First off I must say that British actor Tom Holland is my favorite Spider-Man ever and this reboot, directed by Jon Watts, is my favorite film in the Marvel ‘spider’ franchise.

What makes this film work so well, is that it’s your basic coming of age story, filled with all the issues that you’d expect to find in this kind of genre. In case you’ve forgotten what some of those issues are, they include; teen angst, first love, major crushes, and in this case, getting up the nerve to ask the prettiest girl in school to a dance. The only difference is this teen comedy has a super hero and his name is Peter Parker (Tom Holland) aka Spider-Man.

After his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home to Queens to live with his Aunt May (the lovely Marisa Tomei). Peter goes back to high school, tries to be just a ‘normal’ guy, falls for a beautiful senior, Liz (Laura Harrier) and hangs out with his genius schoolmate (Zendaya) and his science nerd buddy, Ned (Jacob Battalion) who at the beginning of the film has no idea that Peter is Spider-Man.

At the same time, Peter is being mentored by Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man (The super funny Robert Downey Jr. ) who becomes a father figure to him. Tony just wants Peter to finish high school and put the Super Hero stuff aside. He sends his right hand man, Happy (Jon Favreau) to make sure he does just that.

But going back to an ordinary life proves impossible for Peter. He winds up putting on the Spider-Man suit and becomes the neighborhood super-hero which doesn’t make Stark very happy. Things really heat up when Peter decides to go after Vulture (The wonderful Michael Keaton), your basic evil dude who wants to destroy the Washington Monument, the Staten Island Ferry and perhaps the world.

I saw ‘Spider-Man: The Homecoming’ in 3D and I highly recommend doing the same. The film which opens July 7th 2017 has everything you could want in a super hero movie. Don’t miss it.

‘The War For The Planet of the Apes’ takes places two years after ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’. Most of the human race across the globe have been wiped out by the outbreak of the ALZ113 V, aka the Simian Virus, while the ape population has thrived and grown in numbers.

Caesar (the incredible Andy Serkis) the leader of the apes is hiding out with his wife Cornella (Judy Geer) and their new born son along with his fellow simians in Muir Woods north of San Francisco. At first look, their life could be seen as idyllic. Unfortunately that is not the case. They must always be on the lookout for the remaining soldiers, who under the orders of the psychopathic Colonel (Woody Harrelson) want nothing more than to kill them.

As the film begins, the apes are attacked by the soldiers and suffer many casualties including the death of Caesar’s wife. Caesar wanted nothing more than to live in peace with the humans, but now he’s forced to wrestle with his darker instincts and begin his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.

When Caesar and the Colonel are finally face to face they are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of mankind.

‘The War For The Planet of the Apes’ directed brilliantly by Matt Reeves is everything a person could want in a the final film of a trilogy. It has a first rate story filled with breathtaking scenery, complex characters (the apes not the humans) and edge of your seat action sequences.

The cast including a simian called Bad Ape (the very funny Steve Zahn), Maurice, (Krin Konoval) the overgrown orgatang with a heart of gold, and Caesar’s youngest son Cornelius (Devyn Dalton) are pitch perfect in their performances.

Lastly, Michael Giacchino has created an incredible score that pushes the film’s momentum forward.

‘War For The Planet of the Apes opens in theaters July 14th, 2017 and it’s a definite must see

I’d Go Riding With This Dude Anytime

‘Baby Driver’ is by far the best film of the summer. I went to the press screening a few days ago and have not stopped thinking about it nor have I stopped playing the fantastic sound track.

Edgar Wright (‘Shaun of the Dead’, Scott Pilgrim vs.the World’, ‘Hot Fuzz’ and ‘The World’s End’) has written and directed one of the most exciting, original, explosive awesome films of 2017.

Baby (Ansel Elgort) an innocent looking getaway driver gets hardened criminals from point A. to point B. and he does it with daredevil flair and a personal soundtrack running through his head. That’s because his escape route is plotted to the beat of specific tunes that go from his well-curated iPod straight to his ears, and which translate into expertly timed hairpin turns, gear shifts and evasive maneuvers that leave his passengers and the audience on the edge of their seat.

Wright has given us an action thriller that mixtures killer driving with killer music unlike anything we have every seen. Baby works for Doc (the wonderful Kevin Spacey), a kingpin on a lucky streak of brash daytime bank heists, thanks in part to his faith in Baby’s auto acumen. Doc’s go-to professionals include former Wall Street type turned outlaw Buddy (Jon Hamm), Buddy’s young hot partner in crime, Darling (Eliza Gonzalex) and the impulsive, gun slinging Bats (Jamie Foxx) whose suspicions about Baby begin to create a dangerous rift in an until then smooth running operation.

