Watching this 1979 Sci-Fi flick, the power of The Black Hole is obvious becuase it's sucked the talent out of all the actors & the writers. Disney's attempt to capitalize on the Star Wars craze that exploded in 1977 throws a LOT of money at the screen, but other than some strong visuals, not much sticks. Of the cast, only Maximillian Schell and Ernest Borgnine come off well. It should be film law that when Ernest Borgnine comes off as the least over-acting member of your cast, you have issues. Anthony Perkins basically brings Norman Bates to space, personal fave Robert Forster comes off very flat, Yvette Mimieux over emotes every line like its Armageddon and Joseph Bottoms is truly horrible. In all fairness to the players, the screenplay is pretty bad. No one talks like these people do and it is laugh out loud funny more than once at the worst moments. The black hole effects are very good, as is John Barry's music score but this huge financial bomb for Disney is really a confused mess. The last 5 minutes is like some Dante's Inferno/Brainstorm mashup that just arrived from another flick. And one quick question writers, when you are millions of miles in deep space and a meteor smashes through the ship, wouldn't everyone die instantly? I guess they can run around for about seven minutes and just get some ice in their hair; who knew? Through the entire movie, the Black Hole sits there in the background, waiting for something to happen. It wasn't the only one...... The Black Hole sucks up a D.

Kevin Costner gives one of his best performances in years in 2015's drama, BLACK OR WHITE. Costner stars as Elliot Anderson, a widower and proud grandfather to his bi-racial granddaughter Eloise. When he suddenly faces raising Eloise on his own, he is drawn into a custody battle by Eloise's grandmother Rowena, powerfully played by Octavia Spencer (The Help). The film dances a fine line between reinforcing the stereotypes it means to dispel, but slowly unfurls Elliot and Rowena's emotions as they are forced to challenge their perceptions of each other and their own families. When the custody battle ends up in the courtroom, the tonal shift from family drama to John Grisham style courtroom drama is a bit jarring. The screenplay makes its biggest misstep in forcing Elliot (and Costner) to shout a racial epitaph at Eloise's less than ideal father in the middle of a street. It feels forced. It doesn't feel like the character of Elliot that we've come to know would say it, but its there just to foreshadow a court confrontation later. Writer/Director Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger, Ray Donovan) otherwise crafts characters and families you'll care about and pull for as they face their own prejudices that emerge in their love for Eloise. Luckily for the movie, Eloise is played by child actor Jillian Estell and she's a doll. As Costner's aged, I think he's only gotten better, becoming a more weathered and grizzled actor. He's terrific here and his relationship with Spencer feels authentic. The tangled family web that has ensnared Elliot, Eloise and Rowena is chock full of issues that are anything but black & white. As a serious study of race in America, it leaves a lot unsaid, but as a family drama about families working to find common ground and playing to this sappy grandfather who would do ANYTHING for my beloved Grandson, it gets a B.

Michael Mann has made some of the best crime dramas of the past two decades, including "Heat", "Manhunter" and "Thief". His latest, BLACKHAT shows moments of the old Mann magic, but has a couple damaging flaws. Chris Hemsworth stars as Nick Hathaway, a brilliant hacker serving prison time for online theft from banks on a major scale. When the USA and global financial markets find themselves under attack by a sophisticated online extremist faction, Hathaway is sprung from captivity to capture the elusive man behind the plan. A nuclear reactor in China is the first target. A young, American-schooled captain named Chen takes point for the Chinese government and teams up with American intelligence for the mission. Chen and Hathaway share a past, including a past romance between Hathaway and Chen's sister Lien. The film's problems start with Chinese actress Wei Tang as Lien. Not since Sofia Coppola in "Godfather III" have I seen acting this poor in major film. Her co-stars do everything they can to support her, but WOW she just takes you out of the film with her deadpan line readings. I've heard more exciting dialogue delivery at the DMV. It's a shame, as much of the rest of the supporting cast is really strong, including Viola Davis as CIA top brass, Christian Borle as a fellow agent and Leehom Wang as Chen. Mann keeps the cameras constantly moving around our team as they chase the bad guys, bouncing all over the world from China to Chicago to Jakarta to Hong Kong and Los Angeles. The photography and action scenes are everything you'd expect in a Mann film and Hemsworth proves he can carry a film without carrying a big hammer, just as he did last year in the little seen but powerful racing film, "Rush". Alas, the film goes on a bit too long and Wei Tang appears in way too many scenes. They could have fixed both problems by editing out any parts with her in at and cutting the running time by 20 minutes. There are plenty of scenes of physical chases, huge gun battles and action set pieces on a major scale to balance all the time our teams spend staring at computer screens. There's also a strong cautionary tale running beneath the surface on the dangers of our personal information all bouncing around the cloud. When you see what some of these folks can do with information in about three seconds, it will make you cringe. BLACKHAT is not top notch Michael Mann, but still exudes a stylish momentum that earns a B-.

