Posts by Brent Lorentson

Following the success of Only Murders in the Building, it was only a matter of time before we got more shows and films coming in to piggyback off the success. I’ll admit when I first saw an ad for The Thursday Murder Club on Netflix, I really didn’t think much of it, but I was glad to see the ensemble of actors continuing to get work as they age gracefully into their twilight years. With a film with a cast like Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, Jonathan Pryce and several more familiar faces I found myself compelled to give this film a chance. Oh, and how can I forget, though this came as a surprise to me as I watched the closing credits, to discover the film was directed by Chris Columbus? The man is a legend to me just for directing Adventures in Babysitting, a childhood favorite of mine, but he also directed Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Stepmom (in my opinion an underrated classic), oh, and the first two Harry Potter films … so the guy has a pretty stacked resume. So with this iconic cast and a prolific filmmaker, how is the film? I found this film charming and one of those gems Netflix has released that is better than anyone would expect.

The Thursday Murder Club is a group of retirees led by Elizabeth (Mirren), a feisty and spirited gal with a secretive past. The gang gets together at Cooper’s Chase, their luxurious retirement home that is basically a refurbished castle, and they solve cold-case murder files. In the group there is also Ibrahim (Kingsley), a retired psychiatrist, and there’s Ron (Brosnan), a former yet highly respected union rep. The cold-case files are from their friend who was a retired officer who is no longer conscious and is withering away in the hospice wing of the residence.

Some people may think I’m crazy, but as a lifelong horror fan, I feel right now we are in the Golden Age of horror cinema. When you look at the box office this year and last, horror has simply been a dominate force, and I’m loving it. What’s even better is that it is new material that is raking in the money rather than seeing tired retreads of IPs that have been exhausted over and over again. Sinners, though it wasn’t my cup of tea, dominated the box office, and even though I’m not the film’s biggest fan, I still like seeing horror rake in the money. I’m loving that we’re getting all kinds of horror lately, where an indie slasher like Terrifier is going to be featured at Halloween Horror Nights, and we’re getting all sorts of experimental horror. For instance, later this year we’ll get Goodboy, a paranormal story told through the perspective of a dog. (Sure, it sounds silly, but I’m all for it.) This brings me to Barbarian. For me this has been my favorite horror film in the past five years, and that’s saying a lot, because there has been A LOT of good horror lately. From the moment I heard about Zach Cregger’s next film, Weapons, it immediately shot to the top of my list of most anticipated films. Now that the film has finally come out, is it worth the wait and the hype that surrounds it?

The setup is relatively simple. One night at 2:17 am, 17 students got out of their beds and ran out of their homes and disappeared. The next morning when the teacher went to her class, only one of her students showed. So what happened to these 17 kids?

I have to admit it is hard to believe that Happy Gilmore came out nearly 30 yeas ago. It’s a hard pill to swallow, because I remember seeing it in the theater with my friends, and, well, that pretty much reminds me that I’m getting old. I’ve been a fan of Adam Sandler since his time on SNL, and it’s been interesting seeing how his career has grown. For me, I’ve remained a loyal fan not because I feel his films are great; honestly, he’s had quite a few duds along the way, but it’s because he seems to be one of the few guys in Hollywood who hasn’t changed with fame. You never hear about scandals. He just seems like a down-to-earth guy who really isn’t so different from his fans. When it comes to Happy Gilmore 2, this film has been something fans have been wanting for a while, though many of us just really didn’t think it was going to happen. After 30 years, was it worth the wait? Well, I’ll say this much: this film was certainly made for the fans.

Ever since Happy (Adam Sandler) won that gold jacket, he went on to have a successful career on the pro circuit. He ended up marrying Virginia (Julie Bowen), and they had five kids together. Everything seemed to be going great; that is, until an unfortunate accident occurred and Virginia was killedd and this sent Happy spiraling and becoming an alcoholic and giving up the sport. Oh, and grandma’s house that he fought so hard for in the first film -- he ends up losing that as well. It’s fair to say things are a bit darker for Happy this time around as we see him as a single dad struggling, and the one thing that seems to get him motivated is getting money together to send his daughter to a dance academy in France. As for Happy’s rival in the first film, Shooter McGavin, (Christopher McDonald), he’s been locked away in a mental institution since his breakdown after losing to Happy all those years ago. Another familiar face that returns is Hal (Ben Stiller); he’s no longer at the nursing home, but is in charge of Happy’s AA group. Honestly, this aspect was one of the weaker parts of the film, but Stiller still makes it work.

