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Screams of a Winter Night (1979)
Wait, what?
With an incredibly bad first half filled with unlikable characters and boring stories, this movie does a complete turn around in its last half. Primarily an anthology film with numerous stories being told at your stereotypical cabin in the words by your stereotypical adults playing teens, complete with the nerd, the sexist jock, his lover and Mistress, the unlikable female friend, the cool guy and his girlfriend and a bunch of others ready to die screaming when the film deems it time. Sadly the stories don't live up to the wrap around one and it's insanely over the top finale. But its that last 10 minutes or so filled with pure bad movie insanity, including over the top acting and screaming, outlandish effects and crazy lore that will leave you so in shock you will feel you've seen a so bad its good masterpiece. Unfortunately it's not quite so, it's very very tedious in set up, it's bad print will have you questioning flashes on screen, it's actors choices will have you rolling your eyes, and it's side stories can feel like major slogs to get through. Still, it's something that needs to be witnessed, especially by those brave souls who truly love trash.
Midnight Mass (2021)
When midnight comes
6 episodes into Mike Flanagan's newest Netflix mini series "Midnight Mass", I couldn't help but think he had done it again. That he had managed to make another brilliant horror outing following his two amazing Netflix horror dramas, "The Haunting of Hill House" and "The Haunting of Bly manor". But as the last episode played, all of that started to disappear. It could be easy to call Flanagan out on his overwhelming need to sacrifice spectacle for character exploration, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that this is exactly what makes him great. That this is exactly what I love and others would call "boring". So if you hate the psychologically of movies and TV and only want the monsters, the rampage or the action, this is not the show for you. In fact, this show, more so then his previous works, relishes monologues and the slow burn of metaphorical landscapes. This is also why the last episode not only disappointed but took the breath out of everything before it. We spend hours building to an epic event and when we arrive it's quickly rushed in the finale. As if pressed for time, characters suddenly make dumb decisions, rush to explain and flip their motivations. Some plots seem to never be explained or are just abandoned. Those monologues that were great and fascinating before become forced and inappropriately timed. Another problem is the choice of casting of particular characters, the material could have been incredible in different hands but acts as if the deliveries here are mind blowing, they're good, but no where near the way the direction seems to frame it. This is all incredibly unfortunate seeing how the journey to the last episode is worthy of attention. It's twists are fascinating, it's take on creature lore is fresh, the exploration of themes such as religion, family, spirituality, bigotry, loss, addiction and death are all incredibly done. There's even moments of love that feel stronger then most I've seen in recent memory. Its also got creepy vibes, heart breaking scenes, fantastic direction and some scares. It's just a shame the show didn't have more episodes to flesh it all into a perfect package.
Val (2021)
Deeper look
Val Kilmer, for many years back when I was younger, was one of my favorite actors of all time. This was due to his constant changes of voice and personalities. From his remarkable shape-shifting performance as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's "The Doors" , his intense performance as Doc Holliday in "Tombstone", to even his comedic abilities in the cult classics "Top Secret" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" his characters have always been elevated from his presence. Early on as he started to fad away with the increasing rumors of his large ego on sets and his over the top temper, so to did my admiration for his acting. Even with this, I was floored when I found out about his cancer, and the almost complete loss of his voice. I started to feel like this great actor had altogether disappeared from my screen for good. Then appeared this documentary which he had made about his life and I thought here we go, we will get the truth about everything and we will see him humbled by his past indiscretions. "VAL" is some of those things. We see his home videos and take a trip through out a lot of his life, through the easy and the hard and its a raw and emotional ride. But its also extremely one sided, he paints himself out as a misunderstood artist and seems, at times, to go out of his way to knock certain things. He makes a point to say the Zucker Brothers didn't want him to actually play guitar in "Top Secret" because it would be funnier, after he learned it on his own , as to imply they were cruel. The same goes with poor John Frankenheimer, who is no longer alive to defend himself, as he shows hidden footage of his fight with the director on the set of the terrible "Island of Dr. Moreau" as if he was right, still. This is extremely childish, especially when you take in what Frankenheimer had to go through on the set. He even does the same with his own ex wife and father. It's a shame that Kilmer didn't take more of a chance to grow and learn from these past problems within this documentary, it would have made for such a stronger piece. Of course I am glad to see all the behind the scenes footage, to see him happy with his family, meeting his fans and seeing him peaceful with his beliefs. I'm just glad to see him. 7/10.
