Get Away

Movie Name: Get Away
Year of Release: 2024
Director: Steffen Haars
Starring: Nick Frost, Aisling Bea, Sebastian Croft, Maisie Ayres, Ville Virtanen, Eero Milonoff, Anitta Suikkari, Jouko Ahola, Verneri Lilja, Kari Kinnari
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

"Get Away" is in reality the second collaboration of writer/actor Nick Frost and director Steffen Haars to be released in 2024 (the other one was the poorly received "Krazy House", which co-starred Alicia Silverstone). "Get Away" follows the narrative of the Smith family, who are in Sweden for a much needed vacation according to them. They have booked an Air BNB located on a small island, so they can witness a local holiday known as "Karantan" (translates to Quarantine). Prior to boarding the ferry to the island, they stop to get some food, and are quickly informed by the owner that they should avoid the island and the celebration altogether. Undeterred, the 4 continue to the island, and are greeted with a considerable degree of animosity by the locals. They're eventually saved by the host of their Air BNB, who takes them to their lodgings. The family isn't dissuaded from staying and in the days prior to the holiday/staging of the historical mark, go about enjoying the placid and serene surroundings of the island. While doing so, they're also being observed and recorded in the house they're renting. The day of the "Karantan", things start taking a dark turn, as their host decides to drug them, expecting to take the family on a different type of ride, only for the tables to quickly be turned on him and on the village itself.

"Get Away" is Nick Frost's first sole writing credit, and much like the best work he is well known for, such as Edgar Wright's trilogy of "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz", and "The World's End", is a dark comedy, always with a wink and a nudge. The film that it immediately brings to mind in terms of a similar concept and approach is of course Ben Wheatley's "Sightseers", where an apparently affable and lovely couple who while on vacation, go on a killing spree whenever something or someone rubs them the wrong way (one could even go further back in terms of references, and include the dark comedy "Man Bites Dog" from directors Remy Belvaux, Andre Bonzel, and Benoit Poelvoorde). The most interesting aspect of "Get Away" is how Steffen Haars manages to quickly illustrate the complicity in the Smith family, and the opposing distaste that the tight Swedish community has towards them. While none of these characters have much dimension beyond that of a cartoon, the situations themselves evolve as a bit of a satire on modern traveling families who want to predate on local habits for their own entertainment, even if their presence is not welcomed or warranted. As mayhem ensues in the third arc of the film, the facade of everyone finally drops, and while the lunacy is rampant, one can't help but smile at the cartoonish violence that is taking place. The lead actors are all solid, with Nick Frost in particular fitting nicely into this patriarchal type of role he has leaning into more recently. The production team is solid, including Joris Kerbosch's cinematography and Pirjo Rossi's production design. It's watchable, even if not entirely memorable. 

The Amateur

Movie Name: The Amateur
Year of Release: 2025
Director: James Hawes
Starring: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Caitriona Balfe, Holt McCallany, Rachel Brosnahan, Julianne Nicholson, Danny Sapani, Jon Bernthal, Tiffany Gray, Adrian Martinez, Michael Stuhlbarg, Marthe Keller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
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Synopsis and Review

James Hawes has a long directorial career, one shaped mostly by TV shows and TV movies, with "The Amateur" being his feature sophomore directorial effort, following his debut with the well received "One Life" with Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter. "The Amateur" follows the narrative of Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer, who is married to Sarah and leads a rather serene existence. Sarah goes to London on a work trip and while there is shot and killed during a terrorist attack. Charlie is devastated and has a difficult time overcoming the situation, and presses his bosses to do something about it. He decides to do his own investigation of what happened, and courtesy of his technological abilities, he is able to uncover the originators of the attack. He shares this information with leadership who still do nothing to bring those parties to justice. Charlie eventually uncovers that there's been some off the cuff activities being commandeered by his boss, and he leverages that knowledge, blackmailing them into letting him go into the field and seek revenge on what happened to his wife. He goes through a brief training period with Hendo, who explains to Charlie his considerable limitations in being a field agent, but that doesn't deter him in the least. He manages to evade everyone and goes off to Europe where he stars pursuing the terrorists involved in the incident, with his boss, and the new CIA lead also looking into what is happening.

