Review by Adam Donato Mark Williams and Liam Neeson have had quite the collaborative run as of late. Williams, most known for his producing credits, not only directed Neeson in Blacklight, but also did Honest Thief in 2020, a movie that did fairly well considering the state of the pandemic when it was released. Williams is also responsible for action hits such as The Marksman and Copshop. It seems that Williams understands there certainly is a market for tough guy action flicks. Blacklight is going for counter-programming as it opens Valentine’s Day weekend. It has to fend off more romantic affairs such as Marry Me and Death on the Nile. With action nonsense in the form of Moonfall and Jackass Forever doing solid business last weekend, Blacklight will be sure to do its best work this weekend as Uncharted looms over the following weekend. Is Blacklight good enough to stand out amongst a crowded February release schedule? Ever see screenshots on social media where somebody made a bot write a script about a certain subject? Well, Blacklight is like if you told a bot to write a post-Taken Liam Neeson Action flick. Neeson is a cutthroat federal agent who always gets his man. The only problem? His heart is pulling him elsewhere. He longs to retire so that he can spend more time with his daughter and granddaughter. When tracking down a rogue agent goes awry, Neeson begins to question the morality of his job. Can he find a way to escape the clutches of his corrupt boss or is he just getting too old for this shit? It’s the exact same Liam Neeson movie that has been made dozens of times now. No offense to Neeson, who is just reeling in those paychecks. When his career is all said and done, he will be remembered more for his work pre-Taken than he will for the generic action movies he pumps out yearly. At least he’s not a straight-to-DVD regular like Bruce Willis... yet. It’s a decent movie overall. There’s a car chase that stands out amongst the rest of the action. The rest is just watching an old guy beat up agents half his age, which feels too much like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The funniest part of Neeson’s performance is when he is talking with his granddaughter and he sounds just like the Good Cop from The Lego Movie. The audience feels for him because all he cares about is his family, but leaving his job is a complicated task. The only thing that matters is that Neeson’s character is relatable enough so old men can experience the wish fulfillment inherent in every Neeson movie. Most older men love their family and wish they could still kick ass. Apparently, they need to be reminded of this annually.
This movie is weirdly political. It opens with a rally for a Democratic official, where she is calling for free healthcare and such. The following scene, she is murdered in what is clearly an organized affair. Neeson’s boss starts rambling about how cancel culture and social media run this world. He compares himself to a former president who publicly declared something that would be worthy of getting someone fired today. This tracks with the demographic as older generations can’t stand how politically correct the world is today. It’s just weird because that’s the opinion of the bad guy and not of Neeson. So if your political themes are skewing to a younger, more liberal generation, then good luck. The younger demographic who would go watch this movie would certainly rather go see something like Jackass Forever or Uncharted. This review not only predicts a tepid box office debut with even worse legs, but also that this movie will be poorly received compared to Neeson’s other movies. If only audiences knew how good they had it with The Marksman last year. Pour one out for the wives who get dragged to this movie on Valentine’s Day weekend. Of course, there is certainly an audience for this type of movie and surely won’t be completely ignored. The type of person who looks at their calendar and circles Blacklight’s release date will be satisfied, if not underwhelmed with this whatever movie. Even the best reactions to this movie will be short lived as Blacklight is sure to be forgotten due to its overwhelmingly generic script. Blacklight hits theaters on February 11. Rating: 2/5
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S1E7: "Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor"
Review by Dan Skip Allen
The Book of Boba Fett has been a highly anticipated show by many including myself. The character of Boba Fett has had many ups and downs throughout the history of the Star Wars universe. What Favreau has done with his back story has been very rewarding and quite entertaining thus far. Changing his bounty hunter ways has been met with a bit of a disappointment, but he has never lost his killer instinct and that shows in the final episode. Robert Rodriguez has made sure of that.
