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Black Widow (2021)
The Widow is Back in Black!
The Short and Sweet
It's good! Go see it. Action out the yin yang, humor, family drama and it even has room for a rug pull or two. Marvel is back, baby!
The Boring and Pretentious Review
It's been a while, huh? The 'rona put the brakes on Marvel's Phase 4 designs and it's taken more than a year to get back on track. Damn you, 'ronaaaaaaaaa! Was it worth the wait? Well that depends on your own perso-oh the hell with it, hell yeah it was worth the wait! Black Widow comes roaring into theaters this month to remind us what makes Marvel movies so damn fun and, boy, has it been about damn time.
Ostensibly an origin story, this functions more as an expansion of Natasha Romanov, aka the Black Widow character history but the operating word here is action, action and dare I say it, even more action.
Not quite a sequel, not a quite prequel (a midquel?) the film is set immediately after the events of Captain America: Civil War but follows more closely The Winter Soldier both in style and tone and could well serve as that film's spiritual successor. Like in Winter Soldier, director Cate Shortland and writers have opted for a cold war era style spy thriller. Don't worry if you haven't the director's name before, I hadn't either. After this she will become a household name joining the likes of Patty Jenkins from Wonder Woman giving the boys' a run for their money in directing comic book movies. And she ain't the only one. The ladies are running the show here with Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz joining Johansson and a stellar cast that includes David Barbour (Hopper from Stranger Things) and Ray Winston, just in case you thought this was merely a filler film until the heavyweights arrive later in the year. This Widow is punching well above her weight class.
Johansson always dominated her MCU scenes with Cap and the Avengers and here she is given chance to flesh out her character. But the entire cast displays a strong showing with Pugh, Weisz and Barbour in particular clearly enjoying themselves. They do such a great job it would be a shame if Marvel and The Mouse don't keep using these characters in the future.
The film opens with a wholesome scene of Americana before cleverly setting up its spy thriller conceit that extends right into the opening credits. The action hijinks start early and they are frantic and non-stop with fight scenes that look choreographed by somebody that studied their Jason Borne well. Fights that feel desperate and immediate and make use of whatever household items happen to be around in order to subdue or kill an opponent. Violent gun fights, car chases, martial arts, it's all here.
But besides all of that, Marvel's genius continues to be in the menacing villains it continues to come up with to antagonize the heroes. In The Taskmaster, they have another memorable one, a fighting power house that can imitate anybody's fighting style just by looking at them. The scenes featuring him are some of the best in the whole movie.
To be fair, the film is not without its flaws. The plot gets a little convoluted at times and some of the action seem over-the-top compared to the tight groundedness of The Winter Soldier. And depending on your taste, its denouement will come across as trite but these are minor quibbles for a film that was such fun getting you there. A self-aware, action packed Marvel flick with maybe more than a hint of #metoo commentary, this injects a rejuvenating shot into a character that was by all means supposed to have been over and done with. Can't wait to see what else Marvel has in store. And of course, don't forget about that after credits scene!
Us (2019)
The Second Film from Barack Obama's Former Impersonator
The Short and Sweet:
Should you go see it? Yes, go. It's worth seeing.
Is it scary? Not really. More suspense than anything else.
Can I take my kids? How the hell should I know? They yo' kids!
Ok, ok, fine, I'm sorry, come back. If they're in their teens they should be a fine. The younger ones might get spooked. Definitely don't take grandma though, she won't top talking.
The Long, Boring and Pretentious Review:
Oh sure! In 2017 Jordan Peele came out of nowhere with one of the most original, suspenseful and entertaining horror thrillers in recent memory, but, can he do it again? Well, yes, of course he can.
But this is not it.
I'll try to explain. Ever since "Get Out" blindsided audiences with its well-constructed tale of ultimate indentured servitude we all have been waiting for the next film from the former half of comedy duo Key and Peele. After two years we finally got our wish. With 4 times the budget of his first film Peele wrote, directed, and produced his next offering.
The good news is that Peele continues to mature as a director and shows an expertise than even seasoned veterans can envy. He is not just a skillful storyteller but also proves to be an expert behind the camera. Watch him as he makes a simple shot of rabbits feel unsettling. He is aided by a solid cast all pulling double duty as a normal American family on vacation and the deranged doppelgangers who torment them for some reason.