"The Amateur" is in a lot of ways the polar opposite of Robert Ludlum and what Paul Greengrass created with "The Bourne Identity" film series (and the character Jason Bourne for that matter). One would be tempted to think with that angle that "The Amateur" would be a more grounded character driven, almost similar to John Le Carré, type of film. Sadly it isn't, and it's ultimately a film that has a rather banal tone to it, taking giant leaps of believability (which one can tolerate), and where characters pop in and out without much relevance or context. Charlie and Sarah never get much background on who they are, we get some Hallmark vignettes of what their relationship was like. The only character we get a sense of color and dimension to is Caitriona Balfe's Inquiline, who provides a brief but relevant explanation of who she is, why she does what she does, and her reasonings for eventually helping Charlie. It's a film where the director does try to emulate the aesthetic of Paul Greengrass' "Bourne" films, but it lacks the conviction, sense of urgency or danger, and ultimately fails in conveying what is really at risk (also it's difficult to understand how long are these events going for, is it days/weeks/months?). Also, and just peppering the ridiculousness of the third arc of the film, the rather Shakespearean exchange between Rami Malek's Charlie and Michael Stuhlbarg's Horst, just keeps on going, and is completely nonsensical. The cast is a bit all over the place, with Caitriona Balfe, Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, and Danny Sapani getting off this experience with their reputations unscathed, however Rami Malek (who won a series of awards a few years back lip-syncing to Freddie Mercury), demonstrates just how limited his range is, while it's puzzling as to why Rachel Brosnahan took such a thankless part on this film. The production team is solid, particularly Martin Ruhe's cinematography. It's a mediocre endeavor and a film everyone will quickly forget. 

Drop

Movie Name: Drop
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Christopher Landon
Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Reed Diamond, Gabrielle Ryan, Sarah McCormack, Jeffery Self, Ed Weeks, Travis Nelson, Ben Pelletier
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review

Writer/director Christopher Landon who has had a significant career in the thriller/paranormal genre is back, this time around directing a feature he did not write (his career took off after his participation in the "Paranormal Activity" franchise). The narrative focuses on the story of Violet, a single mom, who after a traumatic experience with her ex-spouse, now lives very comfortably in the Chicago area, working as a therapist specialized in abuse situations. She decides to go on a date with a man she's been interacting with from the dating apps, and asks her sister to babysit her young son Toby. She arrives at the restaurant a bit early, and her date is also running a bit behind, so she decides to wait by the bar. There she meets another man who mistakenly believes her to be his blind date. They part after a few niceties, and her actual date arrives soon after. While at the table she acknowledges some drop messages that have been coming to her phone, and the tone of those messages escalates, when she realizes the person has cloned her phone, and knows everything she's doing in the restaurant. The person on the phone demands she kills her date (by poisoning him), otherwise there's someone on standby by her home to kill her child and sister. Checking on the security camera, Violet realizes that is indeed the case. As she navigates the interactions with her very patient and kind date, Violet questions herself, if she's willing to do so, and how she can successfully get out of that predicament.

