2019 - APOLLO 11, interesting documentary about the first moon landing

 Probably the high point for NASA and the race to beat the Russians to be the first to land on the moon, Apollo 11 is a very well made film about an amazing technical triumph that is now almost 60 years old.

The director Todd Douglas Miller had access to lots of footage of the Apollo 11 mission.  NASA was obsessive about filming every single aspect of the mission.  Miller and his team had the footage converted and enhanced to the digital format which gave the old film a really sharp look.  The decision was also made not to have a narrator droning away throughout the film.  This allowed the original film footage to let the story speak for itself.

What can you say about the Apollo 11 astronauts?  The leader of the team Neil Armstrong was very smart but not exactly a guy you would want to spend a weekend partying in Las Vegas with.  Apparently he was not a warm and cuddly kind of husband, his marriage fell apart after 38 years.  Buzz Aldrin the lunar module pilot was married four times and struggled with depression and alcoholism.  Command module pilot Michael Collins seemed to have been the most well adjusted of the team.  He went on to have a life after the moon mission advocating for the space program and working for the government in various roles.  Real life is kind of messy, especially after you've had the achievement of a lifetime.

 

Probably one of the biggest takeaways from this film besides the stunning pictures is of a program that literally employed thousands of people to achieve the goal to land on the moon which started in 1961 and took eight years to finish.  

 

This an interesting film about an event that was an exciting time in American history which is probably now starting to fade into the past.

No credited writer on this film, the pictures tell the story.  The running time is 93 minutes.  

2019 - VFW, a nostalgic horror film

A nostalgic horror film filled with a cast of character actor old timers.  VFW is also one gory and violent film.  The director Joe Begos is a relatively young guy seems attracted to this kind of extremely nasty stuff in his other films and VFW has plenty of intense over the top violence.

The plot such that it is has a gang of drug dealers looking for a member who has run away from the gang with a load of their very nasty drugs.  She ends up hiding in a rundown VFW bar full of over the hill army veterans. The veterans decide to take a stand and protect her from the gang.  VFW is kind of a really savage version of Rio Bravo or Assault On Precinct 13.  Let the siege commence and make sure everyone is swimming in blood with all the killing going on by the end of the film.

 

Besides the incredible killing stuff what this film has going for it is an amazing cast of actor old guys.  Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Fred Williamson, David Patrick Kelly and George Wendt are the oldsters who turn out to be just as scary and tough as the drug dealers.  These performers should know a thing or two about how to be tough guys since they mostly spent their careers in action movies.

 

This film is well made and I have to say the spilled blood and the violent action scenes are also very well photographed.  The old guy actors actually bring a kind of a poignancy to this story which is hard to believe. but it's there.  If this kind of stuff is your cup of carnage, VFW can be a very enjoyable story.

The film was written by Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle, the running time is 92 minutes.

2019 - THE GENTLEMEN, Guy Ritchie goes to the well again.

If you like Guy Ritchie's films you will probably enjoy yet another variation on his patented crooks betraying crooks formula which can be traced all the way back to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.  The Gentlemen is another reprise of that film. 

Matthew McConaughey is an American who runs a big marijuana growing empire in England.  He decides he wants out of the business and makes a deal with a rich American billionaire to sell his pot business and retire with his hot wife played by Michelle Dockery (wearing very high high heels).  Dockery for as good looking as she is plays a very tough cookie.  Let the double crosses commence particualy with the involvement of a shady private investigator played by the amusing Hugh Grant.

 

After lots of tough guy talk and the usual outrageous violence that Guy Ritchie specalizes in it all comes to a conclusion.  As is typical you almost have to keep a score card of who is doing what to whom in a Guy Ritchie film.

 

For a Guy Ritchie film there's really nothing new here but I suppose it's a decent enough times killer with emphasis on the killer part since lots of people get knocked off throughout this film.

Written by Guy Ritchie, the running time is 113 minutes.

2019 - AD ASTRA, visually stunning science fiction film

 This science fiction film is one of the best photographed films of it's type that I have seen in a long time.  The special effects were obviously designed and executed with care.  Brad Pitt gave a subdued performance.  I would say the only issue with the film is a rather muddled screenplay by the director James Gray, the plot line could have been a little clearer. 

Pitt plays an astronaut who is the son of a man who traveled to the planet Neptune almost 30 years ago on a spaceship called Lima.  The earth is suddenly attacked by some sort of energy source which seems to be coming from the Lima.  Pitt attempts to journey to Neptune and find out if his father is still alive and investigate the source of the energy source. The film involves Pitt's efforts to avoid being stopped by the military who just want to send a nuclear bomb to blow the Lima up.

 

The film has a good cast, Tommy Lee Jones plays Pitt's father along with the talented actress Ruth Negga,  Donald Sutherland shows up as well and blink or you'll miss her Liv Tyler is in it.  Primarily the focus is on Pitt as he reflects on his relationship with his wife and father during the flight to Neptune.

 

As I said the special effects are very impressive, none of that cartoon like superhero film effects stuff that has barely been able to pass for good these days. The photography was by Hoyte van Hoytema a cinematographer usually associated with filmmaker Christopher Nolan.  In many ways Ad Astra is an excellent science fiction film

The film really deserved better commercial success than it got from the public. The running time is 124 minutes.

2019 - CHARLIE'S ANGELS, second try at starting a film franchise

If at first you don't succeed try again, or so it goes with this second reboot of the sort of popular but very mediocre television series about three women who work as private investigators for a mysterious individual called Charley.  Frankly the television series really wasn't much.  The weekly stories were nothing special to put it generously.  The audience basically tuned in to see three attractive women in some sort of danger every week.  The original series limped along for about five years.  Drew Barrymore looking to enter into film production put together a film based on the series in 2000, that film did okay commercially so a sequel was released in 2003 which didn't do as well, end of story.

Until 2019, when an attempt was made once again to start a franchise this time with Hollywood overachiever Elizabeth Banks directing and taking screenplay credit.  Banks fashioned a film that supposedly was more empowering for the women playing the "angels" but there was still the usual amount of male leering at these good looking women.  Banks also created a part for herself in the film as if writing and directing wasn't enough of a challenge.

 

Kristen Stewart, usually associated with serious films was cast as one of the angels. She did get to show her silly side throughout the film while improbably beating up a lot of bad guys.  The other two women, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska made up the team but they were kind of forgettable and this film really didn't do much for their careers.

 

Elizabeth Banks did a decent job with what was essentially a light weight summer film.  However audiences male and female didn't show up for the film.  The film is a very undemanding action film with a little lip service paid to women who are as tough as men and just happen to look like fashion models.

Running time, 118 minutes.

2019 - SHAFT, updated and remade for the new generation I guess.

If you like Samuel L. Jackson kicking ass, shooting people and swearing a whole lot, this is the film for you.  This I believe is Jackson's second shot at the character.  The emphasis is on comedy and action in this film.

This film gives Shaft an estranged ex-wife played by Regina Hall who has a pretty big potty mouth of her own but is really funny.  In addition, Shaft now has a son who works for the FBI and is some kind of computer geek. Finally there is the original Shaft himself Richard Roundtree who is also very amusing and moving darn good for being 78 years old.

  

 I enjoyed this film however,  it is not a film you would probably want to watch with your significant other or mother or grandmother for that matter.

We've come a long way from the original Gordon Parks film that had a gritty NYC look.

Written by Kenya Barris and Alex Barrow, the film runs 112 minutes.