Rambling Film

  Official Synopsis:  An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy. What I knew going in: The basic plot I worked at a movie theater in high school when the 2004 remake of this came out, but I never watched it. All I knew is that they changed a lot of major plot points to modernize it. I figured when I was ready to take the Manchurian plunge, I'd start with the original. And I'm not going to lie, there were times where I wished I was watching Denzel instead of Frank Sinatra or Laurence Harvey, because lets be real they don't hold a candle to him, BUT thankfully this is a solid political thriller overall. It did a good job making you guess and building tension, though not without a few red herrings. It's the ladies that are the biggest draw and also the biggest question mark of this film. Angela Lansbury give a great villain performance. Her scheming Eleanor Shaw is by far the most memorable characte...

Official synopsis : Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer, Sam  Anselm (Michaela Coel), on the eve of her comeback performance.   Coel, Hathway, beautiful costumes, pop music, horror elements, could anything be more made for me? That's what I hoped to find with David Lowery's latest. He's a director whose films I've enjoyed in the past. So did he do it? For the most part, I was absolutely vibing with everything. Coel is giving a Shakespearean performance. Her monologues are intense and full of intrigue. Hathaway is broken, but comes alive on stage. She's very committed to her role as a pop star. Especially during a particular dance number that's stripped quite bare. Lowery wants the audience to have their own interpretations to what's happening now, what happened then, he leaves a lot of room for us to fill in the blanks. Almost too much room...

Welcome back to me still trying to figure out how I want to talk about TV on my blog. It's been a BUSY TV month. I only made it to the theater three times (Solid films all around though) and the rest of my movie watching has been on airplane seat backs as April was another busy travel month. But I watched a ton of TV and have so many thoughts. The Pitt (Season 2) - The season is officially finished. I don't think it wrapped up as neatly as season 1 did, but I won't lie and say I wasn't glued to my TV every Thursday waiting to see what happens next. I am worried that Robby "getting close to hitting rock bottom" will be a bit overbearing if they keep going that route in season 3. There's only so many times Noah Wyle can stare sadly at the screen before he turns into an Elizabeth Moss Handmaid's Tale staring parody. I'm sad a talent like Supriya Ganesh is leaving. I get it's a "teaching hospital" and makes sense characters would leave, ...

  What I knew going in : Nothing Two Blind Spots in one month? Who is she?! Someone who hasn't been to the theater to see a new wide release and who has been spending a lot of time binging TV shows, that's who. But I missed talking about movies, so I decided to head over to the Bette David collection on HBO Max. What drew me to The Star , aside from the fact that it stars both Davis and Natalie Wood was the fact that the premise sounded so similar to All About Eve , which I loved. I just had to see why Davis would want to do this again. And while the stories are very different, one of them is a clear winner. And this ain't it. I wouldn't call this movie "bad" because Bette is truly captivating as always, but she is the only one that is delivering her lines in an unstilted way. This is a very weak script, especially when it comes to the dialogue. There's plenty of platitudes and exposition. Poor Natalie Wood basically has to word vomit all her thoughts beca...

Review:  A directionless man, Colin (Harry Melling) is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker, Ray (Alexander Skarsgard) takes him on as his submissive. Alexander Skarsgard in leather? Say no more. I have been wanting to see this film for ages and my local indie theater finally opened it. And while I'm not surprised a film like this didn't get any academy love, I can't believe they let a performance like Harry Melling's just fly under the radar this year.  Colin is a nice, but awkward guy. His parents are trying to set him up on dates, but he's drawn to Ray. Of course you can't blame him. LOOK at Ray, but Colin gets thrown head first into what it's like to be in a dom/sub life. I think because I'm not as familiar with that kink, I expected there to be a bit more talk on consent. Maybe that's the point director Harry Lighton was trying to make. Colin can't just go with the flow in a relationship. He too has needs that dese...

Official synopsis:  A happily engaged couple (Zendaya and Robert Pattinson) is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails. What would you do if your partner told you the worst thing they ever did? And it was....intense. That's the situation Emma and Charlie are in. After things get a little too real during a light hearted date, now Charlie is re-evaluating his entire life, all based on one thing Emma did.  The Drama is darkly funny. You will cringe several times throughout. Director Kristoffer Borgli chooses to tell this story with a lot of hard edits, blending flashbacks into the present. It works very well and fits the chaotic energy the film has.  Zendaya and Pattinson both give excellent performances. Emma is a bit awkward and charming and I still felt that way about her even after we hear about what she did. Pattinson spends the majority of the movie crashing out over this, and it's probably one of the best performances he's ...