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Review by Steve Barton II  The art of practical stunts has never gotten the respect and recognition that it deserves. These men and women put their lives on the line for the sake of authenticity and purely for our entertainment. A majority of these performers don’t get paid fairly for what they risk, often lack health insurance and get labeled as “crazy” or “cowardly” based on their track record. While this argument can and should be made about stunt performers in film and television, the new movie from Canadian writer/director Michael Dowse focuses more on the stunt men who did it for their own reputation and acclaim. The Stunt Driver follows Ken Carter (Jay Baruchel) the daredevil who attempted to jump his custom-made rocket car the St. Lawrence River from Canada to America. We get to see Ken and his team go through trials and tribulations in order to make history and cement his legacy forever. Ken Carter is such an interesting character of a man that acts as a perfect subject for a movie. That’s also why during the planning and execution phases of this epic stunt, he had a documentary crew following him that ended up releasing a film titled The Devil at Your Heels. Ken had huge ideas and lofty ambitions, but he often contradicted himself by acting cowardly when the time came and never even obtained a driver’s license. Jay Baruchel studied that documentary and other pieces of footage to capture his aura and demeanor and he did so masterfully. In his past roles, Jay often plays a side character or a socially awkward guy who would never choose to be center stage. For The Stunt Driver, he certainly had to exit his comfort zone and embodies Ken through his acting and the incredible sets and costume designs.  Michael Dowse and much of his cast and crew are Canadians, so celebrating this legendary Canuck was an honor and privilege. To do so, they spent a lot of time finding the perfect locations and costumes to capture the 1970/80s time period. They also use older cameras and lenses to re-create the old documentary footage with a 1:33 square ratio in between shooting the normal 1:85 ratio for the narrative scenes with more of a theatrical framing. Having this visual change gives the film a unique style where we’re seeing the behind the scenes of the classic documentary and the real side of Ken that he isn’t playing up for the camera.
While the stunts themselves do look great and the cast is incredible, the overall movie is just okay. It’s truly a slow burn that's less about crazy stunts and more of a character study of the legendary stuntman Ken Carter. If the lofty dialogue scenes were broken up with more visual actions whether it’s more test montages or experimentations on car modifications, it’d be a stronger film in the end. Ed Helms as Dick Keller is a perfect opposite to Ken where he’s a calm and rational thinker trying his best to help his friend. Ben Foster in a small cameo as Evel Knievel and he played the braggadocious legend to a T and his attitude toward Ken only drives Ken to beat Knievel in any way possible. If seeing how some of the best legendary stunts were made into our insane reality, The Stunt Driver has you covered! The Stunt Driver hits theaters starting September 25th! Rating: 3.5/5
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Review by Steve Barton II  Quite often when Hollywood makes biopics, the subject is often the hero or celebrated in some fashion. They also often make a notorious criminal take center stage and attempt to humanize them and use the nature versus nurture argument. In the case of the new Netflix movie Unabomber, director Janus Metz shows Ted Kaczynski from his youth and shows both the investigation around his case and flashbacks to his youth. Unabomber begins in 1994 and shows how brutally destructive his attacks were, before flashing back to him at 16 starting college early. The film constantly cross-cuts between the past and present, giving you a full understanding of how and why the Unabomber was created. Bouncing between time periods constantly throughout a film isn’t an uncommon practice, but it’s difficult to pull off. You must be super meticulous with your sets and filling the scene with time-accurate props, clothing and even ways of speaking. In Unabomber, we move around in a nearly 30 year period constantly with very little delineation. The filming style is nearly identical with a locked off camera that rarely makes a dynamic motion and stays docile during what’s supposed to be a tension filled scene. Choices could’ve been made to display the time changes better whether it’s lower thirds to blatantly obvious levels or more creative ways like newspaper props or more of the archived news footage. The only real way to tell what time we’re currently in is seeing how the cast members are.  The cast of Unabomber is its largest attribute by miles. The star power Netflix got with this project should’ve been a knock out of the park, but instead it's barely a base hit. If you’ve been watching Jacob Tremblay since 2015’s Room, you know this kid has enormous talent. Whether it’s horror, comedy and everything in between, the young man gives it his all and makes the audience feel his emotions deeply. In Unabomber, Tremblay plays one of his most serious roles portraying a notorious killer who struggles to be socialized on every level. He plays an anti-social young man who was neglected and bullied by everyone including his mentor Henry Murray (Russell Crowe). Crowe as the college professor is perfect in his role as a nice guy on the surface, but a devious villain with ulterior motives underneath. His devilish charm is balanced with the genuine charm of Annabelle Wallis. The rest of the supporting cast with Shailene Woodley, Alexander Ludwig, Marc Menachaca and Steven Ogg as the FBI agents conducting the manhunt for the Unabomber. Shailene especially portrays a woman in the 90s who earned her way into the FBI with her education and specialty in linguistics, but her fellow male agents don’t respect her or her ideas. The patriarchal system in the 90s had no place for Joanne Miller, but she proved them all wrong.