"Drop" interestingly reminded me of Anatole Litvak's "Sorry, Wrong Number", with the late, great Barbara Stanwyck, whose character was bedridden and heard of a murder plot over the phone and spends the film trying to thwart it. "Drop" isn't nearly as interesting, nor nearly as compelling as that film, but it tries to be economical in its narrative strategy, placing an abused and traumatized victim as the target of some nefarious people trying to do more wrongful things. And while the nugget of the storyline is indeed interesting and compelling, there's a whole credibility to the situation that takes implausibility to a whole different level. For starters, and that's enough to kill the entire premise of this film, there isn't a single male individual, of whatever sexual orientation he may be, who would tolerate even a third of the actions and behaviors Violet throws at him. A widower who spends all her time on the phone, checking messages from her son (or so she says), goes off to the bathroom and other places for considerable amounts of time, all of this while her date sits placidly waiting. As much as Mr. Landon illustrates the lethal aspect of the messages that are coming, the overall claustrophobic environment of not knowing where to turn and what to do, never truly comes across very explicitly. And Violet, while trying to stay cool and fresh so her date doesn't suspect anything, never seems truly frazzled or disconcerted by what is happening. It's a threadbare plot that doesn't really give much dimension to these characters, nor to the situation in which it drops them into. It lacks believability in what it sets out to illustrate, and that it's ultimately why it's not a very successful endeavor. The cast tries their best with the material they have, and while Meghann Fahy doesn't do much with her character (fairly generic), at least her interactions with Brandon Sklenar don't feel entirely rigid. The production is solid, with highlights going to Marc Spicer's cinematography, Susie Cullen's production design, and Bear McCreary's score. It's another miss for Blumhouse studios.

Elyas

Movie Name:  Elyas
Year of Release: 2024
Director: Florent-Emilio Siri
Starring: Roschdy Zem, Laetitia Eido, Jeanne Michel, Dimitri Storoge, Sherwan Haji, Eric Savin, Nabil Elouahabi, Toussaint Martinetti, Frederic Maranber, Aguibou Ba, Leonid Glushchenko, Sieme Miladi, Olivia Bonamy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review

Director Florent-Emilio Siri is well known for his work directing music videos, but also for having directed the Bruce Willis led, "Hostage" which came out in 2005."Elyas" is his most recent feature directorial endeavor since his last effort released in 2015, "French Cuisine". The film focuses its attention on Elyas, a former Special Forces soldier dealing with some trauma from his experiences in Afghanistan, who gets a new job courtesy of a referral as a security guard for a wealthy/affluent family. While not exactly something he was looking forward to tackling, he agrees to it, since they pay is solid and the job itself seems rather low risk. He is tasked with protecting a young girl by the name of Nour and her mom Amina. While initially cold and distant, Nour slowly ingratiates herself with him, and a bond of friendship is built around Elyas and the young girl. However their placid existence is thrown into disarray when the castle is invaded, with a highly skilled team of mercenaries trying to kidnap Nour. Elyas' security team is all killed, and it eventually falls down to him to successfully prevent Amina and Nour from being taken.

"Elyas" covers ground that many other films have already done so in the past. The most obvious reference is of course Tony Scott's "Man on Fire" with Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning, which this film appears to attempt to remake, just moving the action to a different continent and reframing some of the context of the narrative. The film also bears influences from Paul Greengrass' "The Bourne Identity" films, in the way the action set pieces are orchestrated and shot. The film is in essence another take on the action films Luc Besson's Europa Corp has been producing, with directors such as Olivier Megaton, Louis Leterrier, Xavier Gens, Pierre Morel, and more recently George Huang. Slick and polished B-movies, not that different in spirit from the genre pictures that the late Charles Bronson was doing with director Michael Winner. "Elyas" doesn't provide much in terms of character development for any of the characters, and much of the rapport that is shaped between the lead characters feels very much like a cliché already captured in other films, but it illustrates the connection between them until the action set pieces begin. The action is adequately captured, without the frantic sense of urgency and authenticity as Paul Greengrass has been able to do in his "The Bourne Identity" films, but it's effective and gives the film the jolt of energy that it needs. The film and its creative team, don't take the material or themselves very seriously: they know they're crafting a B-movie made of car chases and fight scenes, and that's essentially what they deliver. There are some hints of character development with Elyas references to his past, but they're altogether brief. The cast is led by the talented Roschy Zem, who creates Elyas as a credible, stoic and unstoppable individual, while the supporting players do a fairly competent job with the limited material they have. The production team is equally competent. It's a watchable and unmemorable feature. 

