Sometimes it's fun to dabble in international horror styles, as so many other cultures have their own horrors that we may not even think about. The typical young girl specter with black hair covering her face came over here from Japan and gave us a whole new level of supernatural horror that has been used so often, it eventually became an American horror trope. When it comes to Russian horror, unfortunately, I don't really know what's "typical", but it doesn't appear to be sci-fi horror so much as supernatural thrillers. So really, this is a bit of an odd one out. It's also not at all scary. Set in 1983, two Russian cosmonauts are on an orbital research mission when they experience something horrible they can't explain, on their way back to Earth. The spacecraft malfunctions on its re-entry, and in the process of everything, one of the cosmonauts is violently killed while the other, Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov) remains alive, but in some strange condition. He is taken to a military facility where a young psychiatrist named Dr. Tatyana Kilmova (Oksana Akinshina) is brought in to chat with him about his experiences. Little does she know just what is in store. Kilmova was brought in under review for her unorthodox approaches to psychiatry. The officer in charge, Colonel Semiradov (Fedor Bondarchuk) recruits her, but doesn't tell her anything about the alien life form that hides within Konstantin, and relies on him as a sort of suit. With that symbiotic relationship, Semiradov wants to find a way to detach the creature from the cosmonaut. But what begins as a scientific study on alien life eventually turns into a horror show when Kilmova learns that most of what she's being told is a lie, and the creature feeds on just a little more than whatever Konstantin gives it. The film is not without a few moments of genuine discomfort, like watching the alien come out of Konstantin, and there's some pretty decent implied gore (like seeing blood splatter in night vision). But for the life of me, there was nothing that made it a horror movie to me. It's like beating a dead horse, at this point, but once again, a lot is taken from the Alien franchise - namely the alien inhabiting a human body idea. Although I can admit that this one separates itself just enough, as being a research film more than a straight up scare-fest - but that might also be the problem. Although it has its place, and I wouldn't necessarily direct sci-fi horror fans away from it, I do have to point out that it's largely quite boring. It's a lot of talk, and as soon as something interesting happens, it goes back to that talking. All in all, the chatter greatly outweighs anything of horrific stature, and not once did I feel that morbid excitement I get from other films like it. There's that little part of all of us horror fans who kinda route for the villain. We don't watch 'Friday the 13th' for the characters, we just wanna see what Jason's gonna do to them. This does not come with that. I felt nothing for this alien either way - it could have come or gone, and I genuinely feel the same about the movie as a whole. At the end of the day, it's a forgettable one... even if the creature effects were kinda cool. 2/5
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David Ayer is an interesting guy. For some reason, I can't seem to land on how I really feel about his films. On one hand, he wrote for movies like 'Training Day', and extended his writing to also direct great, gritty titles like 'End of Watch' and 'Fury'. On the other hand, 'Suicide Squad' provided my eyes and ears with the most God awful Joker I've ever seen in my life, and for me, the film only turned out okay at best. Sadly, this film makes the same cut as 'Suicide Squad' - okay at best. It's just a touch too typical for what it is, and there's nothing altogether surprising about it. For those of you looking at the Shia LeBouf images associated with this film, under the impression that it's his movie, fair warning, it is not. The main focus of the film is a family man named David Cuevas (Bobby Soto). He works the life of a "Tax Collector", along with his friend "Creeper" (LeBouf). The pair work for a behind the scenes crime lord known as The Wizard, collecting his cuts from local gangs who owe him. Picture a Mexican 'Pulp Fiction' Jules and Vincent, but with the very white Shia LeBouf as one of them. When The Wizard's former rival, Conejo (Jose Conejo Martin) comes back to L.A. from Mexico, however, David soon finds his whole world going topsy-turvy. As though the rivalry that upends Wizard's business isn't enough, David also finds himself desperate to protect his family; wife, Alexis (Cinthya Carmona) and kids, Casey (Aaliyah Samara Lopez) and Dillon (Ricardo Gonzalez). It's your average "owe money or get messed up" kind of movie, and not entirely new or different - but it is kinda neat to see the enforcers in a bit of danger. It's a take on the whole thing you don't often seem to get, but even with that, a lot of the film flows typically - that is until the last third where things really go off the deep end. Despite some glaringly bad reviews, I can say with assurance that for those of you who enjoy violence, this one has some pretty solid gore. Some of it is filmed, such as the busting up of a leg with a hammer, and some of it is off-screen, such as a face being dragged down a road... well, kinda off-screen. It takes a while for it to get going, but if you're any kind of gore hound, there's some decent material here for you. I know I cringed a few times, so it's effective at being unsettling. It's one for the hardened movie-watcher. As I mentioned at the beginning, this one makes the same cut as 'Suicide Squad' for me. There was a lot I didn't really care for, but there was still some thing I liked about it - mainly the offer of a different perspective on a rather typical set-up. The payoff here is pretty brutal, and you end up routing for David after a while, even if there's a few things that seem to blatantly tug on your heartstrings. David almost becomes too easy to empathize with, considering all of the horrible things he has to face. I might say that this is another one of those films that may very well have been better off as a video game. Hell, there's even a scene where David straight up "GTA"s a guy and steals his truck. I honestly laughed so hard at how unexpected it was - for the record it's about 59 minutes in. Otherwise it's pretty reminiscent of a lot of Ayer's typical work. It's gritty, it's gorey, it takes place in the mean streets, it's ripe with solid cinematography, it's a hard R rating, and just plain tough. You need a bit of a stomach to get through it at some points, but as an overall, I might like it better than 'Suicide Squad', but it's no 'Fury' - still, in my opinion, Ayer's best work. 3/5 Upon watching the trailer for this, I decided that I really wanted to take a look at it. It seemed like a pretty untypical and upbeat comedy about friendships and comradery, and the beautiful scenery was enough to pull me in. Here we have one of those films that I feel can be described as "nice". It's just that simple, feel-good slice of life kind of story, where the biggest dramatic moments don't seem all that dramatic. A "Sunday Afternoon" movie, if you will. London music executive, Danny (Daniel Mays) heads to the remote fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, for his colleague, Henry's (Christian Brassington) stag weekend. There, his boss, Troy (Noel Clarke), pranks him into approaching a group sea shanty singing fishermen; Jim (James Purefoy), Jago (David Hayman), Leadville (Dave Johns) and Rowan (Sam Swainsbury). They're a group of very likable men with life experience, and when they get singing, you can't help but get into it. Without realizing that he was being pranked the whole time, Danny gives the group his word that he can make them successful - his word meaning a hell of a lot around this town. The group, however, values their friendships, their community, and the living they make as fisherman far over fame and fortune, so it will take some convincing on Danny's part. However, soon enough, Danny finds a charm about the town's community, and simple lives in comparison to his own. He grows especially fond of Jim's daughter, Alwyn (Tuppence Middleton), and it's enough to make him re-evaluate his fast lifestyle altogether. There's not a whole hell of a lot to criticize about this movie. Really, it's just a nice, subtle romantic story that goes on while most of the Fisherman's Friends stuff is a bit more of a background thing. That may be my only real criticism here; it's another film whose title isn't really what it's all about. Kinda like with 'Inglorious Basterds', I came into it wanting a bit more of the film's namesake than I actually got. But it's still a perfectly good film. I think what really sells it, for myself, is a mixture of the likable fisherman who make up the group, and the scenery of the small village. It looks like the kind of place I'd see one day and decide "I want to retire right here". It's just so mpleasant and pretty, and reminded me a lot of my trip to UK I took a couple of years ago, where I saw several