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Review by Paris Jade  (L to R) Keegan-Michael Key as Sean Knox, Karen Gillan as Carol Cobb, Leslie Mann as Lauren Van Chance, David Duchovny as Dustin Mulray, Guz Khan as Howie Frangopolous, Iris Apatow as Krystal Kris, Pedro Pascal as Dieter Bravo in The Bubble. Credit: Laura Radford/Netflix © 2021. The Bubble tells the story of a cast and crew trying to make a sequel to a blockbuster franchise amid the global pandemic of COVID-19. The cast and crew quarantine inside a luxurious hotel, slowly driving themselves insane. This film is your cliché pandemic movie. You enter and immediately are immersed back into good ol' 2020, everyone's favorite year. Whoever thought it was a good idea to make films set in one of the worst years of all of our lives, congratulations, you've created a new movie genre for people to hate. The film begins by introducing the movie's main character Carol Cobb (Karen Gillan) being offered the sequel to a franchise. This is a fine setup. You're intrigued, and it pulls you. Who doesn't love a film about making a film? Unless, of course, you aren't into the meta-ness of it all. However, as the film drags on, it gets worse and worse. By the end of the movie, you don't know what just happened. It is a rollercoaster ride of a film, and you will most definitely be in shock the whole way through. As you keep watching, you forget that it's all one movie because the plot changes and gets wilder every 10 minutes.  (L to R) Pedro Pascal as Dieter Bravo, Keegan-Michael Key as Sean Knox in The Bubble. Credit: Laura Radford/Netflix © 2021. The most entertaining aspect was the movie they were making in the film. It looked absolutely ridiculous, but you kind of want to watch it. This movie is so bad that you just have to hate-watch it. Other than that, the film is quite comedic. It's a bad movie with bad comedy, but you somehow end up enjoying it. Certain scenes are so bad you just have to laugh because what else are you supposed to do? The special effects look pretty low-budget, but it's on purpose for comedic effect, so you could say they are good. Director Apatow only has his comedy to rely on, with films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin under his belt.
If you need a quick, cheap laugh and want a bad film to watch, The Bubble is that movie. However, if you're not in the mood to hate-watch something because you'd rather love the world and not be reminded of the horror that was 2020, please skip out on watching this film. It's not the worst movie out there, and it will be a guilty pleasure to watch when you are feeling low, but remember that there are other films. The Bubble streams on Netflix beginning April 1. Rating: 3/5
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Review by Adam Donato  Chris Pine as James Harper in the action/thriller film, THE CONTRACTOR, a Paramount Pictures release. MOTION PICTURE ARTWORK © 2022 STX FINANCING, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The Contractor is about the story of an ex-military man, James Harper, who finds himself in a tight spot when the family bills start piling up and he is out of a job. In a moment of desperation, Harper takes a gig as a private contractor in an effort to save his family from financial ruin. Chris Pine stars as Harper, with Gillian Jacobs from Community playing his wife. Ben Foster and Kiefer Sutherland round out the rest of the stars as they are the men who work with Pine on his mission. Can Chris Pine complete his mission and get back to his life with his family? Every single year, Liam Neeson makes a movie or two exactly like this, but this one is much better. First of all, Pine is of the appropriate age to pull off an action role like this. Not to mention it’s nice to see Pine leading a movie again as he has mostly been reserved for supporting roles as of late. He does a very good job in this role as his character is really put through the wringer here. His character is relatable and brutal at times, but when he shines is when he is emotionally freaking out due to his circumstance. It’s a very sad movie and his character is ultimately sympathetic. Ben Foster acted opposite Pine in Hell or High Water, where they were electric together. Here, their chemistry remains the same. His character finds himself in a similar situation as Pine and their scenes together are the best in the movie. Sutherland plays their commanding officer in this mission and his worldview is interesting enough to justify his reason for sending these men on this mission. Jacobs is the standard wife who is concerned about her husband going off to war.  Chris Pine as James Harper in the action/thriller film, THE CONTRACTOR, a Paramount Pictures release. MOTION PICTURE ARTWORK © 2022 STX FINANCING, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Running at just over 100 minutes, the brief runtime of the movie is one of its strengths. The mission, despite taking place over a couple days, feels like a non-stop rollercoaster. The quick pace of the movie compliments the action well. It would be very easy for a movie like this to have an extra thirty minutes of filler, but this generic action flick gets straight to the point. This makes for a solid viewing experience.
