The Beach Bum

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Every single one of us is trying to live a peaceful, meditative life. We yearn to relax away the years living life on our own terms, in the long-running quest for some semblance of heaven on earth. Unfortunately, many of us never get there.

The Beach Bum expertly portrays that yearning, & in the process, becomes the closest we will ever get to reaching true nirvana. The film follows Moondog (played by Matthew McConaughey), a poet in the Florida Keys. Living for sex, weed, & booze, Moondog just spends his days engaging in hedonism while the colorful characters of the Florida Keys praise him as a legend, although, in the eyes of the general public, he is way past his prime in a literary sense. His escapades are enabled by his loving & wealthy wife Minnie (played by Isla Fisher) & his R&B-singing best friend Lingerie (played by Snoop Dogg). However, his daughter Heather (played by Stefania LaVie Owen), her fiancé Frank (played by Joshua Ritter), & Moondog's agent Lewis (played by Jonah Hill) disapprove of his behavior & their enabling. Nevertheless, Moondog still does what he wants, although he truly does love the people around him.

The death of a relative brings an inheritance for Moondog: however, half of it will go to Heather, & the other half will remain frozen until he cleans up his act & finishes the novel he has been working on for years. However, an incident sends him to rehab for a year in order to avoid prison time. In rehab, Moondog meets Flicker (played by Zac Efron), a Christian metal-loving pyromaniac. Soon after Moondog's arrival, they break out as Moondog tries to find his way back, encountering some old friends like dolphin tour captain Captain Wack (played by Martin Lawrence) & Jimmy Buffett (played by Jimmy Buffett) along the way.

The cast is superb. Matthew McConaughey is nothing short of perfect in the role that was truly made for him. He completely sells it with his enigmatic sense of being super laid-back. Snoop Dogg is phenomenal as a semi-realistic version of himself. Zac Efron is devilishly crazy. And Martin Lawrence is hilarious in his return to the silver screen.

Harmony Korine's direction is terrific. Korine perfectly captures the hedonism at play in the Florida Keys with a style that is all his own, & that style is in top form here.

Harmony Korine's screenplay is brilliant. The plot is lovingly weird & enveloping, the characters are the most idiosyncratic characters in film this decade & are so well-developed, & the dialogue is masterfully written.

Benoît Debie's cinematography is gorgeous. Debie drapes the Florida Keys with the hot sun as it sits in the daytime sky & goes down to the beautiful sunsets, & marvelously captures the nightlife with the neon lights.

And the soundtrack is one of the best ever curated for a film. This soundtrack perfectly fits my musical taste so well that I think the soundtrack producers looked at my Apple Music search history. Filled with 1970s yacht rock hits such as Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown, Gerry Rafferty's Right Down the Line, & Jimmy Buffett's A Pirate Looks at Forty, the soundtrack transports you to a place of epic tranquility. The only things that could've made this soundtrack even better would be if they used Tommy James & the Shondells' Crimson & Clover (which was used in the trailer), Chuck Mangione's Feels So Good, Little River Band's Cool Change, & Jefferson Starship's Miracles. But if it's not broke, don't fix it, & it's certainly not broke here, so I must give the soundtrack every inch of praise I can give.

This is the best film of the year so far, & quite possibly the best comedy of the decade. It is a peaceful yet rambunctious comedy that I hope becomes a cult classic very soon in the vein of The Big Lebowski.

The Beach Bum was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Saturday, March 30, 2019. It is currently in 2 theaters in the Detroit area: the AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI; & the AMC Star Great Lakes 25 in Auburn Hills, MI. Its runtime is 95 minutes, & it is rated R for pervasive drug & alcohol use, language throughout, nudity & some strong sexual content.

Shazam!