They Came Together

Movie Name: They Came Together
Year of Release: 2014
Director: David Wain
Starring: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Cobie Smulders, Bill Hader, Ellie Kemper, Michael Ian Black, Jason Mantzoukas, Christopher Meloni, Melanie Lynskey, Teyonah Parris, Ed Helms, Ken Marino, Jack McBrayer, Kenan Thompson, Michaela Watkins, Randall Park, Noureen DeWulf, Lynn Cohen, Michael Murphy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Michael Shannon
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

The creative team of David Wain/Michael Showalter/Ken Marino/Paul Rudd, reunited with "They Came Together" shortly after the release of "Wanderlust", which was a middle of the road endeavor for all parties involved. "They Came Together" is a satire/spoof on all the tropes of romantic comedies, recycling elements from all sorts of films in particular the Nora Ephron ones such as "You've Got Mail" and even "Sleepless in Seattle". The narrative focuses on the couple comprised of Joel and Molly, who are having a casual dinner with their friends Kyle and Karen. During dinner they start reminiscing about how they got together and how their path to happiness came about. Molly originally owned an independent candy store that was slowly being pushed out of business by a bigger one, who was Joel's employer. Molly had gone through a divorce, while Joel had a girlfriend who was cheating on him with a rival coworker. They end up being set up by friends unknowingly, and although they initially dislike each other, they eventually warm up to each other and start bonding over mutual likes. They experience some additional fumbles, but seem to resume their relationship, meeting Molly's parents in the meantime. While that event initially takes place without much controversy, Joel is later horrified to notice Molly's parents are white supremacists. They once again argue, and break up, resulting in them falling into other relationships. Joel goes back to his cheating ex, while Molly starts something with a banker who simply tries too hard. Molly gets proposed by her new partner, but Joel can't stop thinking of her.

Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler have a long standing career of collaborating with David Wain. They worked together on "Wet Hot American Summer" which came out in 2001, and since then Paul Rudd in particular has been in "The Ten", "Role Models", "Wanderlust", and "They Came Together". There's a level of comfortability between all involved in the film, since they've all been collaborating with each other for quite some time, a troupe of sorts, similar to what Christopher Guest has done with his series of mockumentaries and his collaborators (Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, Bob Balaban, Jane Lynch, to name but a few). Paul Rudd of course is part of David Wain's troupe but also of Judd Apatow's troupe ("40 Year Old Virgin", "Knocked Up", "This is 40"). While this camaraderie is wonderful and generates an easy rapport between the characters on screen, "They Came Together" while funny in many parts, it also never truly seems to land or generate that riotous moment. Part of the challenge of this satire, is that unlike what ZAZ did with "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun", the tone on "They Came Together" is self-aware of the elements of the romantic comedy they're mocking/spoofing. What was always so brilliant about ZAZ was how over the top their films were, and how deeply committed to that satire they actually were. "They Came Together" touches on so many funny bits and clichés of the romantic comedy genre, but is somewhat tame and perhaps just too tasteful to really shred it to pieces, something that "Airplane" for instance never feared (the more serious or referential something seems to be, the easier in principle it should be to tear it down). As it stands, the film is a good showcase for the talents of Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, and all the supporting cast that is comprised of a plethora of very talented comedians. The production team is competent but not particularly memorable, which in the end is how this film can be summed up: it's funny, but not particularly memorable. 

Sinners

Movie Name: Sinners
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Ryan Cogler 
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell, Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Yao, Li Jun Li, Omar Benson Miller, Sam Malone, Dave Maldonado, Lola Kirke, Peter Dreimanis, Saul Williams, Nathaniel Arcand
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis and Review