Annette (2021)
Cut strings
Wow, this is something so different, so unusual and so interesting that it almost begs to be seen. This way it can Creep into your subconscious as it has mine. "Annette" is a Musical Drama written by the Mael brothers, from the unclassable band "Sparks" and directed by Leos Carax, director of "Holy Motors". It stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard as a famous Hollywood couple in love, maybe with each other, possibly with the spotlight and even more so with themselves. We watch as they do their insanely different, but oddly similar, stage shows, he's a wildly popular comedian who "kills" his audience with laughter and she is a super star Opera singer who saves her audience through her nightly tragic stage deaths. We follow, like their adoring public, as they Marry, get pregnant and then, of course, give birth to a wooden puppet child named Anette. This is of course a metaphor, one that is a little to apparent, but strikingly odd and intriguing nonetheless. Annette is an object, just like many children who's parents have them out of need to hold the marriage together, to give them purpose in life. As such we follow along with the downward spiral of their celebrity, their marriage and the use of Annette as a puppet for fame. Adam Driver is very good in this movie, giving way more emotion to his performance than the material deserves, he seems to elevate the film just by being in it. Cotillard on the other hand seems miscast and out of place through out most of the movie hurting her character in the process. My favorite aspect of the movie is actor Simon Helberg's character, who is not in the movie nearly enough, but shows up as an accompanist and admirer of Cotillard's character. His dialogue is spoofing of both Hollywood and musicals and is hilariously fourth wall breaking. This aspect of the film, the self aware and mocking tone, is by far its strongest suit, something the "Sparks" excel at in their simplistic lyrics. But the movie is so filled with multiple tones, styles and chances that it can go over long and tiresome at times. It's a shame to because there are some great aspects that will stick with you, especially its ending. The last moments are gut wrenching and little actress Devyn McDowell is scene stealing along side Driver in one of my favorite movie endings in recent memory. Sadly it isn't enough to make the whole movie an enjoyable enough experience to rate higher. 6/10.
Malignant (2021)
A backwards horror romp
I've seen the movie, I've seen the two divided camps on reviews, and I am here to say this is a hard movie to grade. One camp of reviewers, the ones who are quick to say "this is the worst movie I've ever seen", love to throw a one star rating on Imdb and blast everything as awful. A one star rating is the equivalent of saying there's nothing redeemable about it. This couldn't be further from the truth in the case of "Malignant". Director James Wan has a talent for getting a creative shot. Here the camera swings and moves along hallways and at some points becomes an aerial view of the inner workings of creepy locations. He also has a great understanding of action. Mainly over the top action that is just insanely fun to watch. There's a set piece here that is so crazy, so campy and so over board that i out loud cheered it's silliness to go ever higher. This brings me to the second camp, the over defenders. This side gives perfect 10 score to every thing that they remotely enjoy. I've seen some heavy and bizarre reasons for these high ratings, that the movie is paying tribute to the horror styles of everything from the 80's , 90's and even Italian horror. The last is the most reasonable with its over the top crazy last half, but that's it. No, here Wan is just going back to his horror movie ways, with cliche characters (mostly cops), bad dialogue, strange music choices and a corny over the top use of CGI and horror elements. The first 20 minutes are bad, pure and simple, they perfectly set the tone of what's to come. But what's even more odd is how quick the movie tells you what the twist will be and how much they shove it in your face throughout. I find it hard to believe that this pretends to be a shock, after all the opening credits go willingly into gruesome spoiler territory. Something else that's funny is how the movie is set in the present but feels unnatural in its time period. Old Houses in fog and abandoned spocky castle like sanatoriums sit along the hill side from something out of a 50's movie. And then there's the reveal where this movie picks up in a silly way that changed the game for me, feeling like cheap body horror of the late 70's than psychological horror of today. I wish the movie embraced this aspect from the beginning, Because when it gets semi serious again it will lose you. This will be more memorable in the future than say the new "Candyman" reboot and that's why It's hard to score. At least that movie had something to say and this one had only something to show. This is why I'll stay firmly out of both camps and give this a 5/10.
