Drama

Yesterday

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  • Title: Yesterday
  • IMDb: link

Yesterday movie review

Yesterday is a feel-good summer movie with a non-traditional leading man, an intriguing idea, and a terrific soundtrack. The film has everything it needs to succeed, but, despite being thoroughly entertaining for much of its running time, never reaches the heights it should given what it has to work with. Even enjoying Yesterday for what it is, it’s hard not to be at least a bit disappointed for what it might have been.

The set-up is simple. A struggling musician (Himesh Patel) wakes up to a world where only he remembers the Beatles. Remembering enough of their music to pass off some of their hits as his own, he finds fame and popularity for the first time while feeling the weight of his lie and the the ever-increasing pressure to continue to produce more and more of the band’s hits. Although it does corner our protagonist into only one likely outcome, leaving little room for surprises (other than one small twist involving the recurring appearance of a pair of ominous characters), when director Danny Boyle‘s film stays focused on Jack Malik’s (Patel) musical rise to stardom (and the humorous moments involved, such as trying to remember the lyrics to “Elanor Rigby“) the movie is everything you want for light summer viewing.

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Toy Story 4

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  • Title: Toy Story 4
  • IMDb: link

Toy Story 4 movie reviewAt some point Disney and Pixar may go too far with the Toy Story franchise and jump the proverbial shark which always seems to be lurking just around the corner of the next sequel. Thankfully, that day is not today. Despite the fitting conclusion Toy Story 3 offered to the franchise in having the toys find new life with a new owner, Toy Story 4 comes up with a new story that (while not as emotional as either the second or third entries into the franchise) provides an abundance of quirky and zany humor reminiscent of the original Toy Story.

Without breaking too much with tradition, the set-up is simple as a toy is lost and other toys set out to bring it home. This time the toy in question is a makeshift toy Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) creates on the first day of Kindergarten called Forky (Tony Hale) who, despite the child’s love, still yearns for the trashcan from whence the spork came from. Woody (Tom Hanks), who is struggling with his position of no longer being a favorite toy, claims responsibility for the spork. This means going after Forky who escapes on a road trip leading Woody to encounter new toys and one old friend.

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Photograph

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  • Title: Photograph
  • IMDb: link

Photograph movie reviewWriter/director Ritesh Batra‘s Photograph offers audiences a low-key romance between a tourist photographer (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) struggling to scrape money together to pay off family debts and the daughter (Sanya Malhotra) of a well-to-do family unhappy with both the current state of her life and her parents’ plans for her future. Neither is all that happy with their lives, but until their meeting neither of them has ever thought about attempting to make a change, either.

A chance encounter between the two leaves Rafi (Siddiqui) with Miloni’s (Malhotra) photograph, taken at the Gateway Of India. Hoping to ease the worry of his grandmother (Farrukh Jaffar), Rafi includes the stranger’s photograph in a letter suggesting that he has finally found love. When the grandmother decides to come into town to meet her, Rafi scrambles to find the stranger and convince her to play along for a few days. What could just as easily have been a throwaway plot to a regrettable Hollyood romcom works fairly well here, as the unusual offer comes at just the right time as Miloni feels oppressed by the expectations of by her own family.

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Teen Spirit

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  • Title: Teen Spirit
  • IMDb: link

Teen Spirit movie posterWith Teen Spirit writer/director Max Minghella offers an indie feel to a well-mined Hollywood tale of burgeoning stardom. Elle Fanning stars as a teenager on the Isle of Wight who, despite her mother’s (Agnieszka Grochowska) disapproval, signs up for open auditions for a reality-TV series offering a record contract to the winner of the singing competition. Needing an adult to act as her guardian, and later manager, Violet taps the the old drunk Russian (Zlatko Buric) who enjoys her karaoke at the local dive bar. And, of course, it doesn’t hurt when the film reveals that Vlad was once a well-respected opera singer.

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The Aftermath

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  • Title: The Aftermath
  • IMDb: link

The Aftermath movie review

Set in post-WWII Germany where Allied Forces are attempting to restore order, The Aftermath is half a good movie punctuated by the performance of Keira Knightley as a military wife who is uprooted from London to Hamburg where her husband (Jason Clarke) is stationed. While many Germans are homeless and sheltered into camps, the Morgans find themselves housed in the lush estate of a German architect (Alexander Skarsgård) who moves into the attic with his teenage daughter (Flora Thiemann).

As a period drama much of The Aftermath works well. There’s an interesting story to tell here about the role of the winners asserting control over the locals, hunting out Nazi sympathizers, and working to try and help rebuild the broken city. Sadly, much of the story instead is focused on the couple’s troubled marriage and her growing involvement with their host. The film was adapted from Rhidian Brook‘s novel of the same name. I wonder if the affair comes off as tawdry on the printed page. That’s not to say this storyline doesn’t offer moments, such as a terrific scene involving Knightley breaking down while discussing the loss of their child during the war.

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