Review by Sean Boelman
Claire Denis has already released one film this year — the nearly insufferable COVID romance Both Sides of the Blade — so many are hoping that her second outing can be more compelling. Although it lacks a strong narrative, good vibes and strong performances are able to make the romantic thriller Stars at Noon something worth watching.
The movie follows an American journalist and an English businesswoman who strike up a whirlwind romance, only for them to get wrapped up in a dangerous conspiracy. The conspiracy ultimately doesn’t get much explanation, but the romance is charged enough to be sexy and compelling. Ultimately, the film is really just a lot of sex and Margaret Qualley wandering around the streets of Nicaragua. For those who enjoy Qualley as an actress, then, it’s a pretty enjoyable two-plus-hour watch. There isn’t a ton of substance to it, but neither was there in most of the erotic thrillers of the ‘90s that this is clearly indebted to. Admittedly, it can be a bit hard to buy Margaret Qualley in this role at times. That’s not to say she doesn’t turn in a great performance — she is as mesmeric and perplexing as ever — but she does feel ever so slightly miscast here. It almost feels like a role that should have gone to someone slightly older, and as a result, it causes the movie to feel slightly cold.
There are also some absolutely bizarre casting choices in the supporting cast. Joe Alwyn plays the main love interest, and he is the only one that makes total sense in his role, because it is largely for the purposes of eye candy. Benny Safdie shows up in the final act almost out of nowhere, and John C. Reilly has literally one scene that is best described as zany and random.
However, despite some of the weird choices and the fact that there isn’t a ton happening in the story, it’s somehow thoroughly enjoyable. Denis’s approach to the story almost feels like we are spiraling down a rabbit hole, and it draws you in as it descends into an absolutely chaotic final act that will have you on the edge of your seat. Of course, Denis is a very seasoned director, so all of the technical aspects are pretty strong all-around. This is the type of location-based film where much of its beauty is dependent on the gorgeous locale in which it is set. However, the movie does struggle with periodization — it’s set in the modern day, but the novel on which the film is based is set in the past, creating a bit of a disparity. Stars at Noon probably shouldn’t work, but somehow, all of its elements come together in a way that is thoroughly entertaining. If nothing else, it is much sexier and steamier than any other romance that has come out this year. Stars at Noon is now in theaters and on VOD, and streams on Hulu beginning October 28. Rating: 4/5
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Review by Sean Boelman
Lucky McKee has gained quite a cult following in the horror community because of his low-budget horror pictures, but his newest film, Old Man, won’t make much of a splash. About as generic and lazy as its title would imply, the movie is a mediocre watch elevated by its lead actor.
The film follows a lost hiker who stumbles upon a cabin inhabited by an erratic old man, only to realize that he might have gotten in for more than he bargained for. It’s a set-up we’ve seen time and time again — two people with deep, dark secrets convene in an isolated location to air out all of their dirty laundry. Of course, the pacing of the movie is absolutely horrendous thanks to the repetitive and cyclical nature of the narrative. Is the hiker who he says he is? Or is the old man lying about his true intentions? This mistrust keeps going back and forth over and over again until the audience doesn’t know — and, more importantly, doesn’t care — who is good and who is bad. McKee does a solid job of creating a feeling of claustrophobia, at least for the first hour or so of the film. When the final act goes off the rails, any sense of scale is lost and the audience will no longer feel like they are trapped in this cabin alongside these characters. The result is a complete loss of tension.
The other big issue with the movie is that it doesn’t really manage to say much of anything. It’s the type of movie that has a bunch of metaphors and symbols, so the filmmaker probably thought it was deep, but the movie fails to engage with any of these devices in a way that is substantial or interesting.
