Waitress: The Musical (2023) ***
Mild-mannered musical that's more for the New Theatre Restaurant crowd than it is for me. Overall, it brushes aside some questionable issues, could use stronger character development, and had a pointless contest subplot. The songs were fine but nothing memorable. I haven't seen the film it's based on, and this doesn't make me want to check it out.
Christine (2016) ****
Character study anchored by Rebecca Ferguson's performance as a socially awkward and depressed Florida news anchor. The plotting isn't tight but the characters and 1970s period details are strong and it all comes together at the end.
A Fuller Life (2013) ***
Documentary about director Sam Fuller produced by his daughter. It's basically an audiobook, with various celebrities reading passages that Fuller wrote with clips from his films or stock footage. That's not a bad thing, though. You get a real sense of who Fuller was and how personal his films were. Worth watching if you're a fan.
Brassed Off (1996) ****
I thought it would be more comedic from the title, but it's a serious take on the closing of coal mines across England and how it affects the members of a brass band in one small town. The story is as cliche as it gets, but the acting is strong, esp. Pete Postlethwaite, and the photography has a lovely griminess. It's basically to The Full Monty without the bawdiness, which came out the year after.
Hard Boiled (1992) ***
John Woo's influential actioner points to the downfall of the action genre, where through the 1990s everything is so over-the-top that you couldn't take it seriously anymore and all sense of peril for the hero is lost. The endless action scenes are full of gunfire, sparks, and explosions, but little of the intricate choreography or humor of a Jackie Chan movie. Chow Yun Fat seemed super cool back in the 90s, but his character's kind of a jerk, and Tony Leung just doesn't pass as an action hero. But really it's the convoluted and uninteresting plot that brings the movie down a notch. Luckily, the last hour in the hospital is nothing but endless, ridiculous action.
To Be or Not to Be (1942) ****
I swear there's a reel missing or something. The plot draws to a logical conclusion, the spy has been thwarted, and everything's wrapped up. Then they launch a whole new plot for the last half hour with no setup and it's a mess. It was a perfect movie up until that point, so what went wrong? The Mel Brooks version is able to fill in the gap with the Gestapo closing down the theatre and them deciding to leave Poland and it mostly works, but the last half hour of Lubitsch's feels aimless. Otherwise it's an extremely funny and bold comedy for its time deftly underplayed by an excellent cast.
Gold (1934) ****
German sci-fi movie about a machine that turns lead into gold. It has some talky stretches but the machine is very cool and it ends up being a good revenge story with just a hint of James Bond. It stars Hans Alber, who would later play Baron Munchausen, and Brigitte Helm, the woman/robot from Metropolis, and they make an intriguing pair.
To Be or Not To Be