places like it. If you're living in Canada, one might compare it to the smaller fishing towns of Nova Scotia. If there's nothing else to like about the film, it's beautifully shot on location in Port Isaac, Cornwall. I can't honestly think of much more to say about this one. I wouldn't by any means consider it a Top 10 title for the year of 2020, but I can recommend it to anyone looking for something a little more upbeat and simple. It provides a nice escape from these hard times, you get to know and like most of the characters, and it's not trying all too hard to be anything more than what it is. So by all means, on your next day off, grab yourself a pint or two, sit, and enjoy one of the simpler pleasures of movie titles floating around out there right now. 3/5 For this week, I thought I'd tackle 'Archive' based on a few reasons. For starters, I find these "uncanny valley" movies pretty interesting, especially when it comes down to a plot about what it means to be "alive" or "human". Aside from that, it comes to us from directorial newcomer, Gavin Rothery, and it fascinates me to check out newcomer material, as we don't know what to expect yet. Lastly, it was honestly just more appealing than a lot of the other titles released last week. I'm a little sad to report that there's not a whole lot of "new" to this movie, and it kinda takes several other titles and mashes them together for its plot. However, with the fact that this is a directorial debut, I do feel the need to be easy on my criticisms. Considering that fact, this whole idea was probably a good place for him to start. To contrast the sad report of "not much new", I can at least give a happy report that I feel like this director has a good chance at making something really awesome. Like, Christopher Nolan awesome. He just has a bit of a ways to go. As the film opens, we see our lonely lead, George Almore (Theo James) heading into a cold-looking concrete bunker; a decommissioned base, hidden within a snowy forest in Japan. Upon his return, we are introduced to two robots that George built for the company he works for, J1 - a big, clunky work robot, and J2 - a more advanced robot who appears to have feelings. His comfort away from work is accessing the "Archive"; a program allowing the living to speak to the dead for a while after their initial death, to talk to his recently deceased wife, Jules. As he races against the clock, before she fades away forever, George's third prototype may be his best shot at preserving his wife. This leads to J2 getting a jealous streak, and the company he works for breathing down his neck for uncertain practices. However, if he's successful, he may change what the Archive could mean, forever. With all that said, one of the better parts of this movie is a twist ending that I didn't see coming - probably the highlight of the whole movie. Otherwise, it's pretty formulaic as we see hints of 'Moon' and 'Ex-Machina' here, along with just about any other sci-fi movie you can think of involving one lone human and some kind of artificial intelligence. That's very fitting for debuting director Gavin Rothery, who once worked on the set of 'Moon' as an effects artist. While it follows a lot of similar concepts to other films, for a first, it really isn't bad. I can't say anything about this movie necessarily bothered me, with the exception of J2's design looking kinda weird (imagine something like 'Robocop's ED-209, but replace the gun arms with almost normal human arms). That's really just a nitpick on my part. The only other thing I'd say about it is that it's pretty slow-moving, and Theo James doesn't give the most engaging performance to keep you routing for his character. It's not quite as slow as 'Space Odyssey' (that's right, I said it), but I'd even go so far as to say your average 'Star Trek' episode might be a little more entertaining. There's not a lot of "what is life" stuff to it, as would usually be the case. It's a bit more about a man's desperation to keep his wife around as long as possible. By the end of it all, despite a pretty awesome twist, it ends up just being a sad tale. However, this was Gavin Rothery's first time, so I'm not gonna hold anything against him. Actually, for a first-time, it's really good. But what I keep coming back to is, if Spielberg did this, I can't help but feel I'd be a little more disappointed. That said, I meet this one in the middle. It's a little slow, a little redundant, but it's perfectly passable for a first-timer - one who I hope continues down that path, because there's a lot of potential there. 3/5 It does happen every once in a while when I end up checking out a movie starring someone who is very controversial in society today. In this case, I'm taking a peek at Mel Gibson's latest film, but more out of a love of Emile Hirsch, who stars in a couple of past favorites. But the question remains; is Hirsch enough to save it? Spoiler alert, the answer is a big fat "no". Even without reading into Mel Gibson being in this (he's at that point where I see him as a fantastic director/actor but not a good person), there's simply not much to this movie. It's pieced together kinda weird, and by the end of it, I was mostly just confused. Now, that could just be me and the way my mind works, but upon seeing other reviews, it appears that I'm certainly not alone on that. The film opens in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 4pm, in the middle of a disastrous hurricane, where we see a handful of cops in the midst of a struggle. When one of the cops fires, potentially hitting the wrong person, the opening credits start rolling. We then go back in time by 8 hours where we see a heist taking place, which appears to be the stealing of a Picasso print... appears to be. We then cut to the cliched cop at the end of his rope, Officer Cardillo (Emile Hirsch) toying with the idea of suicide over the loss of a loved one - it's Mel Gibson's scene from 'Lethal Weapon', interestingly enough. Anyway, he is partnered up with another cop, Jess (Stephanie Cayo) to lead an evacuation of a precinct due to the brewing hurricane. One of the local residents, an former cop named Ray (Mel Gibson) refuses to leave, despite the advice from his daughter, Troy (Kate Bosworth). Eventually, the characters from the beginning of the film end up crossing paths with the cops while trying to pull off a heist during the hurricane. Though I don't believe we ever really know what they're after. The whole thing just ends up being one big action movie cliche with some truly strange twists and turns including a killer dog who hates cops, and might as well turn this into a monster movie. Once Mel Gibson gets off his ass and the shooting starts, it gets at least kinda fun, but as mentioned before, there's a lot of cliche moments in this. There also seems to be a lot of jumping around back and forth in the timeline, but I may just be blinking and missing things. For example, we see Gibson gun a guy down in his bullet proof vest, but then a later scene shows him getting said vest out of his closet. It's kinda hard to keep track of. But with all that said, is it worth the watch? Well, the obvious hurtle probably is Mel Gibson and having to be able to look past his, shall we say, real life moments he's provided us over the years. But say we all put our differences aside for an hour and a half (after all, I managed to with 'Hacksaw Ridge'), there is NOTHING this movie does that's new, it moves too damn fast, and it gives you very little leeway to care for any of the characters involved. There are some half-decent fight scenes, and the storm amplifies the action, but that's about it. Though it bears some similarities, this is no 'Die Hard' - not even close. By the end of it all, I kinda just wish I went for a different movie this week. Nine times out of ten, unless it's something incredibly unappealing, I tend to lean towards a major release, which is sometimes hard to determine with this whole VOD thing. Sometimes I dunno what was meant for the theater vs what was meant for VOD, and if this wasn't meant for theatrical release originally, I can give it a bit more slack. But even with that said, I'd sooner recommend any number of action movies that take place inside one building - 'Die Hard', 'Dredd', 'The Raid: Redemption'; all much better movies. I don't think I found it to be as horrible as most might, but it's still not very good. 2/5 Cards on the table, I'm not much of a political mind. I know who I side with, I know who I vote for, but to discuss it with anyone always ends up being a terrible experience. I couldn't agree with Linus of 'Peanuts' fame more when he says "There are three things I've learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." Pumpkin aside, that's just a great tidbit of advice. It's just an argument that's gonna upset everyone, waiting to happen... Sometimes though, we have to. However, while I may NOT be the best person to review a movie like this, I'll give it a whirl. I wanted to check it out based on the fact that it was written and directed by Jon Stewart. I'm not what you'd call a super fan, but I do appreciate what he has to say, often able to bring it down to my level so I can understand