Lupito Ngyiong'o gets the best parts with the plot being anchored around her story. Ngyong'o's worried mother Adelaide Wilson exudes a sensuality that contrasts sharply with the barely contained lunatic madness of her counterpart. What does she want from the terrified family and why does she seem to know Adelaide? Along for the ride is Ngyong'o's Black Panther co-star Winston Duke as pater familias. A man who finds himself out of his depth in trying to protect his family.
The bad news is that while all the pieces are in place to make a compelling narrative the story never comes together and the film as a whole never quite decides what it wants to be. While "Get Out" gave us a satisfying payoff after all the weirdness, "Us" never fulfills the promise of its storyline. It doesn't help that at times the film decides it wants to be a comedy before pivoting back to suspense.
But Peele manages to pull one last rabbit out of the hat. Even if it takes a long way getting there the film comes up with a final surprise ending that would make M. Night Shyamalan jelly. The intriguing finale saves the entire thing from being a wasted effort and Peele from being a one-hit wonder. While he may not be the next Hitchcock just yet he has shown that he can make interesting and complex work and I'm still curious to see what he will do next.
The Happytime Murders (2018)
Comedy is the real victim here.
For years moviegoers have had to deal with what I call the "preview problem,", a term I just pulled out of my nether regions. The preview problem is easy to explain: the folks that make movie previews have one job and one job only, and that is to sell the film they are advertising. The trouble begins with the fact that they have gotten very good at this. It doesn't matter the quality or type of film or even if you end up liking it or not. These guys could not care less about audiences' opinions if they came in a book labeled "The Picture Book of Colonoscopies." As soon as those butts are comfortably ensconced in theater seats their job is done. And they will go to some pretty far lengths in order get that essential opening weekend box office moolah: From showing scenes that are not actually in the finished film to giving a completely wrong expectation of the movie in question.
And so, with come to The Happytimes Murders, a film that overpromises and disappoints worst than a teenage boy on prom night. On its face, the premise presented on the trailer is almost genius in its simplicity. What if we had a Muppets movie for adults? The analogy is not entirely glib being the movie was directed by the revered Jim Henson's own son, Brian, making his feature-length debut. By all expectations this should have been if not a hilarious sleeper hit, then at the very least, a little funny.
It is not.
What went wrong? It's not the fact the writers throw every tired old detective movie cliché at the screen in an attempt to remake "The Maltese Falcon" with puppets and foul language. And it is also not the issue that, as shown in the trailer, puppets simulating sex is NOT inherently funny. Team America proved that premise could be hilarious that 14 years ago.
No, the trouble is that the writers et al. forgot that what makes Muppets, cartoons and marionettes interesting in the first place is that they live by their own set of rules. Consider the classic "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Cartoons living in a human world but following cartoon rules. Putting puppets in a human world, obeying human rules misses the point of puppets completely and makes for a film that annoys rather than entertain. If anything, this just proves that you can't just throw a bunch of curse words and sex jokes and expect a hit.
But even all that could be forgiven if the film didn't commit the worst sin of all and that is misusing a particular stellar cast of comedians. Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks and Michael McDonald have maybe 3 minutes of funny screen time between them. And while ostensibly the film is about a murder mystery, not making Melissa McCarthy funny is the real crime here.
A Quiet Place (2018)
A Masterclass in Suspense from ***ing Jim Halpert!
Movie premises can run the gamut from the clever, "don't let the bus fall below 50 mph or a bomb will explode," to the wacky, "don't feed the cuddly Gremlins after midnight or they turn into vicious little murder beasts," to the downright "ok, who the hell greenlit this mess," snakes on a plane anyone? But no matter how original the idea, the movie it carries lives or dies by its execution and it is here that A Quiet Place shows its pedigree. As set-ups go, it comes with an intriguing one: don't make any noise louder than a whisper or risk instant, violent death by mysterious monsters that hunt by sound.
