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Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of October 7, 2024

The Apprentice

Rated R for sexual assault, language, drug use, sexual content, and some graphic nudity

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

In Theaters

Perhaps the most controversial film of the year is this biopic that explores the early years of Donald Trump and how his real estate career started.  Trump, played here by Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) begins as a slum lord, but he aspires to build grand hotels in the hopes of becoming rich.  But he is in a lot of hot water due to not renting his current properties to African Americans.  For “The Apprentice” part, in comes attorney Roy Cohn, played here by Jeremy Strong (Succession), who takes young Trump under his wings to teach him how to be successful, even if he must cheat to do so.  Especially if he must cheat to do so.  While the narrative focuses mainly on Trump’s exploits (which are mostly very-well documented), it tries to make it all relevant to this key relationship in Trump’s life.  The movie starts out showing a young and impressionable man without a moral compass who needs a mentor, only to find his path through another man who has succeeded without a moral compass, thusly creating an even worse monster.  For most who watch this film, the revelations will come as no surprise, as almost nothing he does on screen is worse than what he has publicly said or done in the last decade.  The most unsettling scene shows Trump violently raping his then wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova), which came from a story in her autobiography, only to be dismissed as a misunderstanding by her later. It needs to be said that this film, while heavily researched with an intention of laying out what could have happened, is still a work of fiction.  But with the factual events serving as its base, it is a fascinating look behind the curtain of how Trump could have become Trump.  It is also a great showcase for its main cast as Stan, Strong and Bakalova all turn in strong and thoughtful performances that aren’t merely impersonations, but rather realistic personifications of these infamous individuals.  The film will obviously be very polarizing, as it does not paint the former president in a positive light.  But as a very large percentage of Americans, and the world, already dismiss the man as a vile and horrific human being, this project’s true goal, and success, is to serve as more of a villain origin story.  A-

Joker: Folie a Deux

Rated R for language throughout, brief full nudity, some sexuality and some strong violence

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 33%

In Theaters

Taking place after the events of Todd Phillips’s 2019 Joker film, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is in prison for the multiple murders he committed.  While there, he chums up with a new lady friend named Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) in a choir class meant to rehabilitate prisoners through music.  As their relationship intensifies, Flick is going through his murder trial, which turns into more of a circus than a hearing.  And all of this is done with musical numbers interlaced throughout.  Since this review is coming out the week after opening, it is likely that most of you have heard that it this film is quite the stinker.  It was a bad sign that that they screened it for the majority of press on the day before it opened, hoping that most of us would miss our publication deadlines.  But honestly, after seeing it, I’m surprised they screened it at all.  Phoenix, who won the Oscar for Joker, is much like his former character, so I can’t complain much about the acting.  What I can complain about is the misuse of the actors.  There are some powerhouse players here, with Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brandon Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Steve Coogan, all of whom make the most of the script – but the script is torture.  This is a two-and-a-half-hour-long court drama that doesn’t care that the audience will most likely hate it.  It almost dares the audience to watch it.  I’m not sure if Phillips was purposefully trying to give Warner Brothers a bomb or if this was just a misfire.  But it feels like the disaster is intentional.  I also hated the first film due to how dangerous I thought it could be if watched by the wrong audience, due to its destructive and violent nature.  I hated this one for very different reasons.  The film is boring, and the musical numbers are atrocious.  It’s like they tried to emulate Chicago but just couldn’t find a way to make it work.  Like maybe it was a great idea when they were all drunk or high, but sobriety should have corrected the miscalculation.  Any way you look at it, the film is a dumpster fire and will be the butt of many jokes for years to come.  And with it hot on the heels of another major awful theatrical entry, Megalopolis, it should be a fun race to watch for the Golden Raspberry Awards, celebrating the worst of the year’s cinema.  F

