Kwickie Kritical Kommentaries

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box.....

I have yet to read a book by Erik Larson that, if it wasn't GREAT, it was at least VERY, VERY GOOD.  His newest one, "The Demon of Unrest" is proving to be in that same category.  It covers events leading up to the attack of Fort Sumpter in Charleston Harbor that was the beginning of the American Civil War.   In his introduction to the book, Larson tells us that he was well into the research of this book when the events of January 6, 2021 unfolded, and that he couldn't help but see the parallels  to what took place in 1860.   I am only 100 pages into the book, and I can say that he is exactly correct.  The unrest stirred up in the American South prior to the Civil War is exactly what we are seeing being fomented in America today by the Convicted Felon-in-Chief and his minions, and it scares the shit out of me.

I always wait until I finish a book or movie before giving it a rating, but this one is well on it's way to Four Grandstander Stars.

This movie was released in mid-May and within two weeks was available on streaming, so it seems to have bombed at the box office.  It was still playing in our local multiplex, so we took it on last weekend, and enjoyed it a lot.

Ryan Gosling plays a professional movie stuntman, and Emily Blunt plays his ex-lover who is an aspiring movie director,  there is a plot to this one that I won't go into, since these are all "Kwickie Kommentaries" today, but it's a fun movie to see.  Gosling is charming as the put upon lead, and has Blunt ever been bad in anything?

Three Stars from The Grandstander, and be sure and stay for all of the closing credits.

I sought out this 1946 British mystery movie based upon a write-up on a classic movie Facebook Group to which I belong called My Reel Life.  It was said to be the type of movie that Hitchcock would have made back in Britain at the time.  It takes place in a London hospital that was set up to care for those injured and wounded during the Blitz of Great Britain by German V-1 rockets (called "doodlebugs" by the Brits; I had to google it when I heard it in the film) during WW II.  A death takes place.  Was it a murder?  Then another death takes place that most certainly was a murder.  There are five possible suspects, and a Scotland Yard detective played by Alistair Sim has to  unravel the whole bloody mess.  Sim, who is best known as being the best ever film version of Ebenezer Scrooge, can be classified as a distant antecedent to America's Lt. Columbo, in his portrayal of the detective in this one.

I found this one on Amazon Prime, and give it Two Grandstander Stars.

Now let's talk about Uniforms, and I'll be brief.

MLB's City Connect Uniforms are an abomination.  I have yet to see one that I like.   At PNC Park on Wednesday night, I saw a guy coming out of the Pirates Clubhouse Store putting on his newly purchased Pirates City Connect uni with the Number 21 and the name CLEMENTE on it. It made me want to gag.

YUCK!!!!

"Jungle Cruise"

The reviews that I have read from the professional critics for Disney's new "Jungle Cruise" can best be described as "tepid."  And not without reason.  However, as we left the theater yesterday after seeing it, Marilyn, aka, Mrs. Grandstander, offered the best review of all:

"Is there anyone" she asked "cooler than The Rock?"

Throw in the wonderful Emily Blunt, who has proven that she can play "spunky heroine" better than anyone since, perhaps, Katherine Hepburn, and there you have the reasons that make "Jungle Cruise" worth seeing.

The movie is based on the Disneyland/Disney World ride of the same name.  A cruise ride on a jungle river that is loaded with dangerous animatronic animals.  The plot of this one concerns a tree that has magic petals capable of curing any illness, a native curse upon Spanish conquistadors from the 16th century, the undead, an evil son of Kaiser Wilhelm - oh, yeah, the movie takes place during World War I - and sexism among the stuffy British Historical/Science/Exploration Society.  There are plot angles - and plot holes - and MacGuffins all over the place in this movie, but so what.  You don't go to a movie like this to see "Citizen Kane" or a Hitchcock classic, and it is upon that curve that a movie like this should be judged.  You  go to a movie like this to relax and have fun, and to that end, "Jungle Cruise" delivers.

Blunt, Johnson, and Whitehall

She looked GREAT in that hat!

To expand upon my wife's take on this one, Dwayne Johnson can match anybody when it comes to screen charisma.  Blunt has proven herself to to be both a terrific dramatic actress (A Quiet Place, Girl on the Train) and an equally charming comic actress (Mary Poppins Returns), and she handle herself nicely as the Don't-You-Dare-Take-Me-Lightly action adventuress in this one.  Johnson and Blunt may not be the next William Powell and Myrna Loy, but if they teamed up for another movie (but, please, not a sequel to this one), I'd buy a ticket to see it.

Oh, and Jack Whitehall does a great turn as Blunt's stiff upper lipped brother. He has packed more clothes and gear on Johnson's jungle cruise boat than Thurston Howell III packed for his three hour tour on the Minnow.

Like I said, when you rate a movie like this, you have to realize that a Star for this one is different than a Star for, say, "Some Like It Hot", so with that in mind, The Grandstander bestows Two and One-Half Stars on "Jungle Cruise."

"Mary Poppins Returns"

It took until the 364th day of the year, but I believe that I saw today what was, for me, the best movie of 2018, "Mary Poppins Returns".  As I indicated in my most recent Grandstander post, I had just seen the 1964 original a few days ago for the very first time, and I loved it, and it was great to have it fresh in my mind when seeing this one today.

As some might think, this is not a remake of the 1964 original that starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.  It is rather a sequel to that one.  It takes place a few decades after the original one.  Michael and Jane Banks are now adults, and the recently widowed Michael is still living at 17 Cherrytree Lane with his three young children, and he is faced with a multitude of problems, the foremost being that the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank is about to foreclose on a loan and repossess his house.

