Antonio Banderas – We Are Movie Geeks

PADDINGTON IN PERU – Review

Although there are still a few weeks before most kids get their much anticipated Spring breaks, another “family-friendly” franchise flick arrives which hopes to give a bit of warmth to the chilly last weeks of Winter. Now December, and 2024, finished up with two such films, MUFASA: THE LION KING which is a rare sequel/prequel in Disney’s series, and another adventure of the video game superstar, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3. Like the latter, this new release is the third outing, and it also mixes a CGI-animated character in a live-action world. However, it also shares its origins with the current (for the last two weeks) box office champ DOG Man, which is based on a beloved series of children’s books. Now can the filmmakers score a rare “hat trick’ as the first sequel is so admired that it was ‘name-checked” at the end of the Nicholas Cage comedy THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT? Perhaps that’s why they’re “shaking things up” with a change in locale as we join PADDINGTON IN PERU.

The film actually starts off in that exotic land with a short flashback as our hero Paddington the bear (voice of Ben Whishaw) has a last visit with his adored Aunt Lucy (voice of Imelda Staunton). Then it’s back to the present day as Paddington returns to his train station to obtain a photo, in a coin-automated booth, for a passport, which will confirm that he’s now a legal British citizen. Back at his home with the Browns, matriarch Mary (Emily Mortimer) is concerned that the family is drifting apart. Son Johnathan (Samuel Joslin) barely leaves his room as he invents gadgets to aid in his video game mania, while daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris) is (sigh) deciding on a college, Even papa Henry (Hugh Bonneville) is busy trying to impress his new American boss (who thinks he “plays it safe”) at the insurance company. A postal letter changes everything as Paddington gets news from the Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) who runs the Home for Retired Bears in Peru. It seems that Aunt Lucy deeply misses him as her behavior has become increasingly odd. Paddington must return to his homeland, and the Browns will join him on the trip (that’ll show Henry’s new boss). But when they arrive the Reverend Mother informs them that Lucy wandered away, into the dense jungle. Later, Paddington visits her room and discovers a note with a map that leads to Rumi Rock. Grandmother Bird (Julie Walters) stays behind with the RM (she fears the outside world), as the Browns venture out to the village in hopes of hiring a guide and a boat. Luckily both appear as they meet Captain Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas) and his “first mate”, daughter Gina (Carla Tous). Ah, but things take a turn as he discovers that the map will take him to the fabled lost land of gold, El Dorado, which was sought by his greedy ancestors. Gina suspects her papa has “gold fever”, but can she ‘snap him out of it” before his zeal causes disaster for the Browns and prevents a reunion between Paddington and Lucy?

Although it’s been nearly eight years since our last cinema “visit”, the cast of regulars nimbly slip into their roles as though they were comfy slightly worn slippers. Whishaw still gives a mellow melodic gentle tone to the little bear’s “pipes”. Bonneville also brings lots of warmth to the bumbling, often befuddled, but caring patriarch. Harris and Joslin ease into the “young adult” stage of the Brown siblings. Walters is a grey-haired energetic dynamo as the plucky Granny Bird. Plus we get a nice cameo from Jim Broadbent as sage shopkeeper Mr. Gruber. As for the new “additions”, Mortimer takes over from Sally Hawkins as the sometimes melancholy (feeling the empty nest blues) matriarch, who provides a gentle “nudge” to point everyone in the correct direction. That’s when she’s not stifling a “swoon” over the dashing seafarer Cabot given the full swashbuckler swagger from the wry Banderas. He’s having a blast, especially when he’s donning wigs and period costumes to play the branches of the Cabot family tree. Tous is a terrific “level head” as she sees her papa “going for the gold”. Matching Banderas in the “embracing the silly” is the zany Colman, spicing up her lines with a sweet “sing-song” cheerfulness deftly parodying cinema’s “cute clergy” (crooning like a crazed maria from THE SOUND OF MUSIC), or evading inquiries with a vapid vagueness. These screen vets are happily enjoying a romp in the Paddington playground.

