MackMonMay87 Reviews (82)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

What's Hopefully the Finale Dials in Some Fun

[7/10 · 6 July 2023]

It's funny that they waited almost 20 years to make a sequel to the Last Crusade, then another 15 years after Crystal Skulls ended up being less than stellar (pun intended, aliens, get it?).

I'm happy that Harrison Ford, Lucas&Spielberg, and the rest of the returning cast finally got a good send off sans Shia LaBeouf, but please let this be the final installment. I don't want to see a continuation with Helena Shaw, even though unlike a lot of other reviewers, I didn't mind her.

Fleabag does a good job in the film, and they avoided making her character overly bitchy, negative, or unlikeable. Reviewers saying she's unlikeable apparently wanted a female character who bows down and kisses Indy's ass, when even Marion in the originals never did that. The fact that her character is into archeology for the wrong reasons gives her somewhere to grow from, the fact that she has tension with Indy makes it interesting, but it's not a situation where the man we're here to see feels shoved aside or disregarded because of a new character. They strike the right balance.

Overall, the movie feels sort of like what happened with Star Wars: the prequels tried something different (like Crystal Skulls did) and people pushed back against it. Then to course-correct, you had Force Awakens, which was overly reminiscent of the originals and practically a remake.

Dial of Destiny isn't quite a remake of the prior franchise, but you can feel the desire to correct from Crystal Skulls all over the movie; it follows a very tried and true, familiar Indiana Jones formula. Except without Harrison Ford in his prime, without Spielberg's direction, without as many practical effects as the originals (the CGI isn't egregious, it's just that the original movies were very sparing on those type of effects), so it doesn't quite capture the same greatness. How could it?

It's very similar to Ghostbusters: Afterlife in that it's well-made but safe, acting as a companion piece to the far greater originals that have now become protected and beloved.

With all that criticism aside, Dial features some action that definitely takes from the cues of the rest of the series and understands what makes those action beats work. Mangold's direction provides some well-shot and staged action, and it's interesting seeing Indy deal with the late 60s. The supernatural elements are eased into the movie in a more natural fashion than Crystal Skulls, and Mads Mikkelsen is once again flawless as the villain. His reintroduction after the opening in the past was effective and chilling.

I liked that the movie acknowledged Indy/Harrison's age and embraced themes of time and how we deal with the past. But time is a factor none of us can escape, there is no dial to get around the reality of the years passing, and while this is a competent and satisfying send-off, they ultimately waited too long, with box office numbers not doing great because unlike wide brands like Star Wars or Marvel with universes of characters, Indiana Jones is tied to one character and one man, and there's an entire generation now who might not have seen or been familiar with the character and the greatness those od movies embodied. I couldn't shake the feeling of "too little, too late" during the runtime.

I would say that unless you're a lifelong Indiana Jones lover like me, you don't have to go rush out to see this. If you are, it'll give you a nice final taste of what is in my opinion, overall some of the finest action-adventure movies (and I mean the original three) ever made.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Hilarious Horror Genre Commentary

[7/10 · 18 April 2023]

Unfortunately I had Cabin in the Woods and its main twist spoiled for me years ago. It's on me: I waited 12 years since its opening to see it and still enjoyed it.

I see some other reviews on here mentioning that Cabin in the Woods is is "parody", but I would say that's more fitting for the "Scary Movie" series. Cabin doesn't openly mock the genre tropes it's referencing, it adds another layer to them.

It implies that every other slasher/teen-sex horror movie we've ever seen before this was the orchestrated work of these puppet masters, and its brilliant.

One thing I've never liked about much of the horror genre is how moronic and stupid many of the characters are. They'll make contrived, poorly thought out decisions that not even someone suffering the affects of adrenaline would make, just absolutely stupid choices that Cabin reveals are actually influenced by some apathetic lab tech pressing a button and releasing mind-altering gas into the system of everyone there.

Playing with genre conventions and adding another layer to them like this is more than just parody or satire. It offers a fictional, in-universe reason why horror movies are so poorly written, and why the characters do and say such stupid things.

You'll appreciate Cabin in the Woods a lot more if you're an experienced horror viewer and have seen more than a few of them, that's one of its shortcomings. You have to know the genre and know the mold it's trying to break before you can appreciate why this kind of commentary hits the way it does.

Some of the writing is a little too Joss Whedon, but that's to be expected. His quips and witticisms aren't too out of control here, nothing extremely eyerolling, however with everything that's come out about him, it's much more clear why the sexist, chauvinistic dialogue he gives some of his male characters hits so convincingly.

It's fun seeing a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth, and I also felt that the stoner character was supposed to be a reference to Shaggy from Scooby Doo, which is fun.

Overall, Cabin in the Woods is a fun, niche horror commentary with some solid humor and a good concept that fleshes out cliche horror premises. You're still going to get more out of it if you've seen at least a few of the cliches first, so think of this is a reward after seeing those kinds of movies first.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

"ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE..."

[9/10 · 17 April 2023]

The John Wick series started as a humble, nearly direct-to-video franchise that has risen to redefine the action genre in the 2010s til present. Most modern action/fight choreography in Hollywood at least owes itself to the Wick franchise and the incredible action design and direction of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. John Wick 4 proves why their work can be imitated but not surpassed as they push the stunts, choreography, and spectacle to even further levels of well-shot, deliberately constructed insanity beyond any of the other installments.

I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable connoisseur of action, martial arts, and stunt-heavy films, and while it might be early to say given how new it is, John Wick 4 might be one of the best action films of all time. It's certainly one of the best of the last 10 years, even beyond the other films in the Wick franchise which are all at a high standard.

You have Keanu of course, the legendary Hiroyuki Sanada, the peerless Donnie Yen, greats like Scott Adkins (in an unforgettable role) and Marko Zaror, as well as the always excellent Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Skarsgaard, Clancy Brown and the gone-too-soon, classy and distinguished Lance Reddick, who always brought a level of distinction, refinement, and commitment to every project he touched. Newcomers Shamier Anderson and singer Rina Sawayama are also excellent additions to the franchise and bring a level of freshness and energy to each of their roles as well.

John Wick 4 is long, it's not a quick watch. That's one of the main flaws I can point to for the film. The issue is that there's so many satisfying action scenes that are so well set-up, it's tough to think of what you'd cut out. I can see why the finished cut was damn near 3 hours, which is a long time for a shoot-em-up with this straightforward of a plot.

For action fans, this demands to be seen at least twice. There's too many high-quality action scenes for it to be viewed once, so many well-made battles and set pieces all packed into one movie.

A single scene from John Wick 4 would be another film's action climax. Most movies are lucky to have even two sequences as well-designed as what you'll see here, much less an entire film of them.

The John Wick films also ooze style, with beautiful locations in Saudi Arabia, Japan, NYC, what appeared briefly to be London, and France. The lighting, particularly the Osaka scenes, is stunning. Stahelski is more than just an action director and knows how to make a gorgeous looking film that fills the big screen, where it should be seen.

