The Voices

Movie Name: The Voices
Year of Release: 2014
Director: Marjane Satrapi
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Atherton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver, Ella Smith, Paul Chahidi, Stanley Townsend, Adi Shankar, Sam Spruell, Valerie Koch, Gulliver McGrath
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

Following the very well received "Persepolis" (which she co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud) and "Chicken with Plums", director Marjane Satrapi tackled a script she did not author, which had been on the Blacklist of the best un-produced scripts. The narrative focuses on the story of Jerry Hickfang, a young man who works at a plumbing fixtures factory. He lives above a bowling alley and has a cat and a dog as companions. They both talk with Jerry frequently, with Bosco the dog being a more supportive voice, while Mr. Whiskers the cat is more akin to a bad influencing one. Jerry also has frequent consultations with a therapist, since he is in fact on probation for a traumatic occurrence in his past, which also forces him to take medication with regularity (and he has been skipping on his medication as well). Jerry develops a romantic interest in Fiona, a co-worker of his, and invites her to a Chinese dinner theater, but she opts to go to karaoke instead with her other co-workers. When her car doesn't start, and as Jerry is on his way home, he volunteers to give her a lift. Shockingly they hit a deer, and Jerry puts the animal out of its misery. Terrified Fiona flees the scene, and while trying to find her and appease her concerns, he accidentally stabs her and eventually kills her. After getting home, Bosco and Mr. Whiskers provide counseling on what to do next, which sends Jerry on a series of increasingly bloody adventures.

"The Voices" has a great premise in the sense that it focuses its attention on a hero dealing with schizophrenia, who while haunted by a traumatic past, is somewhat oblivious to the monstrous things he's currently doing. There's a lot of opportunities for dark humor to pop up, and thanks to the always fantastic Ryan Reynolds, they do make their way through the film, sadly not with the bite they should have. The biggest problem with this film is the fact that the director can't quite settle on the tone it wants to adopt for it: it presents a somewhat stylized look to the reality Jerry views undaunted by his medication, versus a much darker one that surfaces to the surface when the same medication impacts him. However with either of those realities, the director never goes full board in either of them, so ultimately what comes across is a half baked narrative that is never fully whimsical and never fully grotesque (particularly considering the things Jerry is doing). We do progressively come to understand Jerry's motivations and what has driven him on his current path, however the supporting characters for the most part are quite underdeveloped, which also makes for the interactions with Jerry to feel fleeting and undercooked. It's a film that has such untapped potential, which could have gone in so many directions, and with a terrific cast, sadly it falls short of truly showcasing life through Jerry's prism. The cast is solid, with Ryan Reynolds once again bringing a mix of vulnerability, goofiness and shock to a character who is out of place with the world, with great support from Anna Kendrick and Jacki Weaver. The production team is serviceable, but not necessarily memorable. It's a watchable film though not necessarily memorable.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Movie Name: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Year of Release: 2023
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Miriam Shor, Nico Santos, Vin Diesel, Maria Bakalova, Sylvester Stallone, Nathan Fillion, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, Karen Abercrombie, Linda Cardellini, Mikaela Hoover, Asim Chaudhry
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Writer, producer, director James Gunn is back with the set of characters he first adapted and brought him a wider audience recognition, this after venturing into DC comics with his solid adaptation of "The Suicide Squad". This time around "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" finds the team in Knowhere, trying to rebuild what Thanos destroyed, until they're attacked by a powerful being by the name of Adam, who hurts Rocket quite severely. When they try to heal Rocket, they realize they can't do so, due to a kill switch that is embedded in him, which harks back to his genetic manipulation by an entity who calls himself High Evolutionary. The team decides to go find a way to bypass that kill switch, but in order to do so they need the help of the Ravagers, who are now led by a new version of Gamora. Their investigation leads them to Counter-Earth, where the team gets split, and matters get even further complicated when the High Evolutionary decides to decimate that entire planet. As Peter and a newly restored Rocket try to save the rest of the team, they realize the High Evolutionary's spaceship has a lofty cargo, forcing them to make some dramatic decisions.

One of the most interesting traits to James Gunn's work lies in his ability to mix a somewhat visceral approach to depicting horror/violence, with a hearty sentimentality for (and with) this lead characters, with dashes of various pop culture references, all wrapped in a rhythm that is perpetually in motion. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is one of the most interesting films of the series, if not the most, since while it does have a fair amount of sentimentality, it's also peppered with various layers, some of which are very humorous, and others that are quite violent. This balance of humor/violence/sentiment is fairly well distributed, and for a change the characters have clearly established motivations, with a few of them having a backdrop which explains their origin. And while the villain of the narrative is somewhat two-dimensional alien, there's something perversely human and quite historically pertinent to his horrific experimentations, which brings to mind said experimentations people have done to animals and people themselves in the past. It's a film that ultimately focuses on the meaning of family, finding one's roots and a sense of belonging. The fact that it does so within the trappings of a comic book adaptation, is even more commendable to James Gunn's talents, who places all these narrative threads in motion with a visual aplomb that is superb, even more so than the previous films. The cast does a great job of bringing these characters to life, with their chemistry and camaraderie being both palpable and riveting. The production team is superlatively good, with highlights going to Henry Braham's cinematography, score from John Murphy, production design from Beth Mickle, and stupendous costume design from Judianna Makovsky. The visual effects are of course fantastically good. Entertaining and worth watching. 

