“Fly Me to the Moon”

(Comedy/Drama/Romance: 2 hours, 12 minutes)

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson, Jim Rash and Ray Romano

Director: Greg Berlanti

Rated: PG-13 (Strong language and smoking)

Movie Review:

“Fly Me to the Moon” is a fictional take on a historic event, the lunar landing of 1969. The movie nicely combines factual material and conspiracy theories over the years to create a fictional account of the lunar landing. The movie creates a nice atmosphere for drama, comedy and romance.

Scarlett Johansson plays marketing expert Kelly Jones, a woman just recruited by Moe Berkus (Harrelson), a member of the Nixon Administration, to save the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Kelly’s job of changing NASA’s public image will not be easy because NASA launch director for the Apollo 11 mission Cole Davis (Tatum), is averse to just about everything Kelly wants to do. He is good at his job but nowhere near as effective as she is at hers to convince the American public and key congressional members to support going to the moon. Additionally, Jones is also tasked with devising a backup plan in the form of an alternative filmed version of the United States landing on the moon. For this staged project, Jones recruits flamboyant movie director Lance Vespertine (Rash). Jones must now sell two moon missions.

When this fictitious movie plays Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie Orchestra’s song, “Fly Me to the Moon” the lyrics ring true for this movie because the astronauts are preparing to go to the moon. This is the dramatic part of this romantic comedy-drama led by a very stoic Cole Davis as portrayed by Channing Tatum.

The fake version of the moon landing is where the characters “. . . play among the stars.” These scenes are the comical part where James Rash is good as a gay moviemaker and Woody Harrelson’s secretive Moe Berkus inspires laughs.

And, in the middle of the two plans for the moon mission, we find Johansson and Tatum falling in love. They hate each other at first, although there is an attraction from the beginning. Predictably, they get together, and the romantic connection is nice. For this part of the movie, the lyrics and music from “Fly Me to the Moon” echo, “In other words, I love you.”

They are joined by “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Ray Romano as Henry Smalls, an older family man who’s enthusiastic about seeing people land on the moon. Along with Harrelson as a man in black and Rash as a persnickety filmmaker, these characters are interesting and serve as nice secondary characters to Johansson and Tatum. They and other characters facilitate the plot of this very enjoyable movie.

If this movie proves anything space is still the final frontier we wish to conquer. Indeed, we want to fly to the moon and we want to play among the stars. Until then, this feature is a pleasant substitute.

Grade: B+ (A worthy voyage.)

“Daddio”

(Drama: 1 hour, 40 minutes)

Starring: Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn

Director: Christy Hall

Rated: R (Strong language, sexual material and brief graphic nudity)

Movie Review:

“Daddio” is one long taxi drive, where characters played by Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson become too intimate very fast. The roles are portrayed sufficiently, but the story just needs more. The conversation is not as pensive as producers of this film want to portray, despite the rapport of Johnson and Penn.

Arriving at JFK airport, a young woman known as Girlie (Johnson) gets in a yellow cab driven by Clark (Penn). It is the last fare for Clark for the night. On the way to a Manhattan location, the two have intimate conversations mainly about love and relationships. As they talk, Girlie is carrying on text messages with a man she has been having an affair with for some time. Her relationship with the married older man slowly enters the conversation with the cabbie.

Christy Hall’s director-writer movie debut is well-acted by Johnson and Penn. They give good performances. Regardless of their rapport, their intimacy appears unconvincingly shallow. Their conversations about life might just remind moviegoers they have one of their own they could be living too.

Grade: C+ (Save the fare for another ride.)

“Inside Out 2”

(Animation/Comedy: 1 hour, 36 minutes)

Starring: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke and Kensington Tallman

Director: Kelsey Mann

Rated: PG (Thematic elements)

Movie Review:

“Inside Out 2” continues in the same brain of the little girl we saw in 2015’s “Inside Out.” Except now that young girl, Riley (Tallman), is entering puberty and her brain undergoes an overhaul. The sequel takes a more serious tone for the better because of this character change.

The emotions inside of Riley’s head become more crowded with the emergence of more emotions. The new emotion Anxiety (Hawke) causes the most friction as she has her own plan on what Riley’s brain should be doing during puberty.

As a person who has taught ages 4 to 71, what happens in a young person’s head is an ever-present store for humor. This movie feels more of the same in many aspects, but it manages to expand on the prequel. Riley is the same person, but she is now more complex.

The movie makes the best of Riley’s new mental situation, even when the adolescent is having her worst day. This is a highlight of the movie. It shows that one can overcome just about anything with time and patience. This notion is a good message for young and older audiences.

