Overboard [2018]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. McAleer) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Walsh) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (K. Rife) review


Overboard [2018] (directed and screenplay cowritten by Rob Greenberg along with Bob Fisher, story by Leslie Dixon) is a fun remake of the Kurt Russell / Goldie Hawn starring 1987 film, IMHO _better_ / more credible than the original.

Kate Sullivan (played by Anna Faris), a harried 30-something widow from a rural coastal Oregon hamlet named Elk Cove with three cute-as-a-button daughters, and working two jobs and even as she's oh so close to graduating from nursing school is insulted / dissed by a super-rich late-30 to early 40-something, "never grewup 'cause he never had to," Mexican playboy named Leonardo Montenegro (played by Eugenio Derbez), the pampered only son of the 3rd richest man in the world. She had been sent by the cleaning service that she worked for to clean one of the carpets in Leo's yacht's carpet after "an accident" at the end of a debauched party he had been hosting.  After cleaning his carpet, Leo decides that he's not going to pay her (because she wouldn't bring him a drink, even though she wasn't a waitress, but rather there to clean his stupid  carpet).  When she refuses to get off the boat until he pays her, he throws her as well as her (service's) $3000 carpet cleaner into the water and ... has his crew sail the boat away.

Well, poetic justice comes when that night, drunk (from drinking too much champagne) he falls off his yacht and washs up, with amnesia, on-shore.  Soon he's on the local television news "Does anyone know this man?"

Kate's BFF Theresa (played by Eva Longoria) comes us up with a plan for payback -- have Kate arrive at the hospital to reclaim "her husband."  Theresa's husband (played by Mel Rodriguez), a local construction contractor would give him a manual labor construction job and Kate would be able to take the month off from her two jobs to study for her nursing exam. ;-)

And so Kate Sullivan arrives at the hospital with "documents" and photo-shopped photos "proving" that that Leo(nardo) was her husband.  But wait how could such a Mexican-looking man speaking with a Mexican accent possibly have the name Sullivan?  Well ... she explains to him / his doctors that his great grandfather had been one of the Irish immigrants who escaping poverty / the potato famine had emigrated to Mexico and as a member of the (in Mexico famed) San Patricio Battalion had fought for Mexico (and against the United States) during the 1846-48 Mexican-American War.

When she brings Leo to her home, she also explains to him that the three daughters they have (who look a lot like her but not at all like him) were "his" as well, even though because he "was sterile" _they had to use a sprem donor to create them_ :-).  "Don't worry honey, they're just as much yours as they are mine because _you've_ been helping to raise them."  And, though he had previously never worked a day of his life, she enjoys sending him to work as part of Theresa's husband's heavily Mexican immigrant construction crew.  And ... the rest of the story follows ... ;-)

Leo actually _adapts_ quite well to his role of being a responsible working class husband / father.  Of course, the lie can not be maintained indefinitely and Kate has to come clean, but by then Leo has fallen for both Kate and especially the kids and so he does face a legitimate dilemma of which life to embrace or return to. 

All in all it was a fun film and the repeated "turnabout" theme with the Rich Person being Mexican and the struggling one being (North) American was also honestly fun as well.  And the film's overall message -- that work and responsible living is good for us -- would certainly make both Saint Joseph and St. John Paul II proud.  So overall Good Job!


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Tully [2018]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (L)  RogerEbert.com (3 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (A-)  Fr. Dennis (2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review


Tully [2018] (directed by Jason Reitman, screenplay by Diablo Cody) is a contemporary (and somewhat / rather God-less...) motherhood drama starring Charlize Theron playing Margo a late 30-something married mother of two (the second, already somewhat special needs) who at the beginning of the film is about to give birth to a third child.

Needless to say, she has _a lot_ on her plate.  Hubby, Drew (played by Ron Livingston), himself is tired, probably from work, and certainly uncomprehending, playing "Call of Duty" like first-person shooter video-games from their bed as he waits for her to make it there (after finishing the last chores of her daily routine and bedding down everybody else) at night.