t's safe to say that I will never step in another Sea World park the rest of my life after watching the powerful documentary BLACKFISH. CNN FIlms has produced a detailed, smart look at Killer Whales in captivity, going back 40 years to trace the horrors of keeping these massive creatures in what are essentially glorified bathtubs. Starting with actual footage of a team trapping and separating a baby Orca from its family, the film traces the lineage and dangerous history of Tilikum, a killer whale that has indeed killed three people, including one of the top trainers in the world. Powerful scenes show real footage of the baby being captured and hauled onto the boat as its family, untrapped and free to go, line up screaming and howling in anguish at the trappers. Former Sea World trainers and employees give in depth, detailed and emotional interviews, combined with actual footage of them from Sea World, that tell of their regrets over bonding with the mammals, only to watch them be mistreated or turn on their captors. The film is fast, detailed and shocking as it unwraps the very tightly controlled media spin that Sea World has dumped upon the country for years. The fact that Tilikum's DNA is now in over 50 killer whales across the Sea World parks and that this notorious whale is STILL performing at Sea World Orlando is as scary as it is shocking. As the film's tagline says, "Never Capture What You Can't Control". Indeed. Real footage of many of the attacks, along with eye witness accounts, make the facts very hard to submerge. A disturbing, powerful documentary that gets a solid B.

I have such great memories of seeing Disney's BLACKBEARD'S GHOST as a little kid in 1968 at the Chris-Town theatres in Phoenix, that its fun to be able to enjoy it again and share it with my grandson in the years ahead. Disney made a staple of live action comedies in the sixties and early seventies and this enjoyable family comedy is one of the best. Dean Jones (was there a better known lead actor in Disney films in that era than Mr. Jones?) stars as a new track & field coach at Godolphin High School. He soon discovers that the team is the joke of the school, while the football team demands all the attention. Steve (Jones) also captures the attention of beautiful teacher Jo Anne Baker, played by the gorgeous and funny Suzanne Pleshette in her pre-Newhart days. Baker has her hands full trying to save a local Inn run by the Daughters of the Buccaneers, who claim to be descendant from Blackbeard. When Steve buys an old relic at an auction to help them raise money to save the inn from the hands of some local mobsters, he unintentionally conjures up the ghost of Blackbeard himself, played with great wit and physical comedy by legendary actor Peter Ustinov. Ustinov delivers in every way as the title pirate, who has a great time getting involved in every way he can in Steve's life. The only problem is, ONLY Steve can see him. Proof that family comedies dont need to be stupid or pander to low intelligence, this Disney classic provides plenty of fun for all ages and a TON of great slapstick that young and old can enjoy together. Like "The Absent Minded Professor" and "The Shaggy Dog" of the same era, BLACKBEARD'S GHOST is classic, clean family fun from a much more innocent time. Director Robert Stevenson (Mary Poppins, The Love Bug) keeps things moving so the young ones dont get bored and gives Ustinov free rein to throw in dialogue aimed at parents too. Throwback Disney fun and a nice mix of nostalgia and laughs in just the right spirit, this ghost gets a B.

