MOVIE REVIEW: EARLY MAN

A plucky cave man named Dug, his sidekick Hognob and the rest of their tribe face a grave threat to their simple existence. Lord Nooth plans to take over their land and transform it into a giant mine, forcing Dug and his clan to dig for precious metals. Not ready to go down without a fight, Dug and Hognob must unite their people in an epic quest to defeat a mighty enemy -- the Bronze Age.

Director: Nick Park

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall

Release Date: Feb 16, 2018

Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Rated PG for rude humor and some action

Runtime: 1h 29 min

Review:

Early Man, Nick Park’s latest claymation entry, is as decidedly charming as it is British.  It’s got some solid laughs even if never really nails an emotional center.  Park’s characters are fun and eccentric but the film’s brisk pace never lets us get too close to any of them.  Eddie Redmayne’s Dug is central character and he’s a likeable sort matching Redmayne’s endearing voice work.  Tom Hiddleston hams it up as the film villain who’s never any sort of real threat.  I would have liked to have seen Maisie Williams character get more to do but she’s still solid in parts.  The movie’s real MVP is Dug’s side kick Hognob, a prehistoric hog, who is good for laughs throughout.  Early Man probably won’t be remembered as one of Nick Park’s classics like some of his Wallace and Gromit films or even Chicken Run.  That being said, it is a charming family film that’s going to leave a smile on most people’s face.

B

MOVIE REVIEW: THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX

The story set in the near future, centers on a team of astronauts on a space station making a terrifying discovery that challenges all they know about the fabric of reality, as they desperately fight for their survival.

Director: Julius Onah

Release Date: Jan 12, 2018

Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris O'Dowd, Zhang Ziyi

Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr. 42 min.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Review:

Years from now The Cloverfield Paradox, originally titled The God Particle, will be remembered mostly for Netflix’s release strategy more than the actual content of the film.  Ultimately, Netflix’s strategy of releasing a repurposed sci-fi film, which had been delayed a couple of times before, after the Super Bowl shortly after premiering the first trailer gave the film the kind of visibility it wouldn’t have received otherwise.  The gambit surely paid off in spades even though the final product is lacking in several areas.  Sadly, for all the hoopla the film is simply a passable sci-fi film that recalls better films like Sunshine or even Event Horizon with a heaping serving of Star Trek’s oft used multiverse conceit.  The result is an uneven story with a subplot grafted onto it’s spine that tries desperately to connect the main story to the larger franchise.  It’s a choppy feel throughout resulting in a story that never finds it’s footing even with the ensemble’s best effort.  The cast assembled is impressively strong but the script leaves way too many of them hampered with one dimensional character.  Gugu Mbatha-Raw does her best to give the entire production a heart beat and is only partially successful; displaying some real chops in the film’s final act.  The rest of the cast is populated by top notch actors like David Oyelowo and Daniel Brühl who try their best to bring some sort of life to uncooked characters but they can only do so much with razor thin characterizations.  Elizabeth Debicki’s character could have been thoroughly fascinating if she’s been explored properly.  In the end, The Cloverfield Paradox is a glossy looking misfire which could have used more fine tuning and less overt franchise shoehorning to work effectively. 

C

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Hostiles & Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for another uninspiring pair of January releases: Hostiles and Maze Runner: The Death Cure.

Spoiler level here will be mild, but I'd hazard a guess, dear reader(s), that you won't much care either way.

First on the agenda: Hostiles.

Nearing retirement, an Army captain is coerced into one final official chore: escorting a dying Cheyenne Chief and his family back to their home.

Hostiles is is blessed with a great cast, intriguing characters, and a multi-layered story, so after seeing it I can only ask: How can it be SO bad?

We'll start with the obvious. Hostiles wants you to understand from the outset that it is a Very Serious Movie. As such, everything Very Serious about it is overdone to the point of being comical. The opening scene is brutal, yet its outcome is hilariously improbable. Christian Bale throws down two hours of his best Ennis Del Mar impersonation, mumbling and maintaining such a persistent scowl I'd be surprised if his face didn't stick that way. (Everyone's mother said it would, right?!) As characters suffer terrible losses, the camera lingers on their fabricated grief so long the faces become caricatures. There are many (many, many) panoramic shots of the parade of horses on their journey...across the plains, over the mountains, through the forest. WE GET IT, YOU'RE GOING SOMEPLACE! The film overuses every tired Cowboys-and-Indians trope to such a degree your brain will become convinced the picture hasn't just borrowed the overused cliches, but rather that you've seen this actual movie somewhere before. Hostiles tries to show each side of every situation as both the good and the bad guys, but--rather than weaving thoughtful complexities--it is contrived and impossible to believe that some of the characters could have gotten from Point A to Point B over the film's duration. Its messages are many and mixed; your moral compass won't know where to aim. Finally, and most egregiously, Hostiles is a criminal waste of the extraordinary Ben Foster, who doesn't have more than 15 minutes total screen time.