Babylon

Movie Name: Babylon
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Li Jun Li, Jovan Adepo, Lukas Haas, Max Minghella, Samara Weaving, Tobey Maguire, Eric Roberts, Rory Scovel, Jeff Garlin, Katherine Waterston, Ethan Suplee, Olivia Hamilton, Flea, Olivia Wilde
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 1
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

After the critically well received "First Man" which somehow never truly found its audience, writer/director Damien Chazelle returned with a bigger canvas/opus, focused on the movie industry itself, in the roaring 20s as the talkies were changing everything in that industry, including upending the lives of its big players. The narrative while focusing on the threads of a few key characters, chooses it's core emcee to be Manny Torres, a Mexican immigrant who is intent on working in the film industry. While arranging for the transportation of an elephant to a wild party, he meets and becomes enamored withe Nellie LaRoy, a young ambitious and full of personality woman from New Jersey who declares herself a star even if she's never been on a movie set. As a result of attending that party, everything changes for them. Nellie gets recruited to shoot a film, while Manny becomes friendly with Jack Conrad, a big star at MGM, who also helps him secure a job at Kinoscope. While Nellie becomes quite popular, aptly documented by gossip columnist Elinor St. John, Manny also climbs the studio ranks, starting to even get directorial gigs. Things start to change for Nellie with the advent of sound in films, where she has considerable challenges dealing with the technical aspects of film making,  which mixed with her drug use and gambling start destroying her reputation. To pile on her issues, her father, who is also her manager is poorly managing her funds and her relationship with Fay Zhu (a Chinese-American cabaret singer) is also cut short at the insistence of the studio, due to stricter morality codes that have come into play. Another character that is a focus of attention is Sydney Palmer, a fantastic musician in his own right, who suddenly sees himself in Hollywood, but also witnesses the other side of the dream. Nellie gets in trouble with gambling debts, and desperately asks Manny for help. At the same time Jack Conrad realizes his time at the top is coming to an end and there's nothing he can do to change it.

"Babylon" is one of those features that is ripe with ambition. It has a plethora of plot threads, each competing for attention. What it doesn't seem to have is a bit of a quality barometer for the narrative that is trying to build and editing capabilities which would enable its director to recount it both succinctly and with substance. It's a film that depicts the excess of Hollywood in the 1920s, when the film industry was growing and establishing itself, how stars and fortunes were easily made. In parallel with this it also depicts its uglier side, by showcasing the racism, misogyny and sheer mercenary aspect that ruled everything and everyone working in it. None of these topics are new and have been of course the focus of multiple films and tv shows, however director Damien Chazelle infuses the film with a frantic energy that supposedly illustrates the vibe and debauchery taking place, though in an apparent quest to be somewhat graphical, taste level of any kind has been something that he has chosen to avoid. It's a very self-indulgent film, where there are entire sections devoted to plot points that add absolutely nothing to the characters or to the narrative itself (case in point, the entry scenes with the Elephant, the snake biting situation, the gangster showcase of the pits of hell, and the list goes on). There is something interesting about these characters and the journey they experience, but the director chooses to focus more on the noise and the clichés one associates from that particular time period, though not much from the great depression is touched upon or even illustrated (no misery porn here). There's not much dimension given to the central characters, or the supporting ones for that matter, which is even more surprising considering this film goes on for over 3 hours (though it feels like double that time). It's genuinely perplexing how someone read this script and thought "I want to see this on the screen", and this sentiment doesn't come from the characters or parts of their journey: it's more of a sentiment towards a film that at some point turns into a pedestrian intellectual reflection on the power of film (and sadly it taints all the films it brings into its jarring mess). The cast, particularly Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, Katherine Waterston, Rory Scovel, and Lukas Haas manage to get out of this mess unscathed, the same going for the cinematography from Linus Sandgren, but this is a low point for all the people involved in this film. Avoid. 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Movie Name: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Frederick Schmidt, Cary Elwes, Mariela Garriga
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
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Synopsis and Review

After the critical and commercial success of "Mission: Impossible - Fallout", the collaboration between writer/producer/director Christopher McQuarrie and actor/producer Tom Cruise continues with another installment of the franchise. This time around Ethan Hunt is reunited with Eugene Kittridge, his original boss from when he started working for the IMF. He and his team are dealing with a superlative enemy this time around, an Artificial Intelligence engine, who is keen on dominating the world, with the only thing to stop it being a key that unlocks access to its original code. The key which is comprised of two halves has to be joined in order to be fully functional. A series of players want to get access to the key, as they all wrongly think the key allows them control over the AI entity. This entity has a nefarious individual making its bidding in the shape of Gabriel, one of Ethan's previous adversaries. As they go through the process of retrieving the key, Ethan has to enlist the help of Grace, an expert thief who was brought into the situation to also make sure the key reached Gabriel's hands. However this time around the mission will cost his team a heavy toll. 

Since taking over the "Mission: Impossible" franchise with "Rogue Nation", Christopher McQuarrie has been able to not only reinvigorate the series with ever more daring scenarios, but he's also been able to bring a sense of spectacle and elaborate action set pieces that keep getting better and better. This film is no exception, with the director allowing for its lead actor and character to have more time to both uncover what originally brought Ethan Hunt to the IMF, as well as go through a painful moment which profoundly impacts him and the team itself. This moment further humanizes all the characters a bit further, but the script smartly also maintains a sense of humor and levity that has also been a staple for this series and for this group of characters. The script smartly places the team at odds with AI, which is something on everyone's mind, but it does so by tying it with very human opponents and ones that have a personal history with Ethan Hunt's character. And that is a very smart concept, since in the past when other films have tackled nefarious AI engines, such as D.J. Caruso's "Eagle Eye" for instance (or even the AI that assists the Umbrella Corporation in Paul W. S. Anderson's "Resident Evil" series) , that enemy is always an abstractly rendered notion, with an accent or a distorted sound glitch (a la Siri). Ultimately embodying the villainous traits in a character such as Gabriel, gives the series another foe with an agenda of its own, even if at the end this character is also another puppet. The action set pieces are impeccably shot (the chase scene in Rome is formidable), and the cast assemble is once again top notch. Tom Cruise manages to carry Ethan Hunt with a bruised sense of existence for all the losses he has experienced, and he gets great support from Haley Atwell, the always fantastic Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby and Henry Czerny. The production team is also fantastic, including Fraser Taggart's cinematography, Lorne Balfe's score, Gary Freeman's production design and costumes by Jill Taylor. A very entertaining film from a solid writer/director. 

