Category: Uncategorized

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of May 15, 2023

Still
Rated R for language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
Streaming on Apple TV+
Since he came on the scene in the 80’s with Family Ties, Michael J. Fox has remained a lovable household name, producing hit after hit, until he came out to the world with his heartbreaking diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. This challenging yet life-affirming documentary from Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim (Summer of Soul), follows Fox’s journey from being a child actor to a megastar, to just struggling to possess some sort of quality of life from his progressive illness. To show someone’s life in a mere 95 minutes is a daunting challenge, yet Guggenheim does a masterful job of helping us understand what makes the man tick and what will keep him ticking. Beautifully presented with short snippets from his TV and movie career that seem to perfectly narrate his life, the film manages to be entertaining, informational and inspirational, even if a bit sad. But Fox here isn’t trying to put on a pity party. Quite the opposite. He is constantly showing how truly tough he is, with a sense of humor that cuts through the reality. A-

Sanctuary: Season 1
Not rated, but should be TV-MA for language and violence
Streaming on Netflix
We get a lot of sports movies and shows to watch, but never has the world of sumo wrestling entered our living rooms, until now. I should know – years ago I wrote a Sumo comedy that almost got made, but ultimately was deemed too obscure for the majority of the world. So I was elated when Netflix released this entertaining series about a young wrestler who decides to do Sumo to pursue its fames and riches that only a few wrestlers are able to achieve. Over 8 episodes we see our young anti-hero (who is basically a huge dirtbag for most of the series) squeak his way through the world of Sumo in Japan until he is hit with massive adversity, only to find a way to Rocky through it. I have to admit that there are a lot of problems, such as a silly amount of over-acting and simplistic script choices. Plus, this probably should have been a couple of hours shorter, not needing 8 one-hour episodes to tell the story. Also, they completely leave out the well-documented presence of the Yakuza in the sport, which could have elevated the drama substantially. But overall, the series is entertaining and enlightening, helping an audience which is mostly or even completely unfamiliar with the sport come to a basic understanding and even appreciation for one of Japan’s most important cultural traditions. B-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of May 8, 2023

Blackberry
Rated R for language throughout
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
In Theaters
For a large percentage of the 40+ population, the Blackberry (or “crackberry” as many of us called it), was a major stepping stone into our cell phone addiction. It was the first phone that allowed us to truly communicate with other devices and even access the internet, even if limited by today’s standards. In this new film by Matt Johnson, the filmmakers explore the rise and fall of the phone that got us to the iPhone. The story follows RIM creator and CEO Mike Lazaridis (How to Train Your Dragon’s Jay Baruchel) and cutthroat co-CEO Jim Balsillie (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton) as they go from literally creating the hottest invention on the planet to complete implosion within just a matter of a few years. For those of us who lived in this time period, the film fills in the gaps of what happened to our trusted little best friend. But for many, it just serves as a great story about how to, and how not to, create an innovate product and keep it relevant. It is a frequently funny, but always interesting tale filled with some really great performances and a biting screenplay. Very reminiscent of the recent Air Jordan film, “Air,” the tale is filled with nostalgia but is also much more complex than you think it will be. And while the script is difficult to fact check, the ups and downs are completely believable and filled with schadenfreude. Ultimately, what you get is a terrifically entertaining film with nuanced performances from a talented cast, all with a ring of truth that will connect with many audience members who lived though that time as they tried to keep up with the hottest new personal technologies. A-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of April 17., 2023

Peter Pan & Wendy
Rated PG for peril, violence and thematic elements
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%
Streaming on Disney+
Aside from being a Texas resident, writer/director David Lowery has built up quite a resume in Hollywood with well-respected titles such as The Green Knight and A Ghost Story. He’s even worked for Disney before in the underrated Pete’s Dragon remake. What I’m sure was originally slated for theaters, Disney has marked direct for streaming, probably due to an unknown cast, but certainly not due to quality. This retelling of the Peter Pan story isn’t exactly a remake of the animated classic, but it has many of the elements. Wendy (Ever Anderson) and her brothers are whisked away by a young Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) on a trip to Neverland where they confront great action and peril, mostly at the hands of Captain Hook (Jude Law) who will do anything to see Peter and his friends dead. It has a bit of a slow start, but it quickly gets going upon entering Neverland, with loads of action and some very unexpected plot twists. And quite honestly, those twists are what make this a special (or at least more special than it should have been) movie. This very much had the potential of becoming a dull retread, especially given how many Peter Pan movies we’ve had throughout the years. But instead, new life is breathed into the story as new depths are achieved. By the end, we get an enjoyable family adventure that might just bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye if your’e not careful. B+

