Yesterday (2019)

This was the film I was most excited to see this summer as I love The Beatles and it was directed by Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”). The main concept of the film is simple enough, a struggling singer wakes up to discover that he is the only one who can remember the existence of The Beatles and their music.

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) writes his and performs his own songs, but no one pays him much mind. He lives at home with his parents after giving up his job as a school teacher to focus on his music. He juggles the few low paying gigs with being a part time grocery worker. His manager Ellie (Lily James) is his childhood friend and seems to be the only one who truly believes in him.

Jack decides to give up his dream after another empty gig. As he rides his bike home, a global blackout occurs and is hit by a bus. After being released from the hospital, he discovers that none of his friends know who The Beatles are, Google produces no results about the band, and their discography has disappeared from his collection. Thus he decides to transcribe their music from memory and pass it off as his own.

Jack becomes a local celebrity and while being interviewed on TV catches the eye of Ed Sheeran (himself). Sheeran invites Jack to open his show in Moscow and Jack does so with a rendition of “Back in the USSR”. Music manager Debra Hammer (Kate McKinnon) signs Jack after the concert and brings him to LA where he starts recording his full length album. It does get a bit cliche after this as Jack realizes he’d rather have true love than the fame and success he thought he wanted.

I was expecting “Yesterday” to be more than a romantic comedy. Jack doesn’t deserve Ellie as she works to financially support herself and his career. Ellie manages him to the best of her abilities, but ultimately there is nothing in it for her.

Jack is the worst as he lives with his parents, but does nothing to contribute in any shape way or form. He is selfish and it isn’t until he has everything he thought he ever wanted that he truly considers everyone else’s thoughts and feelings. “Yesterday” had the potential to be so much more than what it ended up being. Jack finds success through someone else’s hard work, does nothing to push himself forward and still manages to get the woman in the end.

There was a moment in which Jack discovers that Oasis doesn’t exist either and this was an opportunity to explore what could have happened to the bands influenced by The Beatles had they never existed. Instead other random things also no longer exist and there is no explanation as to why.

Still it was fun to see how someone could exploit an event like this were it to occur. “Yesterday” knows that it’s appealing to mainly Beatles fans and the filmmakers are clearly relying on their music to distract movie goers from said plot holes. It was fun to see Beatlemania strike again even if it was aimed at one guy with a guitar. It’s also fun to think that Beatles music would still resonate as much today as it did in the sixties (and I mean in terms of people hearing it for the first time).

“Yesterday” was not the film I was expecting it to be. It would have been more interesting I think, had the filmmakers also explored what a world without The Beatles would mean for the artists inspired by them and the music industry as a whole. The disappearance of Coke, cigarettes and Harry Potter were great for the laughs, but ultimately contributed nothing else. I’m more upset about this film now that I’ve had time to think about it. “Yesterday” will keep you entertained, and if that’s enough for you great. I had my issues with “Yesterday” immediately after watching it, but mainly I was still imagining a world without The Beatles and Harry Potter.

The Hate U Give (2018)

The Hate U Give - 4 Stars
Currently streaming on: HBO (133 minutes)

If you’ve read my review of “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas then you know I’m a fan of the novel.

It brought a perspective to the young adult fiction genre that’s lacking due to the protagonist being a person of color. Most of the novels written for young adults are written from the point of views of white characters.

The main character is 16 year old Starr Carter. She’s strong and vulnerable and frustrated and understandably angry, but there is so much that fuels her journey.

Starr (Amandla Stenberg) is a black student attending a predominantly white prep school.

She feels as though she has to live two lives: the Starr who can’t be too ghetto for her white classmates and the Starr who can’t be too white while hanging in her predominantly black neighborhood.

This is especially true when it comes to her father. Starr’s boyfriend is white, and feels as though she can’t even mention him as her father would react in a negative fashion.

Starr manages to live these two lives without much trouble. She only sees her white friends at school or at their homes and sees her black friends mainly on the weekends.

Everything changes when Starr’s childhood friend Khalil (Algee Smith) is gunned down by a policeman on their way home from a party.

As the only witness present, Starr refuses to give a testimony as her neighborhood’s main drug lord (Anthony Mackie) threatens her and her family’s safety. She is also wary of the media scrutiny that is sure to follow such a testimony.

It’s a difficult story told in the simplest way possible.

The film is shot pretty straight forward. The main focus being Starr and her journey and that’s all we need.

The Carters are as normal a family as can be. They argue and disagree, but at the end of the day they love each other.

Starr’s school does have some stereotypical tropes, but nothing out of the ordinary. She has two best friends, one of which is white and immediately starts to show her prejudices once Khalil’s story is released.

