Bad Boys for Life

January 17, 2020 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Adil & Bilall
Written by Chris Bremner, Peter Craig, and Joe Carnahan
Starring: Big Willie Style, Martin, Michael Bay, DJ Khaled, Vanessa Hudgens, Reggie from Riverdale
MPAA rating: R (cause this one’s for the dads and the pop-pops, kiddos)
Running time: 2 hour 3 min

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Soooooo, what can I say about Bad Boys for Life, really? Does it even matter if this movie is empirically “good” or not? Does it even matter that directors Adil & Bilall have taken a token dad franchise off the shelf, dusted it off, and kicked it into high gear for a whole new generation? Does it even matter that the cinematography in this is damn near beautiful? Does it even matter that at one point near the end, after a particularly unexpected emotional scene, I uttered the phrase, “Martin Lawrence can act,” in a reverent, hushed voice? Does it even matter that Joe Pantoliano kicking back Pepto Bismol makes me feel attacked and seen?

Cats

December 19, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Tom Hooper
Written by T.S. Eliot (adapted from the poetry collection), Tom Hooper, Lee Hall, Andrew Lloyd Webber (adapted from the musical)
Starring Tony, SAG, and Golden Globe Award winner Ian McKellan; Grammy, BAFTA, and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson; Tony, SAG, Golden Globe, and Academy Award Winner Judi Dench
Running time: 1 hour 50 min
MPAA rating: PG

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

The holidays are coming! You could go see Cats, the adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical featuring one of the most hated, misunderstood words in history (you know the one), orrrrrrrrrrr may I suggest you make this deeeelicious kitty litter dump cake? They’re both so tempting - how to choose? Why not do both? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cleaned my cat’s toilet box and wondered, “You know? This would make for the most appetizing dessert!” Combined together, they’re a feast for all the senses! Happy holidays!

The Two Popes

December 16, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Fernando Meirelles
Written by Anthony McCarten
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce, and Juan Minujín
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

“Popes - They’re Just Like Us!” was the tag line running through my mind while viewing Fernando Meirelles’ curious, fun The Two Popes. Here’s Pope Benedict enjoying Fanta after a long day of Pope-in! Here’s Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis, trying, and failing, to book a flight on the phone! Here’s the two eating pizza that came from a food cart! Look at Bergoglio schooling Benedict on Abba! Can you believe Benedict’s favorite tv show is a about a dog cop, called Kommissar Rex? (That’s a real freakin show). It’s all quite refreshing and twee and enjoyable, except when The Two Popes veers into an entirely different film. There are two movies fighting for your attention within Popes - the one with Anthony Hopkins (Pope Benedict) and Jonathan Pryce (Pope Francis) commanding scenes with nothing more than charisma, acting chops, and dialogue, a master class on subtlety and expression. Then you have an overly dramatic re-telling of Bergoglio’s young life in Argentina (Bergoglio at this point played by the solid Juan Minujín), recounting what originally led him to the church while exploring his somewhat scarred past during the Argentine Revolution that found him a bit on the wrong side of history, despite his best intentions.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

December 06, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, philly film fest, reviews, film fest

Written and directed by Céline Sciamma
Starring Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, and Valeria Golina
MPAA rating: R, for depictions of female “friendship”
Running time: 2 hours 1 minute

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Past loves have a way of sticking with us, whether we want them to or not. It’s as if there’s a ghost trailing you, taking the shape of the person, or your memories, or what you knew of them, or what was once between you…tugging on you to wonder, or at the very least, remember. In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, a dreamy, female-centric vision of two women fatefully falling in love in 18th century France, we watch one character, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), as she’s haunted by the ghost of her love Héloise before, during, and after the inevitable end of their relationship.

The Report

November 14, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews, film fest, philly film fest

Written and directed by Scott Z. Burns
Starring the Amazing Adam Driver, an Awesome Annette Bening, and a boatload of other recognizable actors you love to see
Running time: 1 hour 59 minutes
MPAA rating: R for graphic depictions of violent torture

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

“I hope you took your strong pills today.”

These are the warning words of Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) to her staffer Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver), on their way to battle against CIA brass. You see, Jones was tasked with investigating, objectively and without bias, the reported torture of hundreds of suspected terrorists in the wake of 9/11 at the hands of CIA operatives. On one hand it’s a complicated issue - the CIA was in a serious pressure cooker trying to get answers and protect the nation against additional attacks. Which begs the question: what wouldn’t the CIA do, if they thought it would produce anything of substance?

