Author: Shani

The highly-anticipated Spielberg take on ‘West Side Story’ will not disappoint those who have been eagerly waiting to see this film.

While it is a remake, it does honor the original. The main stars of the film, Ansel Elgort who portrays Tony and Rachel Zegler who portrays Maria do a superb job carrying on the torch of these iconic characters. But perhaps it’s Ariana DeBose who shines the most in this film while portraying Anita. Her acting, the singing, the emotion and the drama is sure to land her some type of recognition during award season.

For those who have no seen original, this is the typical ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story line. So you already know where this story is headed while being set in the late 1950s into the 1960s, especially when a young woman of Puerto Rican descent falls in love with the forbidden boy. Many thought this would be a fresher take, set in a later year or even current times, but that’s not the case. They story still remains loyal to the original.

The cinematography in this film is beautifully crafted, it’s just beautiful to look at. The choreography and the precision is absolutely stunning. What’s not too beautiful to look at is that the violence seems to have been ramped up a bit more than the original. Granted, we know during that time that situation was probably just as bad as it was in the film if not worse. But it was a tab bit odd to see the boy dancing and prancing beautiful on their way to their ‘hate crimes’.

Now a scene to look forward to is watching the dazzling Rita Moreno who portrays Valentina, the grandmother of Tony who sings, ‘Somewhere’. the song, the scene, the characters bring a sense of deep emotion as he clutches a photos of her deceased husband who was white. Throughout the film the tries to tell Tony to be his own person and to stop hanging around the group of boys who caused him to be incarcerated, when you watch the film you’ll see how that advice turned out.

The film is similar to the original and definitely honors it, while those who have grown up with the original will say why do a remake? It is a great film to introduce this iconic story to to the next generation. It’s hard to say did they do well or not, because everyone is biased when it comes to remakes especially when it’s a classic. It is a must-see!

Rating: PG-13 (Some Strong Violence|Brief Smoking|Strong Language|Suggestive Material|Thematic Content)
Genre: Romance, Musical
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Kevin McCollum
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 10, 2021
Runtime: 2h 36m

Licorice Pizza is a surprisingly intriguing film that will suck you right in when you notice what’s going on with the characters. Talk about sexual frustration!

Paul Thomas Anderson is the genius behind this less talked about film that’s competing with other highly anticipated films being released, but in reality it’s right up there with them. His new film involves an age-gap funky type of romance and yes your might be a little creeped out by the age-gap, but it works for the film. The film stars Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, and Benny Safdie.

Alana Haim portrays Alana Kane, a photographer who becomes the love interest of Gary Valentine, a young actor and hustler. They meet while she’s doing photographs at Gary’s school and immediately have a somewhat weird but sweet connection leading them to becoming friends, starting a waterbed company together, then auditioning for films, and even end up getting involved with Joel Wachs’ mayoral campaign.

Throughout the entire film they go through a changing time politically and culturally while also having to deal with a gas crisis. Valentine and Kane’s journey leads to them interacting with figures of both Old and New Hollywood, including Jon Peters, played by Bradley Cooper and Jack Holden, played by Sean Penn.

Perhaps the one thing that stands out the most in the film is Alana and Gary’s age difference, which we never really know but we estimate to be about 8-10 years with little hints that the characters drop throughout the movie. It’s fun and frustrating at the same time to see these two characters interact because they’re sort of playing cat and mouse with each other and they can’t decide what they want. One time her wants her but then she doesn’t then vice versa, but you know that both of their hearts are in it and yes the age-gap thing is an issue but Gary has done more in his 18 years than a lot of grown men have done in their entire lives. Overall, you will definitely enjoy this film and the outcome, at the end you’ll be cheering… FINALLY!!!

Catch it in theaters on November 26th!

One of the most highly anticipated films of the year is one to watch this Holiday season!

With a roster of big names, it was impossible for this film to be a flop. Fans will be pleased to watch this film that is campy and over the top with everything from the acting, to the fashion and the story line. It’s a little mind blowing that some of these scenes actually happened some years ago. The film tells the story of the demise of the Gucci brand, the family, the love, the drama, the lies, the deceit and the murder that ultimately ended the life of Maurizio Gucci.

The film stars Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, the wife of Maurizio Gucci portrayed by Adam Driver, as their once sweet romance transitions into a fight over control of the Italian fashion brand Gucci. Also starring in the film are Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino.

If we’re being completely honest, the star of the film Lady Gaga lacked a bit of identity when it came to her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani. Sources have said she spent months perfecting her Italian accent, but throughout the film it felt like she couldn’t decide if she was Russian or Italian. Despite the accent, her portrayal of Mrs. Gucci was just as it should have been, extravagant and eye-catching and at times a tough pill to swallow, which means she did the job right! You absolutely did not see the singer side of Gaga, but you saw her acting chops being put on display while playing the role of the woman who ordered a hit on one of the founders of the infamous brand Gucci.

