Jane Fonda – Memphis Flyer

Silver foxes Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen head out on a bachelorette party trip to Europe in Book Club: The Next Chapter, a sequel to the 2018 sleeper hit comedy. Craig T. Nelson rand Don Johnson also reprise their roles as frigid husband and seasoned himbo with whom our heroines must negotiate new relationships.

Before Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world in 2008, there was the Blackberry. Known to its army of corporate users as the “crackberry,” it demonstrated both the advantages and disadvantages of 24/7 connectivity long before the first Instagram post. Blackberry by indie filmmaker Matt Johnson tells the story of Research In Motion, the company who ruled the mobile world in the Bush era. Wary of another disingenuous hagiography of a tech oligarch? Don’t worry, this one’s a comedy!

Charlie Day, star of the TV comedy staple “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” makes his film-directing debut by biting the hand that feeds him. For Fool’s Paradise he enlisted Ken Jeong, John Malkovich, Kate Beckinsale, Adrien Brody, Jason Sudeikis, Edie Falco, Jason Bateman, Common, and a whole bunch more, to satirize showbiz as it is practiced today. You can be excused if you get a strong Being There vibe from this one.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 represents the end of an era for Marvel and Disney. The main cast is retiring, and director James Gunn is moving to helm the rival DC movies. The Memphis Flyer‘s Sam Cicci says “Guardians Vol. 3 is the most creative Marvel film in years, a fitting end to Gunn’s time with Disney.” So far it’s pulled in $365 million worldwide, and shows no signs of stopping.

Judy Blume’s revolutionary young adult novel Are You There Go? It’s Me Margaret gets a worthy adaptation from director Kelly Fremon Craig and Simpsons producer James L. Brooks. Abby Ryder Fortson stars as Margaret, the confused middle-schooler who must navigate a move to the suburbs, puberty, and religious doubt all at once. Rachel McAdams and Memphian Kathy Bates give excellent support as Margaret’s mother and grandmother. Read my review, then watch the trailer.

Sam Raimi’s pioneering horror-comedy franchise continues its perfect record with new director Lee Cronin in Evil Dead Rise. This one’s definitely more scary than funny, but Cronin nails the franchise’s irreverent tone, and Alyssa Sullivan kills as a single mom possessed by demons who stalks a haunted apartment building. A must-see for horror fans, this one’s got legs.

South Korean director Hong Sang-soo and his frequent collaborator Kwan Hae-hyo are back together with Walk Up. Indie Memphis screens this affecting slice-of-life film, which premiered to laurels at the Toronto Film Festival, at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17 at Studio on the Square.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

What’s the beeping noise in the distance? It’s the sound of The Super Mario Bros. Movie collecting coins. You just saw Guardians, but you can’t get enough Chris Pratt? Good news! You can hear him phoning it in as Mario in this animated adaptation that has earned enough to build Princess Peach a very nice castle.

About three-quarters of the way through Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth, Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) and his best friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) watch a totally nude Miss Universe (Madalina Diana Ghenea) slowly enter a hot tub. “Who is THAT?” Fred says.

“God,” Mick says.

Waiting to meet God is the primary theme of Youth, which recently took home Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Caine at the European Film Awards. When we meet Fred, the retired composer is meeting with a representative of Queen Elizabeth, who is offering him knighthood if he will only agree to come out of retirement and conduct his composition “Simple Songs” in a command performance. He refuses, citing “personal reasons.” He and Mick are staying at an ultra posh resort in the Swiss Alps that cinematographer Luca Bigazzi has a grand old time filming. But the constantly excellent food, happy-ending massages, and mediocre entertainment somehow only add to the funereal atmosphere. The name of the sculpture in the hotel lobby says it all: Alpine Prison. Fred has lost his hunger for creation, and thus his will to live.

Harvey Keitel, and Michael Caine in Youth

Mick, on the other hand, is at the hotel with a staff of writers creating his next film, which he calls “my testament.” His love of creation is intact, and that keeps his mind young, even if he can’t get it up for the fetching young prostitute who haunts the lobby.

Beside the ace cinematography, Caine and Keitel’s buddy routine is the best thing about Youth. Mick tries to puncture Fred’s growing cynicism and apathy, while Fred works hard at doing absolutely nothing. Sorrentino’s screenplay bounces the pair off of an unlikely group of well-heeled hotel guests, none of whom seem to be having any fun whatsoever. Fred’s daughter, Lena (Rachel Weisz), endures the dissolution of her marriage. Actor Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano) is sullenly preparing for a role in a historical drama that, when revealed, gets the film’s biggest laugh. The once-youthful superstar footballer Maradona (Roly Serrano) is now morbidly obese, but still mobbed by fans. Veteran actress Brenda Morel (Jane Fonda) arrives late in the action to drop some plot bombshells and throw the most epic fit of the 2015 film season.

Caine glides through the loose collection of vignettes like some kind of ghost who hasn’t gotten around to dying yet. The slow revelation of the source of his pain is masterful and depends almost entirely on Caine’s facial control. Some of Sorrentino’s digressions work, and some of them don’t. The dialogue is occasionally clunky in an English-as-a-second-language kind of way. But as long as Caine and Keitel are around, ogling the young women and antagonizing the bored rich, Youth remains compelling.