As is the case with many films primarily set in a single location, Old Man is heavily reliant on the performance of its lead actor. Stephen Lang has proven time and time again that, even when he is given subpar material, he is able to make something genuinely compelling out of the character, and this is another example of that. His delivery might be a bit exaggerated, but it’s unsettling enough to work. On the other hand, his co-star, Marc Senter, gives a performance that isn’t particularly impressive. It doesn’t help that Lang is essentially acting circles around him, but his performance is shallow and cold. We are supposed to empathize with the character, but ultimately, he serves little more purpose than to be the recipient of Lang’s lashings. The only thing that keeps Old Man afloat is a strong performance by Stephen Lang. He manages to take material that is generic and underdeveloped and makes the most of it, allowing Lucky McKee to deliver a thriller that is watchable, even if it is entirely unmemorable. Old Man is now in theaters and on VOD. Rating: 2.5/5
Review by Dan Skip Allen
The whole world has been dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic for about three years, and it wasn't a good experience for quite a few people. Many people died, and a lot more got the disease and got over it, but it wasn't a good time for them or their families. Even going to work was stressful for people. The whole situation wasn't good, no matter how you look at it. Filmmaker Peter Hedges shows how we were all in the same sailboat, going through The Same Storm.
The Same Storm depicts the lives of about twenty fictional characters in New York City. It shows how they have been dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic. Some of them are frontline workers, and others are sick patients. The movie runs the gambit of people from all walks of life. From white to black and Asian to gay, this epidemic didn't distinguish one from the other — it moved throughout society and killed indiscriminately. It was just as bad as the genocide back during WWII. With the extensive ensemble must come all the actors playing these characters. Sandra Oh plays a mother of a son with emotional issues and a wife to a husband who may be coming down with something. Ron Livingston and Rosemarie Dewitt play the parents of a fifth grader who may not be getting the education they think he deserves. Allison Pill plays that child's teacher, and she is part of a divided family. She has two brothers who are staunch supporters of Donald Trump, and her third brother is totally against Trump and is a leftist all the way.
The film deals with many topics that people deal with daily, and COVID-19 didn't mean those problems didn't change. Some of the issues that come up in the movie are Black Lives Matter, alcoholism, and old age. Things like these also hit people of all ages, creeds, and races. The filmmakers just wanted to show these things are no different than the pandemic was. I, for one, had many of the same issues during the pandemic as before and now, so I can attest to that.
The film has a specific tone and style because of the pandemic. All the characters were on Zoom calls on their phones or computers. So as most Zoom calls go, they can have issues, and the movie shows that. There are moments when the calls drop and come back. Other moments where they glitch out and get shaky reception, like a standard phone call. Some moments were pretty funny, and I knew I shouldn't laugh, but I did. I couldn't help it. Peter Hedges (Ben Is Back) has assembled a great cast for this film, some established stars and some up-and-comers like Moses Ingram and Raul Castillo. All the actors take their roles seriously. They could have phoned in their performances, but they didn't. The subject matter that this movie depicts is too important for anybody involved to take it lightly. The film shows how this epidemic has touched everyone from all walks of life, making it all the more powerful. Even though it's not the normal style of filmmaking, it is still effective in eliciting a reaction from those watching. That's the power of film. The Same Storm is now playing in theaters. Rating: 3.5/5 Review by Joseph Fayed Eternal Spring is a documentary about the hijacking of television stations in Changchun, China, led by members of Falun Gong, the new religious movement cult. The film, in which events are discussed by several key figures, is told mostly through animated flashbacks. The animation is drawn by Daxiong, a well-known comic book artist who was once a member of Falun Gong. Daxiong serves as one of the main narrators for the retelling, but despite his amount of screen time, we learn very little about his background. The biggest problem I have with the storytelling is that we are expected to learn about several different subjects, but the film decides not to necessarily focus on what would compel one to devote their entire faith to one cause. The film does, however, go into detail about how the Chinese Communist party criminalized Falun Gong. Multiple members were either severely beaten by the police or sent to labor camps for their involvement in Falun Gong. Their treatment in China led to several members fleeing the country for good. Those arrested claimed it was because they were "exposing the religious persecution" they had faced. Besides the few anecdotes of Falun Gong that are repeated throughout the film, we never learn much about the movement itself. If you are watching this documentary without having ever heard of Falun Gong before, then perhaps your biggest exposure to how the movement actually acted is the intercut news footage shown of public gatherings of Falun Gong. We're shown the Falun Gong risked their lives with their broadcast, but what they don't do is elaborate on the message behind it.
