Bette Davis: Ain't for Sissies - Jessica Sherr's One Woman Reincarnation, Bumpy Going

Jessica Sherr is the writer and actor of this one woman, one act drama that is a surge of bravado although its one note powerhouse emote becomes worn out overtime.  Sherr packs a full Bette bio in sonic speed from her single mother upbringing to legendary, acad. award winning actress to an aging ingenue struggling for work during her companionless golden years.  Sherr rightly sheds light on several of her major films, fiascos, failed marriage and contentious battles with legendary directors and studio heads.  Davis' legal battle with Warner Bros to free her from an indentured contract she felt held her back was lost in court.  However, Davis' imperturbable attitude against being over directed and over managed marked her career and personal life as in the strong willed characters she played on screen & real life.  We're intimately brought into Bette's boudoir as she confides her life story, warts and all and permits us to be voyeurs on her personal phone calls.  Davis is at the apex of her movie career having received two Oscars and her radiant beauty is luminescent.  Sherr is a doppelgänger for Madonna and uses this to parody both Madonna vogueing as well as Davis posing for photogs.  The duplicity of Davis' friendship and acerbic, aside commentary were sharp and affecting.  Sherr played the performance BIG rather although all from Home.  The live screening was restricted to the bedroom but there was plenty of room to move about which would have shaken things up slightly.  Ms. Scherr's script writing was clever and performance earnest & energetic.  The show was loaded with high drama.  Betty talks ALL ABOUT EVErything: her lovers, husbands, mother, daughter, and of her beauty & career fading without any cracks showing in her carapace of strength.   Ms. Sherr assured us of Bette Davis dynamic drive like Edith Piaf - without bemoaning regrets.  I enjoyed the performance but felt bumped aside from scratching beneath Ms. Davis' tough outer hide.

Japanese Netflix Series Gir/Haji is a Compelling Crime Thriller - WATCH IT!

"Giri/Hazi" means duty/shame.  It'd be a shame to miss this Japanese crime thriller with a stellar int'l cast set in Japan & London.  Highly acclaimed British dir. Julian Farino and Australian dir. Ben Chessell have transposed a graphic novel of underworld crime families in Japan that spills over into the underworld of London and into a unique fusion of crime, drama and art house genre that makes it a Netflix series which is lethally addicting.  It helps that the int'l cast of actors from Japan and the UK are all exceptional but for the sole Amer. actor Justin Long who doesn't belong in anything but a romp/comp comedy and is sorely miscast.  However, the debut performance by Aol Okuyama as Taki, the daughter of Detective Kenzo Mori is a marvel.  Rodney (Japanese/British actor Will Sharpe) brings flamboyant zing as a precocious gay prostitute. This is not your Marvel/action thriller (not that the series isn't awash in bloodbaths) but a surprisingly enterprising drama that gets under your skin.  Kenzo and Yuto are brothers who grow-up with a strong bond but find themselves on opposite sides of the law.  Kenzo is a formidable police detective while younger brother Yuto (Yosake Kubozuka) finds himself at loose ends until he ends up becoming a gangster for one of the 2 largest crime families in Japan.  Oh man - the lines of righteousness are not black/white, and the artistry of the production is a combination of animation & clever cinematography.  Kenzo is sent to London by Tokyo's Chief Detective to retrieve his brother.  Yuto was believed dead but mysteriously is resurrected in London now working as a gangster for London's looming crime gang.  The plot crosses over into mayhem & confusion.  Yuto is wanted back in Japan to settle the score between the 2 leading crime family which would mean Kenzo bringing his baby bro back as a sacrificial slaughter which is what the Japanese Chief Sargent has basically ordered.  Yuto is assigned to be the driver for the kingpin's beautiful daughter.  No surprise  they fell in love which not surprisingly doesn't get the  her father, the crime boss' blessing.  Don't get lost in the revenge, clandestine underground.  Do get swept up into the multiple duplicitous criminal storylines that converge in London with Kenzo & London's police force.  Kenzo is caught up with one of London's detectives, Sarah (the superb Scottish actress Kelly McDonald).  She's a sleuth detective for the London bureau but has fallen out of favor with her colleagues.  Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned so watch out when Sarah's partner on & off the force does a double cross.  Sarah, Kenzo & Yuto converge and the mystery of what & who will emerge becomes even more engrossing and dare I say, profound.  Questions of fidelity & loyalty bonds are bantered and tested.  It's my duty to recommend this Giri gem and a real Haji shame should you miss your shot.