The John Wick films aren't supposed to be realistic, they're action-spectacle and stuntwork taken to its absolute limit. They exist in a parallel, comic book-universe, so I can waive any criticisms about lack of realism or the more out-there elements. Realism isn't the only point of action films, it's the intensity, the feeling watching it gives you, and the craft that goes into making it.

Even the incidental kills John Wick does on nameless goons are well-choreographed. Nothing is lazy or done the easy way.

Other action productions should be looking at this and sweating, because they've raised the bar yet again. In the next year or two, you're going to see a lot of choreography that will imitate this, and it won't quite ring as true, won't quite have the same authenticity.

Kudos to Stahelski, Leitch, Keanu, and the rest of the incredible stunt team for piecing together a masterpiece of action. This could be a quality finishing point for the franchise, but would I be in the mood for another outing for Mr. Wick? To quote the man himself: ".... Yeah."

Renfield (2023)

Dracula (Un)Caged

[7/10 · 17 April 2023]

The only flaw in Renfield's goofy, gorey, action/comedy-filled runtime is not featuring more of Nicolas Cage as Dracula.

A prequel or simply another Dracula story could and should be made to exploit Cage's broiling insanity as an actor, because Renfield, an already entertaining R-Rated cartoon for adults, takes another level every time he's on screen.

The fight scenes and gore-work in this movie are truly outstanding, along with great performances from just about all of the rest of the cast. If you don't go in expecting a serious horror film and instead a campy action comedy that reframes Bram Stoker's classic characters in a modern sense that frames everything in the context of toxic workplaces and toxic bosses, then Renfield is for you. A future Halloween movie-night classic.

The Menu (2022)

You Have to Have A Pallette for This Menu

[7/10 · 7 April 2023]

I'm seeing reviews that run the gamut between scathing and hateful, as well as rating this a 10/10. The Menu is neither, but it's still a fun send-up of the pretentious corner of the food industry and wealth culture.

Anna Taylor and Ralph Fiennes are both excellent in their roles, and John Leguizamo is always welcome in any cast, and shines here as always. I'm becoming a big fan of Hong Chau, and she doesn't disappoint here either, and hasn't in any performance I've seen her in yet.

The acting and characters are there, and while the absurdity and satire is a lot of fun, there isn't the most internal logic in the storyline either.

Spoilers ahead, but it seemed as if the characters knew that they were going to die when they reached the island? But earlier in the movie they react to the Chef's actions with surprise, so which is it?

The theme of each member of the restaurant being a part of what made Chef lose his passion for cooking is interesting, but why do these people so eagerly accept their doom (aside from Margot obviously)?

The Menu leaves a lot of these questions unanswered and doesn't always have the most solid reasoning behind the storyline, but it's beautifully shot, well-acted, and won't leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Eastwood Delivers in Classic Escape Flick

[8/10 · 29 March 2023]

It's funny reading some of the reviews saying everything that happens in Escape from Alcatraz couldn't have gone down, or it's cliche, considering that the movie according to my research is pretty accurate to what actually went down in the 60's between Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers.

Sure they embelish the characters to make them more likeable than they most likely were in reality and to make the warden and guard staff more repulsive, but they picked from some real accounts and ended up with a taut, focused thriller that centers on a basic human instinct: the desire to be free.

We don't know a whole lot about Morris as a person or really a whole lot about how he landed at The Rock. Movies based around a singular goal like this just aren't as common anymore.

I found the lack of any hamfisted attempts to make the characters extremely relatable refreshing; this isn't about that. It's about the challenge before them and overcoming what seems like impossible odds. Whether you morally side with the jailbirds breaking out or not isn't the point, although sure the movie does use characters like the warden and some of Morris' friends to get you sympathetic to their cause, but it doesn't linger on them too much.

In contrast to today's filmmaking, there's a grit and raw intensity that I find a lot of relief in, just for a change of pace. It's not just because of some of the racial slurs used in this movie; the attention span required to appreciate it and the pace, the slow burn where you see the plan take shape day by day, minute by minute (like it would have in real life. The warden even says, on Alcatraz, you have nothing but time) would ensure that it most likely wouldn't have been made today.

Overall, for a prison break movie, this is one of the gold standards and is fun and tightly edited and shot piece of nostalgia.

Lady Bloodfight (2016)

Lady Lukewarm

[4/10 · 31 January 2023]

Bey Logan should stick to producing instead of screen-writing or maybe not even that, if accusations from around 2017 are to be believed (Google "Bey Logan harassment"). Because the script for "Lady Bloodfight" has the worst parts of its inspiration, Bloodsport, with very little of its charm.

Lead Amy Johnston is super-athletic, looks the part, and definitely delivers in the world of stunts, but in terms of acting and screen presence, this makes it clear why she's typically a stunt double (which isn't throwing shade; stunt performers are under-appreciated and admirable members of the movie community).

Looking at this as a gender-swapped response to Bloodsport, it's not just Johnston who lacks the charisma of the original's VanDamme (who might've not been a seasoned actor when it came out, but had a charm that made him likeable), it's the entire lack of a sense of theatre and presentation that made Bloodsport a hokey 80s martial arts classic.

Bloodsport doesn't have the best choreography in terms of move-to-move action, but it's shot clearly with wide shots of VanDamme's roundhouses and helicopter kicks, long exchanges between him and the other combatants where you can *see* the action.

Lady Bloodfight features the overly busy, mid-range shots of disembodied limbs and flurried cuts that plague modern action and are usually used as a cover for doubles versus hiring performers who can carry out lengthy exchanges in a continuous shot. Bloodsport might not approach the level of choreography of Yuen Woo Ping for example, but it at least has that going for it.

It had also had an interesting set, the Kumite was held in a smoky dungeon mired in ancient Triad tradition, with hundreds of grimy underworld spectators, major CEOs rubbing shoulders with gang members, the air filled with smoke and dollar bills being flung around while they swore and cheered with every hit landed. You really feel the seediness in the original that the Kumite is the Super Bowl of underground street fighting.

With LB, it's a handful of spectators in suits that you forget are there in a drab makeshift arena of shipping containers.

Bloodsport also had a campy yet energetic and pounding soundtrack from Stan Bush, which also gave it a personality, which we have none of here.

It's not just the choreography and fights, all of these bits of presentation matter and increase the excitement.

At the surface, the concept of an all-female fighting tournament with international competitors of different ethnic and fighting backgrounds is a concept I'm in support of, but so much is missing from Lady Bloodfight.

A lot of other reviewers are saying "it's just a marital arts movie", but even by the standards of the genre this isn't good. Michelle Yeoh, Moon Lee, Cynthia Rothrock, Jeeja Yanin just to name a few have movies that might be cheezy as well but are much more endearing with much better choreography.

Aside from how it's shot, our protagonist Jane doesn't have a signature style, technique, or special move that sets her apart from the other contestants, which is key in any martial arts movie. Like dance, the movements need to reflect identity and personality.