Older (and wealthier) brother Craig (played by Mark Duplass) suggests to Margo that she get a "night nanny" after the third one is born, and offers to pay to the expense if only she'd call the service he suggests.  Initially, Margo responds with eye-rolling disdain: "I love MY kids.  I'm not going to let some stranger do my work for me / bond with my kids in a way that I should."  But a month and half after giving birth, and remember she's in her late 30s, hence no longer a spring chicken, Margo decides, "why not?" and 26 year old "night nanny" Tully (played by Mackenzie Davis) comes on the scene and ... much in an updated (And R-rated..) Mary Poppins [1964] / Maria of Sound of Music [1965] sort of way ensues.

The 26 year old is "wise" but above all reminds Margo of herself when she was 26 and her life was still just endless possibility.  For her part, Tully tries to remind Margo: "Despite what you may think sometimes, you've SUCCEEDED.  You've succeeded in creating a stable 'boring life' for yourself with people who depend on you. YOU SHOULD BE PROUD."  (In this regard, one could ask oneself if Tully is "real" or simply a voice inside Margo which tries to encourage her in a rather challenging time in her life).

However, there are people missing in this narrative.  There are no (grand)parents, no in-laws, no church.   Hence it all does seem rather lonely / overwhelming.

But perhaps with th(os)e others it need not be...

A thought provoking but certainly not end-all film on the subject.


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Avengers: Infinity War [2018]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (0 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller Seitz) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


Avengers: Infinity War [2018] (codirected by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, screenplay cowritten by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely based on Marvel Comics by Stan Lee [IMDb] and Jack Kirby [IMDb]) sigh ... I guess it was inevitable:

Almost exactly in the middle of the film, as two groups of the story-line's protagonists meet for the first time-- to eventually become essentially the Super Avengers, made-up of the Avengers already introduced to us in previous films plus the heroes of the Guardians of the Galaxy whom the other Avengers do not yet know -- eastern mystic inspired Dr. Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) sternly asks the famously slacker-anti hero Guardian of the Galaxy Peter Quill / "Star Lord" (played by Chris Pratt) "What MASTER do you serve" to which, confused by the question, Peter Quill aka "Star Lord" responds in his characteristically flustered "amiable slacker" sort of way: "Do... you ... want me to say ... Jesus?"

Haha ... there were _some_ (stiff) laughs in the mostly teenage / young adult audience.  But I was basically done.  Ten minutes later, already rather frustrated by the film's overly ponderous story-line, certainly the most convoluted in the franchise thus far -- though in the film's defense, one could say that the Avengers were trying to save THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE -- I left.

The throw-away Christian mocking line reminds me of when I, as still a teenager / young adult was visiting then still Communist Czechoslovakia and with a few Czech relatives of mine was visiting one of the many lovely medieval castles in the country.  In the castle's chapel, the tour guide, certainly a Soudruška (Czech for "Comrade") mindful that most of the group that she was leading was actually a school group of 10-12 year olds on a field trip, stopped in front of a lovely statue of a young Blessed Virgin Mary and told the kids, "Now kids ... in the olden days, the big strong, handsome young knights of this castle would put themselves on their knees before this lovely young maiden, who by the way her name was Mary, to 'worship her' ... Yes, it's kind of childish and _even somewhat obsene_  for us today, but that's what pervy young men, often still not married, would do in those backward days." 

And again the message was clear, an atheist in a position of power, was telling her _captive audience_ of young people that's perfectly okay to mock the Christian faith that some of them certainly still held (among those kids were certainly Catholics / Christians, though they _definitely knew_ to keep their mouths shut under Communism) and certainly held by many more of their parents and grandparents...

