Movie Reviews #34…
[August dog-days often mean slim pickin’s for movies, unless you want to hear Streep sing off key or lewd sausage jokes, but here are two “sleepers” I enjoyed…]
Pete’s Dragon. David Lowery, dir. A pleasant movie that leaves you with a good feeling, a bit like Free Willy with a dragon taking the place of the swimming mammal. It’s also a bit like The Jungle Book (it is Disney) where the kid is raised by a dragon, not wolves. Old-timer Meachan (Robert Redford) spins stories about dragons in the deep woods, his daughter Grace (Boyce Dallas Howard, Ron’s daughter) thinks he’s nuts until she discovers Pete (Oakes Fegley). Boyce plays a forest ranger, and she’s the weakest. The kid is OK, but Redford, in his few minutes on screen, steals the show. Forest and mountain scenes (filmed in New Zealand, by the way)—definitely a film for nature lovers, maybe dragon ones too. St. George wouldn’t recognize this dragon, though, because the dragon looks like a cross between a mangy mongrel who escaped the town’s dogcatcher and Shrek, with puny wings that could never provide enough lift for such a massive body. Don’t let the aerodynamics turn you off, though—this one is a lot of fun, and your kids will love it. (Like The Jungle Book, it’s much better than the stupid cartoon.)
War Dogs. Todd Phillips, dir. Actors Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street) and Miles Teller are the Dogs, the first a sleazy jerk who will do anything for a buck, the second his reluctant school chum with a wife and a kid who is born during the movie. They let their greed carry them to dangerous extremes as they make gun and ammo sales taking advantage of a Pentagon procurement process that was and still is out of control. There’s a lot of sexual innuendos, violent situations, and drug use—the film definitely deserves its R-rating. Producer Bradley Cooper’s near cameo appearance is mesmerizing as he portrays the serious version of an arms dealer (returning favors to director Phillips?). This movie is based on actual events, by the way, and has its serious side as an indictment of the entire military industrial complex. I never thought the Iraq War could be funny, or Pentagon procurement processes for that matter, and maybe a lot of moviegoers can’t get past all that, but this black humor comedy is entertaining and one of the best movies of the summer in my book.
***
On sale: The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan. This sci-fi thriller will be on sale at Smashwords for $0.99, reduced from $2.99 (67% discount) from now until September 1. Use the coupon code FU54W. First question: what will the U.S. in the future do with retirees with Top Secret information? Second question: how do you prevent the assassination of a presidential candidate? Third question: is there room for romance in the life of an old agent? This fast-moving story’s main character is a woman who shows perseverance and strength to survive while unmasking a terrible conspiracy. Don’t miss the thrills!
In libris libertas!