After back to back Marvel produced features, writer/director Ryan Cogler is back to his own original material, with far better results than the somewhat formulaic comic book fare that he has tackled to considerable audience results. This time around the narrative focuses on the story of twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore, who in 1932 return to Mississipi after years spent in Chicago working for organized crime (and a stint in the World War as well). They decide to buy a sawmill from a racist landowner in order to start a juke joint. One of the artists they've recruited is their cousin Sammie, a young man who is the son of a local pastor, who states that blues music opens the gateways to a supernatural world. The brothers recruit a variety of people to their team, including local Chinese shopkeepers Grace and Bo Chow, field worker Cornbread as a bouncer, Smoke's partner Annie as a cook, and Delta Slim, the local music legend, as a pianist. The opening night shows a lot of promise, and Mary, Stack's ex-girlfriend shows up as well, even though their shared history is a lengthy one. Sammie, Delta Slim, and Pearline, the latter one a married singer whom Sammie is infatuated with, perform to great success, however Sammie's musical abilities manages to attract Remmick, and Irish-immigrant who is also a vampire. He's turned a few locals into vampires as well, and they all show up at the joint wanting to come in. When the brothers and their team suspect something unseemly with Remmick and his acolytes, they deny them entrance, but as Mary investigates further, things start taking a much darker turn during the evening.

There's a fluidity and a sense of pleasure in "Sinners" that is the biggest takeaway from the film. Or at least it was so for me. Ryan Cogler doesn't necessarily bring too much dimension to any of these characters - he mostly gives telegraphic and essential information about who they are, and their entwined relationships, which enables his talented cast to bring them to life. The film is indeed a polished and deftly executed genre picture, but through the perspective of someone with a firmly established point of view, that is informed by his ancestry, and by the race history in North America. It's a film that is able to bring to the surface so much of Black culture, history, the joy of creation and music, but also mix it with a supernatural potboiler where vampires are musically seduced, but lethal and vicious nonetheless. The film does have a fluidity to it (there are no lulls), though there are aspects that could have benefited from some additional development, such as the twins relationships with the women they're bonded with, but as the film evolves there are echoes of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13" in the sense of the imminent invasion of the space by a larger group of foes, and there's even some pulp-like nods to Quentin Tarantino's scripted "From Dusk Till Dawn". The most striking aspect about this film is the fact that it manages to balance nods to Africanism, Blues/Music, Religion, Racism, and a supernatural twist, without ever feeling forced. The cast is uniformly solid, with highlights going to Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku, and Jack O'Connell. The production team is also impeccable, including Autumn Durald Arkapaw's cinematography, Ludwig Goransson's score, Ruth E. Carter's costumes, and Hannah Beachler's production design. An overall deftly crafted and entertaining film worth watching. 

Final Destination 5

Movie Name: Final Destination 5
Year of Release: 2011
Director: Steven Quale
Starring: Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell, Arlen Escarpeta , Miles Fisher, Ellen Wroe, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, P.J. Byrne, David Koechner, Courtney B. Vance, Brent Stait, Tony Todd
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

After the disappointing "The Final Destination" (or "Final Destination 4" from director David R. Ellis), the fifth installment of the series gave the creative reigns to the team of director Steven Quale and screenwriter Eric Heisserer, who has since written the films "Bird Box" for director Susanne Bier and the multiple award nominated "Arrival" for director Denis Villeneuve. The narrative this time around focuses on a young professional in sales by the name of Sam Lawton who is about to go on a company retreat with his colleagues. Sam has been contemplating a change of career and has the opportunity to go to Paris and work for a well know restaurant, something he has always dreamt of. The morning before embarking on the bus to go on the retreat, his co-worker and also girlfriend, Molly, breaks up with him, devastating him. During the trip he has a premonition that the bridge they're crossing collapses, and most of his co-workers and himself die in that premonition. Sam wakes up, manages to stop the bus, and get some of his closest friends and co-workers out of the bus, before the bridge collapses, taking the remainder of their team, and many other cars and people in them to the bottom of the sea. The police who starts investigating the case suspects foul play, and that Sam is somehow involved in it all. Soon after the dramatic accident, each one of the survivors start dying due to extreme and unusual occurrences, starting with Candice, the intern and girlfriend of Peter, who is crushed to witness her death. And the deaths don't stop with Candice, all of them start getting picked by the order in which they would have died, had they stayed on the bus.

