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Review by Joseph Fayed  Slayers is a poorly edited mess of a vampire comedy/slasher film from director K. Asher Levin. It follows a group of influencers who are invited to a reclusive billionaire's mansion, only for it to be a lair for evil vampires. Based on the synopsis alone, you can accurately assume this film is a poor mash-up of films like From Dusk Till Dawn or The Hunt. The biggest hint I was in for a real treat was right from the start when we saw photos of various historical figures edited to be vampires. The only real laugh I had watching this was seeing Adolf Hitler with red eyes and fangs. It is one of many cheesy gimmicks and brief cutaways the film relies on, none of which do anything but make it more obvious how low-budget this production must have been. The group of influencers the film follows are meant to be shallow people, but each is given dialogue that sounds like it was directly ripped off every other YouTube vlogger's stream. There is no other humor presented, and the script is also unable to make the distinction between parody or playing into stereotypes.  Our vampires are a billionaire philanthropist couple who invited the group to their mansion to partake in "vaccine trials." I could delve into a debate over the exploitation of capitalism by the super-rich here, much like the film was trying to poke fun at, but that would require adding insight to the debate, which the film fails to do. The conspiracy element ultimately fails not just because it is too far-fetched to be believed but because it adds another layer to a story that can't even stand well on its own.
Not one actor here gives a somewhat decent performance here. It is hard to blame them, though, when their characters were written so blandly. Towards the final act, we learn through a series of more poorly-edited cutaways how the vampires came to be. That proves to be too little too late to salvage the plot when the first 75 minutes or so of this mess had nothing to offer besides Instagram and fake blood. Slayers has nothing new to add to its genre. When you're not bored by the predictable plot, you will be highly annoyed with the production values that look like an influencer's sponsored ad funded it. Stay away from this one like vampires keep away from holy water. Slayers is now on VOD. Rating: 1/5
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Review by Dan Skip Allen
Photo: Parisa Taghizadeh.
Harry Styles made a huge name for himself as a singer as part of the boy band One Direction. He then proceeded to break off from his bandmates and start a solo career, like many popular singers. Then he decided to start an acting career. He appeared in Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan's epic WWII film, he's playing Eros (aka Starfox, the brother of Thanos) in the MCU, and he was just in Olivia Wylde's Don't Worry Darling opposite Florence Pugh. Now he's in his first solo starring role in My Policeman, an English period piece set in the 1950s. Maybe he should have stuck to singing instead.
Tom Burgess (Harry Styles, Linus Roache) is a policeman in England. He likes his job and enjoys being a servant of the public, but when he's introduced to a young lady teacher in Brighton, Marion Taylor (Emma Corrin, Gina Mckee), he starts to develop an attraction to her very quickly. While visiting a museum, he catches the eye of a young curator, Patrick Hazlewood (David Dawson, Rupert Everett). The three become close friends, but Tom and Patrick become much more intimate in a sexual connotation. Marion is oblivious to this at the beginning, but not for long. More and more gay and LGBT stories have been coming out to the big screen and streaming services. Such as Bros out now. These stories have been written in books like the one depicted in this film by Bethan Roberts. LGBTQ people have now become a larger and larger subsection of society. This is now a demographic used in advertising, merchandising, and so forth. Whether good or bad, the public wants to see these stories brought to life. 
Photo: Parisa Taghizadeh.
This movie doesn't go far enough with its story to be effective for me to be moved by it. I've seen it done before in different contexts. The performances from the cast, except for Corrin, all came across as wooden and unemotional to me. This should have been a passionate story of forbidden love, but it wasn't. It was relatively boring, and I didn't know much about the characters at all. As the younger wife, Corrin was the only one who brought anything to her character. That's too bad because this movie had potential.
