Yesterday

"It’s not Coldplay. It’s not Fix You," but it is the best rom com of 2019 so far.

Not many high-concept premises truly come together as breezy, comedic fun. This year’s best comedies (Late Night, Long Shot and Isn’t It Romantic) still struggled and felt strained by their premise — and only one of them was supposed to be a fantasy. Luckily, Yesterday defies the odds and brings smiles and a few surprises to the rom com format.

It gets by with a little help from director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and screenwriter Richard Curtis (Love Actually) who take a fantasy concept (a world where only one man remembers the Beatles) and magically keep it light and interesting for almost two hours.

Jack (Himesh Patel) and Eliie (Lily James) are a delightful and convincing romantic couple. To be clear, they don’t reach the timeless heights of Harry and Sally nor anyone from Love Actually, but this pairing works better than any rom com I’ve seen since last year’s Crazy Rich Asians. 

There’s a love-it/hate-it moment in the final arc of the film. It betrayed the films tone to me, but everyone with me loved it, and thought it was essential. 

I don't care. I bought everything else and was glad to buy this ticket too.

In a nutshell: Not revolutionary, but not predictable. Quality, escapist fun, in an “all you need is love” kinda way.

Award potential: Some potential Golden Globe nominations in their Best Comedy category.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Late Night

Does it "earn the privilege of your time?"

At the center of Late Night is Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), a talk-show host whose tagline is “Excellence without compromise,” although she’s been mailing it in on her “dusty,” declining show for years. No one is bold enough to tell her this, until a network vp informs Katherine that she is being replaced.

“I don’t think you think you hate women,” is how a staffer approaches Katherine on her lack of diversity hiring. This exchange leads her to hire Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), a chemical-plant manager with no writing experience and cupcakes-the-first-day energy. If you think this sounds like a 2019 variation of The Devil Wears Prada, you are devilishly correct. Similar to that film, Katherine strikes fear amongst her staff yet befriends a newcomer who unrealistically rises to the top. 

Late Night takes on race, class, feminism and many modern ideologies with varying degrees of success. It’s an uneven comedy, but a broadly amusing one that arrives at a refreshing time in the summer sequel season.

Who am I kidding? I’d watch Emma Thompson fold laundry for two hours and I would certainly watch her deliver zippy dialogue in an office comedy for an hour and forty-two minutes. She plays a terrible person, but somehow you root for her. Thompson is that good.

In a nutshell: Uneven as comedy and social statement, but the comedic wit of Emma Thompson heightens each scene. It’s delightful to see her in the center of a movie again. 

Award potential: Some Golden Globe Comedy nominations seem likely, but no Oscar noms. This is not Broadcast News.

The Ten Buck Review: Thanks to Thompson, it does “earn the privilege of your time.” Worth ten bucks.

Rocketman

It's a little bit funny, but rock biopics fall into two categories. Those that should have been on TV and those that serve only to showcase their stars to Oscar nomination greatness (Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody, Angela Basset in What's Love Got To Do With It and Dennis Quaid in Great Balls of Fire). Not many are great films. The only one to cross that line might have been Walk The Line.
 
I had high hopes that this summer release would be an exception. While Elton John's rocket flight to fame is patent rock biopic material, the levitated piano playing shown in the trailer suggested a fantasy approach that would transcend linear biopic film making. It didn't.

Let me first note that Taron Egerton fills the electric boots perfectly, providing great energy and virtuoso vocals. Rocketman achieves a star-making performance and clearly puts this film in that first biopic bucket.
 
The rest of the movie is as much a mess as Elton's life in the seventies. Instead of one scene that lets us know his mother was cruel, we have several hit-you-over-the-head moments every time she appears. And the narrative framework, set in a rehab, is so remedial that it's almost insulting. Thank goodness for those songs. The music is showcased three ways: realistic, fantastical imaginings of energetic performances and corny broadway basic music videos. The first two work. I loved a scene early in the film that captures what it must have felt like to hear Elton in the seventies. It's a scene where Elton performs Crocodile Rock in L.A.'s famous Troubadour club the day after a Neil Young appearance.
 
