Movie Review Prometheus

Prometheus

Directed by Ridley Scott

Written by Joe Spaihts, Damon Lindelof

Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Charlize Theron

Released June 1st, 2012

I really liked Prometheus when I watched it in theaters for the first time. I was bowled over by the technical virtuosity of Prometheus and the wonderful performances of stars Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender. Unfortunately, upon revisiting Prometheus I discovered the emptiness of Prometheus. The hedging of bets over the existence of God versus the proof of science is the realm of the coward.

On first blush, Prometheus seems like a bold exercise in questioning where we came from and who we are as a people. The film offers a pair of scientists as the lead performers in Noomi Rapace as Shaw and Logan Marshall Green as Holloway. Rapace's scientist is also a woman of faith whose ever-present cross is also a reminder of her father and a longing to see him and her mother again someday. Green's Holloway is more pragmatic. Following the discovery of alien drawings in different caves around the globe has led him to believe that human beings were engineered by aliens and he aims to find them and ask them why, thus solving the great question of why we're here.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Bloody Oranges

Bloody Oranges

Directed by Jean-Christophe Meurisse

Written by Jean-Christophe Meurisse 

Starring Olivier Saladin, Lorella Cravotta, Alexandre Steiger 

Released July 8th, 2021

Bloody Oranges promises a subversive good time and mostly delivers. This French black comedy is at times bleak, other times surreal, and always strangely intriguing. Directed by Jean Christophe Meurisse, Bloody Oranges has shock value that is matched by an oddball group of characters whose stories you can't help but get caught up in. Some of these people are despicable villains and some are naïve innocents caught up in a system that doesn’t care about basic human decency. 

The story begins at a Dance Contest. A group of judges are debating who should win the grand prize. Eventually, the group settles on a lovely elderly couple named Laurence (Lorella Cravotta) and Olivier (Olivier Saladin). The couple is delighted to win and excited to have a chance at real prize money at the next regional contest. The couple desperately wants the prize money as their bank is about to foreclose on their home.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Men

Men 

Directed by Alex Garland 

Written by Alex Garland 

Starring Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear 

Released June 1st, 2022

Alex Garland is a remarkable director. From the flawlessly composed shots to the immaculate production design, to the unsettling storytelling, Garland has a most unique sensibility. For his latest effort, Men, starring Jessie Buckley, Garland’s craftsmanship is as exceptional as his story is layered and disturbing. Examining misogyny, both external and internalized, as only he sees it, Garland has delivered a film that is more than the equal of his first two extraordinary films. 

Harper (Jessie Buckley) just wants a little peace and quiet. She’s rented a large cottage in the English countryside for a quiet place to recover from the end of her marriage. Bluntly speaking, Harper’s husband, James, played by Paapa Essiedu, took his own life after Harper told him she was divorcing him. James pulled no punches in telling Harper that he was going to kill himself if she divorced him, and then he did it.

Find my full length review at Horror.com, linked here.

Classic Movie Review La Stada

La Strada

Directed by Federico Fellini

Written by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano

Starring Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Baseheart

Release Date September 6th, 1954

On June 13th, 2022, Martin Scorsese and The Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room hosted a free online screening of Federico Fellini’s remarkable 1954 romantic tragedy, La Strada. It’s the second free online restoration screening for Scorsese and The Film Foundation and they are going to be doing this once a month for anyone who loves classic films fully restored to their glory by The Film Foundation. And thanks to The Film Foundation, La Strada is another Fellini movie off of my bucket list of classics. 

La Strada begins on a tragedy and ends on a tragedy. In the beginning of the story we find our protagonist, Gelsomina (Giulieta Masina), idly gathering sticks on the beach. Gelsomina is called home for some terrible news. Gelsomina’s sister has died in some far off town. The man who had left with her sister so many years ago, Zampano (Anthony Quinn), a sideshow performer, is now back at her family home requesting the company of Gelsomina to take her sister’s place. He’s given Gelsomina’s mother 10,000 lire for her.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Cha Cha Real Smooth

Cha Cha Real Smooth 

Directed by Cooper Raiff

Written by Cooper Raiff

Starring Cooper Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann

Release Date June 17th, 2022 

Cha Cha Real Smooth is a sweet, smart and insightful comedy about what makes us, us. It’s a film about learning about yourself, knowing yourself, and understanding yourself and others. That’s a rather broad idea but under the clever and caring direction of Cooper Raiff it never feels broad, it feels specific to the terrific characters that he and his remarkable cast have created. It’s a lived in and warm and curious story with a wealth of empathy and a dollop of heartache. 

Cooper Raiff wrote, directs and stars in Cha Cha Real Smooth as Andrew, an underachieving recent college graduate. Andrew has hopes and dreams and a romantic soul. He also has no idea who he is or what he really wants to do with his life. What he knows innately however, is how to make other people feel special. As seen throughout a scene set at a bat mitzvah, when Andrew sets his mind to it, he has an instinct for making other people feel included and special.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story

Directed by Yasujirō Ozu

Written by Kogo Nada, Yasujirō Ozu 

Starring Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Kyoko Kagawa

Released November 3rd, 1953

It’s a very simple, basic notion of transition in film. And yet, it’s still quite brilliant when you think about it. I’m talking about one edit in the 1953 movie, Tokyo Story by director Yasujiro Ozu. The edit comes at approximately 6 minutes and 40 seconds into the film. In the scene prior to the edit, an elderly Japanese couple is packing bags that they will take with them when they travel to see their grown children in the big city. The scene is gentle and pleasant, beautifully underscored by Takanobu Saito’s elegant score. 

There is not a lot of exposition dialogue, just enough to tell us that the couple is traveling via train to see their kids. Visually however, Ozu tells us more than you might realize. The elderly couple is dressed traditionally, their home is spare and rustic. There is a serene atmosphere surrounding the home. The doddering couple are sweet together, you can sense their bond and, through how they interact with each other, you get a sense of people who have spent long lives together.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Jurassic World Dominion

Jurassic World Dominion

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Written by Colin Trevorrow, Emily Carmichael 

Starring Chris Pratt, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Bryce Dallas Howard

Release Date June 10th, 2022

Jurassic World Dominion boils down to a series of chase scenes that happen to have CG dinosaurs in them. As a film critic I face a challenge in attempting to give you anymore information that you need about this movie. There is simply nothing else here aside from chase scenes and that awful kind of modern nostalgia. You know the kind I am talking about? That kind of nostalgia where it feels like the movie is constantly nudging you in the ribs and asking you if you remember that thing you liked from that other movie? There it is, there is that thing you liked. 

As I have to meet a particular number of words in order to publish this review, let’s talk plot. There isn’t one. Okay, fine there is kind of a plot. But I am being very generous. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are living in the woods with Maisey, the genetically engineered child of that rich guy from that other Jurassic movie or whatever. They are trying to keep her from being kidnapped and they fail miserably because she gets kidnapped. They go to save her and blah blah blah. (Editor, does Blah Blah Blah add to my word count?)

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.