If you're a Stanley Kubrick fan or a movie buff in general (suffice to say I am both), you'll really enjoy the 2017 documentary FILM WORKER. We meet young actor Leon Vitali, who memorably plays the dueling Lord Bullingdon in Kubrick's 1975 classic "Barry Lyndon". Enamored with the legendary director, Vitali all but ended his acting career to become Kubrick's right hand man for the rest of Kubrick's life. The fascinating spin here is that Vitali qualifies as the least appreciated assistant on the planet. He defines 24/7. Holidays are meaningless as Kubrick calls on Christmas like a film legend Scrooge to yell at him about a DVD transfer. The best part of the film for Kubrick fans is all the behind the scenes footage on the sets of "The Shining" and "Full Metal Jacket". "Eyes Wide Shut" is also detailed and the unknown tidbits are fascinating. For the first hour of the film, I was enthralled with Vitali's stories of the sets, the actors and all things Kubrick. Matthew Modine and Ryan O'Neal bring plenty of insight into Vitali & Kubrick during their on camera interviews. As the leads in "Lyndon" and "Jacket", they bring real weight and credibility. The final half hour grows repetitive as the film details Vitali's struggles after Kubrick's death. I began to grow frustrated with Vitali for not demanding more compensation for his time as he carries Stanley's torch year after year, often for free. He's clearly the one man in the universe that understands every frame of Kubrick's classic films shoulder-to-shoulder with the director. Somewhere right now, the 72 year old Vitali is singing the praises of Stanley or doing something to preserve the man's legacy. Here's hoping this film finally gives the man some of the recognition he so richly deserves for his personal devotion and commitment. As a documentary it's 2/3 of a great tribute, balanced with the fact that one of film's all time greats was also one of the most toxic bosses of all time. FILM WORKER gets a B-.

Director David Fincher has made some of my favorite films of the past 20 years, including "Se7en" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". So why does FIGHT CLUB, one of his biggest hits, leave me so cold? Edward Norton stars as a disconnected, depressed office worker who attends a myriad of therapy groups for diseases he doesn't have, just for the social interaction. His life is turned upside down when he meets magnetic soap salesman Tyler Durden, played in bold, full throttle style by Brad Pitt. Durden is everything that our narrator isn't. Bold, exciting, dangerous, aggressive. Soon they start Fight Club, a brutal open arena in which bored men of all social groups battle one-on-one to bring excitement to their lives. The fights are bloody, brutal and tough to watch. Soon, Fight Club becomes something much bigger and much more dangerous as the group becomes a movement and the anti-social antics rise to anti-society mayhem. Fincher moves things along at a decent pace, with interesting style, but the film drips with such relentless darkness, violence and negativity, it becomes less entertainment and more endurance test as it rolls onward. The music by The Dust Brothers is great, the cast is able, Meatfoaf and Jared Leto surprise with their strength in supporting roles. Fincher's SE7EN was this dark but had a balance of good and evil that is sorely missed here. I'm going to have to put this in the same category as Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" which was also well crafted, from a director I respect, but centered around characters so lacking in any moral compass that I can't connect with them to appreciate the ride. There are twenty minutes of brilliance in this film. That leaves two hours of dirty, violent sludge filling out the running time. Big fan of Fincher and Pitt, but not this. Fincher has insisted in interviews that this is a black comedy. If so, its the darkest comedy ever committed to film. Fight Club gets a dark, messy, blood drenched C.

