Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

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I may not be Groot, but I know an entertaining movie when I see one!  If you liked the first “Guardian of the Galaxy” movie, you will not be disappointed with this second installment.  All the characters you loved in the first movie are back:  Chris Pratt as Quill, still playing music from the 80’s on his cassette player, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, who may or may not have feelings for Quill, Dave Bautista as Drax, who has no social filter and Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket, the weapon toting raccoon. The new characters are excellent additions, especially Kurt Russell as Ego, who claims to be Quill’s dad and a god.  There are few actors around today who could pull that combination off, and thankfully Kurt is one of them.  There are a lot of explosions of course and plenty of action.  There is also a killer sound track full of songs like “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, “Brandy” by Looking Glass, “Come a Little Bit Closer” by Jay and the Americans and a timely placed “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens.  I loved Groot’s character in the first movie but Baby Groot is so adorable even the villains can’t bring themselves to kill him.  If you are looking for an entertaining way to spend a few hours, you can’t go wrong with this movie.  By the way, like all Marvel movies, stay to the very end of the credits for a preview and a surprise.

The Circle

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As a teacher, I worry about my students’ total immersion in social media.  Is instant access a good idea or is it potentially harmful to society?  “The Circle” attempts to get us to think about these questions.  Emma Watson, sans her English accent, plays Mae Holland, who lands a dream job at The Circle, the world’s most powerful social media company (Think Google+ Facebook+ Twitter).  The “bad guy” is the company’s founder played by the always likable Tom Hanks, who  proposes 24/7 world wide surveillance on everyone, everywhere, by the use of tiny little cameras that blend in with their surroundings.  Emma agrees to become the first person in the world to use these cameras as a way to ‘total transparency,’ to be under scrutiny at virtually all times, sort of like Jim Carrey in ‘The Truman Story,’ except the twist is she is a willing participant.  She is watched world-wide by everyone, except when she has three minute privacy breaks to use the restroom or is sleeping.  As you can imagine, there are some horrendous implications to this kind of public life with tragic results.   John Boyega was so wonderful in the new Star Wars movie, but he doesn’t have much to do in this one.  I would have loved to see more of him.  Apparently, The Circle was Bill Paxton’s last film, and he is interesting in a small role as Mae’s father.  I found the topic really interesting, but the movie itself moves slowly and really doesn’t pick up until the end. ‘The Truman Story’ was a much better movie; I would recommend re-watching that and wait until you can see this one on the small screen.

Going in Style

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The stars of ‘Going in Style,’ Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin are all Oscar winners.  They play elderly gentlemen who decide to rob a bank in retribution for being screwed over by shifty pension managers and dodgy banks (kind of like “Hell or High Water” which was a better although more somber movie).  There are some genuinely funny and heartwarming moments.  All three actors are masters at their craft.  But there are some negatives too.   I feel the casting of Ann-Margret as the love interest of Alan Arkin was terrible!  Why is it okay for these older men to be cast wrinkles and all, but the actresses of the same age have to have so much plastic surgery that they look fake and just a little creepy?  It would be so refreshing to see a great actress like say Katherine Ross, Rachel Ward or Diane Keaton playing these parts with their natural beauty.  Her mask-like features really distracted from the whole love story.  Also, the first half hour of the movie dragged; it wasn’t until they started cleverly and humorously planning their heist that the movie really took off.  This is a pleasant enough movie, but I think you can wait until it is on Netflix to watch it.

The Zookeeper’s Wife

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The year is 1939 and the place is Poland.  Antonina and Jan Zabiniski are the directors of the Warsaw Zoo.  The animals are well-cared for and loved and the Zabiniskis (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh) are happy and content.  Unfortunately, their somewhat idyllic life is shattered by the invading German Army at the start of World War Two.  The zoo is bombed and the scenes of animals being bombed, strafed and shot for sport by Nazi soldiers are heart rending. The Germans, led in this case by an SS officer who is a big zoologist in Germany, take all the best animals for redistribution, leaving the zoo virtually empty. This brave couple put themselves, and their son, in danger daily by turning their zoo into a human sanctuary by hiding persecuted Jews from the Ghetto in the deserted animal pens and cages.  Jessica Chastain turns in a good performance as the shy, artsy wife who opens her home to over 300 refugees.  Daniel Bruhl is even better as the Berlin zoologist who, in addition to taking the best of the animals, has a misguided idea to recreate extinct Aurochs by selectively breeding various bulls and bison breeds.  How the Zabiniskis are able to hide people from the Nazi’s is a fascinating story told against the backdrop of the Warsaw Ghetto and its ultimate destruction.  The fact that this is all a true story (and very accurately rendered) makes this movie even more amazing.  I can’t quite give this movie a golden apple because it is a little slow moving in points, but it is definitely worth seeing.

Ghost in the Shell

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In this sci-fi thriller movie version of the Japanese anime series, Scarlett Johansson plays Major, a cyber-enhanced human (well, she has a human brain anyway).  I love these futuristic dystopian movies that depict life in a brave, new world of tomorrow, especially if cyborgs or robots are involved.  In this movie, Major is a human whose brain is put into a “shell” or synthetic body after being ‘saved’ from a terrible boating tragedy.  The “ghost” is her essence, or spirit.  She is turned into the perfect soldier and is tasked with stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals from doing their nefarious deeds.  The cinematography is exquisite and had me totally immersed in futuristic Tokyo.  Scarlett Johansson is pretty good playing a robotic-like woman who is starting to realize that her creators may not be telling her the complete truth about what has been done to her.  I also liked Pilou Asbaek as her sidekick Batou, who has a soft spot for dogs.  However, I found the story was slow-paced and the plot very simplistic.  Despite, those drawbacks, and poor reviews from other venues, I think if you see this movie, you will enjoy it.