JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM (2019) – My rating: 8/10

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is a neo-noir action thriller. It is the third installment in the John Wick film series, following John Wick (2014) and John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017). The film is directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, and Marc Abrams, based on a story by Kolstad. In the film, ex-hitman John Wick finds himself on the run from legions of assassins after a $14 million contract is put on his head. John Wick: Chapter 3 is strictly about the fighting and a lot of killing.

Less than an hour after the conclusion of John Wick: Chapter 2, former hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is now a marked man, on the run in Manhattan. After John’s unsanctioned killing of crime lord and new member of the High Table Santino D’Antonio in the New York City Continental, he is declared “excommunicado” by his handlers at the High Table and placed under a $14 million bounty. Now on the run from all assassins of the high table, John reaches the New York Public Library and recovers a crucifix necklace and a “marker” medallion from a secret cache hidden in a faux library book. He fights his way through several assassins until he reaches The Director (Angelica Houston), a woman from his past, who accepts the crucifix as a “ticket” for safe passage to Casablanca, Morocco. Wick is then branded by the Director to signify he has used up all his favors with her.

Meanwhile, an adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon), with the High Table meets with Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of the New York City Continental and The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), who leads a network of vagrant assassins. The adjudicator admonishes both men for helping John Wick get away after killing Santino D’Antonio (Riccarido Scamarcio). Both are given seven days to give up their offices or face being assassinated themselves. Charon (Lance Reddick), the concierge at the Continental stands by Winston and the adjudicator recruits assassin Zero (Mark Dacascos) and his “students” to enforce the will of the High Table.

In Casablanca, John meets with Sofia (Halle Berry), a former friend and the manager of the Casablanca Continental. He presents his marker and asks Sofia to honor it by directing him to The Elder (Saïd Taghmaoui), the only man ranked above the High Table, so that he can ask to have his bounty waived. Sofia takes him to an assassin named Berrada (Jerome Flynn), who tells John that he may find the Elder by wandering through the desert until he cannot walk any longer. As payment for his information, Berrada asks for one of Sofia’s beloved dogs, she refuses, so he shoots the dog but it survives, thanks to a body armor jacket. In a bout of rage, Sofia shoots Berrada.  She, John and the two dogs fight their way out of the Kasbah. Having fulfilled her marker, Sofia leaves John in the desert were he roams until he collapses from exhaustion.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on in this sequel. While the movie was exciting and full of action, it was also ultra violent. I have to deem John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum the most violent movie I’ve seen in a decade. The fighting was endless. At first the fight patterns were fun to experience but soon became boring and over the top. John and Sofia killed 40 to 50 men, one by one while fighting their way out of the Kasbah, which has nothing to do with the amount of men John Wick killed in other situations. I like a good fight scene but this got to be ridiculous. The plot carried over from the second sequel with new concepts added. Mark Dacascos was fantastic as Zero, who added humor as well as serious fighting skills to the film. Fighting and shooting should have been the name of chapter 3 — it was really non-stop! Don’t get me wrong, the story has lots of merit and lots of twist and I did enjoy John Wick. This third sequel has grossed $175 million worldwide, surpassing the entire gross of the second film in just 10 days, plus it received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the fight choreography, visual style, and Reeves’ performance. I agree with the critics analysis except the amount of fighting and killing — it was truly over-the-top. If you don’t mind the violence, you’re in for a great ride. Check It Out!

 

ROMA (2018) – My rating: 7.5/10

Roma is a drama written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who also produced, co-edited and shot the film. Roma is also a co-production of Mexico and the United States. Set in 1970 and 1971, the film is a semi-autobiographical take on Cuarón’s upbringing in Mexico City, and follows the life of a live-in housekeeper to a middle-class family. The title refers to Colonia Roma, a neighborhood in the city. Roma also won two Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, and four Critics’ Choice Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture at the 24th Critics’ Choice Awards; it also received seven nominations at the 72nd British Academy Film Awards.  There’s has been lots of hoopla regarding Roma.  I decided to see it based on it’s nominations and potential to be Oscar nodded.  Good story but extremely slow and not for everyone.

Filmed in black and white with English subtitles, Roma is set in 1970 and opens with endless water being poured over a marble floor.  Cleodegaria “Cleo” Gutierrez (Yalitza Aparicio) who is a maid in the Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City works in the household of Sofia (Marina de Tavira) and is the one cleaning the entrance way, using a bucket and a broom. In addition to Sofia and Cleo, Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), who is Sofia’s husband and their four young children, Sofia’s mother Teresa (Veronica Garcia), and another maid, Adela (Nancy Garcia) live in the spacious house. Antonio, a doctor, leaves for a job conference in Quebec, Canada. Scenes that showed Cleo’s life with the family includes her cleaning, cooking, taking the kids to and from school, serving them meals, putting the kids to bed and waking them up, gives us an idea of the responsibilities Cleo is expected to do on a daily basis. It also becomes clear that Sofia and Antonio’s marriage is strained. After a brief return, Antonio leaves again, saying he is going back to Quebec for a few weeks to further work on his research.

