. If that’s not enough, a “little orange man with green hair” has been stealing his candy every night. Enter Hugh Grant as an eighteen-inch-tall nemesis who Wonka’s new friend Noodle (Calah Lane) doesn’t believe is real.

 

So, a lot is going on at all times, with frequent breaks for cute songs and choreography. As with most heroes, setbacks are temporary, and just when all hope is lost, someone or something saves the day.

 

Wonka is a box full of fun, a happy escape for a couple of hours, and a visual delight for kids and adults alike. I found one Oompa-Loompa to be quite enough, and I didn’t need the lure of a golden ticket to string me along. “Blasphemy,” I’m sure Gene Wilder fans would say, but really, fifty years for a prequel seems long enough to wait. I found myself craving chocolate soon after the film began.

 

 

Wonka (2023) runs 1 hour, 56 minutes and is rated PG.

If you like fiction and you're in the mood for over 50 short stories, please consider buying "Natural Selections," at Amazon.com.

Or if you'd prefer seventy non-fiction stories, please consider buying Park Ridge Memories also on Amazon. Click on the image below.