Candyman (2021)
Sweet and sour
Something about the new Reboot/sequel of the 2021 "Candyman" seems missing. The original is a cult classic mostly because of it's strengths : the creepy tone, the great acting of Tony Todd and the gore. This new movie seems to be lacking on all three. The tone is never scary, intriguing yes, but creepy? Not really. The acting is fine, but Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , an actor I always love in everything I've seen him in, seems muted here almost just a viewer in his own movie. Certainly not the role defining gravitas that Tony Todd brought to the role, but those are big shoes to fill. And then there's the biggest disappointment, the lack of practical effects and shocking gore of the original film. This film almost feels shy on this point, trying hard to show death as creatively as possible instead of us feeling it's realistic and emotional weight. This helps move away from the horror element and into the heavy message aspect of the film. Which brings me to the original movies faults : a very 90s aesthetic, which is to colorful at times, the confusing lore and heroising of white people. These are all things the movie works to fix and mostly succeeds on. Here the color and choice of visual tone really works to give the movie a bleak feel, although it never truly hits on the artistic highs of the graffiti in the first film. The lore has always been something confusing and messy in the franchise, but here they work hard to make it gel into a vengeful entity of all those wrongfully accused for the color of their skin. This is something I really wanted to see done better in the franchise and here it's a good start. Of course that isn't to say it's interpretation of all white people as horrible and incentive is the best choice. But I get why it's done. Unfortunately the movie is bleak and ends abruptly on a sour note, and not a great one. But we are treated to my favorite aspect during the credits , the score by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe and the striking shadow puppets by Manual Cinema. These are some of the most powerful images and tones throughout the film and it was very clever to leave us with it on our way out.
The Vanished (2020)
It will also vanish from your memory
If you're looking for a movie with unhinged characters brought to life by unhinged actors, look no further than "The Vanished". The movie sets out to be an intelligent psychological thriller, but it comes off extremely laughable at points. This is mostly due to the main actors, Thomas Jane and Anne Heche, portrayal of an older couple out for a family vacation where things go horribly and implausibly wrong in the most head scratching ways imaginable. Their characters are so stupid, so insane and so unlikable that you might see, what the movie thinks is, a big clever finale coming. I saw two possible scenarios playing out quite early on and happened to be right on the more absurd one. It's the choices these characters make through out that really make the film feel more like an unintentional comedy than it should. I can't help thinking this is mostly due to the acting, which is bonkers. The plot is made even more ridiculous by the cops, Jason Patrick and director/writer Peter Facinelli, who don't even do the most basic police work needed in the scenario playing out. Oddly enough, we spend some wasted time on Jason Patrick's sheriff that feels like it's in another movie, a better one actually. With all that being said this could be much much worse , but it also could be so much better. If you like a "wtf is happening?" ,Who done it Thriller and don't care about reality this might be worth the watch for you.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Surprisingly good time
I'm super happy to say that Marvels newest movie outing, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", is a hilarious, action packed, CGI thrill ride and it's a fantastic one at that. After seeing "Black Widow" I was worried that Marvel/Disney had started shifting their focus to their very ambitious TV mini series projects and left the quality of their movies behind. I'm now confident that isn't the case. Here, sets, visuals, costumes, choreography, score, acting and directing are all top notch. Each shot feels fresh and visually stunning. Each joke and emotion land. And the action is amazing. The first big set piece involving Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and his best friend (awkwafina), is a bus ride to work gone horribly wrong, it hooks you instantly and has you either in awe with its incredible fight choreography or laughing at the perfectly timed jokes. It really doesn't let up in either category going forward. I can't believe how much I loved the pairing of these characters, their choice to not make it romantic and I love how different and real they feel from other characters in the MCU. Often Marvels problem has been their reliance on the same personality traits for their heroes, funny jerks with over confidence or bumbling idiots thrust into power. Here the main character is naturally a good person, hes comfortable with being himself and with his best friend, when power comes to him he accepts, he never truly stops being him, he doesn't have to learn a lesson, he just rolls with the punches. Almost all of this goes to actor Simu Liu who brings an extra dose of likability to the role, along with the chemistry he shares with Awkwafina which makes their friendship believable. There's even great references, cameos and credit scenes for the fans looking for that. Of course there are problems, the biggest is the big CGI slug fest ending that plagues these types of films, when all it truly needed to do was be smaller. It's a mess of CGI at times and feels a little too big and too rushed. Characters just instantly know and understand things and accept everything with ease. It is easy to over look all this, with how much fun you'll have.
