Movie Review: Nomadland

Posted on February 19, 2021 by jjcwn • Posted in Uncategorized • Leave a comment

The new movie “Nomadland” starring Francis McDormand is about one of those subjects no person ever wants to think about – homelessness. In this country, homelessness has always been an ongoing problem for far too many good people. Now considering the Covid-19 health Pandemic that has killed almost 500,000 Americans, this problem is as bad as its ever been and could get worse in the coming months and years.

Fern, played by McDormand just lost her husband and after a local factory closed she is out of work and quickly ran out of money. Her only options are to get in her van and drive, anywhere. This film takes place in South Dakota, that is famous for barren vistas and cold and a great deal of this movie is all about Fern driving on very long roads with nothing by emptiness. Fern runs into a group of campers who all rationalize that their homeless life is better than the old ways, forgetting that they are living in their car, a camper or a van. Especially grim is showing the different sizes of rubber and plastic containers when it is time to go to the bathroom. Nothing is easy with a life like this, and far too many of us are homeless or are far too close to becomming homeless. It should not be this way, but in this world if you have no money, you are in for a very rough ride.

Francis McDormand is one of the best actresses during the last few decades, starting with her 1996 best actress Academy Award for Fargo. She won best actress again for 2017 “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” in 2017 and now looks to be a shoe-in for another best actress win for this impressive film.

Nomadland plays more like a documentary insight into the lives of homeless nomads who travel the country looking for temporary work and a legal place to park. This film is directed by Chloé Zhao who did an outstanding job showing the dark and depressing lives of people who are living on the edge, trying to survive from one hour to the next. Zhao is collecting a series of impressive credits lately and now is a major sought out director. She might win best director for this movie.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating for Nomadland are a very impressive 94% and I agree with this rating and recommend this movie that shows the true life of far too many millions of people.

On Demand Movie Review: Horizon Line

Posted on February 18, 2021 by jjcwn • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged Allison Williams, Horizon Line, Small Plane • Leave a comment

A small plane, 2 passengers, then the pilot has a heart attack and dies. How many times has this idea been written into movies or TV shows over the years. Too many. When you get on a small plane with one pilot the odds of a tragedy are greatly increased – mainly because if the pilot can no longer fly the plane, all the passengers are doomed. Then add the danger of getting on any small plane.

The new on demand movie “Horizon Line” stars Alison Williams as Sara, Keith David as the pilot and an unknown actor Alexander Dreymon as Jackson – a name you hear screamed far too often in this movie by Sara. There is very little story here other than some up front dialogue and a trip somewhere in the Pacific in a small passenger plane, that most people would never get on in the first place. Where this film fails miserably is there are far too many scenes after the pilot dies, that nobody in the world would ever try. Nobody would have the courage to climb to the outside of a plane, tethered by a rope. Nobody would climb to the top of of a small plane like this for any reason. Not only would nobody ever try to do things this stupid, but these tasks, even in a desperate attempt to save lives are not even physically possible. So why make this movie, where the 2 main characters are so dumb?

Once again there is far too much smoking in this movie by Sara and Jackson, something I find very annoying every time I see it. This practice should be banned.

Save your money and miss this mess. I agree with the very low 4.6 rating on IMDB.

Movie Review: Little Fish

Posted on February 15, 2021 by jjcwn • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged Little Fish, Olivia Cooke, Pandemic Movie • Leave a comment

I can only hope, after seeing “Little Fish”, that is about romance during a world wide Pandemic, that Pandemic films are not the new trend in the movie industry. Living through over a year of Covid-19 has been enough Pandemic at least for the next 100 years.

The Pandemic in this movie – something called, Neuroinflammatory Affliction or NIA, attacks the brain and over time erases the entire memory of the victim. Some kind of a cure is found, but in this case its a horrendous surgical procedure involving a long needle applied to the roof of someone’s mouth. All of this leads to massive worldwide panic both to avoid this horrible disease and then to somehow receive the cure. This is a Pandemic scenario just about as bad as it can get. It is rather unusual that the screenwriter even tried combine a concept like this with a romance story.

The main characters are Emma and Jude, played by Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell. Emma is a Veterinarian and there are no less than three scenes of her counting down the days where she would have to euthanize another dog – making anyone shy away from wanting to be an animal doctor. Emma and Jude are friends with another married couple who are affected by NIA, where the woman’s husband entirely loses his memory, making for some very emotional and well acted scenes. The romance between Emma and Jude is well played but rather depressing throughout the 2 hours as they desperately try to survive a horrendous Pandemic. I did not like the too-many scenes of chain smoking by the two main characters – even during a movie involving a health Pandemic. How stupid is this, that in this day in age, cigarrette companies are still making money in the movie industry?

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for Little Fish is a surprisingly high 91%, my rating is only 75% with a marginal recommendation.