The biggest point the documentary tries to make is how far the Chinese Communist party went to silence members of Falun Gong. The well-drawn animation quite literally shows you every punch a member of Falun Gong would take in the custody of the police. Some members were hiding for months after the broadcast, fearing they could be arrested, as fellow members tearfully recounted their deaths behind bars. Religious freedom is a complex subject to address on film, but what we learned about Falun Gong was more of a "where are they now?" type of documentary rather than an overview of the religion that is apparently practiced in over 100 countries. Eternal Spring has interesting stories to tell and beautiful animation to support it, but its glossing over of the Falun Gong movement makes you wonder if this was meant to be some vague recruitment tactic for viewers to join the movement. Eternal Spring is now in theaters. Rating: 2.5/5 Review by Cole Groth Netflix’s recent Halloween flicks have been a bust, with 2020’s Hubie Halloween standing out as a particularly unfunny and childish attempt at horror-comedy. While The Curse of Bridge Hollow is a notable improvement over that film, it still has the same problems that the Adam Sandler-starrer had. With a short runtime, an interesting cast that goes to waste, and minimal scares to be seen, this film doesn’t stand out as anything but a Halloween film without any ambition. Starring Stranger Thing’s Priah Ferguson, The Curse of Bridge Hollow follows the Gordon family, who has just moved to the “safest small town in America,” Bridge Hollow. Sydney (Ferguson) is remarkably similar to Erika on Stranger Things, who shares her sassy mannerisms and fun sense of adventure. She doesn’t get along with her Halloween-hating dad, Howard (Marlon Wayans), but has a moderately close bond with her mom, Emily (Kelly Rowland). Emily’s obsession with gluten-free, vegan, nut-free baking occupies most of her time, so she’s not nearly as important as the other goofy characters found throughout the film. After a curse gets let loose on the night of Halloween which brings the town’s overabundance of spooky (but mostly silly) decorations to life, it’s up to Howard and Sydney to defeat the spooky evils that haunt Bridge Hollow. Similar to Hubie Halloween, this film relies a whole lot on the zany town members to drive the humor, which grows to be rather irritating after a while. John Michael Higgins, Lauren Lapkus, and Rob Riggle are in the film for their comedic abilities, but they aren’t given a good enough script to make any quality laughs. At most, you’ll get a few sharp breaths out of your nose, but at worst you’ll find yourself incredibly frustrated by the childish nature of the characters. Nobody feels very real, and when it’s not trying to be funny, this film doesn’t do that well with the emotional stuff either. Howard and Sydney’s father-daughter dynamic just isn’t interesting enough to seem like anything but a distraction from the potentially interesting story. As far as scares go, don’t even kid yourself. Ignore the TV-14 rating on this film, because you’re watching a film for small children. With this rating, it would’ve been possible for some actual scares, gore, or mature themes to be explored, but the surface is barely scratched at the end of the admittedly refreshing 91-minute runtime. Now, if this was treated like the TV-PG rating that it deserves, this isn’t a bad option to put on for families. There are some funny gags with the mechanics of the curse, and a decent message of family love to be found. It’s not an entirely pointless watch, and it runs at a fast enough pace to keep people with short attention spans entertained.