Boba Fett has amassed a handful of supporters including Fennec Shand, Black Krrsantan, the Mods biker gang, two Gamorrean guards, a Rancor, and The Mandalorian to defend Mos Espa after the cowardly bombing of the Sanctuary cantina and the assassination of Cobb Vanth at the end of the last episode. Cad Bane has arrived in Mod Espa to negotiate on behalf of the Pyke Syndicate, but it's a trap that the Pykes have laid for Boba Fett and his crew, laying waste to their ranks. Mok Shiraz feels like he may be over his head aligning with the Pykes and the ruthless Cad Bane. He will see. Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau, and the other directors of the show have made a conscious effort to give The Book of Boba Fett a feel of classic gangster films such as The Godfather and westerns such as High Noon and some Clint Eastwood films, along with a moment that resembles Lone Wolf and Cub with the decision involving Grogu and Luke Skywalker. Their love for classic cinema knows no bounds. Using such great films as references for this show makes it all the more special in my eyes and fans of Star Wars. Favreau as the writer keeps the viewer guessing with every twist and turn this show has. Yes, it had a slow beginning, but it has picked up steam ever since episode five when the Mandalorian showed up on the scene. Maybe this was the plan all along, who knows? Combining these two shows was an ingenious idea. Creating this television Star Wars universe is going to be pretty tricky, but if anybody can do it, Favreau can. I have faith in him. He hasn't proven me wrong yet. I have enjoyed the first season of The Book of Boba Fett. It has expanded on the lore of Star Wars while also making a show that fans will love. The next season will hopefully create new adventures that we as fans can get behind. Boba Fett is the star of this show as the title suggests and the next chapters of this book will unfold without any back story. That may be good for the show moving forward in the future. The Book of Boba Fett is now streaming on Disney+. Rating: 5/5 CATCH THE FAIR ONE -- A Servicable Action Thriller With a Breakout Performance From Kali Reis2/8/2022
Review by Dan Skip Allen
Every once in a while, you watch a movie that surprises you in ways you didn't think any film could. So many films are cookie-cutter versions of other films, whether it be the script or genre or something else entirely. You rarely find a film that is different from anything you've seen before. Catch the Fair One is one of those films. And it's a pleasant surprise!
Kaylee (Kali Reis) is a Native American boxer. She works for a living at a diner. When her sister goes missing, she embarks on a mission to find out what happened to her and to bring her back home. She infiltrates a corrupt organization of prostitution and puts her own life on the line to rescue her younger sister. The deeper she goes, the harder answers are to come by, but she's a tough woman and knows how to take care of herself. Her boxing skills come in handy. The film has a very good cast of relative unknowns led by Reis and Kevin Dunn, a very prolific character actor, known for Transformers, Gridiron Gang, and Dave. He plays a man who is in charge of an illegal smuggling operation. Reis infiltrates his organization, but she's over her head. This film is not a typical thriller. It has some interesting story beats that will keep anyone guessing until the end.
Reis isn't known as an actor. Her real-life career as a boxing champion comes in handy as the character she plays in the film. Her fighting skills are first-rate and that allows her to do her own stunt scenes and fighting. That's a very good skill set as far as an actress goes. Not very many have a set of skills like Reis. Her acting skills could use a little work, though.
The director Josef Kubota Wladyka is primarily experienced as a television and streaming director. This is his second feature after Dirty Hands in 2014. He knows his way around a story and the beats he has to hit as a director and storyteller. This film has those beats that need to be met and when they are, the film succeeds very much. The story goes in unfamiliar directions and that's a good thing. Catch the Fair One originally premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival back in 2021. IFC bought it and it's getting a wide release next week. As a little indie film, it succeeds on many levels. The breakout performance by Reis anchors a stellar cast including Kevin Dunn as a nogoodnik up to his neck in illegal activity. Josef Kubota Wladyka does a stellar job in his sophomore outing. The atmosphere and setting of the film make for an intriguing story. Catch the Fair One hits theaters and VOD on February 10. Rating: 3.5/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Several actors previously primarily known for their comedic work made their mark behind the camera directing dramas, and one of the most successful cases of that is Ben Stiller. Stiller directs a majority of the episodes of the new thriller Severance, a darkly comedic satire that will be one of the year’s smartest, most biting new shows.