Ghosted
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual content, sequences of strong violence/action
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 30%
Streaming on Apple TV+
In this action-filled romantic comedy, Chris Evans (Captain America) finds himself falling in love with a beautiful young stranger (Ana de Armas) only to find that she won’t respond to his dozens of texts after their hot and heavy first date. But when he shows up in London to surprise her, he discovers that she is really a CIA operative and he is now tied up in a dangerous adventure, whether he wants to be there or not. There are some moments where the film hits you with some comedic bright spots, especially the numerous impressive cameos from some really huge names, but unfortunately those laughs are quickly washed away from the bad writing, and subsequently the bad acting spewing from it. With so many great actors and Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher at the helm, it is quite shocking that the film manages to misfire so much. And while the script is serviceable, it manages to sputter by on fumes, when it should have been completely gassed up and ready to go. By the end, it turns out to be a film you really wanted to like, but one you know you should have ignored after the first date. C-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of April 10, 2023

Renfield
Rated R for some drug use, language throughout, bloody violence and some goreRotten
Tomatoes Score: 58%
In Theatres
Nicholas Hoult plays Renfield to Nicolas Cage’s Dracula in this new dark comedy about Dracula’s titular familiar who has spent much of his life as a servant to the dark lord. Set in modern day New Orleans, Renfield gets tied up with local mafia as he tries to procure some fresh blood, and inadvertently falls for a local cop (Awkwafina) determined to bring down the mob. At just about 90 minutes, the film is a short and sweet Uber-violent comedy that delivers exactly what it promises in the trailer, and not much more. It is fun, funny, and as campy as you can get putting Cage as the famous Count. It also looked like it was a lot of fun to make, and never takes itself seriously. It might have been a better film had they taken it a little more serious, as the script isn’t nearly as creative as the premise or the production, but it’s hard to fault such paint-by-numbers writing since it obviously works to give the audience what it sets out to deliver. B-

Beef: Season 1
Rated TV-MA
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
Streaming on Netflix
Beef, the hottest new streaming show on Netflix, follows two people (Steven Yeun and Ali Wong), a failed contractor and an unfulfilled entrepreneur, who get into a massive road rage incident when she honks at him in a parking lot and a crazy fight ensues. Over 10 darkly funny episodes, each in the 30ish minute range, the two go back and forth, never satisfied with any temporary resolution or an ability to let it just go away. Premiering at South By Southwest in Austin last month, it was apparent that Beef wouldn’t be your run of the mill episodic. And it most certainly is not. Yeun and Wong both put in fantastic performances and the script is just bonkers nuts, in a good way, giving them some really juicy roles to jump into. The supporting cast and the characters they play are a bit over the top, but still add interesting spice to the constantly boiling-over pot of gumbo that is the series. What makes the show so likable, though, isn’t the constant war, but rather the times of peace where you get to know the characters, what makes them tick, and finding out how absolutely human they are. In that way the writing is as big of a star as the two huge actors that chew up most of the scenery. Deeply bingeable, the show will be hard for you to stop watching once you start the first episode. A

Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed
Rated R for language and substance abuse
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% at time of writing
Steaming on HBOmax
New to HBO this week is an intimate look at Grammy-award winning singer/songwriter Jason Isbell as he explores the demons he is constantly fighting, all the while building his Covid-era album Reunions. Being that he is one of my absolutely favorite artists, I came in having a really nice personal connection to his story and his plight, through his music. And while I thought I knew all about him and his journey, I found my knowledge only scratched the surface. This film gives a deep dive into what makes Jason Jason, while also showing his process for song-writing and juggling work, life, and former addiction. But most importantly, the music is just fantastic with lyrics that really mean something and a superbly talented band to pull the tunes off. That being said, it does, at times, appear to be more of a commercial for him and his craft, but I kind of expected that. I’m not sure how it will come across if you aren’t familiar with him, but I’m guessing it will only win him over plenty of new fans. A-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of April 3, 2023

