So I Went to the Movies
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Terrifier 3 Review
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Review
"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" lacks any reason for being outside making money. Sure, it's amusing to see one's favorite characters portrayed by the same actors as in the 1988 original, but so what? If you're fan, just, I dunno, watch the first one again. And if that doesn't do it, well then neither will the sequel.
Or maybe it will- the rather empty theater I saw this in had a small crowd who laughed at every gag as if they were paid to chortle, and when the credits rolled around, I half-expected them to give it a standing ovation. They didn't, but they certainly enjoyed it, but on what grounds?
I thought about this as I drove home from the cinema, but I couldn't place what they loved so much. Maybe there are folks out there who think watching a teen romance between Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and mysterious local boy Jeremy (Arthur Conti) is not cringy and forced? Or maybe they felt her mom Lydia (a returning Winona Ryder) hosting a show about ghosts wasn't totally out-of-character?
The story is way too complicated here, but lemme try to explain it in as simple terms as I can: Lydia's father has died (by a shark attack, no less), so she takes Astrid and her mother Delia (Catherine O'Hara) back to the home of the first film to have a funeral. His body is lowered to the earth with a child choir singing "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)," which probably played well in commercials, but it is only one of probably over a dozen different nostalgic-fueled moments that serve as winks at the audience. If you read the script, it probably says "hey, remember this" a bunch of times.
Anyway, at the same time Betelgeuse's (Michael Keaton) ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) is resurrected accidentally by an awkward cameo of Danny Devito, who we later learn only married him because she was the leader of some cult. She poisoned him on their wedding night, but before he died, he killed her with an ax, so now that she's back, she wants revenge. Detective Wolf (Willem Dafoe) warns him that she'll suck his soul out of his body, leaving him "dead dead," and advises him to lay low. A life-of-the-party like him lay low? Please!
But back to the mortals: Astrid ends up meeting Jeremy, and the two have an immediate attraction, they even kiss, on Halloween night I might add. But there's a problem, one which I won't spoil, but it does demand Lydia say that frightful word three times, ask for help to illegally get her into the afterlife, sign a contract, and, well, that's about it. And that's ignoring all the side-stories, which involve shady producers, totally-not-dangerous snakes and real estate agents dressing their kids as fruit.
Of course, it's just an excuse for a lot of wild sets, sight gags and lots of visual effects, some looking practical and others distractingly digital, but a lot are just repeats of the first "Beetlejuice," from the desert sandworms to the famous red-roofed bridge. The entire production feels like a "greatest hits" of the franchise, which sucks since it's only the second movie.
Out of the principal cast, only Keaton seems to know how stay afloat amongst all the special effects, carefully balancing actual acting and comedic shtick perfectly. He's so good you wish it was just about his many misadventures, but maybe the studio or writers or director Tim Burton himself felt that couldn't support an entire movie. But then give me a story I should give a damn about! Ortega only mopes around, O'Hara overreacts and Ryder just stands around looking confused, as if she doesn't understand the story either.
Take, for instance, when at one point Wolf points a gun at Betelgeuse, since he's a wanted man, what good is that supposed to do? Isn't he already dead? Or how Wolf plans to try him once he's under custody; just what does the criminal justice system look like in the "afterlife?" (Would he get the "life" penalty?)
The film ultimately is a mixed bag, working only when Burton ignores the story for a moment and embraces the inherent silliness of the entire concept, the best part easily being a wedding where the main cast lip-sings to, of all songs, MacArthur Park. He has a sense of humor to his visuals that immediately falls apart when it's bogged down in plot, because with plot you begin to introduce logic, and he is a filmmaker who defies it.
Saturday, August 24, 2024
The Killer Review
John Woo's "The Killer" (2024) is a remake of "The Killer" (1989), also by John Woo, with no relation to David Fincher's "The Killer (2023). And I'm sure a half dozen other films with the same name exist too, but I'm too tired to get into that
Saturday, August 17, 2024
The Union Review
Mark Wahlberg stars in this lightweight romantic comedy as Mike, a New Jersey construction worker who misses his friend's bachelor party when his old flame Roxanne (Halle Berry) walks through his favorite bar one night. Oh the shenanigans that could happen!
