BrieLarson

JUST MERCY – Rated PG-13 – 2 hrs. 16 mins. 

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Just Mercy

“JUST MERCY is one of those rare films, that everyone must see!                              Kathy Kaiser

 

JUST MERCY – Rated PG-13 – 2 hrs. 16 mins. 

DIRECTOR/WRITER:  Destin Daniel Cretton

WRITER:  Andrew Lanham, Based on the book by Bryan Stevenson 

STARRING:  Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Rafe Spall, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Tim Blake Nelson and Rob Morgan

Based on true life story of public defender, and Harvard grad Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan), Just Mercy takes us deep into Bryan’s fight for justice for those wrongly condemned, and sitting on death row in Alabama, circa 1987.  And when local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson) decides to work by his side, it seems there is no stopping them in their quest for justice, and to aid those wrongly accused…

Now, as Bryan starts to meet with numerous inmates sitting on death row, he comes across one Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who has been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an 18-year old girl, despite tons of evidence, proving otherwise.  Stevenson is so moved by this case, and the overwhelming amount of evidence proving McMillian’s innocence, that he sets out on a quest to free him from death row.  But as the years fly by, Stevenson becomes entangled in the web of racism in Alabama, while he continues to uncover even more lies,  including the provoked and coerced statement by convict Ralph Myers (Tim Blake Nelson), as the determining factor for his conviction.  And as Bryan and Eva try desperately to keep the faith in hopes that justice will prevail,  they continue to find that the ways of justice in Alabama, seem to be completely one-sided…

I give JUST MERCY a rating of MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN!:  Powerful, moving, and yes, it brought me to tears… Just Mercy is one of those incredible films that you just have to see, to believe.  Bryan Stevenson’s real life-story is a testament to those incredible individuals who seek nothing more in this life, than to help their fellow man, as they manage to change the world, the best way they know how.  Michael B. Jordan is superb playing the Harvard graduate, who, much to his mother’s dismay, finds himself seeking to be a public defender for those sitting on death row, as opposed to taking one of the high-paying jobs, his education from Harvard afforded him.  Brie Larson is exceptional too, playing local advocate, and supporter of Stevenson’s work, Eva Ansley.  Foxx is also amazing, playing wrongly convicted felon Walter McMillian.  And very few times do you find that even the supporting actors are perfectly cast, but that is exactly what you will find with Just Mercy, as O’Shea Jackson Jr, Tim Blake Nelson, and Rob Morgan’s performances are exceptional throughout as well, and how closely they truly resemble the real-life individuals they are playing, is astounding!  It’s been a while too, since I have had the privilege to see an advanced screening where the audience was so moved throughout, that they showed their adoration for the subject matter numerous times throughout the film, but that is exactly what happened this week with Just Mercy, making this film even more special in my eyes.  And the fact that Director and Writer Destin Daniel Cretton saw fit to keep this film within the parameters of a PG-13 rating, is perfection in my mind as well, as now, even the youngsters can get a glimpse this powerful film as well, and as they should.  And if I haven’t convinced you yet, that Just Mercy is a total MUST SEE, then maybe the fact that the general public who attended this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival voted Just Mercy the “BEST FILM of the YEAR”, might also sway you to head out to a theater near you, to catch Jordan, Foxx, Larson, and the rest of the incredible cast, in this  extraordinary film!

A New Trailer and Poster for Marvel Studios AVENGERS ENDGAME has finally arrived…Film Hits Theaters April 26, 2019

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Avengers Engame

The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, “Avengers: Endgame.”

Kevin Feige produces “Avengers: Endgame,” and Anthony and Joe Russo are the directors. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Trinh Tran, Jon Favreau and Stan Lee are the executive producers, and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely wrote the screenplay.

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Kathy vs. TK’s Review of CAPTAIN MARVEL – Rated PG-13

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This Review is brought to you by Kathy Kaiser and contains NO SPOILERS

CAPTAIN MARVEL – Rated PG-13 – 2 hrs. 4 mins.