★★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

I'll say it again: the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is a mess. 4 of its first 5 films were poor to awful, the only good one being Wonder Woman, which is merely good. However, it has shown signs of improvement, as evidenced by Wonder Woman & Aquaman, but there is still a long way to go before it can have the same track record as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Shazam!, despite having a couple flaws, is a very promising step in the right direction for the DCEU. The film follows Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel), a foster kid in Philadelphia. Having run from several foster homes in search of his mother Marilyn (played by Caroline Palmer), Billy has a knack for getting into trouble. As a last chance, Billy is placed in a foster home run by Rosa (played by Marta Milans) & Victor (played by Cooper Andrews) Vasquez, who have 5 other foster children: Freddy Freeman (played by Jack Dylan Grazer); Mary Bromfield (played by Grace Fulton); Darla Dudley (played by Faithe Herman); Eugene Choi (played by Ian Chen); & Pedro Peña (played by Jovan Armand). He rooms with Freddy, who is obsessed with superheroes.

One day, Billy fights off some people bullying Freddy & runs from them onto the subway, but something strange happens on the subway ride: he is suddenly transported into an underground world where Shazam The Wizard (played by Djimon Hounsou) appears. Shazam has chosen Billy to be his new champion to protect the world from the Seven Deadly Sins. By touching Shazam's staff & saying his name, Billy becomes Shazam (played by Zachary Levi), an adult superhero who can change between his younger & older selves by saying "Shazam!" Billy, not knowing anything about superheroes, asks Freddy to mentor him in becoming a superhero. This leads to the discovery of his powers: electricity manipulation, super strength, super durability, super speed, supreme knowledge & flight.

As Billy learns of all his powers & tries to master them, he becomes a viral sensation. But this attracts Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (played by Mark Strong), who has a long-held vendetta against Shazam The Wizard for considering him as a champion then not picking him. Sivana has the Eye of the Rock, which allows him to unleash the Seven Deadly Sins. Now Billy must learn how to use his powers, defeat Dr. Sivana, & find his birth mom all at once.

The cast is spectacular. Zachary Levi is perfect as adult Billy Batson, & so is Asher Angel as young Billy Batson. Jack Dylan Grazer is terrific. And the chemistry between Angel & Grazer (& Levi & Grazer) is just incredible.

David F. Sandberg's direction is great. Although Sandberg lets a few things go on longer than they should, he is able to perfectly balance tonal shifts.

The screenplay by Henry Gayden & Darren Lemke is amazing. The plot is always intriguing, the characters are well-developed, & the dialogue is excellent (& very funny).

And the visual effects are superb. For a film with a budget under $100M, the CGI is very well-done, & shows that a small budget doesn't necessarily mean bad effects, & that a big budget doesn't necessarily mean great effects (*cough* Justice League *cough*).

This is a very good superhero film. Although it has a couple small flaws, it's a genuinely funny & heartwarming addition to the DCEU, & one that paves a new way for it.

Shazam! was seen by me at an advance screening at the AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI on Saturday, March 23, 2019. It is now in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 132 minutes, & it is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, & suggestive material.

Gloria Bell

★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

I wish there were more leading roles for women over 50 in cinema. There's a lot of roles for them, but they're always pushed to the side. Thankfully, we have seen some truly great leading roles for older actresses, but there is still much work to be done.

Gloria Bell, although uneven, is a solid film that provides a great leading role for an older actress. Based on the 2013 film Gloria by Sebastián Lelio, the film follows Gloria Bell (played by Julianne Moore), a middle-aged woman in Los Angeles. More or less ignored by her daughter Anne (played by Caren Pistorius) & son Peter (played by Michael Cera), & long-divorced from her husband Dustin (played by Brad Garrett), who is now happily married to Fiona (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn), Gloria finds herself either at her job, alone with her cat, with her best friend Vicky (played by Rita Wilson), encountering people like Jeremy (played by Sean Astin), visiting her mother Hillary (played by Holland Taylor), or dancing at a nightclub populated by those in her age group, playing music from their teenage years.

One night, while at the nightclub, Gloria meets Arnold (played by John Turturro), an ex-Marine. They strike it up almost immediately. But she soon finds out that Arnold isn't really that all figured out as a person: he recently lost 100 pounds, is socially awkward, & bends over backwards for his whiny ex-wife & their two whinier daughters, who pester him with demands at every waking hour, to which he (more or less) begrudgingly accepts. Gloria must figure out how to get out of this sticky situation & still find her best self.

The cast is terrific. Julianne Moore, at 58, looks as vibrant as ever, & gives a spellbindingly natural performance. John Turturro is definitely someone you love to hate here. And it's always great to see Brad Garrett, who does wonders in his limited screen time.