things a little better. This is why we don't see a lot of political thrillers on any of my review lists, but besides that, his perspective was something I felt would translate well to screen for a guy like me. On top of that, this was a comedy, so maybe it could be a little more up my alley. Our story involves (fictional) Democratic campaigner, Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell), who represented Hilary Clinton in the big election of 2016. After the results of an election he thought for sure was in the bag, he's left a bit desperate. He's soon shown a YouTube video, however, of Marine Colonel, Jack Hastings, shown standing up for undocumented immigrants who reside in his small, right-leaning hometown of Deerlaken, Wisconsin. Upon viewing the video, Zimmer is convinced that he can convince Americans of the heartland to vote Democratic in the next election by running Hastings as Democratic Mayoral candidate for Deerlaken. However, getting in his way is the conservative population of the town, as well as his opponent, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), who is pulling out all the stops for the repeated Mayor Braun (Brent Sexton). Can Zimmer, with the help of Hasting's daughter, Diana (Mackenzie Davis) convince a conservative town to start voting Democrat? When all said and done, as expected, Stewart's writing actually worked for me here. I pretty much got what was going on, and actually enjoyed the film for what it was. Without spoiling anything, there is an interesting twist with, what I think, is a great message to give to the world. Unfortunately, that message is perhaps a little bit oversimplified. Seeing a lot of disappointment with this title in its average ratings, I get the feeling the reasons lie somewhere between that oversimplification, and personal politics, which will always be a thing when it comes to a movie like this. I thought it was decent, myself, and I appreciated what the final message was. Even if it does come across as too simple, it's something I personally feel we kinda need right now with everything happening in the world. Take a look for yourself and see what you think though. You'll get some laughs along the way, especially if you're a fan of Carell and/or Stewart. Much like the way it works with politics, I have my opinion on this one, and it's obvious to me that not everyone will agree. If nothing else, it's a pretty light comedy to watch in such a dark time. 3/5 If you're currently on the lookout for a new scary movie, and this title pops up, you should probably be forewarned that this is just another example sample of more of the same. If you think of the typical haunting movie nowadays, certain marks are met over and over again, and it's frankly just getting old. I don't know why I thought this would be anything particularly different. Perhaps it had to do with that Blumhouse logo, or the two big stars involved, but one thing is for sure; this is just repeating things from other movies. We start by meeting an age-gapped couple, Theo (61-year-old Kevin Bacon) and Susanna (34-year-old Amanda Seyfried) and their daughter, Ella (Avery Essex). Theo is haunted by horrible nightmares, often involving Ella and a strange shadow of a creepy man. Matters are made even worse with his jealousy, as Susanna is an actress who often engages in sex scenes (though it's not clear whether or not it's pornographic). Regardless of all that, the family moves into a new vacation house in Wales, found online, to get away from everything. While staying at the house, secrets are revealed about Theo's past, explaining why people around him don't like him at all, and eventually the whole thing becomes incredibly predictable. He's often asked about the house, and whether or not he's spoken to a mysterious man named Stetler, a man who once lived there. With that said, I urge you not to check out the IMDb page for this, as the film's big reveal is spoiled very clearly there. Anyway, much of the film has to do with the overall lingering dysfunction of the family, once Susanna reveals to Ella what her Dad's big secret is. If I say much more on the subject, it might as well be a spoiler, as there's a formula I've seen here in other movies. It borrows from so much, and I could see hints of movies like '1408', 'What Lies Beneath', 'The Others' and any number of current horror movies featuring a black-haired ghoul girl (honestly, once America got hold of the idea from Japan, it just hasn't stopped). This one comes to us from writer/director David Koepp, who has penned a very hit or miss lineup of screenplays. On the bright side, 'Jurassic Park' and 'Spider-Man' (2002); on the dark side, 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' and 'The Mummy' (2017) - the film that both launched and annihilated the "Dark Universe" (what were they thinking?) So it's not entirely surprising that this film turned out to be very average at best. The film is ultimately predictable, and it goes through the motions of your standard haunting/spook house film. None of the three leads were particularly interesting to me, either, save perhaps Ella who is somewhere before the age of 7 and knows what a trial is, among several other adult words and terms. She's never painted as a book smart girl or anything, just an average little girl who wants to go back home. Maybe it's personal, but I found it hard to buy into. I'm not a parent, so for all I know 5 or 6-year-olds understand the concept of a judge, jury, courtroom etc. I mean, I was playing with my Ghostbusters and He-Man action figures, myself, but I'm just nitpicking. It honestly surprises me that I haven't seen a lower rating on this one from critics. It's a low-rated film, but if you pop over to the tomatoes, you see the audience a little more disappointed with it. This fascinates me, because as I was watching it, I kept thinking to myself "okay, now it's stealing from this movie" or "that movie", and it's very clearly unoriginal and uninspired with an ending that actually confused me quite a bit. I may not be difficult to confuse, but honesty, check it out for yourself and see if you can tell me what happened. Again, this is just another example of a movie that, while on its own isn't terrible by any means, takes from better titles. It makes me wonder, had this had a theatrical release as originally intended, would people have more to say about it? To me, this would have worked much better if it was meant to be a straight to DVD, TV, or streaming project. One can get more out of similar titles, but if you feel so inclined to indulge your horror desires, it's a quick and easy watch, but not at all scary. The worst nightmares you may experience from it already belong to Theo. 2/5 Every now and then, I see a trailer for a movie that looks like a good, simple story that I'd enjoy. No effects necessary, no gruesome whatnot, no confusing plot twists, just a good story with some good characters - especially if those characters have a chance to grow on you over the length of the film. This was one such movie that sprung to my attention, about a month ago with the trailer, but I didn't quite know what it all entailed. It looked like something that might be up my alley, and it would almost surely provide a nice escape into a COVID-19-free reality. For that reason alone, I can already recommend it. The story goes that at the tender age of 7, Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson) lost his father in a tragic fire, while on the job. He now lives at home with his Mother, Margie (Marisa Tomei), in his mid-twenties, and his only real ambition is to one day open a tattoo parlor/restaurant. While his dreams seem out of whack, some of his friends still allow him to practice his inking skills on them, though he's not exactly a pro. While his older, and more ambitious sister, Claire (Maude Apatow) heads off to College, Scott stays put, fulfilling his days with smoking copious amounts of pot, and hanging out with his burnout friends, Oscar (Ricky Velez), Richie (Lou Wilson) and Igor (Moises Arias); the only one who really still allows Scott to practice his skills on. He's also constantly, secretly hooking up with his childhood friend, Kelsey (Bel Powley), who might want a little more commitment than he does. Margie begins to date a firefighter named Ray (Bill Burr), who first comes to their door to give Scott hell for attempting to tattoo is 9-year-old son. Needless to say, it doesn't exactly go well. But Scott soon finds himself in a situation where he will have to set his differences aside in order to begin to move on with his life, ultimately suggesting that sometimes we have to sacrifice in order to move forward. The most interesting part of the story is that it's based on the reality of Pete Davidson's life. In reality, his firefighter father was tragically killed on 9/11, which would have him match his character's age of 7. Also, much like his character, he has to deal with the depression, anxiety and anger that it all left behind. Again, we have a great movie here that brings out those kinds of things in a very real character. I've never really seen Pete Davidson in anything before that I can recall, but he definitely left his mark with