Jackpot Review
I sat in disbelief at Amazon Prime's latest would-be comedy "Jackpot," a film so disgustingly nihilistic involving, in the near future that looks absolutely no different from the present day, a lottery in California where losers of jackpot have until sundown to kill the winner and keep the money for themselves. It's "The Purge" with one-liners, but director Paul Feig and writer Rob Yescombe fail to inject the story with any meaningful satire. So people die, we watch the blood squirt from wounds, but don't worry, John Cena will make a joke about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so it's all good.
Cena plays Noel, a "lottery bodyguard" if you will, who happened to spot winner Katie (Awkwafina) right as people begin attacking her with shoes, knives, axes, purses and pretty much everything this side of a gun. See, firearms are forbidden by the terms and conditions of the game, which is odd considering the filmmakers don't even bother tying with the country's fetish for them, I dunno. I mean, the material was right there. I suppose the filmmakers felt excessive vulgarity, in both language and visuals, was not just what the audience needed, but all they needed
The entire city of Los Angeles is after Katie, as Noel tries to keep her alive so he can collect 10% for his services. but eventually he needs to call in a favor to Louis (Simu Liu), an ex-friend of his who runs the "most popular lottery protection agency around." In case you couldn't guess it from the trailers, Louis is bent and well, there you go. Along the way bodies hit the floor with a level of violence that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger proud, whether it be a low-rent wax museum, Machine Gun Kelly's panic room, a dojo, or an abandoned theater, it all boils down to lots and lots of mayhem. And for what? Because people are greedy? Because they're OK with killing someone just for money? Is that what "Jackpot" thinks of us as a society?
Even if it's true, it's a pretty heavy concept for what ultimately amounts to an inconsequential action comedy, just using it as an excuse to show an old lady swear and attempt murder. Har he har har.
The action is competently staged, if a bit unremarkable; the only big chase scene involves a rundown building and an alleyway, so it's hard to sit at the edge of my seat in excitement. There's a lot more hand-to-hand combat, which is also filmed rather well, but so what? Am I supposed to feel good that John Cena just tossed some guy through a wall because he's protecting some soon-to-be billionaire? What if that poor chap was broke beyond all means and desperately needed the dough? There is this underlying and unrelenting sadness here, and it does nothing with it.
More egregious though are the attempt at the characterizations, with Katie struggling to cope with her dad abandoning her and her mom's recent death, and Noel probably dealing with PTSD. It's all just so melancholy, and a tonal and total shift from the dour worldbuilding and innocuous sense of humor. It's all just so awkward.
Speaking of comedy, while a few zingers were amusing, I never let out a big ol' belly laugh; and I mean, look at the cast! Awkwafina, John Cena, Simu Liu, these are funny performers, and the best this mean-spirited script can do is have them trade one or two witty barbs?
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Trap Review
"Trap" gained some traction ahead of release by seemingly having a twist in its debut trailer. This is of course par for the course for writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, who is known for this sort of thing. In it, we watch Cooper (Josh Hartnett) as he takes his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert. Concerned over all the security guards, cops, swat, etc., he asks souvenir clerk Jamie (Jonathan Langdon) what's up- turns out, the whole show is a trap for a serial killer known as "The Butcher." Oh I'm sorry that's not the twist- that's that Cooper is the killer.
It's a great premise, even if it doesn't make a ton of sense when you stop and think about it. For one, we see an FBI profiler (Hayley Mills) throughout, telling her men to screen every male at the venue upon exit. You're telling me that they're going to screen thousands of men as they leave? I question the logistics of that plan, but it gets sillier: at one point Cooper acquires a police radio and listens in to their conversations, which is wild to me that they'd speak so freely over the air, which a quick interwebs search tells me is open to the public in Pennsylvania where this film takes place, surely they know he's smart enough to get a hold of that. (They also aren't smart enough to notice their equipment missing, but whatever.)