Luca (2021)
Another great time
Luca
Leave it up to Pixar to give me the much needed smile and happiness that I'd been missing with resent film fare. Luca is a joy. It's imagery is stunning and colors are mind blowingly beautiful. It grabs you instantly. But so do the strong and endearing main characters. The theme and story might be to on the nose and a little to familiar, especially when compared to the company's long history of strong adult themes in such great kids movies, but I loved that about it. Some times you need something nice and loving to remind you how great animation can be and how much we need to see such open compassion in these bizarre dark times. It's a shame that Disney wasn't able to give the movie a big theater release that the people who worked on it so hard , deserve. But I'm glad it is there for people to watch on Disney plus for free. It's definitely worth your time.
Twelve Minutes (2021)
Extra minutes
"12 minutes", the new point and click video game from Annapurna interactive, creators of "What remains of Edith Finch", is as smart and addicting as it is tedious and some what lackluster. The premise, much like a movie, is a "Ground hogs day" like rinse and repeat of 12 minutes in the main characters life. James McAvoy, voices the main character, only known as "husband", as he comes home to the worst night of his life. His wife, voiced by Daisy Ridley, has been keeping secrets from him and a would be cop, voiced by Willem Dafoe, is about to bring all that to light. That is if you can figure out the mystery of the incidents playing out in one of the countless minutes you will replay over and over again. Your only hope is that in each loop you will learn just a tad more information to unlock a new dialogue tree or figure out how to use something in the small apartment that haplens to be the only location in the game. After many tries and many fails you will find yourself doing hilarously terrible things just to see what will happen. This tedium can make you lose interest fast, but if you are like me, you will be to fascinated in the mystery before you to give up. What you will find as you truck forward is a plethora of endings, scenarios and smart use of game norms to mess with your experience. As much as I loved all of these things, I was ultimately confused and let down by what seems to be the only twist. It's dark in a strange way and you will be left feeling that it can't be the real truth. This is made worse by some rather annoying glitches and lack of smarter controls. There is however, some rather clever game play, acting and visuals to make this one more special than your average game. Add to that some truly clever uses of Xbox achievements and a dense amount of story and this one really shines over its flaws .
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)
What Anguish looks like
It's done, they did it, they found a way for me to not only hate and never want to hear or see Samuel L. Jackson use the F word but to also find Salma Hayek repulsive. This has got to be one of the worst excruciating forms of visual and audio tortures I've endured in quite awhile. Scene after scene includes watching Ryan Reynolds as Ryan Reynolds be thrown around, made fun of, shot, hit and belittled by every single character in this dreck as Jackson's and Hayek's repulsive characters talk like intoxicated sailors at a filthy strip club. Watching Jackson tongue Hayek is something I never knew I never needed to see and now that I have I feel like I've filled my brain of all the nightmare fuel I'll ever need. Hearing that same pair share orgasmic passion with one another is like hearing a rabid raccon fight a Possum outside your window in the middle of the night...terrifying. Following in suit is a bunch of other once great actors either being misused or completely ruined, including Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas and Richard E. Grant. Even new comers are misused, Frank Grillo is hardly here and Tom Hopper hardly has a character. Then there's the score that kept nagging at me as if to scream out that this was a rip off of something else. I spent all night humming the tune and dying for the answer. Finally landing on the King Crimson tune "21st century Schizoid man" as the possible culprit. As you can tell, I did not like this movie, but I will admit that the stunt actors, special effects workers and camera operators are giving it their all. I'm so sorry that this is the film their stuck in.
The Night House (2020)
Split down the middle
There's a real disconnect between the two scenarios playing throughout "The Night House" that really will leave its unsatisfying ending up to the individual viewers taste. On one side of the film director David Brucker, director of the very similarly toned "The Ritual", wants you to feel that this is a metaphor for grief, depression and loss. A tone that I rather enjoy in Horror movies, even if it's become to common these days, but Horror movies have always reflected the times in which they were made and what's more scary these days than reality. Unfortunately that leaves the other half of the movie with a straightforward horror narrative tone. This tone, about literal and figurative demons, clashes with every thing we are shown. This leads you to question the story as being from the view point of an unreliable narrator. As some one much wiser than me once said "You can't have your cake and eat it too". You have to pick a lane and the movie never seems to. This is made more hard to swallow as you watch lead actress, Rebecca Hall, pick and choose varying stages of anger and sarcasm at random. This only seems to further shift the tone. At one moment she is finding a possible disturbing Secret of her husband's and then lovingly holding him as if to pretend the last scene hadn't happened. This isn't to say she is bad, in contrary, she is doing most of the films heavy lifting and some scenes are fantastic examples of acting. There's also some great use of sound, location and visual effects scattered throughout the film that really add to its creepy vibe and unique imagery. There's enough here to find it interesting , just not enough to find it great .
