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Showing posts with label Michael Beach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Beach. Show all posts

Friday, September 29, 2023

MOVIE REVIEW: SAW X

 

Hoping for a miraculous cure, John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure, only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer uses deranged and ingenious traps to turn the tables on the con artists.

Director: Kevin Greutert

Cast:  Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Michael Beach, Renata Vaca

Release Date: September 29, 2023

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Rated R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, language and some drug use.

Runtime: 1h 58m

Saw X really has very little reason to exist with pretty much every permutation of the gory franchise seemingly exhausted including a semi reboot since the primary character is dead.  Smartly, the script moves the action back in time by placing it shortly after the original entry.  Doing so strips away all the mythology and entanglements of the future installments resulting in a leaner, more focused story that highlights Tobin Bell's John Kramer.  The opening act allows the audience to spend time with Kramer and his search for salvation from his terminal cancer.  Its surprisingly restrained character study also gives Tobin Bell plenty of time to show off some of his acting chops before the story moves into its gruesome menagerie of bodily harm.  This set up gives us enough insight into Kramer's mentality to make him engaging on a human level.  Bell can still deliver sinister game instructions with sinister zeal but here the man is far more interesting.  Shawnee Smith returns as Kramer's aspiring apprentice, Amanda, which gives the character another layer that hadn't been explored enough in previous entries.  Smith, sporting a Vulcan wig, and Bell have solid chemistry together onscreen which makes their mentorship relationship far more interesting and engaging.  The plot allows this to blossom naturally by keeping everything very linear by having the entire group of victims on stage at once.  Those victims are played with varying levels of effectiveness with Synnøve Macody Lund, a doctor by way of Swedish Bikini team, and Octavio Hinojosa bringing the most energy to their performances even if they serve as little more than meat for the grinder.  There are still plenty of plot holes, logical leaps and telegraphed surprises, something that's plagued the series, Saw X still manages to be one of the best entries in the long running series.  

B

Saturday, January 5, 2019

MOVIE REVIEW: IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK







































In early 1970s Harlem, daughter and wife-to-be Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny. Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together, but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.

Director: Barry Jenkins

Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, Regina King

Release Date: December 25, 2018

Genres: Crime, Drama, Romance

Rated R for language and some sexual content 

Runtime: 1h 59 min

Review:

If Beale Street Could Talk is a fascinatingly dense film that tackles a bevy of themes while maintaining an incredible style and intimacy.  Barry Jenkins, adapting the book of the same name, delivers a ponderous film that asks for the audience’s patience while the cast unfurls the story.  KiKi Layne leads the film with an impressive performance that starts off full of innocence but slowly transforms over the course of the film.  She’s a capable and likeable lead, her and Stephen James shares believable chemistry together as the lovers whose story is beautifully tragic and real.  Its cinematography creates a sort of cinematic poetry that’s feels authentic even when it’s stylized.  Some might take issue with its methodical pace but ultimately it adds so much to the overall experience and it’s ruminations on race, love, gender politics and a handful of other topics.  

A-
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