The Family Stone

Movie Name: The Family Stone
Year of Release: 2005
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Starring: Diane Keaton, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Craig T. Nelson, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Tyrone Giordano, Brian White, Elizabeth Reaser, Paul Schneider, Savannah Stehlin, Jamie Kaler
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Director Thomas Bezucha made a name for himself with his debut feature "Big Eden" which premiered in 2000 to overall good critical reception, which in turn opened the doors for this bigger budgeted endeavor. "The Family Stone" follows the narrative of a large family who meets on a recurring basis for Christmas. This year, the oldest sibling, Everett is bringing home with him his girlfriend Meredith. Meredith who is a bit high strung, believes his family won't particularly like her. Amy one of Everett's sisters, briefly describes to the rest of the family meeting her and how awkward Meredith is. The remaining siblings appear for the holidays, including Thad and his partner Patrick, Susannah who is pregnant and whose husband isn't able to join for now due to work, and Ben who is currently single. Meredith's attempts to ingratiate herself with the family, including Sybil and Kelly, respectively the matriarch and patriarch of the family don't go so well, and after a few incidents she decides to take shelter at a local inn. She also decides to call her sister Julie for support. Everett who is planning to propose to Meredith, and wants to pass on a family heirloom in the process, gets a disapproving message from Sybil. As Julie arrives in town, the interactions between the group start changing, as does Sybil's own revelations that all is not well with her.

"The Family Stone" is a film that tries to be a lot of things simultaneously, aiming to be a heartwarming Christmas film, one that has a message of tolerance and inclusivity, but also a romantic comedy where a career focused woman has an epiphany that work isn't everything (a la Charles Shyer's "Baby Boom"), and where misaligned couples eventually find their happy ending. It's quite a lot, with a lot of different characters all aiming to have space for their quirks and specificities, which allows them to differentiate themselves from each other. In the end all these competing agendas is one of the downfalls of the film. Meredith's storyline is treated rather shoddily, with Sarah Jessica Parker channeling a bit of Kathy Wood into the role, but not having the opportunity to give her a bit more dimension. She's portrayed for the most part as a rather shrill and grating character (a bit similarly to what Sandra Bullock started with in "The Proposal", but was able to deconstruct as the narrative continued), never giving the character an opportunity to demonstrate what makes her successful, appreciative of her path or even her brilliance. The family itself comes across as both loving and accepting, but oddly enough also judgmental and rather prickly. None of the siblings has much in terms of discernible character traits (what exactly is the difference between Luke Wilson's Ben and Dermot Mulroney's Everett, aside from the actors themselves is hard to understand), with some of them appearing more as backdrop, as opposed to fully functional characters (this isn't Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums" for sure). Ultimately what makes this film watchable is the fantastic cast that is assembled. Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson have great chemistry and bring warmth and humor to the film, and get solid support from Rachel McAdams (who still gets a bit lost in all the noise) and Luke Wilson. The production team is solid, including the cinematography from Jonathan Brown and score from Michael Giacchino. It's watchable, but not as memorable as this fantastic cast deserves. 

Lost Girls

Movie Name: Lost Girls
Year of Release: 2020
Director: Liz Garbus
Starring: Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKensie, Gabriel Byrne, Lola Kirke, Miriam Shor, Dean Winters, Kevin Corrigan, Reed Birney, Oona Laurence, Grace Capeless, Ana Reeder, Jimi Stanton
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

"Lost Girls" is based on a true story and on the book by Robert Kolker, "Lost Girls: An Unresolved American Mystery". It had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, in January of 2020 before being released by streaming platform Netflix. The narrative focuses on the story of Mari Gilbert, a single mother working multiple jobs to make ends meet in the area of Long Island, NY. When her eldest daughter goes missing, Mari reaches out to the police, who initially don't care much about her missing persons report. That changes when a police officer accidentally uncovers the remains of what turns out to be 4 different young women who had disappeared a few years back near the area where Shannan, Mari's daughter, was last sighted. Suddenly the attention is focused on uncovering Shannan's whereabouts, as well as to what happened with those 4 young women (who turns out to have been sex workers, using Craigslist as their means of procuring clients). As the pressure mounts on a pre-retirement Police commissioner, Mari stops at nothing to uncover what has happened with her daughter, whom she had a conflicting relationship with. As more bodies are uncovered, the more fear mounts that Shannan won't be found alive, something that causes more distress to Mari's other two daughters. Mari decides to follow some clues and do some of her investigation, but that eventually leads nowhere, until Shannan's body is indeed uncovered.

