Month: September 2019

Judy (2019)

“Judy” picks up Judy Garland’s life in 1968. Judy has 2 children (a son and a daughter) and is struggling to support them. For a while Judy and her 2 children perform small shows for a few dollars that furnishes cab rides and maybe one or two nights in a hotel. Soon Judy becomes desperate and she takes the children to their father. She leaves them and goes to London where she is given a second chance. The story unfolds from there…
“Judy” is very entertaining, somewhat eye-opening and also a bit tragic. This movie pulls back the layers a bit to show you the addiction that Judy Garland suffered from and potentially how the addiction started.

Renee Zellweger does an excellent job of portraying Judy Garland.
“Judy” (2019) is a nice surprise.

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

Downton Abbey

From the little screen to the big screen, “Downton Abbey” is a delightful British Comedy/Drama that should be enjoyed with a spot of tea!!

The Crawley’s and their staff find themselves preparing for the visit/event of their lives when the king and queen of Great Britain come to Downton Abbey to stay for a few days. The story unfolds from there…

As I stated in my opening “Downton Abbey” is delightful. It’s funny, interesting and entertaining. The transition from TV to motion picture does nothing but help “Downton Abbey”. Now everyone can enjoy the never-ending drama that occurs with the Crawley’s, their family, staff and friends.

Afternoon Tea anyone?

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

Ad Astra in AMC Dolby

“Ad Astra” is about an Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) who is sent on a Space Exploration out into the Solar System to search for his missing Father Cliff McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) who is also an Astronaut. The mystery of it all threatens the existence of planet earth. On his travels, Roy uncovers secrets that challenge the human existence and earth’s place in the cosmos. The story unfolds from there…

Plain and simple the movie was boring. I did not find anything entertaining about “Ad Astra”. I had hoped it would get better, but except for 2 or 3 scenes that were interesting I found the movie to be dry and lifeless.
Don’t get me wrong I love Space Exploration movies like “Interstellar” and “The Martian”. Those movies were entertaining and had lots of action, suspense and intrigue and kept you on the edge of your seat. I did not get any of these elements from “Ad Astra”.

The paid critics gave “Ad Astra” 4 stars. It will only get 2 stars from me.

This is a 2 Star Movie!!

Hustlers

Based on a true story, “Hustlers” shows you that a bunch of savvy former strippers are a lot smarter than you think.

Tired of dancing/stripping and taking home only a fraction of what they made, several former strippers led by Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) put together their own “Hustle” to take the same guys who were previously visiting them at the strip club. Everything is going great, money, clothes, jewels you name it, but after a while little by little things start to fall apart.
Ramona stumbles upon some other women who are trying to copy-cat her system. The story unfolds from there…

The movie is good and well-acted. Just warning you…The nudity is “In Your Face”. Female friendships are on display in “Hustlers”. The movie just scratches the surface of a “Dancer/Stripper’s Life”. There is even some comic relief.

If you can keep an open mind, I say “Hustlers” is worth a look.

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

IT: Chapter Two in AMC Dolby

It’s 27 years later and the gang is all grown up and all have left Derry except one. There is a carnival in Derry and folks are out and about. At the carnival two gentlemen are beaten and become part of a hate crime. Soon after, one of the gentlemen is taken by Pennywise the sadistic clown.

When the local Police and investigator come to the scene the lone member of the gang shows up and is doing his own sniffing. He sees some signs that Pennywise has been on the scene, so he spends the night phoning all of the other living members of the gang insisting that they must return to Derry so that Pennywise can be stopped for good. The story unfolds from there…

“IT: Chapter Two” is crazy scary and extremely graphic!! The movie at times is very bloody. Personally I can’t handle another installment. I spent a lot of time squirming in my seat… The movie does its job by making you feel scared and terrified. There are many twists and turns. You can cut the suspense with a knife.
One negative is that the movie is all over the place. They do a good job on the continuation from the first installment, but this installment shows you elements that probably should have been in the first installment so that the stage would be set properly.

If you are a Stephen King fan and you enjoy his books that become movies. You should definitely see “IT: Chapter Two”.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!