Oh, that playground has a new supervisor in director Dougal Wilson who takes the reigns from Paul King (who contributes to the whimsical screenplay). Thankfully he keeps the tone light and breezy presenting a magical timeless version of London while expanding the focus to present a very adventurous, slightly dangerous (the fishes nibble too much) classic pulp-novel version of Peru. Unfortunately, the pace lags a bit once the Browns are separated in the lush leafy jungle, and Cabot’s pursuit resembles a mix of the Looney Tunes Coyote and Indiana Jones (a boulder that seems to have a mind of its own) which may get the tykes a bit squirmy (a six or seven minute trim would’ve been a help). That and the lack of a great campy villain (miss you Phoenix B.) contributes to this being the weakest of the trilogy. But the standards set by the previous two are so high, especially among so much dreary family fare, that this is still an engaging watch. And really, we’d follow the Browns anywhere, especially when they join PADDINGTON IN PERU.

3 out of 4

PADDINGTON IN PERU opens in theatres everywhere on Friday, February 14, 2025

BABYGIRL (2024) – Review

All ready to indulge in a holiday tradition, at least for the last couple of decades? The movie industry discovered that lots of folks do their Christmas festivities the night before and very early (depending on the kiddos maybe dawn) that day, so they want to bag up the ripped-up wrapping paper and head over to the multiplex for a flick, preferably a brand spankin’ (there’s some foreshadowing) new one. Well, that spirited indie upstart A24 (quickly becoming more of a major player) is going to get in on the action. If you’ve been extra nice for this festive season, they’ve got something naughty in store. It appears that they’ve been saving the big star power for the year’s end since they released the steamy QUEER with ex-Bond Daniel Craig a few weeks ago. And now an Oscar winner will be fogging up the auditoriums (rather than shilling for the AMC chain) in the title role of BABYGIRL.

Well, that’s the title’s character’s “role-playing” nickname. To the outside world, she’s a high-powered exec named Romy Mathis (Nicole Kidman). She’s the CEO of a firm touting the benefits of AI in the workforce (hmmm…okay) and is the wife of a successful director of the Broadway stage, Jacob (Antonio Banderas). They have a deluxe Manhatten apartment and a gorgeous country estate upstate which they share with their two daughters. Eighteen-year-old Isabel (Esther McGregor) is a snarky rebel juggling several girlfriends while her kid sister Nora (Vaughan Reilly) is enamored with song and dance. When we first meet Romy and Jacob they’re enjoying some late-night lovemaking. Or so it seems. When she leaves the bedroom for a quick break, she indulges in some rough-content internet porn. The next morning it’s back to life as usual, getting the girls off to school as he prepares a new play. Romy’s got to head to the office, but first, she stops off for some “maintenance” ala facial injections and stripping down in a “freeze chamber”, all to delay “Father Time”. One morning near her offices, Romy is stunned when a stray dog dashes through the crowds to attack someone. Luckily a handsome young man intervenes and calms down the canine before any real damage occurs allowing the pet’s owner to clip its leash back on. Romy is amazed. Later on that day, there’s a “meet and greet” for the interns looking for mentors in the company’s program to develop new talent. Looking them over Romy is baffled when she recognizes one of them as that “dog whisperer” He later walks into her office, introducing himself as Samuel (Harris Dickinson) and informing her that she will be his mentor. Romy calmly states that she’s not one of the mentor candidates, but he strongly insists, putting her “off balance”. He hints that she wants to be instructed which arouses her despite her protests. Thus begins an illicit obsessive affair of dominance between the two. Can they keep it a secret from the rest of the firm? And can Romy hide it from Jacob and her daughters even as Samuel becomes more emboldened and aggressive in his pursuit of her? How far will she go to satisfy her dark desires?