The premise is illustrated to chilling effect in an opening scene where an act of kindness has devastating results for the wondering family of protagonists. The narrative device presents a particular difficulty for the filmmakers. Namely, how do you tell a story with almost no dialogue between characters? An original idea is a Hollywood rarity in itself and the film handles the contrivance with expertise, showing us the daily routine of a normal, loving, American family in a world where dropping a glass can mean swift, brutal death. There has been a recent trend of rookie directors coming out of left field with impressive, refreshing work, (Who the heck expected Jordan Peal to come up with a horror masterpiece like Get Out?) and to that illustrious list we can add . . . John Krasinski. Wait. Who? With just a fairly unknown movie and about 3 episodes of The Office to his credit, it is a testament to his skill that on barely his second feature film he directed something as arresting as this. In a stale genre where most scares are dependent on jump cuts and a shrill string instrument note, Krasinski and his crew have crafted a truly terrifying film that demands attention and keeps building on its premise with brutal intensity. The director and his DP, The Girl On A Train's Charlotte Bruus Christensen, frame their cameras to maximize the despair and isolation of the family's situation and the effect is unnerving. For this is an engrossing and captivating film that will keep your eyeballs glued to the screen from barely 5 minutes into it; the family's plight to survive against mythical, seemingly indestructible creatures making for a genuine hair-raising, spine-tingling, armrest gripping, movie experience. And all this with barely two pages of dialogue between the whole cast.
But the filmmakers are not alone in their endeavors. They are assisted greatly by a game cast who are all committed to their roles, even the young 'uns. John Krasinski is pulling double duty as director and paterfamilias in the cast, constantly trying to figure out how to protect his family from an unbeatable menace. Emily Blunt can do emotional intensity in her sleep and is particularly well cast here but it is newcomer Millicent Simmonds, as daughter Regan, that threatens to steal the show. Deaf in real life since infancy she brings a realism to the role that is difficult to imagine anybody else could have pulled.
If there is something to gripe about is that the evil that terrorizes the family can seem generic and not much is offered in the way of explanation as to their origin but this is nitpicking and in no way detracts from the experience. The movie is a master class in suspense, a taut thriller that tightens the tension to an almost unbearable degree all the way to its final scene. Hold off on the sodas, folks. You're not gonna want to take any bathrooms breaks for this one.
Parent's Brief
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
On Sex and Violence: No sex. No nudity. There is violence but through the use of judicious editing it is mostly implied rather than graphic. But then again the same could be said about the original Psycho.
The Shallows (2016)
This time is. . . incidental
If you're going to be reviewing a movie involving a shark trying to eat people, comparisons with a certain early Steven Spielberg film are inevitable so let's get them out of way. Despite featuring a beach setting and that, almost mandatory, dorsal fin, this is a different animal than Spielberg's suspense masterpiece. It does feature a shark but Jaws this ain't. What we have is a shark attack flick updated for the millennials. The setting is cleverly simple. In an unspecified Latin country, a young medical student and surfer goes in search of a secluded, "secret" beach where her mother had found some sweet swells years before. She finds the spot before the opening credits finish and then it's time for some skillful aquatic camera work coupled with some gorgeous beach shots that make you wonder why the hell you never took up surfing anyway.
The film gets big props from me for not spoiling everything on the trailer as is Hollywood custom by now. Our heroine meets some locals with dubious accents, barrels and rolls to her heart's content and, despite a running time of only 86 minutes, you're left wondering when Mr. Bitey is gonna show up. But show up he does and the film does a very good job of further distinguishing itself from that other shark movie by keeping the action mostly in and around the water. The movie becomes a cat and mouse game and the fact that land and salvation is always, agonizingly within sight serves to ratchet up the tension.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra manages to keep things interesting despite the sparse setting and Blake Lively makes for a likable heroine. Watch her get up close and personal with said shark and suffer thru some Rambo-esque self-stitching. The film does suffers from some movie tropes like getting cell phone signal even in remote locations and electronic batteries that never die that are to its detriment but it is entertaining for the most part with perhaps its biggest flaw being an ending that borders on sci-fi channel territory. It is a perfectly serviceable summer flick even if it won't make you quite afraid to go back in the water.
Parent's Brief (Spoiler Alert) Rated: PG-13 Running Time: 86 minutes
On Sex and Violence: No sex or nudity. A character is shown in a bikini. There are scenes with blood, a character receives a gashing wound on a thigh and a character is bitten in half off screen but the 2 halves are shown briefly while character is still alive.
Deadpool (2016)
Summer fun in February!