Hostiles runs 134 minutes and is rated R for "strong violence and language." (Trigger warning: Though it's not in the official MPAA warning, the film does allude to a rape that is not depicted onscreen.)

Its trailers made Hostiles seem a surefire awards darling, but, sadly, it's an exercise in frustration that will leave you wondering how it could fail so spectacularly with the tools at its disposal.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Hostiles gets three.

Up next, the final (?) installment in the Maze Runner series, The Death Cure.

The kids from the Maze aren't in the Maze anymore. Now it's like the Walking Dead, but younger and less sweaty.

Confession time: I can't remember much of anything about the first two Maze Runner movies. I don't remember how these people got out of the Maze, or how they got into the Maze in the first place, or if the Maze even has anything to do with where they find themselves in Installment #3. I didn't care enough to refresh before seeing the movie, and I definitely wasn't interested enough to try filling in the gaps after. That being said, thanks mostly to an engaging cast, I didn't hate The Death Cure. (I don't think I hated the middle one either, though I'm pretty sure I hated the first one. Nah...not worth looking THAT up, either.)

As any Young Adult series will tell you, when the world is falling apart, it's up to young heroes to save it. The Maze Runner series filmed quickly, compared with some other YA sets, yet it's hard not to feel the leads have aged out of their roles a bit. Still, Dylan O'Brien effectively sells it one last time, Thomas Brodie-Sangster is always a delight, and the older cast is more than capable. (Is there anything that can't be improved by the presence of Walton Goggins? I think not.) The film kicks off with an exciting sequence straight out of The A-Team, and from there it seldom lets up, a wise choice given its excessive length and lack of real substance. Effects are solid, tension is pretty amped up at times, and the picture does have a few small surprises up its grungy sleeve, tying things up in a satisfying, if predictable, bow at the end.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure clocks in at a bloated 141 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language, and some thematic elements."

Maze Runner: The Death Cure doesn't reinvent the wheel, but, compared to some of January's other offerings, it doesn't seem so bad.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Maze Runner: The Death Cure gets four.

Fangirl points: Giancarlo Esposito! Aidan Gillen!

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI

After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command, Officer Dixon -- an immature mother's boy with a penchant for violence -- gets involved, the battle is only exacerbated. 

Director: Martin McDonagh

Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Hedges

Rated R for violence, language throughout, and some sexual references

Genres: Crime, Drama

Runtime: 1h 55min

Review:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is a challenging pitch black dramdey that’s engaging throughout even if it never offers any clear answers or resolutions to it’s story.  Martin McDonagh has experience dealing with deeply flawed characters with some humor mixed in, something he did wonderfully in In Bruges.  Martin McDonagh deals with similarly troubled character here even if he doesn’t quiet work the same alchemy he pulled off with In Bruges.  McDonagh film mostly works even though the tonal shifts are occasionally jarring.  Its anchor throughout is Frances McDormand who is simply a force of nature throughout.  Her performance is even more impressive since she’s pulls it off fairly effortlessly.  Woody Harrelson is always a welcome sight and he’s on his game here, sadly he’s only in the film’s first third and the film misses his presences afterward.  Sam Rockwell is solid throughout even if the character fairly unlikable.  There’s a bit of a redemption arch presented but it’s a slightly strange message since his character is referenced as having done terrible things before the story starts.  The film is filled those kind of challenging contradictions and it can occasionally be difficult but the performances make it worthwhile.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: LADY BIRD

An outspoken teen must navigate a loving but turbulent relationship with her strong-willed mother over the course of an eventful and poignant senior year of high school.

Director: Greta Gerwig

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein

Release Date: Nov 3, 2017

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Rated R for language, sexual content, brief graphic nudity and teen partying

Runtime: 1h 34min

Review:

Lady Bird is the kind of indie gem that pops up from time to that perfectly nails the coming of age story.  Coming of age stories are a dime a dozen but Greta Gerwig’s film captures the flawed humanism of that makes these characters feel thoroughly authentic. She directs an efficient film that never feels rushed even though it’s just over an hour and a half long.  At its center is Saoirse Ronan who’s perfectly loveable as the titular Lady Bird.  Her performance is subtle yet totally convincing.  Laurie Metcalf’s turn as Lady Bird’s mother is just as impressive.  Her ability to juggle the many facets of her character, from the passive aggressiveness, loving and perpetually frayed, seamlessly is impressive to watch.  Tracy Letts is a solid counterpoint to Metcalf’s character as the loving but depressed father.    There’s very little to dislike about this charming tome even if the story plays out exactly as you’d expect with little to no surprises.  It’s a testament to the talent at work that’s it still manages to engage the way it does.