Of course there’s the good girl, (there’s always one of those) and in this case her name is Debora (Lily James) a waitress at the local diner. It doesn’t take long for Baby to fall for her and question the choices he’s made in life.

‘Baby Driver’ opens on June 28th 2017 and if there’s only one film you see this year, make it this one.

Many people, including myself, weren’t that crazy about Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’. People found it confusing and not up to the original ‘Alien’ film. Well guess what? Mr. Scott has completely redeemed himself with his new film ‘Alien Convenant’ It is absolutely fantastic. and if you’re a fan, you will not be disappointed.

Not wanting to give too much away, the ‘Alien Covenant’ is a sequel to Prometheus which came out in 2012. The film which takes place in 2104 stars the wonderful Michael Fassbender as the android Walter and David, Katherine Waterston (yes she’s the Sigourney Weaver of the film), Billy Crudup, as the reluctant ship’s Captain, and Danny McBride, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez Nathaniel Dean, and Demian Bichir who make up the other members of the crew.

They are responsible for getting their 2000 plus passengers to an uncharted planet which will become their new home. When the film opens everyone, except for Walter, the android, are in suspended animation aboard the colony ship Covenant. Through an unforeseen circumstance, the crew is awaken. Their ship has been damaged and they don’t think they will reach their destination which is still seven years away. Against his better judgement, the Captain decides to land on an uncharted planet. It’s here they meet the android David, sole survivor of the ill-fated Prometheus expedition. Read more…At first, he acts like the perfect host, but soon David and the planet are revealed to be far more dangerous than the crew could every imagine.

‘Alien Convenant’ written by John Logan and Dante Harper is the second installment in the Alien prequel series. There will be one more film which leads up to the original ‘Alien’ film.

‘Alien Convenant’ is exciting, intense, scary as hell and surprising. The film opens Friday, May 19, 2017. Don’t miss it.

Guardians of the Galaxy is back. In case you need a refresher course, they include: Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves called the Ravagers. Because Quill saved so many people in the first film, he is now quite famous and renowned for his fighting abilities. Also back is Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a former bad girl, Drax,(Dave Bautista) a highly skilled warrior who also happens to be extremely funny; Baby Groot, the most adorable tree-like humanoid you will ever meet voiced by Vin Diesel; and finally Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, a genetically engineered raccoon bounty hunter and mercenary.

When the film begins we find out that they’ve been hired by Ayesha, (Elizabeth Debicki) the golden High Priestess and leader of the Sovereign race to protect their valuable batteries from an inter dimensional monster, known as the Abilsk. In exchanged they agree to give them Gamora’s estranged sister, Nebula, (Karen Gillan) who was caught attempting to steal the batteries.

Things go smoothly at first, but then Rocket decides to steal some of the batteries for himself. Not a good move. The Sovereign attacks the Guardians ship with a fleet of drones. Lucky for our super heroes, the drones are destroyed by a mysterious figure, but the Guardians are forced to crash land on a nearby planet.

Turns out their savior is a dude name Ego, (Kurt Russell) who just happens to be Quill’s long lost father…But that’s not all. He’s also one of the Gods known as Celestials and exists in the form of the living planet that the Guardians now find themselves.
Ego assumes human form to travel the universe and interact with other species, eventually meeting and falling in love with “Quill’s human mother. which makes Quill half God.

There is so much more to the plot of ‘Guardians’ which is brilliantly directed by James Gunn, as well as many more characters, including, Michael Rooker as Fondu Udonta, a blue skinned buccaneer who is the leader of the Ravagers and a fatherly figure to Quill, as well as Ego’s pet adorable empath, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) Even Sylvester Stallone makes an appearance as Stakar Ogord, a high ranking Ravager.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2’ shot in 3D is exciting, extremely funny with a killer music score (especially if you’re a fan of songs from the 70’s-80’s) which drives the film.. It also has gorgeous visuals and killer action scenes. Lastly the film is quite touching with its message about friendship and family. The film which opens in theatre May 5th is a must see for fans and non fans alike.

Logan (Hugh Jackman) is not the same superhero that he once was. He’s tired. He’s old, he may be dying and he drives a limo.

That’s right, our super hero mutant is a limo driver. If that’s not bad enough, Logan’s BFF/mentor, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) now 90 years old, is suffering from brain seizures that paralyze everyone around him, making him a major danger to mutants and non mutants alike.

