Godzilla Minus One

Movie Name: Godzilla Minus One
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Starring: Minami Hamabe, Munetaka Aoki, Miou Tanaka, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Yuki Yamada, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Rikako Miura, Yuya Endo, Kisuke lida
Genre: Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"Gozilla Minus One" premiered on November of 2023 and soon became one of the best reviewed films of the year, winning in the process the Academy Award for best visual effects. The film takes place in 1945, towards the end of World War II. A kamikaze pilot by the name of Shikishima lands on Odo island, and states his plane has technical issues, but the lead mechanic suspects that the pilot wants to avoid his mission. Godzilla attacks the island, and only the pilot and the mechanic survive. Upon returning to a destroyed Tokyo, Shikishima learns his parents were killed, and he unsurely starts supporting a woman who is also completely alone, Noriko, who has also been taking care of an orphaned baby. Shikishima takes a job aboard a minesweeper, whose job is to dispose of mines left behind from the conflict. Godzilla in the meantime destroys several ships, however the US doesn't provide much assistance, due to ongoing tensions that also involve the Soviet Union. Godzilla's attacks in the meantime intensify, and the creature's fury is unleashed in Tokyo, specifically in the area of Ginza where Noriko works. As a result of the attack, Noriko is presumed dead, instilling in Shikishima a thirst for revenge. He and his team get involved in a plan to kill Godzilla, with Shikishima in particular leveraging the skills from the mechanic he engaged with before, to repair a fighter which he'll use to pack with explosives in order to kill the monster. 

What stroke me as particularly effective on Takashi Yamazaki's take on Godzilla was his ability to look beyond the gratuitous aspect of creating a monster film, to actually portray a vivid illustration on how Japan and its inhabitants were crushed after the devastating effects of World War II. He humanizes the terrors of war and its consequences on the survivors, but also on society itself, its infrastructure, and the arduous journey of rebuilding something, including the morale and sense of self for people and a country. The fact that he layers all these topics within a monster film is all the more reflective of his talents as a storyteller, since Godzilla's incursions in an already battered country, further signal for all these survivors, a chance to redeem themselves and to have a newfound meaning and bearing for the future. It's a smart film that layers all these topics very deftly, with the only stunted piece of development being the characters themselves, since all of them feel a bit inert from a dramatic standpoint (for the most part they lack a bit more dimension and nuance). Visually and stylistically the film looks impeccable, with the production team excelling, particularly Kozo Shibasaki's cinematography and Anri Jojo's production design. The visual effects are indeed fantastic, and it's a monster film that does not disappoint in that regard. The cast tries their best with the material they have, though Miou Tanaka is easily a highlight amongst the crew. It's an entertaining and smartly crafted film worth watching. 

Bacurau

Movie Name: Bacurau
Year of Release: 2019
Director: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
Starring: Bárbara Colen, Tomás Aquino, Sonia Braga, Udo Kier, Silvero Pereira, Thardelly Lima, Rubens Santos, Wilson Rabelo, Carlos Francisco, Luciana Souza, Karina Teles, Antonio Saboia, Buda Lira, Clebia Sousa, Danny Barbosa, Edilson Silva, Eduarda Samara, Fabiola Liper
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Following the well received "Aquarius", writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho returned, this time around partnering with Juliano Dornelles, who was credited as a production designer in "Aquarius". The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival of 2019, where it went on to win the Jury Prize of that year. The film takes place in the near future, in a small rural village in Brazil, in the area of Pernambuco. The matriarch of that community has passed away, and her granddaughter Teresa returns for the funeral service (and also to distribute some medication), after being away from the area for many years. The community is in the midst of also witnessing some unexpected events, firstly with a couple of bikers scouting the area very unexpectedly, the same thing for some sightings of UFO looking drones. Turns out there's a dispute over water rights from the local river. The corrupt mayor of the area has some pernicious plans in motion, including leveraging some international mercenaries to eradicate the locals. As the mercenaries go about killing the locals, the community resorts to their connections, and turn the tables on the outsiders.

