|
Review by Sean Boelman
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was lightning in a bottle, taking a cult favorite version of the beloved superhero to the animated medium in a way we had never seen before. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse takes much bigger swings than its predecessor, but also ends up being far inferior by falling victim to many of the traps live-action comic book movies have suffered from in recent years.
The film follows Miles Morales as he goes on his next adventure, correcting the aftermath of the reactor incident that has the potential to wreak havoc on the entire multiverse of Spider-People. The scale in this one is definitely bigger than the first, but in that approach, it also loses much of the intimate quality that made its predecessor so special. While the first movie was relatively lean when it comes to comic book movies, with a runtime well under two hours excluding credits, this sequel is the first part of a two-parter, and runs two hours and twenty minutes by itself. There’s a lot of story to tell and a lot of world-building to do — and the whole thing unfortunately ends up taking itself too seriously. Ultimately, the biggest disappointment of the film is that it gets far too caught up in its capeshit — something which the first movie delicately managed to avoid. Sure, you expect there to be easter eggs and cameos in a movie like this; but it feels like this turned into a spectacle filled with moments that could have a flashing “APPLAUSE” sign — similar to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In other words, this film has become the exact thing it was designed to deconstruct. 
Because the movie is constantly throwing different versions of Spider-Man at us, it can be easy to lose sight of the film’s emotional core. And it’s a shame — because this aspect of the story is truly excellent. There’s some really powerful stuff that deconstructs the “with great power comes great responsibility” mythos of the Spider-Man property, but it’s buried beneath layers upon layers of fanservice.
Much of the praise in the voice cast is going to go to Oscar Isaac for his performance as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099, but he is far from the shining star of the cast. Hailee Steinfeld is probably the biggest standout here, taking her performance to the next level. Luna Lauren Vélez and Brian Tyree Henry are simply extraordinary as Miles’s parents. And in terms of new additions, Shea Whigham is a welcome emotional behemoth, and Jason Schwartzman and Daniel Kaluuya are both very fun. The visual style in the movie, much like its predecessor, is ambitious to a fault. There are definitely some very ambitious swings here, as Across the Spider-Verse dives even harder into the multiverse concept, giving us animation with a variety of approaches. While you have to admire what the film is trying to do, the frames often end up being overly busy and creating a sense of visual overload. Although some viewers may appreciate this, others could find it overwhelming. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is definitely a disappointment. While you have to admire the things that it was going for, its more ambitious elements blow up in its face and create a comic book movie that — narratively, at least — is frustratingly par for the course. Hopefully, this was just the set-up to a conclusion of the trilogy that knocks it out of the park. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits theaters on June 2. Rating: 2.5/5
0 Comments
Reviewed by Jonathan Berk  Gary Smart and Christopher Griffiths have directed a marvelous love letter to Robert Englund and the horror genre in their new documentary, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story. Of course, movie fans will know Robert Englund’s most iconic character — Freddy Krueger — but some may not know him outside of that horror franchise. This documentary showcases the talent Englund possesses — as well as the man he was when the cameras were off — and will likely lead fans of Krueger to be cemented as fans of the man himself. Much like his legendary horror icon largely overshadows the actor's career, the movie opens with the knifed hand sitting in a chair lit in red. This is a wise framing device, as it is necessary for the film to begin with the elephant in the room before backing up to how Englund gets that role, and what happens afterward. The focus here lies more in the professional life of Englund, as his love of acting starts young. It is clear early in the talking head interviews that Englund loves the craft of acting and is grateful for the career he’s had. There are tons of actors, directors, and writers who speak about their experiences with Englund, which make the man feel as large as his iconic character. Included in these interviews are Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Lin Shaye, Heather Langenkamp, Eli Roth, Lance Henriksen, Adam Green, Corey Taylor, and his wife, Nancy Englund. Each adds something to the actor's legacy, which ultimately makes him feel like the horror genre’s Mr. Rogers. The stories imply that he was a constant professional and always willing to give himself to the movie, no matter how big or small. These stories become all the more believable every time the movie cuts back to Englund’s interviews. He has a charm that pulls the audience in, as he lulls you into a trance with his voice.  To illustrate the content of the interviews, the film mostly uses footage from the movies being discussed, mixed with photos or behind-the-scenes footage. There is a cool early sequence that uses a mix of reenactments, photographs, and cartoonish drawings to illustrate his early love of performance. It was a little disappointing that this style isn’t used more, as it was engaging visual storytelling. While the traditional documentary archival footage is great here, the modern, more innovative recreations allow for more creativity in the storytelling.