Sebastián Lelio's direction is great. Although his style is an acquired taste for some, & is a bit alienating at times, Lelio appeals to us with a warm, engaging tone.

The screenplay by Alice Johnson Boher, Sebastián Lelio & Gonzalo Maza is very good. Although the plot is a bit formulaic, & some of the characters feel underdeveloped, the dialogue is very well-written, & often very humorous.

And the music is superb. Matthew Herbert's ambient score helps underscore the warm feeling of the film. And the soundtrack, featuring songs by Earth, Wind & Fire, Bonnie Tyler, & Laura Branigan, is a perfect throwback to the 1970s & 1980s.

This is a solid little film. Although it is a bit unfocused & underdeveloped at times, it's still an engaging dramedy featuring a fantastic performance from one of our finest actresses.

Gloria Bell was seen by me at the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI on Saturday, March 23, 2019. It is currently in 8 theaters in the Detroit area, including the Landmark Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, MI; the AMC Star Fairlane 21 in Dearborn, MI; the AMC Star Great Lakes 25 in Auburn Hills, MI; & the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, MI. Its runtime is 102 minutes, & it is rated R for sexuality, nudity, language & some drug use.

Us

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Horror is a magnificent beast. It can use classic horror ideas to tell us something more about our world. And in the current era we live in, where we are at our most divided, horror is one of the best way to show our discontentment with the society we live in.

Us is a masterpiece of horror, not only in how it terrifies us, but in how it is not afraid to tell us the cold, hard truth. The film follows Adelaide Wilson (played by Lupita Nyong'o), the wife of Gabe (played by Winston Duke) & mother of Zora (played by Shahadi Wright Joseph) & Jason (played by Evan Alex). They head to Santa Cruz on vacation to their beach house; while Adelaide is apprehensive about the trip due to childhood trauma, Gabe is more concerned about making himself look more appealing in the eyes of their white family friends, Josh (played by Tim Heidecker) & Kitty (played by Elisabeth Moss) Tyler, going as far as to buy a speedboat that is definitely not appealing both in look & performance.

That night, Jason notices a family standing in the driveway. After Gabe tries to chase them off with his baseball bat, & Adelaide calls the cops, the family disperses, & breaks into the house. It is then that the Wilsons realize that the family is... them. They are doppelgängers: Red (also played by Lupita Nyong'o), the only verbal doppelgänger; Abraham (also played by Winston Duke); Umbrae (also played by Shahadi Wright Joseph); & Pluto (also played by Evan Alex), who wears a mask to hide burns to his face. While trying to defeat their doppelgängers, they must realize why they have come here.

The cast is superb. Lupita Nyong'o takes the film by the reins & runs away with it. She pulls off a perfect mix of fear & creepiness that gets under our skin. Winston Duke, Tim Heidecker & Elisabeth Moss also give great performances, but it is Nyong'o's show.

Jordan Peele's direction is terrific. Peele not only manages to terrify us in ways that feel fresh or disturb us with suspenseful moments, but also adds a nice touch of dark comedy to ease the tension–somewhat.

Jordan Peele's screenplay is brilliant. The plot is fresh & fully intriguing, the characterization is perfect down to the smallest of characters, the dialogue is extremely well-written, & the themes that are explored are very thought-provoking.

Michael Gioulakis' cinematography is amazing. The shot composition & framing help add to the tension ever simmering at the surface.

Nicholas Mansour's editing is excellent. The film is tightly paced, & not one single moment in the film feels wasted.

The sound design is astounding. The sounds displayed are very discordant & quickly unnerve the audience, further heightening the tension.

And Michael Abels' score is incredible. Driven by choirs, chimes & violins, Abels' music makes the audience feel more tense.

This is the best film of the year so far, & I think that it'll certainly rank highly at the end of the year. It is an impeccably made horror film unlike any we've seen in years.

Us was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, March 22, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 116 minutes, & it is rated R for violence/terror, & language.