But here's my other issue with the film. Elton didn't play that song at the Troubadour and Neil Young wasn't there either. I understand the story telling need to switch songs or show songs out of timeline sequence, but why add the incorrect Neil Young reference? Why did they add a specific scene that indicates his last name was inspired by John Lennon when it was inspired by London rocker Long John Baldry? Why title "The Border Song" on a test packet to Elton when Taupin and John would write it years later? Why include the songs "Daniel" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" in his first audition, when these are songs they'd write in 1972 and 1983? Why, with Elton as producer,would any of this happen. I don't understand why you'd add these details if they weren't true and it's one less reason you should get your hopes up before watching this film. I suggest you spend the two hours playing one of Elton's Greatest Hits album or two or three.
 
In a nutshell: I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how disappointed I was in everything but Egerton's performance.

Award potential: Julian Day should expect an Oscar nomination for Best Costume and Taron Egerton should be only every shortlist for months. Egerton is supported with strong performances by Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin and Richard Madden as lover and manager John Reid, but I don't expect these performances to be remembered next January.
 
The Ten Buck Review: Not worth ten bucks.

Booksmart

Part Superbad. Part super good. 

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and Say Anything in the 80s. Dazed and Confused, Clueless, American Pie and 10 Things I Hate About You in the 90s. Juno and Superbad in the 2000s. The Spectacular Now, Perks of Being A Wallflower, Love, Simon and Lady Bird in the 2010s.  

The plot of these high school comedies are all the same, but each has its own take. These come around every few years and each time I enjoy discovering the voice, the tone and the music of that generation's version. 2019 offers us Booksmart, directed by actress Olivia Wilde. 

Besties Amy (Kaitlyn Dever from Beautiful Boy) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein from LIttle Bird) always assumed their focus on academia would give them a life-long advantage on their YOLO high school peers. You know, those party kids who will stay in town working at the local store and reminiscing about their glory days. However, on the eve of graduation, Amy and Molly discover those fun-loving kids are also moving on to Ivy-league schools. “You guys don’t even care about school,” shouts Molly, to which a popular girl retorts, “No, we just don’t only care about school.” This revelation is the comedic set up for Amy and Molly to pour four years of fun into one wild night, which includes crashing the cool kids' house party. Sounds good, right?
 
The first half of the film involves a series of mistakes and delays getting to the party, which includes introducing multiple over-the-top characters and raucous scenarios. I didn't enjoy the first half. My age is showing that I was sqirmingly antsy during all the misdirections and worried that our heroines would never actually get to crash that party. 

Today I realized that I was just craving a grounded, realistic story (The girls accidentally take a drug that conveniently wears off just as soon as the comic bit was over) and realistic characters (a nerdy classmate throws a million dollar yacht party without any friends to join).
 
Luckily, this all changes in the second half of the film, where all those kooky characters and classmates meet. In a huge shift, the situation and the characters suddenly become realistic and layered, the stories all start to gel and everything works in that endearing way that the best of these movies do. I wish the whole film had been like the third act. It was so good that I'll have to recommend this film despite wanting to walk out early on.
 
In a nutshell: Like any true revenge of the nerd story, Booksmart wins over in the end.
 
Award potential: It had all the buzz at SXSW, but after seeing Eighth Grade get passed over last year, I'd say this zanier, uneven comedy has no chance for Oscar recognition. 

A Golden Globe (Comedy) nomination is a long shot, but possible if Yesterday, Late Night or Once Upon A Time In Hollywood don't match expectations. The actresses are strong, but equal in their roles and unlikely to both make a nomination list half a year from now.
 
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock n' Roll

When filmmaker Tom Jones premiered an earlier version of this film at Jersey Shore’s film festival in 2017, it was missing one key ingredient to the Asbury Park story: hometown boy Bruce Springsteen. For non-fans, it would be like a Jurassic Park film without the T-Rex. I mean, yous guys, his first album was titled Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., and it helped put the coastal town and the Jersey sound on the map.

Luckily for everyone, the Boss was there to see the film’s premiere and offered interviews, stories and music. The addition of Springsteen added a kick to this tale of a city that breathed rock and roll in the 60’s and 70’s, before a race riot destroyed the rock n’ roll city. The music was integrated; the people were not. The on camera subjects of this film describe the tensions that led to that heated moment, as well as the unexpected, recent resurgence. It’s a lean-in story that captures your attention.

