Mike's Movie Tips

 3/4 Starring: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires Rated R for Language Movies from Ken Loach do one of two things (or both): portray the lives of the British working class or dramatize his staunchly socialist beliefs.  "I, Daniel Blake" does both.  The protagonist is a carpenter by trade and is ground down by government bureaucracy which seems to be designed to screw him over.  Loach's attack on the government system that is ostensibly designed to help him is vicious and without mercy. Daniel (Johns) is recovering from a heart attack.  He is eager to get back to work so he can pay his bills, but his doctor believes that it is too soon.  So he goes to to the government to get Employment and Support Allowance.  They, on the other hand, do not agree with the diagnosis and claim that he is able to work.  To prove it, he has to fill out form after form and make call after call.  And do it online, which is difficult because he doesn't know how to use a com...

 2/4 Starring: Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz, Bingbing Fan, Sebastian Stan, Edgar Ramirez Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Strong Violence, Brief Strong Language, and Suggestive Material Talk about a missed opportunity! "The 355" is Hollywood's answer to the calls for more diversity and roles for women.  And with all the star power that the movie has, it certainly has a much needed ace up its sleeve to work.  Unfortunately, that's the only card it has to play.  The story is not only generic spy thriller schtick, but it's thin and ineptly told.  Very little of it makes much sense or serves a purpose, and when it does, it becomes painfully obvious just how dumb it is.  Of course, such problems aren't limited to female-driven films.  There are plenty of other movies starring men that have more violence than intelligence, so I suppose "The 355" is at least egalitarian in that respect. If we are speaking honestly, there is ...

 4/4 Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Marisa Tomei, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Action/Violence, Some Language and Brief Suggestive Comments A few weeks ago, I was playing "Marvel's Spider-Man" on my PS5, and a thought had occurred to me: superhero movies only work when the audience can vicariously experience being one.  Since no one on Earth has the technological know-how or the genetic mutation to swing from spiderwebs or fly around in a metal suit, we are left with comics, video games and movies to allow to live that fantasy.  That's what separates good superhero movies like the MCU "Spider-Man" trilogy and duds like " Eternals " (I'll leave Nolan's Batman trilogy as an exception because those movies were anything but escapist fantasy). Of the MCU canon, the Spidey movies starring Tom Holland are the best of the relatively weak lo...

 2.5/4 Starring: Audrey Tatou, Gaspard Ulliel, Chantal Neuwirth, Andre Dussollier, Ticky Holgado, Marion Cotillard Rated R for Violence and Sexuality When I was in middle school, I read a teen thriller called "Thin Ice" by Marsha Qualley.  I must have read it numerous times and I've never forgotten it.  It is about a girl named Arden who was raised by her older brother, only to have him die a tragic death.  Then she learns a secret that leads her to believe that he is, in fact, alive, and is determined to discover the truth no matter the cost. I thought about that book again while I watched "A Very Long Engagement."  Both have strong women at the center of their stories who battle the odds to solve a mystery they have a personal investment in.  In this case, however, Mathilde is looking for her lover Manech as opposed to her brother, and the tone is more hopeful than cynical.  Of the two stories, however, it's the teen thriller that comes out on top. M...

 3.5/4 Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jonas Bloquet, Charles Berling, Anne Cosigny, Christian Berkel, Laurent Lafitte, Judith Magre Rated R for Violence involving Sexual Assault, Disturbing Sexual Content, Some Grisly Images, Brief Graphic Nudity, and Language Perhaps it took the teaming of director Paul Verhoeven and actress Isabelle Huppert to make this movie.  Neither one would be called coy and they don't shy away from the sexual and the violent.  Making this movie took a lot of nerve on their part, and what's great is that they pulled it off.  "Elle" is consistently compelling and crackles with tension. Michele (Huppert) has just been raped in her home by an intruder.  She deals with it matter of factly, much as she does with everything else in her life.  She talks to her idiot son, Vincent (Bloquet), goes to work at a video game development company, and continues with her life.  But then she's attacked again.  Who is responsible for the attacks...

 1.5/4 Starring: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Shawn Hatosy, Jimmy Fallon Rated R for Pervasive Drug Use, Strong Sexual Content, Nudity and Language It is a common misconception that all a biopic needs to do is tell what happened to the subject.  It isn't.  The audience can get that from Wikipedia.  What matters is that the story tell who they are.  Biopics are character studies; the events from the person's life are of secondary importance to establishing who the person is and the forces that drove them.  Good biopics, such as " Schindler's List " or " Malcolm X " understood this.  "Factory Girl," which is based on the life of socialite and one-time muse of Andy Warhol, does not, and it is one of the many problems that afflict this film. Edie Sedgwick (Miller) was a wealthy heiress who went to art school then moved to the Big Apple to seek fame and fortune.  It was there that she met Andy Warhol (Pearce), the revolutionary wh...

This was the hardest list I've ever had to write in my ten years of reviewing.  For the last couple of weeks I have been desperately, obsessively trying to catch all the Oscar bait movies (or anything that looked good) to try and fill out my Top 10 list at the very least.  Preferably with a 4/4 movie.  I'd call this year an aberration because of the pandemic, but I have a sinking feeling that this is the new normal.  Being a "good movie" doesn't matter.  As long as there is enough action and pizzazz, and more importantly, in-jokes and nostalgia, audiences will watch anything.  Me, personally, I find that a gimmick that has long overstayed its welcome.  I missed "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," but do I really care if there is an on-screen appearance by the ghostly librarian?  Hell no.  I don't even care if there is a reference of any kind to the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.  All I want is a good story that moves the characters forward.  Nos...

 2021 was the worst year I've had reviewing movies.  Full stop.  It was the first time when looking for movies that were released this year became an actual chore.  One can blame the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic screwed with film production and caused massive shifts in releases, and to an extent that's true.  But I have a sinking feeling that this is the reality we are in for the near future.  Movies these days come in two flavors: auteur flicks that are designed to stroke the ego of the filmmaker or bloated special effects extravaganzas whose appeal is limited to fanboy obsession and nostalgia junkies.  Call me a philistine or an elitist if you want, but references to other films don't make a movie and continuous pulls to my nostalgia strings have become irritating and manipulative.  And when I watch a movie, I want to be pulled along by the story, not engage in an "Easter egg hunt" (as was Jason Reitman's goal for "Ghostbusters: Afterlife") o...