Category: 4 1/2 Stars

Everything Everywhere at Once (2022)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date April 9, 2022
No Comments on Everything Everywhere at Once (2022)

“TAKE THE RIGHT PATH. PG 43”

“TAKE THE LEFT PATH. PG 24”

I am not sure if they are popular with kids anymore, but I remember a good chunk of my free time in elementary school was spent reading some of the “choose your own adventure” book series. The options would make or break the outcome of the mood I would feel all day, which sadly lead to some downer days (I always seemed to be lead to my doom of some kind with my choices). The idea of the choices we make is just one of many, many, many, many ingredients of the film Everything Everywhere at Once.

Tags 2022, Daniels, Dr. Strange, Everything Everywhere at once, Goonies, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, Movie Reviews, Multiverse, R, Rated R, Stephanie Hsu

4 1/2 Stars Movies

Mass (2021)

We are getting to the point in our country where everyone will have either been a witness to a mass shooting or will know someone who has (or worse, known a victim).

If you don’t believe me, well you will, because I was at NIU on Valentine’s Day in 2008 when a shooter killed five students before taking his own life.

Tags 2021, Amazon Prime, Ann Dowd, Fran Kranz, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, mass, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Reed Birney

4 1/2 Stars Movies

Belfast (2021)

Up until about 15 minutes into Belfast, it never occurred to me that memories were able to be in black and white. I’m not talking about those shown in fiction, but my own personal memories.

That director Kenneth Brannagh’s movie had me thinking like this speaks to it’s power as what will surely be an Oscar front runner in the next few months.

Tags 2021, Belfast, Caitriona Balfe, Ciaran Hinds, High Noon, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Lewis McAskie, Movie Reviews, Olive Tennant, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Roma

4 1/2 Stars Movies

DUNE (2021)

Much thanks must be given to the little voice in my head.

When buying my ticket for Dune, the voice told me to try and buy a seat as close to the screen as possible. While my neck did not start truly hurting until the last forty minutes or so of the film, the voice was correct, as the experience gave me small vibes dating back to when I watched the original Star Wars Trilogy re-released in the mid-90s when I was nine years old.

4 1/2 Stars Movies

In the Heights (2021)

When the credits rolled at the end of In the Heights, I stayed to see if I could find out how many extras were used for dancers. I soon realized that the list would have been at least the size of three screen shots. I returned home, I logged on to HBO Max, and (to the best of my ability) counted how many extra dancers were used.

The final count I arrived at was 274. Honestly, it may as well have been 96,000.

Tags 2021, Anthony Ramos, Crazy Rich Asians, Gregory Diaz IV, In the Heights, Jon M. Chu, Leslie Grace, Lin Manuel Miranda, PG-13, Rated PG-13

4 1/2 Stars

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date March 13, 2021
3 Comments on Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

In September of 2020, most people, including myself, were upset that the live action Mulan cost $29.99 on Disney Plus, only to be free to the masses the following December. Disney has done the same again with their newest film, Raya and the Last Dragon, which is, as of this writing, both on Disney Plus for $29.99 as well as in theaters. It will become free on the streaming service on June 4th.

While I was fortunate enough to see the film in theaters at a much more reasonable price of $7.79, I would say the film is such a treat that it is worth the thirty bucks. I will not say it is worth going to a theater if you do not feel safe: no movie should compromise your health. This is the best animated film I have seen since Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Tags 2021, Avatar, Awkwafina, Benedict Wong, Daniel Dae Kim, Disney, Disney Plus, Gemma Chan, Izaac Wang, Kelly Marie Tran, Kubo and the Two Strings, Princess Mononoke, Raya and the Last Dragon, Sandra Oh, The Last Airbender, The Last Jedi

4 1/2 Stars Movies

Nomadland (2020)

When it comes to name recognition, it seems like the third time is definitely the charm for director Chloe Zhao.

While I have yet to see her debut film (2015’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me), I did manage to see her second film, The Rider (2017), the story of a young cowboy recovering from a near fatal accident and needing to find a new path in life. It takes more than one movie or so to discover a director’s true voice, but Zhao certainly is going down the path of intimate film making (it also helps that her first two movies were written by Zhao), which is more than evident in her third feature Nomadland.

Tags 2020, Chloe Zhao, David Strathairn, Frances McDormand, Nomadland, R, Rated R, Three Billboards, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

3 1/2 Stars 4 1/2 Stars 4 Stars Movies

The Small Axe Films (2020)

Since the mid-2010s, “binge watching” has become a thing of human nature.

TV series and mini-series have been gulped up faster than pizza at a teen sleep over, which has happened even more so in the last year with people spending more time at home due to COVID-19. While most binging seems to be associated with TV series (most notably reruns of “The Office”), some series undoubtedly have taken a more cinematic approach (this was what started with “The Sopranos” and one of the main reasons why it was so revolutionary.) While I have more than enough TV/mini series I have yet to catch up on (since I watch too many movies), I have yet to see the line get more blurred between mini-series and movies as I have after watching the five “episodes” of Small Axe.

Tags Black Panther, John Boyega, Letitia Wright, MCU, Small Axe, Steve McQueen, The Trial of the Chicago 7

4 1/2 Stars Movies

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date November 20, 2020
No Comments on Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987)

As kids, remember how easy it was to make friends?

Perhaps a parent’s friend had kids your age, or you met a new kid on the block. You looked at that kid, and thought “We are about to be friends!”…maybe even “BFFs”. As you got older, you realized hardships would come in the way, and you would either survive them together or, sadly, have to go your own separate ways. Years would go on, and you would meet people you had no intention of being friends with, but God had other plans, and it worked out in the end.

Tags Planes Trains and Automobiles

4 1/2 Stars Movies

Boys State (2020)

In my junior year of High School, the most I remember getting up close and personal to government was a one day field trip with my intro to law class to the nearby county court house. We spent about twenty minutes talking to a judge in his chambers, which ended with him catching me off guard as looked at me at the end of his mini-lecture saying something to the (humorous) effect of “So don’t break the law!”

I can’t imagine myself at the age of 17 doing what the 17 year old boys in Boys State do, yet it has been happening since 1937. In that time, the American Legion has sponsored a week long camp in each state for High School Juniors, with each state having their own certain separate rules and guidelines (even though most have separate camps for boys and girls).