"Bacurau" benefits from perfectly illustrating a small, isolated but deeply connected rural community in Brazil, one where the ties that bind everyone together are deeply rooted. The film vividly depicts a way of life that for many may be somewhat alien, but that still exists very much to this day: one that is communal, spirited, where the survival of the community is rooted on its natural resources, which are as much part of the community as the people itself. The river, the water that brings life to the community, is as essential to them as the people who live within the area. And while it would be easy to dismiss this film as a reflection on how modernity, the digital world, can and will clash with a more rural and traditionally rooted way of life, the film does introduce the fact that the community isn't unaware of the outside world or completely anachronistic with it. They choose how they consume the modernity of the world around them, how it becomes part of how they live. It's a film that is simultaneously insightful in how it captures a different way of living, with characters that are unmistakably from the area (even if the characters themselves are not that developed), but that eventually turns into a modern take on a vengeance western, where those fighting for their way of life and for their own place, brutally clash with those who never understood them, and simply wanted to purge them from the area. It's a slow burn that is filled with great details, smartly written, performed and brought to life. The cast is uniformly solid, though the film gives Udo Kier a great supporting character. The production team is solid, including Petro Sotero's cinematography, Thales Junqueira's production design, and score by Mateus Alves and Tomaz Alves Souza. Worth watching. 

The Square

Movie Name: The Square
Year of Release: 2017
Director: Ruben Ostlund
Starring: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, Terry Notary, Christopher Laesso, Lise Stephenson Engstrom, Lilianne Mardon, Marina Schiptjenko, Annica Liljeblad, Elijandro Edouard, Daniel Hallberg, Martin Sooder
Genre: Drama, Satire
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Director Ruben Ostlund has been on a winning streak since "Force Majeure" premiered in 2014. His following picture "The Square" won the Palm D'Or in 2017, and his most recent endeavor, repeated the feat, "Triangle of Sadness" which premiered in 2022. "The Square" follows the story of Christian, a divorced father of two, who is the director and chief curator for the X-Royal art museum in Stockholm. He has a new art installation for a forthcoming exhibit placed in the museum area, by the name of "The Square" and has commissioned an agency with creating a campaign who will drive more people to the museum, but also more patrons and donors. Simultaneously he has been apparently burglarized on a street scheme, where his phone, wallet and cufflinks were taken. He and his assistant manage to uncover the location of the phone (using the "find my phone" feature"), and decide upon a plan to force the robber to surrender the items. They go ahead with their plan, but a few days later his wallet and phone reappear in a package left for him at a 7-Eleven. In the meantime he has had a sexual tryst with a journalist by the name of Anne, who is interested in moving the relationship beyond the casual, something that Christian is not so engaged upon. Turns out Christian and Michael's plan had some unexpected results, and a young Arab boy confronts firstly Michael and then Christian with the aftermath of their actions: he states his family believes him to be a thief, and that now he's in constant trouble. He wants them to repair what has happened. In the meantime, a promotional and highly controversial reel for the new exhibit premieres online, generating waves of incredulity and shock towards the museum, which has an immediate impact on Christian's career.

The term satire is used very often when lofty and weighty themes are addressed, in a manner that is not dramatic, but not ostensibly comedic either. It's become in my opinion, a "warehouse term", something that is brandished around, when all other categories fail, but something still needs to be categorized. What I would deem solid satire or even comedic goldmine, is the work of Billy Wilder in so many of his films, where he was able to tackle some themes with snark and an incisiveness that defied and to this day still defies rivalry. "The Square" tries to be many things, and positions itself as a very smart reflection on how we currently live, and does so from the perspective from a very privileged and cultured individual in a very powerful position. The script takes stabs at the pretentiousness of art, at those who live in its periphery, and how that becomes an excuse for nonsensical behavior (case in point, Terry Notary's entire sequence), even at the point of certain grotesqueness of those same behaviors. There's also observations on ego driven males, the inability of shaping mature relationships, and even the state of society and its inequalities, and how even these latter topics are fodder for poorly created marketing campaigns. It's a list of hefty topics, all of which come tumbling down and at times crash with each other, in the life of a central character that at the end of a two and half hour film, still feels as underdeveloped and unknown as he was when the narrative was set in motion. In reality most of the characters who inhabit this narrative feel like an abstract concept, as if they try to minimally represent a persona without truly moving beyond a rather limited description. The film fails to capitalize on the cast that it assembles, with Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West in particular feeling lost and underused, though Claes Bang does his best to make Christian appear both self-involved but also sufficiently humane to illustrate his arc and attitude shifting during the feature. It's a film with lofty ambitions, most of which are not sufficiently realized, one where the apparent intelligence that seems to fuel it, only reveals some of the shallowness of the reflection itself (and not of the topics). It's a film that aims to be something that it ultimately unfulfilled. 