Perhaps though the Christian mocking throw-away scene in this latest Avenger's movie was inevitable.  After all:

(1) One of Marvel Comic's most famous heroes is a kindlier, rehabililitated nordic god based Thor (the Wagner-loving Nazis had a more _racially based_ take on him a few decades before ...), and

(2) the Catholic Church / Christian Community in the United States is certainly _not_ entirely without blame: the more conservative elements of the Christian community have _chosen_ to take a needlessly hard (and truly next to impossible to try to dialogue with) line on homosexuality in recent decades, and the ARTISTIC community, which has _always_ been something of a haven for homosexuals (Michelangelo was probably gay ...) has with again SOME DEFINITE JUSTIFICATION taken offense.

As I've written before [1] [2] [3] IN A FREE SOCIETY, the artistic community ultimately can produce WHATEVER ART (films) IT WANTS.  So ... if the Catholic Church / Christian community _chooses_ to pick a fight with the significantly homosexual artistic community, it can expect _exactly_ what it has received: a parade of poignant / heart-rending films each underlying, and in an inevitably nearly infinite number of ways, _the fundamental dignity_ of homosexuals as _persons_ AND eventually a similar parade of films hostile-to and even mocking of Christianity.

To expect otherwise is honestly to "not think things through ..."

But to me it's sad here ... because in the case of this stupid throw-away line here, no one's dignity was being defended.  Instead, Christians / Christianity were simply being mocked.

And yes, obviously, I'm a follower of Jesus ... Zero stars.


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I Feel Pretty [2018]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C-)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/4 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (K. Jensen) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review


I Feel Pretty [2018] (cowritten and codirected by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein) is a fun / positive comedy of the Melissa McCarthy, yes, Amy Schumer vein (the latter starring in this film as its "we've all been there" average yet again "that's what we all are" heroine).  And judging audience, composed mostly of smiling and at times _beaming_ 20-30-something women, where I saw the film, it succeeds, often in spades ;-).

Amy Schumer plays Renee a 20 something Queens / Brooklyn New Yorker who eats, speaks, and dreams like a 20-something Queens / Brooklyn New Yorker -- she could _easily_ (!) be a parishioner at any place where I've ever served -- and yet, of course, dreams of being (and feels somewhat cheated that she isn't) the feather-light, yet still somehow curvy, supermodel who she sees displayed on the packaging of the cosmetics that she buys and the "fashion" / "women's magazines" that she reads.

Her wannabe dreaming has her working for "Lily LeClair" (a fictionalized Coco Chanel) cosmetics / mostly women's fashion company.  But since she doesn't necessarily fit the corporate image, instead of working at the company's 5th Avenue HQ, she along with another quite frumpy looking guy (played by Adrian Martinez) works "IT" for the company out of a random second story apartment somewhere in nearby Chinatown ;-). 

Running some papers over to HQ "because the servers were down," she discovers that the company is looking for a new receptionist -- arguably "the face" of the company.  And though as an IT person she probably gets 2-3-4x the salary that a receptionist would, it just gets in her head that _this_ is the job that she'd really want, 'cept ... she looks ... like a regular person, as opposed to a supermodel.

Well ... inspired through watching the rerun of the delightful Tom Hanks comedy, Big [1988], she runs out, in the midst of "a dark and stormy night" and throws a coin into a nearby fountain asking to become "pretty" and ... after getting a knock on the head in the midst of a simultaneously goofy / horrific, cornball-ish accident (that could only happen to "a regular person" like you / me) she wakes up and ...the rest of the story follows ... ;-)

It's not much of a spoiler to tell the audience that, of course, Renee doesn't _become_ "pretty" SHE JUST THINKS SHE HAS ... ;-) -- this is already shown in the film's trailers.  But the film then challenges Viewers to ask themselves  what "beauty" actually is, and how much of it really is just a state of mind.  And the story to its credit also shows a bit of the "ugliness" of "beauty" ... Renee begins to feel entitled to treat some of her past friends (played by Aidy Bryant and Busy Philipps) with disdain. 

