MOVIE REVIEW: BORDERLANDS

 

Returning to her home planet Pandora, an infamous bounty hunter forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits. Together, they battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to uncover one of Pandora's most explosive secrets.

Director: Eli Roth

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Édgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis

Release Date: August 9, 2024

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language and some suggestive material.

Runtime: 1h 42m

Review:

Borderlands isn't the worst film I've seen this year, but it is the most generic and tiring thing splashed onscreen thus far.  Everything about Eli Roth's film feels like a rehash of other far better films.  Its continuously loud and over the top to the point of exhaustion with the uneven special effects killing any campy fun that might be had.  The story is straightforward and simplistic, which should be more than enough for the top notch cast to deliver some semblance of fun onscreen.  Sadly, there are only a few fleeting moments of life and fun scattered throughout the film's brisk runtime.  Cate Blanchett swaggers onscreen with a self assured confidence that makes her the most interesting person onscreen at any given time due to the sheer fact that an actress of her caliber is trying to carry this shlocky, soulless film decked out in full anime cosplay.  She seems to have a good time as she recites clunky lines of dialogue with a devil may care detachment which shows she's more than game to go full camp throughout.  Unfortunately, everybody else onscreen is annoying or obnoxious, specifically Ariana Greenblatt and Jack Black being particularly grating.   Only Kevin Hart appears to be comfortable in this sphere, but his character is written as the straight man for some confounding reason.  Édgar Ramírez and Jamie Lee Curtis are both over the top but their characters, much like everyone else onscreen are so underwritten that they barely register.  Borderlands is the type of film that will end up in heavy rotation on TNT/TBS weekend loops serving as little more than background noise.   

D

MOVIE REVIEW: HALLOWEEN ENDS

 

Four years after her last encounter with masked killer Michael Myers, Laurie Strode is living with her granddaughter and trying to finish her memoir. Myers hasn't been seen since, and Laurie finally decides to liberate herself from rage and fear and embrace life. However, when a young man stands accused of murdering a boy that he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that forces Laurie to confront the evil she can't control.

Director: David Gordon Green

Cast:  Jamie Lee Curtis, James Jude Courtney, Rohan Campbell, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Kyle Richards

Release Date: October 14, 2022

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rated R for bloody horror violence and gore, language throughout and some sexual references.

Runtime: 1h 51m

Review:

Halloween Ends should have been a rousing finale for the revitalized franchise serving as a swan song for Jamie Lee Curtis's iconic role.  Instead, David Gordon Green delivers a cofounding misfire which decides to move the focus from the primary pair onto a new character.  Gordon's previous entry, Halloween Kills, made the mistake of sideline Curtis's Laurie for the better part of the that film, here he doubles down on that mistake by taking both Laurie and Myers off the table for large spans of time.  It would have been a daring gamble if the script provided an intriguing storyline and characters to make it worthwhile but it fails on both points.  The film's storyline is a nonsensical hodgepodge of a dollar store serial killer plot points paired with an utterly unbelievable "love story" between Andi Matichak's Allyson and Rohan Campbell's Corey.  Rohan Campbell is essentially the main character of the entire film and to his credit he does his best to deliver a layered and nuanced performance.  The film moves at a snail's pace in its early acts before moving into overdrive in the final act.  The film is kind of enough to finally deliver the big showdown between Laurie and Michael which is fun but almost feels like an afterthought when you consider the preceding hour and forty minutes of unrelated garbage.  Halloween Ends finishes the new trilogy with a definitive thud after such a promising start with 2018's Halloween refresh.  

D-

MOVIE REVIEW: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

 

When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis

Release Date: March 11, 2022

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Rated R for some violence, sexual material and language

Runtime: 2h 12m

Review:

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a wildly imaginative bonkers film that will leave you looking at hotdogs and everything bagels in a new way.  Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert direct the film with a freewheeling kind of energy that's infectious and captivating because of the sheer audacity of the entire thing.  This is the type of film that has no problem throwing everything at the audience but the biggest bit of cinematic alchemy is the amount of heart at the center of it all.  A hefty amount of credit for that goes to Michelle Yeoh who anchors the film with a performance that runs the gamut of emotions.  She's entirely committed to the role and rolls with everything her character goes through with incredible ease, displaying the kind of singular talent she is.  She is the beating heart of the film aided by some strong supporting turns from Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis who is clearly having a ball.  They share incredibly strong chemistry together which makes the insanity on screen easier to digest.  If there is a small complaint, the film is unfettered on every level and probably could have benefited from some trims here and there to make it a more effective film.  Still, Everything Everywhere All At Once stands as a beacon of originality in a sea of diluted ideas. 

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: HALLOWEEN KILLS

 

The nightmare isn't over as unstoppable killer Michael Myers escapes from Laurie Strode's trap to continue his ritual bloodbath. Injured and taken to the hospital, Laurie fights through the pain as she inspires residents of Haddonfield, Ill., to rise up against Myers. Taking matters into their own hands, the Strode women and other survivors form a vigilante mob to hunt down Michael and end his reign of terror once and for all.