Part disaster movie, part post apocalyptic road-trip, part alien invasion story, THE 5TH WAVE is a mashup of many successful films, and decidedly less than the sum of its parts. Talented Chloe Grace Moretz stars as Cassie, a normal high school-er who finds her everyday life upturned and uprooted when aliens in "Independence Day" and "V" style massive ships appear above the Earth and begin kicking our asses in five waves. To be honest, the film really didn't stick with me in a way that I can recite which waves were which, but I know them whomp us with a pulse bomb to knock out all our power and communication, then they cause a massive earthquake that generates massive tsunamis that devastate coastal cities, just like in "The Day After Tomorrow", blah blah blah. Cassie ends up separated from her younger brother, well played by Zackary Arthur and is driven to get back to him at all costs. Luckily for Cassie, she meets two ripped young dudes that both want to help her, a quarterback and a farmer (hey wait, a young heroine torn between two young dudes, where have we heard that...Katniss? "The Hunger Games" you say???) Liev Scheriber must have needed rent money, as he took this one note part, rolling into a survivor camp as Colonel Vosch, recruiting the surviving kids as the last hope against the aliens. The next few plot points strain credibility, creaking slowly toward a decent finale. By the time the big plot twist hit, I could only attribute it to screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, A Beautiful Mind) who's slumming here trying to sow the young adult novel into something more challenging for the masses. Poor Chloe. She's a terrific actress that does what she can with the material, the opening act of a proposed trilogy based on the books. With a $38 million budget and a total box office draw of $34 million, I think ticket buyers have defeated the aliens and saved us from parts 2 and 3. Count your blessings, humans. The 5th Wave gets a C.

As riveting as any Bourne thriller and reminiscent of classic 70's films like "Day of the Jackal", 2013's THE FIFTH ESTATE is a globe trotting look at Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. As the film opens Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch in another great performance) has developed a powerful internet platform for exposing secrets. He partners with respectful admirer Daniel Domscheit-Berg to expose a German bank hiding millions of dollars overseas. As these two set the rules (#1 protect all sources, #2 always publish all documents without editing them) and find their website becoming more and more powerful by the week, the secrets become bigger and the ramifications more global. Soon, Wikileaks has grown from its only-imagined startup size to a major news source with hundreds of contributors and millions or readers. Assange is portrayed as a borderline personality disorder eccentric whose ego grows along with his platform for exposing the world's darkest secrets. Daniel Bruhl (Inglorious Basterds, Rush) is excellent as Berg, who sacrifices almost everything in his life to be part of Assange's movement, but finds a dangerous man lurking beneath the polished surface. When Assange comes into possession of a quarter million US Military documents, detailing not only war plans, but secret allies and informants in Afghanastan and the Middle East, the rules of Wikileaks are tested in a battle of egos and the blurry ethics of the internet. This film was a huge bomb in theatres, driving one of the worst opening week per-theatre sales in history. It's hard to see why, as Director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) has managed to turn all the internet espionage into a fast moving thriller with imaginative images, graphics and the pace of a Bond flick. The film has a lot of interesting things to say and while its easy to consider Assange an enemy of the US for releasing the documents, you may have to reexamine your position after seeing the arc of intention versus execution by the Wikileaks team, who cover every spectrum of commitment to the cause versus how far they will go to deliver secrets. As Laura Linney, portraying a real US diplomat in the film says, "One wonders what history will judge more harshly, the people exposing these secrets or the parties that perpetrated the lies, the killing and the actions that are exposed." The film will make you think and entertain you while it does so. The Fifth Estate is First Rate and gets an A.