As Above So Below

Movie Name: As Above So Below
Year of Release: 2014
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar, Cosme Castro, Hamid Djavadan
Genre: Mystery, Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Following the exposure of his prior film, "Devil", which featured the involvement of writer/producer/director M. Night Shyamalan, writer/director John Erick Dowdle reunited with his brother once again to work on their follow up, which turned out to be "As Above So Below". Working with a modest budget, the film managed to eek out a good return on that investment, even if for the director he has mostly been working on TV shows since. The film follows the story of Scarlett Marlowe, who is a scholar/archeologist of sorts, who is following on the footsteps of her father, who was searching for the Philosopher's Stone (that stone can reputedly turn base metals into gold and also grant eternal life). While in Paris she uncovers what she thinks may be the location of the stone in the catacombs of Paris. She recruits her former boyfriend George, to help with possible translations, and Benji, to be a cameraman and record the entire journey. Along the way and due to their limited knowledge of the catacombs, they enlist the help of Papillon, his girlfriend Souxie, and their friend Zed, since they are quite familiar with that maze. As the group gets into the catacombs, Scarlett indicates they should take a certain route, something that Papillon advises against, since the people who take that particular route never reappear. While they decide to take a different direction, by sheer force of circumstances they find themselves right back at that juncture, and they're forced to go through anyway. As they progress they encounter La Taupe, one of Papillon's missing friends, who is acting quite differently, and eventually get to a tomb that features a preserved Templar Knight. They also uncover the stone, however when one of the group tries to take some of the treasure that is stored in the tomb, traps are set in motion. Everything gets progressively more dangerous as the group tries to get out of the catacombs. 

"As Above So Below" benefits from John Erick Dowdle's ability to effectively capture a claustrophobic environment from which the characters seem unable to escape. As they progress further down the rabbit hole of the catacombs, it does indeed seem like they are walking the different circles of Dante's Hell, something that is reinforced by the strategically supernatural elements that appear and disappear more frequently. Sadly this turns out to be when some of the lack of a strategy to the script starts to make it's cracks more visible. Firstly the characters are one-dimensional, which is something that is never properly addressed, with the addition that the supernatural elements are treated in the fashion of "blink and you missed it", and finally the mythology of what is being sought after, which brings to mind Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", is handled with far less context or for that matter, gravitas and therefore its pursuit always feels inconsequential. The director manages to introduces a sense of unease, but not one of impending doom, which is indeed what the film needed to create. At times the feature comes across as a cross-fit video gone wrong, and not exactly a film about obsessively pursuing something that is life-changing, or realizing the meaning of what is taking place. The lack of maturity of the characters is echoed in the lack of depth of the script itself. What is indeed left, is a film that has its moments of placing a series of characters in a fish out of water situation, that they somehow have to find the resources within themselves to vanquish (there's even faint echos of Peter Filardi's script from "Flatliners" here). The cast sadly isn't very memorable, though the production team is efficient in staging the environment, including Léo Hinstin's cinematography and Louise Marzaroli's production design. It's not a flat out terrible endeavor, but it is a film that could have gone much further. 

