Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Menu and Glass Onion

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I am a sucker for murder mysteries and both of these movies delivered everything I like in good ones!  “The Menu” isn’t a true whodunit, but more like a why’d-he-do-that and the mystery is who, if anyone, will escape unscathed.  “Glass  Onion,” (a sequel to Knives Out) on the other hand, will have you guessing the whole time.  Both movies come to a satisfying conclusion.  “The Menu” stars Ralph Fiennes as a very talented high-end chef who serves an exclusive, and very expensive, meal every year to a small group of hoity-toity rich people.  Some of the guests this time are Ana Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Judith Light, and Janet McTeer just to name a few.    It becomes increasingly clear (not to mention horrifying)  that  the chef has conjured up more than just a meal.  The fun of this extremly dark comedy  is in figuring out who will still be around by the time the sixth course is finished.  Shout out to Hong Chau as the maitre d’  of the restaurant, who is just as subtly creepy and mysterious as the chef.

Part of the fun of “Glass Onion” rests with Daniel Craig reprising his role as Detective Benoit Blanc.  His acting and accent are spot on and the little tidbits we find out about his personality and private life are intriguing.  The set up for the story is that self-centered billionaire, Ed Norton (at his unlovable best) has sent invitations to a close knit group of his “friends” to spend a weekend playing a murder mystery game.  The guests include Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, and Leslie Odom Jr.  Of course, there is a real murder and it is very convienent that Detective Blanc is there to peel away the many layers of this “onion” mystery.  Look for two cameos.  One, I will not spoil because you will recognize him right away.  The other one, well, I won’t spoil that one either.  I’ll just  say that you will see him several times.  Let me know if you recognized him before the credits rolled, or you googled who it was.  🙂

I highly recommend both of these movies. Which ever you choose, you are in for an entertaining time.

No Time To Die — No Spoilers Edition —

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Talk about anticipation – I have been waiting for nearly two years for this movie. COVID really messed up movie premiers. This is to be the last outing for Daniel Craig as James Bond, 007, licensed to kill. I am going to miss his Bond. He is a superb actor and his James Bond was tough and vulnerable at the same time. Daniel Craig’s swan song is a very entertaining movie. Many loose ends are summed up, old favorites are alluded to, and new characters are introduced. Fans of an earlier Bond may catch a bit of foreshadowing early on. Moneypenny and Q (Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw) get some well deserved screen time. M in the role that Judy Dench vacated several movies ago is again well played by Ralph Fiennes. The story is complicated; but it’s basically the usual evil villain out to destroy the world. Safin has gotten ahold of genetic nanobots that can be individually targeted by a person’s DNA, so he can destroy virtually any person on Earth, individually or in very large numbers. The villain in this go around is played by Rami Malek, who I love. But he just isn’t given enough to do here. He doesn’t really appear until a bit late in the film, and his evilness is very understated. For a Bond villain, he’s kind of not involved, and he never really seems diabolical enough to pull off his plan. Christoph Waltz has a small, but memorable part as Blofeld, whom Bond put in prison in the previous Bond outing, and manages to taunt Bond from his cell. I also enjoyed a very brief appearance by Jeffery Wright who plays the CIA agent and friend of Bond, Felix Leiter. Bond is still having a hard time getting over Vesper Lynd, his love interest from Casino Royale, but may have finally found someone to settle down with. Lea Seydoux plays the love interest and Bond tenderly protects her and her daughter from Safin and his nanobots. Some people will not be happy with the way the writers decided to end this iteration of Bond. No matter what you think of the ending, this movie is full of chases, gadgets, intrigue, martinis (shaken not stirred) and rousing action. What more could you ask for in a Bond movie??

Knives Out

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“Knives Out” is an old-fashioned who dunnit and I mean that in the best possible way.  “Knives Out” is packed full of talented performances, from seasoned troupers like Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer and Michael Shannon.  Who dunnits always include a murder, suspects and an old spooky mansion.  This movie has it all and then some!  The house is full of esoteric antiques, secret rooms and doors, dark corners and creaky stairs.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, is a suspect.  The action centers on the apparent “suicide” of patriarch millionaire Harlan Thrombey, played by Chrisopher Plummer.  He is found in his study with a slit throat – which the police are considering a suicide.  In walks private detective Benoit Blanc (deliciously played by Daniel Criag. He’s not just James Bond anymore!) who believes the death may have been a murder most foul.  He interviews the motley collection of relatives who ALL have a motive, and one seemingly saintly care giver (played perfectly by Ana de Armas) who appears to be the only person in the house Harlan could stand.  This movie is going to remind you of Clue, Murder She Wrote, KFC, Foghorn Leghorn, and Agatha Christie, but with modern touches thrown in.  I couldn’t really spoil the plot if I tried because there are several reveals and all is not as it seems to be (of course).  This movie is a lot of fun to watch and I imagine the actors had fun playing their parts to the hilt.  I am giving this movie a golden apple because, well I throughly enjoyed it, and on this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for movies that entertain and surprise me.  What more do we need on Thanksgiving? turkey, stuffing, gravy……….

Logan Lucky

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Imagine you are watching an Ocean’s Eleven movie.  Now take out George Clooney and Brad Pitt and put in Adam Driver and Channing Tatum.  Instead of  Damon, replace with a tattooed and thick southern accented Daniel Craig ( I am not kidding).  Instead of the Bellaggio the target is the Charlotte Motor Speedway.   Throw in a jailbreak, a kiddie beauty pageant, a tetanus shot, an artificial limb and a couple of bags of gummy bears and you have this mildly amusing redneck heist movie directed by Steven Soderbergh.  I found this movie in the same vein as “The Hitman’s Body Guard”  Both movies are mildly funny and provided a teacher  ready to return to work a little mindless entertainment.