Archive for October 26th, 2018

It’s the mid 90’s and thirteen year old Stevie (Sunny Suljic) and his older brother Ian (Lucas Hedges) are the children of Dabney (Katherine Waterson), a single mother doing her best to raise her boys in Los Angeles. Absent of a father figure Stevie falls in with a rough crowd of skaters (Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, and Ryder McLaughlin), bonding over skateboards, booze, girls, and general miscreant behavior; navigating his young adulthood is likely to be messy. Written and Directed by Jonah Hill and shot in a stylized 4:3 frame (just like TV was in the 90s) this snapshot of a period sets the pace, time, and place but fails in its creation of a traditional story arc; rather it’s Hill’s prerogative to create a more esoteric arc, a series of smaller lessons, exploring the learning of who or what is really important during the formative years, to that end the film is interesting but may come across as a bit challenging for those looking for more of a traditional “story.” The real gems of this picture are those in the ensemble, well played all. Thumbs up to the sound design as well, the louder the punches, the meatier it gets. And, bonus to Hill, only one gratuitous shot including neon super soakers to establish time was used in the making of this film. Mid90s is rated R.

When a cyber-attack exposes the identity of all of MI6’s undercover agents Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is brought out of retirement to track down a mastermind hacker, aided by his old agency friend, Bough (Ben Miller), the race is on to prevent a takeover of the free world, that is unless the mysterious Ophelia (Olga Kurylenko) doesn’t stop him first. Written by William Davies and Directed by David Kerr this carrier virus for Atkinson’s unique physical humor and comedic abilities doesn’t exactly push the envelope of cinema or nutty spy hi-jinks; but, for fans of the Bean-esque tropes and tom foolery this breezy 88 minute trip across the pond will satisfy the most basic needs. It’s simple, harmless, escapism with a few extra guffaws, mission accomplished. Entertainment dollar-wise, you’re looking at more of a matinee value, maybe less if you can wait it out for rental later, so it goes. Johnny English Strikes Again is rated PG.