Movie Reviews up to September 2019

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" R
Quentin Tarantino's love letter to the old Hollywood dreams of the 60s is a buddy movie where a has been cowboy actor and his stuntman best bud had a run in with the Manson family, changing the course of actual history. The film was a bit tighter than his earlier jaunts, and as linear as Reservoir Dogs, and Jackie Brown, two of his earliest. Not sure how much replay value it will have once you know where he's going with it. Clearly he had a thing for the late Sharon Tate, and for feet. 

"Dora and the Lost City of Gold" PG
An up and coming teen star impressed the audience with really playing Dora the Explorer in live action, as this nutty Nick toon turned teen film jumped around from the jungle to the high school, and back again, chasing after a host treasure trove in an Incan legendary city. This is what the Indiana Jones 4 should have been about, a nod to Hidden Temple and also to High School Musical. If anyone could convince you it was legit, and somewhat funny, it's the cast, in this charming and unexpectedly good romp. Guess they figured the test audience was no longer preschool age. Still it was funny they went there and had her be so batty and possibly implied she is imagining talking maps and things.

"Stephen King's It Chapter 2" R
Ever connected to the film 2 years ago, and a 1980s book that had a controversial middle act, but not for the horror scenes, It Chapter 2 works for having some decent hammy acting, and is not afraid to be at times balls out strange. Flashbacks to the kids in haunted Derry, Maine, where they look a bit too old, are a recap of similar scares, but the adults played off the flashbacks well, and are pretty convincing as their older alter egos. Then some confusion happened with a few of them looking similar with glasses on, and acting too much like each other, but let it slide. It was fine. It wasn't great, but neither was the ending of the book. The miniseries was actually better in parts. This one is more of an update with creative jump scares. Thankfully they never refer to the creepy kid pact where all the boys and the girl are intimate, ahem, from the book.