Within Bridge Hollow, the curse grows throughout the night, and in this same way, the film becomes stronger as it moves on. Most of the first and second act are just build-up to an entertaining adventure that is the third act. As Sydney and her group of friends enlists the help of some of the town members, the action scales in a way that keeps most of the last 30 minutes to be very exciting. It’s pretty hard to hate this film by the ending because it’s at least mildly entertaining and doesn’t require too much energy to follow along. Technically, The Curse of Bridge Hollow is decent. The score from Christopher Lennertz and cinematography from Davis Hennings and James McMillan is serviceable at worst and fun at best. What the script (cobbled together by four different writers) lacks in actual depth, the production design matches with plain looking sets. However, the monsters that attack the town throughout the night are well designed and stood out as uniquely interesting enemies. As far as Halloween films go, this film feels like a flashback to your childhood. Trick-or-treating isn’t scary in the slightest, and while The Curse of Bridge Hollow won’t keep you scared, it’s reminiscent of actual Halloween night in that way. Don’t go into this expecting anything that great, but this is at least enough fun to not be a complete waste. The Curse of Bridge Hollow releases exclusively on Netflix on October 14th. Rating: 2.5/5 Review by Adam Donato A year after Halloween Kills and four years after Halloween (2018), the Michael Myers legacy trilogy comes to its conclusion in the form of Halloween Ends. This is it, baby! Will Laurie finally kill Michael or will he finish what he started over forty years ago? Universal releases the horror blockbuster in theaters and on Peacock right in the midst of the spookiest month of the year. Despite giving up the movie for free on streaming, Halloween Ends looks sure to dominate the box office, but will audiences get the satisfying ending they’ve been promised? Halloween Ends is written by director David Gordon Green, as well as Danny McBride, Chris Bernier, and Paul Brad Logan. It’s never a good sign when a movie has so many writers. Also, it’s a Halloween movie, it’s not rocket science. Step one, Michael Myers should kill people throughout the movie. He doesn’t even show up in the first hour. We’re more than halfway through the movie before it becomes a horror movie. Until then, the movie focuses on a brand new character named Corey. He’s a good young man who had had an accident that ruined his life. The only way the main characters from the first movie have purpose in this story is because Laurie Strode’s granddaughter pursues a relationship with Corey. This feels like such a diversion from the story of the first two movies, which is Laurie Strode’s connection and relationship with Michael Myers. Without spoiling anything, the conclusion of that storyline is probably the best part of the movie despite the lack of build up in this movie. When people are being killed like in a horror movie, this movie plays really well! Too bad it takes an hour to get to this point. At the end of the movie, the audience was roaring at what was going on. It's definitely the type of movie that is heightened by the experience of seeing it in a packed theater. Even when one of the characters gets a green text message and someone in the audience exclaims “Ha, Android bitch!” Nobody is saying this movie is classy. At the end of the day, it’s the umpteenth horror sequel in a franchise that has far more bad movies than good. The bar is very low. The kills are very good. There’s a consistent comedic element throughout the movie (both intentional and unintentional). Bring a friend, shove some popcorn in your face, but don’t expect to feel a smidge of fear when walking back to your car in the dark. It’s not a terrible experience, but it takes way too long to get where we’re going and by the end it’s hard to care. Halloween (1978) didn’t need sequels and neither did Halloween (2018), but alas, we’re here. At least Halloween Kills was a horror movie throughout.
What’s really sad is that good, original horror movies like Barbarian and Pearl will leave the theaters to make way for as many Halloween Ends showings as possible. In a year that was great for original horror movies, Halloween Ends is much closer to Scream (2022) than it is to Nope (both movies are better than Halloween Ends, for the record). Despite having a plot that goes nowhere, casual horror audiences will be okay by the end. It’s not the worst movie of the year, but it’s a disappointing finale overall. It is the finale, right? The title of the movie is Halloween ENDS! Please, stop. ... Ten bucks says they reboot it within the decade. Halloween Ends hits theaters and Peacock on October 14. Rating: 2/5 Review by Tatiana Miranda Thirty years after the release of the first episode of Barney & Friends comes the two-part documentary I Love You, You Hate Me, which details the rise and fall of the plush purple dinosaur. Originally designed to keep creator Sheryl Leach's young son entertained, Barney's funny voice and saccharine songs quickly became a hit with toddlers everywhere, and the Barney-centered VHS tapes became a PBS show. As depicted in the documentary, Barney's widespread phenomenon made him a child's favorite friend and an adult's worst nightmare. From modern-day fans of Barney to his past haters, this documentary goes beyond the show's rise to fame. While talking-head-style interviews depict how Barney came to be, the documentary shifts focus to the influence he had on children and adults alike. How does the embodiment of love and positivity become the source of so much hate and controversy? This question is at the center of I Love You, You Hate Me, even being cleverly depicted in the name, which is a spin on Barney & Friend's classic "I Love You" song. While those who worked on the show talk about it with a sense of fondness, the parents, teens, and young adults that were left out of the show's target demographic reflect on it in contempt. Psychologists and other childhood icons, including Bill Nye and Steve Burns, the original host of Blue's Clues, try to unravel why Barney faced so much ridicule and hatred. Although the documentary never comes to a concise answer to this question, reasons such as homophobia, nostalgia for more beloved childhood characters, parental jealousy, and culture's dry-cut sense of humor at the time are presented. No matter the reason, Barney's bullying went beyond the dinosaur himself. Some of the show's original child actors discuss the end of their time on the show and their return to public school, where they were met with name-calling and conspiracy theories. Because of their association with such a hated character, their teenage years were filled with rebellion and bad choices to try to counteract the bullying they received while in school.