DIRECTORS:  Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

WRITERS:  Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet

STARRING:  Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Annette Bening and Clark Gregg

As we venture back to a Marvel prequel, circa 1990’s, we meet Vers (Brie Larson), who arrives on earth as a Kree warrior, although she seems to have intense feelings and flashbacks, pointing towards Earth is where she has belonged all along. When she mounts her attack against the alien, shapeshifting Skrull leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), it seems that S.H.I.E.L.D. officer Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is going to come along for this joy ride, as he is convinced that Vers may be the long-vanished Air Force Pilot Carol Danvers, but with some newly acquired strength and abilities, that no normal human has ever possessed before.  When Danvers former alien mentor Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) brings his fellow aliens down to earth to set things straight with her, and the Skrulls too, it seems that Earth is about to be caught in the crosshairs of an alien war, unless Captain Marvel can access here extreme powers, to save her friends, and the rest of us too…

I give CAPTAIN MARVEL a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH THIS MARVEL FILM ON DVD.  Now regardless of what I am about to share, if you are a Marvel fanatic, and wait with bated breath for the next film to arrive each and every time, then who am I to tell you not to run to your nearest theater to catch this next installment.  But, with that said, I was saddened by the fact that even though I enjoyed Larson as the most powerful superhero, male or female, like EVER…I was not as enamored by the mediocrity I felt about of this film as a whole.  It’s sad really, that Marvel films have taken us to such incredible heights with their storylines, and intense, well casted characters, that keeping up the momentum, and increased greatness that we are anticipating with each new release, literally cannot be achieved indefinitely.  So even though this film isn’t bad, and Larson’s attempt at given a realness to this female superhero should be mentioned, CAPTAIN MARVEL not only didn’t WOW me, it just felt like it was a means to an end, giving us the forum to get Captain Marvel into the AVENGERS: End Game Saga, which will be bittersweet at best come April. I also must convey, that CAPTAIN MARVEL doesn’t come close to the excitement, thrills and kick-ass badness of Gal Gadot’s portrayal in 2017’s WONDER WOMAN either, which actually saddened me a little bit too.  I must also share that Jackson, Gregg and Mendelsohn’s performances were okay too along the way, and Law’s portrayal of “is he good or not” Yon Rogg Character played out well too, but I just didn’t love this installment, no matter how hard I tried.  So, with that conveyed, like I stated earlier, if MARVEL’s your deal then please, you aren’t going to be happy until you go see CAPTAIN MARVEL on the big screen, so better get a move on…but if you aren’t that enamored with Marvel’s super hero reign, and you aren’t in any hurry to drop your cold hard cash to catch Brie Larson in action, I suggest you wait and catch CAPTAIN MARVEL on DVD when its released; just make a point to definitely see it before you venture to out to see AVENGERS: End Game when it hits on April 26, 2019.

***And lest me not forget to share that in typical MARVEL FASHION, there are two post credit scenes with this film, so get ready to sit tight and settle in for a while once this film comes to an end, as you don’t want to miss the set-ups for AVENGERS: END GAME, if you leave the theater too soon…

 

This humble opinion is brought to by you T. K. Edwards

CAPTAIN MARVEL  – Rated PG-13  – 2 hr. 4 mins

Director by:  Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden

Cast:  Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg

Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

NO SPOILERS BELOW – STAN LEE WOULD NOT APPROVE

Right off the bat, I’m going to tell you to see this movie in theaters because I am a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in my humble opinion the only way to truly appreciate them is to go to the theater and see each & every one on the big screen.  Now…that being said, CAPTAIN MARVEL is not the MCU’s strongest film, but it’s not their weakest either. It certainly is a great introduction to a character that most of us are not as familiar with as let’s say Spiderman or The Incredible Hulk. Captain Marvel is definitely deserving of her own movie and I am so happy in the direction Marvel is now taking its audience.  Their stories are becoming more adventurous and sci-fi, but at the same time each one is being recognized as a serious film and not some sort of goofy piece of movie fluff. If you need proof of this all you need to do is take a look at the cast of each of these films. Amazing actors are bending over backwards to be in these tremendous stories and that makes comic book movies more than just a “fad”.  A certain famous director (which shall remain nameless – but I can tell you he is NOT a fan of Netflix movies winning Oscars) has been quoted as saying comic book movies are going to fade off into the sunset just like the Western genre has and my response to that is…”umm, no they’re not!” Comic book movies are here to stay and the MCU will continue making more because these stories are not only relevant, but they also can be so much more than just a person in a cape.  Look at what BLACK PANTHER accomplished! A comic book movie with a story that is entirely personal to the director, but also connected to a larger film universe. What Marvel has done is unprecedented and cannot be copied. CAPTAIN MARVEL is a perfect example of how the Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue to make terrific films, to take chances on characters they believe to be special and to show all the “naysayers” out there that comic book movies are here to stay.  Until next time, thanks for reading.

