James' World 2

Onward is a computer-animated urban fantasy adventure produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is directed by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae, and written by Scanlon, Jason Headley, and Keith Bunin. Set in a suburban fantasy world, the film follows two elf brothers who set out on a quest to find an artifact that will temporarily bring their dead father back alive for 24 hours. Onward is an exciting children’s flick that offers a pretty solid message.

In a world inhabited by mythic creatures, magic was commonplace several millennia ago, though difficult to master. Because of technological advances over the centuries, magic became obsolete and was largely discarded. In the modern-day, two elf brothers, Ian (Tom Highland) and Barley Lightfoot (Chris Pratt) live in New Mushroomton. The younger brother, Ian, is a high-school student struggling with self-confidence, and the older brother, Barley, is…

The One and Only Ivan is a fantasy drama directed by Thea Sharrock from a screenplay written by Mike White based on the children’s novel of the same name by K. A. Applegate. The One and Only Ivan is inspired by the true story of Ivan the gorilla. Because this film was nominated for an Academy Award, I wanted to find out why — I think the movie was well done with a profound message about wildlife and animals.

In 1973, Ivan (voice: Sam Rockwell), a silverback western lowland gorilla, is living in an enclosure at the Big Top Mall. He performs for Mack (Bryan Cranston), the owner, alongside other performing animals; a wise and nurturing African elephant named Stella (voice:Angelina Jolie), her spoiled poodle co-performer named Snickers (voice: Helen Mirren), a spunky baseball-playing chicken named Henrietta (voice: Chaka Khan), a toy fire truck-riding…

Love and Monsters is a monster adventure directed by Michael Matthews, with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen serving as producers. “‘Love and Monsters” is about a teenage boy who falls in love with his schoolmate when an invasion of monsters destroys most of humanity, causing them to take refuge miles apart from each other.  This movie takes you on a young adult journey that is a little childish at times but full of action, danger, and is very exciting with a few valuable messages for all.

After the destruction of an asteroid headed for Earth, the chemical fallout resulted in all cold-blooded animals mutating into large monsters, causing an apocalypse that killed off most of humanity.  Cold Blooded Animals: all reptiles, including snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, alligators, and crocodiles, some insects such as the busy dragonflies and bees, amphibians such as frogs, toads, and salamanders, as…

Greyhound is a war film directed by Aaron Schneider. The screenplay is written by Tom Hanks, and the film is based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester. The story follows a commander in the US Navy on his first wartime assignment. Greyhound is a worthwhile film that will heat your blood to the boiling point as the commander makes life or death decisions at a minute’s notice. Greyhound is a worthy movie and I’m glad I got to see it.

Commander Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) is the commanding officer of the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Keeling, codenamed “Greyhound”.  Krause is now in command of a multi-national escort group defending a merchant ship convoy that is under attack by submarines in early-1942.  This event takes place during the Battle of the Atlantic, only months after the U.S. officially enters World War II. During the Battle…

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a musical comedy directed by David Dobkin and written by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele.  Since I’m not a fan of Will Ferrell’s brand of slapstick comedy, I thought Eurovision Song Contest was going to be one of those movies.  Eurovision follows Fire Saga who is given the chance to represent their country (Iceland) at the Eurovision Song Contest. I enjoyed the film, which has great music and is quite entertaining.

In the small town of Húsavík, Iceland, Lars Erickssong (Will Ferrell) a  middle-aged man with aspirations of winning the Eurovision Song Contest and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Rachel McAdams) are best friends since childhood. Together the two make their own music under the name Fire Saga. Lars’ widowed father Erick (Pierce Brosnan) wanted his son to be a fisherman or anything except a singer that he doesn’t believe in. Lars…

THE LIFE AHEAD

The Life Ahead (Italian: La vita davanti a sé) is an Italian drama directed by Edoardo Ponti (Sophia Loren’s son), from a screenplay by Ponti and Ugo Chiti. It’s the third screen adaptation of the 1975 novel The Life Before Us by Romain Gary. The Life Ahead is interesting and heartfelt.  This is Sophia Loren’s first theatrical movie since Nine, released in 2009. I love this film, kudos to Sophia who still has what it takes to maintain her status as a class act diva and superstar.

Madam Rosa (Sophia Loren) is a former prostitute and Jewish Holocaust survivor who provides a home in her apartment for the children of other “working women” in the port city of Bari, Apulia, Italy. After a 12-year old orphaned Senegalese immigrant child, Momo(Ibrahima Gueye) robs her, Dr. Cohen (Renato Carpentieri, the boy’s foster father, who also happens…

The Father is a drama co-written and directed by Florian Zeller, based on his 2012 play Le Père. A French-British co-production. The Father follows an aging man who must deal with his progressing memory loss. The Father takes a very realistic look from the patient to the caretaker’s point of view.  As a person digresses into a vacuum of Alzheimer’s disease, their loved ones are also profoundly impacted. The Father is an eyeopener.  I think it’s important to know the difference between Dementia and Alzheimer’s, briefly described below: Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia. Alzheimer’s is a specific disease. Dementia is not. As Alzheimer’s advances, symptoms get more severe and include disorientation, confusion, and behavior changes. Eventually, speaking, swallowing, and walking becomes difficult. There is no way to prevent, cure…

The White Tiger is a drama directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film was produced by Mukul Deora and Ramin Bahrani, and executive produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Prem Akkaraju, and Ava DuVernay. The White Tiger’s musical score is produced by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians and the cinematography is by Paolo Carnera, and editing by Tim Streeto. An adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s 2008 novel of the same name, is the story about Balram, who comes from a poor Indian village and uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty. I’m not sure if the message is a good one or not but the movie was great!

In 2010, entrepreneur Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) emails Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, requesting a meeting, and relating his life story. He states his belief that the Indian underclass is trapped in a perpetual state of servitude, like chickens in a chicken coop. In…

Over the Moon is a computer-animated musical family fantasy, directed by Glen Keane and co-directed by John Kahrs, from a screenplay by Audrey Wells with additional screenplay material by Alice Wu and Jennifer Yee McDevitt. The film was produced by Pearl Studio and Netflix Animation and animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks. Over the Moon is an animated children’s story about a  young girl who can’t accept her mother’s death or the fact that the Moon Goddess is only a legend.

A 9-year-old girl named Fei Fei (voice: Cathy Ang) is being told, by her mother Ma Ma (voice: Ruthie Ann Miles) and father Ba Ba (voice: John Cho), about the legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang’e (voice: Phillipa Soo). By taking a potion that would make her immortal, Chang’e became a goddess and ascended to the moon leaving her soulmate HouYi (voice: Conrad Ricamora) behind. She believes he…