Fifty Shades Darker

First Hit:  Only at the very end did I sense/feel an actual connection between Anastasia and Christian, which told me that this film does not work.

There is a distance between Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) which might be reflective of “steel gray” or “gray steel”; they go together but one doesn’t necessarily mean the other and they aren’t necessarily connected.

Anyway, the set up of Grey isn't strong enough to make him realistic or believable. I didn't buy any of this characters strengths (smart and rich) and flaws (can’t touch his chest). This isn’t how one would act with his issues – it is too fabricated. However, the story wants us to believe that the superiorly damaged rich boy can’t have a relationship without out being sadist (his words not mine – “I’m not a dominate, I’m a sadist”).

One would think that this rich smart aware boy (and he’s more like a boy than a man) would seek out additional help to have him work through his maladjustment relationships with women. However, to make the film work, we are back for more of Steele’s naked body along with some submissive stuff and we're suppose to believe that she wants him, and wants to be the girl that saves him from himself.

This, of course, pisses off the woman who “taught him to fuck”, Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger) and past submissive Leila (Bella Heathcote). In fact, the scenes with these two characters are supposed to be very telling, but that don’t really add up to much. When Leila gets on her knees when ordered by Grey, like a dog, it is pathetic for both. When Steele has one-on-ones with Lincoln, they don’t work and I never felt the feeling or intensity of a deep desire or love as required by the script. Both characters, mostly Grey, were lifeless.

Lastly, there isn’t enough information or interest about each of the characters to care much. There are attempts to flesh-out Steele, but they mostly fall flat as there isn’t enough depth to her. The only scene that was really strong was her confrontation with her boss Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson – no relation to Dakota) who is seen at the end of the film signaling at least one more “Shades” film to come.

Johnson was the best part of this overall very weak film. She didn’t add much depth, but any and all the depth in this film comes from her. Dornan is lifeless for the most part. He’s not believable and lands on me the same way that Robert Pattinson lands on me; blank, with little emotion, and little projection of a real fully fleshed character. Basinger is horrible in this film. It is like the producers are using her sexuality from the long past 9 ½ weeks film to validate Grey’s weirdness. Heathcote is OK as the spurned sexual dilettante. Eric Johnson is OK as the jerk boss who uses his authority to get his way with staff at the publishing company. Niall Leonard wrote an OK screenplay but it was director James Foley and the actors’ execution that made this film lifeless and hard to watch, until the last 10 minutes, which was actually fairly good.

Overall:  Don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach the next one in this series.

The Neon Demon

First Hit:  Odd, visually striking, with great electronic music but the direct story was way too twisted.

However, there are depths in this story that are poignant and were interesting. Directly, Jesse (Elle Fanning), is a young girl without parents who comes to LA seeking to be a model. As she states: “I can’t dance, sing, or have any skills, all I have is my looks.” At 16 she’s young, she’s beautiful and everyone who meets her is taken by her presence, innocence, inner strength and beauty.

She quickly rises up in the LA fashion modeling scene, and the other models are jealous. There is a lot of gossipy discussion among the other girls about what work they have had done on their bodies to make themselves look better: Nose jobs, breast augmentation, eye lifts, body augmentations and lots of other things so that they can be the “it” girl and continue to work.

Jesse is naturally beautiful and mesmerizes every clothing designer and photographer she meets. She has become the "it girl". Her innocence and surety of her beauty is profound.

The depth of the film comes with what people will do to be seen as beautiful and how much physical beauty matters. I’m not sure I liked the way it was presented as I was bored at times but it also had a power of drawing me into the main character.

Fanning was very good as the young mid-western girl wanting to live her dream of being a model. Her ethereal beauty and strength were evident and why she was chosen for this part - she was perfect for it. Karl Glusman as Dean a photographer and friend of Jesse was OK, but didn’t bring out a strong dynamic. Jena Malone was very interesting as Jesse’s friend and make-up artist. Her twists are edgy. Bella Heathcote as Gigi the model who will do anything surgically to be the “it” model. Abby Lee was interestingly strong as another model who has some odd eating habits (at the end of the film). Keanu Reeves as the intense somewhat twisted motel manager was a nice turn. Nicolas Winding Refn wrote and directed this oddly twisted film.

Overall:  This film was more odd and interesting than engaging.

Dark Shadows

First Hit:  This film was a study in what Tim Burton likes to create, however it wasn’t very entertaining to the audience.

When there are very few laughs in a film that is labeled a comedy there is a problem.

This was a somewhat convoluted story where a witch (how did she become one?) is more powerful than a vampire but not more powerful than a ghost. What was this film about?

Was it a film about long lost love, trying to tie together across 200 years? Or was it was about fishing, fish canning and how one family wanted to control it in a small town in Maine? Or was it was about great sex between a witch and a mortal but it wasn't enough to create a lasting relationship?

Heck, I really don't know but it might have been about Tim Burton plying his trade of creating fun off kilter spooky characters which have little basis in reality with no plot. Barnabas Collins (played by Johnny Depp) is the soul who doesn’t want to love a witch so he is turned into a vampire and is dug up from his grave 200 years later. He returns to his family home now run by Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (played by Michelle Pfeiffer).

She is the matriarch of the now crumbling fishing and canning Collins Empire. Dr. Julia Hoffman (played by Helena Bonham Carter) comes to try and heal the vampire Barnabas. But how and why they found this person is completely left off the script. Which indicated that this was a totally unneeded and unwarranted part, but a way to get Carter, Burton’s wife, some work.

Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller) was another useless part as Elizabeth’s son. Eva Green played the witch Angelique Bouchard, who was one of two major protagonists in this story.

The third wheel was Victoria Winters/Josette DePres (played by Bella Heathcote) who was loved by and was in love with Barnabas but was killed centuries ago by Witch Angelique. Again, like Barnabas, she comes back to fulfill her love/dream.

This whole film is convoluted and didn’t make a good story worth telling. There was little intrigue but it did have Burton’s trademark ghoulishness.

Depp was OK as his character but the film was so poor it felt like he was re-treading past Burton work. Pfeiffer was lost and very miscast in this film and she simply doesn’t do ghoul well. She’s better off in a dynamic part. Bonham Carter as she has done lately, try to be over the top (see her stuff in Harry Potter films) as oppose to acting. The part was unneeded for this story and therefore her value was minimal. Miller was a wasted character and I had no idea why it was part of the film. Green was the most interesting of characters in the film. Her gazes and temperament were excellent for this part. Heathcote, was beautiful but in a role which was not fully utilized. There could have been more depth to this part. Jackie Earle Haley has a small part in this film as the Collins mansion handy man and unfortunately there was little Haley could do with this part. Seth Grahame-Smith and John August wrote a wasteful script which had a very flimsy storyline and dialogue was of little use. Burton does great visuals (bright red car, lipstick and dress for Angelique), but overall this story lacked something worth watching. It is a far cry from Edward Scissorhands and, my favorite, Beetlejuice.

Overall:  Don’t waste your time. This film isn’t funny nor is it an interesting story.