P.S. – There are 2 post credit scenes.  Make sure you wait until after all the credits have rolled before you leave the theater.  You’re welcome! Oh and this movie has the best cameo I have seen in all of the MCU films to date.  Movies buffs like me will understand why I love it so much. LMAO. Keep a very sharp eye.

Check out the NEW TRAILER for CAPTAIN MARVEL – Hits theaters March 8, 2019

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Captain Marvel

This morning, Brie Larson made an appearance on Good Morning America from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., to help launch the first trailer for Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN MARVEL. Check it out and feel free to share with your readers!

Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN MARVEL opens in U.S. theaters on March 8, 2019.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

MARVEL STUDIOS

Website and Mobile site:  www.marvel.com/captainmarvel

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Set in the 1990s, Marvel Studios’ “Captain Marvel” is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that follows the journey of Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes. While a galactic war between two alien races reaches Earth, Danvers finds herself and a small cadre of allies at the center of the maelstrom.

The film stars Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Rune Temte, Algenis Perez Soto, Mckenna Grace, with Annette Bening, with Clark Gregg, and Jude Law.

Marvel Studios’ “Captain Marvel” is produced by Kevin Feige and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jonathan Schwartz, Patricia Whitcher and Stan Lee are the executive producers.

THE GLASS CASTLE – Rated PG-13 – 2 hrs. 7 mins. 

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The-Glass-Castle-new-poster

THE GLASS CASTLE – Rated PG-13 – 2 hrs. 7 mins. 

Starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts and Max Greenfield

Based on the memoir by Jeanette Walls and Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, we meet the Walls family – Dad Rex (Woody Harrelson), Mom Rose Mary (Naomi Watts) daughters Lori (Sadie Sink/Sarah Snook), Jeanette (Ella Anderson / Brie Larson), Maureen (Shree Crooks /Brigette Lundy-Paine) and son Brian ( Charlie Shotwell / Josh Caras) going through their lives very unconventionally – living on pipe dreams, artistry and the occasional paycheck from many short-term employment opportunities.

Rex and Rose Mary seem rather content to always be living their lives in squalor, but Jeanette and her siblings are finding it harder and harder to except their lives, in the shambles that it is. So Jeanette decides to takes the reins for them all to end this madness – but soon finds herself being sucked into the same pipe dream as her father…with his newly designed Glass Castle, that he is determined to build for them all…someday…

When things start to turn from bad to worse due to many issues with family, alcoholism and lack of cash, Jeanette and Lori decide its time to get themselves out, heading off to college as soon as they can save enough money to be able to survive…

As the years pass, and everyone seems to have somehow found their way, it seems that Rex and Mary Ann still have a significant hold on ALL their children, and their ultimate happiness…even though they have all moved on from the darkness of their childhoods, or so they thought…

I give THE GLASS CASTLE a rating of MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN! Having not read the book before viewing the film, I was intensely moved one minute, and utterly depressed the next, viewing this very sad, true-life story. Larson is absolute perfection as the strongest, yet most devoted child, Jeanette. Harrelson is exceptional too as the warped and delusional patriarch of his family, Rex. This character may have made way for Harrelson to receive a few nominations come awards season, as his performance is extraordinary from start to finish. Watts also gives a very moving performance as the one-minute caring, one-minute self-consumed mother Rose Mary. And the many young actors who play these children through different stages of their lives are all exceptional as well, as they give very impressionable performances with the dysfunctional material they are asked to portray. All in all, THE GLASS CASTLE was a very moving, very memorable, and at times, very depressing film. Plus, knowing this is a real-life story, makes this film even more heart wrenching than if it was fiction.  You will truly find yourself becoming despondent from all the psychosis you are experiencing on the big screen…but you will also find yourself not wanting to miss a minute of it….

Kathy Kaiser

P.S.  Both of my girlfriends who had the opportunity to read the book stated that this film “sugar coats” a lot of the scenes depicted in the book itself, making it less disturbing than they actually felt while reading this particular true-life story unfold…kk

KONG: SKULL ISLAND – Rated PG-13

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KONG: SKULL ISLAND – Rated PG-13 – 2 hours

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, John C Reilly

Writer, Producer and Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts puts his a 21st century spin on the tale of the mighty and magnificent Primate who has starred in cinema numerous times over the last 80 years – and who now inhabits his very own island, full of creatures you definitely don’t want to encounter…this is KONG: SKULL ISLAND!

