Cindy Prascik's Review of Tenet

My dear reader(s), after a six-month (!) absence, yesterday I made my way back to my local cinema. If you were wondering what got me out the door when I really wasn't quite ready, the answer is (as it always was going to be) Christopher Nolan. On the docket: Tenet.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing the trailers haven't already revealed.

Regular reader(s) will be well aware that I worship at the Altar of Nolan. That's not to say Tenet was guaranteed a glowing review — on the contrary, I find high expectations generally are not my friend — but Christopher Nolan has never let me down and Tenet definitely keeps his streak alive.

“People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.” ~ The Tenth Doctor

You've probably seen the Internet meme about someone's brain being like a hundred browser tabs open at once. This is very much how I imagine it is being Christopher Nolan. I'm not going to pretend for a minute that I understand everything about Tenet — especially not after a single viewing — but instead I'm going to tell you why I loved it, and I think and hope you will too.

Tenet bends time and space to tell a multi-layered and expertly-crafted story. It is massive, thrilling, and even funny at times. The movie features nail-biting action that rivals some of the best I've seen (look for the firetruck sequence) and a moment that is so Airplane!-ey that I can't decide whether or not it was deliberate. The score and sound effects are huge and loud, perfectly complimenting the enormous visual scope of the film. Tenet has a cast to die for, led by John David Washington. Washington (like his father) is an actor that grabs your attention and doesn't let go; I never wanted him to be off-screen. It's no secret that I am a huge Robert Pattinson fan (despite, rather than because of, Twilight), and Tenet gives him an opportunity to shine. Favorites and familiar faces flesh out the supporting cast. Tenet is better for having Michael Caine (of course), Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clemency Poesy, and Himesh Patel, even though some of them don't turn up for more than a cup of coffee. The movie runs a massive two and a half hours, but to me it felt like seconds. If you're looking for an epic excuse to get back out and see something on the big screen, Tenet is just what the doctor ordered.

Tenet clocks in at 150 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references, and brief, strong language."

I'm not here to promise that Tenet will make perfect sense after one or even ten screenings (hell, I'm still not sure I understand everything about Inception!), but I'm here to say it's magnificent regardless. I can't wait to see it again. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Tenet gets all nine.

Fangirl points: Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour, together again!

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: TENET

A secret agent embarks on a dangerous, time-bending mission to prevent the start of World War III.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh

Release Date: September 3, 2019

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references and brief strong language

Runtime: 2 h 30 min

Review:

Christopher Nolan’s latest, Tenet, will leave audiences everywhere talking or thinking about well after the film finishes.  Technically, it’s a marvelous piece of grand scale filmmaking with enough thrills to keep nearly everyone on the edge of their seat.  It’s everything Nolan has been perfecting over the last decade or so of his career.  This puzzle box of a story though is overtly and aggressively complex and convoluted, almost to the point of exhaustion.  If you can keep up, the story is multi faceted but simplistic at the same time.  If you’ve had any sort of experience with Star Trek or any other sort of time travel story logic, the techobabble spouted out will feel routine but it’s probably best to not over think it too much otherwise you’ll end up with a splitting headache.  Needless to say, I’m sure there will be people dissecting character timeline after obsessively rewatching the film.  As for the characters that live in this cinematic maze, they are thinly written but it’s not huge issue since the actors and actresses deliver performances that make it easier to gloss over the story’s shortcomings.  The best characters moments in the film occur when John David Washington and Robert Pattinson share screen time mainly the two share strong and naturalistic chemistry together.  Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh do what they can with seriously broad characters that don’t have much in the way of depth.  Those critics who complain about Nolan’s emotional distance probably won’t be silenced here since the film keeps Kurbrick like distance from all the characters.  Tenet has flaws but those movie lovers that want massive cinematic scopes and action will find plenty to whet their appetites. 


B+

MOVIE REVIEW: BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC

A visitor from the future tells best friends Bill and Ted that one of their songs can save life as we know it and bring harmony to the universe.

Director: Dean Parisot

Cast: Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, Kristen Schaal, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, William Sadler, Anthony Carrigan, Erinn Hayes, Jayma Mays, Holland Taylor, Kid Cudi, Jillian Bell

Release Date: August 26, 2019

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Music

Rated PG-13 for some language

Runtime: 1 h 31 min

Review:

Bill & Ted Face The Music is a nostalgic throw back that uses the same template from the first two films with varying results.  Dean Parisot doesn’t offer up many curveballs in this belated finale.  He uses a lot of story beats fans of the original will instantly recognize but honestly it’s almost perfunctory.  The main thing all the children of the 80s wanted to see was Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves reprise their iconic roles.  Both slip back into their characters with relative ease and it hard not smile once we see and hear these two back on the screen.  Its fun to see them back in their roles but it’s also hard to ignore the fact that they are 50 year old men still talking like stoner teenagers.  Still they do a great job of capturing the optimistic spirit of the originals. Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine are both good fun with the latter delivering an impressive impersonation of her on screen father.  The story itself is a bit of a mixed bag since it’s more of a collection of fan service moments held together by the main conceit.  It’s an issue that’s kind of hardwired into their DNA of the franchise so it’s hard to blame this final entry too much. This film is only an hour and a half but it does drag in spots because of the thin story holding it all together.  Bill & Ted Face The Music is a fun albeit unnecessary series capper. 