Time Cut

Movie Name: Time Cut
Year of Release: 2024
Director: Hannah Mcpherson
Starring: Madison Bailey, Antonia Gentry, Michael Shanks, Griffin Gluck, Megan Best, Samuel Braun, Sydney Sabiston, Kataem O'Connor, Rachael Crawford, David Lawrence Brown, Adam Hurtig, BJ Verot, Jordan Pettle, Graham Ashmore
Genre: Mystery
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 0
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Another "Netflix" exclusive release, "Time Cut" is Hannah Mcpherson's feature directorial debut, following considerable directorial work across a variety of TV shows, shorts and even an experiment of shooting a film leveraging Snapchat ("Sickhouse"). The film follows the story of Lucy Field, a high school student and amateur inventor, who lives in the shadow of her sister who was brutally murdered 20 years ago. On the day she and her parents celebrate the life of her sister, she notices flashes of light coming from a nearby barn, where she accidentally uncovers a time machine, and is sent back to 2003, two days before the killing of her sister. When she realizes what has happened, she locates her sister who is still alive, and her parents, who at this time have no idea of her existence, since she was born after the dramatic death of her older sister. Lucy goes to her high school, where she tops a vicious prank from occurring, with the target being Quinn, whom she befriends, and in whom she confides the truth about where she came from and why she needs to find a way to go back. She and Quinn are not able to save Val and Brian, who fall prey to the Slasher murders, but they do prevent the same fate from occurring to Emmy, another of Summer's friends. Lucy eventually tells the truth about all the killings to both Quinn and Summer, as the latter is the next victim, and they must do something to prevent the killing from occurring. 

If the subject matter for "Time Cut" feels eerily familiar, that's because Amazon Prime released "Totally Killer" from director Nahnatchka Khan in 2023, with a surprisingly similar premise. "Time Cut" is a somewhat inert film in many regards, and is devoid of much of the sense of humor and even charm that "Totally Killer" had. The biggest issues with the film are both its tone and character development. On one hand the director can't decide if this is a slasher film, with traces of the "Fear Street" trilogy or even "The Babysitter", but without any of its humor, or if this is supposed to be a light drama about a teenager trying to find her own place in life, when her parents don't pay that much attention, the same going for apparently everyone else in her life. Ultimately the film is slim in its offerings, failing to succeed in the slasher department, and also failing in the character development arena, since most characters are wooden and have no dimension to them (the parents for instance are generic plastic models with a pulse, with no relevant personality that can be traced). It's a film that tries to check many boxes (bullied teen, sexual orientation, distant parents, and the list goes on), but it feels amateurish in its illustration of the most banal scenes, and shorthanded in the depth of the characters that it depicts. The acting is subpar from the entire cast, and sadly the production team can't do much to elevate this material. This is probably one of the worst releases coming from Netflix's factory. Avoid.  

Maxxxine

Movie Name: Maxxxine
Year of Release: 2024
Director: Ti West
Starring: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Simon Prast, Kevin Bacon, Sophie Thatcher, Lily Collins, Moses Sumney, Halsey, Chloe Farnworth, Albert Kong, Taylor Kowalski, Pegah Rashti, Deborah Geffner
Genre: Crime, Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Following the critical success of "X" and "Pearl", writer/producer/director Ti West returns with what is supposedly the caper of this series of films. Following the events that took place in "X", Maxine Minx is now in Los Angeles where she has become a well known adult film actress. We first encounter her on a casting/audition where she's going for the lead role in celebrated director Elizabeth Bender's new film. She's trying to crossover to legitimate films, and she sees this is as her big break. In the meantime, Los Angeles is under fire with the cloak of the Night Stalker murders highjacking everyone's attention and frightening everyone. Maxine who also works at a live peep show, gets an invite from another performer to go to a party up on the Hollywood Hills. Amber and Tabby, both adult entertainers and friends of Maxine are killed, and two LAPD detectives, Williams and Torres, question her about her knowledge of where they were going and who were they interacting with. Maxine in the meantime is tracked by a private detective who mentions his knowledge of what happened a few years back when she and her friends tried to make an adult film, which resulted in multiple deaths and her being the sole survivor. Maxine decides to confide in her agent of what is happening, and he reassures her all she has to think about is her next big break, since he will take care of everything else. The private detective by the name of Labat, is the first one to be tackled. 