Now Adam Driver, who we’re used to seeing in action films such as Star Wars put on a superb performance while playing the role of Maurizio Gucci. The accent, the mannerisms all came together perfectly to show the whirlwind romance Maurizio Gucci had with Patrizia, the woman who would ultimately end his life. There were times you wanted to shake the man to get him to snap out of it and there were even times you grew to dislike the character, which again shows Driver did the job right.

Now, perhaps the real star of the film was Jared Leto, who took on the role of Paolo Gucci. Many have made fun of the part he played in this film, but boy oh boy! Leto DELIVERED! For someone who did not watch the trailer before viewing the film, it was hard to point out who Leto was actually portraying in the film. When it was discovered who Leto was, it was slightly mind blowing, amusing and absolutely pleasing! Leto was perhaps the one actor who unexpectedly stood out the most.

Jeremy Irons takes on the smaller role of Maurizio Gucci’s father, who was one of the founders of the brand but seemed to no want much involvement in the further development of the brand. Salma Hayek plays the role of Pina, a fortune teller who forms a wicked relationship with Patrizia Reggiani, sending them both down a black hole. Now Al Pacino also stars in the film and it’s safe to say we wanted more of him, as he played the role of Aldo Gucci the uncle of Maurizio Gucci who mostly ran the empire of Gucci.

Don’t overlook this film, as it will definitely be a huge contender for award season with a lineup and story line like this one.

Disney’s latest film release Encanto dives into the beautiful diverse culture of Colombia with the star of the film, Mirabel.

Mirabel is a young girl trying to find her place in the world and even in her very own family. She has spent her entire childhood trying to help and prove herself to her family. The one person she is trying to please to most is the matriarch of the family, her grandmother. The family was blessed with a miracle of magical powers that each family member gains at a certain age. Unfortunately for Mirabel, she has been the only family member to not receive a power, leaving her as an outsider in her own family.

Trouble appears when for some strange odd reason everyone’s powers start to deteriorate. Mirabel sets out on conquest to figure out why this misfortune is happening to her family.

I really wanted to love this film as much as Disney’s hits, Frozen and Moana. You simply can’t compare those films to Encanto. It’s a beautiful thing to see Disney exploring the different cultures the world has to offer by bringing them to the big screen for audiences of all ages to view. The details that were included are phenomenal such as the arepas con queso and then the Spanish rhymes many from Latin countries grew up singing. The film is filled with vivid and vibrant colors that mesmerize you along with beautifully written songs performed by Carlos Vives and Sebastian Yatra. Perhaps those should been the only songs to be featured within the film. The film had too many songs that could have been cut short and at times made it too busy for the younger audience to understand. Encanto would perhaps be more suitable for children above the age of 8, as the story line and message get a bit too deep for the kiddos to understand and you might even lose their attention along the way; as the film is one hour and thirty-nine minutes long but felt longer.

Despite it all, Encanto does provide the message of uniting family and that family is the one thing that matters in the end. You can catch this film in theaters on Novenber 24, 2021 and on Disney+ on Christmas Eve.

Rating: PG (Some Thematic Elements|Mild Peril)
Genre: Kids & family, Comedy, Musical, Animation, Fantasy
Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel
María Cecilia Botero as Abuela
John Leguizamo as Bruno Madrigal

We all know the story of Venus and Serena Williams but “King Richard” does a masterful job at balancing a strong family picture/with a well-placed hint of racial tension, of the time.

Watching a man, of limited means, simply will his daughters to be the greatest, through struggle and heartache was inspiring. My daughters are 12 and 14, and immediately took to the mirrored bond, between the Williams sisters but as a dance dad, watching his focus on education, faith, and family, as well as their athletic gifts, has this picture perfectly tee’d up to be present at award time.

Kudos to Will Smith, who simply can’t do wrong (except for WiLD, WiLD West, and a stellar performance from Aunjanue Ellis as mother, “Brandy Williams”. Will Smith put on a superb performance by embodying the strong character of Richard Williams. Aunjane Ellis was a smaller character in the film, but WOW… She definitely will be getting a nod during award season. While the film is mostly centered around a young Venus, played by Saniyya Sidney, both she and Demi Singleton who played a young Serena put on an exemplary portrayal of duo. Both girls acted and played the game of tennis with such grace that you felt like you were watching the real thing.

SPOILER FREE

Well where to begin on this one, it’s not really what you think it is.

The trailer does an awesome job at giving you the chills and making you almost not want to see it because it comes off as being that horrific. But in reality, the film is the opposite.