Aside from the Oscar, Ms. Kidman recently received the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, so it’s not a great stretch that in taking this daring role she’s not resting on her laurels. To say Romy is a complex character, full of contradictions and walking a very thin tightrope wouldn’t be an understatement. Kidman cues us into Romy by playing off several online jabs at her own “cosmetic journey”, so kudos for firing back at the trolls (daughter Isabel teases her mom about acquiring bird-like features). Still, Kidman doesn’t make Romy overly sympathetic as her emotional cravings seem to override her common sense, let alone the marital vows. All the while we see how her icy office demeanor is slowly melting away. The person applying that heat is Samuel, played with a snarky aloof quality by Dickinson, who is also very difficult to “read” as withholds any hint of overt passion. the fellow is an enigma, a very closed book, which allows us to debate his motivations. Has he targeted Romy due to an attraction, or is he going to exploit her for a “leg up” in the company? Or is it as simple as wanting major “hush money”? Dickinson barely changes his facial expressions or his tone is order to draw us toward him, much like Romy does. He’s quite a switch from her hubby, the outgoing, fiery Jacob played with great charm and empathy by Banderas. He’s a good man who is confused by this new side of the woman he adores over everything. Also of note in the cast is the talented Sophie Wilde, so compelling in the recent horror film TALK TO ME, as Romy’s assistant Esme. who unknowingly becomes the third member of the office love triangle.

This is the second English-language film directed by Dutch actress Halina Rejin, who also wrote the screenplay. It’s impressive that she’s adept at exploring the business dynamics alongside the inner workings of this upper-class family. And she makes excellent use of the Big Apple settings in addition to the lush greenery of the Mathis vacation home. The film’s main problems come as the story’s main “selling point”, the forbidden affair between the boss and underling kicks in. We’re supposed to be shocked as Romy submits completely to Samuels’s demands, but the encounters lack any real heat. Perhaps we’re meant to see this “power flip” as liberating, but it all feels like a late-night cable movie retread of late 1980’s “erotic explorations”, ala 9 1/2 WEEKS or BASIC INSTINCT. An attempted dose of danger and suspense is injected when Samuel “invades” the family (dropping off an office item) and later when Romy is pawed in a sweaty dance club as she tracks down Samuel, but it amounts to little more than titillation as we see a famous actress being edgy. When Romy’s worlds finally collide the result is more “meh” than gripping. She is supposed to be liberated by embracing her inner yearnings, but the impact on her marriage is somewhat illogical (ok, she can tell off a sleazy, work letch, so there). The film’s marketing promises fiery carnal chaos, but the lack of solid chemistry between the leads barely generates an errant spark or two in the more lurid than lustful BABYGIRL.

1.5 Out of 4

BABYGIRL opens in select theatres on Christmas Day 2024

THE CLEAN UP CREW – Review

In the mood for a silly gross comedy? THE CLEAN UP CREW might suit your fancy, since it’s got a cast of oddballs, some campy overacting, all building to a hefty body count. Gear yourself for something between THE GANG THAT COULDN’T SHOOT STRAIGHT and HOT FUZZ, with a dash of JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY. If not for quality, then for tenor.

For starters, Antonio Banderas plays a gang boss who is just plain nuts. He struts and frets his hour upon the stage, overreacting to everything and spouting excerpts from Machiavelli like a professor on crack. He looks and acts like the polar opposite of the suave romantic figure he usually portrays, whether in comedies or dramas. A couple of corrupt Feds are on his payroll covering up his substantial illegal enterprise in exchange for a big monthly cut of the profits. In cash, of course.

Two guys try to steal the case of bribe money from Banderas’ couriers. Things go badly for all, causing the Feds to hassle Banderas for their booty under threat of ending the protection and pursuing the policing they should have been doing. Our intrepid quartet of crime-scene cleaners (Melissa Leo, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Ekaterina Baker, Swen Temmel) stumbles upon the missing case and starts arguing about what to do with the $2 mil within. One of the would-be robbers shows up, explaining how doomed they all are unless it’s returned to Banderas. ASAP!

That’s when the comical mayhem really kicks in, with a whirlwind of moves and countermeasures that leads to a surfeit of bloodshed. The cleaners find themselves in for more than they could have expected. Beyond that, the plot details don’t matter. Just let it happen.

Credit goes to director Jon Keeyes for setting a brisk pace befitting the silliness with efficiently-executed action sequences. Also, kudos to whoever it was that convinced Banderas to embrace the opportunity to go so far over the top as a comic capo.

THE CLEAN UP CREW is available on digital platforms and Video on Demand on August 20, 2024.

2.5 out of 4 stars

https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thecleanupcrew

The Sweet PADDINGTON IN PERU Trailer Is Charming!

Happy Wednesday fellow movie geeks. The first trailer has arrived for PADDINGTON IN PERU!