Five Feet Apart

★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Young love stricken by terminal illness. We've seen this film more times than we count. Love Story, A Walk to Remember, The Fault in Our Stars, & countless other films have all tackled this subject, to varying results: some being good to great, while others vary from mediocre to flat-out awful. Nonetheless, there's been too many of them that there are really no original ways to go from this genre.

Five Feet Apart tries to go somewhere new, but ends up falling into the same old pitfalls as it goes on. The film follows Stella Grant (played by Haley Lu Richardson), a teenage girl with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes buildup of mucus in the lungs. As a result, Stella has spent a lot of her life in the hospital. However, she tries to live as normal of a life as possible. She has a YouTube channel dedicated to coping with her illness & helping others with cystic fibrosis cope as well. Also by her side are her best friend Poe (played by Moisés Arias), a fellow cystic fibrosis patient, & Barbara (played by Kimberly Hébert Gregory), the nurse overseeing the cystic fibrosis ward, along with Dr. Hamid (played by Parminder Nagra).

One day, Stella notices someone new at the hospital. He is Will Newman (played by Cole Sprouse), a fellow cystic fibrosis patient. Will has come to the hospital for a medication trial to get rid of his Burkholderia cepacia infection. In order to stop potentially deadly cross-infection from occurring, cystic fibrosis patients are strictly kept at least 6 feet apart at all times. Will, who is more of a risk taker, likes to break this rule, much to Stella's chagrin.

Stella initially dislikes Will due to his penchant for breaking rules. However, they decide to help each other out: Stella will let Will draw her if Will follows through with his medication regimen. They both agree to this, & eventually, Stella & Will take a liking to each other. They eventually decide to take something back from cystic fibrosis: one foot from the six-foot rule. But as Stella could potentially get new lungs, their romance could be in danger.

The cast is solid. Haley Lu Richardson is phenomenal, as she is completely believable in the role & is able to elicit various emotions with a simple change in her voice or her facial expression. Moisés Arias & Kimberly Hébert Gregory do very well in their supporting roles. However, Cole Sprouse cannot act to save his life, as he is unable to show any other expression than being a tedious, pretentious, & moody teenager. His performance ultimately brings the film down.

Justin Baldoni's direction is mediocre. Although Baldoni shows some promise when it comes to eliciting good performances out of his actors, his visual style feels very bland.

And the screenplay by Mikki Daughtry & Tobias Iaconis is poor. While the plot does treat cystic fibrosis very well, it falls into the same third-act potholes that plagues films like these, & the dialogue is frequently saccharine.

This is a disappointment. Although it had the potential to be better than most sick teen romance films, it ultimately becomes just another one of those films that didn't try hard enough.

Five Feet Apart was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Saturday, March 16, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 116 minutes, & it is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language & suggestive material.

Apollo 11

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Saturday, July 20, 2019 will mark 50 years since Neil Armstrong & Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, with the help of Michael Collins, became the first humans to set foot on the moon. In the 50 years since then, 6 more missions have sent men into lunar orbit, but none since 1972, when Eugene Cernan & Harrison Schmitt set foot as part of Apollo 17.

Apollo 11 is a documentary unlike any I've seen before in my entire life. The film follows the lead-up, the mission, & the aftermath of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the Moon. Neil Armstrong, the commander, will be the first man to walk on the Moon. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, will follow as the second. Michael Collins, the command module pilot, will keep the command module, Columbia, in the Moon's orbit while Armstrong & Aldrin step foot on the surface of the Moon.

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. They eventually separated from Saturn V in orbit, & four days later, on July 20, 1969, entered the Moon's orbit. They landed in the Sea of Tranquility not long after. Eventually, Armstrong becomes the first man to step foot on the Moon, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin follows soon after, & they spend 21.5 hours on the lunar surface before rejoining with Collins, leaving lunar orbit, & returning to Earth on July 24, 1969.

Todd Douglas Miller's direction is phenomenal. Miller focuses the film in a fly-on-the-wall manner, unlike any other documentary I've seen. There are no interviews with any of the people involved, & there is no narration besides the voices of news anchors covering the mission. This allows for the audience to see the film in a very matter-of-fact way, which works to the film's advantage, as it gives the audience a sense of wonder although we already know how the events unfolded before we walk into the theater.