C+

MOVIE REVIEW: THE NEW MUTANTS

Magik, Wolfsbane and other teenage mutants try to come to grips with their superpowers while staying at a secret facility.

Director: Josh Boone

Cast: Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, Henry Zaga
Release Date: August 26, 2019

Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

Rated PG-13 for violent content, some disturbing/bloody images, some strong language, thematic elements and suggestive material

Runtime: 1 h 40 min

Review:

The New Mutants is a film that has faced more adversity than any film should.  Delays and possible reshoots because of studio issues then Covid-19 made it seems like the film had been snake bitten.  Finally the film hit the screens and you wonder if any of it was worth it.  Sadly, Josh Boone’s film isn’t really worth the wait since it’s a generic superhero film with just hints of horror in its soul.  The latter is the biggest issue since the movie can’t seem to make up its mind if it wants to go all in with the horror aspect it toys with.  It never really makes up its minds leaving the film a hodgepodge of both genres worst impulses while never nailing one.  Boone’s film feels like a relic from the 90s or early 2000s with its wooden thinly drawn characters and dialogue.  The biggest problem is that there is a talented capable cast on board who are all wasted throughout.  Maisie Williams & Anya Taylor-Joy come out looking the best but you can tell both are screaming for better material.  Taylor-Joy in particular is seeping with talent and she would have nailed a better interpretation of her character given the chance.  Blu Hunt is the defacto lead of the whole thing which is a terrible thing since she and her character are the most boring thing about the whole endeavor. At some point during its incredibly predicable finale, you wonder if all it’s trial and tribulations coming to screen happened for a reason.


C

Cindy Prascik's Review of Bill & Ted Face the Music

Dearest reader(s), yesterday marked the day I knew would arrive: I had the choice of seeing a brand new release at the cinema, or paying more to watch it at home. I thought it would be a hard call, but ultimately it was pretty easy to choose staying home. I'll be interested to see if it remains so once the health threat is removed. If you were presented with the same choice, I'd be curious to hear what you decided and why.

At any rate, on the docket this weekend was the long-awaited three-quel Bill & Ted Face the Music.

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

Bill S. Preston and Ted "Theodore" Logan still struggle to fulfill the prophecy that said their music one day would save the world.

Face the Music finds our middle-aged heroes with wives, children, and suspiciously nice homes for guys who don't appear to do anything besides jam in their garages. Alas, they are yet to fulfill or move on from the long-ago prophecy that a song they've written will somehow unite and save the world. When a messenger from the future informs them that they have less than a day before time and space are destroyed, the most excellent friends embark on more time travels in the hope that their future selves have the song.

At a certain age, most things come with a whiff of nostalgia. Face the Music works not necessarily because it's the epitome of stellar filmmaking, but because it gives us characters we love in a story we need right now. The movie is sweet enough that its predictably dopey plot is easy to forgive, and — while there are some faces fans will be happy to see among supporting players — it is markedly less entertaining when Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are absent from the screen. The big finish offers few surprises, but the movie's optimism is such a delightful light in this dark year that it hardly matters.

Bill & Ted Face the Music clocks in at a quick 88 minutes and is rated PG13 for some language.

Bill & Ted Face the Music isn't a movie that'll change the world, but I can't help thinking we'd be better off if it could. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Bill & Ted Face the Music gets seven and a half.

Until next time, friends, be excellent to each other.

MOVIE REVIEW: UNHINGED

Unhinged is a 2020 American thriller film directed by Derrick Borte, from a screenplay by Carl Ellsworth. The film stars Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson and Austin P. McKenzie. The film follows a young woman who is harassed by a seemingly unstable stranger following a road rage incident.

Director: Derrick Borte

Cast: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson, Austin P. McKenzie

Release Date: August 21, 2019

Genre: Action, Thriller

Rated R for strong violent content, and language throughout.

Runtime: 1 h 30min

Review:

Unhinged is best explained as a good bad movie.  Derrick Borte’s mallet punch to the face of film is thoroughly entertaining for the duration of its runtime.  It’s a brutal trip into madness that makes this film feel more like a horror film than a straightforward thriller.  At its center is Russell Crowe who bulked up considerably around the waist to play an embodiment of white male rage.  His performance is far better than the film deserves, so much so that you’d wish that the script had taken a more nuanced approach to his character.  Instead it’s a grotesque caricature that Crowe makes intriguing as we watch his sweaty terror bear rampage throughout the film.  Caren Pistoruis is saddled with a character that isn’t terribly fleshed out or intelligent.  Pistoruis main goal is to react to the terror unfolding upon her.  There are plenty of ham fisted attempts a social allegory but are about as blunt as they come.  It’s a shame that the story and characters are so simplistic because you get the feeling that there is plenty of themes that cold have been explored to make a truly thought provoking film.    


C+