For Werner Herzog, he is definitely an auteur and impressive director due to his vast array of  memorable films ranging from Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974), Stroszek (1977), Nosferatu the Vampire (1979), Grizzly Man (2005), and Rescue Dawn (2006).  Meeting Gorbachev is a documentary about the life of Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final president of the Soviet Union. Meeting Gorbachev is visually engrossing with its vivid information and background scenarios regarding Gorbachev himself, but requires a serious amount of attention to fully understand the political issues detailed in the film. Herzog’s narration and interviews with Gorbachev will leave viewers deep in thought and in curiosity.

The focus of the film is Gorbachev, including his role in the talks about reducing nuclear weapons, the reunification of Germany and the dissolution of Gorbachev’s country. The film explores these scenarios in multiple ways but is confusing at times. I found that Herzog tries to be as faithful to Gorbachev’s words as he can be, but when the topics jump back and forth it was challenging to determine exactly how the political issues correlate together. The film still held my attention, partly because Herzog’s dark and heavy slurring voice makes his viewers want to listen closely to his films when he is doing the narrating.

The film did take me back to Grizzly Man because of how that was also a film based on actual events as Meeting Gorbachev is. That film had lots of background information on bears and how a man got himself hurt filming them which was overall much easier to understand than this current film.  Meeting Gorbachev is a film that requires some knowledge and even background research for viewers to completely understand the main points as well as the conflicts during Gorbachev’s time as president of the Soviet Union. Herzog is deep in conversation with Gorbachev, but there is so much dialogue between the two that I wished at times that I could rewind the movie while I was in the theatre. When I could not follow the conversation, I felt I missed certain elements.  This, in turn, kept me from understanding what the outcome of certain  events were later in the film.

Overall, this is a thought-provoking documentary. If viewers are fans of Herzog, then this is a must watch.  From my vantage point, it is not amazing, but it is memorable. This film is different for Herzog, but he still is faithful to it being believable and accurate. I did enjoy its short time frame of ninety minutes, and I believe others will as well. For Meeting Gorbachev, I give it three solid stars.

When it comes to comedies that revolve around teens, peer pressure, and popularity, Book Smart is that movie.  The two main characters have set many goals before they go off to college. Book Smart is a witty, heartfelt, and raunchy comedy that is Superbad (2007), but with females. For Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, Book Smart is one that she will be remembered for. The film has numerous hysterical scenarios, and twists that are not what viewers will expect. The female characters are not partying or popular types, but they do what it takes to redeem themselves and seem like they know how to have a wild time.

The film gears on two friends, Amy and Molly (Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein). Amy and Molly are at the ending point of their high school days with honor roll grades due to their tremendous discipline with academics. For some reason though, it occurs to them that they wasted their high school days working too hard and studying too much. This leads them to want to cram a night of questionable behavior into one night. As their night begins, they start to drink and find a variety of different partying locations that they have never knew about before.

What I enjoyed about Book Smart was that it featured nerdy characters that want to have a good time.  Both characters are played by actors who have also done movies where they are not popular and not obvious party types.  Kaitlyn Dever was a low-key character in Laggies (2014), Men, Women, and Children (2014), All Summers End (2017), and other films. Beanie Feldstein has played someone mellow, however can also be vicious and negative as she was in Lady Bird (2017). Both of the actresses come out of their shells to portray party types of women. I was impressed with their performances.

One element that I felt was impressive about the movie was that the harsh language was at a minimum. I remember with Superbad, there would be multiple F bombs, negative discussions, and just crude dialogue in almost every scene of the movie.  Book Smart does have some raunchy dialogue, but it is not the focus of the movie. The focus of the movie is the funny in the crazy situations. While I did enjoy Superbad, I have come to realize that they tried to make it even more funny by adding all the swearing. Book Smart is a lot lighter and more tolerable to watch.

I give Book Smart four stars. I think this is one of the top comedy films of the summer. I walked in with average expectations, but I was thoroughly entertained. The film had me laughing the entire time and at moments that were not expected. Also, the chemistry between the two actresses is top notch. Both Dever and Feldstein have promising careers. Do not miss Book Smart.

Dennis Quaid has always had the looks and the attitude to portray a character that is angry, frustrated or tough. However, I cannot recall a film where he plays the enemy like he is in The Intruder. The Intruder is a thriller that builds with tension. The film has a positive opening introduction, a setup with a couple that looks to be promising, and a nice man who gets creepier in multiple situations until the film reaches the climax. Deon Taylor brings his viewers an engrossing situation that will hold their attention until that situation gets out of control.

The Intruder focuses on a married couple, Scott and Annie (Michael Ealy and Meagan Good). They decide to move up in the mountains of California on a ranch that is quite deserted and peaceful. They buy their new home from a man named Charlie (Quaid). Charlie appears to be very generous and helpful with the property that Scott and Annie purchase from him. He continuously cuts the grass, does house updates, and is always around at unexpected times. However, his repetitive appearances make Scott feel uncomfortable. When Scott tries to talk to Charlie about why he does not feel comfortable with Charlie always being around, Charlie begins to show more disturbing signs of strange behaviors.

What I enjoyed about The Intruder is that for Charlie, the film takes some time for his behavior to worsen. I felt the delay in attitudes with the antagonist set the scene for more dramatic situations to come around. Another portion of that is Annie being in disagreements with Scott about Charlie. When Charlie does show up a lot, Annie does not view it as negative as Scott does. She views Charlie to be someone that is trying to be genuine, kind and busy, because supposedly he lost his wife recently. Charlie’s wife passed away, but the question to how she died remains a mystery. This leads Scott to do more background research with his colleagues to figure out what Charlie’s real-life history is.

Charlie is good at reading into people’s behaviors when it comes to them thinking he is bad news. There is a scenario where Scott has a colleague do the background check, and when the information on Charlie is finalized, Charlie gets to that colleague and puts a hold on the background information on him. Therefore, this prevents Charlie from having authorities after him. However, when he eliminates something or someone, his behavior gets more violent, disturbing, and stalker-like. Scott has no idea what Charlie is capable of.

When I saw The Intruder, I was enthralled.   However, the film is predictable in some ways, particularly when there are moments of suspense.  Quaid does fit the bad guy role well and The Intruder is a good movie if viewers want a film that centers around a good guy versus bad guy storyline.  I found the film to be Lakeview Terrace (2008) meets Cold Creek Manor (2003). Quaid was also in Cold Creek Manor. The film was the same setup in terms of owning a house and the previous owner being insane, however Quaid was the good guy in that one and that was a hard R violent film where as The Intruder was a light PG-13 thriller. Overall, I give The Intruder three stars.