this. Thought it's a tad crude and low-brow at times, it also has a solid, if very dark sense of humor. The characters of Scott and Ray really carry the whole thing; both characters you don't particularly like at first, but the manage to grow on you. The side characters are just as entertaining with their screen time, providing the audience with characters you can decide for yourself how to feel about. His friends, for example, aren't exactly the best people, but for whatever reason you do kinda like them all the same. One last ounce of kudos to this movie goes to the fact that his father's fate on 9/11 didn't have to be a thing. It was enough that he passed in a fire, and it does nothing at all to shove any 9/11 cheapness down our throats (see 'Remember Me'). As tragic as an event that was, truth be told, movies have used it all too often just to get a heart string pull. Not to take anything away from those events, but it was a breath of fresh air that in this, it was enough that his father died a hero. Thus far, this is easily one of my favorite movies of the year. It's frankly a relief to have finally watched something this year that totally speaks to me. In such a time where I, and possibly all of us need something like that, I can fully recommend it to anyone dealing with some of their own issues when it comes to depression, anxiety, or even the struggle to get a move on with their own lives while dealing with the loss of another. It's worth checking out, and I hope you can enjoy it as much as I did. 5/5 Just for a heads up on this one, I'm not gonna go into a whole hell of a lot of detail about things. I went with it due to the combination of a solid cast, having something a little lighter than usual, and if I'm honest, a lack of options. I do try to keep these as a "straight-to-VOD" thing as opposed to an "It existed before, but now it's on VOD" thing. Otherwise, I pretty much understood the kind of movie I was getting into and I find these fictional musical success stories very hit or miss. The story centers on Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson), personal assistant to fictional soul sensation, Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). After doing some of her own edits to Grace's work, she plays a clip much to the dismay of Grace's actual manager, Jack Robinson (Ice Cube). Jack has words with Maggie, and among them, suggestions that if she wanted to be a producer to go find her own "damn clients". So she ends up trying just that, behind Grace's back, when she finds a local who enjoys performing at grocery stores, David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) David enjoys doing his local thing due to its overall simplicity and fun, but Maggie ends up being so confident in his voice that she thinks he can go places. Together, they work on trying to launch David's singing career. In the meantime, Grace deals with the struggles of what it means to be a black woman over 40 trying to keep it fresh in the music industry - while she knows what she wants, Jack likes to tell her how it is, and what she needs to do. As a result, she takes quite a bit out on poor Maggie, prompting her to pursue what she's doing behind Grace's back. It's a neat story, and it's interesting enough to keep my attention. The various celebrity appearances padding this film are always an interesting, unexpected pop-up. Among a few are Bull Pullman, Eddie Izzard and Jonathan Freeman (perhaps best known as the voice of Jafar in 'Aladdin'). For the most part, though, it's just another up-and-comer success story, somewhat reminiscent of 'Coyote Ugly'. Although, it is a nice change to see the story about who would otherwise be a background character as opposed to a focus on the big singer. All in all, the performances are good here, and I confess that I kinda like Dakota Johnson who is otherwise known for a series of movies I just can't bother watching. It's kinda like learning that Robert Pattinson a great actor and not just a sparkly vampire. It's always pleasing to know about someone's range. Speaking of, one of the best parts of this movie is Ice Cube. It's kinda like the Captain from '21 Jump Street' discovered he wasn't in a comedy. I'm gonna go ahead and recommend waiting for this one to become a little more accessible. It's a decent story, and it has a unique spin, but I'd consider it more of a date movie for a nice night in than something to enjoy on your own. That is, unless this ind of thing is up your alley, in which case, go nuts! For me, it's just one of those interesting and passable stories. Nothing really blew me away, but by no means was it bad. 3/5 In the early days of May, 2020, while everyone is still quarantined because of an asshole virus, the search for "new" movie releases for the week didn't exactly offer great results. There's some well-known stuff coming that I've already watched and reviewed like 'The Invisible Man', but the presence of Jeffrey Dean Morgan lead me in this direction. I am, however, sad to say that I probably missed out on something amazing with a title like 'Samurai Marathon'. Instead, I settled for this most simplistic of stories which really plays out more like a straight-to-TV Sunday afternoon movie (but with swearing and a touch of violence). It's classified as an action drama, according to IMDb, but I'l be the first to tell you that there's next to no action to be had here. This is really just another story about a broken father/son relationship because the Dad's a bit of a deadbeat. It opens by showing us that father, Cal McCarthy (Morgan) has taught his son, Dallas (Julian Feder) the ins and outs of playing pool like a pro. Together, they play at a local pub and win some cash, but this upsets Gina; Cal's wife and Dallas' mother (Julie Ann Emery). Cal and Gina have a fight, and Cal takes off, leaving a note that he won't be back. An upset Dallas finds the note and slips out of the house, right under his mother's nose to go searching for his father. By chance, Dallas meets Joe Haley (David Strathairn) after a confrontation with some pool hustlers. Joe takes Dallas into his care and drives him on a journey to try to find his Dad. Of course, Dallas' situation also brings up some of Joe's own shady past that he's been running from for quite some time. It's another case of two unlikely friends learning a thing or two from each other, and it's nothing that particularly begs to be seen. Everything about this movie is average at best, and while it's not really what I'd call a bad movie, there's nothing here to totally capture your attention and rope you in. For Morgan fans, you should probably also know that he's really not in it that much. Most of the movie has to do with the developing friendship between Joe and Dallas. Joe is interesting enough to keep some attention, being an old guy with incredible reflexes and a mysterious past. But Dallas... Dallas was a pain in the ass. I don't usually go off on a character, but this kid really stuck into my side like some irritating thorn. He is always angry and lashing out, being a jerk to people who are trying to be nice, and everything he says - EVERYTHING - is with this weird wimper like he's constantly on the verge of crying. You cannot understand what this kid says half the time, because he mumbles everything. In such a case, I'm more inclined to blame the director for a bad performance. But just to put it out there, I think 'Episode II' Anakin Skywalker is, in fact, much more tolerable than this guy. At the very least, we could understand him. Anyway, painful performances aside, as I mentioned before, this one is incredibly basic. If you have an hour and a half to spare, it wouldn't hurt to check out, but I dunno how much attention it deserves. It's nothing that hasn't really been seen before, and the delivery of everything isn't altogether likable. The most interesting character here probably IS Cal, with Morgan pulling off a pretty all-out performance and we just don't see that much of him. My humble opinion; again, not altogether bad, but with a lack of interesting plot points and the main character's entire performance, it's just not all that worth it in the long run. It's almost a 3, but I'm sorry to say that the kid's attitude leaves me with little to care about. 