Wyrm

November 05, 2019 by Guest User in Fantastic Fest, jaime davis, reviews, interviews

Written and directed by Christopher Winterbauer
Starring Theo Taplitz, Azure Brandi, Tommy Dewey, and Rosemarie DeWitt

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Was high school a good time for you? Were you like, the most popular? Did you have a ton of friends? Did you have something to do every Saturday night? A boyfriend or girlfriend or partner to do something with every Saturday night? Did you ever feel pressure to be like everyone else? To do things that others did? Keep up and be on their level? I guarantee that even if you were über popular in high school or didn’t feel the need to be a lemming, you still struggled in some way, didn’t have everything figured out. For Wyrm, high school is proving difficult for him - he’s gangly and awkward and a bit on the quieter side. In ordinary life this would be manageable in some way, but in the unique satirical world of Wyrm the movie, it’s much worse.

Just Mercy

October 17, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
Written by Andrew Lanham and Destin Daniel Cretton (book by Bryan Stevenson)
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., and Rafe Spall
Running time 2 hours 16 minutes
MPAA rating PG-13

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

“Capital punishment means ‘them without the capital get the punishment.’” These striking words greet the reader in the opening pages of Bryan Stevenson’s disarming memoir Just Mercy, in which the author shares one of the first things he learned at the Southern Prisoners Defense Committee (now called the Southern Center for Human Rights) where he interned and later worked after graduating from Harvard Law. I know this is supposed to be a film review, and I promise to get to the movie stuff, but first I want to talk more about the United States, specifically the pervasive racism and prejudice so deeply rooted in this country.

28th Philadelphia Film Festival Preview

October 10, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, philly film fest

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Whoaaaaaaaaa, have you spied this year’s PFF lineup? It’s amazingly, particularly, spectacularly exciting. Why am I extra pumped for this year’s showings? Mostly because programmers have changed things up a bit - instead of just showstopping opening and closing night films this year, they’ve added a slate of special Gala films, much in the same way TIFF is programmed, adding more spectacle throughout the run of the fest. Many of the Gala presentations are high-profile titles recently screened at Cannes, TIFF, Telluride, Venice, and Fantastic Fest, making for a particularly energizing festival. But maybe you want to prioritize more offbeat fare this year? No matter what strategy you employ, we have you covered. Below is your guide to the big names coming to PFF for their 28th installment, along with MJ’s official, more quirky, selections. Happy festivaling!

For festival tickets, info, and to view a PDF of the program, head over to the PFS website.

Dolemite Is My Name

October 04, 2019 by Guest User in Fantastic Fest, jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Craig Brewer
Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Starring Eddie Murphy, Tituss Burgess, Craig Robinson, Mike Epps, Keegan-Michael Key, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Wesley Snipes
MPAA rating: R, for cussing, light sexing, and fake Kung Fu fighting
Running time: 1 hour 58 minutes

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Do you have a dream? A kind of incessant gnawing inside you to do something great or big or important or fun? To put a talent to use, or better your circumstances, explore a passion deep down? Have you had your dream repeatedly diminished, stomped on, crushed? What did you do - give up, keep going, redirect?

Hustlers

September 13, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria
Starring: Constance Wu, J-Lo, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Julia Stiles (but really, JLo is in this!)
MPAA rating: R, for butts, boobs, blow, and bad bitches
Running time 1 hour 49 minutes

by Jaime Davis

I was just minding my business you know? And then all of a sudden, bam! Out of the blue, J-Lo showed up and changed it forever. She made it fun.

Hey Rewind That! The Work of Regina Hall

August 21, 2019 by Rosalie Leonard in hey rewind that, jaime davis

by Jaime Davis

Regina Hall is one of the best actresses working today, yet many don’t know her by name. And if they do happen to recognize her, they mistake her for Regina King, another one of the best actresses working today. I assure you that both Reginas are very very different. And while I could also write a Hey Rewind That about Regina King (her scenes in Puerto Rico in If Beale Street Could Talk along, my word!) this one is going out to Hall.

