MOVIE REVIEW: THE LOST CITY

 

Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to an ancient city's lost treasure from her latest story. Determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her.

Director: Aaron Nee, Adam Nee

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Brad Pitt

Release Date: March 18, 2022 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance

Rated PG-13 for violence and some bloody images, suggestive material, partial nudity and language.

Runtime: 1h 52m

Review:

The Lost City is cinematic fast food, instantly recognizable, mildly comforting and full of empty calories.  Director's Aaron Nee and Adam Nee know what kind of film they are making so they keep everything light and breezy.  The film takes off with a hearty amount of laughs aided by an extended cameo from Brad Pitt who makes the most of his screen time.  Once the film settles in on the central romance between Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum the comedy slows a bit as they try to make their mismatched pair seem romantically plausible and only partially succeeding.  For their part Bullock and Tatum are clearly having fun with their roles with both showing off their strong comedic chops even if their romantic chemistry doesn't quite work.   Daniel Radcliffe makes for a surprisingly effective villain here putting in more effort than the role really needs.  Da'Vine Joy Randolph makes her subplot funnier than it really is by bringing some chaotic energy to her role.  The Lost City is the type of film that's easy to enjoy and just as easy to forget about once you step out of the theater.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: X

 

A group of actors sets out to make an adult film in rural Texas under the noses of their reclusive hosts, but when the elderly couple catches their young guests in the act, the cast finds themselves in a desperate fight for their lives.

Director: Ti West

Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, Scott Mescudi

Release Date: March 18, 2022 

Genre: Horror

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language

Runtime: 1h 45m

Review:

Ti West has always shown a deep affinity for 70's horror film with The Innkeepers and House of the Devil serving as prime examples.  X is his loving tribute to Grindhouse horror with heavy homages to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre before it veers into even stranger and grosser territory.  The plot itself is familiar and the first half of the film checks all the requisite boxes.  West does a great job of establishing the setup with wonderfully crafted shots and goofy dialogue from the future victims.  The performances from the cast are fun and loose which fits the film.  His approach is impressively restrained initially which makes the mayhem that follows all the more potent and impactful.  In the latter half of the film you get the strong sense that he wants to make the audience squirm in their seats and for the most part he succeeds.  There's violence and gore aplenty but it's never overly serious or heady.  X is the type of horror film that isn't setting to make some grand statement it just wants to titillate, shock, and even gross you out.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: TURNING RED

 

Mei Lee is a 13-year-old girl who is torn between being her mother's obedient daughter and the chaos of her youth. As if that were not enough, when she gets too excited, she turns into a big red panda.

Director: Domee Shi

Cast: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, James Hong

Release Date: March 11, 2022

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Rated PG for thematic material, suggestive content and language

Runtime: 1h 40m

Review:

Pixar's Turning Red is another top notch family film which captures a universal experience in a fun fizzy package.  Domee Shi's film is a vibrant energetic film filled with beautiful animation from start to finish.  Rosalie Chiang voices Mei Lee with the perfect level of chaotic tween energy as her character traverses the joys of puberty.  Sandra Oh and Ava Morse voice Mei Lee's parent with Oh getting the lions share of the work.  Oh and Chiang have believable chemistry as mother and daughter with the relationship being the lynchpin of the entire story.  Ava Morse, Hyein Park and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan play Mei's friends with each bringing a specific kind of energy to their assorted crew.  Turning Red fits right in with Inside Out as it deals with real life experiences metaphorically in inventive and fun ways with being made more for tweens than very young children.   

B+

Cindy Prascik's Review of The Batman

 

My dear reader(s) and fellow Batfans, today I bring you a review of Matt Reeves' The Batman.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing plot-related that isn't evident in the trailers. Emo!

Batman faces off with Survivalist!Riddler in a bid for Gotham's very survival. 

Snarky synopsis aside, The Batman is a great Batman movie, and, yes, a great movie without the Bat-qualifier. I'm going to try not to let this get *too* long, but Batman is one of my most beloved characters, so...buckle up. 