Aside from the performances, the film looked very good. I like the period aspects, and the production value was okay. I've seen it done better in another Styles film earlier this year. The director Michael Grandage decided to use a back-and-forth style of filmmaking based on the screenplay by Ron Nyswaner. The film goes from modern-day England to back in the 1950s. The modern-day stuff didn't work at all. It was slow and tedious and just uploaded along with brooding characters and one who couldn't even speak or walk. I would have rather seen the film stay in the past. There may have been more to unravel in this time regarding the legal activities in which the characters were involved. My Policeman has some things that are unforgivable to me. It lacks the passion it needed in certain scenes that would make up for the slow, boring parts. The acting isn't very good except for Corrin, and the star Styles is just going through the motions. He should stick to singing. The film's overall look wasn't bad, but it wasn't enough to overcome the bad things about it. The director used a script that didn't have any emotion, which made the movie emotionless as well. This subsection of people deserved a better film to represent them, who they are, and what they are about. My Policeman is now in theaters and streams on Prime Video beginning November 4. Rating: 1/5 [NewFest 2022] WENDELL & WILD -- Peele and Selick: The Artistic Duo We Didn't Know We Needed10/21/2022 Review by Tatiana Miranda  Thirteen years after the release of Henry Selick's last animated film, Coraline, he returns with Wendell & Wild, a colorful and captivating stop-motion animation that reminds us all what we've been missing out on. Eerily reminiscent of his other works, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, Wendell & Wild is still entirely unique in terms of its characters and comedic moments. Both are likely credited to acclaimed horror director Jordan Peele's involvement as co-screenwriter. With Selick's signature aesthetics and Peele's social commentary within the plot, Wendell & Wild is an animated film for kids, adults, and those in between. The plot of the film centers around 13-year-old Kat, an orphan with a punk rock fashion sense and history in and out of juvie and foster homes. Finally, she ends up at a boarding school in her hometown, where she begins to have visions of the future and run-ins with two demons, Wendell and Wild. Portrayed by the dynamic comedic duo from Key & Peele, these two demons are mischief and mayhem personified. Dragging Kat into their schemes with the promise of her parent's resurrection, it becomes increasingly clear that the titular characters are not the only demons Kat is facing. Beyond Wendell & Wild's supernatural plotline, the movie also portrays Kat as she attempts to tackle her more nonliteral demons, namely the guilt she feels regarding her parents' death. Closed off and devoid of any friends and family, Kat has no goals until she meets Wendell and Wild, who use her to leave the underworld and their father, Buffalo Belzer. Faced with the possibility of reuniting with her parents and the decaying town she grew up in, Kat sets the movie's main plot into motion. She is joined by a diverse cast of characters, such as her trans classmate Raul, the schoolmaster Father Bests, and Sister Helley, who is a teacher at Kat's school with a few secrets of her own.  While Wendell & Wild is visually overwhelming with Selick's typical intense color scheme and highly stylized character design, it is also overwhelming in terms of its plot and abundance of characters. Although the movie attempts to give equal attention to every concept it wants to tackle, some get hidden in the sea of distinct character introductions and gags between Wendell and Wild. Some of the movie's fast-paced nature could be chalked up to the state of modern animation as it attempts to hold the attention of its target audience. However, it is especially disorienting coming from Selick, who has previously been known for his more straightforward but still incredibly exciting stories.
Although Wendell & Wild has its flaws, it easily knocks other recent animated films out of the park. It also marks the return of Selick, which will hopefully lead to more movies of his and the future, and maybe even a second try at a more cohesive collaboration between him and Peele. Wendell & Wild screened at the 2022 edition of NewFest, which runs October 13-25. Rating: 4/5
Review by Dan Skip Allen
Tanya Tucker and Brandi Carlile in The Return of Tanya Tucker - Featuring Brandi Carlile. Photo credit: Jessica Young. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Tanya Tucker was nine years old when she started singing at various events in Texas and Arizona. She was eleven when she officially got her first contract. Her father was never too far behind. He was always there to help her when she needed his advice and comfort. She is considered one of the old-time stars of country music, but when her father and mother passed, she didn't have it in her to sing — even when she was poked and prodded by some of the greats in the industry to get back on the road. The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile is about her journey after almost twenty years away from the business.
