Q-Tips Reviews

Pain & Glory – Pain and Glory tells of a series of re encounters experienced by Salvador Mallo, a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void that creates the incapacity to keep on making films. Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation.

Q-tips say: Was ok. The big spoiler is that it is all sub titled. Some times you need more time to read the wording and then you miss some of the movie aspects.

Ford vs Ferrari  –   Academy Award-winners Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in FORD v FERRARI, based on the remarkable true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles (Bale), who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

Q-tips say: A long movie – 2 1/2 hours but worth watching. Lots of fast driving, a few crashes and rough language.  If you are a racing car aficionado, this movie is for you.  Mrs. Q liked it because of the the older antique cars you see in the movie and just saw the Classic Cars in Sarasota which had a little history of both, Ford and Ferrari.

Adams Family –  Get ready to snap your fingers! The first family of Halloween, the Addams Family, is back on the big screen in the first animated comedy about the kookiest family on the block. Funny, outlandish, and completely iconic, the Addams Family redefines what it means to be a good neighbor.

Q-tips say:  Was kind of funny, kooky, & while The Addams Family isn’t super amazing, it’s a good mindless film.

The plot follows Gomez and Morticia getting married and chased away from their homeland from villagers. They find an abandoned asylum in New Jersey where they settle in too. They meet Lurch, an escaped mental patient (who looks more like Frankenstein). As years go by, their son Pugsley is preparing for a family coming of age tradition. While Wednesday, their daughter wants to experience the world. Away from there sheltered house. Which there town is growing with new neighbors. And a reality tv host Margaux, who is trying to build a perfect neighborhood and wants to rid of that old house. The plot is decent about a story of a family trying to keep to themselves. Wednesday is wanting to explore. And meets a friend who is tired of hiding who she wants to be with her lifestyle.

Honey Boy –  From a screenplay by Shia LaBeouf, based on his own experiences, award-winning filmmaker Alma Har’el brings to life a young actor’s stormy childhood and early adult years as he struggles to reconcile with his father through cinema and dreams. Fictionalizing his childhood ascent to stardom, and subsequent adult crash-landing into rehab and recovery, Har’el casts Noah Jupe and Lucas Hedges as Otis Lort, navigating different stages in a frenetic career. LaBeouf takes on the daring and therapeutic challenge of playing a version of his own father, an ex-rodeo clown and a felon. Artist and musician FKA twigs makes her feature acting debut, playing neighbor and kindred spirit to the younger Otis in their garden-court motel home. Har’el’s feature narrative debut is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between filmmaker and subject, exploring art as therapy and imagination as hope.

Q-tips say: Was just ok. A little disjointed and sometimes there was mumbling. Rent/stream another better movie.

American Factory –   In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.  

Q-tips say:   Billionaire from “communist” China buys former GM plant and pays workers less than what McDonald’s pays. Evidence that capitalism victimizes workers across the planet.  Race relations seem to be a recurring theme, but one the filmmakers refuse to address head-on.

THE FAREWELL –  The film follows a Chinese family who, when they discover their beloved Grandmother has only a short while left to live, decide to keep her in the dark and schedule an impromptu wedding to gather before she passes. Billi, feeling like a fish out of water in her home country, struggles with the family’s decision to hide the truth from her grandmother.

Q-tips say: We liked it. Mrs. Q says: One of the better movies I have seen recently.  Until the closing shot, this is a celebration of Asian actors, traditions, and relationships.   You have to love that Grandmother.

I SEE YOU –   When a 12-year-old boy goes missing, lead investigator Greg Harper (Jon Tenney) struggles to balance the pressure of the investigation and troubles with his wife, Jackie (Helen Hunt). Facing a recent affair, great strain is put on the family that slowly gnaws away at Jackie’s grip on reality. But after a malicious presence manifests itself in their home and puts their son, Connor (Judah Lewis), in mortal danger, the cold, hard truth about evil in the Harper household is finally uncovered.

Q-tips say:  Was just ok.  A twisty and eerie crime thriller. The frog mask is nightmarish.  Problem is that the film makes almost no effort to establish the characters of the family, or to ground the backstory of the serial abductor. Mrs. thought it was a certain person for many reasons and was correct.