Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Casablanca

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Some movies stay with you for your entire life. It might be a movie that resonates with you and something happening in your life. It could be a movie that helps you get through a tough time, or one that brings you unbridled joy, or one that was so intriguing you are still thinking about it. One of my favorites, one that I’ve seen too many times to possibly count, is the Academy Award Best Picture of 1943 – “Casablanca.” I know what you are thinking! How can you enjoy a movie made before you were born during the height of WWII, not to mention in black and white? Well, believe me, it isn’t a classic for no reason. “Casablanca” on the surface is the story of cynical American Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) who for reasons never explained (who cares?) owns a nightclub in Nazi occupied Casablanca. The plot, a trifle to hang the emotions on, involves letters of passage that will allow two people to leave Casablanca for Portugal, and freedom. Those people are Ilsa, love of his life, whom he thought jilted him (think again), now married to the heroic Victor Laslo, a key Resistance fighter. The upshot of this romantic, exciting movie is that Rick and Ilsa re-discover, yet then unselfishly renounce their love, as a contribution to the greater cause of defeating the Nazis. This is just the tip of the iceberg though. The supporting cast is a virtual who’s who of classic old actors. And that dialogue! Heard the expression “round up the usual suspects?” Chief of Police Louis Reynard (Claude Rains) from this movie! How about “Play it again, Sam?” (From this movie but not phrased exactly that way “Play it, Sam. You played it for her, you can play it for me.” Play what? Why just superbly memorable “As Time Goes By!”). How about “Here’s Looking at you, Kid?” or “we’ll always have Paris.” Roger Ebert, the late great reviewer, had this to say about the opening, “The opening scenes dance with comedy; the dialogue combines the cynical with the weary; wisecracks with epigrams. We see that Rick moves easily in a corrupt world. “What is your nationality?” the Nazi officer Strasser asks him, and he replies, “I’m a drunkard.” His personal code: “I stick my neck out for nobody.” This a movie that will entertain you without violence (people are shot, but you never see the blood) or sex (except for some genteely romantic shananigans) or being ultimately pessimistic. This is, in the final moment, an optimistic movie that lets us know that we little people, whether fighting Nazis or Covid-19, will prevail when all is said and done. As Rick and Louis fade into the mists of legend, Rick utters the classic “Louis, I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

I would love to hear about your favorite movie. Come on, you are sitting around at home right now any way, correct? Why not drop us a line or too?

Call of the Wild

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Finally!  A modern remake of one of the beloved novels from my childhood.  “Call of the Wild” is the story of Buck, an exuberant family pet, part St. Bernard and part Scottish Shepherd.  Anyway you look at it, he is a big, powerful dog.  Buck is dognapped and shipped up north to the Klondike where big dogs are needed to pull the sleds of the would-be gold miners in the Goldrush of the 1890’s.  In this harsh climate he  meets a series of masters, some kind, some not so kind.  One of those masters is Harrison Ford playing John Thornton, Buck’s last and the most compassionate of his owers.  If you have never read the book, I think you will find this movie satisfying and even inspirational.  If you are an aficiando of the book, you will find it a little less so, but still a solid movie.  I am confused, though, as to why one of the most powerful scenes in the book was completely left out of the movie.  In that scene, to help John Thornton win a bet, Buck breaks a frozen sled free from ice and pulls the load of 1000 pounds of flour 100 yards.  However, not in the movie! The movie also glosses over some of the harsh treatment Buck gets, which really makes you relate to what he goes through, but shows enough for us to get the idea.  The movie is also marred by some pretty noticable continuity errors.  Where does John Thornton get the canoe?  Why is he going on a long journey with no supplies in his canoe  only to have them magically appear when the canoe goes around a corner?  Where did the tent magically come from?  My biggest quibble is with the CGI Buck though.  He comes across as bigger than life.  It is hard to feel for his suffering when he is a big, powerful dog who could easily best most men he come in contact with.  The book also ends a little differently than the book which has some Native-American Yeehats massacre John Thronton.  Even with these few misfires, the setting is spot-on and Harrison Ford’s narration and acting makes this a worthy, if flawed, adaptation.