"Lost Girls" hails from director Liz Garbus, a prolific documentarian, who has also veered into directing prestige TV Shows, including "Yellowjackets", "The Handmaid's Tale", and "City on Fire". Her extensive work in documentaries comes across in the way she manages to capture an unflinching portrayal of a woman on a quest to find her daughter, and in the process give her more humanity than simply falling under the guise of a "murdered sex worker". It's a film that smartly mixes the images and archival footage of the actual investigation of the murders which took place in 2011, with the staged aspect of the film, which is shot and captured in an emotional, yet not manipulative manner. The narrative could have benefitted from providing some additional layers of detail on the lead and supporting characters, including the late Mari Gilbert and her daughters.  That being said, Mari's portrayal is a vivid one, someone who comes across as a resourceful and stoic individual in the face of crushing events. The cast is uniformly great, and they bring authenticity, grit and warmth to the narrative, led by the always fantastic Amy Ryan, with solid support from Thomasin McKensie, Gabriel Byrne, Lola Kirke and Miriam Shor. The production team is solid, including the beautiful cinematography from Igor Martinovic, and score from Anne Nikitin. A solid film worth watching.

Warlock

Movie Name: Warlock
Year of Release: 1989
Director: Steve Miner
Starring: Julian Sands, Richard E. Grant, Lori Singer, Mary Woronov, Richard Kuss, Kevin O'Brien, Allan Miller, Anna Thomson, David Carpenter, Kay E. Kuter, Ian Abercrombie, Kenneth Danziger
Genre: Action, Fantasty
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Steve Miner will forever be associated with the "Friday the 13th" film series, as it marked both his feature and sophomore directorial endeavors (with parts 2 and 3 respectively), but he has since then have had an eclectic career, including titles as "My Father the Hero", "Lake Placid" and multiple TV shows, including "Felicity", "Eureka" and "Once Upon a Time". "Warlock" followed his work on the successful TV show "The Wonder Years", and is actually one of the first produced screenplays of the famous David Twohy, who has since then made a name for himself writing/co-writing the scripts for Andrew Davis' "The Fugitive", Ridley Scott's "GI Jane", Kevin Reynolds' "Waterworld", and the "Pitch Black/Riddick" series, which he has directed himself. The film follows the story of a Warlock who is captured in the 17th century by witch-hunter Giles Redferne. He is sentenced to death, but malevolent forces manage to save him and send him to the 20th century, with Redferne hot on his pursuit. The Warlock lands at the house of a waitress named Kassandra, and wreaks havoc in her life, including murdering her roommate, while also placing a curse upon her. Redferne explains to her the rules of Witches and Warlocks and what's at stake if they don't stop the Warlock's intents. Not to mention the fatal aspect of her curse. They pursue the Warlock to a Mennonite family where they battle him out, but he eventually flees the scene, though Kassandra eventually manages to revert her curse. They figure out his ultimate goal lies in Boston, and they have a final confrontation with the Warlock in a cemetery. 

While "Warlock" was completed in 1988 and had its international release in 1989, it only made its premiere in the US in 1991, due to the bankruptcy of New World Pictures. The film has modest ambitions, and while it tries to embark in some of the motifs some fantasy films in the late 80s had, such as Ron Howard's "Willow" and even Jim Henson's "Labyrinth", its modest budget prevents the film from having a more distinct point of view (and visual effects). The film also suffers from not being able to carve out stronger lead characters, with the Warlock, Redferne and Kassandra all coming across as somewhat anemic and without much charisma. In a way films such as Robert Kurtzman's "Wishmaster" which was produced almost a decade later, has a similar DNA but gives the narrative both more pulp and slash, which means, while the characters are flimsy described and presented, the villainous lead is given a more distinct point of view and motivation for his actions (and the mayhem also increases). With "Warlock", and while the fantastic Julian Sands brings the character to life, both his motivation and the consequences of his actions are never truly magnified, which makes the film always have the feeling of being at the precipice of something but held back, a bit like unresolved potential. There are some similarities between Richard E. Grant's character in this film and how Christopher Lambert portrayed his Connor MacLeod in Russell Mulcahy's "Highlander", but once again, he doesn't get a chance to do much in the film, or bring the usual layers of humor he typically places on his performances. One of the highlights of the cast goes to Mary Woronov who as a brief but memorable participation, whereas the production team is unremarkable (and the visual effects are quite mediocre). It's watchable, and Julian Sands and Richard E. Grant do try their best with their characters, but the film fails to convincingly create an ominous environment, which makes it ultimately not particularly memorable.

Freaks: You're One of Us/Freaks: Du Bist Eine Von Uns

Movie Name: Freaks: You're One of Us/Freaks: Du Bist Eine Von Uns
Year of Release: 2020
Director: Felix Binder
Starring: Cornelia Groschel, Tim Oliver Schultz, Wotan Wilke Mohring, Nina Kunzendorf, Frederic Linkemann, Finnlay Berger, Ralph Herforth, Gisa Flake, Thelma Buabeng, Gesine Cukrowski, Charlotte Banholzer, Marcel Nazarov
Genre: Action, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Another release from Netflix, this new directorial endeavor from director Felix Binder, focuses its narrative on Wendy, whom we first encounter as a young girl dealing with a traumatic event that has occurred at her school. The narrative quickly moves ahead in time, and Wendy now works as a waitress in a restaurant which supports a gas station. Wendy is married and has a son, and while her life is somewhat tranquil, she has some issues with her supervisor at work who thinks she's a pushover. One evening while cleaning the restaurant and taking the trash out, she becomes acquainted with Marek, a homeless man who tells her that she should stop taking the pills her psychiatrist has prescribed for her (and that she takes every day). When Marek jumps off a highway bridge and appears unarmed the following day, Wendy finds the situation bizarre. She stops taking the pills, and when she's harassed by a bunch of hoodlums, she manages to fend them off with super human strength. In the meantime, a young man by the name of Elmar, who lives with his father and his new girlfriend, is also coming to terms with these newfound abilities, which allow him to control electricity. And while Elmar is somewhat in a stunted adolescence type of existence, thinking these new occurrences are much like the comic books he has been reading his whole life, Wendy wants to understand what exactly is going on with her.

