Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

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??

The Little Things

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Yay – our local theatre at Arundel Mills is back in business! We were there for the re-opening, so to speak, since it was the first Saturday the county allowed it to be open in several months. Everything is looking good, and the management is doing a great job. As you can imagine, there were some technical difficulties with starting everything back up. The movie was delayed about 20 minutes so the manager gave everyone a free pass to a future movie for our inconvenience. (We really weren’t inconvenienced, but we’ll take it!). Now to the movie. “The Little Things” stars Denzel Washington as a small town deputy sheriff, Joe “Deke” Deacon, who used to be a big deal detective in Los Angles. Something bad happened during his last case in Los Angeles and he ended up losing his wife, having a heart attack, and having to leave under a dark cloud. Whatever it was will keep you guessing until the end. He’s back in LA on a routine assignment to pick up a piece of evidence, and is delayed and sort of tags along with the current hot shot detective Sgt. Jim Baxter, played by Rami Malek. Baxter is facing a possible serial killer and it seems his case may be related in some ways to a cold case of Deke’s. Jared Leto is his usual weird and creepy villain who may or may not be the sadistic serial killer. Denzel is at his quiet best, and he and Rami finesse their impromptu alliance well. Jared excels in his portrayal of the odd and subtly maleficent suspect. My friend, Dava, says this movie reminds her of “Seven,” starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, with Kevin Spacey. I tend to agree. If you enjoyed “Seven”, are fans of Denzel or Rami, or like to predict what will happen next, this is the movie for you.

Bohemian Rhapsody

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Please do not listen to the other critics – trust Adnerb on this one.  ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a toe tapping, entertaining movie that any fan of Queen music is going to love.  Apparently, it has been getting poor reviews from some critics who felt that Freddie Mercury’s sexuality was whitewashed.  I don’t agree at all. The movie makes things quite clear, without hitting you over the head about it.  If you have a problem with that, perhaps it’s your agenda that should be in question! In the end, this is a celebration of the music created by a group that considered itself a family, and there is so much to love!!  First of all, Rami Malek gives one of the best performances I have seen in a while with his portrayal of the troubled Freddie, who was born with the name Farrokh Bulsara to Parsi parents.  Other stand outs include Mike Meyers, Aiden Gillan, Tom Hollander, Adam Leech and Aaron McCusker. Also, the other members of Queen played by Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello and Gwilym Lee were spot on.  But the real star of the movie is the music and the band that made it.  You learn alot about how the group processed things from their beginning, through massive success to Freddie’s personal demons to reconciliation and reunion.  Just about all Queen songs you know and love are heard at some point in the movie – from ‘Radio Gaga’ to ‘We are the Champions.’  The movie ends with Queen’s historic performance at Live Aid in 1985.  Freddie’s life was no bed of roses, and the ups and downs of success, the darkness of loneliness, and the search for love are all detailed in this compelling movie.  I learned a few things I didn’t know about the enigmatic Mercury, including the reason for this amazing three octave range singing voice.  If you are in the mood to hear some wonderful music (and learn about the origins of some great songs)  you can’t go wrong with this movie!