Steven Quale started his career as a second-unit director for James Cameron's "Titanic" and has since then also worked in that same capacity for his other well known directorial endeavor, "Avatar". Mr. Quale's directorial debut was actually the documentary he co-directed with James Cameron, "Aliens of the Deep", though "Final Destination 5" is in reality his scripted feature directorial debut. Working within the parameters of the series and with a solid script from Eric Heisserer, who actually goes in slightly different directions than the other features of the series. "Final Destination 5" is a worthy continuation to the work James Wong did with "Final Destination" and "Final Destination 3", both of which leaned a bit more heavily into the supernatural aspect of the series, and not solely on the gratuitous aspect of the gore afflicted death scenes. This film gives the characters something more substantial to do and react to, providing some extra context into the relationships between the co-workers, and even giving some additional (even if limited) information on Sam and Molly's relationship. The film still illustrates the gruesome accidents, as it has become a staple of the series, but it smartly takes its time in setting up the scenarios. It also benefits from actors who are more subtle about their performances, creating characters that feel more authentic than the ones that paraded around on the prior chapter of the franchise (even if most of the characters on this chapter aren't the most layered ones of the whole series of films). The production team is competent even if unremarkable, but overall this film is an average addition to the series. 

The Old Guard 2

Movie Name: The Old Guard 2
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Victoria Mahoney
Starring: Charlize Theron, Kiki Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngo, Henry Golding, Uma Thurman, Kamil Nozynski
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Five years after the release of the first film, "The Old Guard" is back, with a new director in charge of what seems to have been a troubled production. The narrative picks right after the events of the first feature. Andy, now a mortal, is still leading her team of immortals, this time around with the addition of Copley as their logistics team member. Joe in the meantime has been keeping tabs and regular contact with Booker, who was exiled from the group due to his treasonous behavior from the prior film. His partner Nicky is disappointed in his behavior, but the group agrees to reconnect with Booker. He lets them know that Quynh, Andy's former companion and partner who all believed to be lost at sea, has been saved and retrieved. She has been brought back by the first immortal, a woman going by the name of Discord, who sets Quynh on a path of retribution and revenge against Andy, but who has agenda of her own. 

Victoria Mahoney has a considerable directorial career on her resume, the large majority of it focused on Television/Streaming shows. And much like the shows she's worked on, the imprint that is left on this film is equally generic and without much of a point of view. What the original film set in motion, namely a group of immortals who work together, and have been changing humanity throughout the years, is largely set aside to focus on a pseudo revenge tale, one that doesn't make much sense, and that as the story continues to develop, gains less and less traction and believability. The script hailing from Greg Rucka (who wrote the original graphic novel) and Sarah L. Walker (who has mostly written TV Shows and TV movies), gives no additional information on any of these characters, not to mention providing very little in terms of background on the new characters who are added, including Tuah and Discord. For a film that was apparently shot in 2022, and has been lingering in this post production limbo since then, it's surprisingly meager how little this film adds to the mythology that the original film tried to establish. It's a film that feels rushed, lacking development in the relationships between the core group, stealing much of what made this group of characters so interesting to begin with, namely their different relationships, including the romantic couple of the team, who this time around is downplayed to what seems a buddy partnership. Everything the first film set in motion, even if it did so in a contrived and limited manner, was further sanded down, leaving all these characters without much of an arc, without much of a presence, and without much of anything to make them memorable (including edge or humor). The cast tries their best with the material they have, and the film is watchable largely because of the luminous Charlize Theron, who is as always a striking presence, but even she can't save this generic drivel. Uma Thurman, Matthias Schoenaerts and Chiwetel Ejiofor as good as they are, also have very little to do. The production team is sadly equally less than impressively. Barry Ackroyd, a formidable veteran cinematographer (he works with Paul Greengrass quite frequently, and lensed Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker"), lights this film in such a way, that there's no specific tonality in the film, everything is so brightly lit that it renders the film as something cheap. The production design, the costume design, is equally unimpressive, which is saying something for a film that is supposed to cover such a wide timeline. This is a head-scratcher, considering all the talent involved. A barely watchable head-scratcher.