2/5 If you've ever been into raunchy teen movies in recent years, you're probably at least somewhat familiar with Clark Duke. He can first be spotted (at least with movies) in 'Superbad', crdited as "Party Teenager", but has since become better known for his roles in 'Sex Drive' and 'Hot Tub Time Machine'. I've always kind of enjoyed his characters, being altogether nerdy but charismatic, so when it came to this film, I was looking forward to checking out his directorial debut - especially with a relatively star-studded cast. Kyle (Liam Hemsworth) is a drug dealer, working for a man he has never met before, known only as "Frog" (Vince Vaughn). He has been promoted to work wholesale in Arkansas, where he meets up with his assigned partner in crime, Swin (Duke). Eventually they find themselves working under the orders of Frog's representatives, Bright (John Malkovich) and Her (Vivica A. Fox), posing as junior park rangers by day, and trafficking under the cover of night. Swin also ends up complicating things by going against direct orders and taking up a relationship with a local named Johnna (Eden Brolin). When one particular deal goes south, however, Kyle, Swin and Johnna all find themselves at Frog's mercy. Meanwhile, through some misunderstanding, Frog is actually mistaking the small group as a threat to his empire. Half of the film follows this story while the other half is focused on how Frog got to be in the head honcho position he's in now. The film jumps back and forth, and much like an episode of 'Breaking Bad', there's a lot of "This happened - now let me show you how we got there." The film is perfectly solid for what it is, but its strengths are also its weaknesses. What I mean by this is that everything here is pretty derivative, and it sort of reflects a lot of the loose, casual crime movies of the 90s - which, by the way, are all quite a bit better. This is no comparison to 'Pulp Fiction' or 'Goodfellas', but it does share that type of mild but dark sense of humor. It's just that not a whole lot happens. It's mostly watching Frog get to where he is, while also watching two characters in the midst of something that isn't their fault. If you're looking for a dark crime movie with a slight sense of humor right now, this is a pretty decent place to look. If I'm honest, given he performances in this movie that were all pretty good, I kinda wanna see what else Clark Duke can do. This one's based on the book of the same name by John Brandon, and you can tell Duke has a fun time directing some of these bigger names. It got me curious to hopefully see what kind of original stuff he can come up with in the future. It won't win the best movie of the year, and it may be kinda slow-moving for some. But if you do have an appreciation for any sort of crime movie that has a laid-back tempo to it, this could very well fulfill your viewing desires for the time being. You're mostly gonna look at the performances here, as it's very character-driven. But if you come here for an edge of your seat story with plenty of action and edge of your seat moments, it's not exactly a gold mine. It's decent, but average. You may not love or hate it, but like me, deem it passable for what it is. 3/5 I need to make a few things perfectly clear before getting into this particular review. For starters, I have never read the book that this is based on, so accuracy for the story's adaptation here isn't something I'd pick up on. On top of that, I haven't seen any of the previous makes of this. Starting with Charlton Heston in '72, it was also done in '76 with John Beck, and another was made for TV with Richard Dreyfuss in '97 ('The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon'). So this is reviewed here as a first-timer to this story, and thankfully, it's a generally positive review. We start out with narration from our lead, John Thornton (Harrison Ford) as he introduces us to Buck- a big, loyal, rough and tumble dog. One day, left outside for punishment, Buck is picked up by someone looking to fetch good money for strong dogs who can be on sled teams, leading them through the Yukon in search for gold, during the Klondike Gold Rush era of the late 1890's. He's picked up by a couple of friendly mail deliverers, Perrault and Françoise (Omar Sy and Cara Dee, respectively), and soon learns the hard way about what it takes to not only pull a sled, but be on a team, especially with a bully for a pack leader named Spitz - a vicious and almost wolfish husky. Through this whole process, Buck's character develops, and he becomes a fiercely loyal and strong character who eventually bonds with John (our narrator) while in the town, between mail deliveries. Without spoiling too much, John and Buck eventually discover that each other is exactly what they need in their lives, and the bond between them grows strong enough that the film's main adventure we see in the trailer finally does take place. It takes a while to get there, but it's not wasted time, either, as we see how both characters get to know and like one another over a steady period of time. That, and while they last, Perrault and Françoise are likable characters we can spend some time with while Buck's character develops. Now, to be perfectly clear, I really liked this movie. It's got a great story, and it's easy to fall in love with the relationship John and Buck develop. I also found myself routing for Buck fairly often, and it took me back to being a kid, reminding me of movies like 'White Fang' (which is not a far cry from this). We see all the turmoil Buck has to go through, and while at times hard to watch, it's super easy to get on this dog's side and cheer him on. It's a good underdog story (pun intended), relating both to Buck and John, who are both very easy to empathize with. My only real criticisms include the utter disappearance of a few characters (I won't say who, but you'll realize who they are very quickly if you watch it), and the fact that for some, the completely CG dogs might seem to lean a bit towards Disney cartoonish. Seeing this so much in the trailer, I didn't let it bug me, but I'm also not blind to the fact that there seems to be an overabundance of films recently, meant to show off what CG can do now (mainly Disney films). This was most abundant with 'The Lion King' from last year. While impressive, it's kinda gotten to the point where I feel this needs to be used to touch up older films (seriously, go revisit 'Rogue One' with this technology) and bring in new, creative material, instead of just taking an old story and remaking it just to show off what CG can do. A lot of these stories aren't broken and don't need any fixing. I still say for as beautiful as 'The Lion King' was, it has nothing on the original '94 animated film. A lot of people seem to be coming out of this one a little underwhelmed, or disappointed in the quality of the adaptation. I haven't found anyone mad about it yet, 'cause it's still a great story with a couple of really likable characters, but people seem to wish the execution was different, and "closer to the book" (as you get with literally any movie based on a book). Personally, I have to give Ford some strong credit for acting alongside a fully CG dog, which I can't imagine he's used to (but someone else might know better). I also give the film full credit for managing to take my breath away with a lot of gorgeous scenery that helps bring you into the cold, harsh, but beautiful climate of the Yukon. You might not have as good a time as I did if you know the story already, but for me, this was a great family adventure (albeit kind of intense at times), the likes of which I have seen before, but haven't seen in so long that I realized how much I missed this kind of adventure story. It's another fine example of bringing a nostalgia to the screen for me in a roundabout way, so while going against the grain here, I simply can't deny the good time it provided me, and how much it made me miss the dogs in my life I previously cared for. I think if you're a dog lover who's a little more unfamiliar with the story, it's a good time. But purists of the book might wanna turn to one of the previous adaptations, or even just back to the book instead. 4/5 It was as if one day, a group of people got together and said "we all love James Cameron so much, we need to take 'Aliens', 'The Abyss' and the whole idea of the Mariana Trench, throw them in a blender and see what happens. It takes from more than just those films, but Cameron kept coming to mind throughout my viewing of this, pretty much blatant 'Aliens' ripoff. Of course, we know this isn't a first, but some things here are just plain lifted from the first and second 'Alien' films. The story takes place, incredibly deep, with plans for a big industrial company called Tian to drill seven miles deep for resources. However, a big quake damages the underwater drilling station, where a mechanical engineer named Norah Price (Kristen Stewart) and her colleague, Rodriguo (Mamoudou Athie), manage a narrow escape. As the story progresses, they eventually run into crew members Paul (T.J. Miller), Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), biologist, Emily Haversham (Jessica Henwick), and engineer, Liam Smith (John Gallagher Jr.). The group finds themselves on the ocean floor, racing to survive the harsh, pressurized, underwater elements. However, before they know it, they realize that their drilling has unleashed some old and forgotten deep sea, very alien-like monsters, and soon they are up against more than just the crushing depths of the ocean, as one by one, the supporting cast falls victim to them. Now, right away, this movie loses a bunch of point from me for borrowing from too much. The 'Alien' movies, and 'The Abyss' are obvious, but I've also seen comparisons to 'Godilla', 'The Rift', 'Sphere', the list just keeps going. It is your typical bottle movie where a monster is taking out a crew, and the survivor girl ends up running around in her underwear. Come to think of it, this is much more of a 'Alien' ripoff than an 'Aliens' ripoff, right down to specific scenes like that. Hell, there's even a scene with the crew