There’s nothing new here at all. The Contractor is a very standard action flick every step of the way. Chris Pine works well enough as the lead that viewers should be invested in his character. Slap Tom Clancy’s name on the poster and would be the perfect movie to throw on cable for your dad. It's nothing special, but not bad at all. The Contractor hits theaters and VOD on April 1. Rating: 3/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden in “Slow Horses,” premiering globally April 1, 2022 on Apple TV+.
British espionage thrillers are traditionally one of the most stoic and refined genres, and so it is nice to see one that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Apple TV+ series Slow Horses doesn’t have the most unpredictable plot, but a great cast and a novel approach make this an entertaining watch.
The series follows a group of MI5 agents who were rejected from the main ranks of the service and relegated to the sidelines in the hopes that they would just quit as they get wrapped up in a conspiracy that is bigger than anything they have ever worked before. Mick Herron’s novel, upon which the show is based, was released back in 2010, when this would have been a timelier spoof of a genre that was still at its peak. However, in its lean six-episode run, writer Will Smith (who worked with satirist filmmaker Armando Iannucci on The Thick of It) has managed to spin a web that explores more about bureaucracy than anything in recent memory. And there is plenty of potential for this to be explored even further in future entries. The comedy of the series is very subtle, and unlike some of Smith’s other work, probably won’t leave you rolling. But it has an acerbic wit to it that makes the satire even punchier. The tone, combined with the action that is surprisingly good for a project that crosses genres, makes up for the genericism in the plot itself. 
Jack Lowden, Christopher Chung, Olivia Cooke and Paul Higgins in “Slow Horses,” premiering globally April 1, 2022 on Apple TV+.
Granted, the series does peak early with its action. The first scene of the first episode is the most memorable of the season, setting the bar so unreasonably high that the rest of the show doesn’t quite reach it. But the climactic action sequence does pay off quite well, bringing everything about the show’s mood together quite well.
Although the band of misfits that makes up the eponymous group is a bit on the archetypal side, they are certainly very endearing and lovable. It’s a group dynamic that is developed quickly and easy to buy into, especially if you’ve ever found comfort with other people who have been just as rejected as you. Jack Lowden finally gets to be a leading man, and he shows here that he has the chops to be the next big action hero. Hopefully he will continue to get substantial roles like this and not be relegated to B-movie hell like so many are after they first show their worth. Gary Oldman is also great here, doing something very different than usual, even if his role isn’t as hefty as one would like. Slow Horses is going to be a sleeper hit for Apple TV+. It’s an intelligent, well-acted, and perhaps most importantly, entertaining entry into a genre that all too often feels inaccessible in its approach. Slow Horses streams on Apple TV+ beginning April 1, with new episodes streaming subsequent Fridays. All six episodes reviewed. Rating: 4/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Iwan Rheon as ‘Adam’ and Catalina Sandino Moreno as ‘Eva’ in Charles Dorfman’s BARBARIANS. Courtesy of IFC Midnight. An IFC Midnight release.
Genre fans often look to IFC Midnight to put out some of the most daring horror flicks of the year, but every once in a while, they put out something that seems like they acquired it more due to its marketability and to meet a release quota. Barbarians isn’t a bad film — just an overwhelmingly dull one that doesn’t do anything with its potentially intriguing themes.
The movie takes place over a heated night in which two couples come together for a dinner party only for things to begin to escalate out of control. Dirty laundry is aired, secrets are revealed, and tensions arise between supposed friends, but everything feels so overwhelmingly telegraphed that you won’t care about any of it. If one good thing can be said about the film, it is that it is mercifully short. At a mere ninety minutes, it’s not a lot to sit through even if what you have to sit through isn’t all that interesting. This has been billed as a dark comedy, but there’s really not anything that funny about it; calling it a comedy just seems to be an excuse for all the people in the movie to be absolutely detestable. It’s clearly very intentional that all four of the main characters are unlikable to some extent, but they exaggerate it to such an extent that it is simply unapproachable. And perhaps even worse, the dynamic between the four characters isn’t compelling or believable, and this is meant to be the crux of the film. 