Ken Loach's Film SORRY WE MISSED YOU - You'll be Sorry if You Miss This

Dir. Ken Loach (b UK 1936) adds another insightful film to his illustrious career of making visceral and emotionally arduous films.  "Sorry We Missed You" takes up Loach's social commentaries on the struggles & oppressiveness the hard working, lower class have to contend with on an ongoing basis.  Loach is one of a handful of directors who've received the Palm d'Or Award twice.  "Sorry We Missed You" is sure to bring further laurels for Loach's unflinching look at the realities & hardships face by the vast majority of people.  The Turners are a married couple, striving to make ends meet while holding them marriage and family intact.  Ricky (Kris Hitchen) is the father working exhausting, long hours delivering packages on a rigid timeline.  Ricky's wife Abby (Debbie Honeywood in an astounding debut performance) works as a home aid to the elderly & bedridden dependent on others for their basic care.  The couple's son, Sen, is in high school; about to be expelled for truancy & violent behavior.  The younger iridescent, pre-adolescent daughter is on the precipice of despair wanting her family to stay together amidst tumultuous event exacting their toll on everyone's sanity and well-being.  Ricky is determined to save for a down payment on a mortgage for their own home.  He's willing to toil long hours and submit to mental cruelty from his overbearing boss (a not always believable Ross Brewster).  Ricky is misguided into believing to be his own boss.  Ricky can never get out from under debt and falls further into debt while his son falls into trouble with the law.  One of the best scenes in the film (and there are many) is at the police station when an officer is speaking to Seb while his father is present telling Seb he's being given a 2nd chance by not being charged for shoplifting although another incident will land him in serious trouble.  The officer tells him he should be grateful to have what many people don't have, a family who cares for him which means everything.  Another scorching scene is Ricky groveling to gain a few days off from work without financial repercussions.  The pressures and problems become too overbearing and the family unit is frayed.  Abby's patience & kindly manner have their breaking point.  Ricky's troubles with work & truant son push him over the edge.  This is a family drama that along with its tender moments shoulders burdens and grief that feel insurmountable.  The painstaking vie for providing for one's family and maintaining dignity are handled with care & credibility.  This is honest, impactful filmmaking at its finest with the understanding of prevalent social issues seemingly never ending.

THE WAY BACK with Ben Affleck is Awful - Stay Away

Ben Affleck's "comeback" flick may have set his muddling career further back with this cliched mess of a down & out drunkard coaching a losing sad sack basketball to a winning season.  There's no reason to recommend this film although there are plenty of shots to be made at how inane and unappealing this film shaped-up.  Jack (a phoned in performance by Affleck) is a constructor worker who heads to the bar after work.  He drinks until he can no longer stand & gets a helping hand from an old friend of his dad's.  Once home, his drinking binge continues ad nauseam.  He's known by the locals at the local grungy pub and liquor store.  Jack in one shop, stocks up on enough alcohol to keep a frat house in booze for a semester.  Jack's heading to Thanksgiving dinner with his sis & her family in their affluent digs where sis gets in a few digs about his drinking. His temper flares when sis mentions hearing from Angie, his estranged wife, asking how he's doing.  Did she leave Jack because of his drinking?  Or, did her leaving exacerbate his alcoholism?  Do we care? NO!  It's all a bore.  Jack receives a call from the priest of his former high school asking him to coach the school's basketball team.  Jack, in his glory days, was a whiz on the court but sometime after h.s. he fizzled out.  Not surprisingly he takes the thankless job of turning the bad news bears team (which all look like they're in their late 20s) into a team with grit and miraculously gets them to the playoffs.  The emotional payoff is hallow pathos.  We learn he & his wife lost their young son to cancer.  Jack (inappropriately) shares with a kid on the team he had an unloving father.   Jack grieves for his son and the mess he made of his marriage.  There are other pithy plot lines that scream time out!  Jack's growing fondness for coaching the man-boys turns into a symbiotic relationship.  He cleans up his act (not his foul mouth) until another heavy handed melodramatic tragedy strikes.  "The Way Back" is way of the mark as a winning sports drama.  Directed by Gavin O'Connor ("Miracle") couldn't bring any zeal or anything real into this wearisome mess.  The assistant coach, comedian Al Madrigal, elevates the film when on the floor.  Every scene contains a listless Affleck who should've been sidelined.  Don't waste time on this dud.  You'll never get it back.