"Freaks: You're One of Us" is an interesting concept, in the sense that it tries to be very akin to a superhero film, but takes the usual superhero inception story and replaces it with a premise that these heroes are just every day people who are being pinned down and controlled by some shady organization. For the most part Felix Binder manages to portray the triviality of Wendy's existence, even if at times it seems that Wendy has neither much of a past, nor much in terms of interests, beyond her repetitive tasks both at home and at work. The same goes for Elmar, who is also portrayed in a rather rudimentary way, with his stunted perspective on adulting, and the awkward relationship he maintains both with his father and his new lover. This lack of dimension of the main characters, including the nefarious Dr. Sten, fails to ignite much interest to the film, though the premise itself is ripe with opportunity. The film at times comes across as a pilot for a tv show, where one can assume in the following episodes more backdrop will be provided towards the characters and their relationships with each other. As it is, and while there's a rather compelling and straightforward aspect to the narrative, the film also falls a bit under a generic umbrella, without much of a distinctive point of view. The actors are solid in their depiction of the lead characters, with highlights going to Cornelia Groschel, who illustrates Wendy's journey from complacent to dynamo in a subtle but impactful way, and Ralph Herforth as Elmar's icy father. The production team is competent yet unremarkable. It's a viewable but ultimately forgettable feature. 

The Huntsman: Winter's War

Movie Name: The Huntsman: Winter's War
Year of Release: 2016
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach, Sope Dirisu, Sam Hazeldine, Sam Claffin, Sophie Cookson, Conrad Khan, Niamh Walter
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

After the surprising success of Rupert Sanders' "Snow White and the Huntsman", a sequel was quickly set in motion to focus on the least interesting part of that film, the Huntsman, who was played by Chris Hemsworth at the time riding the wave of popularity brought forth by the Marvel films. The sequel shifts its focus and takes us back in time, showcasing how Queen Ravenna's magical powers and beauty have been able to grant her control of other kingdoms. She has a younger sister by the name of Freya whose powers have not yet emerged, who falls in love with a nobleman, hoping to get married. Freya is pregnant and eventually gives birth to a little girl, before the couple has a chance to wed. However, Freya discovers what appears to be Andrew murdering their child, and grief-stricken her heart is frozen and she kills him with her newfound abilities, the control of ice. She moves towards the North and becomes a ruler of that region, courtesy of her abilities. She also starts training her armies from an early age, always making sure they all remember her teachings to never fall in love. Amongst her young recruits are Eric and Sara, both the best of their class, who grow up to be formidable warriors. Their love is however uncovered by Freya, who disapproves and apparently gets Sara killed and Eric thrown into a river. Years later, and after the events of the first feature, Snow White has fallen ill due to Ravenna's Magic Mirror. The Mirror is sent to the Sanctuary who protected Snow White, however while on route it gets highjacked. Eric is tasked with finding that mirror, which he agrees with since he knows if Freya gets ahold of it, her ice domain will increase. Much to his surprise, Sara who is still alive comes to his rescue and agrees to go along with him to make their mission is successful. But not all is what it seems in her intentions.

"Snow White and the Huntsman" was a barely watchable film, one that benefitted from Charlize Theron's icy performance (and one where Kristen Stewart was miscast). However, she is largely absent from this film, which in turn focuses its attention on Chris Hemsworth Huntsman, Emily Blunt's Freya (a version of Disney's Frozen), and Jessica Chastain's other Huntswoman, with several sidekicks for entertaining value and comic relief. The film, which is the feature directorial debut of Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who previously had a lengthy career as a visual effects specialist, is riddled with enumerable tropes, incongruences, and visual issues. The characters all have fairly limited dimension, and for that matter motivation, including Freya's who is a conflicted villain, but also walks through the film half asleep. Even the White Walkers from the TV show "Game of Thrones" are more dynamic and menacing than anything that Freya and the writers on this film can actually come up with. Both Eric and Sara (great realistic names contrasting with Ravenna and Freya, both of which seem like great soap names), seem to be either Scottish or Welsh, whereas the queens seem to be British, all of which are details that are obviously irrelevant, however none of their ambitions seem to be very sensical at all (and by the way, those accents seem to come and go throughout the film). This ultimately feels like a narrative built by a committee, where a thread, an arc seems to be irrelevant, and where the ultimate goal is to get these great looking cast members in front of the camera, and hope they somehow bring this film to life. Sadly it doesn't work, for anyone on this film, including Charlize Theron and Jessica Chastain, both immensely talented individuals, who are completely wasted in this narrative. Visually the film boasts some questionable visual effects, but the cinematography from Phedon Papamichael is solid, as is the score from James Newton Howard. This is a mediocre and forgettable endeavor. 

Run Rabbit Run

Movie Name: Run Rabbit Run
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Daina Reid
Starring: Sarah Snook, Lily LaTorre, Damon Herriman, Greta Scacchi, Neil Melville, D'Arcy Carty, Trevor Jamieson, Shabana Azeez, Georgina Naidu, Naomi Rukavina, Maurial Spearim
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Director Daina Reid has made a career for herself primarily working on tv shows, including high profile series such as "The Handmaid's Tale", "Shining Girls" and "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries", to name but a few. "Run Rabbit Run" is her feature sophomore endeavor, and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival of 2023, benefiting from the attention its lead actor Sarah Snook had been experiencing courtesy of another tv show, in this case HBO's "Succession". The film follows the story of Sarah, a recently divorced fertility doctor. She lives with her daughter Mia who is celebrating her seventh birthday. They both find a rabbit which they assume is a gift from Mia's father, Peter. Mia's behavior soon becomes increasingly strange, and she starts wearing a rabbit mask she made herself, one that she refuses to take off even when Sarah asks her to. Sarah also starts experiencing hallucinations, and her nightmares grow more intense. Sarah takes Mia to visit her own mother, who is living in assisted living, now that her father has passed away and she has dementia. Joan keeps addressing Mia as "Alice", who turns out is the younger sister of Sarah who disappeared around the same age as Mia currently is. As Sarah and Mia are staying in her childhood home, Sarah's hallucinations increase and her relationship with Mia becomes even more strained. Through these hallucinations Sarah hints at what may have happened to her sister.