More unbelievable things happen without getting into spoilers, such as how Cooper lurks around the stadium looking for an exit. At one point he triggers a contained oil explosion to burn a food worker, distracting the guards so he can scope out the roof. He's stopped, and lucks into knowing the password (thanks Jamie) and having the right keycard (thanks apron left by chance nearby), but apparently this is not suspicious enough, even with his lies. That'd be fine once, but another time he's seen "checking" the coffee while the swat team is briefed. He talks to everyone like he's their friend, which again, sure whatever. But later on, when the singer "Lady Raven" (writer/director's own daughter Saleka Shyamalan, in some classic Hollywood nepotism) picks an attendee to go up on stage with her, literally putting Cooper in everyone's eye. Somehow, all these men and women in uniform just somehow don't see or remember him. Or how they don't bother checking all the cameras everywhere to see if, oh I dunno, he's done anything unusual. What a funny convenience I'd say.
A lot has been said about Hartnett, with some calling this his "comeback" picture, but I walked away unimpressed. He's clearly trying too hard to be charming and then too hard to be creepy, without it feeling natural. He's serviceable I suppose, but since the whole film, warts and all, rests on his performance to convince us that it's all really happening, his shortcomings are all the more disappointing.
Then there's the ending, which leading up to the climatic reveal, I had made my own guesses. I was wrong, of course, but that's only because I was coming up with actual narrative switcheroos. Instead, we watch the film come to a conclusion by matter of chances so outlandish that I could almost hear the audience groan. But wait, the film keeps going, only for another incidental moment to happen. And then another, and I think one more after that. It is all so convoluted that it all fails to register as an actual twist, with things happening like an episode of Murder She Wrote, only without Mrs. Potts and one F-word dropped as allowed by its PG-13 rating.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
My Spy: The Eternal City Review
"My Spy: The Eternal City" is about as good as a sequel to a 2020 Dave Bautista-led family action comedy about a nine year old kid wanting to become a spy could be. It's not going to set the cinematic world on fire or anything, but it's a decent way to spend a humid July Sunday evening.
Bautista returns as JJ, a CIA agent-turned-analyst who since becoming Sophie's (Chloe Coleman) guardian, prefers to spend his time behind a desk and making scones when his muffin's fail to rise in the oven. But his pal Bobbi (Kristen Schaal, back from the first one) thinks he's lost his edge since becoming a full-time parent, as does his boss David (Ken Jeong), who wants him back in the field. Oh the fictional woes of well-off movie characters, what ever is going to happen I wonder.
Of course he gets back into the action, and that's not a spoiler, but the way about it is as goofy as it is convoluted: Sophie's school choir group wins a chance to go to Italy to play at the Vatican, and if it ain't a coinkydink, David's son Collin (Taeho K) is not only her best friend, but also in the same choir group! JJ chaperones the trip, but not before a thumb drive is stolen containing locations to long-forgotten nuclear bombs hidden all across the world.
To go on could give something away, but the narrative here is as heavy as a diet soda, so whatever: Collin is kidnapped, to blackmail him into getting the plot-twist of a villain the codes to the explosives. Or did they already have the codes but need the locations? Ah, I can't remember, but it doesn't matter, the story is just an excuse for some silly slapstick, surprisingly convincing action, and all-around delightful performances.
All the major players, including some I'm not mentioning to save any feeble surprises here from being exposed, are well-cast and are clearly enjoying themselves, so we enjoy watching their hijinks. But then the plot gets in the way, because now an assassin is going to kill JJ, or the still-not-saying-who baddie has drugged JJ with some vague neurotoxin. To kill him, slowly, while no one is around. I wonder if he'll be saved or something. It's just too stuffed with trying to be an espionage flick that it interrupts the overall comedy of it all, it doesn't let things breath and ease into the wacky situations. Because the actual plot is ridiculous if it were played straight, so why bother in the first place?
By trying to be both a spy film and a comedy, it fails at doing either well, and despite being rarely funny, it is consistently amusing, and perhaps most refreshing of all, it has its heart in the right place. There's nothing especially good here, but there's also nothing bad- its charming cast and mostly-zippy dialogue grounds the picture to be about family, despite all the explosions, bullets and killings.