Hooo boy! The year has barely started and already we have shots fired. In the battle to earn your comic book movie love (And dollars) Marvel has come charging out of the gate. After a dearth of comic book films last year Deadpool comes out swinging giving us a reason to love the summer again and it ain't even March. The film begins with an ambitious opening scene, the credits of which, perfectly set the tone of the movie from the get-go: funny, irreverent and self-aware. Marvel appears to have adopted a doctrine of making their films be entertaining (Imagine that!) above any other concerns and Deadpool seems to be a culmination of that philosophy. It is a testament to the skill and commitment of Marvel and the makers that they can get so much mileage out of one second tier character, and half the budget, than other companies can with four first rate ones, fantastic or otherwise. (Way to redeem yourself 20th Century Fox!) Not bad for a character that was a created as a joke. (For the non-initiated, Deadpool started life as a blatant clone of Deathstroke, a character from DC Comics, Marvel's main competitor.)
In all this the film is aided in great part by a crackling script that never lets up. Whereas too many action movies treat the scenes between set pieces as filler packed with exposition and the occasional comic relief, Deadpool deftly weaves between wise- cracking slapstick, violent acrobatics and scenes of serious peril with effortless ease. The result of all of this is a movie that is engaging throughout whether featuring profane, brilliant banter or graphical, bloody shootouts. For the film wears that R rating proudly with enough sex and violent to make Paul Verhoeven get all misty-eyed. It is not surprise there is already a sequel in the works.
Another revelation here is Reynolds himself who in Deadpool seems to have found his Iron Man, a character so indelibly linked to the actor that plays him that you cannot imagine anyone else playing him. And his work here acts as vindication of that whole Wolverine debacle which we won't mention ever again. But the secret ingredient in the Deadpool stew is geek heroine Morena Baccarin, who, besides being cute as a button brings the acting chops honed in fan favorites like Gotham and Firefly or even as the darnest adorable reptilian alien ever in the short-lived "V" reboot. Baccarin has the perfect easy-going confidence to match Reynold's sardonic bravado and their superb and convincing on-screen chemistry provides the impetus for Deadpool's heroic arc.
For despite all the foul language, gore and masturbation jokes, this is a story that is surprisingly tender. It turns out it wasn't just a marketing gimmick and, Deadpool, really is a love story. To be sure, one with more severed body parts than your average love yarn but a love story nonetheless. Starting a new franchise is always risky and studios hate taking risks. Whatever your stance on comic books is, the fact remains this movie should not have been this good. The writers and director have shown what can be achieved with bold writing and an unapologetic attitude, and, more importantly, that comic book movies need not be made for kids to be enjoyable or, indeed, successful. Here's to hoping that trend will continue. Hopefully Hollywood will take notice.
Parent's Brief
Rated: R Running Time: 108 minutes On Sex and Violence: Plenty of both. There is graphic violence of the gratuitous kind. People get shot in all kinds of places and I mean their bodies not exotic locations. Limbs get bloodily cut off. A lot of foul language which I don't mind but I'm not here to judge. Deadpool and his love interest get into some vigorous love making and elsewhere there is some brief frontal nudity. Boobies. Boobies are shown. So yeah. Don't take the kids.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
The film I'll show my son to let him know he has become a man.
This flick should not have worked. Not only is it yet another 80's remake but even more worrying, yet another entry into the post- apocalyptic genre that is so much in vogue right now. But there was something promising about those trailers though. . . Even from the opening credits you get the sense that this is not gonna be a conventional ride; something in the lettering that suggests a time where films were made for pure entertainment. The movie is set in the near future but this is no cutesy tween franchise in the making, designed to capture that ever important 12 to 17 demographic.
Oh, f*** no.
There are no spunky heroines, no games, no mazes and no adorable robots learning how to love. What you have is the dirty, broken remnants of humanity trying to survive. The setting is dystopian in the true sense of the word, a gritty, grimy and grotesque world where mankind is barely holding on, their bodies ravaged by disease, where water is a precious commodity and a healthy baby is valued more than anything. This is a world of fire and blood, life or death ride on a whim and damn if it isn't a beautiful thing to watch. The mayhem starts from the opening scene and doesn't let up until its dusty, breathless ending. Director George Miller and veteran cinematographer John Seale have crafted a maniacal and delirious romp through the gorgeous Namibian desert and created what is, essentially, a 2-hour long car chase scene that looks amazing; vehicular manslaughter as grand spectacle. The main reason for making this film seems to be the director wanting to answer the question: what kind of movie can be made if you have no concern at all for stuntmen safety. For most of the running time there are people jumping on, over, below and, in one memorable sequence, even swinging from poles around moving vehicles, Miller and Seale capturing every vertiginous shot with precise expertise. You are going to come out of this movie exhausted and dusting sand from your clothes.