The series is set at a company where employees undergo a surgical procedure that divides their memories and personality between their work and personal lives, as a group of office workers try to find the truth behind their jobs. It’s a creative sci-fi premise in that it takes a familiar concept and exaggerates and expands upon it in a creative way. It is pretty obvious that the series is anti-capitalist, as it wears its message on its sleeves. There are a lot of different megacorporations for which the fictional one at the center of the series could be a stand-in, but the fact that there are so many believable circumstances in which this could be applicable only goes to show how great the commentary is. The pacing of the show is also extremely good. The first episode hooks the viewer with some extremely good world-building, and then the rest of the show has the perfect balance of suspense and payoffs to be entertaining. And the finale is one of the wildest rides in any series in recent memory.
One of the best things about the show is the way in which it builds its characters. There are effectively two protagonists, although they are just different parts of the same person. Of course, Adam Scott’s phenomenal performance deserves a great deal of credit for making these two halves come to life, but the writing is brilliant in its own right as well.
The supporting cast is also wonderful. This is hopefully a star-making role for Britt Lower, whose performance is absolutely beguiling. John Turturro is as good as always in his supporting role, as is Christopher Walken, although the latter gives a much more restrained turn than is usual for him. And Patricia Arquette’s performance is entirely intimidating. On a technical level, the series does some interesting things despite its inherent limitations. Most of the show takes place in a white, highly-lit basement, but there are some really fascinating flashes of style in every single episode that go a very long way in making things feel slick. And of course, the sanitized nature goes a long way in making the viewer feel claustrophobic. Severance is a truly phenomenal series that takes its brilliant ideas and develops them in a spectacular way. It’s the type of mystery that viewers will stream week after week to see it unravel. Severance streams on Apple TV+ beginning February 18. New episodes stream subsequent Fridays. All nine episodes reviewed. Rating: 5/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the Narrative Feature Competition of this year’s Slamdance Film Festival, Joshua Pikovsky and Jordan Tetewsky’s Hannah Ha Ha supposedly represents the best in truly independent filmmaking. There are a lot of great things going on here, but it’s a bit too simple of a film to have much of a lasting impact.
The movie follows a kind-hearted young woman who spends her days working odd jobs here and there as her older brother moves back, causing her to rethink her perspective on life. Like so many slice-of-life films, this lives or dies based on how invested the viewer gets into the characters, and luckily for Pikovsky and Tetewsky, they’ve been written quite well. It would be hard not to love the protagonist. The movie introduces her in a way that initially seems like it is going to make her into a standard slacker archetype, but it soon becomes clear that the character is more approachable than that. Although the protagonist might not be the most nuanced, she’s definitely likable. That said, the emotional core of the film is really the relationships that she has with the other characters. Her synamic with her brother creates a lot of the conflict in the movie, and while it does tend to lean towards the conventional, it’s still compelling and believable. On the other hand, the father-daughter relationship in the film is absolutely adorable and endearing.
Hannah Lee Thompson does a good job in her leading role. She delivers the dialogue in a way that breathes authenticity, and she is able to carry the movie pretty much on her own. Roger Mancusi did a solid job in his supporting role as well, but he doesn’t have any really flashy moments to allow him to shine.