As you can from the two posters, the film will open in U.S. theaters on January 17, 2025 and will debut in UK cinemas two months earlier on November 8, 2024.

https://www.paddingtoninperu.co.uk

PADDINGTON IN PERU brings Paddington’s story to Peru as he returns to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown Family in tow, a thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and up to the mountain peaks of Peru.

Directed by Dougal Wilson, PADDINGTON IN PERU stars Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Colman, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Carla Tous and Jim Broadbent. Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton both return as the voices of Paddington and Aunt Lucy.

PADDINGTON (2014) grossed $282,463,312 worldwide on an estimated budget of $55 million. In the US and Canada, it grossed $76,271,832 and had an opening weekend of $18,966,676. PADDINGTON 2 (2017) grossed $227.3 million worldwide, with $40.9 million in the US and Canada and $186.4 million in other countries. It had an opening of $11,001,961 in 3,702 theaters.

PADDINGTON 2 received three nominations at the 71st British Academy Film Awards: Outstanding British Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for Hugh Grant.

According to the BBC:

Ben Whishaw will again star as the voice of the marmalade-loving bear, with Aunt Lucy still voiced by Imelda Staunton.

Hugh Bonneville, Dame Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin also return.

But Sally Hawkins has handed the role of Mrs Brown to Emily Mortimer.

Announcing her departure, Hawkins said she “loved” her time making the first two films but it was “the right time to hand the reins over to another”, adding: “One can’t get much better than the truly wonderful Emily Mortimer – she is extraordinarily special.”

Another addition to the cast, Olivia Colman, stars as a guitar-playing nun who works at the Home for Retired Bears. She tells Paddington and co that Aunt Lucy is “on some sort of quest”.

He then embarks on a mission to find her, with the help of a boat captain, voiced by another newcomer, Antonio Banderas. Dame Julie Walters returns as Mrs Bird, in her first film role in three years.

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY – Review

*(L-R): Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.*

Indy’s back, in a new chapter that is a throw-back to that original Steven Spielberg RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK that hooked us to begin with. While Harrison Ford returns as archaeologist/adventurer Indiana Jones, along with a bunch of other Spielberg characters from the first one (along with some new ones), and this is the final film in the series and a farewell to Ford as the character, Spielberg does not direct INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. Fear not, director James Mangold (FERRARI VS FORD) seamlessly captures the Spielberg vibe. You’d never know if you didn’t look at the credits. Plus, the story is still by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, with a screenplay by co-written by Mangold, Jez Butterworth, David Koepp and John-Henry Butterworth.

James Mangold may be less well known that Spielberg but he has a string of excellent films to his credit, including LOGAN, the 310 TO YUMA remake, and GIRL, INTERRUPTED. While the original RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK was gangbusters, a film that hearkened back to 1940s adventure films, the Indiana Jones sequels that followed were more a mixed bag, with some better than others. This final Indiana Jones movie recaptures some of the original’s magic.

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY is a wonderful farewell to the role for Harrison Ford, who is no longer the young thing he was in the 1981 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Unlike other Indy sequels, this one acknowledges that passage of time, and even makes it work for the story. The film opens with a fabulous flashback sequence, that takes us back to the early days, battling Nazis who are looting archaeological treasures.

Harrison Ford plays the part as the young Indy thanks to some impressive visual sampling, motion-capture and other special effects. The result is so effective, it is thrilling, even awe-inspiring, and worth the price of admission alone.

Actually, Harrison Ford, young or old, alone is worth the price of admission; he is that good . Going back to the ’40s lets this Indiana Jones movie do something that is always a mark of a good one in the series – have Indy punch Nazis. Having Harrison Ford play the part, instead of a younger actor playing Ford playing the part, is part of the fun, thanks to modern movie magic.

Late in WWII, Indiana Jones, disguised in a Nazi uniform, and his fellow archaeologist Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) infiltrate a Nazi operation that is smuggling art and archaeological treasures back to the Reich. The Nazi in charge of this operation is looking for a certain item rumored to have mystical powers but a young Nazi scientist Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen, also de-aged) alerts him to an object with more impressive power, the Archimedes Dial (inspired by, and resembling, a real-life archaeological treasure, the Antikythera mechanism). Fights and a thrilling chase onboard a racing train ensues, as Indy and the Nazi scientist struggle for control of the object.

