In watching the captivating documentary by Frank Marshall about the singing group The Bee Gees, “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, it saddened me to think that many people might still think of them only as ‘that disco group’ or ‘that group who only had a short-lived stint as disco singers.’ They absolutely were way more than that. This is a group whose vocals blended together like few others and they were phenomenal songwriters. They wrote over 1,000 songs and had 20 number 1 hits between the United States and the UK.
This is a great film that gives insight into the drive and chemistry between the brothers and what they went through during their highs and lows. The film used interviews pulled from 1999 since Maurice and Robin are no longer with us and I'm glad that we were able to get their insight into their music career and contribution to music in general.
The film shared many facts I had never known about their personal lives, the different techniques they used in the recording studio and the number of songs they had written for other people. Fortunately, they were able to still thrive in the music industry as a result of their songwriting skills. The most touching point is when Barry says at the end that he'd give all the hits back to have his brothers, including Andy, back with him.
I don’t care what anyone thinks, they definitely left a tremendous legacy behind when it comes to beautiful, melodic songs that captivated several generations.
One of the latest entries in the documentary genre is ‘Crazy, Not Insane’ on HBO Max. This is a fascinating look into the work of Dr. Dorothy Lewis, a renowned psychiatrist who has spent her life examining infamous serial killers such as Ted Bundy and trying to figure out why they've committed the brutal murders for which they've been arrested and/or executed.
This is a film that focuses partly on her and why she got into the work she did but it's also about her subjects, what they did and why she believes so strongly in multiple personality disorder or dissociative identity disorder. This is a disorder in which the subject changes or transforms in front of her and she blames the upbringing and environment the murderers grew up in for their behavior. To quote something she said in the film, ‘Killers are made, not born.’
Thus, the film leaves you to decide what you believe based on insight into her work, newsreels of the cases and interviews with the murderers themselves. Dr. Lewis had an uphill battle in proving her theories, and faced a great deal of scrutiny from her peers.
It's an interesting insight into her studies and yet it's creepy at the same time watching these subjects in interviews knowing what horrific acts they committed.
Ok, listen up, this is for anyone who is looking for a creepy film to watch on Netflix. You can not go wrong with, ‘Don’t Listen’ (‘Voces’ in Spanish), a Spanish language horror film. I normally don’t do horror/scary flicks too often anymore but to keep my mind off of other things I decided to go for it and I was not disappointed. While there are some scares in this film seen before in other horror films, the twist and storyline make this one different so the scares work.
The story is about a married couple and their son who have recently moved into this new home, with the intentions of renovating it and selling it. The couple does this for a living but this home is older, larger and they know it's going to take more time and effort to get it ready for sale. The young son begins to hear noises, including on his walkie-talkie radios, and tells his mom and dad he doesn't like the house and wants to leave. Of course the parents attribute his behavior to being in a new place, no friends yet, etc. They eventually decide they need to hire a counselor to come to the house and work with him. All is well until one afternoon the counselor leaves and has a tragic ‘accident’ on her way home.
What the parents don’t realize is that the son is drawing pictures of events as they happen. Another horrible accident - or it appears to be - happens, causing the wife to leave the house. When the husband begins to hear things himself, he recruits a paranormal investigator and his daughter to come in and help him figure out what's in or was in the house.
From there the mystery picks up and there is a horrific twist later on that definitely is unexpected. This film is definitely one that will give you goose bumps!
These are the top tags for the latest film entry on Netflix, directed by George Clooney, ‘The Midnight Sky’, and I have to say that these pretty much sum up the film. It really should be called ‘The Midnight Snooze.’ It started off with great promise and then just went nowhere. I will say that you can tell this film had a big budget based on the special effects. But as far as the pace of the film, and in fact the acting, it was slow and just never picked up the steam I was looking for.
George Clooney portrays Augustine, a scientist in the Arctic who tries to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe. Basically, it appears that he's the only person left on earth until at one point he encounters a young girl who he tries to keep safe. So the entire film at that point is them trying to find a way to contact the astronauts and warn them to stay away. During this time, we see flashbacks of Augustine’s life. We also see George Clooney in character fighting the frigid cold, rescuing the little girl from danger, and talking about survival.
Even the astronauts leave a lot to be desired as far as character development. They are just plain boring. There is a moment in the film where they cut up and all seems well among them and a song is used that elicits happiness. Well this type of scene is so overplayed in films that you know something horrible is going to happen as everything is just ‘too good’ and sure enough that's what happened. I won’t go into details in case any one does wish to watch it.
There is a ‘big’ twist at the end but even that's nothing that impressed me too much. It leaves a big question about what will happen next but honestly it's not something I hope they try to answer with a follow up.
I like George Clooney as an actor and director but he's definitely not consistent as far as a filmmaker and I have to say he missed the mark with this one in my opinion.
Last night after enjoying all the festivities with my family, we decided to watch the latest Disney/Pixar film, ‘Soul’ and I can report we were not disappointed by any means. I'm pleased that Disney/Pixar has kept up with their reputation of producing beautifully made animation films.
The story revolves around jazz musician, Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), who is a part time music teacher at a local school and is given an opportunity to finally become a full time teacher with a regular pay, pension, benefits, etc. You would think that most people would be excited as this is a sound, secure job but you can tell that Joe is really looking to do something different with his music. Not twenty minutes into the film, one of Joe’s former students, Curley (voiced by Questlove), calls him to tell him they need someone to fill in at the last minute for a gig at a local jazz club, performing with the well known jazz musician, Dorothea Williams (voiced by Angela Bassett), and he is estatic.