Even more so than the stars on the show, Leach's family was negatively impacted by Barney and the public's reaction to his existence. Portrayed as a shocking revelation at the end of the documentary, Leach's son, Patrick, and his actions as an adult come to light. His criminal activity, along with the divorce between his parents, are shown as the consequences of Barney's fame. Whether this is true or not is up for debate since both Patrick and Sheryl don't appear in the documentary. While I Love You, You Hate Me is not the most cohesive documentary, often jumping from point to point, it gives a comprehensive overview of Barney's creation and the aftereffects. Twelve years after Barney & Friends's demise, this documentary revisits an iconic childhood character and his cultural influence and impact on those associated with the show. I Love You, You Hate Me is now streaming on Peacock. Both episodes reviewed. Rating: 4/5 Review by Camden Ferrell In a world full of adaptations of Romeo & Juliet, director Karen Maine’s new movie aims to be something different. Based on Rebecca Serle’s young adult novel When You Were Mine, Rosaline is a comedic retelling of one of the most famous love stories in history. It has a strong lead and accomplished writers on board, but the movie falls flat with an excess of mediocrity. This movie tells a familiar story but from a different perspective. As the title suggests, this movie is told from the perspective of the titular Rosaline, Romeo’s jilted ex. To make matters more complicated, Rosaline is the cousin of Juliet, and she’s on a mission to foil their romance to get her boyfriend back. This could have been a funny and unique spin on an iconic story if done correctly. Considering the two immensely talented writers on this project, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, one can’t help but be disappointed with this movie’s writing. It aims for comedy and misses more than it hits. The jokes are so predictable, and this diminishes their effect. One would expect this level of writing from others, but not writers of this caliber. It’s hard not to be disappointed with the wasted potential with this premise. The acting is the strongest part of this but still not great. Kaitlyn Dever leads the film as the titular character. She has proven herself to be one of the best young actresses today, and while her performance is the most charming part of this movie, she can’t really do much with the character and material given. The movie features other great young actors like Isabela Merced and Kyle Allen, but they are given even less to work with even though they try their best to make something out of it.
One of the most disappointing aspects of this movie is the fact that it’s Maine’s sophomore feature as a director. Her first film, Yes, God, Yes, was a great coming of age movie that was charming and hilarious, but those traits are missing from her newest effort. Maybe she works better with more personal movies with a smaller scope, but it just doesn’t seem like she was the best fit for this Shakespearean project. Rosaline takes an iconic story and tells it from a different point of view with mixed to negative results. Fans of the source material and the Shakespeare play might find something to enjoy in this, but the average viewer looking for a fun romantic comedy might leave underwhelmed. Rosaline will be streaming on Hulu October 14. Rating: 2.5/5
Review by Sean Boelman
October is upon us and that means a slew of spooky and macabre movies. Often, there’s at least one great indie movie that threatens to go under-the-radar, and this year, that’s Martin Owen’s The Loneliest Boy in the World, a delightfully dark comedy that rises above its premise.
