Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Batman

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One thing I have always liked about Batman is that he is not a true superhero.  He has no superpowers and must rely on his wits, gadgets and his loyal factotum Alfred to help him in his role as a reluctant crime fighter.  One thing I hate about Batman movies is there are just too many of them.  Every movie seems to rehash The Joker or The Penguin, and you always know that Batman is conflicted, brooding and will be doomed to live a lonely life.  Even so, I did like The Batman.  In this iteration, Robert Pattison expertly plays Batman in his early stages; he has barely been Batman for two years.  Most people do not even know who he is yet, and those who do regard him merely as a vigilante.  There is no Robin mentioned throughout the movie. The only person who knows the identity of the mysterious crusader is Lieutenant James Gordon, who is played by one of my favorite actors, Jeffrey Wright.  (Yes, not-yet-commissioner Gordon). This is indeed a brooding, film-noir type Batman movie.  There is no time or place for humor or lightness.  There is a really disturbed serial killer on the loose, The Riddler (Paul Dano), who leaves twisted clues among grotesque corpses all around the city. Yet there is method to his madness, as the saying goes.  Batman teams up with Cat Woman (Zoe Kravitz) to explore the seedy individuals of the underbelly of Gotham and expose their rampant corruption.  Some of these despicable characters include Colin Farrell as The Penguin (completely unrecognisable in amazing prostheses) and John Turturro as crime boss Carmine Falcone.  Even though there is a running time of three hours, the movie didn’t drag and there were a lot of surprises or familiar Batman tropes spun in a different way.  I have two minor negatives.  First of all, the wonderful Andy Serkis played Alfred, but had very little screen time.  I would have loved to see more of him and I imagine part of his role ended up on the cutting room floor. If so, I hope some of those scenes will be included as deleted scenes in DVD releases.  The other thing I didn’t like was how dark this movie was.  I get it.  Batman lives in the shadows and roams the city at night,  BUT it makes it really hard to see everything that is going on. I mean, they are even investigating crime scenes with flashlights!  For Pete’s sake, turn on a light or two!  I would imagine if this is the first in a series (the end does set up at least one sequel), future movies may include Robin and the return of The Joker.  I am not sure I would take younger kids to this one, but the rest of you will probable enjoy Robert Pattinson’s  performance and the dark atmosphere of The Batman.

Moonfall

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The premise of Moonfall is that the moon is an alien-made structure that was put in place for some unknown reason (which will become apparent later).  Astronauts Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and Jo Fowler (Halle Berry)  are working on a satellite when they are attacked by a mysterious black cloud thingee. It swirls around with intelligent appearing malevolence and though they escape, it ends up causing another astronaut’s death.  No one believes Brian about the black cloud and he is blamed (and fired) for the catastrophe.   The movie then skips ahead ten years where the moon is acting weird, is off course, and heading for Earth.  Oh no!!  The U. S. military’s bright and  apparently only idea to stop this is to nuke the moon, yes, you heard me right, nuke the moon!  Since there are apparently no other astronauts or rockets available, Jo and Brian find an old relic and decide to go up into the moon and save the day.  Wait, they need help.  Why not take an overweight conspiracy theorist who has some serious anxiety issues and has never been in space?  Because his theories appear to be on target! That is where K.C. Housman (Game of Thrones’ John Bradley) comes in.  The movie is full of government cover ups, conspiracy theories, sentient A.I, kids in danger, separated families,and bone-headed decisions.  I found most of the movie silly and the reason for the ‘moon fall’ kind of dumb.  There is a large amount of exposition in the last half hour of the movie.  And a lot of the action, particularly the movements of the moon, really strains credulity…be ready to suspend a LOT of disbelief. Of course,in all movies where the Earth is in danger, a major landmark must be destroyed.  You will have to watch for yourself to see which one they get in this movie.  Should you see this movie?  I definitely wouldn’t pay to see it in a theatre, but on a rainy Sunday afternoon, if nothing else was showing, it would definitely pass the time.