"Run Rabbit Run" who is written by celebrated author Hannah Kent suffers from a case of trying to be a hybrid gestation of a M. Night Shyamalan film married with a Jane Campion sensibility, which sadly produces something that is neither particularly suspenseful, nor particularly insightful about the relationship between mothers and daughters, or even between sisters. The film starts interestingly enough, focusing on a character that isn't necessarily affable or even likable, which is how Sarah comes across. However the hints of eeriness that are supposed to come from Mia's behavior are randomly presented, and are more grating than actually scary. Both the director and writer, fail to actually showcase what type of relationship exists between mother and daughter, both coming across as strangers who are just now getting together. It's difficult to understand much about these characters, since not much dimension is given to either of them, in terms of their motivations, dynamics with others and even affections, the same extending for the supporting characters, which includes the absent ex-husband and even Joan, the matriarch of the family (who is played by the always underrated Greta Scacchi). Gore Verbinski was able to do quite a bit more with "The Ring", which also featured a single mother fantastically played by Naomi Watts, dealing with a supernatural entity which was threatening both her and Aidan, her son. In the end, "Run Rabbit Run" doesn't satisfy from the perspective of understanding the relationship between all these characters, the same way that the supposedly shocking revelation doesn't really come across as one. Sarah Snook who is usually a reliable performer, feels a bit lost in the middle of this film that can't quite find its tone, with Lily LaTorre and Greta Scacchi managing to be far more effective in their performances. The production team also has its fair share of issues, with a rather underwhelming cinematography from Bonnie Elliott and a lackluster production design from Vanessa Cerne. Ultimately it's simply not a great viewing experience. 

Missing

Movie Name: Missing
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Nicholas D. Johnson, Will Merrick
Starring: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Tim Griffin, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, Megan Suri, Daniel Henney, Lauren B. Mosley, Lisa Yamada
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"Missing" is the feature directorial debut for Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, both possessed of a noticeable career as editors, with Merrick as well having directed a few shorts. They both edited Aneesh Chaganty's "Searching", who was produced by the same team who is behind this feature, with "Missing" being a sequel to "Chaganty's film. The narrative focuses on the story of a young woman by the name of June, who just turned 18 and lives with her mom in the LA area. June's father died of brain tumor when she was little, and she has become her mom's constant focus. Her mom Grace is about to leave for a vacation with her boyfriend Kevin, the first actual relationship she has had in years. June in the meantime is being left under the care of Heather, her mom's friend who is a divorce lawyer. A week goes by and June goes to pick up Grace and Kevin at the airport, and much to her surprise they don't show up. She communicates with the American consulate in Colombia, but they're unable to help her much. She decides to use the digital tools she has at her disposal and investigate what is happening. She hires Javier, a Colombian gig worker to do some investigation on the ground. She manages to crack the password to Kevin's gmail account, and discovers a number of aliases he has been using. She also uncovers the fact that he has a criminal record, all of which related to scamming women for money. The more she investigates, including the dating app where her mother met Kevin, she soon realizes her mother was aware of his past. However, June soon realizes there's more to this story, and that the woman who was on the flight to Colombia may not have been her mother after all.

"Missing", much like "Searching", invites the audience to witness the central character of the narrative frantically trying to locate someone. The film, much like some of the B-movies of the 1940s and 50s, provides little exposition on who these characters are to begin with, focusing instead on setting up the apparently impossible situation, and how ingenuity, persistence and intelligence ultimately uncover venues in which the characters manage to escape from dangerous situations. This film transposes this type of economical narrative perspective to modern times, placing the young June at the center of a digital investigation, made that much more challenging since her mother is abroad. The film smartly creates a sense of claustrophobia and timeliness, by placing June solely in her room, and her mother potentially running out of time. And while June and Grace are never given much in terms of who they are, there's enough breadcrumbs of information that are provided, which allow for a revealing picture of who they are to come across. It's a suspenseful film that while not as dynamic and enticing as a Hitchcock work, still manages to capture one's attention with multiple twists and turns. The cast is uniformly solid, with highlights going to Storm Reid, Tim Griffin and Nia Long. The production team is solid, including Steven Holleran's cinematography, Kelly Fallon's production design and Julian Scherle's score. Entertaining and worth watching.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Movie Name: Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Year of Release: 2023
Director: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey, Meagan Good, Djimon Hounsou, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Gal Gadot, Rizwan Manji
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

Following the critical and commercial success of the first "Shazam!", director David F. Sandberg, went back into creating a few shorts, where he originally started his career, before tackling the successor of the superhero film which originally propelled him into another layer of visibility. The film follows the events of the first "Shazam!" and finds Billy and his siblings all living with those newfound powers and trying to make a difference in Philadelphia. Unbeknownst to them, Hespera and Kalypso, two of the daughters of the Titan Atlas, have an agenda of their own and they manage to recover and repair the Wizard's staff. In the meantime Freddy develops an infatuation with a new girl named Anne, who turns out is the youngest sister of Hespera and Kalypso, with her actual name being Anthea. The sisters eventually get a hold of the Golden Apple, which was in possession of the Shazam group, take away most of the powers of the Shazam family, and Kalypso plants the apple at the Citizens Bank Park, which grows throughout the city, threatening to destroy it, even more so when mythological monsters erupt from it. Billy devises a plan to save his family and the city, even if the sacrifice for it to come to fruition is a considerable one.