The Batman is a dark film, and I mean in every way. It's never daytime. It never stops raining. There is no levity in dialogue or in action. Neither Bruce Wayne nor Wayne Manor enjoys much screen time; the film is wholly centered in Batman, the Batcave, and other similarly gloomy locales. When seen outside the cape and cowl, Bruce Wayne remains shrouded in darkness, both literally and figuratively. 

The Batman showcases a younger Bruce Wayne, ably portrayed by Robert Pattinson, but one who shares the physical exhaustion and world-weariness of his older predecessor (Ben Affleck). While many if not most Batman movies make a point of showing Batman's physical scars (he is, after all, only human, with no real "super powers"), this one also focuses on his mental scars: his torment, his jadedness, and even his vulnerability. Pattinson is the perfect actor for this role in this film. Even lacking Affleck's physical bulk, his Batman is dark and properly menacing. He is magnificent. 

A younger Bruce Wayne means a younger Alfred, personified in this outing by Lord of the Rings alum Andy Serkis. Serkis is a man of many faces, and this is hardly a stretch of his considerable talent, but his Alfred somehow seems less imperative than previous incarnations of the character. Zoe Kravitz is a little flat as Serena Kyle, definitely missing the spark of some others who have worn the catsuit. Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, and John Turturro are serviceable if unexceptional baddies. Finally, of course I found fault with Jeffrey Wright's Commissioner Gordon, not because I have anything against Jeffrey Wright (on the contrary, I'm a fan), but because he's not Gary Oldman and that's just a cross borne by all of us who aren't Gary Oldman. If only the whole world could be Gary Oldman. But I digress........ 

The Batman features a new Batman, but it is careful to avoid repeating the Batman origins story. It adds layers to Bruce Wayne's history without asking the audience to relive the pearls. Again. The plot is more detective thriller than superhero tale, with new twists built around familiar characters. At nearly three hours long, the film could use a trim, but I never felt the length, never checked the clock, and I'd go so far as to say it absolutely needs at least two and a half hours to bring its story from beginning to end properly. (That's 30 minutes' indulgence over what I'd normally allow!) 

The Batman has a few moments that struck me funny, mostly things that too closely mirror specific moments in The Dark Knight, and one scene that was so Blues Brothers-esque I almost laughed out loud. The narration is hokey early on, but gets less so as the movie progresses. There's plenty of action, yet The Batman is mercifully lacking the endless fight and chase scenes that plague most films of the genre. Michael Giacchino's exceptional score pairs poorly with certain scenes, making the music so melodramatic as to seem almost silly at times (or maybe that's vice-versa). Kudos to hair and makeup--turning Colin Farrell, the planet's most attractive human, into something ugly is no small feat! 

Following middling critical and audience reception for the Batfleck movies, many would call The Batman a redemption for DC in general and for Batman in particular. I'm enough of a Batfan that I'd argue the point (despite the mediocre films, Affleck remains my all-time favorite Batman), but I'll happily take this as a vote in DC's favor from the court of general opinion. 

The Batman clocks in at a whopping 176 minutes and is rated PG13 for "strong, violent, and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material." 

Anyone who says it's as good as or better than The Dark Knight is delusional or blowing smoke (it's not even close), but The Batman is a great, fresh take on an oft-resurrected character, and I look forward to seeing where this Bat flies. Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Batman gets eight. 

Until next time...

Cindy Prascik's Review of West Side Story

 

My dear, neglected reader(s), the weekend just passed saw a major new release in cinemas that was very much of interest to me (The Batman), and a brand new Sebastian Stan movie that I could have screened in the comfort and safety of my own home (Fresh). Instead I elected to watch the remake of West Side Story, which, at the very least, is new to a couple streaming services this week...in other words, no longer a twrnty-dollar rental. Twenty-dollar rentals are the hill on which I've chosen to die.

Spoiler level here will be mild, I suppose, though I can't imagine anyone doesn't know how this plays out by now.

Against a backdrop of racially-motivated gang violence and neighborhood gentrification, a young Puerto Rican girl and a Polish-American boy fall in love.