Director: David Gordon Green

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, James Jude Courtney, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Anthony Michael Hall, Thomas Mann

Release Date: October 15, 2021

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images, language and some drug use

Runtime: 1h 45min

Review:

Halloween Kills is a strange unfocused follow up to a 2018 refresh.  David Gordon Green’s film is tonally all over the place with it going for goofy laughs in large swaths before switching back to more standard horror tension.  It’s gorier than its immediate predecessor but there are only a handful of truly tense moments that result in real scares.  Jamie Lee Curtis is mostly sidelined for the majority of the film leaving supporting characters like Anthony Michael Hall and Andi Matichak carrying the majority of the film.  Hall, playing a grown Tommy from the original film, delivers an overblown performance that never nails the generational trauma that he’s supposed to represent.  Other legacy actors appear but are given painfully little depth and are asked to make the stupidest decisions possible.  Andi Matichak is terribly bland which leaves her scenes coming off as generally disinteresting regardless of what’s going on.  Judy Greer, on the other hand, makes the best of her scenes as she provides the only noticeable energy on screen. The story attempts to deliver a bigger message more meaningful message but it fumbles it badly leaving it unfocused.  Halloween Kills ends up feeling incomplete and unfinished which is a shocking downgrade from 2018 refresh.  

D

Cindy Prascik's Review of Knives Out

This weekend the cinema offered one of my most hotly-anticipated titles of the year: Rian Johnson's Knives Out.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

When a well-to-do author dies a suspicious death, a private investigator attempts to unravel the case while the millionaire's family fights over his estate.

Knives Out is a proper, original murder mystery, with a layered story and plenty of clever twists to keep the audience engaged. Set almost entirely in a Clue-like old mansion, the atmosphere is almost equal parts lush and creepy, with a healthy side of humor. The all-star cast includes such luminaries as Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, and Don Johnson. Most are very good, with Evans turning in a particularly fun performance. Collette, unfortunately, is woefully miscast to the point of being distracting. Neither mattered as much to me as having Don Johnson on my screen. Knives Out is deliberately paced enough to border on too slow, making the two-plus hour runtime seem somewhat longer, and there's an uncomfortable political interlude that serves a purpose, but (for my money) not enough of a purpose to justify what it costs the picture. Overall, I didn't love Knives Out as much as I'd hoped, but--without spoiling any particulars--I think that's more down to it not playing out as I'd have liked than to any shortcomings as a film.

Knives out clocks in at 130 minutes and is rated PG13 for "thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references, and drug material."

Knives Out is a sharp, darkly funny mystery that can rightly be counted among the year's best movies. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Knives Out gets eight.

Fangirl points: In addition to Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" featuring on the soundtrack, Knives Out name-checks the musical Hamilton and the movie Baby Driver. Win/win/win. Also, in case you missed it before: DON JOHNSON.

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: KNIVES OUT

A detective and a trooper travel to a lush estate to interview the quirky relatives of a patriarch who died during his 85th birthday celebration.

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer

Release Date: November 27, 2019

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references, and drug material

Runtime: 2 hr. 10 min.

Genres: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Review:

Rian Johnson’s Knives Out is a refreshing throwback to those old school ensemble films based on Agatha Christie books.  Johnson’s plot bears a lot of resemblances to those types of films and he stacks his film with a wonderful motley crew of possible culprits.  His direction moves the film at a brisk pace with only a few dead spots in the final reel.  The crisp direction keeps your eyes peeled to every detail as you start trying to piece together the truth.  Some of these types of film tend to cheat the story by using unbelievable twist; thankfully this story is a bit more honest.  If there’s one drawback to that approach it’s that the central mystery isn’t all that complex and pretty easy to figure out before it’s all laid out on screen.  It’s not a major drawback but those looking for a strong mystery will be left wanting.  The film’s biggest asset is its stellar cast who each seem to be having a ball in each of their roles.  Daniel Craig’s turn as a Foghorn Leghorn sounding detective is just incredibly fun and you sort of wonder why the story didn’t use him as the central point of the film.  Instead he’s on the boundaries of the story playing a larger part in its finale.  Instead it’s Ana de Armas character who is the focal point of the story and she delivers a solid performance in the midst of bigger names.  Sadly, the supporting players like Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Shannon are left with precious slivers of screen time to shine.  Still they all make the most of it and deliver a fun film across the board that feels like a lesser version of the movie Clue.

B

MOVIE REVIEW: HALLOWEEN

It's been 40 years since Laurie Strode survived a vicious attack from crazed killer Michael Myers on Halloween night. Locked up in an institution, Myers manages to escape when his bus transfer goes horribly wrong. Laurie now faces a terrifying showdown when the masked madman returns to Haddonfield, Ill. -- but this time, she's ready for him.

Director: David Gordon Green

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Nick Castle, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Virginia Gardner

Release Date: October 19, 2018

Genres: Horror , Thriller

Rated R for horror violence and bloody images, language, brief drug use and nudity

Runtime: 1h 44 min

Review:

David Gordon Green’s Halloween franchise refresh can be considered a success on multiple levels.  Green and Danny McBride wrote the script and their fandom shines through multiple times with specific call backs or camera techniques throughout the efficient but effective film.  Green occasionally flashes some visual flourishes which give the film a stylish look that makes for a better quality film overall.  The main thing they are able to inject into this entry in the franchise is a sense of fun.  There are well timed jump scares and tension throughout the film but there’s also some well placed comedy which keeps the film from being another soul less sequel.  Michael Myers is scary again even if some of the slasher tropes feel a bit goofy here and there.  Jamie Lee Curtis comes back to her cornerstone franchise and plays her part very well thanks in part to an interesting take on her character.  There are a few surprises here and there but ultimately the film goes exactly where you think its going.  Typically this is a major draw back but the film is so lovingly crafted that fans will be hard pressed not to be impressed by a return to form for one of the hallmark horror franchises. 

B+