***Spoiler Alert***
He's on the way home all excited when an unfortunate accident takes place and Joe leaves this earth and wakes up in the afterlife. This is when the story takes a turn and gets very interesting.
Once Joe realizes that he's headed to the Great Beyond, he panics and does everything he can to get back to his body on Earth as he doesn't want to miss his big break! During this time in the afterlife, he's assigned as a mentor to 22 (voiced by Tina Fey), a soul that doesn't have any desire to go to Earth as she doesn't think there's anything worthwhile there. Joe manages to get 22 to go to earth but instead of Joe’s soul returning to his body, he ends up in that of a cat, while 22 ends up in his body. Panic ensues as Joe only has so much time to get his body prepared for the gig and they have to go through a ‘mediator’ named Moonwind (voiced by Graham Norton) in order to get Joe and 22’s souls back in the right bodies.
It's during this time that 22 begins to experience things on earth as a person that she's beginning to appreciate and Joe also begins to realize things about himself that he hadn't before. The switch does take place, Joe gets back into his body and is able to perform his gig, but it's with the sacrifice of 22 going back to the afterlife and not having a body. Once Joe performs with the band, he realizes it still didn't fulfill him completely and he thought it would be a more exciting experience than expected. Joe knows 22 has changed and is ready to come to earth as a person and he sacrifices himself to allow 22 to go to earth. Because of this, the Great Ones (what I can only think of calling them) allow Joe to also go back because of his kind act.
Now on to the comments about the film. First, the animation is, of course, amazing and absolutely beautiful so this didn't disappoint at all. The characters of Joe and his mom, (voiced by Phylicia Rashad), are by far my favorites and really make the film. The music - outstanding! Wonderful music that fits this film perfectly, which if anyone is interested in knowing, is put together with the consultation of Questlove.
Also significant about this film that I'm sure many will notice is that it's voiced by a predominantly African American cast. I read a great review about the film and she noted (Tasha Robinson, Disney+) the same as well, stating, “... The film, which now debuts directly on Disney Plus, is another groundbreaker, with the studio’s first Black protagonist and first focus on Black community, relationships, and art.
Soul will come in for endless analysis of the details that give it shape. One of its subtlest but most daring touches is that it doesn’t have significant white characters at all — it seems natural enough that the people in Joe’s most immediate circle of family and friends are Black, but it’s also notable that the authority figures in his world, from minor characters (the principal, a doctor, a random cop) to major ones (all the Great Before counselors and accountants) are also people of color, from a range of genders and ethnicities. That choice, and the view of Black community life — particularly Joe’s relationship with his mother, and a barbershop scene that defines how Joe relates to his friends — will certainly be studied and examined at length.”
If I have to find any fault with the film, it's only that it's a little more ‘deep’ as far as the subject matter than I expected. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I do think it can go over younger kids’ heads. I was very moved by it myself and loved this film. Definitely another great addition to the Disney/Pixar catalogue of animated films.
I have to be honest in stating that usually the big production natural disaster type films, i.e. "Earthquake", "The Towering Inferno", "The Day After Tomorrow", etc. typically are not my kind of films as the plots are usually weak, the special effects sometimes not up to my expectations and the acting not very good. Well, I took a chance and watched "Greenland" and I have to say I was extremely impressed. It's a great action film and I couldn't turn my eyes away. Gerard Butler is definitely back in good form with this film, for which I noticed in the credits he's listed as a producer. The storyline is good, the supporting cast is great and the special effects amazing. This is one I would have loved to have seen in the theater as it just keeps you on the end of your seat. Great popcorn film!
Ran, I know you said that it didn't entertain you but I think this one did for me because it was probably the most realistic - well, as far as I know it could be - natural disaster film and made it scary to think it could happen. And the ending was just perfect...because everyone knew what was coming and what those chosen people would have to do for future generations. Great film in my opinion.
Talk about an absolutely stunning performance in a great movie - definitely check out Riz Ahmed as musician Ruben Stone in the film, ‘Sound of Metal.’ It's one of those performances that makes your mouth drop as well as feel every emotion the actor feels in his/her portrayal.
The film is about a heavy-metal drummer in a band with his girlfriend who begins to suddenly lose his hearing. A former heroin addict, but four years clean, he begins to panic and feels that he's spiraling out of control. His girlfriend is worried that he's going to revert back to his drug use to deal with the situation so she gets him into a house for people learning to adjust to life as a deaf person. Ok, this is where people might think the film would fall apart and into the trap of sentimental, heartfelt overload. But thank goodness it doesn't do that. Ruben is given an opportunity and he slowly begins to try and adapt to his new life as a deaf person, learning sign language and developing relationships with those who live in the home. But the whole time he has plans to try and revert to his former life as a musician on the road and living in his RV with his girlfriend again, moving from city to city and playing gig after gig. Without giving anything else away, I'll say that things do not exactly fall into place as he expects.
The acting by the cast in this film is all good but this movie definitely belongs to Ahmed and rightly so. He puts his whole heart into this performance, learning to play drums and sign language. I'll back up on an earlier comment and admit that there were a couple of touching moments and the ending is a killer at playing with your mind and heart.
Definitely one film that pulled at my heart strings, not only because I'm a person who loves music immensely and couldn't imagine going through what Ahmed’s character does, but also because it teaches so many good lessons while not doing overkill. It's a well balanced, well made film with a tour de force performance!
