Hello, My Name Is Doris-5/10
Hello, My Name Is Doris is an acceptable romantic comedy/drama film, featuring some feel-good moments and scenes (towards the end, when Doris decides to turn her life around and change), but Sally Field’s performance is the driving force behind HMNID. Doris is this eccentric old lady, who’s desperately looking for a spark in her life before it‘s too late, and Field really delivers with believable vulnerability and she does a good job with the “sweet and innocent old lady” act.
The majority of the reviews for HMNID are favorable and positive, and this is just a conspiracy theory on my part, but there’s a chance HMNID’s status as a low budget indie film is playing a part in the complimentary reviews from critics (Hello, My Name Is Doris holds an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes). Sorry, but I’m not going to rule out the possibility of more critics completely trashing HMNID with complaints about a cliched, formulaic, and predictable rom-com, If HMNID was a more high profiled Hollywood film with a bigger budget and a few more big name stars.
I don’t have any real complaints about HMNID, because I enjoyed it. But when you strip the movie down to its core, HMNID is just an average rom-com about an elderly main character, who’s going through a mid-life crisis, with a good performance from Sally Field. And you can easily predict all the ups and downs and the moments, where Doris realizes she needs to change during her “it’s now or never” journey.
Midnight Special-4/10
A lot of mixed feelings for this one. Midnight Special should be a 10/10 or a five star worthy film, but I can’t go with a perfect score. Midnight Special presents an intriguing and thought-provoking mystery, but when it’s all said and done, I just can’t ignore the laundry list of unanswered questions.
What is the event supposed to be about? What’s so special about the time and place, where the event is supposed to happen? Is Alton (the little boy) is a savior? A guardian? Why is the religious cult obsessed with capturing Alton? During Sam Shepard’s (playing the leader of the religious cult) interview with the FBI, he said something along the lines of “Alton will keep us safe, when it happens,” but that’s it. They don’t reveal any real details, and as the story progresses, the cult’s motivations and their reasons for wanting Alton are low on Midnight Special‘s list of priorities, and to take it a step further, Jeff Nichols (the writer and director) completely drops or seemingly forgets about the sub-plot involving the cult.
If I’m drawing comparisons to another Nichols/Michael Shannon collaboration, Take Shelter actually answers questions. Throughout the film, Shannon’s character has visions of an approaching apocalyptic storm, and he’s falling apart, because he’s not sure if there’s some truth to his visions, or if he’s losing his mind. Well, guess what happens during the final moments of the movie? You actually see the storm, as Shannon, Jessica Chastain, and the little girl playing his daughter are on the beach. Midnight Special? Well, if you’re looking for definitive answers, you’ll have to settle for vague “maybe or maybe not” confirmations.
Midnight Special’s thrills are limited to a repetitive hide, drive, and chase “on the run” formula, but the movie features a good amount of awe-inspiring visuals, and Midnight Special has a strong sense of wonder. On top of that, Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Jaeden Lieberher (Alton), Adam Driver, and others all deliver solid and strong performances. Midnight Special is an entertaining and engrossing sci-fi drama. Although, throughout the movie, you get the feeling they’re building towards some big, earth-shattering revelation (or revelations), so the ambiguous ending was a big letdown for me.
Batman VS Superman: Dawn Of Justice (in 3D!)-6/10
After all the unjustified and whiny complaints about the casting choices before the first set of trailers or any footage was released, I’m glad the main cast delivered to erase any doubts for the future. Ben Affleck has to be a top choice for the best version of Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Jesse Eisenberg played an entertaining villain. He really nailed the unhinged and zany megalomaniac persona, and Eisenberg’s crazed speech before Doomsday’s release is easily one of the highpoints in the movie.
“Gal Gadot from the Fast & Furious films? She’s a model, and her looks go against everything Wonder Woman is supposed to represent and stand for! Bullshit! She’s a terrible choice!” Gadot has a magnetic presence during Diana’s brief screen time, and if the final battle is a sign of things to come, Wonder Woman has a bright future under Gadot. Also, it’s a shame Jeremy Iron’s screen time is limited to sporadic appearances, but for obvious reasons, a lack of Alfred throughout Dawn Of Justice is no real surprise.