The reviews for this film weren't quite as balmy as the ones that greeted the original. That prompted a bit of a reaction from the creative team behind it, including the director and some of its lead stars. The thing about criticism ultimately lies with the fact that these are just opinions, and essentially interpretations of a product someone puts out there to be consumed. The problem with "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" isn't related to the fact that it's a terrible endeavor and cinematic journey. The narrative is a mix bag of trying to build a backdrop for the existence of these paper thin villains, married with this adolescent vibe (closer to a WB teen show) that is taking place with all the siblings and their super-hero personas. The rhythm between these threads clashes quite steadily and lacks the fluid aspect the original film showcased so well. By the time the third chapter of this film comes around (the clashing with the villain), it's once again peppered with an abundance of digital effects that doesn't necessarily add much distinctiveness to the super-hero genre and formula. There's still quite a bit to enjoy from this film, namely the sense of family unity, companionship and community the director builds amongst Billy's adoptive family (and city), however when the focus gravitates towards the villainous sisters, it becomes a very different endeavor, in terms of tone and even in terms of acting. While Helen Mirren manages to be phenomenal as always, Lucy Liu doesn't really know the tone she needs to impart on the character, oscillating between near camp and over the top villain (she lacks more of a grounding baseline much like she had on Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill Vol. 1"). The rest of the cast manages to bring these characters to life, even if with very limited dimension. The production team is solid, with highlights going to Gyula Pados' cinematography and Christophe Beck's score. Paul Kirby's production design is at times reminiscent of the "Harry Potter" universe, and not necessarily memorable. Ultimately this film plays out like a teen focused, highly budgeted TV movie, with little character definition. It needed a stronger point of view and a tighter narrative thread. It's watchable but forgettable.

End of the Road

Movie Name: End of the Road
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Millicent Shelton
Starring: Queen Latifah, Chris Bridges, Beau Bridges, Frances Lee McCain, Mychala Lee, Shaun Dixon, Jesse Luken, Tabatha Shaun, Tim Stafford, Keith Jardine, Travis Hammer
Genre: Drama, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Another release hailing from Netflix, this time around with the lead role being occupied by one of its producers, the charismatic Queen Latifah. The film follows the story of the Brendan family who is about to embark on a move from California to Texas due to a dramatic loss they recently experienced. Brenda the mother is a registered nurse, and she's moving both her kids Kelly and Cam, alongside her brother Reggie, all to Houston to live with her mother in order to get a new start on all their lives. Since they're low on funds, they're driving across the country, and trying to be frugal in their expenditures. Things take a darker turn, when while staying in a motel in Arizona, they hear an altercation in the room next door followed by a gun shot. When they go and investigate, they find a wounded victim, who Brenda promptly tries to help, while Reggie notices a mysterious suitcase, which he soon realizes is flushed with money. The victim dies, and the next day the family resumes their itinerary, after addressing the police's questions. The local sheriff calls them to come back with further information, but Brenda mentions she has nothing left to say and soldiers on. Things escalate when the crime lord whom the money belongs to comes for Brenda and her family and takes Cam. She decides to go back to the motel and leave the money in a room she has marked and communicates her plan. However, things don't go as smoothly as planned, and Brenda has to untangle the mess they're all in.

Millicent Shelton has had a very extensive career in TV, having directed episodes for various shows, including prominent ones such as "The Walking Dead", "Preacher", "American Crime", "Californication" and the list goes on. Her feature directorial debut actually occurred in 1998 with "Ride", and this is effectively her sophomore effort. Both the narrative and the way it is illustrated for this particular feature, almost resembles a pilot for a TV show, in the sense that there's both the eruptive drama from traumatic experiences the family has gone through (meant to elicit a heartfelt reaction from the audience), married with the comedy value, light banter and recklessness of the younger sibling, and both those threads tied with the incredulity of a crime plot that never really congeals, but that wants to come across as edgy and nightmarish as possible. The film has a hard time in finding its tone, since on one hand it wants to come across as a drama narrative describing the challenges an African-American family has to go through after the loss of their patriarch, but suddenly it takes an inflection and it wants to be a "Taken" type of thriller where ultimately nothing ties together very coherently or even in tone (the whole crime community in the desert eerily reminiscent of Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" also doesn't do the film any favors). By the time the predictable crime lord figure presents itself, and the subsequent situations occur, the more the film loses its credibility and whatever statement it was trying to say (even if it was a purely entertaining one). It's a film that doesn't know what it is or what it wants to be. Queen Latifah has a commanding presence, but even her charisma can't save this film or her character, which is also poorly defined. Kudos for the casting of the always wonderful Beau Bridges and Frances Lee McCain. It's a missed opportunity and a forgettable film for everyone involved. 

