This is a strong weekend for movies that appear to be starting off the year-end movie rush with blockbusters and Oscar candidates.
Movie reviewer Greg Russell joined “Live In The D” for Reel Talk with co-host Jason Carr to discuss four new films.
Let’s start with the film “Black Adam,” which stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a superhero in the DC Universe. Russell said that this movie is about a kid who lived 5,000 years ago and had special powers, so people locked him up to get rid of him. Then a modern-day child reads a story about him and frees him, causing him to take stuff from the evil people on the planet.
Russell also had a chance to talk about the movie with Johnson and Pierce Brosnan. Johnson said that the first time he put on the costume, it was like a childhood dream come true. For more than ten years, this has been a passion project of his, and he believes that everyone can see themselves in Black Adam and the other characters in the film. Johnson also said that he loves Detroit and has many memories in the Motor City. Brosnan said that he grew up reading comic books and that he enjoyed playing Doctor Fate, also known as Kent Nelson, because he is one of the oldest characters. Russell gives this movie four out of five reels.
The new film, “Ticket to Paradise,” stars Academy Award winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Russell believes that there is a renaissance of these types of rom-coms and that this one is an adult rom-com. He gives this film four reels.
Let’s move on to a couple of new movies available on streaming services. Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, and Michelle Yeoh star in “The School for Good and Evil.” Russell describes it as a story about two girls, one of whom wishes to attend a good school and the other who wishes to attend a bad school. When they go through a portal, they end up at the wrong schools. The movie reviewer gave this film three and a half stars and said teenagers would enjoy it.
Finally, “Raymond & Ray,” a new dramedy starring Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke, is now available on Apple TV+. This is a film about two guys whose father died, and they had no contact with him for years, but his will stated that they had to bury him. So, the two guys had to go to the little town to take care of their fathers’ arrangements, and strange things happen. Russell gave this film four out of five reels and said it had humor, heart, and family scenarios.
The interview can be seen in the video above.