Hawkins delivers an Oscar-worthy performance in ‘Maudie’

“Maudie” – “I’ll get a job or something.” – Maud Lewis Maud (Sally Hawkins) is soft spoken, pleasant and kind, and for fun, she spends an occasional evening at a club, enjoying a drink and dancing by herself.  One night at the aforementioned club, she soaks up laughter and music but without socializing or speaking to anyone.  Maud fills her time that evening surrounded by people, smiles and feels content, but she is terribly isolated in the crowd. She lives rent-free at her Aunt Ida’s (Gabrielle Rose) home, and on…

Too many storylines, not enough Minions in ‘Despicable Me 3’

“Despicable Me 3” – When thinking about the “Despicable Me” series, what is the first image that pops into your mind?   Minions, right? Those pintsized, yellow, pill-shaped, lovable devils have caused hilarious havoc in three previous animated adventures, including their own film, “Minions” (2015).   As entertaining as this collection of miscreants can be, Minions are best served in small, steady and frequent doses.  The best film in the series is the second one (2013), in which they were wholly integral to the main narrative but did not dominate the story. …

Welcome to ‘Baby Driver’, the most entertaining movie of the year…by a mile

“Baby Driver” – During the 1970s and 1980s, millions of boys grew up watching hundreds and hundreds of staged car chases on television shows like “Starsky & Hutch” and “The Dukes of Hazzard”, and include me in this motley group.  Pristine minds – void of any personal experiences of burning rubber and squealing tires – can certainly become mesmerized, when two Southern California police detectives and two Georgia locals man their four-wheeled chariots on tracks of asphalt and dirt, respectively and in the process, outwit their adversaries. Over time, however,…