One of the most interesting things about "Maxxxine" is how Ti West manages to vividly bring to mind the artful environment of some of the most interesting (and B-movie inspired) films of the 80s, namely Brian De Palma's "Body Double" and William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in LA". The influences of these films are heavily felt, which has its positive aspects in terms of context and environment definition, but also steal "Maxxxine" itself from a personality of its own. The film is almost too referential, and too restrained for its own good (the film at times also brings to mind episodes of Anthony Yerkovich's "Miami Vice"), begging for some bursts of a point of view of its own, a bit like Nicolas Winding Refn has been doing with some of his feature films. The characters are not as vividly captured this time around, as they were on the prior films of this series. Maxxxine in particular comes across more one-note than previously, whereas the supporting characters don't have much nuance, aside from the private detective portrayed by Kevin Bacon, who feels at home here and even on any noir (even on Curtis Hanson's "LA Confidential"). The central character needs more of a jolt of energy, similar to what the wonderful Nancy Allen created in Brian De Palma's "Dressed to Kill". As it is, Mia Goth for all her talent creates a darker version of Maxine, that transpires into the whole energy of the film. The supporting cast is uniformly solid, with Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, and the always fantastic Kevin Bacon, providing superb support and bringing the characters to as much as life as possible. The production team is solid, including Eliot Rockett's cinematography, Jason Kisvarday's production design, and Mari-An Ceo's costume design. It's an entertaining film and one worth watching, but not as indelible as the prior films in the series. 

Late Night with the Devi

Movie Name: Late Night with the Devil
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
Starring: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, Josh Quong Tart, Steve Mouzakis, Paula Arundell, Tamala Shelton, Christopher Kirby, John Leary, Gaby Seow
Genre: Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"Late Night with the Devil" had its premiere in 2023 at the South by Southwest Film Festival where it was well received, eventually sending the film on a solid commercial run. The film follows the story of Jack Delroy, a fictional late night show host in the 1970s, who competes in ratings with The Tonight Show (with Johnny Carson). We learn that Jack frequently attends "The Grove", an elite California camp for wealthy and powerful individuals, and that he has gone through a traumatic event with the recent death of his wife, Madeleine. Following her death he briefly disappeared, but reappears ready to continue with the show, even if the ratings remain low. The production team decides to do a special occult-related show for Halloween, and invites a self-proclaimed psychic and medium, Christou, alongside the debunker and former magician, Carmichael Craig, and also parapsychologist June Ross-Mitchell, who appears with one of her patients, a young girl by the name of Lilly, who is reportedly possessed by a demonic entity. The show gets started with Christou, who interacts with the audience, and makes some claims, something that Carmichael deems as staged. Things escalate when Christou projectile vomits a black liquid, and has to be rushed to the hospital. Jack is later informed that he died in the ambulance. Following the situation with Christou, Dr. June comes in with Lilly, and while initially reticent about letting Lilly go on and showcase the possession, Jack convinces her to do so. Lilly becomes possessed, levitates in her chair, and even indicates having met Jack before. Carmichael once again attempts to debunk the situation, with a case of mass hypnotism, until Lilly is once again possessed and things get out of control.

"Late Night with the Devil" is an unexpected surprise, a film that smartly brings to life a bygone era, all the while creating an environment dominated by unease and progressive dread. The writer/director team allow for the escalation of the horrific moments to occur, opting to do both scenario construction and a progressive disclosure of sorts, where we learn just enough about the characters, in order to better understand their motivations and how they've converged together. The film could have benefited a bit more of character development, particularly for Jack, June and some of the production team members, but the creative team provides just enough information so that these characters don't appear as flimsy clichés. By the time the more standard horror elements surface, the film does take a conventional take on the possession genre, but manages to do so within the finely crafted scenario they created (in this case the talk show of the late 70s). It's a film that benefits from a solid cast, in particular the always underrated David Dastmalchian, who finally has a lead role that showcases his immense talent, with good support from Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss and Rhys Austeri. The production team on this film is equally impressive, with highlights going to Matthew Temple's cinematography, Otello Stolfo's fantastic production design, and Steph Hooke's costume design. It's an intelligent film that seizes one's attention, with great attention to detail, even if it ties itself to some unnecessary clichés. 