However, the supporting actor to the city’s storied tale is the music itself. Those who were there describe what it was like to see bands define its sound: a unique mix of rock and R&B. It's a place that boasts Gary U.S. Bonds and South side Johnny as well as household names such as Steven Van Zandt and Springsteen. The documentary makes good use of photo and music treasures from its heyday and paints a portrait of the spirit of those nights.

Music. Drama. It's an engaging portrait of a rock and roll city and the birth of the Jersey sound. Worth your time if you can find it; in theaters nationwide for two nights, on May 22 and 29.

In a nutshell: You don’t need to be a Springsteen fan to enjoy this documentary on a magical rock town. But if you are, stay for the after-credits concert footage.

Award potential: None. A poor choice of VO and overuse of some average drone work won’t impress Academy documentary voters.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

2019 Summer Movie Schedule

May 17 

The summer sequel: John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum 

The drama: Trial By Fire (Laura Dern) 

The family film: A Dog’s Journey (Dennis Quaid) 

The romance: The Sun Is Also a Star (Charles Melton and Yara Shahidi) 

May 24 
The whole new film: Aladdin 
The unique find: Booksmart 

May 31 
The monster blockbuster: Godzilla: King of the Monsters 
The horror film: Ma (Octavia Spencer) 

May 31 
The rhapsody rock tale: Rocketman (Taron Egerton as Elton John) 
The romance: Always Be My Maybe (Randall Park, Ali Wong) 

June 7 
The superhero film: Dark Phoenix (X-Men) 
The comedy: Late Night (Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling) 
The family film: Secret Life of Pets 2 
The drama: The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Danny Glover, Finn Wittrock) 

June 14 
The summer sequel: Men In Black: International (Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson) 
The reboot: Shaft (Jessie T. Usher, Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Roundtree) 

June 21 
The family film: Toy Story 4  

June 28  
The potential summer gem: Yesterday (Lily James, Himesh Patel) 
The summer sequel: Annabelle Comes Home (Vera Farmiga) The one with Awkwafina: The Farewell 
 
 

July 3 
The superhero film: Spider-Man: Far From Home 
The counter programming: Midsommer  

July 12  
The rom-com: The Art of Self-Defense (Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg) The stupid uber film: Stuber (Kumail Nanjiani) 
 

July 19 
The family film: The Lion King 
The Quentin Tarantino film: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 

July 31
The family film: Dora and the Lost City of Gold 

August 2 
The summer sequel: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham) 

August 9 
The girl power film: The Kitchen (Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Eilsabeth Moss) 

August 16 
The book-to-film: Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig) 


 
August 23 
The action sequel: Angel Has Fallen (Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman)

Long Shot

“Long Shot” might describe your odds of finding a great comedy film in 2019. 

Isn’t It Romantic, Shazam! and Little only seem funny when compared to Beachbum, Poms and Lego Movie 2. Given the low bar for comedy in theaters, Long Shot is a welcome option at the theater because it does offer some laughs. It’s just really rough getting through the story.

“Long Shot” does not refer to the Presidential run featured in the film. Secretary of State  Charlotte (Charlize Theron) and slob speechwriter Fred (Seth Rogen) meet and fall in love. That pairing is the long shot.

The preposterous pairing is tough to swallow. At every moment we see Rogen, his character is portrayed worse than the scene before. Contrastly,Theron is practically perfect in every appearance. Despite a backstory that pairs them together as comfortable hometown, life-long friends, the film never finds a way to make the pairing believable.

Theron has solid comic timing. Rogen has been funnier. Many of the jokes do earn your chuckles.

However, having recently seen a 30th anniversary screening of Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything. I’d like to hold out for a rom com like that one. But if you laughed when I said “swallow” above, then you’ll be fine spending your ten dollars here.

In a nutshell: I can’t recommend this film, but if you want to go see a funny film, I understand; it's one of the better choices this year.

Award potential: None

The Ten Buck Review: Not worth ten bucks.