5 minute read
Movies
Wolfgang (10/10): 78 minutes. NR. Wolfgang Puck tells the story of his rise from impoverished youth to the most famous chef in the world, and it is a fascinating tale, indeed. He was inspired throughout his life by his hatred of his adoptive father and a desire to prove him wrong. Puck is not only brilliant and hardworking, but he is also loaded with charisma with a captivating personality which comes through in the film loud and clear, and is certainly a key to his success. Disney+.
Cruella (9/10): 122 minutes. PG-13. I have no idea what the budget is for this film, but half of it was probably spent on Emma Stone’s makeup. The delights of this movie are the over-the-top performances of Emma Stone and Emma Thompson. It’s a treat to watch each of them try to be more eccentric than the other. They both overact with a vengeance that it seems both enjoy. The sets are beautiful, and the costumes outlandish. Adding to the joy of this film is the music comprised of a lot of old songs, like Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots
Lansky (8/10): 119 minutes. R. Heretofore, Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel and John Magaro as the younger Lansky), the money man who was right-hand man for Lucky Luciano (Shane McRae) in ruling the Mafia in the ’30s, has been shown as a mild-mannered man who really cared only about business and didn’t get his hands dirtied in the killing and hurting of people. This film puts the lie to that, although it stretches the truth to the breaking point.
It shows Lansky present when Bugsy Siegel (David Cade) murders a man in his office by talking nicely to him and then shooting him in the head. Lansky just sits and watches and then walks out with Bugsy as if nothing untoward happened. I don’t know if this is true, but it does show that while Lansky might not have pulled any triggers, he was certainly on board with the brutal business of the Mafia.
It also shows that Bugsy was one of the killers of Sal Maranzano when he wasn’t and that Lansky was present when he wasn’t. There are other blatant inaccuracies that detract from the verisimilitude of the film which is otherwise compelling. Written and directed by Eytan Rockaway, the film presents sterling performances by Keitel and Sam Worthington as David Stone, a journalist who is interviewing Lansky to write his biography. Also sparkling is Anna Sophia Robb as the woman who spots Lansky early on and marries him, to her regret.
Despite the questionable and unnecessary Hollywood embellishments, this is an entertaining and interesting movie, and it does capture the cold-hearted evil that was present in this apparently mild-mannered man. In theaters.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (5/10): This is a film about a talented woman, made by Norman Lear, who went out of his way to pepper it with his woke ideology. One nauseating segment is how Moreno gushes about having an abortion, killing a child impregnated in her by Marlon Brando, saying, “I feel very firmly that a woman should have the right to an abortion if she needs it.” This, after she admits that she was trying to have a baby, but Brando didn’t want her to have it, so she’s thrilled that she could kill it without a trace of remorse. She “needed” an abortion?
Lear also puts in one of the phoniest scenes ever inserted into a documentary. It shows (Please turn to page 22)
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At the Movies
with Tony Medley
are Made for Walkin’” (which was a hit in 1966), Tony Martin’s “I Get Ideas” (which was a hit in 1951; from a 1927 tango cancion called “Adios Muchachos”), the Beatles’ “Come Together” sung by Ike & Tina Turner, and many more. I, frankly, had not the slightest interest in seeing this, but since Disney sent me a link, I watched it and am glad I did. Even though it’s long, this comedy is a treat. In theaters.
Rebel Hearts (9/10): 99 minutes. NR. This strikes close to home because I received my excellent K-8 education from the Immaculate Heart nuns at Cathedral Chapel School at 8th and Cochran. Most of the girls in my class went to Immaculate Heart High School (IHHS). And the villain of the piece, Cardinal McIntyre, was my family’s next-door neighbor and a close friend. Even so, I appreciated the spunk of the nuns who took him on (and unlike IHHS grad Mary Tyler Moore’s TV boss Lou Grant, I love spunk!). This is a rewarding story of a bunch of Davids taking on a Catholic Goliath in the 1960s that literally shook the world, and it is extremely well done. In theaters and Discovery+.
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