“Magazine Dreams”

(Drama: 2 hours, 04 minutes)

Starring: Jonathan Majors, Harrison Page and Michael O’Hearn

Director: Elijah Bynum

Rated: R (Violent content, drug use, sexual material/nudity and strong language)

Movie Review:

Say what you want about Jonathan Majors, but he has the best-toned physique of any actor. He fits this role physically because of that. More impressively, he can act. He delivers powerful performances.  “Magazine Dreams” gives Majors a chance to shine magnificently, even if one resents his character’s actions here. Majors carries this movie as an optimistic but crazed bodybuilder.

Majors plays Killian Maddox, an amateur bodybuilder whose dream is to one day be featured on magazine covers like his idol, Brad Vanderhorn (a nice turn by pro bodybuilder Michael O’Hearn). His only interaction comes from taking care of his ailing grandfather, William Lattimore (Harrison Page). Maddox has a past that haunts him daily. He suffers from childhood trauma, obsessive-compulsive disorder tendencies regarding violent thoughts, health issues from drug use, and social isolation. Maddox’s ambition for recognition leads him down dangerous paths.

Just when one feels compassion for Killian Maddox, he does something repulsive that makes him a priority case of confinement in a mental facility. He does retain some sympathy as one realizes he has been through multiple traumas in the past via flashback scenes. He also faces issues in the present. Majors is an impeccable actor in these scenes, even when Maddox becomes repugnant and difficult to tolerate.

One of this movie’s best moments has Maddox on a date with Jessie, played well by Haley Bennett. Jessie is a longtime crush of Maddox’s. He purposely goes to her job at a grocery store to see her often. When they finally go on a date, Maddox is anxious yet finally getting the attention he craved. The moment is awkward to the point that Bennett’s distraught portrayal of Jessie in this scene appears actual. The scene creates a nice mood of trepidation.

Killian Maddox’s idol, Brad Vanderhorn, is played by Michael O’Hearn, a fitness model and professional bodybuilder who is a four-time Mr. Universe and has appeared on over 470 magazine covers. This is a nice facet of this photoplay and works to make this authentic to the fitness sport that is portrayed. Maddox searches for perfection, and he believes Vanderhorn has achieved that.

Elijah Bynum’s directorial debut was the 2017 movie “Hot Summer Nights,” starring a youthful Timothée Chalamet. Bynum is also a writer. As such, his problem is he gives characters, primarily the main player, too many tragedies at once. Audiences barely have a chance to get to know his characters before Bynum has them endure continual catastrophes.

Otherwise, Bynum takes his audiences on a mental trek through the dreams of a megalomaniac. Bynum teases with foreshadowing, only to pivot and surprise his viewers. However, Jonathan Majors is the impressive main attraction and makes “Magazine Dreams” worthwhile cinema.

Grade: B (“Magazine Dreams” deserves some attention on magazine covers.)

“The Alto Knights”

(Biography Crime/Drama: 2 hours, 03 minutes)

Starring: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing and Kathrine Narducci

Director: Barry Levinson

Rated: R (Violence and pervasive language)

Movie Review:

Robert De Niro leads this cast, playing two actual notorious leaders of organized crime. While De Niro is incredible, this movie seems an attempt to show his skilled acting ability. Audiences know he is talented. But the crime drama aspects are repetitive tropes that clash with the documentary-esque scenes inserted in between one mob hit after the next.

De Niro plays Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. The two grew up as best friends in New York City. After Genovese returns from overseas, Costello has changed; he is trying to live a legit life with his wife of 38 years, Bobbie (an exquisite Debra Messing). Costello’s influence on government leaders, unions and charity organizations gains him considerable power without any crime syndicate tactics. He is known as a good citizen and for the people. He wants to leave his mob days behind him. Genovese does not like what Costello has become and wants to rub him out. After Genovese’s hitman fails to assassinate Costello, a mafia cold war commences.