(left to right) Tom Cullen as ‘Lucas,’ Iwan Rheon as ‘Adam,’ Catalina Sandino Moreno as ‘Eva,’ and Inès Spiridonov as ‘Chloe’ in Charles Dorfman’s BARBARIANS. Courtesy of IFC Midnight. An IFC Midnight release.
The cast of the movie is likely going to be its main draw. Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones), Tom Cullen (Downton Abbey), and Connor Swindells (Sex Education) all have roles, and may draw the fanbases of their respective shows to this film, but the roles that they are given don’t take advantage of their talents.
This had the potential to be a satire of social class, and yet it’s virtually toothless in its themes. The script is more interested in revealing the secrets that the characters have that will push the plot along than it is in the reasons that this plot is even happening in the first place. And for a movie that’s basically two-thirds just people talking, they need to have something to talk about. The blocking and camerawork of the film is fine enough, but there’s nothing that really makes this stand out from other close-quarters chamber pieces. Movies like this really need to emphasize the claustrophobia of the situation, but the film doesn’t believably create any tension whatsoever. Barbarians is a forgettable thriller that is disappointingly lacking in substance. It’s a movie that is undeniably competent in its execution yet is so insignificant that you will forget it by the time the credits roll. Barbarians hits theaters and VOD on April 1. Rating: 2.5/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen  Charles Murray is a writer-director known for projects such as Luke Cage, Things Never Said, and A Cold Hard Truth, all television shows and movies focusing on the urban family and crime experience. His latest film, The Devil You Know, is another urban crime drama. He seems to know this world pretty well, but he has more invested in this story. Marquis Cowans (Omar Epps) is a recovering alcoholic who is part of a big African-American family. He starts to get his life right when he meets a new girl (Erica Tazel, Justified) and gets a job as a bus driver. While at a family gathering, his brother Drew Cowans (William Catlett) gets drunk, and he helps him home. While there, he shows him a book full of baseball cards he got from a friend. When he watches the news, he sees the cards were involved in a murder/burglary. This puts him in a difficult situation. This film has a very dramatic storyline involving a family dynamic. This family has dealt with a lot of trauma over the years. This situation is just another in a long line of difficulties they have had to deal with. Like most families, the drama follows them around. Murray leans in on his work experience with this genre to create a world of hardships for this family. He also used his own family experiences to help tell this story. It's a pretty typical storyline for this genre of film. The cast is full of actors and actresses that have been in these types of films before. Michael Ealy (The Intruder, Fatale) plays a police detective trying to figure out what's going on with the case. He's caught in the middle between Epps and Catlett's characters and another case he's working on. Ealy has proven that he's a capable actor in these types of roles over the decades. Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) plays Epos and Catlett's character's father. He's involved in the drama of the situation, and it doesn't do his health any good. Theo Rossi (Army of the Dead, Luke Cage) is one of Catlett's character's friends. He may have to do with everything Ealy's detective is investigating. The entire cast does an adequate job in this film.  As far as crime stories go, this is a pretty rudimentary story. Once you get past the family dynamic, it's pretty straightforward. How the writer/director Murray gets from point a to point z is interesting but not too hard to figure out if you are watching along with the film pretty closely. The baseball cards are a MacGuffin that ties everything together. The family drama is just a means to an end for the filmmaker. When you boil it down to the brass tax, it's not a complex story. This is just an excuse to make this film when it comes down to it. Murray puts a lot of himself and his life into this film.
The film had a good look to it. The cinematography and score were both excellent. The major problem I had with the film was its length. Once I figured out what was going on with the characters and the story, it wasn't too long before I felt bored in this world. Various family gatherings and meetings at a hospital for different family emergencies stretched this film's running time to about two hours. That was too long because the mystery of the case was solved in my eyes. The filmmaker kept having these conversations between characters to lengthen the story for some unknown reason. It wasn't necessary. This film should have been a half-hour shorter. The Devil You Know is a film that tries to turn brother against brother like in the Bible. It suggests that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't but then doesn't use that theory to help tell the story better. It gets bogged down in too many interpersonal conversations about needless things instead of getting to the story's heart. The acting and look of the film are all pretty good, but the lengths are what drag the movie to a crawl at times. This film would have been better if it were about a half-hour shorter, and it needed editing to help tell a tighter story in the end. The Devil You Know hits theaters on April 1. Rating: 2.5/5 |