Hell bent on locating a newly discovered island in the Pacific, we meet explorer and scientist Bill Randa (John Goodman), who has joined forces with tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), Photo Journalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) and Lt. Col. Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and his team of helicopter pilots to locate this new island, never before seen by human eyes…of so they assume…

As our team makes it past the great storm wall that surrounds this unchartered territory, they soon find that nothing has prepared them for what this particular island is HOME to…

Now, trying to stay alive with the hope of escaping this dreaded place, it seems that our adventurers may have wanted to rethink this little excursion, as this is no place for sissies, once they begin to meet it’s many creatures …including the fierce and mighty KONG!!!

I give KONG: SKULL ISLAND a rating of MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN: Surprised by this rating??? I was too ~ but this new tale of the King of Primates had me literally glued to the screen, anticipating how this latest KONG creation was going to play out in the end. Goodman is fabulous, Hiddleston is too, and when isn’t Samuel L. perfectly cast in an action packed thriller like this film!!! The storyline this time around seems a little fresher as well, feeling less contrived as the tale told amongst the frames of many of Kong’s previous films. Plus, as assumed, there is a lot of CGI happening on the screen this time around too, but it is so incredibly mastered to tell this particular tale, you don’t even mind that it’s “not really REAL”, and the soundtrack of this film is what legends are made of too!!! The only thing I truly missed from Kong’s previous films was the intertwined love story component between Kong and his girl, but with all the suspense, action, and deadly encounters throughout each and every frame, a lame love story may have just gotten in the way!!! So, If you love suspense, adventure and large creatures at play, then you must go see KONG: SKULL ISLAND on the BIG SCREEN at a theater near you this St. Patrick’s Day weekend!  Waiting to see this one any other way would be a travesty, as it just won’t be the same ~ and besides, then you won’t be able to see what happens at the end of all the credits this time around either 😉

Kathy Kaiser

Matinee Chat Vol # 17 – ROOM, TRUTH, OUR BRAND IS CRISIS & BURNT

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MatineeChat_Names

ROOM_Poster

Truth movie poster

Our BRAND IS CRISIS

Burnt Movie Poster

PLAY “NAME THAT MOVIE TUNE” – and you could win 2 FREE PASSES for DINNER AND A MOVIE at WEHRENBERG’s ST. CHARLES CINE’ – just share below what movie the tune played during the podcast was from….

OR

PLAY “SAY WHAT???” and you could win 2 passes to the HISTORIC LINCOLN THEATRE in Dowtown Belleville by telling us what movie the quote came from in this week’s podcast…..

JUST TELL US EITHE OR BOTH IN THE REPLY SECTION below– 

if you are THIS WEEK’S WINNER 🙂 we will contact you via email – and of course – say your name will be shared on air during next week’s podcast!!!!

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ROOM – Rated R

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ROOM_Poster
Best Selling novelist Emma Donoghue and Director Lenny Abrahamson have joined forces to bring to life the incredible story that she penned not once ~ but twice ~ as she wrote the screenplay too ~ as we learn what life in captivity is all about…this is ROOM.

Kidnapped as a teenager and forced to live life with her young son in captivity, we meet Ma/Joy (Brie Larson) and Jack (Jacob Tremblay) as they go about their day-to-day lives with little contact from the outside world…

Never knowing anything but the walls in which he has lived his whole life ~ Jack is content living with his mom ~ in his ROOM ~ but doesn’t necessarily enjoy the periodic visits by Old Nick (Sean Bridgers), when he has to sleep in the wardrobe…

When his 5th birthday finally arrives, Ma convinces Jack that he is their only hope on ever leaving THE ROOM ~ as they contrive a plan to escape to a world Jack doesn’t really know, or truly understand…

I give ROOM a rating of MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN ~ Well, this film is definitely not a pick-me-up by any means, but it is as real, intense and emotionally charged as any film I have seen so far this year. Larson keeps getting better and better in each and every film she takes on, and Trembley gives an award winning performance too as Jack ~ his incredible performance, and at such a young age, is absolutely astonishing. This movie will draw you in and not let go from its first frame to its last. One minute heart-wrenching, one minute enlightening, one minute loathing, your will find yourself on an emotional roller coaster as you experience the multitude of emotions that these two must face not only in captivity, but in the outside world as well. I must also share that this film noteably brings a sense of completion to the storyline…which was totally refreshing for me, as I hate unfinished films, and it seems that too many go down that road just for the point of it… I would also venture to say that this film, and its two key characters names will probably pop-up during awards season, as this movie, and both Larson and Trembley’s performances are absolutely deserving of an accolade or two…

Kathy Kaiser