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of September 30, 2024

Monster Summer 

Rated PG-13 for some violence and terror

In Theaters

Just in time for Halloween comes this creepy teen thriller about a teenage budding reporter (Mason Thames of The Black Phone) in a small New England town who tries to investigate the weird behavior of some of the kids in the area after they experience an exposure to a supernatural force.  When he becomes friends with a retired cop (Mel Gibson), the two team up to try to uncover what is happening in their town.  When I was a kid, there were tons of these kinds of original younger-skewing scary movies, like Something Wicked This Way Comes and Escape to Witch Mountain.  Watching them now won’t exactly make the hair stand up on your arms, but when you’re a kid, you are scared to death.  Recently we’ve had some decent fare like Goosebumps, and some not some decent examples, such as last year’s Haunted Mansion.  I have to admire when someone takes an original story like this and goes for it.  The story might be geared for kids, but it at least it delivers some light scares from some decent actors and fresh young talent.  And while it might be a B movie, it doesn’t feel like it at all.  Gibson’s presence definitely gives the film some credibility (and watchability) and he doesn’t simply phone in his role here as you would expect.  Even Kevin James and Lorraine Bracco try to breathe life into parts that could have been played by anyone.  In the end, you get a decent enough family-friendly horror film with zero bad language and nothing that should give the kids lasting nightmares. It’s nothing special, but not horrible either.  B- 

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of September 23, 2024

The Wild Robot

Rated PG for thematic elements and action/peril

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

In Theaters

From writer/director Chris Sanders and executive producer Dean DeBlois (the team behind Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon), comes this unique and creative story about a robot that finds itself stuck in a remote forest island after its shipping container crashes ashore.  Using her processing ability to learn to communicate with the local animals, she still finds herself to be more of a threat than a friend.  But when she discovers a lone goose egg, the gosling imprints on her as her mother, giving her a new objective to teach the baby to eat, swim and fly in time for his species’ annual migration.  There is so much to love about this film, but first and foremost is the amazing story, full of surprises and wonderment.  The tale is a surreal journey full of love, tears, and laughter, much of it being on the darker side, which should have most audiences rolling.  And while the story is sweet – it’s not too sweet.  It manages to show its heart while not shying away from the destructive properties of both nature and mankind.  The animation itself is like moving art and a far cry from modern animated fare.  It reminded me of a much more advanced version of 2008’s Bolt, which gave us an animated aesthetic rarely seen in today’s features.  However they created this look, it was a real joy to take in.  There’s honestly so much to love about this film and I hope it finds a way to connect to audiences. A

Rebel Ridge

Rated TV-MA

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Streaming on Netflix

A young man (Aaron Pierre) is traveling through small-town America when a pair of local cops step on his rights and steal his money, which was meant to bail out his cousin who was arrested for a minor marijuana possession charge.  All he wants is his money back so he can bail out his cousin, but the corrupt police chief (played by Don Johnson) won’t budge and threatens his life if he proceeds to try to get his way.  Little do they know that the young man is a military hand-to-hand combat specialist with the skills to win against the corrupt officers.  This film has crappy little B movie written all over it, as the elements are all there to deliver a predictable and uninteresting action flick.  But you quickly get the sense that that is not the case, mostly due to the fantastic performance by Pierre, which turns out to be unexpectedly refreshing.  The script is also surprisingly intelligent as it goes deep into the police department’s scam, leaving few plot holes as to its basis in reality.  The film comes off feeling authentic, like it is exposing a system rather than exploiting an audience’s opinions on systemic racism amongst law enforcement.  I went in thinking I would be bored and walked away impressed.  B+

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of September 9, 2024

Speak No Evil

Rated R for some strong violence, language, some sexual content and brief drug use

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86% at time of writing

In Theaters

This remake of the Danish film by the same name finds two young families becoming friendly while they are vacationing in Tuscany and promising to meet up again sometime in the near future.  Getting an invite at just the right time, the American family living in London decides to visit the other family’s rural country home.  Once there, things appear odd and explanations for the oddity don’t make a lot of sense, but the American couple try not to be rude house guests and keep their unhappiness with the “vacation” as hidden as possible.  But as the awkwardness becomes unsustainable, the visitors begin to learn that they are not welcome to leave.  Personally, I wasn’t even aware of the original until I heard a couple talking about it in the theater before the film.  Apparently, it has quite the following and is considered by many to be a modern horror masterpiece.  I’m actually kind of glad I didn’t see that one (yet) because I walked out of the theater very happy and many in the theater were very much the opposite.  As a person who makes vacation friends, the plot immediately captured my imagination and I found the story to be extremely relatable.  While the I found the American wife (Mackenzie Davis) to be a little annoying, I went along with it assuming that was the point, which it was.  I felt horrible for the husband (Scoot McNairy), feeling empathy for how weak he was and how helpless he felt as a husband and a houseguest.  What stirs things up is how good James McAvoy is as the host.  You immediately get a scary sense of chaos out of him, and you know from the start that something bad is destined to happen.  His wife (Aisling Franciosi) also makes for a terrific villain as she is so convincingly calm and friendly on the outside, that you can hardly tell that a demon lies within.  This dynamic plays out so nicely and you can’t help but get goosebumps as the film moves into the dangerous third act.  I do wish that the film hadn’t laid out so much information in the trailer, as there were some key sequences I was already aware of, and I had too good of an idea about the plot before seeing it unfold.  But there were still surprises to be had and I consider this to be one of the scarier movies I’ve seen in the last decade.  A-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of September 2, 2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Rated PG-13 for macabre and bloody images, brief drug use, some suggestive material, strong language and violent content