When it's not a fight scene, the movie is shot fairly competently with decent lighting and some good locations in Hong Kong. There's a good movie and concept in here somewhere.

Jet Tranter as the spunky and friendly fighter who befriends Jane should've been the main character, she's far more interesting and charismatic. The other main cast member who really worked was Mayling Ng as Svietta (I'm not sure how a Chinese woman is a Russian character, but it's not important.), this movie's answer to Bolo Yeung. Mayling has a great screen presence as the villain and looks properly intimidating and powerful. I really hope that she appears as a villain in better material, because she has the looks and attitude to sell that completely.

Fighting tournament movies don't have to be Shakespeare, it's true. Bloodsport is an exercise in sweaty macho camp that still had moments where we saw the characters develop a bit (VanDamme playing video games, leading the MP officers on a goofy chase around Hong Kong, him in the hospital with Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds after he gets hurt, swearing revenge) in an endearing 80s fashion. If they were going to do a gender-swapped version of Bloodsport, they should've taken those cues as well, not just the Kumite, the setting, and the fact that fights are happening.

Even by the standard of the genre, Lady Bloodfight will not get your blood boiling in a good way.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Moving Tribute to a Lost King; One of Marvel's Best in a While

[8/10 · 14 November 2022]

2018's Black Panther remains one of my favorite MCU entries despite some script and CGI shortcomings. The sudden passing of the tremendously talented and regal Chadwick Boseman was a celebrity death that hit me hard. As a lifelong Marvel fan since childhood, it was so exciting to see such perfect casting for a comic character who had the potential to become such a huge force of culture like Spider-Man or Batman. How does a franchise recover from the undeserved and untimely passing of a core cast member? We've seen this before with legends like Bruce&Brandon Lee, and the incredible Heath Ledger. Franchises like The Crow and the follow-up Nolan-Batman movie lacked the respective presence of those performers, so we've seen how tough it can be for a film series to come back from a loss like that.

Wakanda Forever has to set up a whole new (overdue onscreen) character and civilization, build out a version of the Wakanda-corner of the MCU without the awesome lead, and simultaneously pay tribute to his passing. I went in expecting this to be one of the most uneven Marvel movies, and it would've been nobody's fault. Ryan Coogler and his team needs high praise, because WF accomplishes all of that and more, being one of the most solid Marvel entries in a long time, embodying the reasons why this series became what it is in the first place. It's a welcome refreshment after the unforgiveable war crime against good taste that was Thor: Fluff&Blunder.

The women of Wakanda take the lead in this sequel, all of them amazingly handling the heavy task given to them. Shuri, Okoye, Queen Ramonda played to stunning perfection by Angela Bassett, newcomer Riri Williams and Nakia all shine brightly. Winston Duke makes a charming a charming return as M'Baku, adding layers to his comedic-relief character from the first. Of course speaking of the cast, we can't forget to leave out newcomer Tenoch Huerta, in an awesomely powerful performance as Namor The Sub-Mariner, one of Marvel's oldest founding characters who deserves the showcase he gets in WF. The MCU's choice to reinterpret Atlantis as Talocan, drawing from Meso-American mythological themes, is both beautiful and relevant to themes of the movie, while offering a spin on the character that separates him visually and culturally from rival Aquaman over at DC. Namor, as a true anti-hero just like the comics, makes one of the strongest impacts a character from Marvel has in a long time. Huerta makes him a convincingly (seemingly) unstoppable force of nature filled with rage and righteous anger, showing the understanding of the source material.

Wakanda Forever clocks in at a long runtime, it has a lot of dense story to set up, and gets a lot of its emotional weight from the events of the previous movie, and also sometimes slows down with the inclusion of some political scenes that aren't as interesting as the growing conflict between Talocan and Wakanda, but when the movie is at it's best, its now one of Marvel's best. If you weren't as invested in the first installment, you might not find the stakes as high, this is a sequel in the truest sense that it relies on and is built on the story of the first, unlike some other MCU sequels that stand on their own despite previous entries. Wakanda Forever, and RIP to a true king in Chadwick Boseman. None of the impact, the emotion, the hype surrounding this part of the MCU would've been possible without him. It's a less interesting universe without him, but those left are honoring his memory in a way I have no doubt he's looking down upon favorably.

Black Adam (2022)

Bland Adam

[5/10 · 10 November 2022]

Black Adam is possibly one of the most generic superhero movies ever made. In a year that also gave us Morbius, that's quite a statement to make, but true. For me, Black Adam sits somewhere between being better than Morbius and Love&Thunder, but far from good.

Like many of the DCEU movies, it doesn't set up the characters properly or give us the core reasons we should care about these characters and what their theme is. The Rock's likability and natural charisma and charm is wasted on such a serious, dour character like Black Adam. You can sense the restraint The Rock is using to make Black Adam more ominous and less relatable than his typical schtick, and it makes the character feel clunky as a result.

Physically, The Rock is perfectly cast and I've said for many years he should play a comic character. He's one of the few major actors that doesn't need to train at all for the role of a superhero and can show up on-set ready to play the part the day-of. But the physical side can only go so far, and there's moments where The Rock tries to batner with some of the side-characters, but still trying to embody the seriousness of Black Adam, and it just comes off as awkward. Overall, this character just doesn't work for him, and a more standard heroic role with more potential for comedy would've been a better fit.

The other heroes introduced, The Justice Society, are for the most part as flat and ineffective as Black Adam himself. It really does seem like Black Adam and the rest of the Justice Society should've been introduced in a previous DCEU project. They have the most ridiculously undercooked plan from a group of superheroes I've seen in a long time, and while the movie tries to hint at self-awareness of this through dialogue, that still doesn't make what they're actually doing with the story good. It really more makes the Justice Society look like clowns. Pierce Brosnan is the best performance in the movie, to nobody's surprise, but even then we get so little of why we should care about the JS and who their characters are. I have to give a mention to Cyclone being arguably the most worthless character in a superhero movie ever. Her tactic against Black Adam, a being as strong as Superman, is to toss pipes at him with the wind, and she contributes more or less nothing the rest of the movie.

The movie tries to sell Black Adam as an anti-hero, and tries to make attempts at a sort of moral grey-area, but it falls flat. Intergang, the force invading Khandaq, is objectively evil without any redeeming reason to be there, so when Black Adam kills them, there's not really a sense of shock or any moral deliberation. They're remorseless scumbags conquering a country for their resources (Eternium, not only seeming like a blatant rip-off of Black Panther regardless of whichever came first in the comics, but also the most poorly named fictional material since Unobtanium in Avatar), so aside from the act of murder itself, which they bring on themselves by attempting to mortally kill Black Adam, there's really not much of a moral quandary here. Nothing Black Adam does in the movie embodies the "anti" part of being an anti-hero. His actions never lead to an innocent person dying or even getting slightly hurt. This is the kind of content missing from something like Black Adam, that could actually drive a sense of consequence and drama, stuff like that is supposed to be the foundation of comic book stories, but they shy away from taking the story there and attempting to tell us who the characters are through goofy dialogue rather than actions.

