Juliet Naked

I’m a big fan.

In Juliet Naked, Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) is an obsessive superfan of faded, alt-rock musician Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) who has disappeared from public eye. But this story is about someone who is not a fan — his girlfriend Annie (Rose Byrne), who finds Crowe.

Director Jesse Peretz (Girls) took that premise and assembled a charming film full of wit, and stripped of dumb rom com stunts and jokes. 

I enjoyed being in their world for 98 delightful minutes. I give the rest of the credit to Byrne (Bridesmaids) who nails every line.

In a nutshell: This low-key, romantic comedy sings.

Award potential: Charming but too forgettable for award conversation.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Crazy Rich Asians

It's crazy good.
 
We've seen this story dozens of times. Rich boy (Henry Golding) meets common girl (Constance Wu Wu), and the families come between them — but we've never seen it like this: Big, lush displays of crazy big scenes — with an all Asian cast.

Although I've seen the novel covers lined up in the hands of sunbathers at my pool all summer (and the summer before), I confess that I have not read the book series. I do know that it was important enough for Netflix to battle Warner Bros for the rights to this franchise. 

Producers and director John Chu (Step Up 2, 3 and Now You See Me 2,3) ultimately passed on the larger Netflix payday, presumably to bring it to the big screen not the small. It's the first all-Asian ensemble onscreen since The Joy Luck Club 25 years ago. And boy, they delivered a cinematic experience that the novel's fans and newcomers will marvel at. Every penny of the $30 million budget is seen on screen.

To be clear, this is a feel good, chick lit', rom com with relatable girls in fab clothes and guys with shirts half open or off. However, the material is elevated more than say, Pretty Woman or something starring Kate Hudson. The cast is stellar. Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies) lights up the screen as the boy's mother, and summer-it girl Awkwafina (Ocean's 8),as the girl's bestie, provides big smiles. Both will be on supporting casts lists until Oscar nom time.
 
This is a huge film for summer movie lovers looking for a romance, and a big win for representation. It's going to be crazy big.
 
In a nutshell: You'd be crazy to miss this in the theater.

Award potential: This Golden Globe-friendly fare could go all the way to Oscar. Watch out Black Panther, this may be the new lighthearted movie with a diversity story ready to fill that tenth prime Best Picture slot. Yeoh is a contender for Best Supporting Actress nominations and Awkwafina should do well at the Golden Globes and film offers.

The ten buck review: Worth ten billion bucks. OK, ten bucks.

Crazy Rich Asians opens Wednesday August 12, 2018.

Mission Impossible: Fallout

A solid run. With Fallout, MI has now bested Bond as a more consistent action spy franchise and is clearly outrunning Matt Damon's self-destructing Bourne series. I'm no Tom Cruise fan, but this is his perfect gig. In a cgi-mad world, it's especially riveting to know that the over-the-top stunts involved the 56-year old Cruise, who famously never uses a stunt man. The jaw-dropping scenes, and there are many, are better on screen for it.
 

The supporting cast is strong. Ving Rhames and (an under-used) Simon Pegg return. Angela Basset joins. As does a mustached Henry Cavil (Man of Steel). Although Cavill fights often with convincing dialogue and sentences strung together, his fight scenes hit high marks. The bathroom brawl was one of the best action scenes in the series. Or maybe it was the chase through the streets of Paris. Or maybe one of a dozen others in this non-stop flick.
 
All this plus co-stars Belfast, Berlin, Paris, London and Kashmir. This series is going to run a long time.
 
In a nutshell: Accept this mission.

Award potential: Expect some technical nominations.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Three Identical Strangers

"It's uncanny.”

If you are a little older than I, you may have seen the 1980’s newspaper articles or photos in People magazine about three identical twins from New York who were separated at birth and found each other in their twenties. I missed this global sensation at the time, so of course I found this documentary on their lives engrossing — times three.

But there’s more. And I’m not telling. Three Identical Strangers is a lean-forward documentary that opens, closes, reopens and potentially closes the book on nature versus nurture. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

In a nutshell: You’ll experience every emotion while watching this documentary; it's one of the best films of the year.

Award potential: It’s a shoo-in for Best Film Documentary, which should make this the first film Madonna appeared in to be nominated in a major category, courtesy of a cameo from Desperately Seeking Susan. 

The ten buck review: Double your pleasure. Triple your pleasure. Worth ten bucks 

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Small rewards.

I’ll keep this review, er, short. Ant-Man and the Wasp held a tiny, minuscule bit of attention and provided a few laughs while watching, but no one is going to remember this movie by the time they get to the car. 

In a nutshell: The dumbest Marvel plot ever, but Paul Rudd makes it all worthwhile as a two-hour retreat from the summer heat.

Award potential: None.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

I won't own this film on DVD like I do the originals, but I will own that I enjoyed every second.
Life finds a way to bring back Jurassic Park movies every few years, even though we are all familiar with the two sentence plot: What could go wrong if we bring back dinosaurs? — run!
I'm an unabashed fan of 2015's Jurassic World revival with Chris Pratt, who delivered that Bruce Willis/Harrison Ford movie magic combo of wit and action hero believability. It was my favorite movie that summer, hitting all the right notes of wonder and thrills.
 
This year's sequel roars into the theater with the same challenge that the 90's sequels had: Dinosaurs breaking free from the park is a thrilling story, but what do we do now? Similar to the 90's, the new film tackles consequences and animal rights — in addition to all the running.
However, the film cleverly brings something new to the series  that was a fun surprise — a haunted house genre twist in the final act that works well.

The writing team, same as for the previous film, and a new director J.A. Bayona, give Bryce Dallas Howard and the supporting cast more one-liners this time around, at the expense of utilizing Pratt more. He is the only one with star power, so there is some spark missing this time around.
 
Compared to the 2015 film (and the 1993 original), the good guys never seem to be in believable danger as the story plays towards more absurd. While it won't be a classic, it was classic summer fun.

In a nutshell: Dino-mite for escapist fun.

A solid number three in the series of five.

Award potential: Best Special FX contender on Oscars night.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Ocean's 8

Someone stole my ten bucks.

In a year of super hero and Star Wars burnout, it couldn’t be more timely to bring back a fast-paced heist movie — and it couldn’t be more timely to reshape everyone’s favorite heist franchise with an all-actress cast. 

That’s right, Ocean’s 11 is now Ocean’s 8 — although it’s really kind of a six that never really goes to eleven.

The film's ensemble cast includes Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina and Elliot Gould, who resumes his franchise role. It’s a delight to see all of these on screen, and for a few minutes it’s fun to see Bullock swipe some luxury products in a realistic way. However, the big hustle is a huge, unrealistic one, which leads to a pretty dumb hour and a half to follow.

Director Gary Ross (Hunger Games, Sea Biscuit, Pleasantville, Big) replaced the swagger and cocktail energy of the Soderbergh's Vegasy films with the pleasant world of NYC fashion and art, perhaps intended as a Sex & The City take on the franchise. Some of the fashion onscreen is a feast for the eyes, but much of it is forced. There’s literally of montage of uninspired jewelry photos. Yes, still photos.

There's never much at stake in this plot. While it is fun enough to watch the on-screen talent go through the motions for a Friday night at the movies, you can’t help but wonder if each of them could have spent time on something that you wouldn’t forget the second you walk out of the theater.

Sort of seems like a crime, right?

In a nutshell: A female-cast sequel to the boozy Ocean’s films should have served up bubbly champagne, but it delivers an OK glass of wine.

Award potential: None.
 
The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.