A-

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of The Commuter & The Shape of Water

 

 

 

Dearest Blog: A heavy slate of January releases and an unusually chaotic real life (ughhhhh...real life!) have conspired to set me behind at the cinema, so yesterday I burned an afternoon's PTO to head to Marquee Cinemas for a pair of films that didn't particularly excite me: The Commuter and The Shape of Water. If you thought one was markedly better than the other, you would be mistaken.

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

 

First up: The Commuter.

 

Liam Neeson Liam-Neesons his way through the sort of crisis that seems to follow Liam Neeson, this time on a commuter train.

 

A moviegoer could be forgiven for assuming that The Commuter is merely Taken on a train...or Non-Stop on a train...or Run All Night on a train, but I'm sorry to tell you it's a whole lot worse than that. Sure, the Taken movies are getting samey, but I enjoyed all but the middle one. Non-Stop was pretty good fun, and I actually loved Run All Night. The Commuter's every turn is obvious, every character as easy to figure out as the ending of a Nicholas Sparks novel. The dialogue is pitiful, and the delivery just as bad. The fight scenes are ho-hum, and even the daring train stunts are so poorly executed as to be laughable. Sam Neill and Patrick Wilson, two pretty extraordinary actors, are wasted on small, easy-to-peg roles. If there's any good news, it's that the insufferable Vera Farmiga enjoys similarly little screen time. When I heard Liam Neeson planned to retire from action films, I felt a bit sad, but if this is what he's being offered, it's probably the right decision. 

 

The Commuter clocks in at 105 minutes and is rated PG13 for "some intense action/violence, and language."

 

One of The Commuter's early scenes shows a poster for Paddington 2 hanging on a train station wall, almost as if the movie itself were pointing you towards a better use of your time. Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Commuter gets three.

 

Fangirl points: Shazad Latif! ("Yes I can hear you, Clem Fandango!) Kingsley Ben-Adir!

 

Next on the docket: awards darling The Shape of Water.

 

A laboratory cleaning lady forms a relationship with a captive creature.

 

I did not expect to love The Shape of Water. I did not expect it to be my top pick for Best Picture. I DID expect it to be a great movie that just isn't my cup of tea, but I was mistaken. 

 

The Shape of Water is extraordinary on several fronts, the first and most obvious being its performances. This movie is an acting master class! Sally Hawkins is breathtaking in the lead role, expressive and sympathetic. Michael Shannon and Richard Jenkins, on opposite ends of the likability scale, turn in layered performances. Michael Stuhlbarg is incredible as usual, and I'm delighted he continues to get such high-profile work; however, it's Octavia Spencer who is the film's highlight, sometimes serving as the movie's comic relief, other times as its foot in reality. The Shape of Water also boasts glorious visuals, carrying through the water theme in lovely, unexpected, and sometimes uncomfortable ways. It takes itself seriously, but it's also very funny at times. Part love story, part monster movie, The Shape of Water is, at least, a pretty interesting idea.

 

'Til about the midway point, I was prepared to say I didn't hate The Shape of Water as much as I thought I would. Sadly, it hit a downhill skid that culminated in the most ill-fitting movie scene since the ending of La La Land, and at that point I gave up and called it a total loss. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I make no comment on the scene itself being good or bad, happy or sad, only about how the scene felt IN the movie, which was so far off it took me out of the picture entirely, and I did nothing but check the clock from that point on. The creature doesn't appear much removed from 1954's Creature from the Black Lagoon, which I imagine is meant as a sort-of love letter to old school horror, but--in 2018--it makes taking the film seriously pretty difficult. Unsubtle parallels are drawn between prejudice against the creature and other prejudices that were prevalent just a few decades ago; this is a message movie trying to hide behind a fairy tale and failing miserably.

The Shape of Water runs an interminable 123 minutes and is rated R for "sexual content, graphic nudity, violence, and language."

 

The Shape of Water is lovely music with nonsensical lyrics, aesthetically pleasing but not good for much else.  Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Shape of Water gets four.

 

Until next time...