Now…as for the 4 Rondo Best Film Nominated titles which I’ve seen…

THE FIRST OMEN -- Pretty good overall. Good settings, good acting, some striking

scenes. But a little too predictable, I think. A couple of the maybe-would-have-been-

effective shock scenes, I saw coming down the tracks way ahead of the arrival.

Leading lady Nell Tiger Free (yeah, I don’t like it either) is especially terrific in an

horrendously difficult, taxing role.

Also maybe too much beholden to THE OMEN’s grotesque, over-the-top death scenes.

The sound level, particularly dialogue, was very low. I turned up the volume and still had some trouble. When people were talking I could barely hear them, then would come a scream or loud bang and I was practically blown out of my chair.

So I added captions to the mix and that helped. One caption did catch my notice. There was some wind noise and the title read “Cold wind sounds.”  Does cold wind really sound different from…you know…wind?

I appreciated that they took care to tie it into the beginning of THE OMEN. They really didn’t have to. How many modern-day viewers know from the original? And how many can recognize Gregory Peck? Or even the name “Gregory Peck.” So I appreciated theireffort.

THE OMEN original is still better. But THE OMEN remake is much worse. So this…is okay.

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA --  No, it’s not as good as FURY ROAD, but could we really expect it to be? FURY ROAD, in my eyes at least, is a genuine, full-blooded, no-doubt-about-it masterpiece. 

FURIOSA is a very good movie on its own. The action scenes are not surprising. Theyare typically clever, ingenious, scary, and miraculously well-done. Not a surprise at all.The drama between the action is where the movie falls down just a bit. Not terrible by any means, but a little flat.

In the Mad Max universe, I rate ‘em this way…

THE ROAD WARRIOR

FURY ROAD

FURIOSA

MAD MAX

MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME

That’s the official word.

Finally, I know that’s Chris Hemsworth as the bad guy. I KNOW THAT!  But I’m telling you--that is NOT Chris Hemsworth as the bad guy. Take it from me.

LISA FRANKENSTEIN --  High school girl Lisa Swallows (yes, that’s her name)

manages to unintentionally resurrect a long-buried dude.

I had read not such good things about this. Mainly the complaint was that it wasn’t

funny. Just maybe mildly pleasant. But it’s also funny. There are not a lot of laugh

out loud moments, but there’s a continuing air of good humor and cleverness.

Kathryn Newton is delightful as Lisa and Cole Sprouse manages to be quite 

effective--and funny--in his mostly silent role.

What can I tell you, I liked it.

NOSFERATU --  After I saw this I kept my opinions to myself for a while, trying

to get my thoughts straight. Actually, I was simply trying to make any sense at 

all of my thoughts.

It’s a very good horror movie. Is that enough? No? Well…

Okay then. It’s a very good horror movie which still disappointed me. I was hoping

this third (major) telling of the Dracula story from this particular angle would be as

great, as powerful, as unforgettable, as the first two. And it just wasn’t. A little too 

diffuse for me. And a little too dark (literally).

Captain Jack Sparrow’s little girl was very good, very good indeed in a tough lead

role. And it was interesting to see the story play out primarily from this heroine/

victim’s point-of-view. But I was less impressed by the vampire himself/itself.

I knew and hoped that they wouldn’t just recycle the original Orlock look. Great as

It was, it’s been played-out now, I fear. But I wasn’t really taken with the look they 

gave us. As everyone has noted, this is clearly a vampire who was a Slavic general 

in life. Got the ‘stache and everything. I’d just prefer something a little more 

corpse-like. This guy looked, when we finally got a chance to see him, like ol’ Joe 

Stalin on a bad day.

But his look is…okay. I can live with that. His voice, however, I really deeply 

Disliked. Yes, it’s very deep and growly..but too much so. It sounds like standard 

deep growly villain voice. It was, to me, almost funny. I can imagine a hefty handful

of better choices.

Beyond that, Nicholas Hoult was probably the best “Jonathan Harker” ever. Of 

course, he also had more to do than just about any other. And Willem Dafoe is a 

fine “Van Helsing”. Other cast members were…okay.

So, yeah, it’s a very good horror film, very good indeed. But it’s not a patch on 

either of its two brilliant predecessors.

For Father's Day, my wonderful, kind, brilliant, generous son took me to the movies, at my

request. We saw FURIOSA (my choice) and I loved it. George Miller is, always has been,

and always will be, a moviemaking genius. 

The opening credits tell us that the movie stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, in

that order. I knew that Anya, The Alien Who Doesn’t Look Human At All, was playing

Charlize Theron but I had no idea what role Hemsworth filled. 

Since I'd first read that Hemsworth was in the movie, I was doubtful. That sort of

uber-muscled, chiseled-profile movie star seemed wrong and out-of-place for a “Mad Max

Saga.”  I could understand Hemsworth taking the job. After all, working in a Mad Max

must be like a blessing from the gods for any Australian actor. I couldn’t understand,

however, why George Miller would cast him. It just felt wrong to me--Thor and Max

don’t mix--but I was hopeful of George and Chris showing me how stupid I was.

So we’re about two hours into the movie, half-hour to go, and I’m thinking. Always a

dangerous thing.  I was just about to lean over to my son and whisper this wisdom:

“Chris Hemsworth has the best billing since Mark Hamill in THE FORCE AWAKENS.

He’s got second-billing, we’re two hours into the movie and no sign of him."

Thankfully, I did not say that. Sudden doubts. Didn’t want to reveal myself as an idiot. 

Clearly the hook-nosed villain was the second-largest role, but that was not Chris Hemsworth.

I knew it wasn’t. It just wasn’t, don’t contradict me. 

I actually thought, when we got our first look at the baddie's muscles, that we'd eventually see

a posing battle between Chris and the villain. Yeah, I thought that.

But I wanted one more look at him. Really look into his eyes, really take stock, see if there

was any way it might be beautiful Chris. 

And there he was. I leaned forward and stared deep into his eyes. Tried to peer all the way

into his soul. No. That simply was not Chris Hemsworth. There was no sign of his totally

familiar, disgustingly beautiful features in that bad guy’s face. Not a trace.

End of the movie. I decided that the villain was played by…Chris Hemsworth. I know it

now and I accept it. But I will swear to the end of days that no bit of Thor peeked through

that disguise. So well done, I guess.

I have told you that I’m really old, haven’t I?