John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Chad Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is a tough action thriller with more battles and corpses than most wars.

Keanu Reeves is, once again, superb as his character John Wick attempts to avoid the price put on his head by The Table of international evildoers; a “contract” resulting from his violation of the rules by committing an assassination on neutral grounds in the previous Chapter.

Here, he is trying to meet The Table's Elder (Said Taghmaoui), who might grant him absolution for his infraction; an effort that takes him to near death in the North African desert.

I won’t give away any more of the plot except to say that “parabellum” means “preparation for war.”  So, what you might have thought, as I did, was going to be a three-part story is really part of a quartet (quintet!?).

Chad Stahelski keeps the action moving to the point of being relentless with only brief moments of macabre humor to let viewers breathe. 

I would argue that John Wick, himself, is put on an equal plain with any of the Avengers.  Halle Berry’s Sofia is a wonderful badass, as well.

I give John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum a 3.8 out of 5 and am anticipating the next Chapter. 

We Have Always Lived In The Castle

A film to walk out of.  I did.  Pure Trumpian crap.

Long Shot

Director Jonathan Levine’s Long Shot is a mostly hilarious and raunchy comedy in which a cantankerous reporter (Seth Rogan) and the current the Secretary of State (Charlize Theron) pick up their childhood almost-relationship, when she at 16 was his at 13 babysitter.

I say “mostly” because the audience needs some time-outs to recover from belly laughs.

And, of course, it’s so highly improbable.  But, that’s what makes it so incredibly funny.  And, that’s because Charlize Theron gives, arguably, her best performance to date, being both augustly cool and “proper,” yet convincingly vulnerable and silly.   

If you’re lucky enough to have fellow audience members, who are enjoying the antics as much as you are, you might walk out with new friends, as well.

Thank you Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah for a wonderfully inventive script.

If you want to have a lot of fun, see Long Shot. I give it a 4.1 out of 5.

White As Snow (Blanche Comme Neige)

Writer/Director Anne Fontaine’s Pure As Snow (Blanche Comme Neige), being wrongly translated as White As Snow, is a wonderful twist on the Snow White tale as only a French person could do it.

After the death of her mogul father, Claire (Lou de Laâge) is kidnapped and taken to the woods near the French Alps to be killed, when a local hunter (Damien Bonnard) rescues her and takes her to his home.

Claire decides to hide out in the country and work in the nearby town, where she is emotionally transformed, until tracked by her stepmother (Isabelle Huppert). 

The film succeeds not only because of Fontaine and Co-Writers Claire Barré and Pascal Bonitzer, but due to the charm and energy of de Laâge, who, I predict, will become an international star. 

And, of course, Huppert  is diabolically wonderful, as always.

I expect this film will be picked up for U.S. distribution and, if so, recommend it, highly.

I give it a 4 out of 5.

(Seen at The Tribeca Film Festival)

The Place of No Words

I usually don't review a film, if I walk out of it.  But on the weird chance The Place of No Words, gets a distributor, I wouldn't want anyone to waste their money on seeing it.

Thus, The Place of No Words shall be the film with no rating. It's amazing that this boring, nonsensical piece of crap gets invited to a Film Festival.

(Mistakenly seen at The Tribeca Film Festival)