Taking advantage of some time off, Cleo and Adela go out with their boyfriends, Fermín (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) and Ramón (Jose Manuel Guerrero Mendoza), to the theater. At the entrance, Cleo and Fermín decide to rent a room instead of seeing the movie. A very naked Fermín shows off his martial arts skill using the shower curtain rod as a pole. While on another date, both couples meet in a movie theater, where Cleo tells Fermín that she thinks she is pregnant. As the movie (La Grande Vadrouille) is about to end, Fermín says he is going to the bathroom and ask Cleo if she wanted some ice cream, but then does not return and is nowhere to be found. Cleo reveals the same concern to Sofia, who takes her to get checked at the hospital where Antonio works. The doctor there confirms Cleo’s pregnancy.

Sofia takes Cleo, Adela and her children to a family friend’s hacienda to celebrate New Year’s. Both the landowners and the workers mention recent tensions over land in the area. During the celebrations, a fire erupts in the forest. Everyone helps put out the fire as a man counts down the remaining seconds of 1970. Back in the city, Cleo accompanies the children and their grandmother to a movie theater to watch Marooned. As they are entering, Antonio is seen rushing out with a young woman. Sofia tries to hide Antonio’s departure from the children, but her second son learns of it by eavesdropping in on a phone conversation. She asks him to not tell his other siblings who believe their father is still away on business in Canada.

As it turns out, Roma is basically about Cleo.  While the story is  told tenderly, it is slow and perhaps somewhat boring to some.  It you stick with it, you’ll find some extremely interesting moments.  Overall, the story is worth sharing and I’ve left it at a point where there are many loose ends/questions that you will have to get the answers to by actually seeing the movie.  The good news is it’s on Netflix and easily accessible if you subscribe.  I don’t see 10 nominations but that is just my opinion.  Things turn out or not just the way they should.  Check it Out!

[Roma is Oscar nominated for BEST; Picture, Actress, Supporting Actress, Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Best Foreign-Language Film]

 

MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN (2018) – My rating: 8.3/10

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a musical romantic comedy written and directed by Ol Parker, from a story by Parker, Catherine Johnson, and Richard Curtis. It is a follow-up to the 2008 film Mamma Mia!, which in turn is based on the musical of the same name using the music of ABBA. Both a prequel and a sequel, the plot is set after the events of the first film, and also features flashbacks to 1979, telling the story of Donna Sheridan’s arrival on the island of Kalokairi and her first meetings with her daughter Sophie’s three possible fathers. I really wasn’t interested in seeing this movie, however I’m glad I did. Mamma Mia! Here we go again was a pretty descent sequel with loads of good music.  This is a feel good movie.

Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) is preparing for the grand reopening of her mother’s Donna (Meryl Streep) hotel, following her death a year earlier. She is upset because two of her fathers, Harry Bright (Colin Firth) and Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgård), are unable to make it to the reopening. Additionally, she is fighting with Sky (Dominic Cooper), her husband, who is in New York.  He thinks Sophie should forget about memorializing her mother’s life and come back to New York to be with him.

In 1979, a young Donna (Lily James) has just graduated from university with young Rosie (Alexa Davies) and young Tanya (Jessica Keenan Wynn), and is getting ready to travel the world. While in Paris, she meets and parties with young Harry (Hugh Skinner). They spend the night together, but Donna leaves soon after. She later misses her boat to Kalokairi but is offered a ride by young Bill (Josh Dylan), and along the way, they are able to help a stranded fisherman, Alexio (Gerard Monaco).  Eventually, Donna arrives on an island and discovers a farmhouse. A sudden storm causes her to encounter a spooked horse in the basement. She goes in search of help only to find a young Sam (Jeremy Irvine) riding his motorcycle who helps her to save the horse.  She and Sam enjoy a whirlwind romance.

In the present, Tanya Chesham-Leigh (Christine Baranski) and Rosie Mulligan (Julie Walters) of Donna and the Dynamos, arrive to support Sophie with the reopening and to cheer up Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), who is still grieving over the death of Donna and the only one of the three fathers who is able to attend the reopening.  Also helping with the reopening is Fernando Cienfuegos (Andy Garcia), the manager of the Hotel Bella.

Mamma Mia! Here we go again turned out to be a good film full of song and dance, plus romance and happy times of an adventurous young lady who has sex with three guys around the same time and becomes pregnant.  While the story is believable, it’s also sad because these three gentlemen were all willing to spend their lives with Donna.  I liked the way the director combined the past and present, thereby allowing this sequel to be understood, even if you didn’t see the original.  I thoroughly enjoyed Mamma Mia! Here we go again, which has so many fabulous songs, sung by Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski and Jessica Keenan Wynn, as well as Meryl Streep, who I didn’t realize could sing so well, to name a few.  There is a surprise visit from Sophie’s grandmother who steals the show.  Mamma Mia! Here we go again was well received by critics and enjoyed better than average reviews.  I recommend this musical to everyone.  Check it out!