When I saw the really stupid trailers for BIRDS OF PREY, I decided I had no desire to see it. Then it hit theatres and most of the reviews bordered on ecstatic, gushing about how much fun it was. Yeah, the trailers had it right. It's a boring, overstuffed mess. It's official title, like the film itself, screams overkill. BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN. Okay, whatever. Margot Robbie, who I'm a huge fan of, narrates, produces and stars in the film as the newly single Harley, blowing up a chemical plant to signal the official end to her relationship with the Joker. Unfortunately, this also lets all the people she's wronged while under the Joker's wing know that she is now fair game for retribution. It could be a fun set up, but it's so heavy handed in its flashbacks, repeated scenes and structure that it never creates any story telling flow. For all its exploding color, fast action and violence, its shockingly boring. Robbie's Harley was definitely the standout in her 'Justice League" film debut, but her quirky, mad portrayal starts to grow wearisome pretty quickly into her own film. Some of the supporting players fair better. Ewan McGregor (Doctor Sleep, Moulin Rouge) is pretty good and menacing as crime boss Roman Sionis, but his villain alter ego is barely introduced or explained. Jurnee Smollett-Bell is excellent as Dinah, a singer in Roman's club who develops into the Black Canary, but even that is a prime example of how bad the movie is. Near the conclusion, she suddenly demonstrates a super power that is never explained, anticipated or touched on other than with a bad one liner from Harley. Huh? If the writing and structure is so bad that the filmmakers dont care, why should we? Mary Elizabeth Winstead (TV series Fargo, 19 Cloverfield Lane) steals the movie as The Huntress. Her back story is good, her one liners are great and her angst over her alter ego moniker is a lot of fun. She is the only one in the movie that gets the tone exactly right. Rosie Perez is good as a police detective on the trail of almost everyone. She's having fun playing an 80's TV cop in Gotham City and it shows. The sets and production design are strong, mixing elements from Tim Burton/Anton Furst's Batman look at the Ajax chemical factory with Harley's crazy, tattooed girl power wardrobe and crap apartment. There are some fun moments, especially a roller-derby style car/motorcycle chase in final act that's a visual blast. But even that's followed by a final battle that tries to recreate Kill Bill's Crazy 88's scene with a cotton candy/glitter version of Scaramanga's funhouse that just bores you with its lack of originality. Whenever the writer and director feel like its lagging, they pour buckets of quick cuts, blood, animation or goofy characters onto the scene. It's a great looking mess that manages to be exceedingly dull while beating you over the head with how fun it is. Poor Robbie. She deserves a better movie. DC bombs again. The only thing I want emancipated from is ever having to see this thing again. Birds of Prey never soars, noisily flapping its loud,ill-built wings to a D.

In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock's challenge was following up one of the biggest box office hits of his career, 1961's "Psycho". As Hitch often did, he doubled down on the scares with THE BIRDS. The film takes its time in setting up the terror as we meet wealthy young Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren, very good in her film debut after Hitchcock discovered her in a diet soda TV commercial) entering a pet shop in downtown San Francisco. After a chance meeting with famous eligible bachelor Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor at his best), Melanie decides to buy the love birds that Mitch was looking for and deliver them to his home outside the city. In the first half hour, we see several birds acting strangely, but the first shock comes when a large gull comes down and attacks Melanie when she's approaching Mitch's country home. It seems incidental at first and the film moves on, setting up an unspoken attraction between Mitch and Melanie, surrounded by all the eccentric characters you'd expect in a small town in the early sixties. And then Hitch turns the screw and the birds descend on the small town in several vicious attacks. The scene in the schoolyard has become a film classic, with Melanie sitting down on a bench and looking over at monkey bars where one crow sits. While we watch birds fly in behind her, she looks back several moments later to a huge murder of crows waiting to attack the school children when the bell rings a moment later. Hitchcock stages the attack perfectly and shows incredible camera work later when the downtown area is attacked and we see the worst moments of the attack from a half mile above the mayhem. There are equally creepy quiet moments lurking through the farm houses of the town. Hitchcock serves up one of his most interesting film endings here, avoiding his standard THE END title credits for something much more still and disturbing. Watch for Suzanne Pleshette (The Bob Newhart Show) as Annie, Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy) as Mitch's mother Lydia and Veronica Cartwright (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Witches of Eastwick, Alien) as Mitch's young sister. It's the only Hitchcock film without any music, instead choosing strange electronic sounds as its score. Suspenseful, smart and fascinating, THE BIRDS was a huge hit in 1963 and holds up very well more than half a century later. Hedren is stunning. Hitch and his talented flock get an A.