THE OLD GUARD New Spins on Super Heroes Starring Charlize Theron and Int'l Cast

THE OLD GUARD is in the superhero, action genre but it generates a lot more interests than merely resting on shoot em up, take em down fight scenes (which are choreographed brilliantly).  Dir Gina Prince-Bythewood (b Amer. 1969) assembles an international cast of stellar actors.  The main heroine Andy (the beautiful and talented Charlize) is literally an old soul who stitches together a team of immortal warriors who survive anything.  Prince-Bythewood ("Love & Basketball) revives a graphic novel into a super hero movie that turns into something with a little more staying power with the power to please those who may say no thanks to the genre in general.  The contemporary setting travels back in time and to numerous countries including Afghanistan, Morocco and France with a fearsome foursome of fighters.  The heroes are portrayed by actors from S. Africa, Italy, Netherland, Italy, Norway, UK and the good ole USA.  The unflappable four have evolved overtime; losing a few when it's their time.  They become a quintet with a new un-recruited Afghanistan vet Nile (a kick-ass Kiki Layne from the under appreciated "If Beale Street Could Talk").  Nile survives what should have been a fatal slash to throat without a trace or a nick.  Her army buddies know somethings eerily amiss and keep Nile at bay.  In swoops Andy (hooray!) and takes Nile away amidst an army of vets with no sweat.  Nile has lots of questions which is understandable but the reasons are unfathomable.  So, just move on, carry on and do the right thing.  Andy questions whether their group has done anything to help make the world better when it seems that things keep getting worse.  Still, they must try.  Andy makes an error in judgement falling in with a deceptive bad guy, James (Chiwetel Ejiofor).  James lures them into a snare for the sinister pharmaceutical maverick of Merrick, Steve (Harry Melling).  Steve wants the superheroes to study their DNA and so on in order to create the eternal fountain of youth. (I'll bet there are plenty willing to pay a pretty penny.)   Two fall into the evil lair.  Nic & Joe are held hostage.  They are a loving homosexual couple. This is an added element to the bad ass pastiche that adds panache.  There's also the profundity to ponder what it means to live forever.  There's more than meets the eye than mere eye candy and a biff, bam, boom, stomp romp caper.  I enjoyed THE OLD GUARD once I let down my erudite guard and found more than I bargained for.  So as not worry, THE OLD GUARD is set for a sequel that I look forward to with zealous anticipation.

Palm Springs-Groundhog Redeux brings Something New and Humorous too

"Palm Springs" is a refreshing new take on the classic comedy "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray & Andie McDowell.  "Palm Springs" is one of those time warp phenomena things most people talk about.  Adam Samberg (SNL, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine) is Nyles, a 30 something, likable schlub most people love til his frat boy behaviors grow irksome.  Nyles is laid back, floating on a pizza raft, guzzling beers in the morning; every morning.  Nyles is the guest of a bridesmaid at a wedding in Palm Springs.  Here's the thing, every morning he wakes up in the same bed in the room with his narcissistic girlfriend the day of the wedding.  It doesn't take long to catch on to the recurring   routine which takes a trajectory at the wedding when he meets Sarah, the bride's sister (Cristin Milioti, "How I Met Your Mother").   Sarah is the reclusive, reluctant toast giver rescued by Nyles' hilarious toast and bizarre antics.  The two take their highballs and hightail the wedding and their chemistry ignites.  Until, Nyles is shot in the back by an arrow by a marauding ninja out to do him in.  Sarah is shocked & perplexed and pursues the action.  She see Nyles crawling into a cave.  Despite Nyles dire warning not to enter she follows in and then falls into one of those time warp zones everyone is talking about.  Sarah wakes up and begins the dreaded morning of the morning of the wedding all over again.  Deja vu, the jokes (which are aplenty) are on you.  Let's do the time warp again!  Only this time round the Bill Murray & And McDowell leads are both in on the perpetual purgatory that proves not fatal no matter how hard they try to die.  Samberg does an outstanding job ingratiating us with his unflappable humor and Milioti makes the most with her doe eyes and unflinching determination to resolve this hellish situation.  Dir. Max Barbakow does an excellent job in his directorial debut taking on a derivative of "Groundhog Day" by blending highbrow humor and earnest emotional tenderness.  J K Simmons (Roy) is the warrior out to destroy Nyles adding his unique talents as does the rest of the cast to blast this rom/com out of the stratosphere.  If you loved "Groundhog Day" {who doesn't?} you're going to love "Palm Springs;" an homage to a classic with nuanced cleverness & heart it brings!

