Friday, August 31, 2018

Arch Campbell's Weekend Movie Guide (8/31/18)

Jack Reynor & Myles Truitt (r) star in Kin

From our friend, Arch Campbell...

RBG - 4 Stars. Inspiring life story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She's quirky, smart and determined.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? - 4 Stars. Touching biography of seminary student/turned television pioneer Fred Rogers.

Three Identical Strangers - 4 Stars. Identical triplets, separated at birth, discover each other, later learning why they were separated and how they were used as "lab rats." A chilling documentary.

BlacKkKlansman - 3½ Stars. Spike Lee combines the true story of a 1970s KKK sting with a history of American racism from the Civil War to present day.

Arch Campbell with Will Ferrell & Zach Galifianakis (r)

Juliet, Naked - 3½ Stars. Romantic comedy delight with Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Chris O'Dowd. Byrne connects with washed-up rocker Hawke, whom O'Dowd idolizes.

Sorry to Bother You - 3½ Stars. Outrageous science fiction comedy satire, that starts in a telemarketing pit and goes from there.

Blindspotting - 3½ Stars. Brilliant mix of comedy, drama and hip-hop. Daveed Diggs must stay out of trouble, in order to complete probation, but his friends don't help.

Christopher Robin - 3½ Stars. Ewan McGregor as grown-up Christopher returns to the Hundred Acre Wood to learn a few life lessons from his childhood pals. Beautifully produced mix of live-action, animatronics, and animation.

The Wife - 3 Stars. Glenn Close contends for this year's Best Actress award as long-suffering partner to a renowned writer.

Crazy Rich Asians - 3 Stars. Constance Wu meets the man of her dreams, not knowing he's Asia's catch of the century.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again - 3 Stars. Irresistible sequel to the Meryl Streep/ABBA musical with an all-star cast.

Ocean's 8 - 3 Stars. Sandra Bullock masterminds a multi-million dollar heist with a gang of women you'd better not cross.

Eighth Grade - 3 Stars. A young girl struggles in the age of technology.

Puzzle - 3 Stars. Kelly Macdonald emerges from her drab life, when she discovers puzzles and enters a competition. A quiet awakening results.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout - 2½ Stars. Tom Cruise barrels through another adventure, doing his own stunts and saving the world with one second to spare.

Operation Finale - 2 Stars. Recreation of the capture and trial of Nazi Adolph Eichmann lacks tension, despite star turns by Ben Kingsley and Oscar Issac.

The Equalizer 2 - 2 Stars. Run-of-the-mill spy thriller gets a lift from Denzel Washington, as an off-the-grid ex-CIA operative.

Ant-Man and the Wasp - 2 Stars. Uninspired sequel to the much better original.

Solo: A Star Wars Story - 2 Stars. Uninspired prequel to the 1977 original.

The Little Stranger - 2 Stars. Beautifully produced version of the same old enigmatic haunted house. Nothing new here.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 1 Star. Same old monster mash, only longer.

The Spy Who Dumped Me - 1 Star. Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon try to breathe life into another trite plot about clueless girlfriends pulled into international intrigue.

Kin - 1 Star. Slow, dull sci-fi fantasy. Kid finds a ray gun and goes on a crime spree with his older brother.

Mile 22 - Zero stars. Ultra violent, over-the-top thriller, starring Mark Wahlberg as leader of an off-the-grid spy team.

Visit Arch's website for his (unrivaled) take on movies. He remains the only other (we're not self-hating) critic, whose opinion we admire and respect.