The runtime of the film is only seventy-five minutes long, and so it’s relatively unobtrusive. Even when the movie does feel like it’s meandering, it gets back on track pretty quickly because it has to get where it’s heading pretty quickly. If the film does suffer from one thing, it is a lack of a sense of humor. Although it’s not an overly dark movie, it would have been better off being a bit funnier. Pikovsky and Tetewsky aren’t quite as skilled as directors as they are as writers. The film is obviously limited by being low-budget and highly independent, but there are some basic mistakes made in the movie like oversaturation. That said, it’s an interestingly idyllic look at small-town life. Hannah Ha Ha isn’t a spectacular film by any means, but it’s generally pretty resonant. It’s definitely very indie in nature, and while that comes with some limitations, it also allows it to have a feeling of genuineness. Hannah Ha Ha screened at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which ran virtually from January 27-February 6. Rating: 3/5
Review by Camden Ferrell
Agatha Christie is one of the most accomplished mystery writers in history, and director Kenneth Branagh is no stranger to adapting her work, having made Murder on the Orient Express in 2016. Death on the Nile is Branagh’s adaptation of Christie’s novel of the same name. Despite having great source material and a talented cast, this movie is a barely passable mystery that suffers from its execution and overall aesthetic.
Acclaimed detective Hercule Poirot finds himself in Egypt where he joins a wedding party on the Nile. After a murder, he must investigate it and find the culprit. This is a standard set up for murder mysteries, and while it’s nothing new or revolutionary, it still has the potential to entertain audiences. The script was penned by Oscar-nominee Michael Green, who also wrote the screenplay for Branagh’s previous Christie adaptation. His writing embodies an over-the-top and extravagant style and tone that make the movie hard to take seriously. While it was clearly intentional, it only works on a purely superficial level. For those who have read the novel, there might not be much to enjoy from the movie. This also holds for people who can deduce the ending fairly early on as the mystery is one of the biggest parts of the viewer’s experience. While he can’t change the original ending, the script could have done a better job of maintaining its mystery longer.
The acting throughout this movie was underwhelming considering the amount of talent on screen. The best performances came from Annette Bening and Emma Mackey even though they both weren’t performing as well as they have proven to be in the past. The rest of the cast, despite not being horrific, was mostly forgettable in their respective roles.
Even though the movie is still mostly entertaining, it’s through no help from its execution. The pacing is erratic, and the visual effects are purposefully oversaturated to the point of looking far too artificial. The camerawork is also unhinged and has a lot of distracting moments. Branagh has proven himself to be a talented director, but this movie might end up being seen as one of his lesser works. Death on the Nile is your standard murder mystery that might be too predictable for most audiences. It barely succeeds at being an entertaining film, but that is mostly due to the inherent nature of the story. The acting, effects, and execution leave a lot to be desired, and it may not be the adaptation that Christie fans would like. Death on the Nile is in theaters February 12. Rating: 3/5
Review by Sean Boelman
For some reason, it seems like a lot of white people have felt the need to jump aboard the train of socially-conscious horror, and the results rarely pay off. Thankfully Ghosts of the Ozarks isn’t an especially harmful film, but it’s not an impactful one either, with a derivative and forgettable story that mimics better movies from the past.
The film follows a young doctor who, after being summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks, discovers that the utopia may have some darker secrets, including a supernatural presence terrorizing the residents from outside. It’s like any other movie about an outsider coming to an idyllic community and exposing them to the truth of the world. One of the film’s biggest flaws is its pacing. There’s really no significant suspense to be built up, and when the movie does reach its climax, it is so late in the script that the entire third act has to be rushed into about fifteen minutes. The film never earns its big reveal, and as a result, it feels quite underwhelming. There are a lot of interesting questions in the movie about how governments control their citizens, but it is the same type of theme that has been explored by other films with similar premises in the past. And the movie attempts to discuss some issues involving race, but it really struggles to approach them with any real depth.
The character development in the film is also lackluster. Making the protagonist a doctor does immediately connect the audience with him, as we initially see him as a good man whose purpose is to help others, but the movie really banks off of that goodwill. He’s got such a thin backstory that he almost falls into mysterious drifter territory, which is a completely different archetype than this film should have.