UK/Nigerian Film "The Last Tree" by Shola Amoo Pass; Don't See

The joyful first 20 minutes of "The Last Tree" sets the foundation for a coming of age story of a pubescent  black boy, Femi (Sam Adewunmi).  He's seen happily playing with friends and living with his white foster mom.  The boys play soccer, frolick in the mud and king of the hill; roaring with the exuberance of their youth & friendships.  The colorful cinematography and "color blind" relationships come to a screeching halt when Femi's mother comes to bring her son back to live with her.  Despite being promised by his foster mom she wouldn't let him go & her crocodile tears, Femi's fears are realized.  His mother, Yinka (Gbemisula Ikumelo) comes to bring him back to live with her. The transition from a lovely one family home in a bucolic neighborhood to a run down tenement with piss in the elevator is difficult for both mother & son.  Yinka makes it immediately known what's expected of him (chores & staying indoors) or he's be beaten by the broom handle he uses to sweep with daily.  Faster than the leap from a cute baby lion cub to a full-grown Simba, Femi (who looks 25) morphs into a surly teen.  Dir/screenwriter Shola Amoo received 2 British Indept. Film Awards for this film; his 2nd directorial debut.  Nevertheless, everything going forward is a repeat of tropes of adolescents growing up amidst gangs, limited opportunity and a listlessness with rancor towards his hardworking, mostly absent mother.   Femi is reunited with his former foster mom now caring for another young black child.  This makes for a tender bonding between the Femi and & the young boy and a forced emotional reckoning with his step-mom for her broken promise "that really messed me up."  Thankfully, there's a high school teacher, for whatever reason, is willing to take Femi under his wing despite Femi's apathy & physical assaults.  Towards the end, we're somehow transported to Yinka's hometown in Nigeria.  There Yinka subjects herself in order to introduces her son to his birth father, some sort of gang lord and to his half-siblings.  Femi has an epiphany.  He sees his mother in a new light and finds enlightenment from her devotion & self sacrifices.  Ho hum, the plot, the casting and emotional angst are all lost in "The Last Tree". I don't recommend you see.

John Lewis: GOOD TROUBLE Doc. of an American Hero Fighting 5 Decades of Racial Injustice

US Rep. John Lewis (b 1940) is a courageous, inspiring American hero leading the good fight for social justice, racial equality with dignity and compassion.  Dawn Porter's doc. "John Lewis:  GOOD TROUBLE" is a compelling historic account of the brutality & inhumanity of racism that has perseverated our nation from its conception.  Porter's archival footage of a Rep. Lewis as a young man engaged in peaceful protest alongside Dr. MLK is a horrifying record of the brutality inflicted on people of color by white police officers.  March 7, 1965, known as Bloody Sunday, was captured by network news.  It remains a shocking and painful testament of legalized brutalities brandished against peaceful protestors during the civil rights era; standing up for their rights as citizens and the right to vote.  The footage was seen live on network television bringing the horrors into everyone's home just as Mr. Floyd's murder (along with so many others) was so gruesomely depicted in its entirety.  Porter ("Spies of MI" '14) does a remarkable job covering the ongoing civil rights movements and Cong. John Lewis' heroic life of dedicated service to our country.  Mr. Lewis' message is delivered in a stentorian voice, "See something not right, not fair, not just.  Say something.  Do something.  Get in trouble - Good trouble.  Necessary trouble."  Other notable social activists included in this trenchant and inspiring doc. include:  US Rep. Elijah Cummings (1951-2019), Sen. Julian Bond (1940-2015), Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sec. of State Hilary Clinton, Sen. Cory Booker, Prof. Henry Gates, Jr. and Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to name several attesting to Cong. Lewis' achievements.  Rep. Lewis, alongside MLK laid the footprint for peaceful protest fighting for social justice with dignity and unflappability.  Rep. Lewis reminds us we must not despair during these turbulent times.  Now is the time to realign the scales of justice and take up the call for humanity.  Rep. Lewis spoke of our progress towards racial equality and is disheartened where we are today.  Our great American hero and civil rights activist has wrought so many positive legislations said "We're not going backwards.  We're going forwards."  Thank you Rep. Lewis for being a beacon of hope and mentor for humanity.  Beloved Congressman Lewis, we're honored to have your leadership and illuminating example.