Brandi Carlile is a singer-songwriter in her own right. She convinces Tanya to come out of retirement to make a new album with her. This movie depicts how they made this album, produced the songs, and what transpired after the record was finished. All the while, Tanya is still struggling with her past drug abuse and dealing with various personal problems. Being in the industry for fifty years didn't necessarily make her welcome back after all her marital problems with Glen Campbell and everything being put in the tabloids for the world to see. Like many singers and entertainers, Tanya struggled with substance abuse in no part to her husband, country music legend Glen Campbell. They were twenty-something years different in age. Due to these issues, she stepped away from Nashville and The Grand Ole Opry, where she made her name in the country music industry. After seventeen years, she came back with new energy and a vim and vigor of a young person half her age. She is sixty, though, so the years have made her a bit tired from time to time. Carlisle and company have to live with that while making this new album. 
Tanya Tucker and Brandi Carlile in The Return of Tanya Tucker - Featuring Brandi Carlile. Photo credit: Jessica Young. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
This film uses various techniques to tell Tanya Tucker's story. First and foremost is the album's production, new songs, and so forth, with a lot of talking heads and sitting around and talking about the arrangement of the songs on the album. The second part is archival footage of her as a child with her family or performing at various venues and her life with her husband, Glen Campbell. The third is after the album is finished, and she has to see what her life brings next, whether it's awards for the album, singing at tribute concerts for her friend Loretta Lynn, or just taking in this newfound success. She had to move forward with her life, and she did that.
All good documentaries have to draw the viewer into what is being depicted on screen, and this one uses Tanya Tucker's story and her music. Songs like "Delta Dawn," "Texas, Love Me Like You Used To," or her newest hit off the record they are making in the documentary Bring My Flowers Now can express her story. They get to the heart of this woman's life like no other way can. She is a storyteller in her songs — a rare gift for singers. Country singers have it more than others do, though. Even though I am not the biggest fan of country music, I was drawn to her story. The Return of Tanya Tucker brings new and old audiences into the life of this woman who has struggled with her own demons. From relationships to substance abuse and poverty at a young age, she has experienced a lot of heartaches. She used these moments to bring the audience into her life via her songs. This documentary shows a different side to her where people can see into her life and process. That process helped bring her back to a place where people could express their love for her. Music is an expressive medium, and what you give as an artist can be returned tenfold by the fans and people buying albums and going to concerts. That's the ultimate show of respect. This film does a great job of showing all sides of this flawed but talented woman. The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile is now playing in theaters. Rating: 4/5
Review by Dan Skip Allen
Photo Credit: Participant/Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.
America hasn't been around as long as other countries in the world, but in its time as an established country, it has a long history. Human slavery has been documented, especially how these men and women got over to this country, but the history books are a bit murky on some of these events. Descendant documents one such event in the history of slavery and forced migration involving Timothy Meaher and the Clotilde sailing to Mobile, Alabama, and eventually burning the evidence in the river.
Descendant deals with the people still alive related to those on that boat captained by Bill Foster. It deals with who owns the property and land around the area called Africatown, once known as Plateau and Magazine. How does this all play into the reparations of what happened to the people? And what, as descendants, do these families deserve? These are huge questions once this ship is found. Human decency is something everyone deserves, especially those who have been persecuted, like these people who were illegally transported from their homes in Africa to the United States. This journey caused a movement in this country that caused one of the worst instances of human trafficking in the history of the world. When you think of it, it's just a tragic event, along with many others, that caused a bad time in our country's history for many people. 
Photo Credit: Participant/Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.
This documentary has several talking heads, including some of the descendants of the surviving members of this boat trip to America: Lorna Woods, Emmett Lewis, Jocelyn Davis, and Zora Neal Thurston, the first Black Filmmaker in America. The main descendant, Cudjoe Lewis, survived and passed on this story to his relatives, which is how this story persevered in this community and the state of Alabama.
The documentary goes into a few other things besides the ship for slaves, though. It goes into land rights and ownership of property, how these people who still live in Mobile deserve to be honored, and environmental issues that continue to this very day to be a problem in the community. Once again a disrespect to the descendants. Documentaries should inform and educate, and Descendant does just that. As someone who wasn't familiar with this story before, I was completely enamored by it and glued to the screen as these people were explaining this whole situation and how this community was affected by this one boat trip. These people suffered a lot for their history and deserve this opportunity to see their story depicted in this fashion. It's a tribute to their ancestors and a very good film on top of that. Descendant is now streaming on Netflix. Rating: 4/5 |