“Elemental” is the latest Disney-Pixar computer animated release. The critics and some people who’ve seen it haven’t really liked it, so I didn’t go into it with high expectations. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t bad at all. It’s not the best thing to come out of Pixar, but it is still better than a lot of the animated fare coming out from other studios. It’s basically a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” with fire people vs. the water people. Parts of it are clever and funny. Other parts are pretty standard. There aren’t any characters that can be merchandised by Disney, but they are still somewhat distinctive. Cute and enjoyable, but not great.

“Sound of Freedom” is a compelling, disturbing and important film. It tells the story of human trafficking, especially of young children. At times it is hard to sit through while watching the vermin that kidnaps and sells these innocents. Jim Caviezel stars as a Homeland Security agent who pursues these criminals. It is harrowing and inspiring at the same time. Everyone should see this important movie to understand how real human trafficking really is.

I was not thrilled when I heard that they were making another sequel to the Indiana Jones franchise, especially since Harrison Ford is 80, but I was pleasantly surprised by “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” when I saw it. The film starts out during World War II and Indy is made to look younger with CGI. After he escapes danger with an ancient dial that can change the world, the film moves to 1969. The Nazi scientist wants the dial back. So does Indy’s god-daughter, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is a great partner/antagonist for him. Lots of chases, action and fighting. I liked this film better than the last entry, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls”. Even though Ford has aged he can still carry a film. And Waller-Bridge is feisty, athletic, sarcastic and is not always on the right side of the law. A worthy addition to a legendary movie franchise.

A couple of weekends ago I saw three action movies. The first was “Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse”. This was a sequel to the animated Spiderman from a few years ago. This time Spidey gets mixed up with a villain named The Blob and all kinds of Spidermen show up. It’s a bit confusing, but has a lot of action. The ending is not really an ending but a “To be continued”. Overall, not bad, but not as good as the original.

The second film I saw was “The Flash”. As a kid I was a DC comic fan. While the Flash wasn’t one of my favorites, I still liked him. Unlike a lot of the DC films produced by Warner Brothers, this one was not totally dark. Ezra Miller plays Barry Allen who becomes the Flash. He plays with time travel in order to save his mother’s life and fouls up everything, including making a clone of himself. He enlists other super heroes including Superman, Batman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. What I really liked was that they had multiple actors who had played the heroes. The movie starts out with Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman and then he becomes Michael Keaton. There is even a George Clooney cameo. Henry Cavill and flashbacks of Christopher Reeves show Superman. That was fun. I found it enjoyable and I liked Miller a lot. Not too found of him in real life, but he played the character well.

The third film was the latest Transformers movie, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”. This one is somewhat of an origin story that goes into the present. Some of the transformers came to earth to hide out from a sinister being intent on destroying worlds. Let’s face it, you don’t watch these movies for the dialogue or plot. There are a whole new crew of earth people, like Anthony Ramos, and many of the standard transformers including Bumble Bee and Optimus Prime. Lots of action, visual effects and battle scenes. Not a bad continuation to the franchise.

I was looking forward to Jennifer Lawrence’s new movie, “No Hard Feelings”. It had been a while since she did a comedy and the previews looked intriguing. Unfortunately it was a one-joke affair that was unbelievable and predictable at the same time. J-Law plays a down on her luck woman who can’t get out of her own way. All she wants to do is stay in her mother’s house, which she can’t afford. She also cannot make any commitments. She needs money for taxes and to get her car back so she agrees to date a 19 year old introvert whose parents promise her a car if she is successful. You can guess where it goes from there. The saving grace is that the 19 year old is played by newcomer Andrew Barth Feldman, who is the best part of the movie. When this film is streaming, if there is absolutely nothing else on you can watch it. Very disappointing.

Saw three movies this Memorial Day Weekend. First up was “Fast X”, the latest in the the “Fast and Furious” series. As with past installments there are lots of car chases using special effects and lots of fighting. This time there is a super villain played by Jason Mamoa, who enlists an army of bad guys to bring down Dominic Toretto and his “family”. Charize Theron and Jason Stratham are brought in for good effect. High on action, low on plot and dialogue, You don’t go to “Fast and Furious” movies for intellectual stimulation. This film does not disappoint on the action level and leaves the viewer with an opening for the next installment. By the way, this is Vin Diesel’s second best performance this year. He was better as Groot in “Guardians of the Galaxy, Chapter 3”, mainly because he had less dialogue.

The second film was “About My Father”, written and starring Sebastian Maniscalco as the son of an Italian immigrant, played by Robert DeNiro, The first half, when they are establishing the back story, is pretty funny. Much of it is taken from Maniscalco’s stand up comedy. DeNiro is his immigrant, hair dresser father, steeped in Sicilian tradition, Sebastian’s girlfriend is from a wealthy, waspy family and father and son are invited to spend the July 4th weekend at their estate. Lots of fish-out-of-water humor. During this latter portion the movie becomes formulaic. Maniscalco’s stand up is hilarious. Had he stuck to that type of storyline this film might have been better.