The last section of the film is arguably the strongest. It ends on a sheer sentimental note and ultimately signs this love letter as “thank you for all you’ve given us,” while Englund expresses gratitude for the world he loved. This, coupled with a reevaluation of “typecasting” as a negative thing — and the actors embracing their fans — eventually led to a shedding of a few tears on my part. Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story is a great documentary that is informative, while clearly wearing its admiration on its sleeve. Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story will be available on Screambox and VOD on June 6. Rating: 4.5/5 Review by Tatiana Miranda  Season 3 of Netflix's I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson is full of the series's usual unhinged skits and surprising guest appearances. Some of this season's guest stars include Jason Schwartzman, Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Beck Bennett, Patti Harrison, and up-and-comer Ayo Edebiri. Jason Schwartzman's skit particularly stands out as he is one of the few guest stars without a comedy-centric background. Still, his skit from episode 5 is incredibly entertaining, although it feels like he is just a prop to contrast Tim Robinson's wildly outlandish character. In fact, several of the show's guest stars don't seem to be properly utilized — as is the case with Ayo Edebiri's role as a game show host in episode 2. I Think You Should Leave has garnered many fans, and a variety of skits have evolved into online memes, but with the third season, one can't help but notice that Robinson has a hard time straying away from his usual character in these skits. He often ends up playing some kind of eccentric guy that sets the skit's humor into motion. And don't get me wrong, he excels at this. The show's absurdist humor is perfect for the Gen Z audience it has accumulated. But after three seasons of the same kind of skits, where Robinson either freaks out in public or acts weird at a party, it starts to feel repetitive and loses its unique style.  Some stand-out skits of Season 3 include one where Robinson gets booted off a The Bachelorette-style show due to his obsession with the pool zipline and another where he goes on a first date with a bad haircut. Another great one is when Robinson attempts to start a pay-it-forward chain so that he can get a large meal paid off. The thing that helps these skits succeed is that they feel a bit more topical than some of the other skits. With the dating show skit, it plays with the recent obsession with shows like The Bachelorette and Love Island.
Meanwhile, some of his other skits that fall flat, such as one that features a game show robot costume with technical issues, only find their humor in how bizarre the scenario is. This season also has issues with variety in terms of setting. Two of the skits showcase a game show gone wrong, several involve weird actions at office parties, and another two skits deal with Robinson recounting a bad date he had. Many of the skits are unmemorable, and the guest performances are not as entertaining as in past seasons. Overall, Season 3 of I Think You Should Leave has some highlights, yet it is not a fantastic addition to this sketch comedy show. Season 3 of I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson premiers on Netflix on May 30th. All six episodes reviewed. Rating: 2/5 Review by Joseph Fayed  Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Credit: Jeong Park Every human needs a support system in their lives. We all need financial, physical, or emotional assistance in one way or another, and having the same group of those who provide us that support is crucial. You Hurt My Feelings tells a story of how a white lie can disrupt that and cause us to rethink everything we believed. Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has just finished writing her latest novel. She and her husband Don, a therapist, have a falling out over Don revealing that he has never really liked any of her work. Both Beth and Don seem to be struggling in their careers. The two begin to doubt themselves, much to the chagrin of their son Elliot. Meanwhile, Beth's sister Sarah notices parallels of her and her husband's lives with Beth and Don's. On paper, Beth and Don seemingly have everything. The script makes subtle notes of their interactions and how they have covered up every aspect of themselves to everyone else. Deep down, both of them are miserable. Still, there tends to be a charming tone to this couple. Mixed in with dry humor all across the film, the two are written as realizing both are equally at fault for how they acted. The white lie Don told Beth is equivalent to a 93-minute argument. It's well paced enough that its simple premise focuses on how and why Beth and Don have been living a lie both professionally and personally.  (L-R) Tobias Menzies, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Credit: Jeong Park The film also does a good job at showing how self-doubt increases even without discovering your partner hasn't been honest with you. Sarah and her husband Mark are the more hilarious counterparts to Beth and Don. Sarah has grown sick of her career as an interior designer. Mark is a struggling actor whose career has been full of highs and lows. They are framed as comedic filler, as neither of them can catch a break. Elliot, Beth and Don's son who wants to become a playwright, feels the most out of place. He feels shoehorned into a film that otherwise naturally reveals the pitfalls of telling someone how good they are when they really aren't. However, he doesn't fall down the rabbit hole of the young son who resents his parents for how they supposedly wronged him growing up, so that was refreshing to see.