To contrast with Black Adam, look at another former WWE-star in a DC production: John Cena as Peacemaker from his own show with the same name and '21's The Suicide Squad. Peacemaker actually does hold morally questionable views, is introduced to us as a criminal psychopath, and is blatantly antagonistic to the lead character. In his own show, he grows from these aspects of character and becomes less sociopathic, which is interesting to watch. The main difference there is that The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker had the involvement of James Gunn, who actually knows how to craft oddball characters with a sense of love and a way of making even the weirdest characters endearing.

Black Adam shows that after all this time, even with some successes in recent years, the DCEU still doesn't consistently know how to craft interesting characters that feel at least somewhat fleshed out in an inter-connected universe. Everything about Black Adam feels as if a machine was given all the typical elements of a modern superhero movie and made to produce one, without any of the heart or regard to character, or what makes the genre really work. It's good enough to not be awful, but not good enough to be memorable.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

A Fitting Resurrection

[7/10 · 12 September 2022]

Between the first two movies and the late 80s/early 90's cartoon, the Ghostbusters franchise was a big part of my childhood. You could say, to quote the theme, "bustin made me feel good" (talk about lyrics you understand differently as an adult).

I always thought of Ghostbusters as a symbol of that era, an 80s pop culture gem that literally captured the spirit (pun definitely intended) of the time, and gave audiences a type of sci-fi/horror/comedy mash-up that we take for granted now, but was revolutionary back then. I think the sarcastic wit yet simultaneously legitimately well-crafted horror elements that blended tones has in a way influenced major Hollywood blockbusters ever since. The Avengers and other comic book heroes on screen today would never be trading quips in the midst of tense battles if the Ghostbusters hadn't been doing it in the 80s, I'm convinced of that.

But time moved on, and issues on the production side and between the actors has always kept a true Ghostbusters 3 from ever being made. Murray, Hudson, Akroyd, and Ramis never came back together in their prime to round out the trilogy: nowadays after the success of the first they would've been contracted for at least a trilogy after the smash success of the first. Sure there were follow-ups: another cartoon, video games, other guest appearances of the Ghostbusters characters in other movies and shows, etc., and then the big gender-swapped elephant in the room, the 2016 version that had opinions divided all over the place. You can't call 2016's "Answer the Call" a sequel, it was a re-vamp of the concept where that cast never learned from, acknowledged, or had the torch passed from the original beloved cast, and some felt that it actively tried to tarnish or crap-on the legacy of the first two for the sake of irreverent comedy. Personally, after decades, I was prepared to leave the Ghostbusters behind as a franchise, and enjoyed the memories of the first two and the cartoon. I've never been apart of the fans out there clamoring for more, so the 2016 version and all the other attempted follow-ups never landed for me.

This is all to say that "Afterlife" is a movie I could've taken or left. If it had never been made, I honestly think that would've been fine, but I can also understand Jason Reitman, son of the famous Ivan Reitman so tied to the franchise, not wanting something like "Answer the Call" to be the last iteration of Ghostbusters that existed in pop culture. I can understand him wanting a proper send off to the franchise his father helped build, and a potential continuation as well for fans that never moved on, and I can say as a former Ghostbusters fanatic who still has a working pump-trap toy at my parent's house that the team behind Afterlife achieved all of that, but literal decades of time away from the heart of the franchise does show in the final product.

Afterlife features a new setting for a GB movie, the unassuming Midwest instead of bustling NYC, and a new cast of characters, some of whom have ties to characters in the past of the series, and some all new ones as well, and all of them function really well in the new story. The legacy of Egon Spengler, his tools, the plan he was working on, and all of the other motifs feel very reverent and well-crafted. It's great to see the proton packs, Ecto 1-A, and the old music/score again. The new cast members all do a fantastic job, Paul Rudd is (underutilized) charming and funny as always, Carrie Coon does a great emotional delivery as Egon's ignored daughter, Finn Wolfhard takes cues from his Stranger Things pedigree and earns his place here, along with the great Logan Kim and Mackenna Grace, the youngest new additions to the cast who are both very talented performers. Grace especially impressed me with her ability to convey the inherited intelligence and mannerisms of Egon. She definitely has a major future as a star.

All of the nostalgia is handled so well, but the plot is almost entirely built on concepts of the very first Ghostbusters. To a heavy degree. So while the aesthetic of Afterlife and the cast are both excellent, it plays out with a little too much familiarity. While Answer the Call threw shade at the series, Afterlife is a pendulum-swing too far in the other direction. I didn't really feel I needed to see Gozer the Gozerian, the Gatekeeper and Keymaster again, or even the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (men this time) again. I know those ghosts, I know those motifs. Picking up the story with Egon's old equipment and his family was a good enough through-line to the original, I would've liked to see some new ghosts and threats for the new generation to face. The practical effects used and costumes all looked so good, but I felt the slow-build pace and reverence ("This is Ghostbusters!!" The movie seems to remind me) kind of slowed it down. I felt that it could've used more ghosts and more busting, and a little more freshness.

I give this a 7 out of 10 because the style and atmosphere is so well made. You can tell Jason Reitman really cares for the franchise, and the new cast and characters are great, but used in service of something we've seen before. There's some great cameos that add to the movie for fans as well, and the last act has a very touching tribute to Harold Ramis and the character of Egon that was genuinely moving.

I'm fine with this being the last Ghostbusters movie ever made, but if there are more, I hope they can balance the care for the source material with some fresher ideas (just ones that don't blow) that can advance the series in a way that takes some risks while keeping fans happy, which of course can't be easy.

Scanners (1981)

Needed More Head Bursting-Boring Lead Actor

[6/10 · 8 September 2022]

Scanners is well-known for the hilarious head explosion scene that's made it's way into many videos online, especially blowing up (heh heh) in the early days of Youtube.

A Cronenberg flick filled with psychic head poppers should've been a literal no brainer (I'm on a roll here, mkay), but you only get one actual head-burster scene with some funny gore at the end.

The movie is like a low-rent take off on the X-Men, which general audiences would've been less familiar with at the time, so it probably seemed more original in 1981, even though X-Men came much earlier. A subset of humans are born with incredible powers, and a wise, kindly old man wants to gather a team of these powerful and amazing individuals to work as a team on behalf of humanity, while another member of this super-powered race is a violent rogue, seeking to dominate the world with their natural powers. Yep, Cronney and his writers definitely cribbed from the House of Ideas from this script whether or not they'd admit it.

Even with the plagiarism, Scanners could've been a serviceable good vs evil psychic powered action flick with hilarious trademark Cronenberg gore, but what you get instead is a fairly restrained, dragging sci-fi flick with some very flat performances. The main actor, Stephen Lack, barely seems like a human being sometimes, he would've been well-cast as an android.

The best performance comes from Michael Ironside as the villain, who sports some very funny facial expressions while he's summoning his powers. If you want to know what Ironside looks like after a hefty helping of 3-bean casserole, Scanners should be your first stop.