As his sister Jane tries to help him in his efforts to keep their family home, who comes into their lives once again but the mystical and marvelous nanny of their youth, Mary Poppins.

I won't say anymore about the storyline or the plot, so you need - I mean you really need - to go see this one yourself.

The movie was directed and choreographed by Oscar winner Rob Marshall and it gives you great music and dance numbers, beautiful and colorful costumes, amazing animation and special effects, and a simply wonderful performance by Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins.  It would be unfair to compare her to Julie Andrews, so I won't, but if you judge her on her own merits, she is just terrific.  She can speak volumes with the look on her face and the raising of her eyebrows, and man oh man, can she sing.

Blunt and Miranda

"Mary Poppins and Jack"

Instead of Bert the chimney sweep, this one gives us Jack, the lamplighter, or "leery", as played by Lin-Manuel Miranda.  This is Miranda's first big show biz splash post-Hamilton, and perhaps the expectations were too high for him, thus some critics have been lukewarm to his performance, but I thought he delivered very well in the role.  One of the musical numbers did feature him doing a rapidly rhyming semi-hip-hop number, so that was kind of cool, but this certainly was NOT "Hamilton meets Mary Poppins" if that's what you were expecting.

Another criticism I have heard of this movie is that, well, it's okay, but the songs can't hold up to the songs of the original movie.  Maybe, maybe not.  Perhaps, those critics should allow for the test of time to see if some of these numbers will grab hold of the public and become the next "Spoonful of Sugar" or Chim Chim Cher-ee".

Let's face it, in 2018, there was a lot of stuff going on out in the world that was unpleasant and discomforting.  "Mary Poppins Returns" is a movie that gives you something that is fun to watch and to listen to, that is beautiful to look at, and, more importantly, sends a quite positive message, and ain't it nice to see and hear something positive?

To me, at least, "Mary Poppins Returns" is the best movie that I have seen in 2018, and it gets the full Four Star rating from The Grandstander.

At The Movies...."A Quiet Place"

The movie "A Quiet Place" is currently generating lots and lots of buzz, so we took it in this afternoon.  It has been described as a Sci-fi/Horror/Suspense film, and it is all of that, but I would put the greatest emphasis on the "Suspense" part of the description.

The movie begins in the near future, and something bad has happened to Planet Earth. In an almost post-apocalyptic, setting, humans are being preyed upon by creatures that react to human sounds and noises.  As a result, everyone needs to remain perfectly silent, and the family around which this story revolves, communicates by using American Sign Language.  There is very little spoken dialog and subtitles are used throughout the movie.

I am not going to give any further details, so as not to even hint at what could become spoilers.  The movie stars John Krasinski and his real life wife Emily Blunt.  Krasinski also directed the film, co-wrote the screenplay, and served as an executive producer.  It is his movie, no question about it, and perhaps the best part of the movie is that it is only 90 minutes long, so there are no dragged out or superfluous spots, which means the suspense starts at the very beginning and never lets up.

If you are inclined to see this movie, see it now, in a theater, preferably when there are a lot of people watching.  That would really tend to intensify the suspense and the "Oh-my-God" moments that are throughout the movie.  At the matinee performance we saw today, there were a total of five people in the theater, so that was bummer.  And to wait to watch on DVD or streaming in the comfort of your home would probably lessen the thrills and chills of the movie.

Kudos also need to go out to remarkable young actress Millicent Simmonds who plays Krasinski's and Blunt's  daughter.  Simmonds actually is deaf which makes her performance all the more remarkable.  The character's deafness plays a key role in the plot line of the movie, and it us also used in the sound effects of the movie to great and suspenseful effect as well.

The movie is worth the buzz it is getting.  Mrs. Grandstander and I both recommend it, but be prepared to be white-knuckling your armrests and jumping off of your seat more that once as you watch.

Three stars from The Grandstander.

Movie Review: "The Girl On The Train" (No Spoilers)

Regular readers may recall that I wrote a review of the best selling Paula Hawkins novel, "The Girl On the Train" way back in March, 2015.  To refresh your memory:

http://grandstander.blogspot.com/search?q=girl+on+the+train

I really liked the book, and the immense popularity of it made it a sure thing that it would be made into a movie.  Now, whenever Hollywood decides to convert a popular book into a movie, there is always the risk that they will, how can I say this....screw it up.  Those fears came alive when the first thing you heard about the movie was that the location of the story would be moved from suburban London to suburban New York City.  Oh, well, take a deep breath and check it out anyway, I said to myself.

Fear not.  This film adaptation by screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson and director Tate Taylor delivers the goods.  The locale aside, it is a taut and suspenseful thriller, dark and gritty at times, and a faithful adaptation of the novel.

The movie stars Emily Blunt as Rachel, the Girl On The Train.  It is not a glamorous role, and she pulls it off quite well.  It also stars Haley Bennett and Rebecca Ferguson are Megan and Anna, the two other key women in the story, and Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, and Edgar Ramirez as the male figures in the story. Also featured are TV regulars Allison Janney, Laura Prepon, and Lisa Kudrow.  Kudrow's character was not in the book, but she plays a significant role in advancing the plot.

The story deals with a missing woman who may or may not be dead, an alcoholic heroine who may or may not be delusional, and husbands and wives who may or may not be as wholesome as they appear.

I'll say no more, other than to say that if you have read the book, I don't think that you will be disappointed in Hollywood's version of it, and if you haven't read the book, you're in for a pretty nifty thriller if you go see it, which I recommend that you do!

Four Stars from The Grandstander.