Director Barry Levinson (“Rain Man,” 1989) and producers, led by Irwin Winkler (“Rocky,” 1977) along with Winkler’s sons Charles and David, have enough influence and capital to have cast someone opposite of Robert De Niro. The actor’s ability to superbly play two very different people is a diverting part of this period crime drama. His performance usurps attention away from a cyclical story. This is reasonable considering Nicholas Pileggi’s screenplay consists of overused mobster stereotypes interrupted by documentary-style interviews of De Niro playing an older version of Costello.

Grade: C+ (De Niro shines as usual, but this movie is not quite ready for full knighthood.)

“Locked”

(Thriller: 1 hour, 35 minutes)

Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins and Ashley Cartwright

Director: David Yarovesky

Rated: R (Strong language, gore, strong violence and drug use)

Movie Review:

“Locked” is an intriguing movie that brings together horror actors Anthony Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs,” 1992) and Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise in “It,” 2017). The two have an interesting battle of intellect, all from the setting of a luxury vehicle in this survival thriller.

Eddie Barrish (Skarsgård) is a thief and father to Sarah Barrish (Cartwright). Out of desperation, he attempts to steal a luxury SUV on a Friday. He manages to get into the vehicle but is unable to exit it. Enter William (Hopkins), a wealthy man tired of law enforcement’s inability to stop crimes. William has rigged the vehicle as a large snare for criminals. Eddie took the bait and is now William’s prisoner.

The best of this thriller is Bill Skarsgård and Sir Anthony Hopkins. They trade barbs regarding law and order, the nature of criminals, socioeconomic status versus need, and thoughts on family duties. Director David Yarovesky (“Brightburn,” 2019) should have made this the movie’s focus. Instead, the movie becomes something different ultimately.

This movie has a disturbing aura, although most of “Locked’s” runtime happens inside a very nice vehicle parked in a busy downtown parking lot. It could be a more intense thriller, but the writers did not know just where to settle their screenplay. The movie is an interesting psychological thriller but digresses into being a lesser terror-driven movie at points.

Grade: B- (Get locked in with an escape plan.),

“Snow White”

(Fantasy/Musical: 1 hour, 49 minutes)

Starring: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot and Andrew Burnap

Director: Marc Webb

Rated: R (Violence, some peril, thematic elements and brief rude humor.)

Movie Review:

“Snow White” gets a modernized ending in this feminist version of the tale. The actual fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm is a short story that Disney expanded into an animated cartoon in 1937, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” This current “Snow White” is a live-action production that expands its story without improving upon the rich source of prior cinematic and literary works.

Snow White (Zegler) becomes the adversary of her stepmother, a vain evil queen (Gadot). With the help of seven dwarfs and a band of merry people led by a charismatic Jonathan (Burnlap), Snow White challenges the queen’s authority, hoping to return the kingdom to prosperity for all citizens.

This version of “Snow White” is easy to watch but its most memorable aspects are the Seven Dwarfs, whose parts are lessened here. They have always been an integral part of this fairy tale, but writer Erin Cressida Wilson’s screenplay makes this an empowerment story rather than an adventurous escape.

Grade: C (Not as endearing as its sources.)

“Ash”

(Science-Fiction/Psychological Horror: 1 hour, 35 minutes)

Starring: Eiza González, Aaron Paul and Iko Uwais

Director: Flying Lotus

Rated: R (Bloody violence, gore and strong language)

Movie Review:

Much of this science-fiction thriller happens in foggy outdoor scenes and dark interior spaces. It also features flashy psychedelic imagery. These aspects conceal bad set designs and a wayward narrative.

Riya (González) is part of a terraforming team on the planet Ash. Riya awakes with unexplained bruises. Even more, she finds others of the crew were viciously murdered. As she searches for answers, she experiences flashbacks of terrifying images she must use to determine what happened.

Voyage of the damned is the fate of this sci-fi story. The movie appears like someone did drugs and then decided to make a movie while under the influence. That may explain the 1960s-like trippy effects style.

González’s performance is engaging, but the story in which she exists is clumsily rendered. This feels more like a Syfy channel movie than the deep intellectual movie it attempts to be.

Grade: D (It is ashy.)