Anyway, the film reminds us that "beauty" in large part, and on _a surprising number of levels_, truly comes "from within."  Great / fun story!

A final note to parents, I do believe that the PG-13 rating is ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE to the film.  There is no bad language and though much of its thematics is about being "body beautiful" the film is remarkably discrete in what it shows: while much is implied, often with humor, _nothing_ is actually shown.  It's a film that a 13 year old could see, not be tempted and ... understand.  Again, excellent job!

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A Quiet Place [2018]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (3 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (0 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (K. Jensen) review
Los Angeles Times (J.Chung) review
RogerEbert.com (B. Tallerico) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


A Quiet Place [2018] (directed by John Krasinski, story by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, screenplay by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and John Krasinski) is supposedly some sort of a triumph and does certainly keep one's attention ... so long as one does not think about it too much ;-/

The story takes place in the near future, a number of years after an alien invasion and long after said aliens have effectively "won" -- what's left of humanity is scattered and deathly terrified of said aliens.  This is even though the aliens look simply like GIANT unarmed ('cept for their claws / teeth) ANTS ... as "technologically fearsome" as say ... a grizzly bear with an exoskeleton and six legs. :-)

Further, these ant-like aliens, who incidentally are REALLY, REALLY UGLY, are also apparently BLIND, though they can HEAR really really well, an evolutionary trait that would be almost certainly _useless_ to them IN THE VAST _EMPTINESS_ OF INTERSTELLAR SPACE (hearing requires decoding signals in _pressure waves_) or for that matter ON ANY PLANET OTHER THAN THEIR OWN (almost every foreign planet's atmosphere would be toxic to them, as it would be toxic to us).

So one's left wondering how the heck these BLIND giant ant-like creatures, who incidentally appear to be incapable of (or uninterested in) communicating with anyone else 'cept (perhaps) between themselves, could nevertheless master _interstellar space travel_ and defeat our ... doors ;-), to say nothing of electrified fences, to say even less of machine guns, to say even less than that of "insecticides" (chemical weapons) or finally almost nothing at all of nuclear weapons.

So what the heck is going on here?  We in the audience are invited to FEAR GIANT, UGLY, UTTERLY UNREASONABLE "ALIENS" who simply come to OUR WORLD to DESTROY IT for no apparent reason other than that they can.

Soo ... Build the Wall, build the Wall!

-- zero stars.

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Isle of Dogs [2018]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB ()  RogerEbert.com (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (A-)  Fr. Dennis (1 Star)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB () review
Los Angeles Times (W. Anderson) review
RogerEbert.com (Odie Henderson) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


Isle of Dogs [2018] (directed and screenplay and story cowritten by Wes Anderson along with Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Kunichi Nomura) is a film that's not going to be for everybody.  If one's already seen (and liked) some of Wes Anderson's films from The Royal Tanenbaums [2001] through to the Grand Budapest Hotel [2014], then one will probably enjoy this movie.

However, the story's approach to prejudice / bigotry, the parable (or fable)'s theme, will disconcert a fair amount of Wes Anderson's otherwise fans: The story presumably condemns said random (and cruel) prejudice / bigotry (here against "dogs") BUT ... if I were part of a persecuted or otherwise historically looked-down-upon group in society, I'm _pretty sure_ I wouldn't be comfortable with being cast as "a dog" in the story no matter what PETA may insist or say.

So there it is: The story, set in contemporary Japan, is about a random corner of the island nation, in Megasaki Prefecture (Japan is divided up politically into several dozen such Prefectures), in which two shogun families have been battling for dominance for centuries.  One of these, the Kobayashi family, has harbored an again centuries-long irrational hatred of dogs (and an amusing, equally irrational fawning love of ... cats ;-).

By ancient tradition, recalled even to this day in haikus and traditional operas and plays, Megasaki Province's dogs were saved as a result of a "Boy Samurai" who rose-up to champion the dogs' "Here's a good dog, you're such a good dog" cause and put the evil Kobayashi clan in its place.