Mainly, unless you're curious or bored, just watch the head-bursting scene on Youtube and go to better Cronenberg flicks for the good stuff.

Ms. Marvel (2022)

Ms.Marvel: Good Characters, Lackluster Story

[6/10 · 25 July 2022]

Ms. Marvel is the MCU's second take on a coming-of-age property more targeted towards teens, so I understand that longtime Marvel fans like myself aren't the target audience. I 100% acknowledge that children will get the most out of this and probably liked it a lot more than me, and if kids and families liked it, I'm happy for them. That said, I still gotta give the take of an aging Marvel fan.

Ms. Marvel herself, Kamala Khan, is perfectly cast and played with total enthusiasm and earnestness by newcomer Iman Vellani who completely embodies this character in every sense. The show gives you a pretty good sense of who Kamala is, her family and support system and supporting cast, and has some really creative visual and graphical flair in the first few episodes.

Despite that, Ms. Marvel has a lackluster storyline that has some holes in it that can't be waved away by saying "it's meant for kids/teens". Plenty of child/teen-appropriate content still has gripping storylines, genuine drama and real consequences for the characters involved. Even classic kid's entertainment features some dramatic deaths, sacrifices, and serious themes, but Ms. Marvel blunders when it tries being more than a lighthearted family comedy/drama.

At 6 episodes, there's not enough genuine comic-storyline to justify the runtime. Even though the show is about her, there's a few side-storylines and episodes that focus on Kamala's ancestors and family ties, all content that would make more sense in a second season after we've gotten to know our main character more. The villains are also some of Marvel's worst lately, with the "Djinn" seemingly just regular humans with barely any noticeable special abilities aside from being skilled fighters, and the Department of Damage Control footsoldiers making the Stormtroopers or Putties from Power Rangers look coordinated.

It would've been nice to see Kamala handle a smaller-scale threat and develop her skills and powers more gradually, rather than yet another Disney+ Marvel show where the fate of the entire world is at stake, yet no Avengers or anybody equipped to help her stop another dimension coming into our world is present (minus a super-brief cameo from Kamala's hero idol in the post-credits). Marvel is past the point of isolation in their properties, and a more contained story would help explain why the story's dimensional business isn't on the radar of someone like Dr. Strange.

If Ms. Marvel had done a better job with the action and picking up the pace mid-way through the series and cutting down on some of the filler, I would've liked it a lot more. I know Marvel (and really, their masters at Disney) wants to move in a lighter-hearted direction that skews younger, so I'm not asking they include traumatizing, R-Rated content, but this still takes place in the established Marvel Universe, where half of all life was eradicated away for 5 years, there's serious weight in these storylines. The action should've had a greater sense of danger and consequence, so we could've seen a moment where Kamala really understands that being a hero is not fun and games, as a way to balance out the carefree tone of the start of the show.

All of the non-superhero aspects are handled well, but...ultimately it's still supposed to be a superhero show in a superhero franchise, so it has to succeed on that end also. For the commitment of Iman Vellani and the creative graphic touches in the first few episodes (which unfortunately leave for most of the rest of the show) Ms. Marvel gets 6 Sloth-Babies out of 10.

Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)

Have a Showing of Showdown for a Solid Laugh at 90s Cheeze

[6/10 · 5 July 2022]

To sound like an old man: they don't make 'em like this anymore (for better or worse). Growing up in the 90s, I always used to confuse this with Big Trouble in Little China at movie store, but there's no confusion, John Carpenter's Big Trouble is a much better movie, even considering the campiness.

If you're a fan of Bruce Lee and his legacy, obviously one of the main appeals of SiLT is the gone-too-soon Brandon Lee, who shines despite the greasy early 90's cheezy veneer with humor, charisma, and very slick Jeet Kune Do techniques in the fight scenes that would make his father proud (it is funny to me that his father made several movies fighting Japanese antagonists, and his son is cast here as half-Japanese). Performance-wise, you also have the awesomely talented Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, seemingly born to play a villain, who any 90's kid will remember as Shang Tsung in the live action Mortal Kombat movie which would only come out a few years later.

Watching SiLT in the 2020's is a hilarious checklist of action movie tropes that have been retired due to overuse and social progression. I would love showing this movie to anyone born after 2000 who hasn't seen this type of shlock, because it's such a product of its time that it's hilarious. You can play 90's action movie bingo with all the tropes on display: damsel-in-distress (played by 90's babe Tia Carrere) played totally straight, who only exists in the movie to get rescued, raped by the villain, and then immediately reward Dolph Lundgren with a gratuitous 90s sex-scene complete with hilarious softcore porn music (this compliments the casual boobs and nudity seen throughout the film, a xenophobic tone of Japan encroaching on the American economy (there's a ton of Hollywood action movies in the 90s that had Japanese villains/motifs and played on the financial success Japan was enjoying at the time), a white dude blatantly appropriating Japanese culture (Dolph Lundgren looks absurd in the finale with his Frost Giant-self decked out in Samurai-attire), necks being snapped without effort (it makes it seem like a slight turn of your head could kill you instantly) rogue cops doing whatever it takes and committing outright murder without any attempt at due process, and of course a steady undertone of (unintentionally? It's hard to tell with late 80s/early 90s action material) homoerotic dialogue and camerawork, with an opening featuring a flexing male torso, Big Dolph's ass in Full Moon-mode, and Brandon Lee's infamous remark about Dolph's...er, Samurai sword.

The main joy of watching of Showdown is all of these tropes being played straight, in a time where movies like this were made without much irony behind it all. Watching it helps you understand why action comedies moved on, because there was a lot of stuff like this.

The movie is saved by the fact that both Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren are credible real-life martial artists. The fight scenes aren't quite on the level of what Jackie Chan and the Hong Kong film industry was doing at the time, but they're still satisfying and competent. The unintentional comedy and eye-rolling scenes (Dolph "jumping" over a convertible or deadlifting a car) make Showdown in Little Tokyo a great candidate for a weekend movie night where you want to have some laughs with friends, but not much else.

King Richard (2021)

Uh, Oh! Richard....

[7/10 · 22 April 2022]

Inspirational sports movies run in the same vein as music biography movies: even the best of them have some of the same scenes and same moments, even if altered and changed to fit the individual premise of that installment. King Richard while featuring the inspiring and awesome story of Venus&Serena Wiliams, two of the biggest success stories ever in the sport of tennis or in sports in general, is still hitting all the beats and swinging for the same target many of these movies aim towards. It's a competently made, for the most part well-acted sports drama, but it also doesn't at any point go beyond the tropes of this genre either.

Will Smith has some good dramatic moments and has crafted an engaging character with Richard Williams, who apparently in real-life was memorable, charismatic, and depending on who you asked, overbearing. Smith embodies all of these qualities, and I felt the movie did a decent job of wanting you to see Venus and Serena succeed, as well as show the effect the pressure they were under at such a young age had on them.