sitting around a glowing table, strategizing - those who have seen both know what I'm talking about. This wasn't, however, bad enough to earn a terribly low rating on my scale. If you can go into this, a little blind (having not seen so many sci-fi, adventure, action, horror films), or go in expecting the worst, it can still be a good time. I did manage to appreciate the creature effects in this, and the overall claustrophobia of the deep, dark bottom of the ocean. It manages to be just uncomfortable enough in its execution (in a good way) to win me over, at least a little. And hey, Kristen Stewart wasn't bad in it either, even though she's never really been a go-to for me. But she comes through in this, not blowing me away, but I could appreciate her all-around heroic role here for what it was. I'd say that this is one that you could easily skip in theaters, as you're not gonna miss a whole lot. But if you want the full effect of all that underwater mystery discomfort, head to an afternoon matinee and enjoy. My only real warning is that you need to know how much that this borrows from. You have, in some way, shape or form, seen this one before. It pretty much is just 'Alien' underwater. I get the feeling that It'll be forgotten about by the end of the year. Oh, I forgot to mention, this was announced in February of 2017, damn near four years ago. It does feel a bit slapped together and rushed out just to put a stop to people talking about it... but who was talking about it? Anyway, it's watchable, just not that good. 2/5 Let me start this one out by saying that I appear to be in a sort of minority when it comes to this film. It currently stands at a whopping 97% critic and 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and holds three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical. And do not get me wrong, it's totally enjoyable, I just don't find myself offering all that praise towards it. I liked it, I just didn't love it, and I feel like I've seen better this year. With that said though, it's a nice, impressive feat for writer/director Rian Johnson, fresh off of 'Last Jedi', which clearly didn't go over very well with the horrendously toxic Star Wars audience. Good on him for making something he can take pride in. Despite me sort of going against the grain on this one, it's another case of perhaps just not personally being a member of the audience this was made for. Murder mystery movies were never really my thing, and if I'm perfectly honest, without spoiling anything, I just felt like all was revealed too quickly. It catches us off-guard, and becomes much more about cover-up than the mystery itself. We know what's up, but the characters don't. But that might also be what's so good about it - the untypical telling of a murder mystery, making it a mystery for the characters, but not for us. Our basic plot here involves the discovery of a dead, but wealthy novelist named Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), found just after his 85th birthday party. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is called to the scene to investigate and interrogate, but he's unaware of who hired him for the job (which kinda ends up being the bigger mystery for the audience than the murder). One by one, he interviews the family and house staff to find out the truth behind Harlan's death. Among the all-star cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette and several others. Our main character here is Harlan's personal caretaker and dear friend, Marta (Ana de Armas) an interesting piece to the puzzle due to a condition in which she tosses her cookies if she lies. That was definitely something I found hard to take seriously, but upon taking a Google, it seems like it's plausible, just not probable. We do briefly get an explanation that it has something to do with a past event, but not much more. So we roll with it, especially as she's basically a human lie detector to herself, which is an interesting idea. I think I appreciated the idea of a different execution for a mystery film like this. This had some interesting ideas, twists and turns, and it was neat that it gave us a parallel, and much more interesting mystery to the murder itself. The characters were all pretty solid, but I don't think any of them truly stood out to me as any kind of "favourite". Really and truly, the only character I genuinely liked was Marta, and even then, that's mostly 'cause she carried the weight of this movie on her shoulders. There's plenty to appreciate here, but despite all my praise, I'm not entirely sure I fully appreciated the mystery switch-a-roo when I noticed it. With some time to sit and think about things, I have gained an appreciation for how it all unfolded, as they did something different, and this wasn't just and old fashioned who-dunnit story. Still though, I just can't seem to cross that line to loving it. It's just not the type of thing I gravitate towards, typically. But I do still highly recommend checking it out for yourself at some point, as your opinion may very well differ for the better. It seems that way with he vast majority, already. 3/5 For this review, allow me to take you way back to my childhood for just a little bit. Truth be told, I was hooked on just about any kids show that wasn't 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'. Not that I terribly minded the show, but all the quiet, slow talking and the way he sang just wasn't for me. I liked my shows a bit more energetic, and if they featured Muppets, even better. But with that said, one thing about 'MRN' (yes, I short-formed it) I'll never forget is tuning into it as a sort of comforting things to watch any time I was home sick from school. For whatever reason, his voice and whole presentation was like a warm, soothing blanket when you were sick. So yeah, it's safe to say that I most certainly dabbled in the show, as it had a way of uplifting me when I was feeling otherwise pretty crappy. It just goes to show that Fred Rogers had a certain way that he spoke to kids. Even if we weren't particularly fans of the guy, there was certainly nothing off-putting about him. He understood that the best way to speak to us kids was to get on our level, and answer all the really hard questions like "what does assassination mean?" (and no, I'm not kidding). In this film, Fred Rogers is portrayed by Tom Hanks, and we go into it thinking that it's probably gonna end up being a story about his life, and how he became one of the most beloved kids TV show hosts of all time. But to my ultimately pleasant surprise, it wasn't that at all. Though this may disappoint some, I couldn't help but find it a breath of fresh air that it was actually about something a bit deeper than a simple biopic - though just enough is covered that we get a brief education on who Fred Rogers is. This story actually belongs to writer Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), who has been put on assignment for Esquire Magazine to interview Mr. Rogers. Lloyd has a certain reputation of digging to get dirt on his celebrities, but upon interviewing this childhood icon, he finds that there really is a such thing as a genuinely good person who wants nothing more than to help people through simply loving them. The whole thing is interestingly enough presented like an episode of 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'. The intro is the usual entrance and changing into a sweater and house shoes, and Tom Hanks, doing a pretty good impression of Fred Rogers, introduces us to Lloyd Vogel, and this long drawn-out episode covers both Lloyd's article (for Esquire Magazine, check it out!), but Lloyd's home life as a new father, who is having problems with his own father. The whole film unfolds in such an interestingly deep way, as it's as though Mister Rogers is still talking to us in that loving, comforting way, but covering some serous issues one might be having in adulthood. It does a great job at reintroducing us to Fred Rogers as a genuinely good man who wanted nothing more than to help not only kids, but masses of other people, if they were lost in some point of their lives. He just understood that people needed help, and that there was never anything wrong with asking for it. With a third "5" in a row, perhaps this seems like I'm getting too generous. But this really is the movie we all need right now. 5/5 Director Taika Waititi has definitely become someone to keep an eye on in his continuing career. In the near future, he'll be regarded as one of the best modern filmmakers of this age, with such titles as 'Thor: Ragnarok', which single-handedly revamped the 'Thor' series to something much better, and 'What We Do in the Shadows', which is seriously one of the funniest vampire movies in existence. This one is his answer to an adaptation film, basing it on the book 'Caging Skies' by Christine Leunens. We meet a young German kid named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) who has an imaginary friend in Adolf Hitler (Waititi, himself), and allows him to guide his decisions, wanting more than anything to serve the real Hitler, and do everything a "good little Nazi" is supposed to do, without going into specific detail. Here