Trap

Movie Name: Trap
Year of Release: 2024
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Alison Pill, Haley Mills, Jonathan Langdon, Mark Bacolcol, Marnie McPhail, Kid Cudi, Russ, Marcia Bennett
Genre: Crime, Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

M. Night Shyamalan's more recent prolific output continues, with "Trap" being the latest of his endeavors, following last year's well received "Knock at the Cabin". "Trap" focuses its narrative on Philadelphia firefighter Cooper Abbott, whom we first encounter taking his daughter Riley, to a concert featuring one of her idols, Lady Raven. The arena is packed, but Cooper notices the space is filled with police officers, including SWAT and even FBI agents. While trying to get a swag tshirt for his daughter, he learns from one of the vendors that the whole police parafernalia is in reality an attempt to catch a dangerous serial killer who has been operating in the area, since the investigation team has uncovered that the killer would be in attendance. As it turns out, Cooper is indeed the killer, and he starts realizing that his options of escape are diminishing by the minute. Not trying to raise any suspicions with his daughter, he invents excuses for his frequent exits, as he tries to collect more information on how he can evade the situation. He finally finds what he expects to be an exit strategy, when he speaks with someone from Lady Raven's team, and lies about his daughter being a leukemia survivor. She gets brought onstage, all the while Cooper is assessing his next steps. 

"Trap" starts off strongly with a premise that is fairly straightforward. The entrapment of the entrapper, in this particular case, of a methodical serial killer, who has been impossible to capture. M. Night Shyamalan manages to perfectly set up the entire situation, briefly introducing the characters, and slowly peeling away of who Cooper is, never revealing too much. The central villainous character is always presented as a cordial and affable individual, trying to escape the net that is being set on the perimeter in which he is located. However as the film moves on to its third act, that's sadly where the plot loses some of its impact and momentum, since much of the claustrophobia is lost, and some of the scenarios and interactions the director chooses to stage start losing both its authenticity and edge. Some of the plot options end up damaging the epilogue of the feature, which up to that point had been taut and impeccably staged (a bit like Wes Craven's "Red Eye" for instance). The film also suffers from the fact that most of the supporting characters have very little dimension to themselves, particularly Alison Pill's Rachel (the wife) and even Haley Mills' Dr. Josephine Grant (the profiler). Josh Hartnett's Cooper himself, could have been further realized as a character, however the whole attention devoted to Lady Raven's character (played by the director's daughter, Saleka Shyamalan), takes away from the far more interesting character introductions that keep occurring. The cast is solid, with Josh Hartnett in particular balancing a fine act of being both warm and affable, while also being cruel and menacing. The only exception to the overall cast performance is sadly Saleka Shyamalan, who fails to bring the pop star to life with conviction and with a distinct personality.  The production team is solid, with highlights going to Sayombhu Mukdeeprom's cinematography, Herdis Stefansdottir score, and Debbie DeVilla's production design. It's a watchable, but not memorable endeavor from this gifted storyteller. 

Woman of the Hour

Movie Name: Woman of the Hour
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Anna Kendrick
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Daniel Zovatto, Tony Hale, Nicolette Robinson, Pete Holmes, Autumn Best, Kathryn Gallagher, Kelley Jakle, Matt Visser, Jedidiah Goodacre, Dylan Schmid, Karen Holness, Denalda Williams, Jessie Fraser, Matty Finochio, Geoff Gustafson
Genre: Crime, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Anna Kendrick's directorial debut premiered at the Toronto Film Festival of 2023, where it was met with solid reviews, and quickly got purchased by Netflix, who waited a full year before releasing it. The film which takes place in the late 1970s focuses its narrative on two central characters: a struggling actress in LA by the name of Sheryl, and a man by the name of Rodney Alcala, who later became well known as the Dating Game Killer. Sheryl as we find out, has been having a hard time in getting her thespian career moving forward. She goes on auditions that lead nowhere, and she's seriously considering moving out of LA. Her agent finally persuades her to go to the Dating Game, as that can help with her recognition. Rodney in the meantime wonders around, having had a colorful academic and professional background, which includes taking film classes from director Roman Polanski himself in New York. He poses as a photographer, capturing sexually suggestive photos of young women and also young men. He attacks and kills a few as we witness. He crosses paths with Sheryl when he goes to the Dating Game, where he ends up being the selected bachelor. The evening almost ends on a tragic note for Sheryl, but she manages to escape unharmed. Rodney in the interim continues his dalliances, engaging with a runaway by the name of Amy. 

