Serenity - Review

Serenity

It’s my first new film for 2019 and with a star-studded cast of Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, along with Academy Award nominated actors Diane Lane and Djimon Hounsou I could only reasonably conclude that this latest released film with them starring in it would be well worth my time and money regardless of its very low Rotten Tomato score of 21. So with the very best intentions I ventured off to see the latest noir thriller simply called “Serenity”.  

The film starts out with Matthew McConaughey character named “Baker Dill”. He is a fishing boat captain who leads tours off of the tranquil enclave of Plymouth Island in the Caribbean. His peaceful life is soon shattered when his ex-wife "Karen" (Anne Hathaway) tracks him down. She is desperate for help. The kind of help that is both dangerous, risky and potentially lucrative. She is there to beg her first love "Baker" to save her and their young son from her now second abusive husband and step father to their child “Frank Zariakas” (Jason Clarke). She wants "Baker" to take the abusive drunken brute out for a fishing excursion one day, wait until late in the evening and then throw him overboard to the shark infested waters. The payoff...........Frank is mega rich and Karen has promised her ex-Baker $10 million to do the simply deed.

Financially broke, Baker is thrust back into a life that he long hoped and wanted to forget, but now finds himself struggling to choose between doing the emotional right thing verses the financial wrong thing.

REVIEW: The good news is "Serenity" is better than the 21 score on Rotten Tomato. The bad news is not by very much. Feeling like hybrid parts of Martin Scorsese’s “Cape Fear”, David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks”, any daytime soap opera and the overly manipulative ABC TV show “Lost” the film is indeed a mind trip that never stops "mind tripping". And if this strange combination of entertainment footnotes embedded in your mind was not enough consider me watching this film while eating a large pizza smothered in yellow grits, truffles, hot sauce and chitterlings.......... Yeah, my friends it’s a metaphoric description of my experiencing an odd assortment of things masquerading as meaningful plot twists that were just unusual twists with scenes that were just strange.

“Serenity” while super sexy is burden with a plot that felt every inch it was being made up as it went along. And with a running time of 1:46 that was never boring, I also knew early on that something was amiss in the normal pace and movement of a movie. The director got a bit too cute with his meandering and confusing manipulation for meandering confusing manipulation sake.  

But what is really odd about "Serenity" was Director Steven Knight does have a very impressive resume of writing and directing for some solidly developed films such as “Eastern Promises”, “Dirty Pretty Things” and “Locke”. And yet I kept wondering after leaving the theater where was the inspiration for this film coming from for Knight. And the only thing I could I think of was he may have spent one too many nights watching his name sake in Director M. Night Shyamalan films to re-capture his styleand magic……… but in this case he apparently only watched the bad M. Night Shyamalan films made …………while inebriated.

Midway through the movie inspite of its hiccups the story still almost had me “hooked” just like the giant tuna “Baker” was obsessed in catching in the film's sub plot. I actually almost considered giving the film a slightly better review and score than the one noted below.  But the buildup in the last hour to its finale and specifically the finale itself felt like a giant bupkis misfire………….. “It was all big boat; no fish and no water”.

There was one piece of good news to share about "Serenity" .........I got to see Diane Lane semi naked. The other news is I got to see Diane Lane semi naked. And the final other good news is I got to see Diane Lane semi naked. Oh, and I also got to see Anne Hathaway’s stunt double naked and Anne semi naked.

“Serenity” was not a total disappointment but it was also nothing memorable either. It had a few rare moments that were quite enjoyable but the aggregate film is messy from its "big tuna" beginning to its "big tuna" end.

Now if you all will excuse me I am off to drink a couple of shots of Woodford Bourbon to remember the parts where Diane Lane was semi naked. I am thoroughly smitten.

1.75 Stars

Lester’s Top Films 2018

Lester’s Top Films 2018

1. “A Star is Born”        

2. “First Man”     

3. “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”        

4. “Sicario: Day of the Soldaldo” 

5. "A Quiet Place”      

6. “If Beal Street Could Talk”          

7. “BlacKkKlansman”             

8. “Blindspotting”         

9. “Ben is Back”           

10. “The Rider”    

The Guilty - 4.00 Stars – Drama – Denmark – In Subtitles - Jakob Cedergren

Black Panther - 4.00 Stars – Action Drama – Chadwick Boseman

Won’t You Be My Neighbor -- 4.00 Stars – Documentary – PBS’s Mr. Rogers Life Story

Hostiles – 3.75 Stars – Drama – Western – Christian Bale

Collete – 3.75 Stars – Drama – True Story - Keira Knightley

Widows – 3.75 Stars – Drama – Viola Davis – Colin Farrell

A Simple Favor – 3.75 Stars – Drama – Comedy – Anna Kendrick – Blake Lively

Roma – 3.75 Stars – Drama –Subtitles - Marina De Tavira -  NETFLIX ORGINAL

Eighth Grade – 3.75 Stars – Drama – Comedy - Elsie Fisher

Overlord– 3.75 Stars – Drama – Zombie Science Fiction – Wyatt Russell

Avengers: Infinity Wars - 3.50 Stars – Fantasy – Action - Robert Downey – Chris Evans