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%

In Theaters

It has been over 35 years since the original Beetlejuice introduced himself to us, although that movie was so iconic that it has never really left us, and even recently resurged with an impressive Broadway musical version.  So now young Lydia (Wynona Rider) is a mother with a dead husband and a daughter of her own (Jenna Ortega) who is not overly fond of her or her new fiancé (Justin Theroux).  When a dismembered body in the afterlife comes back together in the form of a stapled-up beauty (Monica Belluci) and starts killing ghosts, her former husband Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) desperately begins to try to reach back out to Lydia to attempt to force her to help him figure out a way to stop his wife from seeking her revenge against him.  As you can tell from this loose plot description, there is a lot going on here and not much of it is fully realized.  What works is the nostalgia for the first film and how good Michael Keaton is as the chaotic demon.  Also interesting is Catherine O’Hara as the dimwit mother in law and her antics.  Unfortunately, a lot of the film feels like half-way thought out antics that just never come to life.  And much of the payoff you are just waiting for simply doesn’t happen.  The daughter’s boyfriend fizzles.  Beetlejuice’s wife fizzles.  By the end, much of the subplots just disappear into thin air.  The characters are fun, as are the actors playing them, but I wish they put as much effort into storytelling here as they did production.  That being said, the production is solidly creative, both on Earth and in the Afterlife.  I also loved Danny Elfman’s score, especially since he hasn’t been very active as of late.  But honestly, Tim Burton seems to be a little off here.  Like he’s basically saying “you want another Beetlejuice?  I’ll give you another Beetlejuice,” as he opens his notebook and throws out a bunch of ideas with no bearing.  I have to admit, I wasn’t a huge fan of the original as I thought it was too short and didn’t have enough meat on the bone.  So I guess I got a little more of the same here.  C+

Popcorn Perspectives by Danny Minton

Week of August 19, 2024

Blink Twice

Rated R for sexual assault, language throughout, drug use, some sexual references and strong violent content

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

In Theaters

Making her directorial debut is Zoe Kravitz with this twisted thriller about a poor waitress (Naomi Ackie) who decides to follow a reclusive billionaire (Channing Tatum) to his private island home, where no cell phones are allowed and an eclectic group of men and women are along for the ride.  Upon arriving, it seems like pure paradise with a beautiful locale, great food and wine, and even some seemingly harmless recreational drugs.  But then clues start to surface that all is not right with the situation.  I wasn’t quite sure what to think about this one from the trailer.  It definitely looks like it might have a violent spin and that things might be a little messed up.  But I would have never guessed the reality of the story, which makes it very interesting and uncomfortable.  I would say fun, but it is so disturbing that that would be a poor description of the events of this film.  From the very beginning, the movie feels like a Jordan Peele adventure, where the movie isn’t actually about what the story is about.  And there are many clues that this is the case.  I can imagine a number of different explanations for the symbolism, and I really hope this is the best explanation.  The cast here is solid, especially amongst the men, with Channing Tatum, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Kyle McLachlan and Haley Joel Osment.  The females are less well known, but Ackie is really good as the heroine on the hunt to figure things out and Geena Davis turns in a surprising performance as one of the billionaire’s assistants.  I’m sure the plot twist will get out pretty quickly, and when it does, I wonder who the audience will be.  It really doesn’t make for a good date movie and I don’t see a lot guys going to see it by themselves either, just for fear of looking and feeling creepy.  Just from its very nature, it might not have much of a box office, but then I can see it getting views once it hits streaming.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good film.  It’s just incredibly deranged and will make any viewer feel rather unbearable at moments.  B

