Author Archives: jjcwn

Movie Review: Monkey Man

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The new movie “Monkey Man” is one of those mistakenly highly rated Rotten Tomatoes movies that fools too many of us to see a new film that we would never see were it not for the high rating.

Monkey Man is about an Indian man in his 30s who is so far down on his luck, within the slums of Mumbai India that he tries to make money by being beaten up in boxing matches where he is wearing a monkey mask. One could argue that no main character within any voilent action movie takes more punches to the face than Kid, played by Dev Patel. What does not make sense is why the damage to his face and body is not much worse than shown in scenes that immediately follow.

The story is about the lives of the corrupt and extremely rich and the poor within the run down depressing and dark city of Mumbai India. This dark and depressing contrast is portrayed very well in this story.

This film is a revenge/martial arts/extremely voilent action movie that has several good action scenes, but way too many of these 2+ hours are unnecessarily boring – this entire movie could easily be 90 minutes rather than 2 hours.

Actor Dev Patel directed starred and co-wrote this film and Patel also played the lead role in “Slumdog Millionaire”, released in 2008 and won the Academy Awards for best picture that year – a decision I did not agree with.

The Rotten Tomatoes for this movie are a way too high 85%, with my rating only 68% and a solid pass, due to the too many boring scenes.

The Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Review: Someone Like You

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The new movie “Someone Like You” is from the best-selling book with the same title, written by Karen Kinsbury. This is a tear-jerker type of film that we have all seen before, and most of what happens is predictable, but it is performed and told well enough to receive a solid recommendation. The other reason to like this film is because of the cast, starting with relative newcomer Sarah Fisher, who plays London Quin. Fischer has a face and a radiant smile that is so likeable and relatable that her appearance on screen alone, practically steals this entire movie.

The premise of this story is both highly unusual and complex, involving invitro fertilization and a woman who provides two eggs to a fertilization facility, using only one of them. The other egg was implanted into another woman who lives in another city. Some 24 years later, there is a tragedy that starts the somewhat far-fetched events that follow that at least for me, was told well and included very likable characters making this mostly run-of-the-mill tear-jerker very enjoyable. There are several well-performed scenes involving emotional situations that are very well performed that ultimately made this a good film.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this movie are once again too low at 60%, with my rating a solid 80% and a recommendation.

Movie Review: In the Land of Saints and Sinners

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Around this time every year, the movie-going world expects the release of another Liam Neeson film. This yearly movie tradition has been going on ever since the release of the outstanding film “Taken”, which came out in 2008 and is one of the best action movies of its kind, ever produced. The fact that Taken was so perfect for Neeson and has not happened again, is all about how difficult it is to write a great screenplay and then have it performed by the exact right lead actor.

The next two Taken sequels were nowhere near the exceptional quality of the original with the last version a bad film. Since then, Neeson has followed with movies that were mostly average with a few that were bad and some that were bordering on good. Neeson’s latest movie “In the Land of Saints and Sinners” is a good, but nowhere near a great film, but hopefully a step in the right direction.

The story is all about the violence, murder, and retribution in the 1970s by the IRA (Irish Republican Army) in the country of Ireland. This story starts with the accidental murder of young children during the bombing of a local bar and what follows is a series of revenge killings by the main character Finbar Murphy, played by Liam Neeson. The problem with the middle part of the story is that most of it is too slow and boring, making it hard to stay focused on what is happening. There is a major conflict with the original bombers that killed two children at the beginning of the film, leading to a shootout at a bar at the end of this story that I thought was well shot. Other than all of this there is nothing new or innovative within these two hours.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating is a routine 80%, with my rating only 70% and a very marginal recommendation.