The Amusement Park (1975)
What Goes around
In 1973, the late great George A. Romero, was hired to film a short movie about elder abuse. It's goal was to not only give a voice to this rampant problem, but show how important it is to care for seniors. When Romero turned his finished work into the society who had hired him, they were terrified by the film and locked it away. Personally, I see why they didn't want the world to see this horrifying nightmare journey into the world of an old man. It's one part Public service announcement and one part Twilight zone in the most surreal of fashions. I kind of loved this take and Romero's unique horror vision on the subject. At times its Haunting and upsetting and the final moments which recycle back to its beginning is eerie and sad. But at other times it's quite a tedious trek and definitely as low budget and indie as you can get. It mostly looks like a home video shot at an amusement park during a family vacation. That amusement park is however a perfect setting for what turns out to be a great metaphor for life and also serves as a great look at America. The Selfishness, greed and superiority complex of it all. With that being said, I do love being in a world where movies like this can be saved and restored. It now lives on the streaming service "Shudder". Its honestly, a perfect home, for such a creepy P. S. A..
Don't Breathe 2 (2021)
Breathe
The first half of "Don't breathe 2" catches the magic of the first. Camera's whip around hallways and travel along staircases in beautiful tracking shots and perfect CGI integration. These shots, as wonderfully done in the first film, establish our location and set the movie up for the thrill ride we are about to embark on... unfortunately, this time, the location only lasts half of the film and we journey to a new unspecified, unestablished and dimly lit location in the most unrealistic way possible. This half drags the film down, but it never becomes unbearable or bad. Just a tad silly and seemingly rushed. Stephen Lang is back and is once again an amazing ...bad guy? The fun thing about the first film was how he seemed like a sympathetic character and then slowly became unhinged. Here, they try hard to give his choices weight and give his character the much needed relection he needs. It's a smart bold move on the choice of the filmmakers and it works in the final scenes. After all, the entire premise hinges on his character being rooted for. And we kind of do as he takes down his newest threat in new and gruesome ways. These scenes are full of tension and are a hell of a lot of fun to watch. That's why It's just a shame that this movie feels a tad rushed and half baked.
Free Guy (2021)
FUN GUY
What a surprise this movie turned out to be. I went in expecting Ryan Reynolds usual Deadpool over board comedy styling smashed into a Grand Theft Auto spoof. While it definitely has some of that, it's also a fun comedy, romantic, action film. Reynolds is perfect here at playing, well, himself. He is Guy, a happy, niave, and totally loveable NPC (non playable character) who lives inside the video game Free City. One day he sees the woman of his dreams, an outside players avatar, and falls down a path of self awareness that's always been there. This leads to some great video game exploration and funny set pieces as the outside world starts taking notice. It's like one part "Truman Show" and one part "ready player one" . In fact it actually accomplishes all the things the latter film failed at. The romance is not forced or creepy, it's actually quite endearing. Even The references are subtle and rewarding when shown. Sure, the science, tech troupes and hacking dialogue all can be laughable at times as well as headscratching, but that's to be expected in a film like this. Some of characters on the outside can be its worst moments, feeling faker than the actual game characters at times. Taika Waititi, here playing the villain, in particular comes off extremely over the top but still kind of funny. Some of the references, like flossing, will be instantly cringy to younger audiences who have short patience with things they found funny 20 minutes ago. But the movie really can't be blamed for this, sine after all it was pushed back well over a year from covid. I really enjoyed this film and it's nice to be pleasantly surprised from time to time.