There's a lot to see and hear in BIRDMAN, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2014 comedy/drama destined to win multiple Academy Awards tonight. Michael Keaton stars as actor Riggan Thompson. Riggan is most famous for having starred in the hugely successful superhero movie series Birdman back in the 90's. Keaton brings true weight to the role as the star of Tim Burton's "Batman" and "Batman Returns", a role he walked away from after the first two films, while the series moved on and remained huge without him. Riggan has invested every dollar and every speck of creativity, passion and artistic credibility he has on a stage adaption of a Raymond Carver novel. Birdman chronicles the tumultuous weeks before the play opens on Broadway. Edward Norton is terrific as Mike, a star brought in at the last minute that can help sell seats but comes carrying a huge ego with him. His clashes with Riggan are epic and hilarious. Emma Stone plays Riggan's daughter, fresh out of rehab and playing assistant to the production while wrestling with a lot of family issues. Stone is one of the best things in the film, harsh, tough and real. Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Amy Ryan are all very strong as well in supporting roles. The entire movie is brilliantly staged, with a camera that never stops moving in ten+ minute chunks of long takes, in which the actors all performed everything in sequence as you see it live, no cuts, no editing. It was a demanding shoot driven by Inarritu's vision and it adds real power to the film. Michael Keaton soars above everything in a great performance that should win the Best Actor Academy Award tonight. As Riggan steps in and out of reality and we experience his doubts and the voices in his head along with him, Keaton grounds the film in a vanity free, powerful performance. So....all those praises having been said. Did I enjoy the movie? Tough to say. The music score, which is 90% just a jazz drummer riffing through the scenes, is horribly annoying. I admired the craft and choreography of the camera, the performances by the entire cast and the way that Riggan's surreal visions kept merging with reality. But while there is plenty to see and hear in the film, I didn't find there was much to truly FEEL. I admired it to be sure, but for me, BIRDMAN never really leaves the ground. It left me cold. I'll give it a B-.

One of our late daughter's favorite movies, we watched BILLY MADISON countless times in the late nineties. The perfect example of Adam Sandler's early, childlike goofy humor, it's the perfect blend of stupid and relentless that makes us laugh over & over. Sandler is the lazy son of wealthy hotel magnate Darren McGavin (The Night Stalker), whose about to hand off his empire to ruthless kiss ass Eric (LOL Bradley Whitford from "The West Wing"). In the kind of convoluted challenge that only works in comedies, Billy must complete and graduate grades 1-12 in only two weeks per grade to win command of the hotel chain. It's just a clever set up to hang a hundred small comedy scenes on and many of them still land today. Chris Farley's demented Bus Driver is dark genius, Theresa Merritt (TV's "That's My Mama") slays as Billy's horny live in maid, Josh Mostel is a lusty principal with a secret past and Norm McDonald is Billy's completely aimless best friend. Classic lines abound. "If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis!" "Shampoo is better, NO conditioner is better!" "Shaaaadddupppp!" "T-T-Today Junior!" We all laughed our butts off, then and watching it again this week. Sandler has come a long way as an actor in he 25 years+ since his big screen debut. Somehow he makes his innocent, childlike humor work becuase he's just so damn likable ad-libbing his way to big laughs. Sandler has said in interviews that Billy was the closest he ever came to playing himself, maybe that's why it works so well. BILLY MADISON throws everything at the wall for ninety minutes, with everything from a fantasy musical sequence, flaming bags of dog poop and an evil giant penguin that can be found at least once holding a martini. Steve Buscemi even shows up as a twisted serial killer....twice! It shouldn't work it's so damn dumb, but it's also SO damn funny! BILLY graduates with a solid B. Sandler went on to make Happy Gilmore as his next giant hit. I wish Farley would have made a whole movie about the Bus Driver, that would have been something....