That said, Thomas Hobson does a passable job in the lead role, bringing enough charisma to the character for it to work. And the movie features a supporting cast of well-liked B-listers, including Tim Blake Nelson and David Arquette, who give very showy but enjoyable performances. The area in which the film shows the most potential is the execution. Glass and Long show a decent set of skills behind the camera, using color and production design to create an atmosphere that is wonderfully creepy. It’s a shame that this is put to waste by a script that is exceedingly dull. Although Ghosts of the Ozarks has some decent elements in terms of its filmmaking, the writing is just insurmountably generic. It’s just another B-movie horror picture, which is made worse by the fact that this clearly wants to be more. Ghosts of the Ozarks is now in theaters and on VOD. Rating: 2.5/5 Review by Adam Donato King of disaster movies Roland Emmerich is still at large and this just might be his dumbest entry yet. Moonfall is a movie about what the title suggests. There is some kind of space entity that causes the moon to change its orbit and threatens to make an impact on the Earth. This story was written with longtime partner Harald Kloser and no it is not known what they were on when they concocted this idea. With heavy hitters like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Morbius fleeing the box office scene in light of the surging COVID-19 cases, Moonfall looks over at Jackass Forever and proudly declares “hold my beer!” Is there any justification for this movie to be relevant today? It's funny that this is sharing the weekend with Jackass, when last week saw no new releases. It’s understandable to be as far out of range from Spider-Man: No Way Home as possible, but the target audience for Moonfall and Jackass Forever is a Venn diagram that looks dangerously like just one circle. Both movies have the appeal of watching something that’s dangerous and stupid. The only difference is teens can go see Moonfall without their parents. With the quality of the movie being as such, maybe the studio wouldn’t mind if this movie flew under the radar. As the real world faces a pandemic, maybe a moonfall apocalypse would really put things into perspective. Hate wearing a mask? Well, one of the characters dies in the movie because their mask stops working. The movie is a mess. Classic Emmerich writing a movie where there’s too many unnecessary characters to focus on. The main characters having their own individual families for the audience to separately follow makes this movie way longer than it needs to be. Imagine cutting the family’s subplots in favor of bolstering the main characters. Too bad Emmerich is only capable of producing the most stereotypical characters. The only character that held any type of emotional weight was KC played by John Bradley, the crazy rogue who blogs about conspiracy theories. His jokes are corny and he’s rather annoying, but by the end of the movie he’s the only character who really felt like they had an arc. Brian and Jocinda, played by Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry respectively, were both just on a mission, whereas KC’s entire life changed. Speaking of the cast, this movie really gives off the vibe that these were not the first choices to headline this movie. Patrick Wilson is actually a good actor, but this role feels like it was written for Chris Pratt. Halle Berry is a shell of the star she used to be. The role feels like something that could just as easily been done by a more relevant actress today like Zoe Saldana. This theory is punctuated by the fact that one of the three current entries on the IMDb trivia indicate that the role of KC was intended for Josh Gad. Not to mention, Emmerich is already a dollar store version of Steven Spielberg. It might be more accurate to describe one of Emmerich’s movies as a Spielberg movie directed by Michael Bay. Big dumb action, coupled with boring and obnoxious characters, throw in some kids and a divorce situation, science mumbo-jumbo, sci-fi adventure, and cringy jokes. It’s a bad movie that is desperately trying to be a crowd pleaser.
That being said, all audiences want from this movie is to revel in its stupidity. They don’t mind if the characters aren’t interesting and prefer the more obnoxious ones. It’s a disaster movie so there better be a bunch of city-destroying natural disasters. This movie delivers exactly what it advertises. Want to see something insanely dumb? Here’s a movie about the moon falling. Make sure not to put too much thought into the title by the way. It’s not too excessively long. Crazy disasters are happening left and right. It’s a movie made for the “turn your brain off” or the “so bad that it’s good” crowds. Whoever wins, we lose. While disaster movies deserve to be a genre, seldom so are they of any real substance. Have a couple drinks and laugh every time they cut to the moon with this impending doom music. Nothing in this movie matters at all. It’s trash, but there’s an audience for that. Just hope the box office is lackluster enough to justify not making a sequel. Moonfall hits theaters on February 4. Rating: 2/5
Review by Sean Boelman
It’s hard to make a documentary about a punk icon because filmmakers must be careful to not stick to the tropes too heavily, as that would be almost hypocritical. Celeste Bell and Paul Sng nearly pull it off with Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, an interesting exploration of both the eponymous musician’s work and what she stood for.