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of August 12, 2024

Alien: Romulus

Rated R for language and bloody violent content

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%

In Theaters

Adding to the Alien franchise this week is this new tale from writer/director Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe).  Taking place sometime after the beginning of Aliens (our only clue is a destroyed Nostromo spacecraft and a mentioning of their being one survivor), the story begins with a young girl and her synthetic bother (Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson) as they find out that are stuck on their sunless mining planet while dreaming of traveling to a far-off location for a fresh start.  When a friend in need of a synthetic gives her the opportunity to maybe make this happen, she agrees to a quick salvage trip to the Romulus, a giant ship that has been seemingly abandoned near their planet.  But while there, they encounter our favorite xenomorphs who trap and hunt them.  Although it seems that most of the films in this franchise are mediocre to bad, the first two films are so good that most fans hold out a lot of hope for the next one.  While this one can’t hold a candle to Alien and Aliens, it manages to be both horrifying and entertaining, providing thrills and scares that are both expected and delivered.  The narrative is strong enough to be effective, providing good back story with Weyland and a rationale for taking the risks these young men and women are willing to take.  Production is also top notch with terrific creature effects, both CGI and practical.  Where the film suffers a bit is in its character.  The characters from 1 and 2 (and even 3) are vibrant and interesting.  Here there is a group of frustrated kids who want a better life, but aside from the main two, there is nothing compelling going on there.  That being said, I especially loved David Jonsson as the synthetic.  He is a well-written character, and the performance capitalizes on this.  The good news is that I wasn’t expecting great, but I was hoping for good, and I got it.  I’ve always loved the claustrophobic horror that Alien provides, and this one uses that to its advantage big time.  Once you get off the mining planet, the movie is a fast-paced nail-biter that jumps right into the fray and even has an unexpected and thrilling third act that will have audiences freaked out and spoiling it for their friends.  So, with that in mind, see it early so that you’re not the friend who gets that ruined for you.  B

Jackpot!

Rated R for pervasive language, violence and sexual references

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 42%

Streaming on Amazon Prime

It is the near future (2030) and California has instituted a Grand Lottery where you can win a lot of money, but if you do, anyone can kill you for your winnings for 24 hours.  Here, Awkwafina has just moved to Hollywood to try to kickstart an acting career when she inadvertently wins the lottery, triggering violent mobs to start chasing her down.  Setting out to help her survive is John Cena who wants a mere 10% to help keep her alive.  Directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) the film has a high pedigree and a big cast.  So why is it going straight to streaming?  I would blame the awful premise.  While it creates a space for lots of action, it is difficult to get past the basics of the story.  That being said, they really go for it hard without flinching.  While the action is certainly there in spades, the one thing missing is comedy.  There were a couple of giggles, but no real laughs, not that there was really any attempt at comedy made.  I’m not even sure if comedy was any part of the goal here.  C

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of July 15, 2024

Twisters

Rated PG-13 for intense action and peril, injury images and some language

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77% at time of writing

In Theaters

I have very fond memories of the original 1996 Twister as I was attending the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!) as it was being filmed.  And to give the film gravity, I saw a tornado as I was driving home from the theater.  Talk about a scary moment!  So now, almost 30 years later, we are getting Twisters, which sounds like a sequel, but actually doesn’t have any relationship with the original, other than it is about life-threatening tornadoes in Oklahoma.  Directed by Lee Isaac Chung (director of the multi-Oscar nominated film Minari) the film follows a young woman (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who is a smart young meteorologist who loses three friends during an attempt to do tornado research.  After her tragedy, she moves to New York but is lured back when one of her former research buddies (Anthony Ramos) gives her a new opportunity to finish her studies.  But while attempting to once again tame a tornado, she meets a tornado chasing YouTuber (Glen Powell) who seems like a dangerous villain at first, until she starts to get to know him better.  And of course, all of this is set in the middle of a bunch of storm chasing with maybe too many deadly tornadoes destroying everything in their path.  While I was looking forward to watching the film, based on seeing the trailer, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot.  The original was a guilty pleasure, and I expected this one to serve as much the same.  But there is a lot to like here, and the two-hour experience should be a thrill for most audiences.  Yes, it is a big, loud roller coaster of a film, but I really liked the characters, the story and the special effects-driven adrenaline rush.  Director Lee Isaac Chung, who was so impressive with his film Minari, with help of The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith, infuse the action with organic but fun characters who really help you get invested in the plot, even if it is a bit unrealistic.  And while the acting is good throughout, actor Glen Powell really drives the movie through both action and romance as he attempts to both chase storms, while at the same time chasing the leading actress, pushing the audience to really hope they change the world and possibly even end up together.  The icing on the cake here is a terrific soundtrack that I can’t wait to check out in my car once it is released.  It has a Top Gun kind of feel, only with some rocking country music filling both the quiet and the action-packed sequences.  And by the end you get an even better Twister movie, with better action, better characters, and much better storytelling.  B+