Regardless of the quality moments, this movie, produced in part by Smith, was definitely made as a vehicle to win Will Smith an Oscar, something he's been trying for years to accomplish, and it worked exceptionally well, winning him the award against the odds of the other movies competing that year and his own conduct towards a physically smaller comedian. His behavior doesn't take away from a solid performance in a fairly by-the-numbers, competent but not surprising story of two American icons. Part of me thinks a documentary would've been more interesting.

Umma (2022)

Um...Uh...

[6/10 · 21 March 2022]

I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of horror films, but I gave Umma a try. I am giving this a 6 out of 10 mainly on the strength of Sandra Oh's acting. I haven't seen her in a major role in a while, and she really does deserve better than this.

All of the non-horror movie elements of this movie are the most interesting. If they had refocused the plot, made it more psychological, and take place more deeply inside her mind, that would make sense to me.

A tense conversation in the family orchard was the most affecting part of the movie to me, not the jumpscares, fakeouts, hacky CGI and loud music swells. Modern horror directors need to revisit the discomfort and intensity of The Exorcist or The Shining, or the classics of Asian horror, because it seems like a lot of horror movies are lukewarm like this, and don't push the intensity or dread nearly enough.

I also have to touch on the contrived writing where Oh's character has the same imagined electrical allergy as Saul Goodman's brother. The fact that she note for note acts and lives like him was distracting and implausible. You mean she never sought therapy for her issue once in the decades after escaping her mother? That didn't become a logistical nightmare in modern America? She didn't even seem to have a land-line!! How would she call medics if her daughter was ever hurt on their farm? She says she used to be an accountant..how??

This aspect of the movie was a hamfisted way to isolate the characters and artificially construct suspense where none existed. It's fine if she hates technology, has issues with it, lives in a tech-minimal way, sure. It'd even be okay if she grew to break apart all her appliances throughout the movie as she lost more and more control, but to have her living a pseudo-Amish lifestyle with a teenage daughter (who questions none of their way of living and believes her mother a little to readily) from the very start is way too far fetched.

The only other points I'll give it is that the daughter is a decent actress and the cinematography for the most part is pretty solid. Umma? More like, um..nah.

Batman Returns (1992)

Returning to Returns: A 2022 Review

[6/10 · 14 March 2022]

I rewatched Batman Returns lately after watching "The Batman" just to see how far the series and really, filmmaking itself has come since I saw this in theatres as a kid all the back in 1992. Batman Returns really is a product of its time and of Tim Burton's unrestrained creative urges, which makes for both good and bad aspects of the movie.

One thing that immediately stuck out to me watching as an adult was that Batman/Bruce Wayne doesn't show up until almost 20 minutes into his own movie, and throughout the movie gets almost no character development and few scenes in general. Burton clearly loved The Penguin and Catwoman, and Batman himself feels more like a way to move the story along than a total character.

It's not fair to judge Returns by the standard of modern comic book movies, but this really was an era where a lot of the specifics of the story didn't matter. At the time, comic book movie=unexplained zaniness, that was the mentality. It's barely explained as to how Penguin has an army of circus goons complete with fire-breathers, deadly jugglers, motorcyclists, and enormous Christmas gifts, rubber duckies, and an army of remote-controlled penguins with bombs attached to them, or how Selina Kyle becomes re-animated by a legion of cats licking her. Even in the worst MCU film, you have a base understanding of the villain's motivations, goals, and how they have the means they need to accomplish what they're trying to do. In this, it just seems like Burton was really stuck on quirky and bizarre moments with the characters and was never advised to do anything else. A lot of action pieces and big moments seem to come out of nowhere with little set-up or narrative driving them.

On the plus side, Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito both turn in wonderfully committed performances as their characters. If Burton was going to be obsessed with these characters, at least it pays off to a degree, because you can tell both of them were giving their absolute all with the material they had. Pfeiffer plays both sides of Selina Kyle with intensity and awareness of what kind of movie she's in. I can't think of a better casting choice for Penguin than Danny DeVito.

The weak link is Christopher Walken's Max Shreck, who looks like he'd be more at home Sweeny Todd or a Gothic version of Willy Wonka, and his absurd appearance really distracted me throughout, but performance-wise he does his typically effective slimy-Walken villain; there's some parallels a modern viewer can note between Shreck and a certain other corrupt late 80's/early 90s era corporate scumbag who meddles in politics also.

Despite how goofy and overdone Burton's style is here, it is visually distinctive, and you can't say this movie doesn't have a visual identity. I'm glad he moved on to things like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Big Fish. When you see the unexplained gothic carnival-style gang Penguin commands, you really get the feeling Tim Burton wanted to just make a movie totally about gothic magical-reailsm, and not be bound to the Batman concept.

Despite the bare bones plot and writing, Batman Returns is a very entertaining and campy watch, but only worth it in this era as a look back to what came before in the comic book genre. It overall feels less cohesive and is more just an indulgence in Burton's weirdness than the first. The performances of the villains are a lot of fun and make revisiting this worth it for fans, but unless you're a Bat-completionist or nostalgic for the 90's, there's not a whole lot of a reason to return to Returns.

One Night in Bangkok (2020)

One Night in Bangkok Will Make Anyone Crumble

[4/10 · 3 February 2022]

A complete waste of Marc Dacascos and Kane Kosugi. Two talented martial arts actors with no noteworthy martial arts or action scenes to be found in the runtime.

I've always been a Dacascos fan, and was thrilled to see him show up in John Wick 3. It showed despite his age he can still really move and has some real skills. He was an unsung hero in the 90s-early 00s, never rising to the fame of Jet Li or Jackie Chan levels, but always bringing his amazing athleticism to all of his roles.

I know he's older now, but I have the feeling if they had tried a little bit, Dacascos could've done something interesting with the fight scenes. Same with Kosugi, another great screen martial artist who had a mindblowing fight scene with Scott Adkins in Ninja: Shadow of a Tear and is totally wasted here (his role is more or less a cameo).

Other reviews have mentioned this is a lame take on the great Collateral by Michael Mann, and it's clear this director stole from it, or wanted to. Dacascos is even dressed similar to Cruise in that movie. One Night is filled with gaps in logic, bad acting, and inexplicable English from Thai natives. Not that zero Thai people can speak English, but come on. The movie is set there and *every* significant character can speak English fluently?

The camerawork is ugly and filled with ridiculous lens flares, Dacascos shrugs off a shot to the gut and gets a few meager stitches on the side of the road and is fine, and the cameo from his wife, Julie Condra, is laughably horrible.

This is One Night worth sleeping through.

Yakuza Princess (2021)

Dethrone This Princess

[3/10 · 3 February 2022]

Yakuza Princess is horrible. I figured it would be a cheezy-yet-fun modern martial arts movie with Yakuza tropes and over the top violent action, but you get none of that in the runtime of this dull, disoriented slog.

What little action happens is shot horribly, with a terrible understanding of Kendo or martial arts in general. Nothing is in frame, shots are poorly lit, and while you'd think action would be the centerpiece, it's treated like an afterthought.