Clint Eastwood has created some incredible films in the past few years about real life heroes. "American Sniper" was followed by "Sully" and both were terrific films. Eastwood delivers another compelling film about American bravery with his new film THE 15:17 TO PARIS. In August of 2015, a Muslim extremist boarded a train from Amsterdam to Paris with a machine gun and over 300 rounds of ammunition. Three young American men and a French citizen foiled the attack with an incredible act of bravery, saving many lives. Eastwood and his first time screenwriter Dorothy Blyskal create a very old fashioned film as it details the lives of the three Americans back to their grade school years. To say Blyskal takes things back to basics would be an understatement. It's kind of like asking someone what time it is and having them tell you how your watch is assembled. That being said, its a compelling if slow-paced back story that informs much of the background leading to the men they became. Eastwood flashes back and forth between the early stages of the attack and their past. When the terrorist unleashes his madness on the train, it happens in real time and Eastwood stages it brilliantly. It's suspenseful and exciting and as edge of your seat as anything Clint has ever done. Eastwood's inspiration to cast each of the young men as themselves ultimately holds the film back. None of these guys are actors and its a lot more difficult than it sounds playing yourself. A lot of the line readings are rushed and kind of painful, as you squirm a bit wanting these brave guys to do a great job. They aren't actors, they don't. In the end, for me, the recreation of their selfless heroism and ceremony afterward using actual footage of French President François Hollande presenting the three men with the Légion d'honneur is so powerful it elevates the entire film. The flashback scenes are loaded with terrific comic actors that all play straight roles, including Tony Hale (Veep), Jenna Fischer (The Office), Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!) and Judy Greer (Antman). I was left wondering what film we'd be seeing if Eastwood has gone a different direction. Tom Hanks was a great Sully. Bradley Cooper was an amazing Chris Kyle. Less than it might have been but a powerful tribute to real life heroes Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos, THE 15:17 TO PARIS saves all its velocity for the end of the ride and gets a C+.

1971's FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is more drama than musical, but it's a classic that holds up really well around our house. Topol stars as Tevye, raising his daughters in a very poor village in pre-revolutionary Russia. As his daughters begin one by one to challenge long held traditions of his faith and family, he has to decide if their freedom and their happiness outweighs many lifetimes worth of rules. The first half is a lot of fun, but the second half becomes much heavier as the entire village is first harassed then attacked by Russian forces. It's a great cast led by Topol and Norma Crane as his wife. Look for a pre-Starsky and Hutch Paul Michael Glaser as Perchik. Lots of classic songs including "Tradition", 'Sunrise, Sunset" and "Do You Love Me", winner of the Oscar for best score, sound and cinematography and nominated for 5 more, including Best Picture, Director and Actor. By turns funny, heavy, sad and moving, Fiddler has become a "Tradition" in our house and gets a solid A.

Between filming his third and fourth Bond films, "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker", Roger Moore starred in this offbeat, fun and exciting thriller called FFOLKES. Moore plays against nearly every OO7 trait in the title role. He can't stand women, loves cats and finds that the best way to think while dealing with terrorists is to crochet a giant kitten picture. Moore is damn funny and has a blast playing the anti-Bond. Where he DOES seem a bit like his more famous character is in his actions sequences. Ffolkes leads a team of anti-terrorist divers who find themselves in the thick of the action when bad guys wire three oil rigs with explosives. With threats to blow up all three and cripple Her Majesty's oil production for many years unless millions in ransom are paid in 24 hours, Ffolkes must stop them in time. The villains are lead by Kramer, played at full throttle by Anthony Perkins. Imagine his Norman Bates portrayal jacked up on Red Bull and you get the picture. He's assisted by Michael Parks, sporting the thickest glasses ever worn by a bad guy. James Mason is terrific as an Admiral who questions Ffolkes methods and David Hedison re-teams with Moore after "Live and Let Die" as one of the good guys. It's all very quirky and more than a little fun, keeping you on the edge of your seat while providing some nice laughs a long the way. I wonder if the poster artists were just a LITTLE inspired by the official artwork for "Diamonds Are Forever"? Yeah, a bit more than a little, I'd say. Ffolkes is a fun little thriller and gets a B.

The best part of having a 4 year old grandson is that you get to see a LOT of TV and movies you wouldn't normally see. Well, let me be clear, it can be painful, or pretty pleasant hearing him belly laugh at the physical comedy in FERDINAND. A giant young bull without a hint of fight in him, Ferdinand (John Cena) would rather smell the flowers than pick a fight. He escapes a bull fighting training camp to a farm with a little girl named Nina, but soon finds himself captured and back to the famous training camp. When he's selected by a legendary bullfighter, the film sets up a "will he or wont he" fight conclusion. There are plenty of lessons on being yourself, bravery and the power of being gentle. Jonah soaked them up, but laughed the hardest at a bunny that appears to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's a lot of great animated physical comedy and throwaway lines. A night time trip to the slaughterhouse danced the line of "what's that place all about" for a 4 year old, but never ventured outside kid friendly territory. Blue Sky Studios is the same studio that brought "Ice Age", "Rio" and "The Peanuts Movie" to the screen. The animation looks great and voice work from Bobby Cannavale, Raul Esparza, Kate McKinnon and Peyton Manning is a lot of fun. If you're looking for a distraction for young kids that will still entertain you, FERDINAND is a great choice. If you want to make them laugh, just watch for that pink rabbit. Jonah and I must have replayed those scenes a dozen times. No bull, it gets a B.