BUT ... after _centuries_ of plotting quietly -- behind cute, fuzzy cat draped heraldic banners -- the Kobayashi clan has returned, with the election of one of its own as Mayor (voiced by Konichi Nomura).  Near the beginning of the film, the Mayor gives a rousing Fascist-like speech vowing to rid the Prefecture of its "bad dog" menace, noting that city's dogs were known to be carriers of a random if menacingly sounding illness called "Dog flu" an illness that NEVER (yet?) jumped the species barrier to humans BUT ... if it did, well, it COULD BE ... bad.

At the end of his speech, Mayor Kobayashi, eyes rolling, notes that "thanks to the democratic imposed-upon-us Constitution" he has to give "the other side" a chance to speak, and so he calls a quiet/introverted, out-of-his-element "scientist" to the podium, one who's been working on "a cure" for the as yet never to have actually infected anybody "dog flu" to speak on the dogs' defense.  The poor scientist, Prof. Watanabe (voiced by Akria Ito) in a quivering voice simply notes that: "Not all dogs are BAD dogs, some are GOOD DOGs" and ... is pelted with eggs, tomatoes and ... rocks, by the mayor's assembled crowd.  Hmmm... what does that seem like?

So ... "The People" "by popular acclaim" give the Mayor power to deport / dump all of the Prefecture's dogs to a distant island, where its trash was taken, and the Mayor ... a picture or banner of _a cute fuzzy cat_ present as a backdrop at much every location where he appears ... has _his scientists_ secretly work on a means of simply _killing_ (exterminating) the city's remaining dogs exiled to that distant trash heap.  Hmmm ... again, what does that seem like?

Much ensues ... and quite obviously (not much of a spoiler alert) the dogs do "get their day."

Okay, I get what the story's trying to say (I think) BUT ... if I were either Jewish, Mexican or even Muslim (is Trash Island, basically a version of Guantanamo in addition to being the Warsaw Ghetto / Auschwitz?) I'm not sure I'd exactly want to applaud a movie that would compare me to a dog, perhaps "a cute, yes, what a good dog" but a dog NEEDING A MASTER nonetheless...

Sigh ...

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Acrimony [2018]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (L)  RogerEbert.com (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C-)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Walsh) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Castillo) review
AVClub (K. Rife) review


Acrimony [2018] (written and directed by Tyler Perry) is a well spun marital drama, if _somewhat_ exaggerated at times, that is worthy of married couples in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s to view.  It is definitely not for kids, but for those old enough to become involved in a serious relationship (and thus old enough to begin appreciating the consequences of getting involved in a serious relationship) this would not be bad viewing.

The film begins in court with Melinda (played wonderfully by Taraji P. Hensen) being ordered by the court to respect the restraining order filed by her former husband Robert (played also quite well / realistically by Lyriq Bent) against her and is ordered to attend some anger management classes.  From her expression, it's obvious that Melinda did not feel that the judge was being right with her.

Okay, she, eyes rolling, expression dripping with resentment comes to her first appointment for her anger management counseling, and expresses her feeling that none of this is just, and ... begins telling her story ... and ...

... well, and this is what's so good about Tyler Perry's story here, one starts to understand her, ONE SEES HER POINT.

... BUT ... ;-) ... and this then is what _really makes_ Perry's story here so interesting to me, as the story progresses, after she's had her say at her counselor's office, and the rest of the story develops, it becomes clear that she's only _partly_ right.  Yes, she has her story.  And yes, one understands her.  But in the second half of the story, one starts to see that the people that she's angry at, have THEIR TRUTHS / STORIES too.

So I found this to be a well written, well acted "marriage gone awry" story in which EVERYBODY in the story is at least PARTLY RIGHT (and hence, also, PARTLY WRONG).

Excellent job! 


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