Isle of Dogs - 3.50 Stars - Drama – Comedy – Animation – Bryan Cranston – Jeff Goldblum 

You Were Never Really Here - 3.50 Stars – Dramatic Violence – Joaquin Phoenix

A Private War -3.50 Stars – Drama – True Story - Rosemund Pike

Mary Poppins Returns -3.50 Stars – Family – Fantasy – Emily Blunt - Colin Wirth

What They Had - 3.50 Stars – Drama – Blythe Danner- Robert Forester – Hillary Swank 

Old Man and a Gun - 3.50 Stars – Drama – True Story - Robert Redford – Sissy Spacek 

Green Book - 3.50 Stars – True Story Family Drama - Mahershala Ali - Viggo Mortensen

The Favourite - 3.50 Stars – True  Story – Drama – Rachel Weisz - Olivia Colman 

Searching - 3.50 Stars – Family Drama - John Cho

Crazy Rich Asians - 3.50 Stars – Romantic - Comedy – Constance Wu – Henry Golding 

Mission Impossible: Fallout - 3.50 Stars – Action Drama – Tom Cruise

Chappaquiddick - 3.50 Stars - Drama – True Story – Jason Clark – Kate Mara

Oh Lucy - 3.50 Stars – Light Comedy – Drama - Subtitles and English – Josh Harnett

Unsane - 3.50 Stars Drama - Claire Foy – Juno Temple

Love, Simon - 3.50 Stars – Light Comedy – Drama - Nick Robinson

VICE – 3.25 Stars – Drama - Christian Bale – Amy Adams – Sam Rockwell – Steve Carell

The Wife – 3.25 Stars – Drama – Glenn Close

American Animals – 3.25 Stars – Drama – True Story - Evan Peters

Bad Times at the El Royale – 3.25 Stars – Drama – Jeff Bridges – Jon Hamm

22 July - 3.25 Stars – Drama – True Story- Jonas Strand Gravli - NETFLIX ORGINAL

Leave No Trace – 3.25 Stars – Drama – Ben Foster

Adrift – 3.25 Stars – Drama – Shailene Woodley

Alpha – 3.25 Stars – Drama – Spencer Bogaert

Game Night – 3.25 Stars – Comedy – Action Thriller - Jason Bateman – Rachel McAdams

Solo: A Star Wars Story - 3.25 Stars - Action - Alden Ehrenreich - Clarke-Woody Harrelson 

Thoroughbreds – 3.25 Stars – Drama - Anya Taylor-Joy - Olivia Cooke - Anton Yelchin

Destroyer – 3.25 Stars – Drama – Nicole Kidman

The Mule – 3.00 Stars – Drama –Clint Eastwood

Asher – 3.00 Stars – Drama – True Story - Ron Perlman – Richard Dreyfus

Mid90s – 3.00 Stars – Directed by Jonah Hill - Sunny Suljic

Revenge – 3.00 Stars – Drama – Partial French Subtitles - Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz

Suge Knight – 3.00 Stars – Documentary – Drama – Hip Hop Mogul Story

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – 3.00 Stars – Action  – Chris Pratt - Bryce Dallas Howard

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs– 3.00 Stars – Western - James Franco NETFLIX ORGINAL

The Death of Stalin – 3.00 Stars - Satire - Drama / Comedy Steve Buscemi

Red Sparrow– 3.00 Stars – Drama _ Jennifer Lawrence – Joel Edgeton - Jeremy Irons

Annihilation – 3.00 Stars – Drama – Sci Fi - Natalie Portman

Night Comes On – 3.00 Stars – Drama – Dominque Fishback

Ready Player One 3.00 Stars – Action – Science Fiction - Tye Sheridan - Olivia Cooke

Beirut 3.00 Stars – Drama – John Hamm

First Reformed - 3.00 Stars – Drama – Ethan Hawke

Sorry to Bother You - 3.00 Stars – Comedy Drama – Lakeith Stanfield

Wildlife – 2.75 Stars – Drama – Carey Mulligan – Jake Gyllenhaal - Ed Oxenbould

Tully – 2.75 Stars – Drama - Charlize Theron

The Sisters Brothers - 2.75 Stars – Drama - Western - Joaquin Phoenix - John C. Reilly

Sweet Country - 2.75 Stars – Drama - Australian - Sam Neill

Predator – 2.50 Stars – Action Drama – Science Fiction - Boyd Holbrook - Jacob Tremblay

Ocean’s 8 – 2.50 Stars – Drama - Sandra Bullock – Cate Blanchett

Disobedience – 2.50 Stars – Drama – Rachel Weisz – Rachel McAdams

Mary Queen of Scots – 2.25 Stars – Drama - Saoirse Ronan - Margot Robbie

Deadpool 2 – 2.25 Stars – Comedy – Fantasy Action – Ryan Reynolds

Sweat Country - 2.00 Stars – Australian Drama – Sam Neil 

Beast – 2.00 Stars – Drama – Johnny Flynn

Hereditary – 2.00 Stars – Horror – Toni Collette – Gabriel Byrne

Support the Girls – 1.75 Stars – Drama - Regina Hall

Tag– 1.75 Stars – Comedy – Jon Hamm – Jeremy Renner – Ed Helms

Blockers – 1.75 Stars – Comedy – John Cena - Ike Barinholtz - Leslie Mann

Lean on Pete – 1.75 Stars – Drama – Charlie Plummer

The 15:17 to Paris – 1.75 Stars – Drama – True Story - Clint Eastwood Film 

              See My Blog Oscar Predictions Posting - Date: 1/3/2019

  