The film follows a teenager who, following the death of his mother, struggles to fit in, only to find friendship in unexpected places: with reanimated corpses he dug up from the graveyard. It’s a fun little zombie comedy, and thankfully it doesn’t waste time on the logistics of things, allowing it to be enjoyable in a macabre way. The biggest shortcoming of the film is its uneven pacing. The first thirty minutes or so really drag, and then the final third feels extremely rushed. It’s almost as if the film was constrained by a ninety minute runtime or simply ran out of money while shooting the final act, so they had to wrap prematurely. Director Martin Owen does a very good job of infusing the film with a very retro vibe without ever feeling overly cloying. It feels like an old school monster movie, the likes of which you would see at a drive-in, and it has the production design and cinematography to go along with it. It’s a perfect flick for the spooky season.
Admittedly, the character development is a bit thin. The protagonist is compelling, but he’s an orphan looking for a family structure, which is one of the most common arcs in the book. His love interest is a pretty straightforward manic pixie dream girl. And all of his “friends” that come back from the dead are flat archetypes.
The film also struggles to make much of its themes. There is obviously something to be said here about the isolationism caused by bullying, but it feels like an afterthought. Piers Ashworth seems much more interested in telling a crowd-pleasing story that lightly tugs at the heartstrings than deeply engaging with any of the material he wrote. That said, the casting is strong and elevates the ensemble into being something memorable. Max Harwood (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) is quirky and oddly charming in his lead role. The supporting cast also features some strong turns from Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Susan Wokoma, and Ben Miller. The Loneliest Boy in the World is just weird enough to work yet still plenty accessible. It’s much more charming than it has any right to be, and while it may feel a bit rushed, it’s still an enjoyable watch for its ninety-minute runtime. The Loneliest Boy in the World hits theaters and VOD on October 14. Rating: 3.5/5
Review by Dan Skip Allen
The Fall season brings Halloween, and with Halloween comes all kinds of horror films. Grimcutty takes a different spin on what people consider horror, similar to the new to-be horror classic Smile, which is in cinemas now.
Grimcutty plays off of parents' fears regarding the safety of their children and themselves. A mommy blogger comes up with the idea to take away electronic devices from her children to prevent anything bad from happening to them or their children after a bad encounter with her own children where they see a demon. This demon is the embodiment of their fear. Asha (Sara Wolfkind) is your average high school teenager, hanging out with her friends and texting them at home. Her brother isn't much different than her. He is pretty normal as well. He plays video games on his computer and hangs out in his room doing stuff kids do. When fear of children who start cutting themselves starts getting around their parents (Shannyn Sossaman, Usman Ally), they start to take precautions. They take all the electronic devices from their children, but this doesn't go over well with their daughter. If we know anything about technology, we know not having it at our disposal is rough. It's called FOMO: the fear of missing out. We can't stand not knowing what's going on in our lives via social media. I, for one, wouldn't know what to do without my phone and laptop, that's for sure.
The writer/director John Ross does a great job creating an atmosphere where missing our technology creates a real sense of loss. Teens are glued to their phones, so not having them at their disposal is generally a frightening proposition. The whole idea behind this film relies on this fear. And to some extent, it works. This idea isn't fun to think about. Throw in horror tropes, and you have a decent film with an interesting premise.
The cast, including the teens, all do a good job in this movie. They play along with this idea terrifically. This film could have gone down a campy road with a creature chasing after them, but it has a realistic approach with some genuine scares. The mix of different types of horror films plays into the characters' performances very nicely. I would be concerned if I had kids and there was a so-called killer on the loose, even if it were psychological. Grimcutty proves the fear of losing our phones and computers is real, even though it takes a fantastical way of depicting it in the film. The psychological nature mixed with the killer aspect was a nice mixture of horror tropes. The actors played along very well in their performances. They could have phoned them in, but they didn't. They took the material seriously, and it showed in the end result. The director captured the right feel for this genre, and as a Hulu movie around Halloween, it'll work to scare kids and adults alike. Grimcutty is now streaming on Hulu. Rating: 3/5 |
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