‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Movie Corner – Vengeance
Vengeance Focus Features 2022 Mystery/Comedy/ Thriller/ Drama By HOWARD MCQUITTER II ★★★★☆ Well, simply hearing about the film Vengeance without seeing the trailer can easily give the impression the film is like a bum-rush, aimless action film like Bullet Train. However, Vengeance is just the opposite of Bullet Train's reckless adventures. First, Vengeanceis the directorial debut by B.J. Novak (Knocked Up , The Smurfs , Inglourious Basterds ). He is also the screenwriter and principal actor. (Novak is the actor and the writer from The Office.) As the story goes, Ben Manalowitz (BJ. Novak) is a journalist and podcaster in New York City, when one night he gets a frantic call that his “girlfriend" is dead from an overdose. He's puzzled on what "girlfriend" that could be, so he has to scroll through his cellphone to find out who she was. He flies to West Texas to meet Ty Shaw (Boyd Holbrook), the dead woman's brother, who believes his sister Abilene [...]
Movie Corner: Elvis
Elvis Warner Bros. Pictures 2022 ★★★★★ By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Elvis died tragically at the age of 42 on August 16, 1977. But when he died, the rock star had recorded about 700 songs and sold more than one billion records worldwide, which was more than anyone in the record industry. Australian director Baz Luhrmann's (William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet , Moulin Rouge! , The Great Gatsby ) new film project is Elvis, starring Austin Butler who plays the character Elvis in exceptional fashion. Austin's performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination in a leading role. The film starts with Elvis (Chaydon Jay)as a boy in Tupelo, Mississippi, who is exposed to Black music - both profane and gospel - living in a mostly Black neighborhood. Those were the days: 1940s, the pre-Civil Rights era when de jure segregation was solidly in place. Fast forward to Elvis' teen years on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, where he mingles among the Black people going [...]
Movie Corner: The Phantom of the Open
Comedy/Drama Sony Pictures Classics 2021 ★★★★☆ By HOWARD MCQUITTER II The opening film for the 2022 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival starts with a chuckle, a laugh, and guffaws. I think it was a brilliant move for the Festival to open with a comedy/drama after these last few years of COVID 19 and unrest. Mark Rylance plays a real-life Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator for Vickers shipyards, following in his father’s footsteps. He is married to his lovely wife Jean (Sally Hawkins) and has 3 sons: Michael (Jake Davies) and twins Gene (Christian Lees) and James (Jonas Lees). In the movie we get a peek of Gene and James as disco dancing champions. Maurice has no hobbies. Jean suggests he find one. One day he’s watching a golf tournament on TV and has the idea that he could play golf even though he never swung a golf club. Despite their misgivings, Maurice’s family encourages him to golf. He tries repeatedly to join elite golf clubs but [...]