Action aside, the story makes no sense, there's zero motivations for the lead character, and she just gets pulled around from one event to another by either the scarred guy or the Yakuza lieutenant. The worst way to write a lead character is to have things just happen to them instead of having them make choices that affect the story.

There's apparently a...Yakuza war? Or something? Her family's sword is cursed..or something? She kinda seems to want revenge? Somehow the lieutenant knows the scarred guy killed her family? We don't get a whole lot of information on any of this.

We're never clear what any of the characters want, and long sections of the movie drag on with nothing happening.

I'm sure the lead actress is a perfectly nice person in reality, but she's not cut out to carry a movie. In the two scenes where she breaks down in tears, I broke down in laughter. There's a scene where she sings karaoke, and man I hope it was supposed to be intentionally funny, because she's not a singer either.

You'll be more entertained reading the menu of your local sushi place.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

Better Matrix? Worse Matrix? More Matrix.

[6/10 · 3 January 2022]

The Matrix Resurrections is more of The Matrix storyline, but I'm still not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Like a lot of people, I never even liked the other 2 sequels as much as the original, so I wasn't expecting much out of the follow up almost 20 years later.

Having seen the first movie in theatres, it was everything this and the sequels are not: groundbreaking visually, filled with tightly-shot and we'll choreographed action, and a story with themes, ideas, and concepts that were practically universally understood.

Take all of that away and replace it with more tepid fight scenes, antagonists that at some points don't feel like antagonists, and a story without as much on the line (so it seems), and you have The Matrix Resurrections. So why does that warrant a 6 out of 10 instead of a lower score?

Because the movie is still visually stunning, Jessica Henwick is a great addition to the cast, and there's some interesting concepts introduced that play with ideas established in the other movies. Keanu turns in a great performance here, and it's also really nice to see Carrie-Ann Moss again, who has always been a tremendous actress.

There's clearly still some cleverness in the script which prevents it from feeling totally hollow, but overall in the context of the story, I can't really put my finger on why the events of the story took place, and what it is that Neo&Trinity want to accomplish at the end.

I didn't at any point totally understand the motivations of The Analyst, the new master of this version of The Matrix, and the new version of Agent Smith was inconsistently written too, at least to what I understood, even though Jonathan Groff is a great actor. It just seems like they each want...more Matrix, I guess? For the simulation to keep running efficiently?

There's nothing wrong with a love story, but the original Matrix and even the sequels had so much more on the line than that, and this installment just didn't capture the danger and urgency of especially the original movie.

The heavy exposition-laden dialogue scenes that were so much of why the sequels weren't as good make a comeback here. The original didn't have the rambling monologues that we saw from The Architect and other characters in the sequels. Everything was shown to us, and if there were monologues in the first film, it meant something, like when Smith is talking to Morpheus when he's captured. Resurrections can't seem to manage to tell the story without the use of these scenes.

The meta-commentary in the movie is fun and sometimes clever, but just because there's characters in the movie that talk about unnecessary sequels being unnecessary...doesn't make this not unnecessary. The meta nature of the movie leads to us revisiting slightly altered versions of scenes we've seen before...but..they're ultimately still concepts we've seen before, so that's not a way around that.

That's the tricky thing about meta-content in media, and the self-awareness Resurrections has doesn't make it a good story on its own.

If you've seen the other Matrix films and enjoy them, I would give this a look if you're curious, but if you're not a diehard Matrix fan, you don't need to go through this Resurrection.

Red Notice (2021)

Not Worth Any Notice: Go with Hobbs&Shaw Over This

[4/10 · 29 November 2021]

Red Notice isn't meant to be taken seriously, but it takes most of it's best material from other, much better movies. Somehow despite 3 stars who are box office draws, it's boring and dull.

If your movie is made of cliches and greenscreens, then it needs to have a major setpiece and action moment to really make it worthwhile, and even the action in this seems flat and recycled. There's no outstandingly huge stunt or scene that's really eyepopping and memorable, so you can't really even say this is good for the action.

One of the biggest (unintentional) laughs of the movie is a horribly animated fully CGI bull that strikes The Rock, full force, who proceeds to shake it off like nothing happened.

The Fast&Furious franchise is a great example of going over-the-top the right way, and the spin-off Hobbs&Shaw also starring The Rock exceeds this in every way. Campy action is fine, but it has to have some inspiration and effort behind it, even if it is a "popcorn flick".

A few of the one-liners occasionally land, but everyone in this movie seems tired of their typical shtick. After having seen her in multiple movies at this point, I can safely say Gal Gadot is a terrible actress. She's easily the worst of the trio and awkward in her line delivery. Everything she says and does seems like a model desperately trying to act, and that's exactly what she is. The first Wonder Woman helped her out with a decent script and good direction, but in a project like this where neither of those elements are present and only charisma and charm can carry the part, she's easily not wonderous here.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

Not So Welcome

[5/10 · 28 November 2021]

The best way to experience the storyline and atmosphere of Resident Evil is in the games, and this reboot proved that.

Releasing it in the middle of the week on Thanksgiving with no other competition from other major studio releases shows the level of confidence they had in this. Screen Gems still has the rights to make live action RE films, and now that Milla Jovovich and the "Alice"-verse storyline is wrapped up, it's very clear they wanted to make a movie to keep the rights, turn a bit of a profit, and that's about it.

The movie tries merging the storylines of the 1st and 2nd games, but doesn't really do justice to the immersive environments of either. Some of the sets do look like they tried to be faithful to the games, but it's clear that the budget wasn't there to make the mansion ominous, huge, trap-filled and spooky, or the police station filled with secret rooms and an extensive underground lab like the games. Welcome to Raccoon City gives you hints and references towards the style of the games, with winks and nods, but not much substance as a movie itself.

It's nice to see some commitment to the costumes, the creature designs, the character dynamics, and like I mentioned, some of the sets, but this movie has such a small-scale, contained, made-for-Netflix vibe to it. If this had been a fan film made by talented Resident Evil fanatics that was released on Youtube, this would've been amazing. But since it's supposed to be an actual widely released movie, it just falls short.

I highly recommend the 2019 remakes of Resident Evil 2&3. The games are simply the best way to experience this world, and the visuals, characters, even acting are all better in the games. The threats, scares, and atmosphere is more effective when you're playing it as well. If you're not a Resident Evil die-hard, you can skip this welcome.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

A Ringer for a Great MCU Flick

[8/10 · 26 November 2021]

Shang-Chi is one of Marvel Comic's most unknown and underutilized characters in their comics, with his original comics containing a decent amount of racist imagery and embarrassing caricatures of various Asian stereotypes. At it's best, the MCU can turn any obscure group or concept from the comics into gold, and Shang-Chi is no different.

Shang-Chi might be one of the best examples of an idea that's actually better on film than the original source material, with the character's relationships, motivations, and place in the overall Marvel Universe all being improved upon in the film adaptation as opposed to the comics where he's mainly a hand-to-hand expert with no powers or special weapons, and isn't generally of much value to The Avengers.

