The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

I truly believe that J.J. Abrams does such an outstanding job as a director because he was a “fan” first and foremost. Abrams manages to wrap up this 40-year journey with class and great satisfaction. His many “throw backs” to the original three movies are a joy, and his attention to detail is sure to endear Rise in the hearts of Star Wars fans forever.

After Emperor Palpatine again rises from the dead, the Resistance faces the First Order in a battle of good vs. evil. Yep. My advice is to avoid all the negative reviews posted on the internet by people who don’t get it, or who were expecting a huge Hollywood blockbuster. I am a writer, an actor, and have been a Star Wars fan since the first paperback book came out. To me, this was perfection. It wrapped everything up quite nicely. I must say, Rey could start a whole new storyline now.

John Boyega as Finn, Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Rinn/Ben Solo are all in top form. Don’t let it blow your mind. None of these actors were yet born when Star Wars started in 1977!

Carrie Fischer is back as Princess turned General Leigh (via archival film footage). Joonas Suotmo is good as the new Chewbacca, in for Peter Mayhew, whose health would not allow him to reprise the role he made famous. Ian McDiarmid is as evil as ever reprising his role as Emperor Palpatine. He has appeared in every Star Wars film of the 9 except for the first, A New Hope. The only characters appearing in all nine chapters were C3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2D2. Droids don’t get old.  Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) has a noticeably smaller role this time around, kind of hanging out with Leigh at the base.

There are cameos a plenty from Luke (Mark Hamill), Solo (Harrison Ford), Lando (Billy Dee Williams) . Kerri Russell (The Americans) is in as the masked Zorli Bliss. And it was nice to see our buddy Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) from LOST in a cameo as Beumont.

Great acting. Great story. I loved it. Five out of Five Stars.

-Michael Buffalo Smith

The Irishman (2019)

 It is truly a new era in motion pictures. These days, some of the finest movies are not even in the theaters. They are on your smart TV. Companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Plus are producing outstanding movies starring A-list actors with A-list directors. Case in point, Martin Scorsese’s outstanding film, The Irishman, on Netflix.

This is a fictional movie based on real life characters. Pat Conroy called this type of story “faction.” A truck driver in the 1950’s (Robert De Niro) becomes involved with the Bufalino crime family of Pennsylvania, and is soon in over his head. He climbs the ladder to the very top to become a powerful hit man. Then he goes to work for Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), a teamster leader with ties to organized crime. Everything goes south when Hoffa is murdered, landing Frank (De Niro) in prison along with Russell (Pesci). It is of interest to note that Joe Pesci actually came out of retirement to act in The Irishman.

Scorsese utilizes many of his usual suspects in this blockbuster. In addition to DeNiro and Pacino, there is Joe “Do I amuse you?” Pesci, Harvey Keitel, and Bobby Cannavale. Also featured are Anna Panquin (The X-Men), Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cameos by Steve Van Zandt (The Sopranos. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) as singer Jerry Vale and Jim Norton as a dead-on Don Rickles. Just a stellar cast, and each one of these actors gives his or her 100 percent best performance.

The 209-minute film ranks right up there with mob films like The Godfather, Scarface and Goodfellas. Yes, it’s that good. Scorsese is the undisputed king of mafia crime films, and The Irishman is one of his best. Five out of Five Stars. (Can I give six?)

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Dr. Sleep

(Spoiler Alert!)

A follow up to The Shining by Stephen King. Young Danny Torrance has grown into an adult Obi Wan Kenobi- I mean, Ewan McGregor, and put the horrifying events or his childhood at the Overlook Hotel with his insane dad Jack from 40 years earlier behind him. Well, sort of.

Dan takes job as orderly with hospice patients, and rediscovers his inner “shining.” He teams up with a young girl, Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) who also possesses the gift. And together they set out to stop a group of weirdos called the True Knot, led by the beautiful Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) who kill gifted kids and suck their spirit and shine from them like addicts snorting cocaine. It keeps them immortal. At least until 13-year old Abra (cadabra! Oddly enough, Abra loves magic tricks! How ironic!) shows up to ruin the party.

The novel was very good (I am a huge King fan) but a bit hard to follow, whereas the movie is very easy to keep up with, especially if you remember the events of the Shining film. Dan and Abra end up back at the long-abandoned Overlook hotel, where they will encounter ghosts from the past and have a final showdown with Rose in an action-packed finale. Good stuff.

Five Stars!

-Michael Buffalo Smith

Terminator: Dark Fate

What an appropriate title! Dark Fate. Let me just say from the outset that it has been literally decades since I felt so let down by a movie. Just let me begin by pointing out the good parts of the film It’s not going to be easy, but I will give it a whirl.

Arnold Schwarzeneggar returns for a relatively minor role and the rehabilitated, married with children terminator now called Carl. The 72-year old sports a short beard and a new attitude. Arnold is fun to watch, even in the quagmire of this hot mess of a movie. Also, the special effects are cool, although we gave seen most of the “liquid metal” stuff as far back as the T2 movie.

In James Cameron’s newest film, Sarah Conner is back (a 63-year old Linda Hamilton) and is teamed up with a girl named Grace (Makenzie Davis)– a part human, part cyborg from the future who is sent back in time to keep the evil Rev-9 terminator (Gabriel Luna), from killing a young Mexican girl named Dani (Natalia Reyes) who somehow alters the future if she lives. Sound familiar? That’s because Dark Fate is exactly like the first two Terminator movies, only altered to conform to our precious politically correct world, where racial diversity reigns supreme and feminism is at an all-time high. The first part of the movie is set in Mexico and everyone is speaking Spanish with English subtitles. Don’t get me started. I HATE subtitles! How can I enjoy the moving picture show if I have to try and read the words quickly before they move on?

I’m all for equality and women’s rights, but this is just too cliché.

For example, this boldly stated dialog:  "You are not the mother of some MAN who saved the future. You ARE the future."  Not to mention the mostly STUPID one liners! Sara using the famous Arnold line, "I'll be back." Later, they have Arnold saying, " I won't be back." Sheesh. I sure as shootin’ hope not!! He starts to put on his famous Terminator sunglasses, looks in mirror and sits them down. He’s a new man. Yawn.

Did I mention they kill off John Conner five minutes into the movie? You remember John, the boy whose future life was so important it was the whole basis of the franchise? Killed off, just like that. Suddenly the first two (excellent) Terminator movies are obsolete I guess.

Somebody in Hollywood needs to learn that if you are going to do a sequel, or several sequels, that’s fine, but they have to be at least as good as the original! This movie should have been terminated. Can someone time travel back a year and tell James Cameron to stop before he starts?

One Half of a Star (I’m being generous)

-Michael Buffalo Smith