The Nightingale (2018)
Divided thoughts
One thing you never want to feel in a movie is its run time and with Jennifer Kent's "The Nightingale" you feel every moment of its 2 hours and 16 minutes. So much time is wasted on hammering in white men are awful that most of its emotion starts to drain with each excruciating cartoon villain move. The opening 15 minutes are so harsh and worthy of revenge that each new thing is unnecessary. The director/writer almost obsesses with the knowledge that these men are bad and so we follow them unnecessarily as they murder, rape, enslave and even child murder multiple times. This will push you out of the movie and only hold you watching for the much needed revenge. Unfortunately that revenge never comes satisfyingly. All of this is so disappointing, especially since there are so many interesting themes and plots. There's a taste of psychological damage and fear of abusers that could have been better explored. The theme of women having a strong voice against their oppressors, is there, but some how undermined by the excessive plots. The abuse and enslavement of people in Tasmania during Australian colonization is its strongest story thread. Seeing two people who have been taught to hate each other grow caring and dependent on each other is such an interesting and beautiful story to show. Baykali Ganambarr, in particular, is outstanding in his role as a wary guide helping a white woman hell bent on revenge. It's his character who starts to stand out as he cares and learns about his traveling partner and starts to share in her need for justice. The main character, unfortunately, shifts in tone multiple times, makes so many bad decisions and becomes quite groan inducing to follow that you wish the roles of lead had been reversed. This ends up doing something I don't even think the director/ writer realized they were doing with the ending, but it leans toward its own kind of racism and sexism ending that will leave you annoyed. Some times telling such a potent story the writer or storyteller can come off as feeling one sided to their own agenda. This is definitely the problem here and while it's an interesting and important story, it's also heavily lacking.
Slaxx (2020)
Ripped down the middle
If you told me that I was about to watch a movie about a pair of killer jeans 2 days ago I'd instantly say it was going to be a cheap and soulless spoof along the lines of "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and would at least be worth a laugh. What I wouldn't expect is what I got from "Slaxx", two different fun and interesting movies struggling for dominance in a killer pants movie. It's true, not only is its two tones fun in their own right, but its also its biggest problem. The first half is a consumer work place comedy, that is funny and purposely cheesy as a pair of jeans come to life to kill, drink blood and clean up a crime scene. It's actually quite funny to watch the CGI jeans drink blood and move after it's killed an over the top stereotype. But then , oddly and I wish this were the entire tone, it becomes a dark look at consumerism in america as we find out the tragic reason the pants are alive and angry. This half almost feels at home in an episode of "Black Mirror" , especially with its technology based fabric that forms to its wearer. It's dark and ends on a bitter note, I really dig the guts on this. It's just a shame that it struggled to waste time to get to that deep and dark stuff. These two tones together will surely not work for many people, it hardly works for me, I do believe that there will be those who still have fun with the overall product as I did.
Demolition (2015)
Self destruction
It can be hard to chose what movie you feel like watching when you go to the theater or sit on the couch, unless of course you ask yourself one simple question "is Jake Gyllenhaal in this movie?". If the answer is yes, you've found your movie. This has been working wonders for me for the last 10 plus years. The man knows how to choose a film and "Demolition" isn't a let down. Gyllenhaal plays Davis Mitchell, a man experiencing self deconstruction as he demolishes his life bit by bit. It's a fascinating look at how we experience loss, pain and self reflection. About how we run from truth and let ourselves lose the little things that make us experience joy and happiness. Gyllenhaal is amazing at showing a cold uncaring exterior and slowly unleashing the boiled over emotion that's completely engulfed him. He's not alone, he's surrounded with such a great group of actors all standing in for different types of grief and the ways we handle it. Chris Cooper and Naomi Watts are both fantastic, but its Judah Lewis (The Babysitter) who steals his scenes with Gyllenhaal as the two build an unlikely friendship through destruction. The movie is also technically beautiful with a perfect use of color and light to capture emotion. Jean-Marc Vallée is such an impressive director who always shows such perfectly framed meaningful shots and he always knows how and when to capture quiet emotion from his actors. He's one of those people that when you see his name you know you're in for something special. With all that being said the film can feel a little slow to get where it's going and a bit odd at that , it can bring you out of it a tad and some scenes can feel very frustrating. But there's a reason for it all and that is worth it.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
A Fun second outing
"The Suicide squad" is an interesting beast. It's set pieces, like characters running across falling buildings and Kaiju devestation, are big and hilariously brought to life in crazy cinematic ways. Gore, while some times cheesy, is also shot boldly artistic at times. Director and writer James Gunn always seems to be trying to out do himself with set pieces. The same goes for his passion in the lesser known and unloved characters that he spreads throughout his movies, the man can make even the worst character endearing. Here, characters like Rat Catcher 2, Polka Dot man and king Shark become one's you want to see and root for. There's a particular scene in which Idris Elba's Bloodsport and John Cena's Peacemaker bicker while one upping each other's kills, that is hilarious and character building. There's also a great use of scene transition being experimented with that feels very Wes Anderson like. This is where the problems start though. The entire movie feels a little to experimental. Those transitions, while inventive and beautiful to look at, don't feel like they fit. The structure of the film plays with time in a misused and strange way. Random flash backs to characters stories feel strangely forced in with cliche dialogue. A character even says "that's my father" while watching a news break on TV. Some characters are just bond villains with little reason or explanation. Peter Capaldi's Thinker seems criminally underutilized. Elba is good in the movie, but his Bloodsport is a total swap out for Smiths Deadshot. Margo Robbie has a bunch of funny scenes as Harley Quinn and one hell of a fight scene, but is to heavily used and her characters path in the film is hugely obvious. Speaking of obvious, you can tell just by the roster of characters who will make it out alive and who will have only moments of screen time. Gunn seems very hell bent on making this as far from what he did with "Guardians of the galaxy" as possible, even if it means sacrificing structure. The movie is fun though and it gives plenty of love to comics and comic fans , it's just no where near what the early reviews claim.