You Hurt My Feelings tackles a nuanced subject in a prolonged narrative, and it works. The cast has great chemistry that holds together every scene. The dialogue is pretty funny at times, and the script's unconventional approach of making fun of something we've all been guilty of before sets this above other comedy-dramas about upper middle class white women for upper middle class white women. Good to know they finally have an A24 film to worship. You Hurt My Feelings hits theaters on May 26. Rating: 3.5/5 Review by Cole Groth  (L-R): Sophie Thatcher as Sadie Harper, Chris Messina as Will Harper, and Vivien Lyra Blair as Sawyer Harper in 20th Century Studios' THE BOOGEYMAN. Photo by Patti Perret. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. The Boogeyman is simply remarkable. Not since A Quiet Place has a PG-13 horror movie managed to be as terrifying, emotional, and powerful as Rob Savage’s first big-budget directorial effort. Like Savage’s previous efforts — Host and DASHCAM -- The Boogeyman makes efficient work of a short runtime to make a horror film that’s relentlessly terrifying and satisfyingly quick. With a terrific leading performance from Sophie Thatcher, some fantastic drama, and an all-time monster, this is a movie that demands to be seen in a crowded theater on a big screen. Based on a short story from none other than Steven King and a script from Scott Beck, Bryan Woods (the two writers of A Quiet Place), and Mark Heyman, The Boogeyman tells the story of the Harper family. High school student Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and her younger sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) are reeling from the tragic passing of their mother. Their therapist father, Will (Chris Messina), isn’t doing much better, and everything gets a whole lot worse after a man brings a malevolent force into the lives of the Harpers, a demon that feeds on their suffering and is hunting them down. Before anything about the story is analyzed, praise must be given to this cast. Sophia Thatcher is phenomenal and will no doubt have a successful career once this reaches a broader audience. Vivien Lyra Blair is an incredibly talented child actress, bringing the energy of a little kid with the emotional maturity of a seasoned actor. Chris Messina has already established himself as an excellent actor, but his performance here is one of the best of his career. If you’re looking for scares, The Boogeyman delivers on all accounts. It’s full of intense set pieces that will have you on the edge of your seat and never lets up after its first scare. Almost every scene ends with some sort of terrifying moment, and while jumpscares are typically annoying, Savage’s direction makes them feel earned. The actual Boogeyman itself is a stellar monster, with its design standing out as one of the best in horror history. Instead of showing the whole monster, we only see it lurking in the shadows, forcing our minds to imagine a threat that's probably much more terrifying than what would've happened if we saw all of it.  Plenty of horror movies explore grief, but this film does it exceptionally well. Every character acts like a normal person, and it’s refreshing to watch a paranormal horror film where every character isn’t an obnoxious skeptic. The family dynamic here will surely resonate with audiences because it adds so much depth to the story. Will is a particularly likable character because of how ready he is to help his daughters out. He’s also going through a painful period in his life, and it’s nice that we see how he struggles with his wife’s death while ensuring his daughters are doing well. It’s a touching story from start to finish that makes each scare even more effective.
Eli Born’s cinematography is perfect. Every shot is thoughtfully composed and creatively designed to make you feel squeamish. Patrick Jonsson’s fantastic score supports the beautiful cinematography, seamlessly blending the emotional highs and lows of the Harpers' family drama with the tense scares. From a production standpoint, this is one of the most competent horror films, and it seems like it was made on a budget of much more than the $42 million that was used. Initially scheduled for release on Hulu, this was pushed to a theatrical release after positive test screenings. While the screening I attended didn’t have a large audience, which surely would’ve made it even better, seeing it on an enormous screen in a pitch-black theater made the experience all the better. Hopefully, Disney will learn the right lesson from this and send even more films to theaters because seeing this on a small screen wouldn’t have been nearly as impactful. There’s a sense of theatricality that makes this film much better than its parts. If you’re a die-hard horror fan, you will love The Boogeyman. If you don’t love scary movies, you might enjoy The Boogeyman even more. It’s a perfect blend of horror and drama that’s as satisfying to watch as terrifying. Good horror movies have a visceral energy that makes you incredibly uncomfortable, and the disquiet this film makes you feel is thanks to a phenomenal story that will resonate with audiences of all kinds. See this with as many people as possible because horror movies this great are so infrequent, and this will hopefully be the start of a horror renaissance. The Boogeyman releases in theaters on June 2. Rating: 4.5/5 |