Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy

SHOW BUSINESS DOCUMENTARIES OF 2019/2020 YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews January 8, 2021

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MY DARLING VIVIAN All most people know about Johnny Cash’s first wife is what they saw in the 2005 biopic Walk the Line, where she was played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Essentially, Vivian Liberto stood in the way of the singer marrying the love of his life, June Carter. This compelling, deeply moving documentary gives a voice to the woman who first fell in love with Cash and raised their four daughters before being reduced to a footnote in his life story. The saga is told through a treasure trove of home movies and the first-hand recollections of all four daughters: Rosanne (the oldest, and the only one to pursue a show business career), Kathy, Cindy and Tara. The film’s director, Matt Riddlehoover, is married to the grandson of Johnny…

‘ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI’: A TIME TRIP WORTH TAKING

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews December 29, 2020

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The two most intriguing words in storytelling are “what if…” In the case of One Night in Miami, a gathering did take place in 1964 that brought together Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, football star Jim Brown, and pop singer Sam Cooke. No one knows for certain what these famous friends discussed in the privacy of a hotel room at a crucial juncture in their lives. That’s where playwright Kemp Powers’s screenplay takes off. It’s 1964 and Cassius Clay has just defeated Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. He’s on top of the world, but instead of attending a big, public blow-out he drives to a motel in a black section of Miami for a quiet celebration with three good friends. He has promised Malcolm X that he will…

‘SOUL’ TACKLES THE BIG QUESTIONS

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews December 29, 2020

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I really wanted to love Soul…but I didn’t. Being a jazz fan gave me reason to anticipate something great from what I knew of this project. As it turns out, jazz is only one component of Soul, the other being a metaphysical exploration of life itself, both before and after we’re born. Are we imbued with certain traits or tendencies before we take on human form? How do we measure success in life? These are some of the Big Questions facing Joe Morgan (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a high-school band teacher who is offered a one-time chance to sit in with a well-known jazz star. Instead, he is suddenly whisked away to an other-worldly realm, where he is paired with a soul called 22 (Tina Fey) who hasn’t…

THE MIDNIGHT SKY: BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews December 25, 2020

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George Clooney stars in this space parable that starts out well, then goes adrift. Set in the stereotypically bleak near-future, the story focuses on a defeated scientist who chooses to stay behind in the Antarctic, knowing his days are numbered, while his colleagues get the hell out of there. But when he discovers that he has company—a silent 7-year-old girl—his priorities shift completely. He has to make contact with the spacecraft Aether so they can rescue her; that means leaving home base to find a substation with a more powerful radio beam. At this point the movie splits in two, the more interesting part being Clooney and the girl’s perilous journey through ice, snow and wind to a safe harbor. This leads to the film’s…

WW84 (WONDER WOMAN 1984)

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews December 25, 2020

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WW84 starts on a promising note, taking a page from the Superman playbook: Wonder Woman sweeps into a shopping mall and dispatches a gang of crooks while saving imperiled children, even sharing a knowing wink with one of them. It’s a moment of pure fun that leaves you with a smile on your face and shows our heroine actually enjoying her superpowers. From that point on, the movie struggles to be relevant and serious, but in a superficial, cartoony way. It drones on for two and a half hours but it hasn’t got a lot to say, and sputters whenever it’s trying to convey a message. A prologue on Paradise Island only makes one wish they made more use of that setting and its strong…

NEWS OF THE WORLD: SUPERIOR STORYTELLING

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews December 25, 2020

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It shouldn’t be unusual to praise a film for its storytelling prowess—especially one based on a best-selling novel—but it’s something I no longer take for granted. Other films may succeed as mood pieces, character portraits, or expressions of personal creativity. This one transported me to another time and place, like a good book, following two characters (played by Tom Hanks and young Helena Zengel) as they embark on an odyssey through Texas in the late 1800s. When it was over I felt as if I had experienced it myself. Hanks admirably underplays the part of a former Civil War officer who’s lost everything. He now ekes out a living traveling from town to town reading colorful newspaper items as an evening’s entertainment. Because he’s a…

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN: SURPRISES RIGHT TO THE FINISH

In Theaters Leonard Maltin Movie Reviews December 25, 2020

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Carey Mulligan has never played a woman quite like the one she brings to life in Promising Young Woman… but then, few leading actresses have taken on such a stark and uncompromising character. Writer-director Emerald Fennell sets her up as an attractive young woman who is falling-down drunk at a neighborhood bar, badly in need of a friend to help her get home. But that’s just the tease. This is a woman with an agenda. To reveal much more would be a crime. Promising Young Woman is a female revenge thriller bathed in jet-black comedy. It can easily mess with your head, as it did with mine, and its climax is one of the most difficult scenes I’ve ever sat through. I actually found myself writhing in discomfort.…

MERCHANT IVORY: A UNIQUE LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES

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I’M GOING UNIVERSAL NEXT MONTH

MY PENGUIN FRIEND

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MODERNISM, INC.—A GOOD DOCUMENTARY BY DESIGN

SHOW BUSINESS DOCUMENTARIES OF 2019/2020 YOU MAY HAVE MISSED