Blood Red Sky (2021)
Fly The fiendly skies
In principle "Blood Red Sky" is a simple and cheesy premise (what if a recovering vampire were on board an airplane during a terrorist hijacking?), its also simple and cheesy in execution. But it turns out it's also kind of clever, endearing and fun to watch. Vampires and zombies have been done into the ground, both hoping for an interesting take to respark interest. "Blood Red Sky" kind of accomplishes that by mashing the two together with some fun make up and practical effects. Believe me, those practical ones need to be praised because the CGI ones can be laughable at times. The story lingers on a mother and son who harbor a deadly secret, her attempts to mask her growing blood lust, unfortunately for them the plane they just boarded is over run with Hijackers who want to fake terrorist attacks. One of those hijackers happens to be a blood hungry psychopath, theres always one ready to screw up the plan. This cliche is one that was unneeded and kind of hurts the movie. It would have been more fun to just have the hijackers deal with their new problem instead of having to constantly call out the serial killer in their group as well. Its almost as if the writers were more into a serial killer vs vampire scenario then the actual plot. As for the plot the story of son and mother and her need to protect him at all costs is a nice touch and really keeps you focused on what's unfolding. Both actors are quite good as well. It's just a shame that the logic the film presents is so filled with holes around them and their problem, it constantly has you questioning how things work. This releases a lot of tension to important scenes and raises the corny factor. Still, it's trying for some new fun things and on that alone it's worth the watch.
Jungle Cruise (2021)
Take the ride
Disney has a bunch of rides at their park that fans have been demanding, no thats not the word, requesting? No. Asking? OK, asking 'why doesn't this ride have a movie?' After all "Pirates of the Caribbean" was successful and popular at some point and even know "the Haunted Mansion" was a complete bust we could see something better in the future, so why not "Jungle Cruise"? It couldn't be hard to come up with a movie about an adventure on a jungle cruise could it? To no shock from any one ,the answer is no it's not. The biggest shock I experienced with the movie was just how fun the cheese can be. This stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt as the films main heroes, this should have already been a sign of how unshocked I should have been. They are such likable people and have an incredible ability to turn the worst idea into a fun passable time. They also share some fantastic chemistry that makes their characters really click. It also stars Paul Giamatti and Jesse Plemons as the villains and that right there is enough for me. Both chew their scenery with their branded forms of acting, although Giamatti is not nearly in it enough, Plemons shows up sporadically as an over the top nazi who's more cartoon parody then human and its funny as hell. But its Jack Whitehall who steals the show as the stuffy brother forced along on the adventure. Usually this character can appear as an annoying trope, the Mummy franchise comes to mind, but here he is very endearing and an entertaining character, one who's story can be seen as grating to those who hate "Woke" culture being forced into everything, but here it works and it feels natural. These characters are all a blast to watch from one silly and ridiculous set piece to the next. It's unfortunate though that they are forced into some very dark and blurry CGI with another set of villains ripped right from The Pirate franchise. These characters add a twist and some interesting backstory, but come extremely rushed and muddled in night time gloom of the CGI Jungle. These scenes can completely take you out of the quick wit and fast pace plotting that serve the absurdity of it all. Still, it's a good entertaining ride.