The film does miss out on some minor albeit great moments in the book that I absolutely loved. Overall though it paints a portrait of Starr and her neighborhood and the problems in it that need to be fixed, but are hard to do.


Starr’s father (Russell Hornsby)   has a lot of pride for his neighborhood and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else despite the violence. He owns a store and tries daily to make up for his drug dealer past. He also tries to find ways to make this place a better one to live.

Starr’s mother (Regina Hall) on the other hand yearns to leave the violence behind and move to a safer neighborhood.

There is nothing polarizing about the way this is presented. It is Starr’s world and the complications that come with it are a part of her reality.

Starr is an awesome person. She learns some difficult lessons and is able to face her difficulties head on and there is nothing but admiration that can follow this.

Frozen at the St. James Theatre

I liked “Frozen” the movie before the over hype killed it for me. I wasn’t expecting much from the stage adaptation, but I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. 

It was funny and goofy and perfectly fine. As a friend said, the worst part of the show is the audience. 

A Disney adaptation of such a popular film, brings in a ton of children which is great except that majority of them are brought in by parents who have no interest in teaching their kids the proper theatre etiquette. A fair warning for anyone who is interested in watching the show. 

As with any stage adaptation changes have to be made to accommodate new songs, new scenes or things that are physically impossible to do on stage. Some things work well and others not so much. 

The first few minutes follow the film closely. We see Elsa and Anna close as children having fun with Elsa’s powers, until she accidentally strikes Anna and she separates herself from her younger sister out of fear. 

As the girls grow up they are suddenly orphaned when their parents never return from a trip. Elsa separates herself from Anna even further. The castle is closed off from the kingdom until Elsa comes of age. 

So far the storyline follows the film pretty closely. 

The technical side is especially impressive. Everything from the sets to the lighting to the costumes deserve to be applauded. When things were getting blown away by the wind, that’s what it legitimately looked like!

If anything it’s worth it for the tech aspects alone.

Anyway, the storyline starts skewing a bit from the film once the gates to the castle open up and the townspeople enter for Elsa’s coronation.

The performances themselves are great as well. Caissie Levy as Elsa is vulnerable and scared, but she commands the stage with her voice. Pattie Murin as Anna is energetic and frantic without being annoying. They both fully embody their character without being over the top. They also have great chemistry with each other.

They are rarely on stage together as they both go through separate adventures and I do wish they did more things together. The songs written for the stage are not as interesting as the existing ones made for the film. The rest of the cast is great, but many kudos are given to the two men who take turns playing Sven as they essentially do the entire show on all fours while on stilts. 

The Young Elites (The Young Elites #1) by Marie Lu

“Be true to yourself. But that's something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to be the version of yourself that they like.”

This is the struggle of the main character. It’s a universal struggle!

Still, this is not a boring, cliched book. It does have its flaws, but they’re minor. Overall, it’s a fantastic read. Fantasy books are hit or miss with me and this one was a hit! I was intrigued by the setting and the circumstances of the world. This isn’t an original idea necessarily, but it was well done and unique enough to stand out. 

These are some of the things I liked immensely. There is a romance aspect, but no love triangle. The main character is physically flawed, but still beautiful. Her beauty is mentioned, but her self consciousness is warranted as she’s missing an eye. There is a platonic friendship between a female character and a male character (and again no love triangle!). The villain doesn’t stereotypically want to take over the kingdom. 

All great elements without the usual annoying tropes!

What it’s about:

“It is pointless to believe what you see, if you only see what you believe.” 

Adelina Amouteru is a malfetto (someone who has gained super powers after a blood fever ran through the kingdom). She lost her mother to the blood fever and her father is physically abusive. 

Needless to say, Adelina doesn’t have the best life. To make things worse malfettos are persecuted. They are said to be cursed and to rid the kingdom of these curses any known malfettos are killed. 

At the start of the novel, Adelina’s dad has just sold her to the town butcher. As Adelina is marked, it would be difficult for her to find a suitor despite her beauty. Her only other living family member is her sister Violetta. Violetta is spoiled by their father and the sisters’ relationship is strained because of it. Having no reason to stay, Adelina runs away. 

“Everyone has darkness inside them, however hidden.” 

Adelina is unaware of what her power is, but she discovers it as her father pursues her. She has hatred and hurt inside of her that prevents her from controlling her powers causing her to accidentally kill her father. 

This sudden burst of power causes her to get caught by the kingdom and is sent to be executed. At her execution, things begin to go awry as other malfettos show up to prevent her death. She unwittingly unleashes her powers again, fully putting an end to her execution. This causes her to faint from the exertion. 

“To love is to be afraid. You are frightened, deathly terrified, that something will happen to those you love. Think of the possibilities. Does your heart clench with each thought? That, my friend, is love. And love enslaves us all, for you cannot have love without fear.”