Unabomber is far from being the worst movie of the year, but it had so much potential to be greater. The story around Ted becoming the Unabomber and how his mentors and others failed him is interesting, but it’s approaching the awkward Joker territory. It touches the area of almost justifying who he became and glorifying him. Someone with a fractured way of thinking could easily take the wrong messages away from Unabomber. While it may not have been the intention whatsoever to celebrate him, they should’ve gone to greater lengths to villainize Ted. The editing of the time periods could’ve been cleaner and a better movie is buried in this footage, but Unabomber still gets the job done of sharing the horrific true story of Ted Kaczynski. Unabomber is available on Netflix starting September 25th! Rating: 3/5 Review by Steve Barton II  Grief is a powerful emotion that is all encompassing and often debilitating. People often become reclusive and abruptly stop living their own lives as well. They will give up on all their passions and aspirations and become a shell of who they once were. In the case of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, our leading lady Haru (Rinko Kikuchi) begins down that sad, depressing path, but her love and passion for the art of dancing brings her back out. Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty follows Haru after losing her husband who she competed in competitive ballroom dancing with. After a brief mourning period in isolation, Haru’s friends convince her to start dancing again and she becomes obsessed with the new instructor, Fedir (Alberto Guerra). Ha-Chan tackles the topic of grief with both a real, authentic tone and some surrealism to show how complicated all these feelings are. The film’s overall structure is fairly simple with chapter names and introductions, but it finds its unique personality when Haru is dreaming. When she escapes into her mind, everything has a surrealistic style to where there are just a few details off and has the audience questioning either Haru’s or their own sanity. The camera work is incredibly dynamic, moving through scenes like another character especially during the epic dance sequences!  The activity of dance and the passions it breeds is the most vital element of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! dance is her love language with her Mexican husband and when she loses him, a large part of her died as well. It's her passion for dance that brings her out of her misery and broadens her world to new possibilities. Director Josef Kubota Wladyka knows how to shoot action from his previous work on the live action One Piece show and his previous feature Catch the Fair One. In Ha-Chan, the action is the well-choreographed dance scenes and the camera stays right in the pocket to catch it all. Whether it’s the more traditional ballroom scenes or the train sequence, the camera has so much motion that it nearly forces the audience to join the party.
Rinko Kikuchi as the leading lady brings an incredible performance that you experience almost every emotion with throughout the long runtime. She breaks your heart when you see her experiencing the harsh grief of losing a partner, but she also does immoral and unhinged acts to satisfy an obsession. Having Haru be a layered character with flaws instead of a “perfect” protagonist aids to giving a feeling of authenticity and relatability. Alejandro Edda as Haru’s deceased husband also brings it in the deeply emotional scenes where he’s a spirit or when they’re just chatting over their dinner table. Their chemistry is undeniably great, but the same can be said with her new “situationship” Fedir played by Alberto Guerra. Fedir is a dream guy for Haru with him immediately seducing her from his first dance move and his constant eye contact and smile. The smooth demeanor and gentle voice completely mind warps Haru and most women will understand while watching. Both characters are taking advantage of one another in this situation, but Haru was being deceitful with him from the start. In the end, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is an interesting piece of art centered around grief and loss and the importance of continuing to live. Many audience members may see it as “just another dance movie”, but it’s so much more than that. The dance sequences are amazing with incredible choreography and a dream team behind the camera to make it look spectacular. Although the title is silly and may seem juvenile to some, middle-aged women especially will find a deep connection with Haru and her emotional state throughout the film. It would be tighter if the film was about 20-30 minutes shorter, but the dance scenes needed to stay and it’s better for it. If a story about life, loss and dancing sounds like a recipe you’d like, give Ha-Chan Shake Your Booty! a chance now! Ha-Chan Shake Your Booty! is in theaters starting September 25th! Rating: 3.5/5 Review by Steve Barton II  In the year 2026, it’s extremely uncommon to find a piece of media that truly surprises you. Most films and television are either direct remakes or adaptations from another entertainment medium. While Never After Dark may have some familiar plot elements, it’s an original story that takes the audience on a ride. It’s a slow build type of horror, but once the third act begins, you’ll be on the edge of your seat eager to see the conclusion! Never