When the film opens the year is 2029 and for Logan is living in El Paso under his original name, James Howlett. He has not aged well and his powers are failing. His deadly razor claws no longer pop out of his hand easily and his ability to regenerate are waning.

When Logan’s not driving inebriated teens to the prom in a beat up limo, he spends his time taking care of Charles, who he has hidden away in an old farm near the Mexican border. Charles only other companion is the albino telepath, Caliban (Stephan Merchant) who plays nursemaid to him.

Logan just wants to live out his remaining days in peace, but what kind of movie would that be. Through a series of circumstances, he winds up being the protector of a 11 year old, mutant named Laura (the wonderful Dafne Keen). She doesn’t speak but her mutant powers, thanks to experiments done by the evil Doctor Zander Rice (Richard E. Grant) are deadly.

Logan discovers that Zander has created kid mutants by using the sperm of other mutants and Laura is not the only one. She is however to Logan’s shock, his daughter. I don’t know why it’s such a surprise to him, considering that, just like Logan, she has razor blades that pop out of her hand at will. This however happens quite often, since Laura has a really bad temper, making her one girl you do not want to mess with.

When the Doctor realizes that the child mutants he created aren’t going to be the killing machines he imagined, he decides to kill every one of them. Luckily before this horrific deed could be carried out, the kind staff at the lab, help the kids escape.

Terrified that his illegal experiments will be revealed, he sends his army of super soldiers led by cyborg, Daniel Pierce (Robert Boyd Holbrook) to round them up, starting with Laura.

After being attacked by Zander’s army and despite trying his best not to get involve, Logan decides to save his daughter. He piles the girl, Charles and Caliban into his limo and they make a run for it.

‘Logan’ directed by James Marigold (‘Wolverine) has given us one of the darkest films in the ‘X Men’ franchise and it works brilliantly. It is ultra violent, very serious and surprisingly, incredibly emotional. This is a very intimate study of a super hero that hasn’t been done before in films of this genre. It absolutely works on every level.

This must see film, written by Marigold along with Michael Green and Scott Frank 0pens in theaters, March 3rd. Don’t miss it.

According to writers, Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, and Tony Gilroy the wall was built to keep out monsters; big, bad, souless monsters that resemble gigantic prehistoric reptiles, who swarm the wall every 60 years to kill and bring the dead bodies back to their Queen so she can eat. Apparently, her royal majesty has a ravenous appetite.

When the film opens, we meet William (Matt Damon) a mercenary in China during the Song dynasty. He and his crew, consisting of twenty men, are searching for black powder to bring back to Europe and sell for major bucks.

Unfortunately, things aren’t going smoothly for the group. They are pursued by Khitan bandits, who wind up killing everyone except William, his sidekick, Tovar (Pedro Pascal) and two others.

The four men seek refuge in a nearby cave, but are soon attacked by an invisible monster. Even though they didn’t see it, they know it’s a monster because Tovar slashed off the creature’s arm and it definitely did not belong to a human.

The next day, with the creature’s arm in hand, they head out and stumble upon The Great Wall. Before they can take in the beautiful scenery, they are taken prisoner by Chinese soldiers who belong to a secretive military sect called The Nameless Order, led by General Shao (Zhang Hanyu)

When William shows the General the arm, he tells them that it belongs to the Taotie (their name for the monsters) which they believe were originally sent from the gods to punish the Emperor for abusing his authority way back when. Actually a meteorite probably brought them, but why bother with scientific fact.

The Order has been training for the last sixty years in preparation for the Taotie’s return and now the time has come. Luckily, the General’s second in command is a beautiful Chinese woman named Lin Mae (Tian Jing) who speaks perfect english, thanks to a man named Sir Ballard (Willem Dafoe) who they captured some 25 years ago. Otherwise, William and Tovar wouldn’t have a clue to what is going on.

‘The Great Wall’ brilliantly directed by Yimou Zhang (‘House of the Flying Daggers’) is an epic action fantasy with amazing special effects, dazzling visuals, incredible stunts, breathtaking battle scenes and fantastic set pieces. But that’s not all it is. This is a film about people from two different worlds coming together to fight a common enemy and in turn, they come to understand and respect on another.

I saw ‘The Great Wall’ which opens in theaters February 17, 2017 in 3D and I recommend you do the same. I absolutely love this film and for that reason, I gave it five bagels out of five.

The Boogeyman Is Back And He’s Taking No Prisoners

Poor John Wick (Keanu Reeves) All he wants to do is lead a quiet life and play with his dog. Unfortunately, his associates have other plans for him.

‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ brilliantly directed by Chad Stahelski (‘John Wick’) and written by Derek Kolstad (‘John Wick’, ‘The Following’) opens with John retrieving his beloved 1969 Mustang from the Russian mobsters who stole it. Of course this doesn’t come easy. After slaying what seems like every Russian bad guy on planet earth, John is pursued by the remaining ones in a spectacular high speed car chase through crowded New York streets.

Of course John comes out the winner and heads back home. But before he can put his feet up and relax, he gets a visit from Italian gangster, Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) who brings with him a gold ‘marker’ which John gave to him in order to take early retirement.

This ‘marker’ means that John is obligated to fulfill Santino’s simple request: to kill his sister, Gianna (Claudia Gerini) the ruthless capo of the Italian Camorra crime syndicate, so he can take her seat on the High Table. a place where all the different organized crime groups from around the world come together.

John refuses (bad move) and suffers the consequences. Santino burns down his house. Distraught after losing the one remaining thing that connects him to his late wife, Helen (Bridget Moynahan) John and his dog head over to his home away from home, The Continental, run by Winston (Ian McShane) who also happens to be kingpin of the secret assassin society that John is a part of.

Winston orders him to respect the organization’s accent code and accept the assignment. John realizes he has no choice and reluctantly agrees. He leaves his dog with the Continental’s concierge (the wonderful, Lance Reddick) and flies off to Rome.

Before he can get over his jet lag, John checks in at Il Continentale headquarters, arms himself to the teeth and penetrates heavy Camorra security to surprise Gianna in her bedroom. But before John can commit the deed, Gianna, who apparently is a bit of control freak, helps him out. She sinks into her enormous bathtub and slices her wrists.

So is John free now that he carried out the assignment and fulfilled his marker? Not quite. It seems Santino doesn’t want any witnesses left and sends his army of bad, bad dudes after John.

Of course, our super assassin takes out most of them and flees Rome. Unfortunately, he’s missed a couple, Cassian (Common and deaf, Aries (Ruby Rose) The two happen to be Camorra’s best and brightest killers and they won’t give up until John is dead. So of course they follow him back to the Big Apple to complete their assignment.

Back home John seeks help from the mysterious Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) and his shadow army of homeless killers, but in the end, he relies on his own brilliant fighting skills. Remember he’s the guy that can take someone out with a simple pencil.

‘John Wick: Chapter 2 is one of the most violent films I’ve seen in a long time, but the violence is absolutely dazzling. It’s like one big beautiful intense dance and Keanu who does a lot of his own stunts, once again nails it.

What makes’John Wick: Chapter 2’ which opens today, Friday, February 11, 2017, so good is that we see this man trying to preserve his own his humanity despite all the carnage around him. That is why I gave it five bagels out of five and if you’re a fan of this genre, do not miss this film.

I loved ‘Hidden Figures’ so much that I saw it twice and I’d probably see it again. It is one of the most inspiring, touching films I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also a film that reminds us about a time when mankind seemed to forget that we were all created equal.

It’s 1961 when we first meet three incredible women, Kathleen G. Johson (the fantastic Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monal) driving down a lone road in Hampton Virigina when their Chevy Impala breaks down.

Dorothy is in the middle of fixing it, when a sherif pulls up next to them in his cruiser. This being the segregated south, we all know what kind of sheriff this guy is…A good old white boy. The tension is high as he gets out of his car. It’s obvious he’s about to give the ladies a hard time, until he find out that they work at NASA. He’s so impressed, that he escort them personally to the gates of Langley..

Kathleen, Dorothy, and Mary are three of the many black women who worked at NASA in a segregated department known as Colored Computers. Yep, the woman were called Computer simply because they computed. They checked the work of the white male engineers who performed the calculations for future space travel.

These women had their own ‘colored’ bathroom and despite their brilliance they were treated like second class employees..

Dorothy runs the department and every morning her cold, tightly wound boss, Vivian Michael (Kirsten Dunst) hands her the daily assignments to give out to the ladies. When Dorothy inquires about the supervisor job she applied for, since she already does the work of a supervisor, Vivian instantly rebuffs her by telling her in an extremely condescending way not to count on it and to be happy she has a job.

One day, the mathematical genius, Kathleen is promoted to a job that includes working with the Space Task Group, where the head, Col. Al Harrison (the excellent Kevin Costner) is too busy to notice the shabby treatment Kathleen is given.

One of the most powerful scenes in the film has to do with Kathleen running over a mile twice a day so she can use the colored bathroom located in a different building.