Don’t Look Up

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“Don’t Look Up” is stuffed to the brim with stars who can act.  Some of those you will see in this movie are:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Ariana Grande and Tyler Perry.  This is a tongue-in-cheek satire which will not appeal to everyone.  The premise is that two astronomers, Randall Mindy and Kate Dibiasky,  played by DiCaprio and Lawrence, discover that a comet larger than the one that killed the dinosaurs is heading for earth. But this one is large enough to completely destroy life on the planet. The comet will arrive in six months.  As our intrepid astronomers try to warn people and get them to take the situation seriously, no one believes them or even seems to care.  The media, portrayed by Blanchett and Perry, are parodied as the typical, utterly shallow and phony entertainment influencers of today. Blanchett is only focused on how handsome Mindy is, and loses interest in him once he loses his ratings draw.  Perry is a mindless, sycophant.  And of course, alternative media steps in to provide the idiotic, anti-science opposition. The government initially takes things seriously, but thanks to the interference of a mega-donor communications company owner (Rylance), hoping to exploit the resources the comet contains, they switch to his plan.  Of course, the plan fails utterly and we are all undone.  Meryl Streep plays the president of the United States as a clueless Trump-like character, while Jonah Hill is absolutely despicable as as her son (and Chief of Staff) who doesn’t appear to have ANY people skills whatsoever, or any intelligence for that matter.  You may feel like punching both of them by the end of the movie. There are some serious topics lampooned including greed, gullibility, nepotism, media responsibility, corruption, vanity, celebrity-obsession and politics. Sounds like a rather heavy handed, if absolutely on point, pillorying the worst aspects of social media and politics? It is. If you watch, make sure you watch the mid-credit scene because you will be glad you did! I loved this, and right now you can only see it on Netflix, so no worries about going out to a theatre.

Ghostbusters Afterlife

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Do the following words mean anything to you: Spengler, Ecto 1, Shandor, Muncher, Keymaster, or Zuul? If so, I have just the movie for you! If you have no idea what any of those words mean, I think you would enjoy this movie anyway. “Ghostbusters Afterlife” is chock full of references and homages to the original movie, while at the same time adding new life into the Ghostbusters franchise. The newest spectre seekers are played by some up and coming youngsters: Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things and It, as Trevor), Mckenna Grace (as Phoebe), Celeste O’Connor and Logan Kim (Podcast). Trevor and Grace are siblings who are dragged to the middle of nowhere to live in a spooky old house inherited by their mom (Carrie Coon). Her father, who she hates for having essentially abandoned her as a child, left it to her. Circumstances force them to move out west! Unbeknownst to them, their grandfather was Egon Spengler, one of the original Ghostbusters (played back then by Harold Ramis). The plot follows the kids and their friends – Podcast is especially fun – as they try to figure out why various strange phenomena are occurring in their small, seemingly boring, town. Strange sounds, daily earthquakes, and other spooky things are happening. Paul Rudd plays a disaffected teacher who has lost interest in the job. He shows his summer school students some very inappropriate movies. But ultra-smart Phoebe connects with him when she finds he is an ameteur siesmologist. They start investigating the reasons for the unnatural quakes; while Trevor and Podcast track other sources and clues. There are a lot of little sub stories, and plenty of references and humor that come along the way. And it all adds up to some special arrivals who “help” the kids save the planet.   By the way,stay to the very end to see a spoiler for a sequel, perhaps.  SPOILER ALERT: It has been all over the internet that some of the characters from the original 1984 movie show up in this one, and they do! If you are a fan, you will be satisfied and a little moved by the end of it all. There’s more than enough to entertain fans at any level.

Dune

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Dune is set in a distant future. Arrakis is the only planet in the known universe that produces the spice Melange, the most valuable and essential commodity in the universe. It gives long life, greater vitality and heightened awareness. So, whoever controls Arrakis will amass untold wealth and power. The Padashaw Emperor controls this universe and rules with the aid of the Landsraad. The Landsraad is composed of the great houses, and is extremely political, very cutthroat and brutal. Arrakis is a hot, almost uninhabitable environment of desert and
mountains. It’s controlled at the beginning by Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgard) of the House Harkonen. The native life is composed of the giant sandworms, fierce guardians of desert spice fields and the Fremen, the mysterious denizens who want to be rid of the Imperial houses and have made an agreement of convenience with them regarding spice harvesting. But the Fremen have other plans, there is prophecy, mysticism and a looked for mahdi. And that’s just the overview! Timothee Chalamet stars as Paul Atreides, the only son and heir of the Duke Ledo the Just (Oscar Isaac) of the great House of Atreides. Duke Ledo is inexplicably handed Arrakis by the emperor, displacing their deadly enemies, the Harkonen. They know the Emperor plans treachery, and try to take precautions. However, it’s too little, too late. There is death and the virtual destruction of the Atreides clan. Paul will need to step up and rise to his destiny. Dune is a complicated book, and I can see how people who are not familiar with previous movies or the original book, could be confused. But director Denis Villeneuve does a great job helping the uninitiated follow the story, while giving hardcore Dune fans the details. Chalamet handles the task of showing a young nobleman faced with sudden disaster and tragedy and rising to the challenge with strength and intelligence. The supporting cast is superb, and includes Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, David Bautista, and Charlotte Rampling along with the aforementioned Oscar Isaac and Stellan Skarsgard. The scope of this epic, the stunning settings, and well designed costumes, are beautifully done. Even though Dune comes in at over 2 1/2 hours, it is only Part 1 of this epic story. There is something for everyone in this movie and you do not need to be a fan of Dune to enjoy it. Honestly, I can’t wait for Part 2!