The Green Knight (2021)
The Beautiful void
It's tough being a cinema fan. One day you're enjoying a popcorn blockbuster and wishing for a thoughtful dramatic masterpiece and then the next you're sitting in a thoughtful dramatic masterpiece ,that you so craved, only to be wishing it was a little more popcorn. My experience with "The Green Knight" went exactly that way. It's visuals are stunning, it's score superb, the directing is perfect and unfortunately the entire thing is drawn out and boring. David Lowery took an ambitious idea, turning the late 14th-century Middle English chivalric romance "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" into a full length movie, and shot it like a moving painting. That aspect works wonders and for that alone it works. But is it a good movie? Sadly, no it's not. There just isn't enough there narratively or structurally to hold you mentally within it. It will intrigue the most hard-core film fans to keep watching, but for the casual watchers it will infuriate. Lingering shots of Characters waiting do not help with this, although I get the intent, it can be as much a test of patience for the viewer as the character must endure. The movie is just not fully cooked in a strange way. With that being said the last 10 to 15 minutes are worth checking out and technically it's beautiful. It's a shame that it was so wholly disappointing.
Old (2021)
Growing stale
There's a fence, I can't believe said fence exists but it does. On one side of the fence there is a group of 20 somethings who grew up with M. Night Shyamalans movies as being their first foray into psychological thrillers, horror and sci fi and because of this they have held him high as some kind of misunderstood genius (the director clearly sees himself this way). And then there is the side I stand on, the side of sanity. We can see what Shyamalans movies really are, amateur vanity projects in search of a good dialogue writer, editor and co producer who is willing to tell him when something doesn't work. "OLD" needs all of that and then some. Yet here I am waking up to reviews acting like this is his new classic. Its a mess of a movie, some where between confused comedy and psychological horror drama. And with that It fails on every front: the actors come off either over acting or under acting, the dialogue is comical, the camera work is irritating and nauseating, the ending drags on and on, and even the internal logic doesn't follow its own rules. I found scenes meant to be scary, laughable. Scenes meant to be touching feel misplaced and poorly filmed. It's sad because his films will continue to make money on sheer curiosity alone and he'll never actually learn what is good and what is bad about his work. Something people need to grow, the only thing growing in Shyamalans work is his ego.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
A plot as fragile as the packaging its advertised on
An Amazon package showed up at my door the other day and I had to take a second look at it. It appeared to have a soldier like Chris Pratt staring me down as if to say "watch this movie". The movie is called "The Tomorrow War". The premise is simple, people from a losing war in the future come back in time to tell humanity to go and die fighting aliens in that future. Maybe that isn't so simple, though the writers would really like it to be, In fact they would really like it if you didn't think much at all about it. This is one of those movies that just pulling one logic thread will completely unravel the entire thing. But it does have some great visual effects, action set pieces, sound editing, and one incredibly ripped J.k. Simmons. Those things are typically enough to give the movie a shot alone, if those are things your into. I am and those elements were fun. I also enjoyed a scene in which Yvonne Strahovoski tearfully explains her history, although it does come in a terrible location that had me yelling "is this safe!?" At the screen. Strangely enough it's Chris Pratt who I have a hard time believing in the lead role and most of that is due to his character being riddled with plot convenience. Everything is tied to this character and every thing he does is either never dealt with or is great for him. It takes you out of the story and makes you question every choice and lack of every choice the characters have. But I had fun watching and I feel like it has great elements, even if they are rushed and sloppy.
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
BEGINNINGS
My first thought, after "Snake Eyes : G. I. Joe origins" ended ,was simple, I enjoyed it. It is fun, quick, action packed, and has enough character moments to satisfy its story. It also serves as a good starting point for possible G. I. Joe movies, if they ever come to be. Which I have doubt about. That's because the fun comes at a price, that price comes at a cost of logic and questionable direction. It's a shame that it's many fighting set pieces come at an over kinetic shakey cam and multiple quick edits. The camera whips and zooms in with every hit and you become dizzy and numb to it. Even more disappointing is the characters become increasingly super human as mystical elements start to rear their heads. These elements don't actually affect the characters, they stay human, but the plot starts acting like more is going on without telling us. This removes the weight behind each action and choice. And Most of those are bizarre and irrational. No one seems to be an actual good guy, well except Scarlett who shows up in an unnecessarily forced bathroom Brawl, placed just so we know that she's a badass. Still though I liked Henry Golding in the role even though he feels less like Snake Eyes then some fans will like. But if this is what the series could look like going forward, I see potential in its growth.