Renfield

Movie Name: Renfield
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Chris McKay
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez, Camille Chen, Bess Rous, Jenna Kanell, Danya LaBelle, Rhonda Johnson Dents, Christopher Matthew Cook, Michael P. Sullivan, Rosha Washington, James Moses Black, T.C. Matherne
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Director Chris McKay who previously handled the hilarious "The Lego Batman Movie" and subsequently the more dour "The Tomorrow War", returns with a new take on the classic Bram Stoker's character, Dracula, this time around focusing more intently on his eternal aid Renfield. The film transports Renfield and Dracula to present day in New Orleans, where Renfield is caring for Dracula after his near demise while battling Van Heflin. While in New Orleans, Renfield discovers a 12-step group for people in codependent relationships, which he realizes closely resembles his own predicament. He decides to track the people who are causing the abuse to some of the people in the group and feed them to Dracula. However while pursuing one of them, the victim is actually connected with drug trafficking which puts Renfield as a target for the Lobo crime family. Dracula is displeased with the victims Renfield keeps bringing, and requests for different ones, which eventually leads Renfield to a restaurant in the hopes of bringing some every day people. However while there, an attack is enforced on officer Rebecca Quincy who is investigating the same crime family. Renfield manages to save the situation, but that only reinforces the Lobo family to focus on further destroying him. To further complicate things, Dracula who in the meantime has become acquainted with Teddy, the son of the Lobo family's boss, forge a partnership to further expand their businesses and Dracula's own dark plans. 

"Renfield"'s premise rests on an attempt at a delicate balance between a gory horror film and a dark comedy, with this latter part toying around with concepts of emotional abuse and codependent relationships. This somewhat modern take on a classic, in this case the relationship and power Dracula holds over Renfield, definitely has plenty of room for dark humor, something that if done right could have been magnified and taken in the direction of what Mel Brooks did with his classic "Young Frankenstein" (finding humor in ponderous material). However Chris McKay and his team of writers comprised of Ryan Ridley, Robert Kirkman and Ava Tramer, don't necessarily mine the Dracula lore for additional details, characters and situations, preferring instead to focus on another character, in this case Rebecca, who is attempting to come out from underneath the shadow of her impressive police officer father and carve her own path. These multiple threads could have worked really well if they had been more easily interwoven, but eventually the writing goes in the direction of introducing a crime family, and from then on the story goes from cliché to cliché, without much novelty or freshness (ah Dracula associating himself with a crime family, check). Sadly none of these characters ever get much substance both in terms of their past journeys or what they're intending to do. The film ends up resting on this premise of: what if Renfield doesn't want to take care of Dracula anymore and wants to do something else, however it does so without fully embracing where that can go and what that means for an immortal character. This easily could have gone in so many different directions, but aside from the spurts of violence and gore, this is somewhat of an inert film. Nicholas Hoult manages to make as much as possible of this every day man caught in a tiresome and abusive relationship, whereas Nicolas Cage doesn't have nearly enough screen time to really savor a character that is quite suited for him. The production team is also not very successful in bringing this particular world to life, including the cinematography which is more reminiscent of a Michael Bay film, making everything look oddly artificial, the same going for the choices in production design. It's a forgettable endeavor for everyone involved in its making. 

Evil Dead Rises

Movie Name: Evil Dead Rises
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Lee Cronin
Starring: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, Mirabai Pease, Richard Crouchley, Anna-Maree Thomas, Billy Reynolds-McCarthy, Jayden Daniels, Mark Mitchinson, Tai Wano
Genre: Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Director Lee Cronin who has assuredly been making a name for himself in the horror genre, follows his well received "The Hole in the Ground", with a new take on the Sam Raimi classic series "Evil Dead", which originally had its start in 1981. This time around the film focuses its narrative on two sisters, the elder by the name of Ellie and the younger named Steph, who get back together after some time apart, when Steph comes for advice on an unexpected pregnancy that she wants her sister's advice on. Ellie on the other hand is dealing with a collapsing relationship, the abandonment of her partner and father of her three young children, not to mention the building where they live is being demolished and they have a month to pack and find a new place to live. While there's some tension between them, they slowly start discussing what's going on in their lives, while the kids are out getting pizza for everyone. Unexpectedly an earthquake puts a halt to these conversations, and the kids uncover in the garage what seems an almost untouched lower floor, in which a bank used to exist, including vaults and lockers. Danny descends to explore more, and grabs a series of records, and an ancient book from a special room filled with crucifixes. Danny and his older sister Bridget browse through the book, and the horrifying illustrations scare her. Neglecting her sister's advice, Danny plays the records, which recite some of the contents of the book, unleashing a malevolent spirit that latches on to Ellie who then starts attacking the family.

Unlike the mediocre take from Fede Alvarez in 2013, which essentially tried to "modernize" Sam Raimi's now considered cult classic, Lee Cronin smartly takes the action and dynamics of the narrative out of the whole concept of Cabin in the Woods with long forgotten demonic book hidden or left behind. Instead the writer/director moves the action and context of the narrative into a disintegrating family unit, who are dealing with challenges of their own, and who suddenly have to portend with this malevolent entity, who eats away at each and every one of the family members. It also smartly moves the focus of the narrative into Steph, and her newfound resilience to protect a family that is also her own, but also her unborn child. All these make for interesting and solidly crafted story points. The characters however fail to be as well materialized as the overall mechanics of the narrative, with both sisters having unresolved issues that are never really addressed, the same going for their past family life. The kids are also generically described and showcased, which also makes them less compelling as the action continues to evolve. Placing the entirety of the narrative within a decaying building is also both claustrophobic, also illustrates the pains and further deterioration the characters themselves go through. Stylistically, the film does pay a heartfelt and worthy homage to Sam Raimi's style, but also has nods to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". The director however also manages to have his own point of view, amping up the gore and some grotesqueness to the narrative, while introducing new layers to the lore of the "Evil Dead" vernacular. The cast is satisfyingly solid, with Lily Sullivan and Alissa Sutherland making for compelling watches. The production design from Nick Bassett is solid, as is the cinematography from Dave Garbett and score from Stephen McKeon. It's a compellingly executed extension of a classic series. Worth watching.