After the flashback, the story moves to 1969, where an older Indy (Ford) is jolted out of bed – in just his boxer shorts – by a blast of rock music and a parade celebrating the moon landing just outside the window of his little big-city apartment. We see Harrison Ford, in all his craggy glory, as the older Indy, long past his adventuring days and actually getting ready to retire from his job as professor of archaeology But the wrench in the works for that plan, is his long-lost god-daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the child of his buddy in the adventure we just saw, who turns up seeking a lost archaeological treasure she believes Indy has. But there is a hitch because that same Nazi scientist (Mikkelsen again), now working for NASA and hiding his past, is after it too. And of course, he’s still secretly a Nazi.

Echoing the original, this young woman draws a reluctant Indy into the adventure, in this case by stealing the object. We also get brief appearances by old friends, like John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, and a whole lot of fast-paced adventuring fun.

The MacGuffin that both the Nazis and Indy are chasing, the Archimedes Dial, looks a lot like the real-world Antikythera device, but the ancient device in the movie is not only in working order but has the power to find fissures in time. Or could, if they had both halves.

Pursuit of this object sparks a chase across continents and plenty of thrilling action and adventures (including punching Nazis), with call-backs to scenes from the original. The abundant chases and fight scenes are breathless and exciting, with danger mixed with touches of humor. We also get a car chase in Tangiers, in tuk tuks, those tiny three-wheeler vehicles that are small enough to navigate the narrow, twisting lanes, which is great fun.

While many fans of the original will delight in this throw-back film, built to wrap up the Indiana Jones story while providing that nice farewell to the role for Harrison Ford, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY is also a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it film because it departs from the basic premise of what might happen in a 1940s adventure movie, by introducing a bit of sci-fi. No details, to avoid spoilers, but sci-fi haters won’t be happy.

To be honest, the plot does run a bit out-of-control late in the film. Some extra suspension of disbelief is required, but no more so than needed for the typical MISSION IMPOSSIBLE gravity- and physics-optional CGI stunt fest.

While some of this plot is a stretch, a little forgiveness is warranted, as INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY does right by the characters and by the spirit of the Indiana Jones series. It ties up everything nicely, in a touching, reasonable and satisfying bow. Why ask for more?

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY opens in theaters on Friday, June 30.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY

Experience #IndianaJones and the Dial of Destiny, only in theaters June 30.

Harrison Ford returns to the role of the legendary hero archaeologist for this highly anticipated final installment of the iconic franchise– a big, globe-trotting, rip-roaring cinematic adventure. Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Shaunette Renée Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Olivier Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Another Round”).

Directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”) and written by Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and David Koepp and James Mangold, based on characters created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers. John Williams, who has scored each Indy adventure since the original Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, has once again composed the score.

Get tickets: https://www.fandango.com/indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny-2023-230475/movie-overview

Advance Screening is 7PM on Wednesday, June 28^th at Marcus Ronnie’s 20 Cine

Note: We suggest a 5:30PM – 6PM arrival to secure seats.

Seats will not be guaranteed.

Enter at the link below.

https://gofobo.com/WAMGIndianaJonesDial

Watch The Big Game Spot For Lucasfilm’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) in Lucasfilm’s IJ5. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

The TV spot that debuted during today’s big game for Lucasfilm’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” starring Harrison Ford as the legendary hero archaeologist and directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”), is here.

The highly anticipated fifth installment of the iconic franchise will open in theaters on June 30, 2023.

Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Shaunette Renee Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Oliver Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”).

Directed by James Mangold, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers. John Williams, who has scored each Indy adventure since the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1981, is once again composing the score.

