"The Rise of Skywalker" Movie Review

by John Zenoni

Ok, most people who know me really well know that sci-fi is not really my bag as far as movies -- with the exceptions being the Alien films and the Star Wars series (don’t even get me started on Star Trek - no!). Anyway, tickets were bought back in October for the showing of the latest entry in the Star Wars saga, this one called, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and tonight was the premiere. I will have to say that the excitement was very much present in the theater while everyone was waiting for the show. I did see quite a few people wearing Star Wars t-shirts as well as a few people in costume. This is the one film I know of where you can pretty much expect that to happen.

Let me start by saying that my familiarity of the series goes back to the original entries from the late 70’s to mid 80’s as I grew up with my brother watching Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Yoda, Wookiees, Darth Vader, etc. While I've seen all the other entries since then, needless to say I haven't been as enthusiastic about them - starting with “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” as so many new characters, plot lines, and changes have taken place it's been hard for me to keep up.

With that being said, I will do my best to give my insight and thoughts about this latest entry. Let me begin by borrowing a quick synopsis of the film from IMDB: “The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga.”

I think there are a couple of areas I shall focus on that impressed me. First of all, the special effects. How can you see a Star Wars film and not be impressed? While nothing I saw was mind blowing- with the exception of one scene where Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) is in the desert and is running away from a TIE fighter, piloted by Kyle Ren (played by Adam Driver) - everything is still excellent. Speaking of that scene, to quote Lindsey Romain, from an article in Nerdist magazine, April 18, 2019, ‘The teaser opens with a shot of Rey, panting and pumped with adrenaline, running from a red-faced TIE fighter on an unnamed desert planet. As the fighter, likely piloted by the villainous Kylo Ren, barrels towards her, Rey leaps into the air and elegantly flips over the ship, avoiding collision. The moment is a beautiful offering of the Force power she’s learned to wield since her clumsier handling of a lightsaber in The Force Awakens, evidence of her growing mastery.’

The other thing I enjoyed was the action as there was plenty of it in this film. The interaction between the characters is full-throttle and never fails to keep your eyes glued to the screen. The fighting scenes between Rey and Kylo with light sabers are especially intense and very well done.

The last thing I particularly enjoyed was seeing some familiar faces from the past in this film. It's amazing to think that this series has been around as long as it has and this film re-introduced some of the characters I grew up with.

Now, as far as the ranking of this film in comparison to the others in the Star Wars saga, I don’t think this one will be as well loved as compared to others. The reason being I believe is because of the turn taken with some of the main characters. At least I was surprised by the ending I will put it that way. Also, some of the characters in the previous film played very pretty significant parts but in this film they played minor, if even useful, roles. Finally, the storyline. I don’t know, it seemed to neatly wrapped up to me. I can't help but think tha there are other film goers who would have expected more with this being the last in the Skywalker saga.

"Jumanji: The Next Level" is the Best in the Series

The third time's the charm. The Rock and company are back in the jungle (and the desert and mountains) in a new adventure that easily tops 2017's nearly billion dollar-grossing trip to the video game world of Jumanji. Hoping for lightning to strike twice, the whole gang returns in this sequel that once again pits them against a Star Wars flick in a quest for big profits. While Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle debuted after The Last Jedi two years ago, this time around Jumanji: The Next Level is up to bat a full week prior to The Rise of Skywalker's release.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Although Fridge destroyed the titular dimension-teleporting console with a bowling ball at the end of the last movie, a year later, a depressed Spencer assembles the pieces and heads back inside the game in an attempt to regain his mojo. However, when Spence is unpleasantly surprised by Jumanji's new features and finds himself trapped, his friends -- Fridge, Martha and Bethany -- throw caution to the wind and hop back into their avatars in order to rescue their amigo. Except that not only are the mission locations different but so are the characters -- Dr. Bravestone, Mouse, Shelly and Ruby Roundhouse -- that they inhabit. Also along for the ride are Spencer's grandfather Eddie and Eddie's former best friend Milo. Once again faced with the challenge to beat impossible odds with only two lives to spare apiece, the group must work together in order to make it back to the real world.

Set at Christmas, The Next Level is sort of like an Indiana Jones holiday special (except much better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and is superior to Welcome to the Jungle -- not to mention the original Jumanji -- in every way: the action is more exciting, the animals are meaner, the jokes are funnier and there are three times as many exotic but dangerous locales. Aside from the action, the flick also delivers some pretty decent messages about friendship and growing older.

The Next Level isn't deep but if you're looking for an adventure-comedy with a Christmas chaser that doesn't ask you to think too much then you could do a lot worse than Jumanji 3.