Simu Liu is charismatic and athletically gifted enough to do solid justice to the lead role. I hope the sequel gives him even more to do with his character and his legacy, but for an introduction, this was great. Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, and of course the legendary Tony Leung all lend their talents to a great cast of characters.

Wen Wu is easily one of the top villain/antagonist characters in the MCU and probably all of comic book films. He's intimidating and masterful as a ruler, but heartfelt and believable as a family man. His presence elevates the entire production as he's a legend of cinema.

There's moments reminiscent of Black Panther, and the third act gets heavy into Chinese mythological imagery, but understand that this is not only meant as a superhero movie, but also a love-letter to Chinese storytelling and culture.

Shang-Chi features some of the best physical/non-super powered fight scenes in the MCU, with the choreography and the cinematography of said action taking a higher level. As soon as I saw the bus fight scene in the opening I had no worries about this part of the movie.

The Ten Rings themselves are not a weapon used in the comics, and are a wonderfully creative, versatile, and visually stunning weapon unlike anything I've ever seen before, and that's not an easy thing to say having seen as much comic book and sci-fi material as me.

Some of the pacing and character development could be a little better, but overall Shang-Chi is on the higher end of Marvel movies, and can also be solidly enjoyed by audiences totally unfamiliar with Marvel in general.

Dave Chappelle: The Closer (2021 TV Special)

See It for Yourself

[7/10 · 9 November 2021]

There's been a lot of controversy over The Closer. I don't think that Dave's comedy was quite as finely tuned and hilarious as his other Netflix specials (I think Sticks&Stones had some very funny bits), and I also don't think that Dave Chapelle has a special amount of hatred, if any at all, towards any group of people.

I think that Dave had a message here about how people in the LGBT community can still be racist, how frustrated he is at the progress of that movement in comparison to the movement of black people in this country, and it gets bogged down in a few jokes that could've used some editing, rephrasing, and tweaking. A bit more focus on the issue that he's really passionate about: the nature of who decides what causes get attention (and the politics of power around that) could've prevented the mess that resulted from this act.

If you're a fan of his comedy, there's still some solid laughs here, as long as you realize that the things Dave says and the way he says them aren't polite dinner conversation: it's outrageous, off-the-cuff remarks meant to make whole stadiums full of people laugh. Your mileage may vary on how much you enjoy The Closer, but that's true of any stand-up comedy.

Dune (2021)

Satisfying as Long as You're Not Expecting Star Wars

[9/10 · 9 November 2021]

The third adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune shows a lot of promise towards becoming the major sci-fi operatic epic that Star Wars should be. Since the Star Wars sequels starting with Force Awakens became progressively more and more low quality, a vacuum in the cinema world exists for big space opera, and will hopefully be taken by a new Dune series.

As long as visual master Denis Villeneuve helms the rest of the installments, it should be in good hands. Dune is a massive epic, and I think some filmgoers and some of the other reviewers might not realize how much material and potential there is in the story. You wouldn't attempt the Lord of the Rings in one story, and trying the same with something like Dune is a fool's errand, and a large part of the reason why the David Lynch version of the story was a failure. This is an epic filled with lots of houses, characters, motivations, history, and bloodlines. It's not something that you could or should cram into a standard runtime.

There are elements of the books that others have criticized the film for leaving out. There's motivations and character moments that would flesh out the movie had they been included, but from the perspective of what makes for a good movie instead of book, the cuts and things they left out make sense. It might've been interesting to have a little more background and history on some of the characters (the betrayal of a certain character is much more elaborated on in the novel), but as it stands, the movie is 2.5 hours long with more to come, and as long as you measure expectations and understand this is more about power, politics and how resources are managed rather than a non-stop action thrillride, you'll have a great time with Dune.

No Time to Die (2021)

Not a Total Waste of Time

[6/10 · 20 October 2021]

Daniel Craig has been one of the best Bonds in the entire franchise, but like Pierce Brosnan, he's been cursed with having too strong of an opening movie (sharing the awesome Martin Campbell as director) and then never having another installment that rises above that.

No Time to Die marks the final film in Daniel Craig's run, and while it's still worth seeing for any Bond fan (particularly if you've enjoyed Craig as Bond, like me), there's too many issues and snags with the story to keep it from being the finale Daniel Craig and this series of Bond films truly deserved.

NTTD isn't a total waste of your time: it has amazing cinematography and seems like it's filled with mostly practical stunts and effects, courtesy of director Cary Joji Fukunaga, who does a great job of making set pieces and shots that would be boring in other movies really pop and stand out. Everything in the movie has such a crisp and clean look, complete with some of the most beautiful locations we've seen throughout the series yet.

Every action scene is mostly well-shot and competently choreographed, and you get the standard Bond mix of gunfights, a bit of gadgetry, car chases/battles, and other vehicular mayhem that trademarks Bond, and it's all satisfying. A scene in the beginning where Bond uses the classic Aston Martin decked out with weapons from the Connery-era will bring a smile to any longtime Bond fan's face. Another great sequence sees series newcomer Ana deArmas partner with Bond in Cuba and steal the show with a mix of humor, action, and a great performance that leaves you wanting more. I had to wonder why they didn't include her in more of the movie.

NTTD falls short in its overall story and main conflict, the villain, and the runtime. In an attempt to make a more emotionally moving Bond film, you have one of the slowest-moving installments with the well-staged action not showing up as much as it should. The movie rushes (despite being slow in other moments) to wrap up a lot of loose ends, killing characters and ending story threads that weren't resolved in the other movies quickly. It feels like the producers reminded the writers to finish these things in the runtime since this was the last Craig installment, and not a natural result of the story.

Rami Malek's villain character is introduced in a great opening sequence (before we know it's him), and then doesn't show up for what seems like over an hour later into the movie. He has a personal connection to Madeline and Spectre, but that gets resolved well before the climax, and we don't get much of an explanation why he has something against Bond personally, or why he wants to conquer the world...end the world? Hold it hostage? We don't really know what his goal is or how/why he amassed so many goons, resources, and an entire massive evil operation. Rami Malek is a great actor who does the most with what he has, but his character is very underwritten, and he has to be one of the most underwhelming villains of Craig's run if not the entire Bond franchise (he seems like he was created through a Bond villain checklist generator: physical deformity, dark past, unspecified European accent/s, dressing in clothing from another culture. All that was missing was a fluffy cat or some other strange pet.).

Craig's Bond films have overall had more story continuity than the other runs of actors who have played James Bond. To appreciate a lot of the story threads in NTTD, you'll need to have seen especially the previous flick, Spectre, and there's callbacks to events from Skyfall and some of the other installments as well. This is both a good and bad thing throughout Craig's Bond, because while it feels good that there's more consequence and cause and affect for what happens in his run, even after the other 4 movies, the overall story with Spectre and how Blofeld figures into it still seems rushed.

No Time to Die is still worth it if you're a Bond fan, but you can spend your time more wisely if you're not really invested in the series.