we see a great example of kids being brainwashed, telling the German youth about the "horrors" of the Jewish race, in order to make them easier targets, painting them as actual monsters. During his time at a young Nazi training camp ran by Captain Klenendorf (Sam Rockwell), an accident befalls Jojo, and he's brought back home to heal up, with his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson). Returning to the camp, he's allowed to do more light duty things like handing out fliers and such. It's here that Jojo sees some of the first horrors of Nazi Germany, even though he's still very much a Nazi boy, and we start to see what the film wants to do as part of its unfolding. While at home one day, however, Jojo hears a sound, goes to investigate, and finds a secret passage he never knew about. This leads him to a Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), and Jojo suddenly finds himself trapped about what to do, leading him to have to leave her be. During this time, he asks her to educate her on Jewish people, and she exaggerates everything to great comedic detail, which he takes seriously. Eventually, Jojo starts questioning the bigger things in life, and we realize that this is a movie that balances drama and comedy extremely well. The film is overall supremely acted, being one of the best roles I've ever seen Scarlett Johansson play, another great role for Sam Rockwell, and both Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie are completely believable in their overall awkward relationship they develop. Somehow, this is a movie that profiles a German kid in World War II, wanting to be a Nazi more than anything, and it makes you empathize with him. It's a whole untouched area when it comes to war movies, and in that sense sort of reminds me of 'Grave of the Fireflies', where the movie says "but wait, look what happened over here through all of this." Depicting a Nazi wannabe child's point of view seems a risky move, especially when he's lead by Hitler as his imaginary friend. But it also serves a purpose, and in a 'Breakfast Club' sort of way, we get to see just how much Jojo, a German, and Elsa, a Jew, have in common. It's hilarious, but also deeply profound, and will have you laughing just as much as tearing up. On a personal level, so far, this is my favorite movie of 2019! 5/5 I haven't read either book all the way through yet, so right from the get-go, I should say that I don't know enough about either 'The Shining' or 'Doctor Sleep' for those comparisons. That said, this really does aim more towards the 1980 movie, featuring one of Jack Nicholson's best performances of his career. I've always liked the film for the dark, twisted mind-warp of a horror movie it was. Those comparisons to 'The Shinning' ('The Simpsons') make it even better. For those who haven't seen it, almost spoiler alert, Danny (Roger Dale Floyd/Ewan McGregor) and his mother, Wendy (Alex Essoe) manage to escape the Overlook Hotel, while Jack turns himself into a fancy psycho ice sculpture. In the aftermath, Danny is still haunted by the ghosts of the Overlook, namely that cruddy looking woman in the bathtub. He meets with Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly), who he still speaks to as a spirit, and Dick tells him about a trick to get rid of these haunting images. It works, and we meet with Dan years later, all grown up and picking up his Dad's old drinking habit. We learn pretty swiftly that Dan is a pretty bad egg nowadays, but soon enough he works on fixing things. In the meantime, however, a collection of... not really vampires but kinda? are going around, finding kids with gifts, and releasing their "steam", which they breathe in to remain youthful. So very much the vampiric concept, but a new and interesting take on it. However, this steam is released through pain and fear, and let's just say that a young and upcoming actor one might very well recognize by now deserves a damn Oscar for how believable he was through his suffering. That particular scene is a conversation all on its own, bringing back the brilliance of leaving our imagination to do so much of the work as things happen sort of off camera. And yeah, it's uncomfortable, and impossible not to empathize with the kid. Anyway, while this kid is getting tortured (although I wouldn't classify this a a "torture porn" flick), a young girl named Abra (Kyliegh Curran) with a powerful psychic gift sees and feels this all happen. She soon enough becomes a 13-year-old trooper, seeking out Dan in person with her psychic link to him, asking for his help. At first he says she needs to lay low, but upon realizing the crimes of Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) are very real, he helps Abra with vengeful tactics, and it's 50 shades of awesome from there. Now, for anyone coming to the movie to see the Overlook Hotel do its thing, you're gonna have to be patient. The Overlook scenes take place in the climax of the film, and we're talking about a two and a half hour movie. At the same time, though, if you can overlook the hotel (pun 100% intended), the story is great on its own. It's a neat modern take on vampirism without using actual vampires, which from my perspective have become pretty dated by this point. It blends that with advancing Danny's character and story, and introducing us to a bunch of new characters without ruining anything. I wasn't entirely sure about my rating when I left the theater, but the more I think about it, the more I really like it. It's probably one of the best movies of the year, in my humble opinion. That uncomfortable torturous scene aside, the performances and direction are great here. We even have new actors playing old characters here, who pretty much nail it. I could believe that Wendy was Shelly Duvall, or Dick was Scatman Crothers. There's plenty of development for Danny, as we watch his struggle with alcoholism, the same problem his Dad faced. So, I dunno how Stephen King feels about this one (he knowingly is not a fan of the 1980 film), but I really liked it, and would highly recommend it to people looking for some new horror that uses classic ideas. As far as why it's called 'Doctor Sleep', we find out that Danny finds a job where he earns the nickname, but that's all I'm gonna say about it. The reality of it is really quite touching, and adds some warm heart to Danny's side as opposed to Rose's cold and dark side. So check it out! But brace yourself when you see a child actor you probably recognize. 5/5 Ang Lee has got to be one of the most interesting directors out there. It seems that for every 'Life of Pi' there's a 'Hulk '03' while movies like 'Taking Woodstock' kinda hover in that "I dunno what I thought" zone. Unfortunately, this was one of the weak titles. But you have to appreciate that when you see Lee's name attached to something, it's like looking inside the mystery box of quality. Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is sent on a mission at the beginning of the film, to assassinate a terrorist on board a bullet train. When he realizes that he very well could have shot a little girl by accident, he finally decides to hang it up, providing us with the classic "I'm retiring" cliche. Before he knows it, Brogan becomes the target of a very slick operative who can seem to predict his every move. He soon finds out that his hunter is a younger cloned version of himself, and he's launched back into action as, with the help of Danny Zakarweski (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) he attempts to find out who made the clone, and why. At least, that's pretty much what I took from the film. We all know who the big baddie is here right away, too, so there's really no mystery, and I found a lot of the rest of the film kinda confusing. It would seem that again, this is an example of a film made to show off how good we can do CGI nowadays, with a younger Will Smith in play. If they get things nailed down enough, aged action heroes like Schwarzenegger could make some pretty radical comebacks, and witht he way nostaglia flows these days, I would not be surprised if we saw that in the next couple of years. We can consider this the starting point, as young Willie Style here is in most of the movie, being the action star Will Smith could have been. All in all though, the movie is just downright stupid. I mentioned confusing, I know, but some of the things they do here, namely in the action sequences, are way too overboard. Like 'Mission: Impossible 2' overboard. There's suspension of reality, but then there's getting right back up after getting your face slapped by the back of a motorcycle, and not much of a scar to show for it. A lot of it was kinda painful to watch. But I will say this. The film could be passable as a check-your-brain-at-the-door action flick, but there's an ending to this movie that takes you out of it so abruptly that it's totally jarring. I shit you not, the film goes from an action thriller to an episode of 'Fresh Prince' in atmosphere, and it just feels rushed and silly. If it wasn't for that, I might have let this movie pass. But then again, I let too much pass, don't I? If you wanna see Will Smith in his prime action career, watch a real "check-your-brain" movie called 'Independence Day'. It's not for everyone, but most would agree that one can just have fun with it. This is just kinda weird and unoriginal, and it could have been so much better if it wasn't so focused on the CG Will Smith and how impressive he is. Granted, he is impressive (save that last scene), but that's only part of the reason anyone would see this. I simply wasn't a fan, and I hope Ang Lee can provide us with something from his Oscar-worthy mind next time around. 