Movie Review: “Yesterday”

**** out of 5
116 minutes
Rated PG-13 for suggestive content and language
Universal Pictures

Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

No man knows how to make me feel like Richard Curtis. Ever since Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994, I’ve paid close attention to the man’s products. Through Mr. Bean, Blackadder, Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Boat That Rocked, and my two personal favorites Love Actually and About Time, the man knows how to make a rom-com. And a rom-com men can embrace, sometimes even more than its target audience.

Yesterday may feel like Curtis Lite in the rom-com arena, at least he’s able to get by with a little help from his friends. With director Danny Boyle — Curtis sadly stated he will never direct another film after About Time — at the helm, a winning big screen debut for Himesh Patel, and $10 million worth of Beatles songs in their arsenal, the sleeper feel good counter programming hit of the summer has arrived.

Jack Malick (Patel) just wants people to hear his music. His manager/best friend/unrequited love interest Ellie (Lily James) tries to make it happen. While most of his gigs are typically playing in front of merely handfuls of people, all that is about to change. One night, a freak solar flare causes the whole world to go dark for seconds, with Jack getting hit by a bus in the process.

After Jack wakes up, he slowly learns that absolutely no one has ever heard of The Beatles. Now, Jack embarks on a personal mission to bring their music back to the world while sorting out his own feelings toward Ellie, and trying to decide between love and fame. Meanwhile, two strangers seem to be hot on his tail, causing some serious guilt, but just can’t resist the temptation for stardom when Ed Sheeran, and big time producer Debra Hammer (Kate McKinnon), offer him a bounty of “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

It’s been a dark time for myself and my colleagues these past two weeks with the passing of Big Movie Mouth Off’s Jimmy Martin — a show I was honored to have co-hosted on several occasions. Something as lighthearted and whimsical as Yesterday was more than welcome to say the least. While it may only offer a temporary diversion to our new harsh reality, it’s a fantastic two hours at the movies. Boyle may employ a few too many onscreen social media graphics — something that would have hilariously annoyed Jimmy — but he keeps the focus on the music, providing ample opportunities for Patel to belt out our favorite, classic, and even some possibly lesser known, Beatles tunes.

Yesterday may not find the depths Curtis has mined before — let’s just say the father/son twist of About Time was a particular suckerpunch — but he’s not working in that kind of wheelhouse here. Thankfully, Patel and James make a great couple to root for, McKinnon is a hilarious pseudo-villain, and the soundtrack is everything one could hope it to be. Featuring acoustic and rocking alternatives to what we’re used to hearing — “Help!” being a particular standout — Curtis and Boyle clearly wanted to just have a good time and so will you. Yesterday is a loving ode to the band everyone knows and sometimes, even when a film loses sight of what the studio wants you to think it’s about, it never loses focus of what it’s really trying to deliver: the music.

Movie Review: “Toy Story 4”

***** out of 5
100 minutes
Rated G
Walt Disney Pictures

Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

It’s crazy to think that the first Toy Story was released 24 years ago. And with Disney and Pixar being no strangers to sequelitis, it’s something of a cinematic miracle to only now be getting Toy Story 4. With each new entry, they manage to improve both story wise, and technologically. Some astounding animation awaits with director Josh Cooley upping the ante yet again. Exploring the biggest cast of characters yet — while deepening and broadening their world — Disney and Pixar continue to prove that this is the one franchise they’ve keep from exhaustion.

Starting nine years in the past, Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) is off to the rescue to save R.C. from being swept away in a storm. But not before his beloved Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts), along with her lamp and sheep (Billy/Goat/Gruff — voiced by Emily Davis), are carried off forever. Bo Peep tries to convince Woody to go with her, but Woody’s loyalty to Andy holds him back.

In the film’s present — about a year after Toy Story 3 — the toys are dealing with Bonnie (voiced by Madeleine McGraw) starting kindergarten. It doesn’t help that Woody keeps getting left in the closet with Bonnie declaring a new sheriff in town: Jessie. Nevertheless, Woody tags along to Bonnie’s orientation day to ensure everything goes smoothly. But just wouldn’t you know it, Bonnie constructs a new toy, Forky (voiced by Tony Hale), made out of trash, and brings him home to join the gang.

Forky doesn’t believe that he’s anything more than discarded junk and heavily questions why he’s alive. When Bonnie’s parents (voiced by Lori Alan and Jay Hernandez) whisk her — and a bunch of her favorite toys — away on a road trip, adventure comes calling. And just wouldn’t you know it, Woody quickly runs into Bo Peep at the Grand Basin Carnival Days, only to find out she’s has happily lived as a lost toy for the  last seven years.

Now, Woody has to call on Bo Peep — along with Canadian stuntman action figure Duke Caboom (voiced by Keanu Reeves) and stuffed carnival prizes Ducky and Bunny (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) and Buzz’s (voiced by Tim Allen) “inner voice” — to save Forky from the creepy Gabby Gabby (voiced Christina Hendricks) who uses Forky as a ploy to make Woody’s voice box her own.

It’s extraordinary just how good each Toy Story is. We had no idea what we were in for back in 1995 and it’s amazing the powerhouse Pixar has become. Granted, there have been a few bumps (Brave), bruises (Cars 2), and even a flatout bomb (The Good Dinosaur) along the way. On their worst days, Pixar films are still typically better than most family flicks. With the exception being Disney’s own string of hits, of course.

Cooley — along with screenwriters Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom — keeps the action moving, the animation bedazzling, the jokes flying, heartstrings pulling, and life lessons learning from start to finish. The voice cast all perform admirably considering this is the fourth outing for most of them. Hanks and Allen are as chummy as ever, but it’s the new characters who steal the show. Forky is a slapstick extraordinaire, Gabby Gabby lends a surprisingly missing horror element with the help of her Benson ventriloquist doll henchmen, and Caboom is the most hilarious character Reeves has ever played.

