APPLE TV HAS A DEFINITE HIT WITH "WOLFS"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - WOLFS [2024] - [R] - Apple+ - Directed & written by Jon Watts. Produced by Apple Studios, Plan B Entertainment, & Smokehouse Pictures. Stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, & Poorna Jagannathan. Budget $85 Million.

After a married woman [Ryan] witnesses her "side-lover" fall to his death crashing into a glass serving table in her luxurious hotel room, she calls a special cleaner [Clooney] to "clean up" the mess and get her out of the trouble she may be in. All is going according to plan until a second cleaner [Pitt] arrives, being hired by the hotel manager to observe the first cleaners job. During a time of cleaning, the duo share notes on how to clean a scene, when one of them finds a backpack full of unprocessed drugs.  They both summarize that the drugs belong to a local cartel who could start up lots of trouble, so they both use all of their known contacts to help them track down the possible real owners of the drugs. This is where a real adventure begins as the cleaners have to find the owners of the heroine and erase any existence of their work, and more especially, their identities.

THE GOOD - A large part of this film was filmed using the new Apple iPhone 18 Max; which was a good call with the slow motion and close up shots. Clooney and Pitt have outstanding chemistry, both developing parts of the same type of character; dressing the same, carrying the same weapons, being prepared for the same type of upcoming scenario, knowing the same contacts, etc. The visual effects are outstanding and the location spotting was perfect. Filmed entirely in New York, the director flawlessly showcased the underbelly of New York with some impressive cinematography. The editing was top notch, making the movie flow seamlessly from one scene to another, presenting a realistic feel of the consequences should the duo fail to complete their jobs.

THE BAD - Some of the bad guys in this film are never shown, only mentioned in passing or with mysterious phone calls; leaving all kinds of questions lingering. There is some dialog between the two main characters that seem to goo too long at times.

POST MORTEM - This is a great action/dark comedy, with some well thought-out twists and turns that tie the whole thing together with a surprise ending that had me as surprised as the main characters. This could be an interesting first part to a two-part film. Kudos to Apple+ for producing this little gem which is sure to beg for a follow up sequel!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [4.5 of 5 Stars]

IS “MONEYBALL” THE PERFECT FILM?…

MONEYBALL [2003] starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill could in fact be the best film ever made. Of course, that is my opinion, but the facts that lay in the film are a tremendous effort of delivering a solid film from an idea that sparked a new generation of sports films. A slew of sports films began to follow shortly after Moneyball proved that a new format that depicted the "behind the scenes" world in producing a professional team from the managements point of view could work on the big screen, and boy, what a mark the efforts of the films production team made on future Hollywood films.

Some films die after all of the post promotional work and release have passed, but Moneyball has proven to have a long life of exceptional praise in the streaming world. The film has bounced effortlessly from Amazon Prime, to NetFlix, to HBO MAX, and back again. Pitt was supported by a tremendous cast who brought some interesting characters to life and the chemistry was natural and presented well on screen. Only one other film, FOREST GUMP [1994] with Tom Hanks, ranks high on my list of films that I can see again and again, and not get tired or bored with the films direction and message. I feel like I've seen the film for the first time each time I watch it. Do you want to know why?...because the film is flawless in the directing and editing. And even though I know that the writers and directors took some liberties to separate fact from fiction, the film still delivers it's message with impunity.

Like Forest Gump, I just don't think that no other actor could have masterfully played the role of Billy Beane, like Pitt. For some strange reason, there's a feel in the film that Pitt was on his game as an actor or the character was just perfect for him. In most part, Pitt pushed every minute of this film so far that he chose to step in as a producer and keep this film alive. Every sequence of this film was captured brilliantly with the best lighting, sound, and cinematography. Every part in this film brought out the best in each new actor signed on board, including Kerris Dorsey who played Beane's daughter "Casey."

The big message in this film is that Beane learned a valuable lesson, even though he was a wise manager to his assistant and had all of the answers, he earned the right to understand that, "One can win big even through losing." If you haven't seen Moneyball, or you aren't a big fan of sports, you should see it. You'll be entertained and you'll also wish that things would have worked out for the Oakland A's!