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of July 8, 2024

Fly Me to the Moon

Rated PG-13 for some strong language and smoking

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%

In Theaters

I always thought The Shining was a decent movie in my younger years, with some good scares and fantastic acting, but it wasn’t until years later, after I saw the documentary Room 237, that I truly started to put together what a crazy genius film it might be, and what I knew about the moon landing was potentially untrue.  I’m not one to jump into conspiracy theories at all, but the theory laid out in this documentary contends that Stanley Kubrick all but admitted through the film’s imagery that he filmed the moon landing as a contingency in case we couldn’t get good footage, or in case they didn’t make it at all.  In this way we could prove to the world, and more importantly to the Russians, that we were indeed first.  In Fly Me to the Moon, a similar story is laid out where Scarlett Johansson plays a slick New York PR guru who is hired by Woody Harrelson, a government shadow ops character who needs her to give NASA the much-needed PR they require to become the center of the world’s attention, rather than just an unnecessary bureaucracy.  Once in Florida, she goes to work with NASA launch director Cole Davis (a fictional character played by Channing Tatum) who tries hard not to fall in love with her but just can’t seem to resist.  But once crunch time kicks in, the decision is made to secretly film the moon landing so that the world will see that the Americans hold space superiority.  But being a romantic comedy, lots of things go wrong and hilarity ensues throughout.  While the film does have its slow moments and the NASA scenes aren’t nearly technical enough to be taken seriously, the movie is so damn cute that you hardly care.  I love a good rom com and there are so few of them nowadays, so I was thrilled that this one came along, even if not perfect.  The chemistry between Johansson and Tatum is solid and the film comes off as really sweet, without being sappy in the least.  And I love that someone had the idea to turn such a crazy (or not so crazy) conspiracy into a feel-good romance.  I really appreciated that it is almost a family-friendly movie as well.  It feels like a genuine PG movie until Woody throws out an F-bomb at the end, which I can only guess was put in to get a 13 added to the PG.  But overall, it’s a highly enjoyable film with largely forgivable faults.  B+

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of July 1, 2024

Despicable Me 4

Rated PG for action and rude humor

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 55%

In Theaters

It’s been seven years since the last Despicable Me film ( for which I honestly can’t remember anything about), and Gru (voiced again by Steve Carrell) and family are forced into witness protection when a supervillain named Maxime (voiced by Will Ferrell) who Gru put in prison, escapes with an intent to seek a brutal revenge.  While trying to live inconspicuously in his new home and community, Gru gets bored and attempts to do some side missions, while some of his minions are subjected to a treatment which turns them into a cross between the X-Men and The Fantastic Four.  When Maxime eventually discovers where Gru’s new location is, a Battle Royale commences.  There’s not a lot of great storytelling on display here, just as in the other films.  The plot is weak and old, and the dialog is neither funny nor clever.  In fact it is quite the opposite.  They think they are being clever which makes many moments rather painful, at least for adults.  For kids, it should still be a fun time, filled with lots of loud action, silly minion humor and enough familiarity to bring smiles to faces.  I just wish Universal was ambitious enough to create a good four-quadrant addition to their franchise.  Making the film great for kids but only nearly tolerable for adults, is just disappointing and frustrating.  Pixar did a great job of this with their recent sequel Inside Out 2 – and look how it is paying off.  I’m sure that Despicable Me 4 will make a decent box office, but much of its business is going to be from audience members who wish they were in another room while watching.  So once again, we get a film that falls short when it really doesn’t have to.  C