Dunkirk

Actors: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy

Rating: 9 out of 10, Chris Nolan does a fabulous job bringing the epic story of the miraculous survival of the British Army in the opening stages of World War 2. It wouldn’t be Nolan if he didn’t throw a few curve balls at the viewer though as the story is told through three intersecting story lines, each operating over a different time span, a week versus a day versus an hour. The bleak outlook for the remnants of the British Army at the outset are offset by simple heroic actions. Nolan exhibits his usual fine touch of not trying to pummel you into seeing his vision but allowing it to unfold. The cast, especially Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance, shine although the story of the Soldiers on the beach was a little confusing. I was brought up in a generation that venerated the significance of Dunkirk which allowed Britain to survive until the US could enter the fray. It would be a much different world today without Dunkirk and I’m glad such a fine film has been made so current and future generations can understand what we owe to the heroes of that conflict.

MVP: Hardy as heroic Spitfire pilot Farrier

Geostorm

Actors: Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Abbie Cornish, Richard Schiff, Alexandra Maria Lara, Robert Sheehan, Daniel Wu, Eugenio Derbez, Andy García.

Rating: 7 out of 10, The latest in the genre where CGI artists get to wreak death and destruction over large parts of the globe. The two male leads struggle mightily to mask their British accents. Gerard Butler is the fiery inventor of the massive satellite system to control the weather that’s been hijacked by nefarious forces. His milksop of a brother recruits him to fix the problems before the earth is destroyed. The scenes up on the space station were very enjoyable but unfortunately the filmmakers decided to invest in the very earth bound and patently ridiculous goings on earth side. Abbie Cornish dominates as a secret service agent but she was the only thing remotely entertaining during the all too much time spent on the groundside melodrama. I enjoyed this a lot more on a second viewing, especially Miss Cornish

MVP: Abbie Cornish as Sarah, a very dangerous Secret Service Agent

Power Rangers

Actors: Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Banks

Rating: 7 out of 10, I went to see this mainly in ode to my son since I remember him raging about them when he was very young. I invested a lot of money in action figures without ever being brought into the mythology. Given that, I had no preconceived expectations about the movie which I found very entertaining. The group of teenagers drafted into roles in a galactic war were all appealing and well-conceived. Elizabeth Banks steals each and every scene as the “bad guy” named Rita Repulsa (I’m serious). It takes a while for the action to heat up but this movie works on a number of levels. The last thirty minutes are some of the loudest I’ve ever experienced in a movie theater which came in handy to drown out the annoying group of teenagers a couple rows back intent on demonstrating their immaturity.

MVP: Naomi Scott as the pink Ranger, obviously

Goodbye Columbus

Actors: Richard Benjamin, Ali MacGraw, Jack Klugman, Nan Martin, Michael Meyers, Lori Shelle, Royce Wallace

Rating: 7 out of 10, A reach back to the late 1960s for a movie that fascinated a young version of myself when it first came out. It didn’t hurt that it featured Ali McGraw. I don’t think there’s a single guy my age that didn’t fall in love with Ms. MacGraw in the late 1960s. We all wished we were the ones sitting next to her at the dinner table in this movie, for a number of reasons. She plays a pampered Radcliff college girl and poster child for Jewish American Princesses everywhere who’s dabbling in romance with an unacceptable suitor to defy her doting parents. It’s more about class as the suitor comes from the old neighborhood before the girl’s parents successfully moved to the suburbs as nouveau riche. It was also reminiscent of the sexual politics facing the onslaught of the 1960s as good girls were expected to save themselves for marriage. There are some very funny moments as the guy deals with a hostile mother, a latent homosexual brother lost reliving his college athletic prowess, and the little sister from hell.  While some of the movie hasn’t aged well, like the heavy handed caricatures of life in the well to do suburbs, Ms. MacGraw is still luminescent

MVP: Ali MacGraw as the object of adolescent love Brenda

Blade Runner 2049

Actors: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto

Rating: 9 out of 10, The future does not look promising in Blade Runner 2049, a movie I was really “jonesing” to see. I finally got to the cinema to check it out and was definitely not disappointed. While the filmmakers were genuine to the original classic this sequel was told in a huge and sweeping fashion versus the crowded original. Deckard’s story is picked up thirty years later as the blade runners are now replicants themselves hunting down older versions of themselves. Ryan Gosling is fantastic as the dedicated blade runner being played by at least three competing groups. I was most struck by the photography depicting a vast and dying world which is genuinely complimented by a sneakily good musical score. The movie centers of the people (and replicants) though and repeats the earlier film’s premise of questioning what true “humanity” is. I loved it.

MVP: Gosling as the replicant blade runner

Wind River

Actors: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, Julia Jones, Kelsey Chow, Graham Greene

Rating: 9 out of 10, This is a very stark outing with the desolate, but spectacular, winter landscape of Wyoming playing a major supporting character and reflecting the barren lives of the main characters. Jeremy Renner continues to evolve as an actor and exudes gravitas as a taciturn hero with the weight of the world on his shoulders but still in hot, if understated, pursuit of justice for a murdered Indian girl. His Avenger co-star Red Witch more than holds her own in the talented cast in the crucial role of the sole FBI agent also trying to track down the killer. There are several startling shootouts in the cleverly crafted tale. Gil Birmingham, in an all too small part, once again steals every scene he’s in as a grieving father. This reminded me in a lot of ways of CJ Box’s outstanding novels set in generally the same area. I can’t recommend this movie highly enough. I think Renner is going to be something very special as he reaches middle age and settles into the parts Tommy Lee Jones has outgrown.

MVP: Jeremy Renner as Cory Lambert

It

Actors: Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, Jackson Robert Scott Rating: 9 out of 10, I always liked the TV version shot a couple decades ago and went into this with the resultant chip on my shoulder. The film won me over by the sheer talent of the young actors portraying the doughty Loser’s Club battling Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the ancient evil haunting Derry, Maine. Especially the actors portraying Bill and Beverley who capture the awkward adolescent romance in the midst of fighting ultimate evil. The plot centers on the immense bravery of the Losers and the seeping evil of Derry that’s central to King’s work. I thought they’d be in way over their heads trying to take this on but it was great. And scared the bejesus out of me.

MVP: Bill Skarsgård as the very scary Pennywise the Dancing Clown