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH – Review

Now, what would make this most “magical time of the year” more magical? How about a return visit from several of our favorite fairy tale friends? Oh, but hold up, this new release isn’t another animated romp with those two green lovebirds and their donkey BFF. But you’re close as its focus is another pal of theirs. It’s not his first solo outing, rather it’s a long-awaited (eleven years) follow-up. And talk about magic, it’s the big goal of him and all the other characters in PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. En Garde, kitty-cat…

After a brief prologue telling us about the legendary “wishing star” we’re tossed into the midst of a raucous party thrown by everybody’s “favorite fearless hero”, Puss in Boots (voice of Antonio Banderas), And wouldn’t you know it, the owner of the “locale estate” makes an unexpected return. The ensuing “throw-down” with his security team awakens the sleeping nearby “mountain giant”. Naturally, only Puss can take it on, but the battle to save the village lands him in a doctor’s office. That doc (or is he a vet) informs Puss that he just died. Ah, but he’s gifted with nine lives and that was only…number eight. The “prescription” is to high-tail to the quiet confines of Mama Luna’s Cat Rescue Haven. Ah, but that’s not for Puss, so it’s off to the cantina for lots of “dairy shots” and an encounter with a sinister bounty hunter, the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura). Puss barely escapes with his last life and heads to Mama Luna’s (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) where he’s “domesticated” and buries his swashbuckling attire. He also befriends a feisty pup posing as a cat, Perro (Harvey Guillen). It’s not long before adventure finds him as the place is invaded by the “crimin’ family” of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, and Samson Kayo), who think that Puss has the secret map to the aforementioned “wishing star’. After the quartet leaves (they don’t recognize the tamed Puss), he, along with Perro, tracks them to the lair of evil collector “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney), just as his “trackers” bring him that mystical map. But before Puss or Goldie’s team can swipe it, the map’s nabbed by Puss’s former “flame”, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek). After an awkward reunion, Pussy, Kitty, and Perro dash away to the star’s location, the “Dark Forest”. Of course Goldie, the Bears, and Jack (with his “Bakers’ Dozen) are hot on their furry tails. Can the heroic trio reach the star before the others? And will Puss use its power to restore his eight lives?

After more than a decade away from the role, Banderas still charms us with his over-confident swagger, though it’s tinged with fear over the cat’s looming mortality. Oh, he belts out the opening tune nicely. Hayek goes toe (er…) paw to paw with him with her fierce determination and supreme ‘smarts”. Guillen is a sweet, endearing sidekick to the bickering exes. Mulaney’s a terrific pompous kingpin with no moral compass, always ignoring a tiny cricket creature who implores him to “do right”. Pugh, Colman, Winstone, and Kayo are a great mix of the classic fable tinged with a Guy Ritchie-still cockney hoodlum squad out for a “pinch”.

Luckily the film looks as great as it sounds thanks to the sprightly directing duo of Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado. They’ve smartly moved away from the “close to reality” designs of the SHREK series and gone for more caricatured humans, especially Horner, Mama Luna, and the Doc. Ditto for the new supporting critters with an expressive trio of bears and a really scary wolf who’s doubly deadly with a pair of sharp “mini-scythes”. The backgrounds are lush and the colors truly pop (particularly as Horner uses his “unicorn horn” arrows). Making the story seem to burst out of the screen is the filmmakers’ approach to the big action set-pieces, as the characters become jagged-edged projectiles and their settings give way to a deluge of speed lines and flares of color bursts, perhaps inspired by anime and the “Spider-Verse”. The tiniest of tots make get spooked by the bounty wolf, but they’ll giggle at the antics of the new “PIB Team player” (he dubs them “Team Friendship”), Perro. Though he’s down to his final one, there’s still lots of life, and laughs, left in PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. Go, go gato!

3 Out of 4

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH opens in theatres everywhere on Wednesday, December 21, 2022

First Look At Director James Mangold’s INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY Starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge And Mads Mikkelsen

The Walt Disney Company today released the teaser trailer and poster for Lucasfilm’s “INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY,” the highly anticipated fifth installment of the iconic “Indiana Jones” franchise, starring Harrison Ford as the legendary hero archaeologist, and directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”). The film will open in theaters on June 30, 2023.

OFFICIAL COMPETITION – Review

In the satiric comedy OFFICIAL COMPETITION, Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas star as an auteur director and international action star, both with egos the size of Montana, who are hired by an aging wealthy businessman intent on financing a big, award-winning hit movie as a vanity project. The humor is pointed and wits are sharp, as wealth, egos, art and particularly movie-making come under the comic guns of Argentinian co-directors Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohen in this hilarious Spanish-language satire.