Powerfully acted AND Directed by Denzel Washington, FENCES is a terrific film version of the August Wilson play that Denzel sold out on Broadway night after night. Troy Maxson (Washington) is a former pro baseball player, now a sanitation worker in 1950's Pittsburgh. Troy is a proud man resisting the world as it changes around him. He's fought for every inch he's gained and is determined that his son Cory (a terrific Jovan Adepo from "Overlord") gets no easy road from him. He spends the first third of the film spinning tales of the past with humor and bravado. It's hard to tell how much of them are true, but he's clearly got a gift for storytelling and a charm that's mostly faded, but sparks. Troy's wife Rose ( a brilliant Viola Davis, who won a Best Actress Academy Award for this performance) stands by him, but sees the world as it is. Betraying its stage origins, the majority of the film takes place either at the Maxson's home or the nearby bar where Troy visits more often they he'll admit. Stephen McKinley Henderson (Lincoln, Lady Bird) is neighbor and life long friend Jim Bono. He plays a key role in the film as the only outsider we see consistently interacting the family. He adds history and perspective to the Maxsons. It's clear that he knows a lot about Troy and Rose since the start of their relationship. Like "August Osage County" the lead character is a less than exemplary head of household, mean-spirited, bitter and demanding. The film's second half is a powerful series of reveals, detailing events past and present that hammer the relationships of all involved. Washington and Davis are as good as actors get, sparring believably and conveying a level of personal pain and confusion that you can feel. Davis is stunning. She earned that Oscar. The final act is a bit jarring, moving us all forward forward a decade for its finale. Wilson's writing is so strong (he adapted his own play for the screen) that he deftly moves you to a powerful, emotional close that never feels forced. The final moments are perfect. I hope Washington directs more films, he's created something special here. FENCES packs a quiet punch, earning an A.

Yorgos Lanthimos is an intriguing filmmaker. I hated his last movie "The Lobster" which was praised by critics as brilliant, but left me cold and angered for wasting my time on it. There is no doubt that I enjoyed his latest film THE FAVOURITE much more than his last, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend it...I think.... Set in 18th Century England, we meet lesser royalty in Queen Anne (the terrific Olivia Colman), a seemingly daft throne sitter who is oblivious to politics and much of daily life. She is controlled like a slobbering puppet by her close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) whose eye for manipulation, power and control is incredibly keen. When a distant cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives from the countryside, she threatens to upend the balance of power that Sarah's carefully crafted. Stone (La La Land) and Weisz (My Cousin Rachel) go toe-to-toe verbally and physically and they're both terrific. One's playing the short game and one the long game, but the battle is unpredictable. Yanthos and his writers plunk this Victorian costume drama directly into a vortex of modern language and profanity, some very contemporary dance moves and more sex, mud, pratfalls and house pets than you could imagine. Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, About a Boy) is a real standout as Harley, a young politician loaded with strategy, drive and the biggest powdered wigs you've ever seen. He's hilarious, spewing dialogue and cunning in every direction. Colman's role is the most difficult and she is terrific as the Queen, loving these two young women battling for her attention. She surprises them and us along the way again and again. Colman's portrayal gets more complicated as the film goes on, she's very good. It's dark, adult, nasty fun, laced with some fantastic English putdowns that are as funny as they are vulgar. The music is by turns terrific and incredibly annoying, flailing wildly in different directions like the Queen's moods. But that ending.... no spoiler alerts needed here, I wont divulge anything other than to say that I felt it was a murky and unsatisfactory way to conclude the saga of these three incredibly powerful women. They and WE deserve better. I like dark, twisted and funny, but I also desire coherence and for that reason, I'll give THE FAVOURITE a C+.

