WARWICK SHOWCASE

THE FLASH
* * *
Superhero Time Travel

The Flash (Ezra Miller) does a little time travel with a twist.

But first, let’s open with a bang.

Young Barry Miller is on his way to work when he sees babies falling from a high rise. In a “flash” he gathers them up on a gurney, and even puts one in a microwave.  It is a very bizarre scene.

The Flash teams up with Batman and Wonder Woman to bring the chaos to a close before the movie goes off in a completely different direction.

We learn that Barry’s mother was murdered, and his father is in jail for the crime. Barry’s goal is to prove his innocence, but he must go back in time to do so.

He meets his younger self and together they mess things up badly. It’s a good thing there are other superheroes in this parallel universe, including Supergirl.

The movie goes on for over three hours and if you hang around after the credits there are hints of more to come.

NO HARD FEELINGS
* * ½
(Vulgar/Poignant Teen Coming of Age Movie)

Jennifer Lawrence stars as Maddie in this vulgar/poignant teenage Coming of Age movie that doesn’t know what it wants to be.

Beginning with the title, the attempts at comedy are often literally below the belt and filled with profanity, nudity, sex, bathroom and vomiting scenes, and drugs.

The R rating pushes the envelope on this one.

Maddie is a local Montauck woman in her early thirties trying to get out of debt and close to losing her family homestead and car. She earns part of her money as an Uber driver, so when faced with the opportunity to get a car, she jumps at it.

Parents of a college-bound sexually shy boy (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) hire her to seduce Percy (Andrew Bart Feldman) and “make a man out of him” in exchange for a car.

You  can see this coming from a mile away. He shies away, rejecting her many advances, including skinny dipping, lap dancing and blatant sex.

Slowly, but surely, she turns him around and he falls in love with her, only to discover his parents’ plot.

Poignancy sets in. Percy grows up. Maddie gets her car. They all live happily ever after.

Yuck!

WARWICK SHOWCASE  AND AVON

ASTEROID CITY
* *
(Wes Anderson’s Unbearably Quirky Conundrum)

Fans of Anderson’s quirky style may find meaning in this scattered attempt at discovering the meaning of life at a Space Cadet Convention in the middle of the desert, but any sense of order was beyond by comprehension.

The movie takes place in the fifties, bringing a plethora of actors, movie people, and space fans to Asteroid City, where a convention of sorts is being held and filmed.

Anderson’s stilted language gets on your nerves, as do the constant interruptions back to studio rehearsals and continuing saga of a father who brings his three daughters, son, and wife’s ashes to the desert.

An extraterrestrial experience occurs. Is it real or scripted? Is the world in danger? What is the meaning of all this gobbledygook?

The movie uses dozens of familiar actors, including Tom Hanks, Steve Carrel, Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber and many more. Anderson uses a weird technique to make the characters appears like comic book characters.

The actors often recite nonsense. Nothing gels or connects.

It is all one big confusing mess.

Unless you are part of Anderson’s cult, don’t say I didn’t warn you.