February 2020 Movie Trailers

February 7

Birds of Prey

February 14


Sonic the Hedgehog

February 21


Bloodshot

The Call of the Wild

January 2020 Movie Trailers

January 17

Dolittle

The Last Full Measure

Bad Boys for Life

March 2020 Movie Trailers

March 6


Onward

The Way Back

March 20


A Quiet Place II

"Knives Out" Movie Review

by John Zenoni

Wow! What a joyride Rian Johnson's modern whodunit “Knives Out” is. This is a great mystery that engages you from the get-go and, for me at least, keeps you guessing until the end. 

This film has so many things in its favor - the storyline is great, the pace of the film itself is perfect for a murder mystery, the big reveal at the end is satisfying and the cast is a brilliant ensemble of great actors.

Of the films directed by Mr. Johnson, “Brick”, “The Brothers Bloom”, “Looper”, and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”, the only one I had seen is “The Last Jedi.” He definitely has my attention now based on his direction of this particular film. He did a very good job of providing great entertainment by keeping the audience guessing .

The film is based on the death of a very successful mystery writer, Harlan Thrombey (played by Christopher Plummer), and his money hungry family. After the unexpected death of this family patriarch, an investigation ensues and master detective, Detective Benoit (played by Daniel Craig), is brought in to figure out what's happened. From this point on we get to see the family with the ugly sides coming out and everyone anxiously waiting for the will reading to see who, if anyone, will get any of Harlan’s fortune. It only gets more involved from this point with the tension building as each of the characters interact with each other.

The cast consists of so many good actors: the already mentioned Christopher Plummer and Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Katherine Langford, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfield and Jamie Lee Curtis. All of them do an amazing job in their roles and I'd definitely watch another film featuring this particular ensemble.

This is one of the best, fun murder-mystery films I've seen in a long time.

"The Farewell" Movie Review

by John Zenoni

I just finished watching an amazing, ‘independent’ film released this past year, ‘The Farewell.’ I kept hearing raves about it when it was in theaters but I don’t recall it playing very long in Columbia and I missed being able to see it on the big screen (always my preference).

There are many things I loved about this film. First and foremost, it features an all-Asian cast. I think we can all agree that there aren't too many films like this produced when compared to the number of mainstream films made in Hollywood. At first I thought the English subtitles might be a distraction for me but this was absolutely not the case. I loved when the actors were speaking and communicating with each other in Chinese, as it was pivotal to the story.

Thus, taking me to the other thing I loved, which is the storyline. The film focuses on Chinese-American Billi, wonderfully played by Awkwafina, who returns to her native homeland to see her Nai Nai (her paternal grandmother), after learning that she has a terminal illness. The key here is that Nai Nai (portrayed by the excellent Zhao Shuzhen) is not being told about her terminal illness. The family decides it's best not to tell her, much to Billi's dismay. However, Billi decides to honor the family's wishes and keep everything secret. In order to not make Nai Nai question why all of her family have returned home suddenly, the family stages her grandson's fake wedding. The film then focuses on everyone’s reactions and behavior around Nai Nai.

The cast in this film did a great job and you really thought you were watching a true family struggle together during such an emotional time.

The music, scenery, and scenes of cultural specific activities were so well done and pivotal to making this a great film. There's one shot of Billi walking down a street with the camera focusing on her face while music is playing that is actually one of the best scenes that I've seen all year.

This is one film that will, or at least should, be recognized come awards time. It's one that makes you think about your loved ones, especially your elders and how we should respect and revere them. This is one of the best films of 2019!

The Best Movie Prospects for 2020 (with Trailers)

There have been some major shake-ups to the 2020 movie calendar due to the coronavirus quarantine. Some big releases have been postponed to 2021 while others have disappeared from the calendar completely. But here are the films that we think'll provide the most entertainment this year.





Bad Boys for Life

Release Date: January 17

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back for what's most likely the last time. While Martin has been keeping a pretty low-profile for the past few years, Will showed he's still got it in Suicide Squad. Neither has a history of terrible movies, so there's a chance that they'll ensure that what's now become the Bad Boys trilogy goes out with a bang.









The Last Full Measure

Release Date: January 24









Call of the Wild

Release Date: February 21









The New Mutants

Release Date: April 3 August 28

I'm not gonna lie to you. I never liked the New Mutants comics. It always seemed to me like an obvious and lame attempt to squeeze more money outta the X-Men -- the comic book version of the James Bond, Jr. cartoon. But after Fox finally put together two decent X-Men movies -- Deadpool and Logan -- there's a chance that they've learned the error of their ways and New Mutants the movie might actually complete the trifecta. They should probably continue the trend of making movies worthy of an R-rating.

