Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Father

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Apple Rating:

Here is another intense movie up for a few Academy Awards. “The Father” is a serious and disquieting movie. Outstanding performances from Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman (both previous Oscar winners) give this movie a prestigious and rather regal look. The story takes place mainly in the mind of Hopkins, who plays a man in the final stages of dementia. He lives with his daughter (Olivia Colman). Or does he? You will be just as confused as Hopkin’s character is as you watch him try to figure out what is going on in his life. Both actors give heartbreaking tour-de-force performances which deservedly have garnered them award nominations. The performers, as well as the writer and director, do an outstanding job of bringing us into this world as active observers. You will really empathize with the characters as they struggle to find their way through the illusions and confusions many have faced, and will deal with in the course of aging. It will really make you think about this aspect of what many families must deal with while facing the end of life. If you want to see two acting greats at the top of their game, this is a movie not to miss.

Tiger King:Murder, Mayhem and Madness

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I had been hearing about this show for the last couple of weeks, and decided to give it a try. After all, in these pandemic times, I had no where better to be. What I was expecting was a fictional movie with cheap special effects and bad acting, a Sharknado if you will. If only! What I got instead was a documentary about some sleazy people who have no redeeming qualities. The story follows Joe Exotic (you will not be surprised to hear that is not his real name) who owns, well, owned, a big cat park in Oklahoma. You might describe him as a mullett wearing, gun toting, gay polygamist. He exploits these big cats shamelessly. Since people love to be photographed with the cats’ babies (you can pay 100’s of dollars to get your picture taken with one), I wondered almost immediately what happens to the cats as they get older and are no longer able to “pull their weight,” so to speak. He is surrounded by a gang of the most skeevy people you’d never want to associate with, including a pervert child sex abuser. And the people visiting his ‘park,’ and attending his shows are nearly as bad. Low lifes is too kind a description of the whole bunch. On the other side of the coin, we find Carol Baskin. She purports to be an animal activist who wants to shut down Joe Exotic and keep him from exploting the tigers. Good intentions; but as the documentary progresses, it is easy to put her in the same unscrupulous category as Joe himself. Not only that, but it is more than likely that she had something to do with the murder of her first husband (the millionaire whose estate left her the money to carry on her crusade). These are both evil and reprehensible people. So you may be wondering, why did I watch all 7 episodes? Partly out of boredom, but mainly because I was hoping that somewhere in this mess were good people. I am a hopeful kind of person. I honestly believe most people are truly good at heart. Despite the people depicted in this series, I would like to believe that most animal sanctuaries are indeed just that. Next up, good people who rescue tigers. It might not get stellar ratings – but I will be there watching!!

Whatcha Watching?

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We are living in some strange times, aren’t we? People are practicing social distancing, schools are closed, and many are working from home. I thought this might be a good time to discuss some good shows, movies, or series that we could watch. I am going to tell you some of my favorites and why. If you feel like it, add yours or give me your opinion.

LOCKE AND KEY: **Netflix** This is the most recent series I have binge-watched. It is a supernatural/horror program based on a series on comic books. After her husband is murdered, Mrs. Locke moves her family to her husband’s giant (and of course extremely creepy and very remote and lonely) ancestral home which hasn’t been used in years! Here they discover that the house is full of mysterious keys that all have strange properties, and can readily be used (but should they?) The story unfolds as the kids slowly discover the secret of the keys and try to keep them away from a sinister demon named Dodge. The story is compelling and entertaining.

MIRACLE WORKERS: **Hulu** This is probably one of my favorite limited series. It purposefully had one season so the complete story is neatly tied up at the end. Imagine Steve Buscemi playing God as a kind of surfer-dude underachiever and Daniel Radcliffe as a hapless angel. The premise of the show is God wants to destroy the world and start again. Daniel makes a bet with God. If he can get two particular people on Earth to fall in love, mankind will be saved. However, time is limited and the two antisocial nerds are not cooperating. What follows is too funny to describe. There is a second season of Miracle Workers called Dark Ages, but it is a completely different story with Steve Buscemi playing a manure shoveler while Daniel Radcliffe plays a kind of doofy prince. Dark Ages isn’t as funny, but still worth a look.

BETTER CALL SAUL: **Netflix** (current season on AMC) If you were a fan of Breaking Bad, you will appreciate this series. I think you could watch it even without having seen the previous series. Saul Goodman, the ace attorney with the shady clientele, started his life as Jimmy McGill, a small-time lawyer who lives in the shadow of his once-brilliant brother. This series shows us how through a series of bad luck, ill fortune (exacerbated by his brother’s ill will) and his own sketchy choices, Jimmy McGill slowly morphs into Saul Goodman. Bob Odenkirk delivers an acting tour-de-force as the hustling lawyer who may do some “shady” deals, but always tries to help the underdog.

So what are you all watching? By the Way – if you sign up on the provided link, you will get Adnerb updates so you will know everytime I publish a new review.

Motherless Brooklyn

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“Motherless Brooklyn” is a film noir detective story set in the New York of the 1950s.  This is the first movie that Ed Norton has written, directed, and starred in, and it is an excellent trifecta debut.  Ed Norton stars as Lionel, nicknamed Brooklyn, who is part of a team of private investigators headed by Frank Minna (Bruce Willis), who rescued all four of the men from a parentless foster childhood after the war.  Lionel, who has Tourette’s syndrome and an incredible memory, is devoted to Frank.  Frank brings Lionel and another of the group to a mysterious meeting.  He won’t explain any details of what he is doing there, they are just along to provide back-up.  When the undisclosed plan falls apart, Frank is murdered by some unknown shady characters.  Lionel takes the case to find his friend’s killer and figure out what is going on. As he probes deeper and deeper, he slowly uncovers a complex and widespread criminal conspiracy. As you could probably guess, he discovers corruption, dark secrets, and maybe even love as he traverses between Brooklyn and Harlem.  Norton gives an outstanding performance as Lionel.  Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker is more powerful; but Norton’s subtle and nuanced characterization is equally as compelling.  The story held my interest for the entire 2 1/2 hours, helped by some excellent supporting performances by Alex Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bruce Willis, Bobby Cannavale and Michael K. Williams.  Norton has re-created the 1950’s New York City atmosphere wonderfully. This old-fashioned detective type movie is not made very often any more and it is a shame.  I definitely recommend this outstanding movie based on the book by Jonathan Lethem.

Good Boys

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“Good Boys” is the story of three friends, Max, Lucas and Thor, who are going into sixth grade and trying to figure out how to kiss girls so that Max can have success at his first kissing party.  They decide to use Max’s dad’s drone to observe some neighbor girls.  Max has been strongly warned not to touch it.  And….you know what’s going to happen! The rest of the movie has the three boys making some extremely bad descisons; which include skipping school, drinking beer, locking a policeman in a store, wrecking the drone, and beating up some Frat boys.  There is a hilarious sequence involving Stephen Merchant and a “CPR doll.”  The boys ( Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams and Brady Noon) are likable and amazingly believable as sixth graders trying to navigate the beginnings of puberty. As someone who has been teaching middle school for 32 years, I found the performances surprisingly realistic.  There is also a timely message about how you can be friends with people who may have different interests than you do.  I was prepared to think this was a dumb movie, but I ended up laughing throughout and actually enjoyed myself.