The movie follows Bell, daughter of X-Ray Specs frontwoman Poly Styrene, as she explores her mother’s legacy as a trailblazing musician and a supporter of the cause. There have definitely been films that have taken this same angle — the subject being someone investigating the story of their famous relative — and this movie hits a lot of those beats. Some of the most interesting portions of the film are those which explore how Poly Styrene was one of the few mixed musicians working in the time, and how she had to deal with the racist beliefs common in the era. But this is just a recurring theme that is discussed fleetingly, then moved on from, before being introduced again. It doesn’t feel like a measured discussion of these themes like it should. There are a lot of good archive materials here, and it is edited in a way that is entertaining, but there is nothing here that feels particularly unique or revelatory. It’s the standard stuff — recorded performances, interviews with journalists, and the like — and what is missing is something that would give it a more personal touch.
The movie does a very good job of making the audience respect Poly Styrene for her contributions and impacts she had both musically and in terms of greater society, but Bell is a much less developed subject. She doesn’t give the audience enough of a reason to get invested in her own personal journey of exploring her mother’s archives.
It does take a bit for the film to start really going into the music of X-Ray Specs, but once it does, it’s very well-utilized. The movie is also pretty effective at capturing the pretty distinctive personality that the musician had, mostly through archive interviews with her and footage of her performing. For fans of this style of music, this is sure to be an entertaining watch, if only for the chance to get to witness this part of music history over again. And despite its clear attempts to be something more than an average music documentary, it never goes deep enough to really resonate with general audiences. Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché is a solid music documentary, and while it doesn’t succeed in its greater ambitions, it’s above average enough to recommend to fans. It just feels like something is missing here, although it works regardless. Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché hits VOD on February 4. Rating: 3.5/5
Review by Sean Boelman
There has been a trend in recent years of folk horror that is more based in atmosphere and character than traditional scares. And while the Macedonian-language film You Won’t Be Alone does feel like a blatant attempt to capitalize on the popularity of other movies, there are enough well-done elements in it to make it worth recommending.
The film follows a young girl who is kidnapped in rural Macedonia and transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. A very compelling opening sequence will hook viewers in with the promise of a horror-tinged fable, but it soon becomes clear that there isn’t much of a plot to be found here at all, and so the movie’s success is entirely dependent on whether the viewer vibes with its strange wavelength. Honestly, the film moves along at a glacially slow pace. So much so, in fact, that the first hour ends up feeling absolutely excruciating. There is a certain point at which things in the movie click in terms of the narrative, and from that point on, it becomes much more pleasant, but by that time, a majority of viewers will unfortunately have already checked out. The film does some really interesting things in exploring its theme of humanity. The movie is all about the protagonist experiencing life through the perspective of several different individuals, and while the viewer will get the message by about the second or third permutation, the observations it makes throughout are good. That said, the film could have done a much better job of developing its characters. The first hour of the movie being so thin on dialogue (and empty poetry when there was dialogue) really prevents the audience from connecting with it early on. And by the second and third acts, there’s so little time that it feels like we are rushing through the other stories. The acting in the film definitely has some highlights, but there is not enough substance here for any of the performances to really shine. Noomi Rapace probably gives the most memorable performance of the bunch, even if it is only because her section of the movie is the most emotionally impactful. There is no doubt that the film is gorgeous to look at throughout, but this is definitely a case of a movie where the filmmaker seemed to think that mildly creepy visuals were enough. It’s not scary whatsoever, with no real feeling of dread apart from a few scenes here and there that are especially gory. You Won’t Be Alone really struggles out of the gate, but the last half of the film is almost intriguing enough to redeem what came before. It will definitely have its share of fans, although it seems more likely to aggravate most viewers. You Won’t Be Alone screened at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which ran January 20-30. Rating: 3/5 |
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