Mary Jackson dreams of being an engineer but that would require her taking courses at a segregated high school. Another memorable scene is when she goes before the judge to get his permission.

‘Hidden Figures’ is filled with one powerful scene after another. You leave the theatre realizing that we might never have made it into space if it wasn’t for Kathleen Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.

The movie directed by Theodore Melfi (St.Vincent) who also co-wrote it with Allison Schroeder is based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s book of the same name. . I gave ‘Hidden “Figures’ which opens in theaters, friday January 6th five bagels out of five. Don’t miss it.

Once upon a time far far away in another galaxy Star Wars was born.

Well it wasn’t really another galaxy where it was born, but that’s where the action takes place. ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ is part one of an anthology. The film is set in a time way before we get to meet the iconic characters known as Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo and Princess Lea.

The film starts with a battle raging between the rebel forces and the Galactic Empire. We meet a young girl named Jyn Erso whose father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) is a brilliant scientist. She watches as her mother is killed and her father is whisked away by the Imperial army, but not before daddy tells her to hid. Jyn does just that until she’s rescued by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), an extremist militant who you may remember from ‘Clone Wars’.

We flash forward to Jyn all grown up and beautifully played by Felicity Jones. She hooks up with renegade imperial pilot (Riz Ahmed), plus a hard-boiled resistance type (Diego Luna), a blind monk (Donnie Yen) who walks around chanting ‘The force is with me. I am the force’ over and over again. Unfortunately he sounds like a informercial for positive thinking and I did find this part of the film kind of cheesy.

Also in the crew is a bearded sword fighter (Wen Jiang) who looks out for the monk. And last but definitely not least is a sarcastic droid voiced perfectly by Alan Tudyk. I mean what would ‘Star Wars’ be without a sarcastic droid?

Now that we met the good guys, we take a walk over to the dark side, aka The Galactic Empire, where Galen unwillingly has invented a weapon known as the DEATH STAR. This weapon can wipe out planets in a blink of an eye. This makes not only the Emperor thrilled, but his super evil, creepy, side kick, Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) who prefers to wear white no matter what the season, over the moon joyous.

Okay to summarize, we have a really really bad weapon in the hands of some really, really bad dudes, which of course leaves only one choice for the rebels…steal the design schematics so the weapon will never be completed. What could be easier?

To say anymore would be a SPOILER. But what I will say is that fans of this franchise will not be disappointed. It’s exciting, fun, humorous, with great special effects. I gave ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ four bagels out of five. The film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy opens in theaters Friday, December 16th. Love to know what you think.

When I saw ‘Whiplash‘ I knew I was seeing the birth of a brilliant director and now with Damien Chazelle’s latest film, ‘La La Land‘ he more than proves I was right. This flm is not only a beautiful homage to the musicals of long ago, but it’s a bittersweet love story that you will remember well after the credits roll.

The film opens on a crowded Los Angeles freeway in winter where frustrated drivers break out in song and dance. Sometime I myself have dreamed about doing many times when I’ve been stuck on the 405.

One of the drivers happens to be Mia (Emma Stone) who works as barista on a studio lot . Of course, this being La La Land, she’s also an aspiring actress. Now we all know that every actress/actor does their best preparation for an audition in their car and that is unfortunately the case where Mia is concerned.

She becomes very distrated and this leads to a moment of road rage between her and another lucky driver, named Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) who happens to be a struggling jazz pianist.

Well Mia’s audition doesn’t go too well so her three roommates, in an attempt to cheer her up, invite her to a lavish party downtown, where of course we have more singing and dancing. Bored, Mia leaves the party, and discovers her car is towed. Not a good day for our budding actress. She’s forced to walk home.

Meanwhile, Sebastian isn’t doing much better. He’s playing a gig at a restaurant, a job he absolutely hates, since the owner Bill, (J.K. Simmons) won’t let him play any jazz. He has to follow a song list and from the look on his face, he is anything but happy. So what does he do? Play his own music of course and winds up getting fired, but not before, Emma walks into the restaurant and hears him play. She goes to compliment him, but Sebastian brushes her off.

Months later, Mia is at another party and notices Sebastian again, now a keyboardist for a 1980’s pop cover band. After several more encounters, which includes several more musical numbers, the couple finally connect and yes, they fall in love and move in together.

If I say anything else, it will definitely fall into the SPOILER category, which is the last thing I want to do. But I will say that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are just wonderful and if the film doesn’t get a Best Picture Win, I will be surprised.

I gave ’La La Land’ which opened in theatres Friday, December 9th, five bagels out of five. Do not miss it.