Yesterday

June 28, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Danny Boyle
Written by Richard Curtis
Starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, and Kate McKinnon
Running time 1 hour 56 minutes
MPAA rating PG-13, for the kids cause Ed Sheeran is in this 🙄

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Ed Sheeran. Ed. Sheeran. Sheeeee-rannnn. He’s everywhere. He follows me, I swear it. In approximately 94.32% of the Uber/Lyft rides I took between 2017 and the first half of 2019, I heard at least one Ed Sheeran song. That is actual and it’s factual. Sometimes it’s the “I’m in love with your body” song, or lately it’s been his new kinda sorta reggae jam “When I’m with my baby yeah at the party”. Occasionally it’s that one insufferable slow song that is probably, most likely, the wedding song for 1/3 of all newly married couples everywhere - the one where he says his woman looks perfect tonight. But more often than not it’s that other insufferable slow song that gets me mad aggy - the one that is most definitely the wedding song for the other 2/3 of the newly married population everywhere. The one where he wants you to take him into his loving arms, hold him under the stars, and then kiss his beating heart or whatever. I will do none of those things, Ed Sheeran! And no I’m not going to look up the actual titles to these songs because nah. And to my future Uber/Lyft drivers, the only songs I want to hear in your cars right now are anything Lizzo and “Megatron” by Nicki Minaj. So there.

Toy Story 4

June 21, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Josh Cooley
Written by Andrew Stanton and Stephany Folsom (story by 6,453 other people)
Starring Keanu Reeves, Keanu Reeves, and Keanu Reeves
Running time 1 hour 40 minutes
MPAA rating G for Gosh this movie is Good

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

When the teaser trailer for Toy Story 4 hit last year people thought it was super cute and all but the next thing that would come out their mouths was, “Why?” The third installment of the hit Pixar franchise wrapped up with what felt like a lovely closure for the series: Woody and Company were donated into the hands of young Bonnie after their previous kid, Andy grew up and moved on. If you were anything like me at the end of Toy Story 3, you were 1. absolutely shook and 2. wiping tears from your eyes as you left the theater. But still…why? Why was this made? Do we really need it? What purpose does Toy Story 4 serve?

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

June 19, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Joe Talbot
Written by Joe Talbot, Jimmie Fails, and Rob Richert
Starring Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, and Tichina Arnold
Running time 2 hours
MPAA rating R

By Jaime Davis, The Fixer

In the fall of 2016, I was sent to San Francisco on a work trip. At the time, I was working for an Ivy League university as a kind of jack of all trades for a high-profile academic program: I was equal parts student advisor, alumni relations point person, and admissions officer. But basically I was a concierge – whatever a student or alum needed, I tried to make it happen. This trip was designed as an alumni development vehicle for the program – we were shuttling our newly appointed faculty director around to meet high-profile alums in person culminating with an event for all local alumni complete with open bar and fancy finger foods and all that nonsense. Since the program I worked for allowed students to earn two full undergraduate degrees at once in business and engineering, you can imagine we were after some of those sweet tech bro dollars floating around the Bay Area.

Booksmart

May 23, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Written by Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, and Katie Silberman
Directed by Olivia Wilde
Starring Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, and mf Billie Lourd
Running time 1 hour 42 minutes
MPAA rating: R, for bananapants shenanigans by a buncha wiley teens

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

I wasn’t much of a huge partier in high school. That doesn’t mean I didn’t go to parties, though. I totes did! There was the party around Valentine’s Day one year where my friend and I were so annoyed with the mere concept of V-Day that we drank whatever we could get our grubby 17 year-old hands on while simultaneously ingesting enough No-Doze to keep a college kid studying for three days straight (I then puked for 24 hours in a row). There was the party in Rehoboth Beach when I was grounded and lied to my parents about working at the Gap that night, all night, and then my dad came out looking for me, found me driving home on a deserted country road, flashed me with his bright lights until I pulled over, then walked up to my car and yelled at me to never, ever pull over when someone flashed their lights at me like that. Oh, there was the party where I made out with one of my best male friends which was totally fucking weird and we couldn’t stop laughing about it at the time. (Would you believe we’re both gay and out now? Uh huh.) There were the parties where I got wasted spending the entire night sitting on the backs of different pickup trucks (I went to high school in Delaware). And there was the party out in the middle of the boonies where I drove home extremely drunk and to this day still think about how someone must have been watching over me that night; I haven’t driven under the influence of anything since. Okay so now that I’m thinking about it, I went to more parties than I want to remember.

JT LeRoy

April 27, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Justin Kelly
Written by Justin Kelly and Savannah Knoop
Starring Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, and Diane Kruger
Running time: 1 hour 48 minutes
MPAA rating: R

Is it possible to find yourself, truly come into your own, while pretending to be someone else? Sure. People do it all the time. I realized the person I was and needed to be while fully inhabiting the body of a straight married woman who lived in a really nice house with a really awesome husband and two (sometimes) sweet cats. I needed to live in that world to get to the place I am today (out, in a relationship with a really amazing woman, living in a cute yet rundown apartment with one {sometimes} sweet cat.) I don’t regret the shoes I had to walk in to get to where I am today. I’m forever grateful.