Fantasy Island

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I think this movie might have more of a following among younger people who have never heard of the original Fantasy Island, but I doubt it.  The original T.V. show featured Mr. Roark and his mysterious butler ( assisstant? helper?) Tatoo.  Mr. Roark granted guests a wish of some kind that usually ended up teaching them a moral lesson.  They always left the island wiser, happier and very much alive.  This new version captures none of the charm of the original.  The new Mr. Roark is played by Michael Pena. I have liked him in many roles; but he’s no Ricardo Montalban, he’s just plain miscast.   He has a female assisstant who tells Mr. Roark when the plane with the guests has arrived.  The movie goes right off any relation to the original, and  completely downhill, from there.  Eventually we find out that Mr. Roark is not granting any wishes- it is the Fantasy Island itself that is sort of controlling the action via some funky water found in a cave in the heart of the island.  Unlike the original, guests can and do get hurt, and even killed.  Welcome guests, to Murder Island! But this is no Rated R horror movie, more like a cheapo  SciFi channel schlockfest.  The acting isn’t great and the plot is almost funny (but it isn’t trying to be), and more than almost murky and overly complex. *****SPOILER ALERT*****  Don’t read any further if you plan on seeing this movie in the theatre (you aren’t, are you?)  How is this for poor writing?  At the end of the movie Mr. Roark ends up with a new aide, who has become doomed to remain on this island. He is played by Jimmy O. Yang.  Mr. Roark wonders what he should call his new assistant.  It is decided he will go by the tattoo he got on his shoulder in college.  What does the tattoo say?  Tattoo of course!  Clever? Not really.

The Rhythm Section

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I have seen some really good movies in the past few months.  Unfortunately, this was not one of them.  “The RhythmSection” stars Blake Lively as Stephanie Patrick, who has sunk into a life of prostitution and drugs after her whole family is killed in an airplane crash.  After finding out that the crash was actually caused by a bomb, she decides to track down those responsible and kill them.   This makes it even worse, since they changed flights for her, and she didn’t even show up for the flight. The first clue I had that this movie wasn’t Oscar calibre was when I started to doze about 30 minutes in.  I think I was in and out for about 15 minutes and I didn’t miss much.  The first hour was labored, and even boring at times, as it dragged on introducing us to Stephanie and her sleazy life.  She is found by a reporter trying to help her determine who really was responsible for the bombing of her family’s flight.  But he is murdered.  She is able to trace his source and takes several buses to Scotland, where she is able to easily find the source, who is played by Jude Law.  He may or may not be an MI6 agent.  Don’t worry, you’re never going to find out. The second half of the movie picks up as Stephanie poses as a Russian hit-woman, but she isn’t very good.  It’s no wonder, as it looks like Jude spent at least three or four days ‘training’ her.  You are left to wonder what exactly he actually taught her. In fact she only fullfills most of her missions by sheer luck.  There is a lot of action in the second half, but most of it is poorly written and a bit perposterous.  I think I can tell you without spoiling the movie that rhythm section refers to having control of your heart beat and breathing so that you can keep your emotions under control.  I felt left hanging at several points and at times, events didn’t flow naturally into each other.  A lot of things were left unexplained and unexplored. Definitely not worth seeing in a theatre even if you are a fan of Jude Law (which I am) or Blake Lively (which I am not).

The Gentlemen

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I have been a semi-fan of Hugh Grant for several years.  He plays doofy and kind of smarmy characters (but with a hidden side of decency and heart that eventually comes out) better than just about anyone.  So what a pleasant surprise to discover a deliciously evil Hugh Grant in Guy Ritchie’s newest movie, “The Gentlemen.”  The story follows American Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), who has built a profitable marijuana empire in London. Word gets out that he is looking to sell his business and retire.  This piece of news sets off a whole series of events that include extortion, schemes and betrayals, sundry illegalities and even murder as various lowlifes compete to take his empire.  In the middle of it all is a seedy, almost unrecogizable Hugh Grant playing Fletcher,a sleazy private eye who also narrates the story.  Guy Ritchie also employees a cast of characters well played by Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Colin Farrell and Jeremy Strong.  There is action galore and several twists and turns keep things interesting.  At one point, a giant pig plays a key, if somewhat disgusting role.  I liked this movie more than I thought it would and it is the kind of mindless, but enthusiastic, entertainment that I like to watch before the Oscar results come out.