Cindy Prascik's Reviews of The Tomorrow War & No Sudden Move

My dear reader(s): Still having no access to the Sparks Brothers, the long holiday weekend just passed offered nothing to draw me to the cinema, so I checked out a couple new streaming options. On my agenda: the Tomorrow War and No Sudden Move.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

First on the docket: the Tomorrow War.

A high-school teacher is drafted into a future alien war.

The Tomorrow War is a hodge-podge of over-used tricks, our muscle-bound hero and his cliched family awkwardly facing a world of aliens and time travel. Chris Pratt is really good at playing a likable goof, and this role is neither likable nor goofy enough to suit him. The rest of the cast is unremarkable, the story offers no surprises, and  — for an effects driven movie — the effects are actually kind of sketchy. I had hoped this might be good, dumb fun, but sadly it's just dumb.

The Tomorrow War clocks in at 140 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, and some suggestive references."

The Tomorrow War is the movie equivalent of those recipes that use up whatever's left in your 'fridge. All the stuff is in there, but that doesn't necessarily make the finished product very good.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, the Tomorrow War gets one.

The Tomorrow War is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Next up: No Sudden Move.

A pair of criminals becomes reluctant partners when a job goes wrong.

Written by Ed Solomon and directed by Steven Soderbergh, No Sudden Move is a sharp heist film with surprises around every corner. The cast — led by Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro — is exceptional, with nary a weak link among them. At times it's tricky keeping up with all the twists and turns, but smart writing and well-crafted dialogue make the journey a treat and the finish worthwhile.

No Sudden Move runs 115 minutes and is rated R for "language throughout, some violence, and sexual references."

No Sudden Move is a smart movie with a great cast, a nice surprise for a summer holiday weekend.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, No Sudden Move gets seven and a half.

No Sudden Move is now streaming on HBO Max.

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: LOGAN LUCKY

West Virginia family man Jimmy Logan teams up with his one-armed brother Clyde and sister Mellie to steal money from the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Jimmy also recruits demolition expert Joe Bang to help them break into the track's underground system. Complications arise when a mix-up forces the crew to pull off the heist during a popular NASCAR race while also trying to dodge a relentless FBI agent.
Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Katie Holmes, Riley Keough

Release Date: Aug 18, 2017

Genres: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Rated PG-13 for language and some crude comments

Review:

Logan Lucky is a fun energetic return for Steven Soderbergh after a 4 year “retirement.”  This heist caper is like a Dixie styled Ocean’s 11 with a good sense of fun.  It never takes itself too serious and knows how to keep the audiences attention from waning.  Soderbergh’s direction is slick as always, resulting in a breezy film that never really feels long or hits many dips in energy.  The cast is all fully committed with each member giving a fun if occasionally understated performances, except for Daniel Craig who’s clearly having a ball.  Most of the characters are broadly drawn but they do their job in service of  the story.  Only a handful of them feel out of place like Seth McFarland over the top Nascar owner and Hilary Swank’s under baked FBI agent who shows up far to late in the game to be taken seriously.  Still, Logan Lucky a welcome return for Soderbergh and his film making style.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: MAGIC MIKE

MAGIC MIKE




Channing Tatum stars in this drama following an upstart male stripper (Alex Pettyfer) who is mentored by a veteran dancer, played by Tatum. Steven Soderbergh directed from a script by Reid Carolin, whose screenplay was inspired by Tatum's work as a stripper before he made it in Hollywood. Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Cody Horn, and Olivia Munn co-star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Matthew McConaughey

Release Date: Jun 29, 2012

Rated R for language, Brief Graphic Nudity, Pervasive Sexual Content and Some Drug Use

Runtime: 1 hr. 50 min.

Genres: Comedy

Review:

Magic Mike has a certain audience in mind and needless to say I’m not quite the demographic. Regardless, Steven Soderbergh’s take on the world of male strippers is surprisingly well made and acted. Soderbergh’s film is a visually energetic and decadent look into a world which is all about appearance but ultimately hollow. The story itself feels like many a rock star film with similar trajectory, pitfalls and moments of clarity for the main character. Sprinkle in a bit of Saturday Night Fever with plenty of male thongs and assless chaps. In the lead Channing Tatum delivers his best performance of his career. He’s naturalistic and incredibly comfortable in the role, for obvious reasons, displaying the conflicted nature of his character. Matthew McCounaughey feels equally comfortable as the self deluded owner of the club. It’s the most committed I’ve seen him in a role in a long while, probably because he felt a certain connection with the character. Alex Pettyfer is impressively non descript for the first half of the film and utterly wasted in the 2nd, the transition feels unnatural and the performance doesn’t help. Cody Horn is even worse as her sister with some truly terrible displays of acting. The remaining chiseled and greased cast is mostly relegated to the background, stripping to insanely complex chorography especially when you consider it’s supposed to be a seedy male strip club. I do give the film credit for not taking the easy road, this could have easily been lighthearted fluff like Striptease or Showgirls.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: CONTAGION