"Woman of the Hour" is a film that plays well to Anna Kendrick's strengths as an actress. She has cultivated throughout her career a persona that is marked by sensical, strong and intellectually deft characters. Sheryl is no exception, since she navigates a male chauvinistic environments with aplomb and resourcefulness, including feigning the comments from the casting calls, and even the Dating Game's host himself. As a director Anna Kendrick manages to briefly illustrate some of the monstrous episodes of a serial killer's path, failing however to provide a slight insight into that character, which is where the film falters a bit. It's a film that is overly polite, and restrained, one that needs a slight jolt of character depth to make these situations that much livelier and inhabited. The film takes a stronger turn when the paths cross on the Dating Game, with that reconstitution being spot on, though when the characters are on their own paths, their journeys feel rather underdeveloped (though the episode of Rodney and Amy is quite arrowing). The cast is uniformly great, with Daniel Zovatto in particular making a compelling and menacing Rodney, with good support from Anna Kendrick, Tony Hale, and Pete Holmes. The production team is solid, including Zach Kuperstein's cinematography, Dan Romer and Mike Tucillo's score, and Brent Thomas' impeccable production design. It's a solid feature directorial debut for Anna Kendrick. 

The Fall Guy

Movie Name: The Fall Guy
Year of Release: 2024
Director: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke, Ben Knight, Matuse, Adam Dunn, Zara Michales
Genre: Action, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Director David Leitch who started off his directorial career with the trifecta of "John Wick" (he was one of the creative forces behind it), "Atomic Blonde" and "Deadpool 2", has since gone into far less interesting territory with his ventures into the "Fast and Furious" universe, followed by "Bullet Train" and now this "The Fall Guy". The film is an adaptation of the TV Show from the 1980s, from writer/producer Glen A. Larson, with the script being authored by Drew Pearce (whose most notable endeavor is co-writing "Iron Man 3" with the wonderful Shane Black). "The Fall Guy" follows the story of Colt Seavers, who is a stunt man for a major action star by the name of Tom Ryder. Colt suffers an accident performing one of the stunts, and retreats from the profession, including cutting contact with his recent girlfriend, Jody Moreno. He's suddenly brought back to that arena, when he's invited to perform stunts for Jody's directorial debut, that is taking place in Sydney, Australia. Colt suddenly realizes it wasn't Jody who invited him back, but instead it was Gail Meyer, Tom's film producer. Gail also reveals that Tom has gone missing, and has been associating himself with a rough crowd, and Colt has to find a way to uncover where he's been. As Colt probes into what has been happening, he realizes there's a lot more to the story than Gail led him to believe, all the while Jody is still very much interested in him, but since having her feelings hurt, is also lashing out at him. 

Ryan Gosling was previously in a film by the name of "The Nice Guys", written and directed by Shane Black, where his comedic timing, charm and easy chemistry with his co-stars worked on every level (in this case with Russell Crowe). It wasn't the success it deserved to be, but the energy that film had, is what is missing on this take with "The Fall Guy". The rather rudimentary script doesn't help much, but this film suffers from these innumerable winks that the characters are sharing between each other, since it's basically a film within a film, one that always thinks that it is far more clever than it actually is (you can tell the author of the script is thinking "I wonder if the audience will realize this reference or this behind the scenes reference"). The script also tries to capitalize on this marriage of screwball romantic comedy with a big action picture (for a better reference of a film within a film check the maligned John McTiernan film "Last Action Hero"), however the banter between the central characters goes on indefinitely, and a certain point it poses the question why these two annoying individuals are even at the center of the narrative. It's a film that has tone issues, not only from the different styles that have been previously mentioned, but also because it attempts to be somewhat violently graphic, in tandem with being "movie violent", aka, sanitized in its depiction of violence. In essence, this tries to be a Shane Black film, without having the wit, humor, intelligence or ability to be a Shane Black film (or at least the best of his films). It's no "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", and it's definitely not "The Nice Guys", since all of the characters of this film barely exist beyond the one sentence paragraph they've been granted in the synopsis of the script. Ryan Gosling tries to make the best of this mess, but Hanna Waddingham and Stephanie Hsu are the most interesting performances in this over-bloated mess (and just a few notes on a few performers, namely Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who even after all these years is still a terrible actor, and Emily Blunt's distracting face, who seems to be getting rounder and rounder with each film she appears in). The production team is rather generic, which is a bit of a letdown for a director who has always been rather stylish in his endeavors. This is a miss for everyone involved.