Air
Rated R for language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
In Theaters
Air tells the story of how a little running company called Nike rose to be a fashion superpower by courting the up and coming legend Michael Jordan to endorse their basketball shoes. Many of us just assume that Nike has always been the basketball player’s shoe of choice but with every success comes trial and tribulation, and a lot of risk taking. Matt Damon portrays Sonny Vacarro, the Nike employee who bent the rules and put his career on the line in order to get Jordan, a man who wanted nothing to do with Nike, on board. Directing is Ben Affleck, who also stars as Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike. It is well-known that these two have a unique synergy and this is one of the best projects either has done since they won the Academy Award for Good Will Hunting. But the icing on the cake belongs to Viola Davis who portrays Jordan’s mom. Her performance is powerful to say the least and really makes you wonder if we would even be talking about MJ today were it not for her behind the scenes presence. Along with a terrific script and strong performances by a talented supporting cast, the movie not only helps you relive the true events of forty years ago, providing a ton of great nostalgia, but it also inspires in the present. It is such a remarkable story and so magically told here. I’m going to guess that the biggest criticism we will hear about this movie is that it looks like a PG-13 film but the language makes it very Rated R. Know what you are getting into here as it might not be the best film to bring your kids to, as many will want to do. I say this as someone who brought his 12-year-old without even looking at the actual rating. And of course he loved it. That being said, it’s sure to be a classic inspirational feel-good film and most likely the early front runner for next year’s awards season. It came out too early in the year you say? Everything Everywhere All At Once came out on April 8 of last year so only time will tell. A

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Rated PG for action and mild violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 55%
In Theaters
This highly-anticipated animated pic tells the story of Mario and Luigi, a pair of plumbing brothers who get sucked into a strange world where major forces are in a war of conquest when the evil turtle Bowser decides to make a move on the princess in order to marry her. For many this story will make perfect sense. In the theater there was a lot of giggling and whispering and many appeared to be having fun. But I’m obviously not the target audience here as for the most part, I didn’t get it. The story is ridiculous and very silly, and the movie comes off like a nervous ball of energy that finally fizzles out after 90 short minutes. The best I can say is that it is a fairly painless experience. While the script isn’t the greatest, it also isn’t the worst. There are some good jokes and the film is well-enough paced to provide a mildly entertaining time for those not indoctrinated into the world of Nintendo. It also helps that the voice talent is top notch with Jack Black, Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Seth Rogen and Anna Taylor-Joy in the roles of the somewhat iconic characters. Was it enough to turn me into a fan? Not quite. But unlike some similar films like Angry Birds, I wasn’t miserable, which is better than I expected. C

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of March 20, 2023

John Wick: Chapter 4
Rated R for some language and pervasive strong violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
In Theaters
For most people, including me, John Wick has never been about the story, but rather about the glorious, artistic portrayal of graphic violence from a character who simply wasn’t okay with someone killing his dog. In this fourth chapter of the franchise, Wick (Keanu Reeves) is trying to defeat The High Table in any way possible, while hundreds of assassins chase him wherever he goes, always ending in their gruesome and quick demise. The ultimate villain in this new chapter is the Marquis, played by Bill Skarsgard (Pennywise from It). And since he isn’t exactly a fighter, he hires the best to protect him and go after Wick. Here that is martial arts legend Donnie Yen (Hero, Ip Man) who plays a former friend of Wick’s who must turn on him to protect his daughter. But again, it’s really not about the story. But you could say its about delivering a bigger, badder and certainly more ferocious killing spree that doesn’t have to make sense to be exhilarating. If that’s what you’re after, this film certainly delivers. Everything here is bigger as franchise director Chad Stahelski takes the adrenaline rush up a notch, to say the least. I find myself feeling a bit hypocritical since I am so vehemently anti-violent, but I can’t help myself when I sit down to watch these films. They are fun, funny, a bit silly, wildly entertaining and endearing. While almost three hours long (and longer with a ton of trailers up front) the film might hurt your bladder, but you don’t exactly want it to end as it just keeps getting crazier and crazier. At one point towards the end, Wick finds himself in a massive shootout as the camera raises through the roof and we watch the action as if it takes place through a glass ceiling. And with hardly a cut made. It’s one of the coolest sequences I’ve ever seen in a motion picture and surely one that will be studied and emulated by film nerds and directors for years to come. One of the things I find most fascinating is how you really start to feel Wick’s pain as he keeps taking punishments that would send anyone else to the hospital. I needed 4 Advil just to sit there and eat my popcorn. The intensity is that palpable. Overall, its a welcome fourth chapter that will have you hooting and hollering until the moment you limp out of the theater with bruises you can’t explain. A-