Final 2019 Oscar Nominations Predictions

Final 2019 Oscar Nominations Predictions

January 4^th, 2019
Blue: Favorite For A Nomination

Announcement: Tuesday January 22nd, 2019 

Best Picture:

“BlacKkKlansman” (Spike Lee)

“Black Panther” (Ryan Coogler)

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Marielle Heller)

“The Favourite” (Yorgos Lanthimos)

“First Man” (Damien Chazelle) 

“Green Book” (Peter Farrelly)

“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Barry Jenkins)

“Roma” (Alfonso Cuaron) 

“A Star is Born” (Bradley Cooper) 

“Vice” (Adam McKay)

Best Director

Barry Jenkins (“If Beal Street Could Talk”) 

Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”)  

Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite”)

Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”)

Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”)  

Best Actress:

Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”)

Glenn Close (“The Wife”) 

Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) 

Lady Gaga (“A Star is Born”)  

Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) 

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams ("Vice") 

Claire Foy (“First Man”) 

Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”)  

Emma Stone (“The Favourite”)

Rachel Weisz (“The Favourite”)

Best Actor:

Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”) 

Viggo Mortensen (“Green Book”) 

Christian Bale (“Vice”)  

Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) 

Ethan Hawk (“First Reformed”) 

Best Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”) 

Timothée Chalamet (“Beautiful Boy”) 

Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”)

Adam Driver (“BlacKkKlansman”) 

Sam Elliott (“A Star is Born”) 

20th Anniversary of 1999 Films

20^th Anniversary of 1999 Films

Blue: Best Picture Nominee

Green: Winner Best Picture

Ranked By Box Office

1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

2. The Sixth Sense (1999)

3. Toy Story 2 (1999)

4. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

5. The Matrix (1999)

6. Tarzan (1999) Animation 

7. Big Daddy (1999)

8. The Mummy (1999)

9. Runaway Bride (1999)

10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

11. Stuart Little (1999)

12. The Green Mile (1999)

13. American Beauty (1999)

14. The World Is Not Enough (1999)

15. Double Jeopardy (1999)

16. Notting Hill (1999)

17. Wild Wild West (1999)

18. Analyze This (1999)

19. The General's Daughter (1999)

20. American Pie (1999)

21. Sleepy Hollow (1999)

23. The Haunting (1999)

24. Entrapment (1999)

25. Payback (I) (1999)

26. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

27. Any Given Sunday (1999)

28. Deep Blue Sea (1999)

29. Galaxy Quest (1999)

30. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

31. Blue Streak (1999)

32. End of Days (1999)

33. The Bone Collector (1999)

34. Bowfinger (1999)

35. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)

36. Life (I) (1999)

37. She's All That (1999)

38. Fantasia 2000 (1999)

39. Three Kings (1999)

40. Bicentennial Man (1999)

41. The Cider House Rules (1999)

42. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

43. Never Been Kissed (1999)

44. Forces of Nature (1999)

45. Varsity Blues (1999)

46. Message in a Bottle (1999)

47. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

48. The Hurricane (1999)

49. Stigmata (1999)

50. Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (1999)

51. House on Haunted Hill (1999)

52. Anna and the King (1999)

53. Cruel Intentions (1999)

54. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

55. Fight Club (1999)

56. My Favorite Martian (1999)

57. 8MM (1999)

58. For Love of the Game (1999)

59. Man on the Moon (1999)

60. The Best Man (1999)

61. Instinct (1999)

62. Mickey Blue Eyes (1999)

63. The 13th Warrior (1999)

64. October Sky (1999)

65. Lake Placid (1999)

66. Random Hearts (1999)

67. Dogma (1999)

68. Superstar (1999)

69. Mystery Men (1999)

70. The Insider (1999)

71. Girl, Interrupted (1999)

72. The Out-of-Towners (1999)

73. The Other Sister (1999)

74. Baby Geniuses (1999)

75. The Story of Us (1999)

76. Blast from the Past (1999)

77. The Wood (1999)

78. Arlington Road (1999)

79. The Iron Giant (1999)

80. Being John Malkovich (1999)

81. Magnolia (1999)

82. At First Sight (1999)

83. ED TV (1999)

84. The Bachelor (1999)

85. Stir of Echoes (1999)

86. Doug's 1st Movie (1999)

87. Summer of Sam (1999)

88. The Ninth Gate (1999)

89. Anywhere But Here (1999)

90. An Ideal Husband (I) (1999)

91. Drive Me Crazy (1999)

92. The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)

93. Go (1999)

94. Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

95. True Crime (1999)

96. Muppets from Space (1999)

97. Eye of the Beholder (1999)

98. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

99. The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

100. The Corruptor (1999)