Yardie

March 21, 2019 by Guest User in reviews, jaime davis

Directed by Idris Elba
Starring Aml Ameen, Sheldon Shepherd, Stephen Graham, Shantol Jackson
Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes
MPAA rating: not rated

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Actors directing movies is nothing new, yet for some reason it feels novel when an actor announces they’re heading to the director’s chair. Like…look what I can do, world! For every solid Gone Baby Gone, there’s an equally squalid Live by Night (looking at you, Ben Affleck). I’m typically skeptical of actors jumping into the hot seat…call me a doubter but I mostly just don’t want to watch people typically revered getting dogged by critics and grandmas the world over. Maybe I’m just a benevolent overprotective big sister type? Or maybe I’m a hater. (Probably 86% hater). I’ll be the first to admit when I’m wrong, though - I’ve gone on the record about Bradley Cooper’s skills and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird ended up being an example of fine filmmaking. Olivia Wilde is the latest to break into the game - a super fun trailer for her film, Booksmart, has been making the rounds online. So when I heard Idris Elba was diving in, filming an adaptation of Victor Headley’s 1992 novel Yardie, I crossed my fingers, said a sweet ‘lil Catholic prayer my grandma taught me, and held my breath. I love Idris Elba! Doesn’t everybody? Please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please let it be decent, I chanted to myself for weeks.

Captain Marvel

March 08, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Screenplay by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet
Starring Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, and Lashana Lynch
Running time 2 hours 4 minutes
MPAA rating PG-13 for lotsa buttkicking, 90’s nostalgia, and sassy dialogue

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Out of all the Moviejawn writers, I’m probably the least qualified to write about a superhero movie, let alone a Marvel Cinematic Universe effort. Yes, I wrote about both Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok for MJ, but…like Captain Marvel seems way more complex. Its many, many, many iterations and history of storylines are overwhelming to say the least. Sooooooooooooooooo….I’m just not gonna talk about all that! Problem. Solved.

Isn't It Romantic

February 14, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson
Starring Rebel Wilson, Adam Devine, Betty Gilpin, Priyanka Chopra, Brandon Scott Jones, and Liam Hemsworth
Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 for mild kissy times, sexy sax solos, and shirtless Hemsworths

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Hollywood doesn’t typically make big-budget romantic comedies about plus-sized women (or men), people of color, people with regular lives, or any kind of disabilities. I think we can agree that historically your standard rom-com fare has featured gorgeous sample-sized white folks above-average-ly good at their fast-paced jobs with above-average wit who live in above-average apartments and work in above-average office spaces. There are always exceptions to this, for sure, but for the most part, rom-coms are meant to be aspirational with a dusting of fantastical glitter to remind us we ain’t never gonna get it, at least not like this. So why do I watch so much of this shit? I’m kind of a walking encyclopedia of the dumbest, romanciest, fluffiest fluff that’s been released. If there was a quizzo night exclusively on romantic comedies from the modern era, I would win. I would win by like one million fawfillion points! True fact. I could teach a course on romantic comedies - like AP RomCom or IB RomCom HL (for my International Baccalaureate friends), or FMA 236: Romantic Comedies 1990-2018. I even like rom-coms from other countries like Monsoon Wedding, Love Me If You Dare, Priceless, L’auberge espagnole, and Les poupées russes. And because of all of this, I have a very high tolerance for rom-com bullshit. I have watched Something Borrowed at least 25 times. Willingly! But I do have my limits - the only movie I’ve ever walked out of in the theater is Raising Helen. Turd alert!

Serenity

January 25, 2019 by Guest User in jaime davis, reviews

Written and directed by Steven Knight
Starring Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey, Djimon Hounsou, and Diane Lane
Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes
Rated R for sexy boat times, blood and stuff, domestic violence, and angry tuna

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Remember the days before Matthew McConaughey was a major player in the world of cin-ah-mahhh? Like I enjoy the shit outta him in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Wedding Planner, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Those were the days when things seemed…brighter. Lighter. He smiled a lot in those movies, lazily flashing his pearly white grin for all the swoons in all the land. But then…a darker time fell upon us. 2011 saw the release of Killer Joe…and he did a good job of playing a not very good guy. And then 2012 saw the one-two punch of Mud and Magic Mike and it wasn’t long before he landed the lead in awards bait drama Dallas Buyers Club…floating off with a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his performance. Later he wowed us in True Detective before…playing a scientist in Interstellar (huh boy) and rambling his way through some very strange, pseudo-philosophical Lincoln car commercials.