This is an absolutely exemplary documentary. It goes very in-depth into one of the greatest achievements in human history, & makes us feel as awe-inspired as those who witnessed it on that summer day 50 years ago.

Apollo 11 was seen by me at the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI on Friday, March 15, 2019. It is currently in 8 theaters in the Detroit area, including the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI; The Maple Theater in Bloomfield Township, MI; the MJR Brighton Towne Square Digital Cinema 20 in Brighton, MI; & the Goodrich Quality 16 in Ann Arbor, MI. Its runtime is 93 minutes, & it is rated G.

Captain Marvel

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

11 years. 20 movies. That's how long before the first female-led film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was made. Although I am glad to see a female-led superhero film, I'm a bit saddened that it took this long.

But ultimately, the wait was worth it. Captain Marvel is one of the best films in the MCU. Set in 1995, the film follows Carol Danvers, AKA Vers, AKA Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson), a member of the Kree military group Starforce on the planet Hala. Led by Yon-Rogg (played by Jude Law), Vers, along with Korath (played by Djimon Hounsou), Minn-Erva (played by Gemma Chan), Alt-Lass (played by Algenis Pérez Soto) & Bron-Char (played by Rune Temte), along with the assistance of Ronan the Accuser (played by Lee Pace), Starforce is the elite military group leading the fight against the shape-shifting Skrulls. Although Vers has terrific powers, she is advised by Yon-Rogg & the AI Supreme Intelligence (played by Annette Bening), who appears to someone as someone the person knows from the past, to keep them in check. However, Vers does not know who Supreme Intelligence is supposed to be in her life.

An ambush against the Skrulls fails & Vers is captured by their commander Talos (played by Ben Mendelsohn). She eventually escapes & crashes on Earth. The next morning, she is confronted by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) & Phil Coulson (played by Clark Gregg), who are investigating the crash landing. Their investigation is stopped when Skrulls attack. Fury is stunned to see Vers' powers & the Skrulls, & works with her to discover more about herself & them.

With the memories she has, they go to the Project Pegasus area at an Air Force base, where Vers makes a startling discovery: Vers is Carol Danvers, a former Air Force pilot who was presumed dead in a crash in 1989 along with Dr. Wendy Lawson, AKA Mar-Vell (played by Annette Bening). Carol & Fury travel to Louisiana to find Maria Rambeau (played by Lashana Lynch), Carol's best friend who was the last person to see her before she died. Maria helps Carol fill in some of the blanks about her past. Talos arrives & warns her about her past on Hala. This forces Carol to rethink her past, present & future & who she is really fighting for.

The cast is fantastic. Brie Larson shows that she is perfectly capable of holding her own in a major blockbuster, & has the right mix of charm & stubbornness for the role. Ben Mendelsohn is terrific. Samuel L. Jackson is wondrous once again. And the rest of the cast provide great supporting performances.

The direction by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck is excellent. Boden & Fleck perfectly mix the awesome cosmic feel with a calm down-to-earth realistic approach that really fits the film.

The screenplay by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Nicole Perlman & Meg LeFauve is amazing. The plot is thoroughly intriguing, the characters are fully realized, & the dialogue is very well-written.

Ben Davis' cinematography is spectacular. Davis' framing is very well-done, & the shot composition is even better, especially several nighttime shots in the middle of the film.

The editing by Elliot Berman & Debbie Berman is superb. The film is tightly paced & superbly cut, using quick cutting in a good way.

The makeup & hairstyling is impressive. The makeup looks absolutely stunning with the immersive blue makeup of the Kree & the green makeup of the Skrulls.

The sound design is impeccable. The sounds race across at blistering speeds, & are perfectly edited & mixed for an immersive experience.

The visual effects are stunning. The CGI is very well done, especially the de-aging of Jackson & Gregg. There's not a single flaw.

And Pinar Toprak's score is incredible. The score is driven by synthesizers, definitely emphasizing the film's cosmic feel & the film's timeframe.

This is the best origin story in the MCU. It has a terrific cast, a dynamic group behind the camera, & a lot of heart to make it a truly extraordinary experience.

Captain Marvel was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, March 8, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 124 minutes, & it is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence & action, & brief suggestive language.