IN THEATERS

CONTAGION



Steven Soderbergh presents this look at what happens when an infectious disease threatens humanity through varied viewpoints from an ensemble cast, including Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, and Kate Winslet. The Informant's Scott Z. Burns provides the script. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow
and Kate Winslet

Release Date: Sep 09, 2011

Rated: Disturbing content and some language

Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

The easiest test of how effective Contagion is how quickly you start to consciously think about touching your face, grabbing a door handle or holding hands with a loved one. Contagion is the type of film that maintains such a close proximity with reality that it feels like an extravagant “what if” documentary. Steven Soderbergh is the perfect director for this germaphobic waking nightmare. Soderbergh reins this film in, keeping the flights of fancy that countless other similar films take so easily, while maintaining his usual detached sensibility and faux naturalism. It’s a different kind of horror film that makes the mundane and common look horrific and vaguely terrifying. The assembled stars are all game even if more than a few get shafted in screen time or fulfilled story lines. Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne and Jude Law leave the biggest impressions each for very different reasons. The plot itself does waver a bit in the last act and it kind of stumbles towards the finish line, feeling more exhausted than accomplished. Still it’s leaves enough of an impression that it’ll make you think about touching the door on your way out of the theater.

B+

Bluray quality; Video is fantastic across the board ; Sound is equally impressive.

I was hand-selected to be a member of Blu-ray Elite, a beta program from Warner Home Video which has graciously sent me this free Blu-ray disc.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE INFORMANT!

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

ON DVD



THE INFORMANT!



A rising star in the agricultural industry suddenly turns whistleblower in hopes of gaining a lucrative promotion and becoming a hero of the common people, inadvertently revealing his penchant for helping himself to the corporate coffers and ultimately threatening to derail the very investigation he helped to launch in this offbeat comedy from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh. Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) was fast rising through the ranks at agri-industry powerhouse Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) when he became savvy to the company's multinational price-fixing conspiracy, and decided to turn evidence for the FBI. Convinced that he'll be hailed as a hero of the people for his efforts, Whitacre agrees to wear a wire in order to gather the evidence needed to convict the greedy money-grabbers at ADM. Unfortunately, both the case -- and Whitacre's integrity -- are compromised when FBI agents become frustrated by their informant's ever-shifting account, and discover that he isn't exactly the saintly figure he made himself out to be. Unable to discern reality from Whitacre's fantasy as they struggle to build their case against ADM, the FBI watches in horror as the highest-ranking corporate bust in U.S. history threatens to implode before their very eyes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide




Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey, Rick Overton.

Release Date: Sep 18, 2009

Rated R for language

Runtime: 1 hr. 48 min.



Genres: Comedy, Crime Drama, Thriller




Review:




Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! is the type of film that keeps you off balance but he does it in such a subtle way that you don’t know it till the end. Soderbergh’s film has a light and engaging feel that keeps you interested even with what seems like a fairly straight forward plot. Interesting visual and musical choices give this film a 70’s feel even though the entire thing takes place in the 90’s. His direction is organic and never forced something he’s perfected over the years. A hefty Matt Damon is equally impressive in the lead role as Mark Whitacre, giving the audience a real sense of the character’s state of mind and seemingly endless circular logic. Damon gives his a character an undeniable likability even as we find out more about him. Needless to say, he’s in top form here and he supported by a strong and if unexpected cast. Outside of Scott Bakula, the majority of the supporting players are made up of stand up comics in non comedic roles. It makes for an interesting effect and maintains the off balance sensibility of the overall film. Soderbergh’s approach may not be for every one especially people who are expecting a certain type of film going in but it’s hard to deny how clever and witty the overall construction of it is. It’s the type of film that requires repeated viewings to appreciate fully.


B+