Grade: B- (Inside her brain for entertainment again.)

“Kill”

(Action: 1 hour, 45 minutes; Hindi with subtitles)

Starring: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Abhishek Chauhan and Tanya Maniktala

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Rated: B (Strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images and language.)

Movie Review:

“Kill” is an Indian movie inspired by real-life train attacks. Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat (“Long Live Brij Mohan,” 2017) experienced one. It is an interesting action flick triggered by a man’s love. This is not a romance as the title suggests. The scenes are primarily all action, mostly bloody violence, and the result is an absorbing action-packed motion picture.

While traveling on a New Delhi-bound train, two government commandos, Amrit Rathod (Lakshya) and Viresh Chatwal (Chauhan) encounter a horde of bandits, who plan to rob people on the train. However, matters quickly become violent and the commandos must fight to help protect the people on the train, including Tulika Singh (Maniktala), the woman Rathod loves.

“Kill” is overly gory violence nicely choreographed in close quarters. This is both a negative and a positive. “Kill” is an action film that, by default, is violent. That violence does not dissuade the fact this movie has a plot that plays like a neo-western.

This means the good guys are out for revenge, and they should be. The bandits are ruthless and do not care who they hurt. It is very easy to root for the good guys, and it is easy to root for “Kill” a thrill ride.

Grade: B (It slays with abundant, vigorous action.)

“Poolman”

(Comedy Mystery: 1 hour, 40 minutes)

Starring: Chris Pine, Annette Bening, Stephen Tobolowsky and Danny DeVito

Director: Chris Pine

Rated: R (Strong language, sexuality and violence)

Movie Review:

“Poolman,” like his main character played by Chris Pine, is in a bizarre movie. While this comedy is a flimsy absurdist comedy, the material was just absurd.

Chris Pine’s feature directorial debut is a tale about Darren Barrenman (Pine). He is a hippie-type man in Los Angeles. He cleans and attends to the welfare of the pool of the local apartment. Also, he believes in holding his local government accountable. When told by city bureaucrat June Del Ray (Dewanda Wise) that the president of the city council (Tobolowsky) is corrupt, Barrenman gathers a team of five people who are determined to prove the councilman is on the take. They began to follow him and track his moves, hoping to catch him taking bribes from a local syndicate.

The setting and some plot elements appear as if they are modern, yet other aspects of this movie appear straight from the 1920s. The juxtaposition is oddly unconvincing. This is mainly because Chris Pine’s character seems like he should be in a mental facility not out walking around causing havoc around his city and stalking politicians.

“Poolman” is just weird throughout. It appears an inebriated afterthought.

Grade: D (He drowns in awful bad writing.)

“Back to Black”

(Biography/Drama/Music: 2 hours, 02 minutes)

Starring: Marisa Abela, Eddie Marsan, Jack O’Connell and Lesley Manville

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Rated: R (Drug use, strong language, sexual content and nudity)

Movie Review:

“Back to Black” is the Amy Winehouse biopic. These types of movies debut several times a year. They chronicle some well-known person’s life in usually a formulaic fashion, showing the highlights, the good and the bad. While Winehouse’s story has a predictable presence, the main star has appeal, and the script allows observers to also see other sides of Winehouse. Regrettably, these facets are not enough to make “Back to Black” a powerhouse comparable to its subject.

Marisa Abela plays Winehouse, a young woman with the ambition to be a singer and songwriter. The chanteuse is soon a sensation topping the music charts everywhere. Even when she achieves her goal, Winehouse still allows her relationship with drugs and alcohol to jeopardize her career.

Audiences know how this movie will end. Winehouse’s story had a tragic ending. Before that closing arrives, this script mainly pinpoints the highs and lows of her life, mainly on the lows.

Yet, “Back to Black” attempts to offer another side of Winehouse by showing her relationship with certain people. First, it chronicles her relationship with her family. The standouts are her father Mitch (Marsan) and the woman who influenced her the most, including her looks, Winehouse’s paternal grandmother Cynthia Levy (the talented Manville). Both were musically inclined and singers.

Second, it shows that Amy’s marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil (O’Connell). They had marital bliss before it all became disastrous. The movie places some blame on Blake for Amy’s addiction to hard drugs.

That leads to Amy’s third relationship. Alcohol and drugs were daily companions. She was drinking mightily long before Blake entered her life. The movie spends a great deal of time exhibiting Amy’s fight against several addictions.

Amy’s moments with her family, especially scenes with her grandmother are touching. These aspects carry the movie when scenes just seem to go from alcohol to drugs, a repetitive process.