You’ll be surprised to learn that the villain in the film makes rare appearances. This film will give you a ‘Stranger Things’ vibe when you finally meet the villain. If anything the film is more centered around the young boy, Lucas Weaver played Jeremy T. Thomas who is the film’s protagonist and is hiding a supernatural creature in his own home. Keri Russell plays the part of Julia Meadows, who senses there is something going on behind the scenes with the young boy and being a victim of abuse herself, she feels it’s her responsibility to rescue Lucas. It will blow your mind to see this tiny boy actually supports and maintains this supernatural creature and one other being. You have to watch it to find out!

The film’s set production is done very well and gives you a sense of mystery, which somewhat makes up for the lazy writing for the character’s dialogue in the film. As for the villain and the production of it, it’s something that will give you chills, you’ll want to look away but you won’t be able to because you will be so intrigued to see the details of it; since you do not see it much during the film. The film does drag for the first 45 minutes and perhaps could be shortened, you’re left wondering what’s really going on and at times a bit confused. It could be what the producers were going for… a tease to keep you locked to find out what happens. Either way it works!

It’s not till closer to last 45 minutes of the film that it begins to reel in your attention and you begin realize what is actually going on when Graham Greene who plays the role of Warren Stokes explains this supernatural creature that is terrorizing their small town with gory mysterious deaths. Now what you will take from this film is that it is intensely serious, absolutely no humor and will leave you clenching your seat at times, no surprise there with producer Guillermo Del Toro. It’s definitely quite the opposite from the awaited ‘Halloween Kills’ film that was recently released. So if you’re going for something a little more serious this would be the film to watch. You can catch the film in theaters right before Halloween on October 29th.

Rating: R (Language|Gruesome Images|Violence)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & thriller
Director: Scott Cooper
Producer: Guillermo del Toro, David S. Goyer, J. Miles Dale
Runtime: 1h 39m

We thought the 2018 film’s ending would be the end of all nightmare of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak). Little did anyone know, not even a fire could end the curse of Michael Myers. The film will surprise you because it seems that Laurie Strode is sidelined for the majority of it, but perhaps it’s to build up her character for the next installment.

Halloween Kills is definitely a filler film, setting us up for the following film, while leaving us in limbo of what’s going to happen in the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois. The town has had enough with the chaos, grief and horror of being traumatized by the crazed murderer. There were some parts in the film that seemed unnecessary and didn’t go with the flow of the film, seemed more as a ‘filler’ scenes.

Despite the extra filler scenes, this film definitely did have more goriness to it and is perhaps the bloodiest of all the films. Get ready to squirm a bit, because Michael Myers is even more so of a relentless villain in this film; in one scene he murder commits a murder along a staircase, leaving the victim lifeless and bloodied only to return and snap their neck. A significant approach the film embraced was to cut back to dead bodies, more details went into the deaths and were actually shown on camera. So again… get ready, you may squirm a little.

Halloween fans will be pleased to see the reunion of some of the iconic characters that have built up the franchise; obviously they’re older but hey why not take a trip down memory lane. You do experience the past and the present, while learning more about the roles each of these characters played in the life of Michael Myers. It’s hard to believe this is the 12th installment to the popular Halloween thriller and it plays it’s part to continue the franchise. It is a must see if you obviously are a fan of the masked murderer and want to see the following film. It is one you want to see on the big screen with surround sound, just to add the extra spook. You might want to sleep with the light on! 🙂

The film will hit theaters on October 15, 2021.
Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images, language, and some drug use.

The beginning of the film does a fantastic job by just grabbing your attention right from the first scene. Bond is in love away on what seems to be on Holiday with a lovely lady interest. Just when things were getting sweet, his world is flipped upside down.

In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. The tranquil life doesn’t last long and his peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. He also encounters an agent who warns him to stay away, but everyone is after the same thing.

The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous adventure than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with a dangerous new technology the threatens the entire human race.

The film, which is said to be Daniel Craig’s last 007 film is a whopping two hours and forty-three minutes. Even with this long runtime, there’s not one scene that should be cut. The entire film flows together perfectly. The cast put on an outstanding performance, from the bits of romance to the action scenes and stunts. Ana de Armas did make an appearance in the film and it would have been nice to have given her a bit more time in the film, as she shined in the sequence that she was a part of.

Rami Malek, who won the Academy Award for playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, donned a different role in this film as the villain. Although we know he plays a major a role in the film, the role fell a little short of what was expected for the infamous villain threatening mankind. Rami Malek is a superb actor, so it’s hard to say if it really fell on him or the producers. At times it also felt like even though he was the villain everyone was searching the world, he was not in the film as much. Needless to say, more Rami and more villainy would have been more satisfying.