Raquel Welch was a HUGE movie star in the sixties. All the reasons why are on ample display in the campy spy adventure FATHOM, released in 1967. The year after she exploded to stardom in "One Million Years BC" and "Fantastic Voyage", Welch branched out into this comic thriller that benefits greatly from her outlandish 60's bikinis and outfits. Welch is professional skydiver Fathom Harvill (rolls off the tongue eh?) who quickly becomes ensnared in a complicated cross/double-cross web of Government Agents, thieves and eccentrics in pursuit of a priceless Chinese art piece. Tony Franciosa (TV's Matt Helm) sports a lot of blonde hair and pearly whites as Peter Merriweather, a playboy dancing on both sides of the law. As the bodies pile up around Fathom wherever she goes, Welch changes outfits every four minutes, spends more time in the water than she does in the air while making every sixties adolescent's dreams come true. The story is goofy, the characters are bizarre, the locations exotic and the music score by John Dankworth is Austin Powers groovy baby. It's shot by Douglas Slocombe (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Lion in Winter) and looks way better than it should. But every time you think it looks high-end, Director Leslie H Martinson brings the whole thing crashing to a silly halt with all the class and seriousness be brought to TV's "Batman" for many episodes and the feature film that was a huge hit in theatres back in 1966. If Raquel was as talented as she is beautiful, she would have been the Meryl Streep of the era. She's pretty wooden throughout, delivering every line of dialogue with the same hesitant delivery of someone reading a script for the first time. But did I mention the bikinis? Welch and Franciosa are clearly having a lot of fun in the action scenes, but they're not really edited with enough clarity to create any tension. One scene sums up the movie pretty well. The bad guy is out in a little motor boat with Welch. He had a loaded harpoon gun that he fires repeatedly at her, somehow missing every time. Since she manages to execute pretty consistent form rising out of the water before she dives, it take a real sense of fantasy to imagine why he aims so long without pulling the trigger. Maybe they were counting on us being WAY too distracted by Welch in her bikini to keep track of the action. They're not wrong. I'll give this ridiculously dated action flick a D. But Welch is stunning. Did I mention the bikinis?

Let me give you an early Christmas present by helping you avoid the giant celluloid lump of coal FATHER FIGURES. Wasting an immense amount of talent and gaining a top spot on Santa's naughty list by giving away 90% of the laughs in the trailers, this stinker will come and go quickly in theatres. Uptight brother and proctologist (oh gee thats funny already) Peter is played by Ed Helms, who is a very funny actor but asked to play straight man for most of the movie. His loose, surfer brother Kyle (Owen Wilson, clearly coasting here) is visiting for their Mom's wedding to her new beau (Harry Shearer, a great comedian given nothing to do). Their Mom (Glenn Close, doing what she can with a mediocre part) divulges that she's not sure who their Dad was, sending the boys on a road trip to find him. Is it football legend Terry Bradshaw? Bradshaw has a lot of fun and is really good here, playing a dumbed down version of himself. Is it a wealthy financial guy, played by JK Simmons? Is it Christopher Walken, a local veterinarian? More importantly, is this a comedy? Is this a family drama or maybe a dramedy? The filmmakers have no idea. There were moments played for drama that made me snicker they were so poorly executed and there were long comic scenes that sat lifeless with zero laughs. The only redeeming features of the film are Ving Rhames as a former football player and Katt Williams, who appears near the end of the film as a hitchhiker. He nails every line and steals the movie immediately. More of a giant steaming reindeer turd that a holiday gift, FATHER FIGURES gets a D. I cant wait to watch "Christmas Vacation " tonight to get rid of the taste of this sour movie egg nog of a flick.