Grade: C+ (Interesting, but it fades to black.)

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”

(Action/Adventure: 2 hours, 28 minutes)

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke

Director: George Miller

Rated: R (Sequences of strong violence and grisly images)

Movie Review:

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is the origin story of Furiosa before she met “Mad” Max Rockatansky. This is another worthwhile action piece, a continuation of this franchise that began with “Mad Max” (1979). It entertains, although it is familiar territory.

“Furiosa” is the latest addition to the franchise features psychotic characters in a post-apocalyptic world. In this place, Furiosa (Taylor-Joy) emerges. She was taken as a child by the Biker Horde led by the warlord Dementus (Hemsworth). Since, Furiosa has wanted to avenge her mother’s murder.

“Furiosa” is a prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015). The two movies are very familiar. They are repetitive survival flicks. They are fine entertainment but appears like one is watching the same movie with a different set of talented actors.

Grade: B- (Good although comparable to previous movies in this saga.)

“Sight”

(Biography, Drama: 1 hour, 43 minutes)

Starring: Terry Chen, Greg Kinnear, Fionnula Flanagan

Director: Andrew Hyatt

Rated: PG-13 (Violence and thematic elements)

Movie Review:

“Sight” is an uplifting film about a doctor’s work to restore the sight of children in impoverished areas. When a new medical science he pioneered does not go as planned for patient Kajal (Mia SwamiNathan), Dr. Ming Wang (Chen) loses faith, and does not want to return to her profession. However, the blind orphan Kajal’s determination and beautiful spirit inspire Wang.

Calcutta India, 2006, is where this inspirational story starts. From there, the movie shows several flashbacks where audiences see a young Ming Wang, an impoverished Chinese prodigy. He flees Communist China. He travels to the United States to become a doctor, and he excels in his studies and later becomes a prominent doctor in his field.

The problem is Wang’s young life and what it took to get through medical school is much more interesting than his very astute skills as a doctor in his later life. As the movie bounces back and forth, the two stories interrupt each other.

This movie is an inspiration because despite several hardships Wang manages to stay focused and achieve his goals from childhood to adulthood. Even when his life is depressing as a practicing professional at the height of his career, Wang continues. His determination propels this story.

Grade: B- (Good vision even if short-sighted.)

“I Saw the TV Glow”

(Drama/Horror: 1 hour, 40 minutes)

Starring: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine and Ian Foreman

Director: Jane Schoenbrun

Rated: PG-13 (Violent content, some sexual material, thematic elements, language and teen smoking.)

Movie Review:

“I Saw the TV Glow” seems like something one would see on television’s “Stranger Things.” Except, this movie does not have the worldwide appeal of “Stranger Things.” What this movie does have is Justice Smith’s appeal as an actor. He makes his characters invitingly convincing. Too bad, the rest of the photoplay is not as impressive.

Smith plays Owen. He befriends Maddy (Lundy-Paine) when they are both younger. They bond over a young adult show “The Pink Opaque.” That television program seems more real to them than their complicated lives.

A psychological horror drama written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun (“We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” 2021), this is one of the strangest movies audiences will see this year. One is never given enough to decide what is real. You go with the flow and see what happens. One witnesses the circumstances the characters undergo, some oddly boring events. That is just about it.

Grade: C+ (While thought-provoking, this is why streaming programs are glowing brighter.)

“The Garfield Movie”

(Animation/Adventure/Comedy: 1 hour, 41 minutes)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham and Nicholas Hoult

Director: Mark Dindal

Rated: PG (Action/peril violence and mild thematic elements.)

Movie Review:

Garfield (Pratt) is still the lasagna-loving, lazy cat of John (Hoult). Why the feline hates Mondays is a mystery considering he does not work and does the same daily actions: sleeping, eating, watching the tele mostly and dominating dog Odie (Harvey Guillén). This has entertained audiences for years.

“The Garfield Movie” gives the fat orange cat something to do. This movie gives you another reason to enjoy Garfield, although it is an average easy to sit through comedy.

This outing Garfield discovers his estranged father Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. The animosity is large between these two cats, but they will have to put their differences aside. Jinx (Waddingham), an enemy of Vic, returns for revenge, and Garfield and Odie get caught in the middle.

Garfield, the movie is an action-adventure. It supplies laughs and eventually an emotive message about family. It offers good enough entertainment for families looking to beat summer’s heat. The problem is it appears very much like a James Bond movie far removed from a typical Garfield adventure.

Grade: C+ (Entertaining but nominal meow.)