Inland Empire: The Criterion Collection
Rated R for some violence, sexuality, nudity and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%
Available on disc
This 2006 David Lynch film starring Laura Dern and Jeremy Irons follows the tale of an actress and her on-set drama as she begins to realize that her movie is a remake of an unfinished film in which the original stars were murdered. Or at least that’s what I think it’s about. Like any Lynch film, and maybe even more so here, this one is just super weird. Serving as more of a creative outlet for Lynch, who apparently shot the whole thing with a camcorder, and wrote the script as they were filming. None of the actors knew what was going on until the day of the shoot, and it is very apparent. If you are sitting down for family fun night, avoid this one at all cost. But if you are into Lynch, there are hours of special features here that will help you forget about the movie and get a better understanding of what makes this extremely odd man tick. Rather than fill the extra content with stuff about the movie, which I would imagine would have been as bad as the film, you instead get a slew of material by and about the auteur. D

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of March 13, 2023

Champions
Rated PG-13 for crude/sexual references and strong language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 56%
In Theaters
From Dumb & Dumber and Kingpin director Robert Farrelly comes this sweet and sappy comedy about a semi-pro basketball coach who is forced to coach a team of adults with intellectual disabilities for community service after getting a DUI. Needing to get his own life in order, he begins to grow with the team as he makes them better players while at the same time making himself a better human. Much of the film is exactly what you think it will be from the trailer. It is sweet and corny and overly predictable. But thankfully there are many surprises thrown at the audience from the eclectic bunch of actors who manage to catch you completely off guard throughout. You can tell that he and the cast have a real heart for this special community and he does a superb job of creating both awareness and appreciation. While it’s not as shocking as many of Farrelly’s other films, and also not nearly as funny, it more than makes up for it in sentimentality. Much of the humor comes from sex and fart jokes, which aren’t exactly clever, but at least they come off as sort of humorous given the context. Unfortunately, some of the jokes are repeated again and again when they weren’t that funny to begin with. I really liked the effort and the attitude, but as a comedy it tends to miss the basket more than it hits. But it also manages to give enough of a feel good vibe that you find the faults to be forgivable. B-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of February 27, 2023

Creed III
Rated PG13 for some strong language, intense sports action, violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
In Theaters
This newest film in the Creed franchise begins with Adonis Creed’s (Michael B. Jordan) last fight as a professional boxer as he wins big and takes the belts. Of course it can’t end there, that would lead to a short movie, so of course he gets pulled back in. In this case, a childhood friend (Jonathan Majors) gets out of prison and asks for help with the chance of getting a title fight. When Creed discovers that his friend won dirty, he exits retirement to challenge him to a new fight to take back his titles. The story does have good bones. There is a believability that could have been developed and built upon in an organic way, giving us more of what made the original Rocky so great. But instead, we get too many inauthentic and unnecessary twists in order to get us to the final battle, which is good but not great. So even with a potentially strong story, the writing lacks the creativity required to give us something real. Here we get silly choices that lead to silly circumstances and an almost false pathway to the big set pieces. Also, distractingly missing is Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) who just happens to not be around any more. His presence might have given the film the needed gravity that it sorely lacks. That being said, the fighting, which is what we all go to see it for in the first place, is the highlight, making the film at least watchable, even if the directing, by Jordan, is extremely heavy-handed. Also, Majors is a formidable antagonist, chewing up every bit of screen time he is allowed. I almost wish they made him more likable so that the film would come across more like 2011’s Warrior than like a flashy boxing pic. In the end, most audiences will find it entertaining enough, but it really comes across as a film that could have been so much better. C+