When it comes down to the entire film, it’s the end of an era for 007 role played by Daniel Craig and it will immensely satisfy 007 fans. It’s definitely a must watch, even if you haven’t been a true 007 fan who hasn’t seen the previous films. The film is set to hit theaters October 8, 2021.

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Ana de Armas, Billy Magnussen, Rory Kinnear, David Dencik, Dali Benssalah

If you’re a Sopranos fan, you’re in for a real treat.

The highly-anticipated prequel to David Chase’s award-winning HBO drama series “The Sopranos”, will be in theaters and on HBO on October 1st. If you were a fan of the series and looking for more of a backstory on how the Sopranos came to be, that’s exactly what you will get with this film. In fact, if haven’t seen the series, the film will also make you want to see what the series was about. If you already were emerged into the series, it’ll make you dive right back into the series to the good old golden days full of mob drama.

Perhaps the most recognizable performance is that of Michael Gandolfini who plays Anthony Soprano. Who better to play the late James Gandolfini than his own son? Papa would be proud, he is a spitting image of the man who made Tony Sorpano a household name during it’s six-season run.

The storyline to the film is centered around an young Anthony Soprano played by Michael Gandolfini, growing up in one of the most vicious eras in Newarks history. Young Tony was becoming a man as rival gangs were beginning to raise and challenge one another, such as the powerful DiMeo crime family who at the time had a hold over the race-torn city taking place around the 1967 Newark riots. Caught up in the mess that was Neward was his uncle Dickie Moltisanti whom he looked up to. Uncle Dickie was going through his own problems by trying to manage his professional and personal life, which were both falling apart. His long-time friend Harold plays a pivotal role in the film by realizing he doesn’t want to be part of the group anymore but in fact wants to make it in this country under his own terms.

Uncle Dickie takes on numerous battles within and out of the organization, killing seems to be a simple sport to him. It’s a battle he tries to find solace in by visiting his uncle (father’s brother) who is in prison for life for murder. At one point Anthony Soprano becomes the subject of a conversation and his Uncle tells him if he loves Anthony he needs to stay out of his life. This is a request Dickie takes to heart, but little did Uncle Dickie know his influence would help mold his nephew into one of the most powerful mob bosses we’d come to know, Tony Soprano.

“The Many Saints of Newark” was shot on location in New Jersey and New York, with several original characters from the series that inspired the film are featured in the movie. During the six seasons that the infamous show, “The Sopranos” ran, it was recognized as one of the greatest and most influential television drama series of all time. The series was awarded 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, 5 Golden Globe Awards, and 2 Peabody Awards, and many more.

The film rated R for it’s strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content and nudity. So expect the usual if you’ve seen The Sorpanos.

You can catch the film in Theaters and HBO Max on October 1st.

While it is worthy to watch, the question is will the audience flock to the theaters to view the film or wait for the release on HBO Max…

If you’re a true Clint Eastwood fan, you should definitely head to the theater to immerse yourself into the film.

Clint Eastwood produced and starred in the new film, Cry Macho, based on the novel by N. Richard Nash which is set in Mexico for the majority of the film. The 91-years-young icon portrays a man who has been lost in life for many years, not giving a damn of just about anything after the loss of his wife and son. He get presented with a deal he’s forced to do in order to pay a ‘so-called friend’ back after he paid his mortgage and didn’t leave him on the street after his tragic loss. The deal is to bring this friend’s long lost son (Eduardo Minett) back from Mexico who is enduring abuse at the hands of his mother and living on the street.

Clint Eastwood’s character, Mike does find the young boy who has had a rough life living on the street to avoid the abuse his rich mother threatens him with. Along their way back to Texas, the two encounter numerous life-threatening obstacles all because the child has basically become a pawn to both parents that each of them want to use to manipulate on another over money.

Perhaps the most shocking twist in the film is we see Mike being desired by two Latina women and as a true cowboy gentleman he turns them down. He does become smitten with one of the women but must leave her to complete his mission. It’s a bit gut-wrenching to see a man who has been alone for so long and avoiding life to turn away an opportunity to happiness.

You walk in to Cry Macho expecting the typical Clint Eastwood film and while you do get that, you also get a spin of romance which is not usual for this iconic cowboy. It’s nice to see such an unexpected plot twist. While there is some altercations throughout the film, there’s not a whole lot of action which sets the same monotone vibe for the entire film.

The film opens in theaters on September 17th and will then be available on HBO Max 31 days after being released in theaters.

Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Language)
Genre: Drama, Western, Mystery & thriller
Director: Clint Eastwood
Producer: Clint Eastwood, Albert S. Ruddy, Tim Moore, Jessica Meier
Writer: Nick Schenk, N. Richard Nash
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 17, 2021 wide
Runtime: 1h 44m