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up, Toy Story 4 is another amazing addition to the franchise and exceeds expectations across the board.

Movie Review: “Men in Black: International”

*** 1/2 out of 5
114 minutes Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action, some language and suggestive material
Columbia Pictures

Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

In the age of reboots, remakes, and sequels, Men in Black: International has a lot working against it. While serving as both a sequel and reboot, this new MIB is really just more of the same. What that means to you will definitely make up your mind in a hurry. However, it still manages to at least provide what we’ve come to expect: fast paced and funny.

MIB:I may not have the blessing of Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones’s presence, but Tessa Thompson makes a fantastic lead. With Chris Hemsworth by her side, the two show they have just as much chemistry outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While director F. Gary Gray continues his streak of entertaining the masses without delivering anything new.

Molly (Thompson) has spent her entire life trying to track down the mysterious Men in Black. After tracking down a fallen spaceship, she follows them back to headquarters and walks right in, only to be swiftly found out, interrogated, and placed on a probationary period as a new trainee by Agent O (Emma Thompson). After all, she found them. Now, Molly has become Agent M and forces her way into Agent H’s (Hemsworth) assignment showing the alien Vungus (Kayvan Novak) a night out on the town. But not before Vungus is killed by the Alien Twins (Laurent and Larry Bourgeois) and passes off what they were looking for to the only person Vungus trusts: M.

If there’s one thing this MIB entry has going for it, it’s nostalgia. Those of us who love the franchise will enjoy every minute of it. Even if screenwriters Matt Holloway and Art Marcum stick to a very tried and true formula. Agent M is a great replacement to fill Jay’s place and thankfully, Agent H never tries to make up for Kay. The jokes may feel few and far between, but watching Thompson and Hemsworth play off each other is always more fun than most character interactions. The two make a fantastic duo and keep the series geared up for more adventures.

As great as the leads are, the supporting cast steal the show. Emma Thompson is as dryly hilarious as she was in 3, but Kumail Nanjiani as the tiny alien Pawny looking for a queen to protect winds up being the best — and funniest — character in all four movies. Unfortunately, they aren’t all winners. Rebecca Ferguson is completely wasted in a former love-interest/pseudo-villain role. And Liam Neeson looks like he sleepwalked his way on set. The Men in Black films are always a safe bet and with Thompson making an admirable leap to lead, it should be interesting to see what further missions she may embark upon.

Movie Review: “Dark Phoenix”

*** 1/2 out of 5
113 minutes
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action including some gunplay, disturbing images, and brief strong language
20th Century Fox

Article first published at TheReelPlace.com

Production troubles can wreak havoc on a film’s success before it even opens. In the case of the new X-Men entry, Dark Phoenix, everything from reshoots to internal studio scandals have already set the film’s reputation aflame. Don’t let the bad buzz turn you off, Dark Phoenix may not be the best X-Men entry, but it’s way better than both The Last Stand and Apocalypse.

With Simon Kinberg finally in the director’s chair — he’s had his hand in the series for years as writer/producer — he tries to send the end of the Fox X-Men series out with a bang and succeeds for the most part. Unfortunately, the series ends more anticlimactically than we hoped, but at least he does John Byrne, Chris Claremont, and Dave Cockrum’s beloved “Dark Phoenix Saga” proud.

With Apocalypse behind them — seriously, this entry never once references the last installment — and a new decade upon them, Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is sending his X-Men crew to space to save the Endeavor from a cosmic flare. Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) thinks Charles is starting to take too big of risks to enhance his ego, but he still defends he’s fighting for their own safety.

While in space, Raven, Hank/Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Scott/Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Peter/Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Kurt/Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Jean Grey/Phoenix (Sophie Turner), barely escape with their lives, saving the crew of the Endeavor. In the process, Phoenix gets caught in the flare, turning her powers up to 11.

Now, an alien race has come to Earth to find the flare — actually a cosmic force — lead by Vuk (Jessica Chastain). These beings want to use the force to wipe out all existence and teraform the planet to repopulate with their own race. Now, Jean must learn to control her new powers causing her to become the X-Men’s greatest foe, leading to a showdown in the streets of New York, bringing out Erik/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and his motley crew to either win Phoenix back, or risk losing her forever.

As much good as Bryan Singer brought to the X-Men franchise, he also brought along his own amount of bad — and controversy. After Matthew Vaughn rebooted the franchise fantastically with First Class, Singer returned after a 12 year hiatus with one of the best entries — Days of Future Past — only to crash and burn with the bloated Apocalypse. It’s a shame that this will be the last entry for the new timeline because Kinberg brings the series to a firmly grounded adventure.

Sophie Turner gives a wishy washy performance, but considering she’s spent most of her acting on Game of Thrones she shows a lot of promise here. The rest of the cast all slip back into their respective roles as expected and it was nice to see some genuine tension amongst some of the characters. Unfortunately, McAvoy is clearly tired of playing Xavier and almost makes a turn toward self parody. The worst offender is Jennifer Lawrence who puts in the same kind of performance she put in before her character gets awakened in Passengers, while the stand-out — as expected — is Fassbender. The man never disappoints.

The pace moves along nicely, even if the ending feels anticlimactic and never offers the emotional payoff you’re expecting. No ill will to Kinberg, the man got the short end of the stick directing the final entry before the Disney merger while fighting against glaring similarities of Captain Marvel, but by now, most people know what’s happened behind the scenes. The ending feels far more appropriate to the rest of the film. How it was originally intended to end would have felt way out of place.

While Dark Phoenix may not send the franchise out in a blinding glory, at least it’s everything we’d expect from an X-Men movie: humor, heart, a wonky timeline, and plenty of spectacle.