After Dark is the newest film from writer/director Dave Boyle and it follows Airi (Moeka Hoshi) a psychic medium who travels around Japan and helps lost spirits cross over to the afterlife. When she’s hired by a couple in a remote home that’s haunted, Airi agrees to free the spirit, but quickly finds there’s more to the story. Never After Dark does a masterful job at slowly building the tension while also hiding its true nature. It’s so well done that it tricks you into thinking you’ve figured it all out, just to rip the rug out from under you in the most satisfying fashion. In the beginning, you’re led to believe it’ll either be a simple haunting/ghost story or a reveal that our “medium” is a scammer, but luckily Boyle didn’t take the easy, simple path. Danny had a desire to create a new story that may tread similar waters as other supernatural horrors, but separates itself enough with a few key moments. The beginning could turn some folks away with how it’s drawn out, but patience is a virtue. The big reveal won’t be spoiled here, but folks foaming at the mouth for “original” movies should be satiated with this Japanese horror.  The lengths that the production team went to create the practical effects in this film are truly astounding! Everything from the unique lighting effects to capture the spiritual atmosphere to the custom made spinning mirror that Airi uses during her rituals are done in-camera (with some CGI enhancements). The scenes where Airi is going “beyond the veil” have such a unique look with moving lights and specific changes that certainly took time to perfect during pre-production. The location crew also discovered incredible beauty with the small chapel that weren’t even in the original script, but were too perfect to omit. This crew also didn’t fully speak the same languages with a Japanese and an English speaking crew working in tandem with minimal translations needed. The medium of film and the teamwork needed for it is a universal language!
Never After Dark is the slow burn that winds up burning down the whole neighborhood by the end. The cast is small, but they all bring their A game and deliver an intense drama with some great scares. The crew did so much incredible work here that needs to be recognized and celebrated from the lighting cues and all the creative practical effects that only enhanced the experience. If you’ve ever desired a supernatural horror with a dash of realism, Never After Dark will fulfill your deepest, dark desires. Never After Dark is in limited theaters starting September 25th! Rating: 4/5 Review by Adam Donato  Brad Pitt returns to the big screen after last year's massively successful film F1: The Movie. He reteams with Fury director, David Ayer, for a new manly movie about surviving the wild. Pitt plays a retired special forces officer who takes his combat dog on a camping trip in the Alaska wilderness. When a sudden heart attack leads to a crashed plane, Pitt and his dog must traverse the elements to make it back to civilization. This Paramount releases in a crowded late September, but opens opposite of Forgotten Island, which is more family fare, Avengers: Endgame: Encore, which is a rerelease, and Primetime, which has some pretty touchy subject matter. Heart of the Beast is a much more standard dad movie that should attract older males and dog lovers. Can Pitt and Ayer recapture the magic to survive the box office together? While this survival story is pretty by the numbers, it’s Pitt’s star power that makes it stand out amongst similar types of movies. To this day, he’s one of the biggest names in Hollywood and can usually sell a movie all by himself. Here he shares the screen with a canine named Uber II, who has a prosthetic right leg. Not only is that a physical hurdle on top of surviving in the wild, but the duo both have PTSD from their time serving in the military. Obviously Uber II is the real heart of the movie and they assure audiences right away that he’s gonna be okay. Pitt brings real weight to his performance which is impressive because most of the movie is just him acting opposite of the dog. The bond they share in the film is powerful and will certainly pull on people’s heart strings.  This film is ripe for nature lovers with beautiful locations throughout. While the story is set in Alaska, the film was shot in New Zealand, but that’s likely not going to be noticed by the average viewer. The special effects are noticeable, but passable. The dog appears to be real the majority of the time, but obviously the bear and wolves are CGI. The only other actors in the movie are J.K. Simmons, who plays a friendly traveller who hangs with our heroes for a night, and Anna Lambe, who audiences will see later this year in The Social Reckoning. Both have very little screen time as this movie is pretty focused on the man versus nature storyline with our pair of best friends.
Heart of the Beast is a fastball right down the middle. A little too easy for Pitt, but a much needed win for Ayer whose only other success as of late is The Beekeeper. It’s nothing special, but this heartwarming underdog story provides just enough for a satisfying experience. With the wealth of movies at the box office right now, this one may be saved for Paramount+ viewers, but those who buy a ticket won’t walk out upset. Who doesn’t enjoy a good dog movie? Heart of the Beast hikes into theaters September 25th! Rating: 3/5 |