Overall, Dawn Of Justice was kind of hit-and-miss for me. I understand every superhero film doesn’t have to follow the Marvel blueprint, but Dawn Of Justice’s scenes of brooding melodrama at certain points in the film were too much for me. Still, it’s easy to think of a few reasons to be optimistic with the solo Wonder Woman film, the solo Batman film, and Batman’s role in Suicide Squad coming up. It’s true Dawn Of Justice took a noticeable dive at the Box Office after the first week, but the current total sits at $834,481,486, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
If we’re talking about the overwhelming negative reviews, Dawn Of Justice is nowhere near as bad as some reviews are making it out to be. Yeah, it’s safe to say the bad reviews and word of mouth played a part in Dawn Of Justice’s box office numbers taking a hit, but Dawn Of Justice living up to all the hype or the full enormity of Batman and Superman squaring off in the same film would’ve been damn near impossible. Looking at all the promotional material, including the trailers, it’s obvious the powers that be were hoping for a historic box office run and a hefty amount of broken records, with the novelty of Superman and Batman in the same film for the first time, but you have to believe the lack of real teasing, any momentum, and no set up film to build on hurt any chances of an unprecedented box office run.
Hardcore Henry-5/10
I guess I’ll drop this one into the guilty pleasure bin…….for now. Honestly, when the time comes, Hardcore Henry is one of those films I’m uneasy about watching for a second time, because the current rating could drop to a 3/10 or a 2/10.
The characters in Hardcore Henry are one-dimensional and bland (for the most part), and Danila Kozlovsky’s Akan (the main villain) is too kooky and corny, so it's hard to take him seriously as this lethal and sadistic badass. To add to that, the first-person POV loses its wow-factor after the first twenty minutes or so. Also, Henry doesn’t speak throughout the film. There’s an explanation for Henry not having any spoken dialogue (the baddies break into the laboratory before the scientists have a chance to configure and build Henry’s voice system), but come on now, he could’ve said something as a kid during the flashbacks.
Yes, you could say Hardcore Henry is too gimmicky, the big reveals for two twists during the finale are kind of underwhelming, and the movie eventually devolves into a repetitive “run, chase, fight, kill, repeat” formula, but it‘s a fun ride to the end. I’m a sucker for bloody violence and graphic gore, and Hardcore Henry is LOADED with bloody mayhem, as heads and other body parts explode, and as Henry literally rips off limbs, breaks limbs, and as he rips out various organs.
Hardcore Henry is an over the top action film. The story has some continuity issues and headshaking logical fallacies (i.e. Henry‘s miraculous comeback during the big final battle), but at the same time, it’s hard to not laugh at the absurdity. To give a few examples, Henry fights his way out of a crowded brothel, he escapes a man with a flamethrower on a bus, he single-handedly survives an attack from a tank in the woods, and somehow he nearly destroys a helicopter loaded with mercenaries without any help. Also, Sharlto Copley really carries the film on the acting side of things as the livewire in the cast. The hilarity for Copley’s multitasking deserves recognition, as he constantly reappears as different characters, including a stoner/hippie, an assassin type, a bum, a solider, and the madman/cocaine addict at the brothel.
Without giving away too much, there’s a slight tease for a sequel, when the credits start rolling, but I’m not so sure it’ll happen. Apparently, writer/director Ilya Naishuller has an outline and plans for a sequel, and Hardcore Henry turned a respectable profit ($10,703,064, and that’s off of a reported production budget of $2,000,000) at the box office, but the movie received an overall lukewarm reception with mixed reviews. On top of that, you’re running into a one-trick pony problem, if the sequel relies on the first-person POV gimmick too much.
The Upcoming Weekend
Dawn Of Justice continues to drop a few spots in the week to week charts. Last week, The Boss debuted at #1 in the week to week charts, knocking Batman VS Superman down to the #2 spot, and The Jungle Book recently debuted in the #1 spot, while Barbershop: The Next Cut debuted at #2, dropping Dawn Of Justice in the #4 spot.
According to Box Office Mojo.com’s predictions, The Jungle Book should easily repeat to hold on to the #1 spot in the week to week charts with no real competition from The Huntsman: Winter’s War. The critics are tearing The Huntsman: Winter’s War apart, and the movie currently holds a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. The original was decent at best, with no real need for a sequel, and Winter’s War looks like another case of Hollywood producing another unnecessary sequel to lay the first set of bricks for a bland cash cow franchise.
A Hologram For The King and Elvis & Nixon are the only two new releases I’m truly looking forward to. Tom Hanks is usually worth the price of admission, and Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey sharing screen time together is too tempting to resist.