The third movie was “The Machine”, which I knew nothing about when I bought my ticket. It is based on Bert Kreischer’s stand up routine where he talks about his time in college when he studied in Russia where he became a legend with the Russian mafia. As preposterous as this sounds, it really happened. The story takes place in modern times, Kreischer is kidnapped back to Russia with his father, played by Mark Hamill. Kreischer, who is called the Machine in the movie and in show business, has father issues. This film is fall down funny, but not for the easily offended. Lots of gratuitous killing and use of profanity, but in the end it is pretty hilarious.

“The Quiet Girl” is an Irish film mostly in Gaelic. It is the story of a young girl from a very poor family with five brothers and sisters and one on the way. Her parents send her to stay on a farm with cousins who have no children. The movie shows her transformation from an unhappy little girl to a more confident, content person. It also shows how she changes the adults lives. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. A small, but compelling character study, I recommend this movie.

I think that Michael B. Jordan is trying to catch up, using the Creed movies, with Sylvester Stallone and his Rocky films. “Creed III” is his latest. This time Adonis Creed is retired from boxing, but is now a promoter. Into his life enters a friend from his troubled teenage past who has a giant chip on his shoulder and is a helluva fighter. Basically he spent the last twenty years in jail while Adonis was free. The villain is played by Jonathan Majors and he is formidable. Majors is a rising star, having starred in “Devotion” and the new Antman movie recently. In the end Creed needs to fight the villain and of course he wins. A worthy successor to the previous Creed movies and the fight scenes are awesome.

In my wildest dreams I never thought I would be reviewing a film titled “Cocaine Bear”. It sounds like one of the midnight movies that was made for about $130 and is only attended by people on drugs. I believe I was the oldest person in the theater when I saw it. But let me tell you, I enjoyed “Cocaine Bear”. Directed by Elizabeth Banks it is a horror comedy about a cocaine heist that goes very wrong. When a shipment of the drug is dropped from an airplane into the wilderness a bear becomes a drug addict. You have the drug runners who are having family problems, some truant adolescents and a ranger who is hot for an environmentalist. There is a decent amount of gore but most of it is surreal. Funny and surprising, this film is surprisingly well done. I was entertained and surprised!

 

Continuing to the Best Actress category, I believe there are two frontrunners: Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh. Blanchett may be our greatest living actress and her performance in “Tar” is truly remarkable. She embodies the character with the same gusto that she did in “Blue Jasmin”. Cate Blanchett disappears and all you see is Lydia Tar. However, as good as she is in this film, I thoroughly disliked her. As written by Todd Fields she has very few redeeming qualities. On the other hand, Michelle Yeoh gives a different kind of performance in “Everything, Everywhere, All Around”. She is angry, perplexed, over worked and vulnerable. It is the best role from an actress who has been around. I believe she deserves the Oscar, but Blanchett is not out of the picture. I also liked Michelle Williams in “The Fabelmans”, but this isn’t her year.

Most of the awards up to now have gone to Ke Huy Quan for playing Michelle Yeoh’s husband in “Everything, Everywhere, All Around”. He gives a great performance as a man who has not lived up to his potential. In addition to his role, Quan has a comeback story. He was the kid in an Indiana Jones movie back in the 1980’s and had actually quit acting before taking on this role. Academy voters love that kind of story. This category has some very strong performances. Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan in “The Banshees of Inisherin” both were great, especially Gleeson. Bryan Tyree Henry was good in “Causeway”, but I don’t think it was an Oscar-worthy performance. Finally, for me Judd Hirsch is a sentimental favorite as Uncle Boris in “The Fabelmans”. In one or two scenes he stole the movie! I don’t think he has a chance, but I would vote for him.

Angela Basset has won a number of the awards for Best Supporting Actress so far for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. As usual she gives a strong, commanding performance, but I do not think it is deserving of an Oscar. Kerry Condon was quite good as Colin Farrell’s sister in “The Banshees of Inisherin” and deserves her nomination. I especially liked Hong Chau in “The Whale” as a caregiver. (She was also excellent in “The Menu”). Both Stephanie Hsu as the daughter and Jamie Lee Curtis as an IRS agent are nominated for “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”. Curtis’s role is much different than anything she’s done before and I would vote for her. She has a chance to win, but I think Angela Basset will take home the gold.

For Best Foreign Film I would say that “All Quiet on the Western Front” should win and the new “Pinocchio” will probably be named Best Animated Film. It really is a different take on a familiar story. Most of the special effects and technical awards will probably be shared by “Avatar”, “Top Gun” and “Black Panther”, three well-done sequels.

Like I said, my track record on predictions is not the greatest. Let’s see what happens.