Cocaine Bear
Rated R for language throughout, drug content, bloody violence and gore
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%
In Theaters
This crazy tale follows the path of a bear who begins a cocaine habit when a drug runner drops bags of it out of a plane before meeting his own demise. High on the powder, the bear goes on a killing rampage, brutally murdering any human it comes across, hoping they have more blow. Meanwhile, the drug dealer whose cocaine was lost attempts to get back his stash. Directed by comedic actress Elizabeth Banks, the film is way more of a comedy than it is a horror film. This is surprisingly well-done. When the bear goes nuts and starts mauling folks, the audience was in stitches rather than disturbed. That being said, the film is flimsy. It is a one-trick pony and once you’ve seen the trick a time or two, it starts to get old. Thankfully there is a really great cast to make the tedium watchable. Keri Russell, Ray Liotta, Alden Ehrenreich, Margo Martindale and many other very recognizable performers keep the film entertaining enough to make it through the short 95 minutes. Funny enough, it is being touted as based on true events, which turns out to be comical on its own merits. Back in the 80s a drug smuggler did drop cocaine into the mountains where a bear ingested and overdosed from its discovery. So creativity points go to writer Jimmy Warden who pulled this “true” story out of thin air. B-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of February 20, 2023

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Rated PG-13 for violence, action and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 48%
In Theaters
For the third Ant-man movie, marvel sends its heroes (Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer) down to the Quantum universe (the subatomic realm) where they encounter a strange new world and the ultimate baddie: Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). While there, their goal is two-fold: protect their new friends and somehow get back to the real world. This latest phase of the MCU is looking more and more like just a chaotic, pointless mess to me. I have liked a couple of the projects such as Shang-Chi, Thor: Love and Thunder and Loki, but much of it feels like they just don’t have a clear sense of direction and instead of a proper focus, they are just throwing a bunch of muck at the wall and hoping something sticks. This newest flick is very much in that category. While the new Universe shows signs of creativity and some nice special effects, the story makes little sense with plot holes that abound. The saddest part is that much of what we love about Paul Rudd’s Ant-man is largely missing here. The big personality and sense of humor pops out every now and then, but there is too little to keep the audience engaged and instead the movie is filled with huge set pieces and soulless green screens. It doesn’t help that Douglas and Pfeiffer seem wildly out of place and Lilly is practically phoning in her role. The only really likable aspect is Kang, but his role is so confounding at this point that I hope he doesn’t just morph into a giant annoyance by the Avenger’s finale, titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, whenever that will finally come out (listed as May 2, 2025 at this point). Marvel has shown us that you have to look at all these movies as individual puzzle pieces that will makes sense when they finally come together, but with too many of these misses, they will find themselves with an audience who used to care but has instead moved on. I need a movie or show that brings me back in, stat, or I will be part of that crowd. C

Close
Rated PG-13 for thematic material, suicide and brief strong language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
French with English Subtitles
In Theaters
This winner of the Cannes Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and also Oscar nominee for Best International Film tells the story of two thirteen-year-old best friends whose bond is ripped apart by tragedy when when one of them starts to feel a separation in their friendship and isolation from the rest of the world. This film does a remarkable job at creating a huge amount of empathy for the main character, and you can’t help but understand the hardship of not being able to give what is being asked for in the relationship and then the sudden snap and strain of the guilt and pain that develops because of it. It’s a challenging film but also an important one, especially for parents who really don’t want to think their children are capable of such actions. It is certainly one that will stick with you. A-

Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton

Week of February 6, 2023

Knock at the Cabin
Rated R for violence and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
In Theaters
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest horror flick follows a young gay couple (Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge) who are just trying to experience a little vacation at their lake cabin with their adopted daughter, when 4 strangers (including Dave Bautista and Rupert Grint) show up at their cabin demanding that they choose one member of their family to sacrifice in order to stop an impending apocalypse that would destroy the world. Based on the award-winning horror novel “The Cabin at the End of the World” by Paul Tremblay (which is a far superior title also) the film is a bit of a departure for Shyamalan, who is best known for his original, out-of-left-field twisty endings. While there are some interesting surprises, its kind of nice to have a film from him in which you aren’t just trying to figure out how he is going to fool you. What I liked most about this movie though is his masterful usage of suspense. I found myself literally glued to my seat and fully zoomed-in wondering what could happen next and how our heroes will escape, or even if they should. There is a little bit of cheesiness in regards to the events happening on the news and how those events are handled, but in the cabin there is a spirit of bleakness that is tangible. Thankfully, the performances, from Bautista down to the young daughter (wonderfully played by 8 year-old Kristen Cui), are just what this kind of story needed in order to make it both believable and effective. The narrative itself isn’t going to win any awards and the film isn’t the scariest of tales, but you do get an entertaining two hours and you won’t feel like you wasted your money when the credits start rolling. B-