As a professional blogger, sometimes due to high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, I see movies that unfortunately are appreciated by some critics but are so boring that I have to leave early. “All is True”, starring Kenneth Branagh is one of those movies. This film is about the life of William Shakespeare after he stopped writing plays and after the death due to a plague of his only son. Its also about one of his neglected daughters and several other sub stories, that are unfortunately extremely boring.
The IMDB ratings for this movie at 5.8 are more accurate than the 78% on Rotten Tomatoes and I do not recommend this movie that seemed like it would never end.
One thing that the new movie “Ma” is better at than most violent slasher movies is through a series of flashbacks, the screenwriter shows “why” Sue Ann, played by Oscar Winner Octavia Spenser becomes an insane vengeful murderer. Most movies like this for the most part, just introduce some insane character and then they go on a killing spree. All people are or become who they are through circumstances that other people around them either choose to understand or choose to ignore. The reason why Sue Ann is insane, is because of a prank that caused her great humiliation that even some 30 years later, still haunts and agonizes her. One line in this film makes it clear that sometimes, time does not always heal all wounds.
The majority of this movie involve Sue Ann or “Ma” befriending the children of the teenagers she knew while in high school, by buying them alcohol and using her basement as a nightclub for local teenagers. What follows is some familiar and some unusual scenes that culminate in something we have all seen before in so many other similar films. However, this movie is still interesting and different enough to recommend.
The Rotten Tomatoes rating for Ma is an anemic 58% but I will give it a solid 70% mainly because of the acting talent of Octavia Spenser, who showed some courage taking this unlikely role.
When I see a Biopic about a famous celebrity, in this case Elton John with the new film “Rocketman”, I am often reminded of one of Tony Robbins most famous phrases, “Success leaves clues”. Its true that success leaves clues, but so does failure, alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, suicide and so many human afflictions. In the case of Elton John, look no further than his two disaster parents to understand that every problem he had in life was a direct result of both his parents. I thought while watching this movie and seeing the constant abuse and disdain both of Elton’s parents showed him during his childhood and even after he became hugely successful, is that Elton John succeeded both because of and despite them.
The movie Rocketman does a very good job showing how difficult it is to succeed in the music business and once you have made it, how impossible it can be to stay on top. The constant touring, so many people making money from your talent and the stress to write new songs and perform them around the world. Throughout Elton John’s entire career, his song writing partner has been Bernie Taupin, and without each other, neither artist would have reached their unmatched success with so many great songs for so many decades.
One unusual thing about this film is the Broadway musical moments that for me seemed misplaced in a movie like this, perhaps this was because of Elton John’s suggestions. The star of this movie is upcoming actor Taron Egerton, who is so good in this role, including singing as well as acting that he has a shot at winning an Academy Award, like Rami Malek did last year with the outstanding film “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for Rocketman are a very high 90% and I agree with this rating and highly recommend this very good film.
