Popcorn Perspectives – Week of October 9, 2017

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of October 9, 2017

Blade Runner 2049
Rated R for violence, some sexuality, nudity and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
In Theaters
I’ll be honest – I’ve never been a big fan of the 1982 original ski-fi thriller starring Harrison Ford as a cop whose job it is to hunt down Replicants: synthetic humans who have been made illegal due to instability. The events of that film took place in the year 2019 and now, thirty years later, we get the sequel starring Ryan Gosling as a modern-day Blade Runner looking for Replicants to “retire.” But unlike the original, this new project has a budget to match its ambition and the end result is a similarly complicated, yet vastly easier to understand thriller full of wondrous vision and mind-boggling special effects. While I still felt the need to watch the first one before-hand (and I still am not jumping on that bandwagon), I found this new project to be vastly superior in story, acting, score and overall production. And while it clocks in at almost three hours, I found the pacing sufficient for its run time and very much worth holding my bladder for the credits. A-

Baby Driver
Rated R for violence and language throughout
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
On DVD and Blu-ray
Writer/director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) gives us a Tarantino-esque thriller about a hot shot driver who is working off a debt with crime boss Kevin Spacey by serving as the best getaway driver in the world of bank robbing. What makes Baby Driver special (and still for me the best film of 2017) is the amount of surprise to be found. Each and every move and turn goes against formula and offers up a shock. And to make it even sexier, the cast is terrific both with its knowns and unknowns. Aside from the relatively little-known Ansel Elgort and Lily James, superstars Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm turn in two of the best supporting performances of this year. And although it is extremely violent and more than a little tense, the whole thing turns out to be an absolute joy to watch. A+

The Beguiled
Rated R for some sexuality
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%
On DVD and Blu-ray
Sofia Coppola unexpectedly won the best director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this remake of the original 1971 which featured Clint Eastwood. Colin Firth stars in the Eastwood role as an injured Union soldier in the Civil War who is taken in by a house full of lonely Southern women, determined to turn him in after he has healed. One by one, he charms Nicole Kidman, Kerstin Dunst, Elle Fanning and even the younger girls until the sexual tension builds into an event that ruins the hospitality. Although not a long film, it feels long as the slow burn never properly builds adequately to hold your attention. It certainly has an interesting turn of events, and the unexpected macabre nature seems to come out of nowhere, but aside from a jolt or two, there’s not much there to take the film from being more than just okay. Perhaps I expected too much due to Coppola’s big win, but I just didn’t think the film was worth the accolades it has won and will be a disappointment to many who are expecting something different and, frankly, much better. C+

Dreamgirls: Director’s Extended Edition
Rated PG-13 for language, some sexuality and drug content
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%
If you missed this amazing 2006 musical starring Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson (who pulled off an Oscar win for best supporting actress), and even if you didn’t, check out this latest director’s cut for a relevant and impactful celebration of R&B music. Ten years later, this film hasn’t lost a beat. A-