As it turns out, your energy is depleted whenever you use your powers. Obviously the amount of energy depleted on how long the powers are used for and how much you use at a time. 

When Adelina wakes up she finds herself in the care of the young elites. They are a group of malfettos fighting the the kingdom against their persecution. Leading the group is a young man by the name of Enzo. It turns out that Enzo is actually the crown prince. 

“I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.” 

Enzo was banished from the kingdom after it was discovered that he was a malfetto. Stripped of his crown, Enzo is ready to take back the throne. 

Currently sitting on the throne is Enzo’s older sister. Wanting to be queen she got rid of Enzo as quickly as possible and had her husband assume the throne. 

The young elites are a powerful team. It’s looking like Adelina will be their newest recruit,  but first she needs to pass a few initiation tests. 

If she fails, she will be killed. 

“Embellish your flaws. They will turn into your assets.” 

Toy Story 4 (2019)

I remember when “Toy Story 3” premiered. I remember how excited people were. I remember that the people around me in the theatre were all mainly my age. We were the “Toy Story” generation. We were about Andy’s age when the film premiered in 1995 and we were about Andy’s age as he said goodbye to his toys. We were saying goodbye along with him to these characters that we had grown to love. Except “Toy Story 4” premiered and that all went down the drain.

I am one of the few people who was not excited for a new Toy Story film. I had no reason to be. The trilogy ended perfectly. That was the perfect send off to Buzz and Woody and the rest of the gang. Of course the Toy Story franchise is one of Disney/Pixar’s money grabs so why wouldn’t they cash in on the franchise one more time (hopefully).

Directed by Josh Cooley we find Buzz (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks) and the rest of Andy's toys adjusting to life with Bonnie (Madeline McGraw). Woody is repeatedly looked over and he begins to lose his sense of purpose. He regains his sense of purpose when Bonnie returns from kindergarten orientation with Forky (Tony Hale). After making him, he becomes Bonnie’s new favorite toy, but Forky views himself as trash. He continually tries to throw himself away and Woody is dedicated to making sure he remains with Bonnie.

There is nothing here that isn’t original. Woody must adjust to no longer being the favorite much like in the first film. Woody meets toys who are happy being lost as that means they always get played with as opposed to feeling lost as their kids grow older (Toy Story 2). There’s an antique shop where some toys have more powers than others (Toy Story 3). The ruler of the antique shop is Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks). She has a broken voice box, but notices that Woody’s still works and is the same model as hers.

Working for Gabby Gabby are some terrifying ventriloquist’s dummies. Seriously they’re scariest things you will ever see in an animated film. Anyway, after missing from the previous film we see the return of Bo Peep (Annie Potts). She is happy to live free without a kid. She is completely free.

Bo Peep is awesome. She’s always been awesome so it was annoying to see she was missing from Toy Story 3. That is one thing that makes me happy. We find out her fate, and it’s a good one all things considered. She’s happy and no one messes with her. She’s brave. She’s grown

One character who disappointingly regressed in character development was Buzz Lightyear. He becomes nothing more than the comic relief relying on his inner voice to tell him what to do. That’s it. That’s all he does. It’s not bad per se, but that’s not Buzz Lightyear. We have plenty of comic relief toys. One being Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves). Duke is a stuntman Toy from Canada who has an existential crisis anytime he attempts a stunt. He can’t perform the stunts as he’s meant to which caused him to be abandoned by his kid.

The resolution of the film occurs at the town carnival. There are also plenty of post credit scenes to show how the toys are faring after making the decisions they do. This isn’t a bad film by any means. It was entertaining, but I can’t help asking why this exists. It doesn’t add to the original story. There’s nothing new about the material. It’s just there. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I think I’ll stick to rewatching the original trilogy.

Automata (2014)

“Automata” follows a long line of post apocalyptic science fiction films that pits humans against androids and there isn’t much that sets this film apart. 

The film stars Antonio Banderas who plays an insurance claims agent investigating a specific brand of robot built to help humans. 

Fail safes were installed into these robots to prevent them from harming humans and from becoming too powerful. These robots have somehow found a way to override the failsafes and begin thinking for themselves. 

Gabe Ibáñez directs and while it is cool to look at and to watch, once the film is over it hasn’t left much of an impression. 

Antonio Banderas does a pretty good job of doing something with the role even if the semantics of his job aren’t interesting to listen to. The only other cast member who is memorable is Melanie Griffith though I don’t mean that in a good way. 

The film was bogged down by being too similar to others films in the genre that came before, it can be interesting, but overall it’s probably something you’ve seen before. 

“Automata”

Rated: R

Run time: 1 hour 49 minutes 

See it on: Netflix