I am of the...vintage...where everything I've ever loved is being remade into something I don't understand by people younger than I can remember. I try not to be bitter about it and, generally, I don't hate remakes for the sake of it. (Just don't get me started on The Crow.) That being said, I'm a big fan of the original West Side Story, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it being remade. It seems somewhat cemented in its time. I'm happy to report this is neither destruction nor fawning copy of the original. It also isn't some "woke" reimagining. The show's message endures, without this new version feeling the need to beat anyone over the head with it.

WSS-2021 is two and a half hours long, but it doesn't feel bloated or slow. The better and more interesting musical numbers all occur in the first half, and there's nothing for it, but I never was checking the time incessantly or waiting for the movie to end. With one notable exception (more on that later), vocal performances are solid and acting is okay-ish. The dancing is exceptional, with choreography is reminiscent of the original, but somehow busier and, thus - to someone with two left feet, anyway - all the more fascinating. Bonus points for eliminating that chicken-walk thing (which I've always hated) from the mambo!

On the minus side, I don't think Ansel Elgort was hired for his voice. He's not a bad singer, but he's not a particularly good singer, either. The 1961 version used voice doubles for some of the leads, and may have had the right idea. Staging sucks the life right out of some formerly dynamic numbers (notably, America), and many of the exteriors have the same awful green-screen effect that plagued In the Heights. Also, not that it could be helped, but no one in this move is George Chakiris, and that's never less than a shame.

West Side Story runs 156 minutes and is rated PG13 for "some strong violence, strong language, thematic content, suggestive material, and brief smoking."

I definitely don't get the awards love for any of it, but the remake of West Side Story is a decent effort, and if its recognition keeps people making movie musicals, I'm all for it. Of a possible nine Weasleys, West Side Story gets seven.

West Side Story is now streaming on Disney+ and the HBO family of channels.

Fangirl points: Brian d'Arcy James! Corey Stoll!

Oh, and, for the record, I did start Fresh and realized about 30 minutes in that — no matter how much I love Sebastian Stan — I can no longer be a person who watches everything he does. Hard pass.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE BATMAN

 

Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.

Director: Matt Reeves

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell

Release Date: March 4, 2022

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Superhero

Rated PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material

Runtime: 2h 55m

Review:

Matt Reeves' The Batman is a mash up of inspirations which results in a gritty noir detective thriller that takes the character back to his pulpy roots.  Reeves draws inspiration from excellent Batman graphic novels like The Long Halloween and Hush while also pulling cinematic inspiration from Se7en, Zodiac and Christopher Nolan's run.  The end result is a moody, atmospheric mystery that's as self serious as they come.  This take on the character focuses more on his deduction skills, even though there are a handful of action set pieces, which gives the film a more meticulous and methodical pace as the story unfolds.  Its the type of story that takes its time to reveal itself as we follow the characters down the rabbit hole.  Robert Pattinson, playing a much younger version of the character, brings the intensity and a simmering uncontrolled rage which hasn't been focused.  Pattinson gives us glimpses of the more unhinged aspects of the character as we see a character still finding his way, it's an impressive take on the character.  Jeffrey Wright, whose never been more earnest, works well onscreen with Pattinson which makes their interactions and relationship feels authentic.  Colin Farrell's take on The Penguin is one of the few character in the that feels like he's having fun with him providing a few moments of levity in the film.  Zoë Kravitz turn as Selina Kyle/Catwoman is excellent but underutilized since the script has her appear and disappear throughout the film.  Paul Dano and John Turturro play their characters a bit too over the top in comparison to the rest of the cast, its not jarring per say but noticeable.  Dano's character in particular would have been better served with a more subtle, understated and cerebral turn.  Overall, you have to appreciate Reeves holding the moody horror vibe for nearly three hours but it can become oppressive in spots which makes the case that some edits could have made this entry a sleeker more streamlined affair.  There are also portions of the final act that feel less like homages with scenes and sequences being lifted from other films almost verbatim which comes off as lazy.  Issues aside, The Batman is an impressive take on the character from a different lens which works on a different level than previous iterations. 

B+