“Little Fish”… completed just before our pandemic shutdown, the timing just couldn’t be better for this VOD sci-fi romancer, set in a global pandemic which has people losing their memories. Some lost memories fast. Some all at once. They say timing is everything. This one is set just a bit into the future and is totally believable, horrifying & random. Olivia Cooke, best-known for “Bates Motel” and the new movie “Sound Of Metal” teams with Jack O’Connell, best known for his role as in the Angelina Jolie-directed 2014 film “Unbroken”- the story of Olympian Louis Zamperini, a real-life WW2 POW . Like his co-star in “Little Fish”, O’Connell is British, but plays an American here. Great casting with these two. Director Chad Hartigan guests this weekend on “Sonstein Sunday” at 7 AM. “Little Fish” gets a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Props to Hartigan for a well-paced movie that clock in at just over an hour and 30 minutes, a rarity these days when most go way too long. My only criticism: I would have preferred seeing the end as surprise.
3 Hearts
“News Of The World”.. now on VOD & Prime Video, this Tom Hanks movie is set 5 years after the Civil War and is as much a history lesson as a thriller and heart warmer. Hanks stars as a former Confederate Army Captain who now makes his living going from town to town, where he gathers together residents , reading them news from around the world from his collection of newspapers. That’s how people got their news back in the day. History lesson #1. On his travels, he stumbles upon a terrified 10 year old who was taken by the Kiowa American Indian tribe. Hanks’ Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd sets out across Texas to return her to her only living relatives: her Aunt & Uncle. 12 year old newcomer German actress Helena Zengel is tremendous and just became one of the youngest ever to get a Golden Globe nomination for her role. Hanks is , as always, so effective. This is a rare look at what life was like for those who were on the losing side just after The Civil War. The contention will very much remind you of today. Paul Greengrass , who SHOULD have won best director for the 2006 movie “Flight 93” and is best known for the Jason Bourne franchise, shows just how great he is because this movie is sooo different from anything he’s ever done. I just loved it.
4 Hearts