Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of November 18, 2019
Dora and the Lost City of Gold
Rated PG for action and some impolite humor
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
Available on Disc and Streaming
I have always went out of my way to avoid the Dora animated series when my son used to watch it, so I wasn’t exactly thrilled to see this live-action recreation. But the positive reviews and cast had my interest peaked at least. Here Dora leaves the jungle to live with relatives in the city and go to a real high school, when kidnappers steal her and her friends, taking them back to the jungle, forcing them into a perilous adventure. So I am proof that you don’t have to be a fan of the show to like the movie, and I am thankful for that. While the story is predictable, the self-effacing nature of the project, as well as a few well-crafted jokes here and there, make the movie at least entertaining enough that you don’t have to leave the room when the kids watch it. It’s certainly not the best family film of the year, but it is quite aDORAble. B-
Blinded By the Light
Rated PG-13 for thematic material and language including some ethnic slurs
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
With a similar tone to the recent Beatles spin Yesterday, Blinded by the Light follows the apparent true story of a young Pakistani student from England whose life changes forever when he discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen. While his family struggles with money and extreme racism, Springsteen, through the music, helps him cope and attempt to find a way out in order to find his own voice through his writing and actions. The film’s biggest problem is it’s over-the-top sentimentality concerning the music. To me, this became a huge obstacle in getting anything out of it. By half-way through I was already tired of how much this guys worships The Boss. I was neither entertained nor inspired. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never been a Bruce fan and therefore I wasn’t able to properly connect. But really I think it’s because the film’s infatuation with the music made the storytelling come off as completely contrived. C
Dolemite is My Name
Rated R for some sexuality, full nudity and brief language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Streaming on Netflix
Eddie Murphy is back and bigger than ever in this biopic of Rudy Ray Moore, a struggling comedian who invents an urban foul-mouthed phenomenon named Dolemite and wants to put all of his money and credibility on the line to bring his creation to the big screen in a movie that would go on to change the Blaxploitation genre forever. What could have been just a racy comedy turns out to be surprisingly moving as Murphy manages to add a complexity to Moore that you don’t see coming. And to add fuel to the fire is a tremendous cast including Wesley Snipes, Keegan-Michael Key and a star-making performance from Da’Vine Joy Randolph, whose name I will predict will be on the shortlist for best-supporting actress come years end. The result is an extremely funny adult comedy with a heart of gold that will win over anyone willing to commit the time to watch it. A