Author: tiki god

Welcome to Me: Directed by Shira Piven. With Kristen Wiig, Wes Bentley, Linda Cardellini, Joan Cusack. When Alice Klieg wins the Mega-Millions lottery, she immediately quits her psychiatric meds and buys her own talk show. For nearly the entire movie I was asking myself, is the studio shooting this show taking advantage of Klieg or is she taking advantage of them? There’s clear signs that both parties are getting something out of the arrangement but I can’t really say who’s more responsible for the bad behavior that ultimately ends up being broadcast on tv. The concept is pretty interesting, her...

Good Morning, Vietnam: Directed by Barry Levinson. With Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tom. T. Tran, Chintara Sukapatana. In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam. My journey back through Robin’s movies have landed me at one of his most memorable roles. There’s a lot to like here from Robin himself, but the setting of the movie makes all the humor punch much differently if it were just a funny film. Instead we get a sad look at a sad situation...

Day Shift: Directed by J.J. Perry. With Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good. A hard-working, blue-collar dad who just wants to provide a good life for his quick-witted 8-year-old daughter. His mundane San Fernando Valley pool cleaning job is a front for his real source of income: hunting and killing vampires. This isn’t the greatest vampire movie, but it’s in the top 20%, and there’s a pretty good bullet count going on in nearly every scene that made me feel good about what they were doing here. The first scene before the title card is a bit...

Let Him Go: Directed by Thomas Bezucha. With Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Kayli Carter, Ryan Bruce. A retired sheriff and his wife, grieving over the death of their son, set out to find their only grandson. The chemistry between Kevin Costner and Diane Lane is real and palpable on the screen, this is the first time they’ve shared a movie since 2013’s “Man of Steel”, and while they didn’t exactly blow me away in the comic book movie, they definitely did the work for “Let Him Go” which is a standard sounding film but with a few interesting wrinkles to...

Prey: Directed by Dan Trachtenberg. With Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Stormee Kipp. The origin story of the Predator in the world of the Comanche Nation 300 years ago. Naru, a skilled female warrior, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators to land on Earth. Vastly better than “The Predator” this is a prequel / sequel / remake / reimagining / homage of the very first film, with plenty of references to nearly all the other films to keep even the most fervent fan of the franchise happy. Of particular note is Amber Midthunder’s...