Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

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Dr. Strange is my favorite Marvel character, and I have waited for six years to see this sequel.  Benedict Cumberbatch is compelling as the titular Doctor, who must travel to different “multiverses” in order to help a teenage girl (Xochitl Gomez) save not only our world but others as well from Elizabeth Olson’s Scarlet Witch.  (And, an alternative universe Dr. Strange turns out to have initiated all the multiverse problems due to his own ego and over confidence!) This is an entertaining, action-packed movie, which is to be expected from Marvel.  The special effects dazzle, incredibly so.    There are some cool surprise appearances by old favorites and new super heroes that I won’t spoil, but I am hoping that they will be seen in future Marvel movies.  Other people featured are Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, the Doctor’s lost love in several different universes and, of course, Benedict Wong as the Sorcerer Supreme.  Also, look for a short sequence involving a fight with music that I loved. However, this was not a completely satisfying movie.  It was extremely hard to follow the plot.  It is confusing to meet multiple characters in different universes.  And for a Marvel movie there was not a lot of the humor I have come to expect.  However, I do think this is a worthy entry into the Dr. Strange canon and I can’t wait to see the next one.  Obviously – stay to the end of the credits. All of the credits! There are two, but the one at the very end will make you laugh.

The Power of the Dog

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“The Power of the Dog” has been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.  Why, you ask?  Well it is full of great acting, wonderful costumes, and breathtaking scenery.  Will you want to watch it?  My guess is probably not.  In summary, this is a story about two ranching brothers who live in 1925 Montana.  Phil Burbank is a bitter bully who torments his brother, his horse, and anyone else who makes him angry.  Phil is played by Benedict Cumberbatch who speaks in an American accent and is perfectly convincing and menacing in his role.  Phil and his brother George (Jesse Plemons) stop at a prairie restaurant in a small  town to give their men a break on a cattle drive and meet widow Rose played by Kirsten Dunst and her seemingly tender-hearted son, Peter (Kodi Smit McPhee).  After a whirlwind courtship, George marries Rose and she and her son move to the ranch where Phil’s ominous presence and overt bullying cause a change in behavior in both Rose and Peter.  Everything that happens (or doesn’t happen) is so slow and subtle that if you blink, you may miss an important piece of the plot. In fact, you will spend most of the movie waiting for ‘something’ to happen. This is one of those movies that needs 100% of your attention.  By the way, “The Power of the Dog” has nothing to do with dogs for you animal lovers out there, and there is animal abuse depicted that is hard to watch.  That being said, this may be some of the best acting  of Cumberbatch’s career  and I would not be surprised if he won an Oscar.  His performance may be reason enough to see this, although Jesse Plemons really surprised me as the quiet, long-suffering brother.  But the other characters are sketchily drawn and hardly figure in the story. And a lot of what action is depicted is detached and doesn’t really add or detract from the story, and borders on the lightly bizarre at times.  I’ll be honest, after seeing this movie, I had to look up a few things on Google in order to understand exactly what the ending was all about.  That rarely happens to me.  I know this movie is an artistic triumph, but I just can’t give it my highest rating as it was not an enjoyable experience  and I don’t see myself watching it again.  If you end up watching, I would love to hear what you thought!

The Electrifying Life of Louis Wain

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This movie won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it sure was mine. This is the kind of little British drama you can usually find on PBS.  It is the true story of Louis Wain. If you are like me, and never heard of him, I suggest you google his name before watching the movie.  Take a look at his very interesting, and sometimes bizarre, drawings and paintings of cats.  Before Louis Wain, people believed cats belonged outside catching mice.  Most would not have dreamed of keeping one in the house. Wain’s drawings were so popular that they helped launch cats as companions and pets.  In “The Electrifying Life of Louis Wain” Benedict Cumberbatch does an outstanding job of showing us Louis’s unorthodox mind.  His life is hard and confusing to him (he may have been autistic or suffered from schizophrenia) until he marries his sisters’ governess – played delightfully by Claire Foy.  Their romance is so sweet and Louis is blissfully happy.  But this being a true story, unfortunately, it doesn’t stay that way.  The electricity in the title refers to the Louis’s belief that electricity can pull us forward in time and help us hold on to our memories.  This idea inspired him to create cats that became more and more psychedelic over the years. But his inner demons cause his life to become sadder and his sanity more tenuous.   Olivia Colman adds her terrific voice as the narrator.  This story gave me a deep appreciation of this man I had never heard of, and his unique and powerful pictures of cats. If you’re interested, you can find this mesmerizing tale on Amazon Prime.

The Grinch

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I think the following exchange sums up my feelings about this movie.  There was a mom and her son (he looked to be around 4) sitting next to us in the theatre.  About halfway into the movie the boy turns to his mom and says. “I don’t like this movie, can we go home now?”  Hey kid – I’m with you!  I wasn’t going to see this movie at all, but I thought with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch, maybe he would be up to the task, or at least add one reliably interesting element.  I was wrong.  You might remember how Jay Ward and the Warner Brothers deftly crafted their comedy cartoons so there were elements that appealed to the adult, some that appealed to the kid, and some that covered all the bases. This writer and his team definitely weren’t able to do this.  That being said,  if you are a kid between the age of 5-10, you might find this a somewhat enjoyable holiday entry.  I must say that except for a scene of the Grinch shopping in town (his interactions with the townspeople are WAY off Suess’ script), he never seemed very mean or even that scary. He’s bland, homogenized into a pale imitation of the original. The otherwise pointless inclusion of a cliched giant moose character probably helped them expand it from the television half hour to a movie length story.  The new music is pedestrian, not very catchy; but the worst is the reimagined Cindy Lou Who who is now an incredibly spunky hockey playing girl with an equally incredibly saintly single mother.   This one should have Dr. Suess rising from the grave faster than Jacob Marley’s ghost!  If I had a child or grandchild who was in the right age range for this movie, I still wouldn’t take them to see it.  Instead, we would microwave some popcorn, snuggle under a nice warm blanket, and watch the original made for televsion version.  Boris Karloff – you are missed!!

Dr. Strange

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Benedict Cumberbatch is the perfect person to play Dr. Strange.  Stephen Strange is a gifted and arrogant surgeon whose hands are damaged in a horrible car accident.  When medical science can not help him, he travels East looking for a mystical cure and finds much more.  Through the teachings of Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, he learns to channel his inner strength to become a powerful sorcerer.  If this doesn’t sound like your average Marvel super hero, you are right,  and that is why I loved this movie!  I watched it in 3D and I recommend that you do the same.  The special effects are incredible.  Let me know what  you think about a surreal scene showing Dr. Strange’s hands turning into something freaky and fascinating.  I have become a little jaded about superhero movies.  They almost seem to have been made on an assembly line and one is as good as another.  At last, a super hero movie that is different, smart, funny and action-packed, all at the same time.  There is one thing this movie has in common with all Marvel super hero  movies; stay until the end of the credits.  Apparently Dr. Strange is going to be paired in a future move with my former favorite Marvel hero (You will see who I mean in the credits).  I can’t wait to see what marvels are in store for Dr. Strange and we movie fans!