Overlooked upon its release in 1991 (including by me) the film adaption of EL Doctorow's BILLY BATHGATE is a first class gangster drama. Dustin Hoffman is Dutch Shultz, the hair-trigger mob boss of several NYC neighborhoods. Young Billy (Loren Dean) is fascinated with Dutch's reputation and finds a way into his organization. He watches as trusted partners like Bo (Bruce Willis) rise and fall and new partners like Lucky Luciano (Stanley Tucci, terrific) circle Dutch. Billy meets young women like Drew Preston (Nicole Kidman) who seem a thousand times more worldly than he could ever be. As the body count piles up, Dutch heads to a small town to await trial, surrounded by his loyal advisor Otto (Steven Hill in a scene stealing role) and henchman Irving (Steve Buscemi). The film starts out a bit slow, but grows on you as it unfolds in a smart screenplay by Tom Stoppard (Empire of the Sun, Brazil). Director Robert Benton only made 12 films in the chair, including "Places in the Heart" and "Kramer vs Kramer" and this certainly deserves a place beside them both. Dustin Hoffman is excellent throughout, with one of the most explosive tempers I can remember him portraying on film. It's a great performance and he oozes danger. If you love gangster dramas and haven't seen BILLY BATHGATE, add it to your must watch list. It gets a bullet ridden B.

The BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB has two infamous distinctions when you look at 2018 film history. The first is that it was the only major film release to feature shunned actor Kevin Spacey after his fall from grace. The second is that it had the most dismal box office of any major release in 2018 and perhaps all time, earning $128 nationwide in its opening day in theatres. Whether that's because it's haunted by Spacey's presence or the fact its not very good is up for interpretation. A great young cast is wasted. Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) is fine as Joe Hunt, an ambitious young accountant who hitches his wagon to school chum Dean, who plays on a very dark side of the line. Taron Egerton (The Kingsmen) is fine as Dean as well, luring Joe into some major crimes. When they meet wealthy, mysterious and flamboyant hustler Ron Levin (Spacey) they are pulled into a much bigger and darker hustle that pulls in most of the young wealth in Hollywood. Like a very poor imitation of "The Wolf of Wall Street", it flashes through characters and events, but never draws us into the debauchery like that film did. I knew the story from a 2 hour Dateline NBC special on these young men and Ron Levin, where it was told with more clarity and suspense than writer/director James Cox can muster. Characters come and go, violence explodes and good actors like Bokeem Woodbine and Cary Elwes go wasted. Filmed in 2015, this stinker sat on the shelf for three years. The mold is apparent. BBC gets a D.

Comic Kumail Nanjiani has created something really special, funny and heartwarming with his first feature film, THE BIG SICK. You've seen a million comedies with what Roger Ebert used to call the "meet cute". Two people from opposite backgrounds meet by chance and then the story takes them down a familiar road of new love, conflict and happily ever after. The brilliance of this film is that once the meet cute happens, everything else takes a decidedly different path that feels all too real, perhaps because it is. Based on the true story of Pakistan born comedian Nanjiani and written by Kumail and his real-life wife Emily Gordon, we watch as Kumail and Emily meet at one of his comedy gigs and fall into bed. As their relationship blossoms, we meet Kamail's extended family, all of whom are played by gifted comic actors. His mother tries to fix him up at every Sunday family dinner "Oh look who just happened to drop by!" and his father prides himself on the power of traditional arranged marriage. His brother is a hilarious mix of Pakistani and American passions and gets some of the biggest laughs in the film. When Emily is suddenly rushed to the hospital and falls into a health crisis that leaves her teetering on death, Kumail meets her family, who know far more about him that he can imagine. Holly Hunter (Broadcast News, Always) is excellent as Beth, Emily's mother. Fiercely protective of Emily, she wants to push Kumail out of the picture. Her husband Terry (perfectly played in a funny but strong dramatic performance by Ray Romano) opens the door a bit, feeling sorry for Kumail. From there, the story propels forward, with NONE of the stereotypical scenes you think you'll see. These families are real, and they're tragic and hilarious in equal measure. There's not a weak spot in the cast. Zoe Kazan is terrific as Emily. Her desire for commitment as Kumail struggles with family expectations sets up what follows perfectly. Nanjiani is a funny comic, but like Romano, he proves himself equally adept at drama. Director Michael Showalter surprised me last time out with the unexpected pleasures of Sally Field's "My Name is Doris" and he does the same here, bringing his fresh eye and style to another non-traditional romantic comedy. There's great pleasure in watching a story unfold where everything feels real, including the dialogue. The surrounding families bring huge laughs and quiet reflection and Nanjiani & Gordon's screenplay is as good as it gets, surely to be nominated for an Oscar next year. With an ending that surprises you in its perfection, THE BIG SICK is one of the greatest pleasures of the year and gets an A.