Ghostbusters 2020

Release Date: July 10 Moved to 2021









Tenet

Release Date: July 17 August 26









Without Remorse

Release Date: September 18 Moved to 2021









The Trial of the Chicago 7 

Release Date: September 25 October 16









Death on the Nile

Release Date: October 9 October 23

2017's Murder on the Orient Express was so good that Death on the Nile
doesn't need to be better. Simply living up to its predecessor is enough for a win.









Dune

Release Date: December 18

This remake/reboot of the infamous 1985 flop would have to be better than
the original, wouldn't it? Otherwise, why take the risk?










Coming to America II

Release Date: December 18 










Maverick 

Updated 5/5/20

"Ford v Ferrari" Movie Review

by John Zenoni

Enjoyed watching a great new film tonight, ‘Ford v Ferrari.’ Even if you don’t know much about cars and racing in general, which I admit I do not, this is a very entertaining film. The story is actually based on real life events, which I found intriguing.

Matt Damon, a former race car driver, plays American automotive designer Carroll Shelby. He's hired by the Ford automotive company to assist in building a race car that can compete in and win the Le Mans race, held in France. He's friends with a British race car driver, Ken Miles, played by Christian Bale, who he convinces to work with him to try and create the race car that will beat those of Ferrari in Le Mans.

While the storyline might seem simple, it's really interesting to see how these two seemingly opposite men come together in this film and how they face up to the multi-million dollar executives of the car industry. What's incredible is that the Ford company didn't spend years creating a new race car to compete in the 1966 race but did it in a very short time frame.

The cinematography and sound in this film is amazing. You really feel as if you're on the racetrack itself every time a car scene comes on screen. I cannot imagine how these categories won’t at least be acknowledged for this film come Academy Award season.

As far as the performances, everyone in this film does a tremendous job but I have to say I think Christian Bale is the scene-stealer of the movie. He's just amazing and is a phenomenal actor - period. Matt Damon does a fine job, as well as Jon Bernthal, but it's Bale’s movie all the way. I would love to see him get recognition for this performance. I won’t give away the ending but will say it caught me off guard and I think it ended perfectly. This is a long film - 2 1/2 hours - but you don’t realize it because of the fast-paced action and intense performances.

The 11 Biggest Movie Flops of 2018

When it comes to movies, they can't all be winners. And lately, more and more of them are proving to be financial disasters. This year has seen its fair share of box-office bombs and 2018 seemed to follow the same trend. Here are the biggest losers of the year:

11. Proud Mary

Loss: $20 million

10. Holmes & Watson

Loss: $21 million

9. The Girl in the Spider's Web

Loss: $26 million

8. The Happytime Murders

Loss: $34 million

7. Annihilation

Loss: $34 million

6. Welcome to Marwen

Loss: $60 million

5. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Loss: $65.8 million 

4. Solo

Loss: $76.9 million

Both Lucasfilm and Disney would love to explain away Solo's box office failure with excuses about an ill-advised release date, an abundance of competition and skimpy marketing. But the truth is, like The Last Jedi, Solo just wasn't a very good Star Wars movie.

3. Robin Hood

Loss: $83.7 million

2. A Wrinkle in Time

Loss: $131 million

While Disney enjoyed staggering success in 2018 (courtesy of movies such as Black Panther and Infinity War), the studio had its share of failures as well (most notably in the form of Solo). A Wrinkle in Time falls into the second category. Vivid colors and discussions about self-confidence abound but staying awake through this snooze-fest long enough to catch it all is a challenge. Despite the fact that the source material was published more than half a century ago, Wrinkle comes off as a much less-entertaining rip-off of the 1984 film The Neverending Story. The only thing missing was a furry white dragon.

1. Mortal Engines

Loss: $175 million

The 12 Best TV Shows of 2017

12. Casey Anthony: An American Murder                  Mystery

11. Black Sails Episode XXXV

 

10. Black Sails Episode XXXI

9. Trolls Holiday

Still making it all about her and refusing to listen to anyone else, Poppy forces her holiday ideas onto King Gristle Jr. and Bridget with predictably disastrous results. 

8. The Punisher

7. Truth and Lies: Watergate

6. Dave Chappelle: The Age of Spin/Deep in the Heart of Texas

5. The Bird Revelation

4. Game of Thrones: Conquest & Rebellion

3. Africa's Great Civilizations

2. The Toys That Made Us

Documentary streaming series The Toys That Made Us breaks down the histories of Star Wars, He-Man, and most importantly, G.I. Joe toys.

1. Who Killed Tupac?