2/5 Allow me to preface this by saying, first off, I am fully aware of the controversy and concerns about this film, and I am not here to challenge anyone's opinion. I loved this movie, but I have to say that I completely understand the concerns people are having. All I can really do for a review is offer my perspective. While I do get where people are coming from with varying degrees of concern, I viewed it in a different way. I saw this more as a sort of cautionary tale than anything else. When I say cautionary tale, my example comes from Gotham pulling funding from Arthur Fleck's (Joaquin Phoenix) therapy sessions. That's also the basic plot to the movie, and the rest is "Joker origin story". Anyway, the lack of funding gives way to a very real concept in society, in that there are still places in the world where mental health has that stigma, and people still just shrug it off. It's important to recognize that if you suffer from the wrong set of mental health problems, and you can't get the help you need, shit can happen. It's scary, yes, but it's something we've only just recently begun to start taking seriously. It's my opinion that this was a daring way to get it all out into the open, using the character of the Joker for familiarity. We ALL know who he is, and we're fully aware that he's gonna end up the most disastrous villain of Gotham City. I find that audiences seem to be looking to empathize with the character, but I kinda feel like we're not fully supposed to. It's enough that we can put ourselves in his shoes, but at some point, you'll wanna take those shoes off 'cause it's a bit too intense, and even pretty scary. Try to imagine this as a film idea paralleling something more like Rob Zombie's 'Halloween', in that we're watching the slow development of a well-known fictional serial killer. Was it necessary? Not particularly. But one's curiosity does kinda make one wanna peek behind the curtain to see how the monster was created. To be honest, I wasn't really into this upon the first trailer, but curiosity on my all-time favourite villain's possible origin did eventually get the best of me, and I'm not sorry that it did. The highlight here, as one probably expects, is Phoenix's performance. Heath Ledger hasn't been dethroned for me, but stiff competition is seen here. Phoenix's Joker is very "Ledgeresque", but he plays the much creepier side of things here, making it an unnerving thriller. Ledger still made you laugh over violent moments (the pencil trick is still awesome), but Phoenix plays things more like some sort of twisted performer, and by the end you're gonna end up questioning who the scarier clown was you saw this year - Joker or Pennywise. It's an extremely polarizing movie, which I absolutely love, because that gives me an opportunity to voice an opinion without being accused of "bandwagoning" one way or another. My final thoughts on this are that people have every right to be concerned about it, and I understand why they may be. But I'd urge you to go into this with the right mind set. If you're gonna be looking for harmful stuff, you're gonna manage to see more than what's there. It's violent, but I've definitely seen worse in the past. For myself, as a strong message, and an interesting take on a favourite character's origin, it works extremely well. For others, your thoughts are your own, and I'm not gonna try debating them. I kinda hope this movie manages to open up more discussion about mental health, and those in need manage to get the necessary help. 5/5 Last year's 'It', whether you liked it or not, was an undeniable hit. Piggybacking on the overall success of 'Stranger Things', which was largely inspired by 'It', a remake was almost a no-brainer. After all, fun though it may be, that original made-for-TV movie just isn't all that scary, so much as cheesy. A combination of things make the first 'It' movie really good. It was mostly narrowed down to the idea that you could have a coming of age story with some light comedy within a pretty effectively scary horror movie. It gave you a bit of everything. It also leaves on a sort of cliffhanger, leaving them as kids, and bringing them into this movie as adults. Mike (Isaiah Mustafa/Chosen Jacobs) has stayed in Derry, Maine since the events that occurred in the Summer of '89. Meant to be the "Loser" who sticks around and keeps an eye on things, he hears reports of murder coming over the radio. Being that the cases are all very similar, involving attacks on children, Mike assumes it's all happening again, and makes a few phone calls. This harkens back to the pact they made at the end of the first film, stating that they'd all return to Derry if Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) ever came back. Bill (James McAvoy/Jaeden Martell), Ben (Jay Ryan/Jeremy Ray Taylor), Bev (Jessica Chastain/Sophia Lillis), Richie (Bill Hader/Finn Wolfhard), Eddie (James Ransone/Jack Dylan Grazer) and Stan (Andy Bean/Wyatt Oleff) each receive separate phone calls, and all but one make it back to Derry for the reunion. Before long, they individually experience strange occurances, similar to those experienced in their childhood, and they know they must eventually face down and defeat Pennywise to rid the world of him once and for all. In the meantime, bully Henry Bowers (Teach Grant/Nicholas Hamilton) has since been confined to a mental health facility. His esential role in this is to work for Pennywise, escape, and set out to help him kill the Losers club - Pennywise knowing he has a personal vendetta against them already. He's sort of the reality villain the Losers have to face in life as opposed to what Pennywise represents - facing their worst fears. Henry gives Pennywise a physical puppet he can manipulate to his will very easily, and for the most part, he's a really creepy character. I had to admire that they seemingly filmed all of the flashback scenes involving the kids while filming the first chapter. This was largely pointed out by my mind recognizing Finn Wolfhard as a younger version than the one I just saw in 'Stranger Things 3'. It's only about a year's difference, but a lot can change in that time for kids that age. If it was ever common knowledge, I must have missed that part going in. All of the adult actors are very good at representing who they were as kids, and I wouldn't choose a recasting over anyone except perhaps replacing Jessica Chastain with Amy Adams - I honestly just see a much better match in the face, expression-wise. Chastain does fine though, all this really is, is a nitpick on my part. However, I found the most stand-out characters to be somewhere between Bill and Eddie, who both represent their characters almost flawlessly. Where this one loses me a bit, however, involves two different things. First and foremost, it's the length. It's just a damn long movie, and it feels like it could have been spared a few things here and there. Adding to that, the adult side of the story is interesting, but I've always found the whole concept here to gel better with the coming of age story that involves the kids. What I'm trying to say is that the first film had all of that, whereas this is mostly centered on delivering the scares, and story-wise, it's largely about remembering things from their childhood. That's not so much a criticism, as that's pretty much how the book goes. All i'm saying is that I feel there's more for an audience in the first chapter than the second. But if we really wanna get into criticism, I have to say that there were a few moments that were very confusing decisions. None of these hit me harder than a scene where someone gets vomited on, and the song 'Angel of the Morning' plays while it happens for about two seconds. It was such a "WTF" moment, and it could have been a great, triumphant horror moment involving the character. But nope. 'Deadpool' did it, 'Deadpool' is popular, so lets just copy it for a laugh. I'll tell you right now, any laughs I heard were very awkward sounding, as if to say "am I supposed to laugh here?" Any criticisms aside, though, I feel like if you can give these a back-to-back marathon, it all comes together very nicely. It's just a long-ass marathon. But the acting is solid, the scares and atmosphere are very good, and it delivers nicely with what it has to work with. All in all, I still really enjoyed this, even after getting through the book. It's just further proof to me that there are some books that just can't be so literally translated. Speaking for myself, the themes and plot that need to be here are certainly here, and it's still miles above the original TV movie. If nothing else, it's a lot of spookhouse style fun, and great for the upcoming Halloween season. 4/5 |