As he turns 80, millionaire businessman Humberto Suarez (Jose Luis Gomez) decides he needs a monumentally big project to leave a lasting legacy. But what should be choose? A bridge designed by a famous architect bearing his name? A charitable foundation? No, a movie is more a sure thing – but a big, prestigious, award-winning one, one that is both a work of art and an enduring icon of cinema, helmed by a famous director and starring a famous movie star. Oh, sure, no problem with that.

The millionaire hires renowned auteur director Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz) to lead the project, and she casts international action movie megastar Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) along with the theater’s most revered stage actor Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez), to play warring brothers in an adaptation of a international bestseller. The actors have never worked together, and in fact come from different worlds in acting schools of thought. They both bring big egos and wildly different ideas about acting to the project. Add in Cruz’s manipulative director, who eggs-on each and foments tensions, all to get the performance she wants, and clashes and comedy are guaranteed.

Penelope Cruz sports an impressively wild mane of frizzy red hair, hair that wears her more than the reverse, and lives in an aggressively modern glass-and-concrete mansion at the end of a long and winding road, both signals of the kind of ego we are dealing with here. The wealthy businessman financing this project only cares that the film is both prestigious and famous, and when the director shows him the book she wants to use for the film for his approval, the businessman confesses to not being much of a reader. After her meeting with the money, and having established she has free rein and a blank check, the director invites the two actors to her sparely-furnished mansion, to meet, to do cold readings and rehearse. That’s where the fun really begins.

Hollywood may love movies about movie-making but the Spanish- language comedy OFFICIAL COMPETITION is more a skewering and roast of the industry than a toast. This smart comedy actually focuses mostly on the pre-shoot preparation, as the director and actors explore the characters and rehearse, a period rarely depicted but rich in possibilities for conflict and comedy – with hilarious results. While the clash of acting theories and actors themselves gets special treatment, no aspect of the film industry really escapes OFFICIAL COMPETITION’s sly wit, as the skewering extends to the excesses of wealth, art pretensions, and battling big egos all around.

Of course, a movie about how actors act had to be catnip to the cast, and Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martinez deliver terrific performances while seeming to having a great time. Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas especially seems to have great fun with the banquet of material in this twisty, smart comedy. The film is full of hilarious scenery-chewing, out-of-control one-up-manship, and ridiculous behavior as well as sharp observations and satire, as the two very different actors, one an internationally famous action movie star and the other a revered theater legend and professor, try to top each other, and the manipulative director stirs the pot.

The film delves into real acting techniques, and real disputes between schools of acting, which actually makes it all the funnier and sharper. The techniques of the director to get the performance she wants from her actors may seem extreme, even outlandish, but may not by as far out there as one might think, if some tales about film-making trickery might be believed.

We get scene after scene of craziness and humor that ranges from broad comedy to sly satire. No one and nothing escapes the knife-sharp swipes and biting humor of Argentine co-directors Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohen. The directors, who previously co-directed “The Man Next Door,” “The Distinguished Citizen,” “My Masterpiece,” and “4×4,” thought there already were plenty of films about what can go awry while shooting a film but none on the absurdities that can happen as actors work through how they are going to play their part. And they do indeed find comic gold in that vein, although having this splendid cast is part of their lucky strike.

OFFICIAL COMPETITION is a lot of fun, but especially so if you appreciate the art of acting in the movies or theater. Each of the characters has his/her own agenda, including securing their legacy. The action star wants to prove he has serious acting chops, the theatrical star wants wider fame and to prove his ideas about acting are better, the director wants to win awards and prestige, and all are ready to do nearly anything to get what they want. While there is a kind of showdown between the two acting styles, the two actors never directly confront each other, instead each trying outdo the other, conspiring with the director against the other, or undermining what the other actor is doing. Meanwhile, Cruz’s director listens, but discretely pulls the strings.

If you like satire and behind the scenes of movie-making, the hard-hitting, hilarious OFFICIAL COMPETITION is a winner.

OFFICIAL COMPETITION, in Spanish with English subtitles, opens in theaters on Friday, July 1.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

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