As Max Rockatansky Tom Hardy brings that quiet intensity he is famous for but, despite the title, this is Charlize Theron's movie and the story is mostly presented from her point of view. As Imperator Furiosa she carries the film's McGuffin, all lovely five of them, and some of the most poignant scenes. For even if this is a damned and barren place it is not, entirely a man's world. Women are very much a part of it and can be lethal too. A movie about cars, violence and explosions that still manages to empower women? Not even all 7 Fast & Furious flicks can match this ride for ferocity and enjoyment.
Now, some may complaint that the story is hard to follow, and to be honest, I had a difficult time following the Australian accents. But this is mostly the gripes of a public used to having the plot spoon fed to them like delicious apple sauce. There is no hand-holding here, no lengthy exposition to ease you into this world of woe. This is just not that kind of movie. The director has much more respect for his audience than that. The earth is f***ed, humanity is dying, get used to it. Not that you will have too much to ponder what is going on with all the craziness happening on the screen. Fast cars, explosions, fights, a dude playing the guitar, even a goddamn tornado! And you want to worry about backstory? Naah, son. You walked into the wrong theater. Now, sit back, shut up, and enjoy the glorious madness. Oh what a lovely day indeed!
Parent's brief: Rated R. Running time: 120 minutes On Sex and Violence: This is gonna sound a little counterintuitive after reading the preceding review but, there is actually not that much graphic violence in the film. I'm not saying bring the little ones. That R rating is there for a reason, but most of the violence is cleverly implied. There is some nudity but no sexual situations.
Ex Machina (2014)
Highly original and compelling to watch.
Science fiction is a well known and reliable movie genre. Its literary cousin, hard science fiction, less so. Hard sci-fi is based on current research and technologies that are plausible in our current understanding of the subject; it is a future that is just around the corner. Think more Gattaca and Interstellar and less Armageddon and The Matrix. Into this sub-genre we may as well throw one more sub-sub: humanity's preoccupation with artificial intelligence or A.I. for the cognoscenti. Even before Spielberg brought us the Kubrick film of the same name, the possibility of sentient machines has been a subject that Hollywood returns to again and again. From Fritz Lang's Metropolis to Kubrick's own 2001: A Space Odyssey, audiences have been captivated by questions like, can machines be self-aware? Are they capable of feeling? Can they even, whoa, love?
The questions are tantalizing and the subject shows no sign of slowing down. Following the recent, and somewhat disappointing, Chappie and last year's Her, a film that shares similar themes, here we have Ex Machina. Directed by first time helmer Alex Garland, who's previous writing credits include 28 Days Later and Sunshine, another sci-fi flick of the hard variety. For a debut film this is impressive work. The set up is at once simple and compelling: a young coder is selected to participate in a modern day Turing test, the premise of which is being able to tell if a subject is human or A. I. by asking a series questions and analyzing the answers. If the interviewer cannot tell the difference then true A. I. has been achieved. In a classical Turing test the interviewer does not know beforehand who or what he's asking the questions to but here the rules are changed in a few ways. For once, we get to see the subject A. I. almost from the beginning played by Alicia Vikander in a gorgeous mixture of live action and CG that's midway down the slope towards the uncanny valley.
The programmer, played by Domhnall Gleeson, is brought to a reclusive mountain retreat by Oscar Isaac's Nathan. You know? I don't know what this Isaac fellow did before becoming an actor but after this and Inside Llewyn Davis it seems he's truly found his calling as an actor. Here he plays a billionaire genius that seems like a combination between Steve Jobs and Doctor Frankenstein. It is he that sets up the Gleeson's programmer to test his A. I. creation but who is really testing who? To say more of the plot would be to rob viewing audiences of watching this expertly crafted yarn unfold. Suffice to say this is intelligent and provocative film making, with writer/director taking meticulous care in developing his narrative. At times he seems to know exactly what his audience is thinking and has the characters provide answers to intriguing questions. For example, just how intimate can you get with a machine? As a cinema experience it makes for gripping viewing. Watch it with Spike Jonze's Her for an interesting discussion on what the future may hold for human/machine interactions. As the director's first film it marks Garland as a talent to watch. I personally can't wait to see what he'll do next.