Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

House of Gucci

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Wow!  Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” is quite a movie!  This basically true story has it all.  Lady Gaga plays Patrizia, an ambitious party girl who marries into the ultra conservative and super rich House of Gucci.  Adam Driver is Maurizio Gucci, who marries her against his father’s – Rodolfo Gucci played by Jeremy Irons – wishes, and is disinherited.  Rounding out the major players are Al Pacino as Aldo Gucci and Jared Leto (almost unrecognizable) as Paolo Gucci.  They are Maurizio’s uncle and cousin. The plot centers around Patrizia who cajoles, plots, connives and charms Maurizio into taking charge of the Gucci empire – by any means necessary.  Of course, it only ends up destroying the family.  The people in this story are  despicable as they participate in betrayal, tax evasion, back-stabbing, forgery, and even murder.  I am reminded of “The Godfather” in the sense that, at first, you kind of like the characters.  At first! Salma Hayek plays Pina Auriemma who is a television psychic. She advises Patrizia, and as Patrizia and Maurizio’s stars rise, so does hers.  But the greed, jealousy and envy so often at the core of the exercise of wealth based power soon take the auspicious beginnings down the path to turmoil, desperation and an inevitable, futile and sordid end. This is one cautionary movie that will make you glad you were not born into lavish wealth.  Obviously, this is a very adult movie – you would want to leave your children at home. Nonetheless, the acting is superb, the settings extremely well done and the story is engrossing.  I highly recommend this movie for a chance to see the seamy underbelly of the fashion world.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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I watched the very first Star Wars movie in 1977 when it first came out.  Then it was a completely fresh and new  kind of movie.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that the original Star Wars usuhered in an era of acceptance for serious SciFi that has flourished ever since.  Through it all, I have followed the highs (Luke, I am your father) and lows (Jar-Jar Binks) of the series, including the off-shoot movies like ‘Rogue One’.    So you can imagine my disappointment at the terrible reviews some people have been giving this one.  DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THE REVIEWERS!  This was a great and fitting ending for true Star Wars fans.  I loved it!  Yes, some of the action seems simple and innocent, but this is true to the original and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  In this episode, an enemy from the past resurfaces and is, of course, bent on dominating and ruling the galaxy.  The old gang, introduced two episodes ago, are all back.  Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega) and of course, Rey (Daisy Ridley) must work together to help the small but hopeful resistance fight back.  Daisy will find out her bloodline in a surprising revelation, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) will come to terms with his destiny, and many old favorites will be featured including Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian.  There will be some deaths, expected and unexpected, as well as a few pleasant surprises including a new droid named D-O.  I thought this movie ties everything up and it is a fitting conclusion to 40 years of being happily and fully entertained.  An era has come to en end, but in a great way.

The Dead Never Die

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This was a very strange movie, and I mean strange.  “The Dead Never Die” stars Bill Murray and Adam Driver as taciturn policemen who work in the sleepy small town of Centerville.  Fracking by American energy companies has caused a problem with the Earth’s rotational axis which leads to ZOMBIES!!  The movie follows various characters as they try to deal, mainly unsuccessfully, with this epidemic,   I usually love quirky zombie movies, but I must say, this one, not so much.  For a dark comedy, there are hardly any laughs.  For an action movie, there isn’t much action.  There are tons of zombies though, doing the usual things  that zombies do and it is very graphic.  It just wasn’t very interesting though.  There is even a potentially clever twist featuring Tilda Swinton that goes nowhere except into a strange sort of plot hole.  The movie ends with a preachy diatribe about how we are ruining the planet that seems totally unnecessary and out of place.  If I were you, I would rewatch Bill Murray in “Zombieland” and skip this one entriely.

BlacKkKlansman

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BlacKKKlansman is a highly entertaining and thought-provoking movie from director Spike Lee.  John David Washington (son of Denzel) stars as Ron Stallworth, the first African American detective to join the Colorado Springs Police Department.  (The story of his actual life is pretty amazing). He is largely sidelined in menial positions until the Chief decides to give him an opportunity as an actual detective.  He teams up with Flip (Adam Driver) and Jimmy (Michael Buscemi), and basically on a whim, calls the local KKK.  He has several phone conversations with the local leader Walter (Ryan Eggold of “The Blacklist”) that lead him to ask his Chief if he could run an undercover operation.  After he talks his partners and Sergeant (Ken Garito) into it; he comes up with a scheme to infiltrate the local KKK.  While he talks on the phone with Walter, Flip actually meets the group and gains their confidence (except for one overly suspicious and creepy Klansman).  He and Flip succeed, and Flip is taken in by the group, who become convinced he is a like-minded recruit. Ron even convinces none other than KKK Grandmaster David Duke (Topher Grace) that he is a white redneck who wants to join the organization.  He also becomes emotionally involved with a black student leader who hates cops.  Once he reveals his cover to her, things get complicated.  The resolution of all the issues is fast paced and tense.  Both Washington and Driver are fantastic, with good support from the entire cast (including Ashlie Atkinson as a disurbingly submissive and racist wife of the suspicious Klansmen).  The issues examined in this movie are scary and disturbing, and no less timely now then they were at the time of the movie’s events.  Spike Lee delivers a great movie; although if you are a fan of President Trump, you will not like the way that he not-so-subtly juxtaposes what is going on in today’s America with Stallworth’s story.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

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Are you a fan of the Star Wars movies?  You can bet I am and I was eager and excited to see this latest installment.  All the characters we loved from the last installment like Rey, Poe, Finn BB-8,  and Kylo Ren, are back as well as old favorites like Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, R2D2, and C3PO.  What a cast! This movie also boasts a great script, spot on direction and wonderful and sweeping scenery.  In a nutshell:  The Last Jedi has everything I want to see in a Star Wars movie.  If you are like me, someone who loves and watches tons of movies, it is hard to come up with something new and inventive that actually surprises me.  “The Last Jedi” did it though, and how!  Once it gets going, the action is fast paced and shifts from story line to story line fluidly, keeping the viewer interested and looking forward to the next scene. Scenes between Luke (Mark Hamill) and Rey (Dasiy Ridely) evoke those between Luke and his teacher,Yoda.  Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey continue to have some kind of a connection through the Force that we all know will  not end well for one of them, but adds exposition and a dimension to the Force that hitherto has been unexploited, in the movies at least .   Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Issac) continue to shine in their supporting roles.  New comer Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico was surprisingly poignant as a maintenance worker who has a key role in helping the Resistance.  There are too many minor characters to name, but Benecio del Toro and Laura Dern are just two of the many standouts.  Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t end up wanting to own an “ice fox.”  Porgs aside, the ice foxes are absolutely cute and cool. Director and writer Rian Johnson has done a masterful job of respecting the episodes that came before and at the same injecting new life and humor into the eighth episode in a saga that happens in a galaxy far, far away!