By Michael C. Woody | Lake Panorama Times
“Michael”
With a title like that, how am I not going to be intrigued? It was a fabulous look at the early career of Michael and his brothers in the Jackson 5. It shows his overbearing father who saw the talent in his sons early and did his best to develop their talents and showmanship, sometimes in demanding ways. As Michael aged, he began to steal the spotlight from his older brothers. By the end of the film, he is a single act and embarking on the career we remember him having. The film does an excellent job focusing on his music career and not the creepiness that haunted his life. The film ends early in his solo career, but I’ve read that we have at least one sequel coming, if not two. The sequels will certainly be dark and controversial, so enjoy this look at the early career of this wonderful performer. GRADE: A-
“Fuze”
This film, which was touted as being from the director of “Hell or High Water” and written by Taylor Sheridan, was quietly released and did a little business. Those two pieces of information are enough for me to drive across town to see it. What I found was an intense film with almost non-stop action. The action and story are so elaborate that it was sometimes difficult to follow. The dialogue was also difficult at times, and I wished for subtitles. The story is set in Afghanistan and is full of too many flashbacks. If you love action films and don’t care so much about the story, this might be perfect for you. GRADE: B-
“Apex”
This Netflix film stars Charlize Theron, Taron Edgerton and Eric Bana. We get an action-packed look at a female mountain climber who is dealing with a recent tragedy in Norway but travels to Australia to continue on her travels and hopefully get over her loss. All was going great when a well-intentioned young man turns out to be a not very well-intentioned man. This leads to a cat and mouse chase full of impossible stunts as she tries to escape. The whole time I was watching this, I felt like I had seen this story before and remembered it being more engaging. At the end of the day, it was a waste of great talent. GRADE: C-
“The Devil Wears Prada 2”
Without getting into whole lot of details that would ruin the movie for most people, I can tell you that the title of the film is just the start of a total lack of creativity. The first movie was smart, sassy and entertaining, but this sequel produced more yawns than smiles for me. At the end of the year, this will be one of the biggest disappointments and wastes of an outstanding cast. GRADE: C-
“Animal Farm”
I vaguely remember seeing the animated version of this when I was much younger. It didn’t make much of an impression on me then, and this new version didn’t make much of an impression on me today. The story is familiar, and it does mirror our society today, as it did in the earlier version. This is a tough one to adapt, as you need to instill human tendencies and bad habits into farm animals to successfully make your point. I was more bored than intrigued by this newest version. GRADE: B-
“The Sheep Detectives”
The trailer for this film made it look fun and maybe one of those quirky comedies which would unexpectedly amuse and entertain you. The film is about a murder, and a group of sheep decide they need to solve this case. This might have been a unique and possibly interesting movie, but I found it to be slow and not nearly as funny as it thought that it was. A missed opportunity. GRADE: C-
“Obsession”
Admittedly, I have lost most of my taste for horror movies. They are too violent, too stupid and there are too many of them — sometimes three or more per month. With little else to review, I took a chance on “Obsession.” In the movie, a distracted young man pines for a beautiful co-worker and finally gets a date with her. To assure that the date goes well, he stops in a store and buys a device that will grant him one wish: for his coworker to love him more than anyone else in the world. The film presents this relationship as horrific, and he cannot escape it. In a nutshell, this film has a fresh but worrying storyline and more than its share of “look away” moments. It was so, so creepy. With great caution, I give it a grade most horror films never achieve. GRADE: B+
“In the Grey”
If you see the poster for this movie, it proudly states that it is a Guy Ritchie film. Let me translate that for you: scantily clad women, usually with deadly martial arts skills, plus really handsome men who can also handle guns like they have used them since birth. Ritchie has made a bunch of movies that all seem to be the same with slight moderations to the story. A few of them, “The Covenant,” “Snatch” and “Sherlock Holmes,” have been entertaining. Recently, what would typically be a cause for excitement turns into a boring chase film that comes nowhere close to charming, funny or entertaining. Ritchie still gets great actors to help him, but even that didn’t keep me from repeatedly checking my watch. GRADE: C
Michael C. Woody has been reviewing movies on radio and television since 1986. He and his wife, Susan, are residents of Lake Panorama.