When it comes to video game adaptations, I learned a long time ago to not get my hopes up. Sure, there have been a few films that manage to do the source material justice, but for the most part the films tend to just fail in spectacular fashion. Until Dawn is honestly a game I never expected to see turn into a film or TV show, mostly because the game play is basically like a “choose your own adventure” style, and it just didn’t seem like something that could work. The approach the film takes  is something different and takes the story into a Groundhog Day direction, only every time the characters re-spawn  it becomes a different sub-genre of horror film. While I feel this is a terrible videogame adaptation, this actually turned out to be a fun premise for a film. So how does the film stand on its own? Well, a lot better than I had anticipated.

A group of friends have decided to tag along with Clover (Ella Rubin). She is on a trip to find out what happened to her missing sister. Along for the ride is her ex, Max (Michael Cimino) who still pines for her, her best friend, Nina (Odessa A’zion), and her boyfriend/ psychology major, Abe (Belmont Cameli). And then there is the oddball, fifth-wheel, Megan (Ji-young Yoo) who believes she has psychic abilities. The group has some decent chemistry, which helps this film a lot, because for the most part the film doesn’t waste time jumping into the creepy horror element. When the group stops off at a gas station, Clover encounters the gas station attendant (played by Peter Stormare) who drops some hints about people who have gone missing nearby. The gang follows up on this lead, and they find themselves at a unique little house that has a strange hourglass that mysteriously turns itself over and a guestbook that has Clover’s missing sister’s name scrawled inside.

I have to admit that when I heard about Heads of State being a buddy action film with John Cena as the President of the United States and Idris Elba as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I was totally on board. Then when I saw that this was heading directly to Amazon Prime, my excitement fizzled. When you have an action film with those two on the marquee, it just seems like the perfect summer film, and with the director of Nobody and Hardcore Henry at the helm, it just adds to the expectation of pure dumb popcorn bliss. Only Amazon Studios can find a way to mess this up. Still, I tried to go into this with an open mind, but the end result is an action comedy that underwhelmed in such spectacular fashion that I’m somewhat impressed at how mediocre this film turned out despite all its opportunities to impress.

Will Derringer (Cena) was a Hollywood action star before becoming president, and he uses his Hollywood image as a big-screen action star to bolster his image with the public. Then there is Sam Clarke (Elba), who actually has military training. Though he never saw combat, he kind of sees Derringer as an actor just playing the part of the president, and the two are constantly butting heads. It’s when they are together on Air Force One and they plane is attacked that they really have to begin to work together as they narrowly escape their plane crashing and they parachute alone into Eastern Europe. Thankfully this pair has onscreen chemistry together, or this film would have been in worse trouble, but the problem I saw early on is that this film just couldn’t decide on the right balance of action and comedy. Having a PG-13 rating really neutered the film, because it very clearly wants to be in the same league as Lethal Weapon, but it just doesn’t have the laughs, the violence, or the grit to make a difference.

“I am large; I contain multitudes.” 

I know it may only be June, and it seems strange to be talking about awards season already, but if The Life of Chuck doesn’t take home an armful of awards this year, it will be a criminal shame. I first read the Stephen King novella when it was released in his collection If It Bleeds (2020), it was a story that you can tell King wrote during the COVID-19 panic. I remember liking the story, but it wasn’t one of my favorites in the collection. What stood out the most was the unique way he wrote the story about the end of the world. It didn’t really surprise me that the story was being adapted into a film considering just how many Stephen King stories are brought to the big screen and streaming every year. It was the fact that Mike Flanagan signed on to write and direct that got me excited about this project. For those who may not know, Mike Flanagan has been making a name for himself in the horror genre. The Haunting on Hill House, Midnight Mass, Hush, Doctor Sleep, The Fall of the House of Usher and Gerald’s Game are all hits in his filmography, and frankly, he just hasn’t disappointed me yet. But the surprising thing about The Life of Chuck is that it’s not a horror story, at least not in any traditional sense, so how would Flanagan fare with this project in which at first glance appears he’s stepping out of his comfort zone?

It’s officially summer movie season, and what better time to release a film about a serial killer that feeds his victims to sharks and videotapes it so he can relive the moment over and over again on VHS? That is pretty much the hook for the new thriller being released by Shudder, and I’m all-in for it. I’m a sucker for shark films. Good or bad, I can’t help myself; I have to watch it. But Dangerous Animals is more than just a guilty pleasure; it’s the kind of summer fun I crave to see on the big screen, and this film didn’t disappoint, so grab your snorkel and let’s dive in and discuss the movie I feel audiences are going to sleep on simply because of a crowded box office. First off, the film has one of my favorite openings I’ve seen in a while. It opens up with a pair of friends who are traveling around Australia, and they’ve decided to charter a boat to go diving with sharks. The ship’s captain is Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney), who is a bit rough around the edges but still manages to be a charming guy. Everything seems innocent enough as we see Bruce take these travelers on this dive of a lifetime, but things take a brutal turn as we see him stab one of the travelers and let them fall into the water to be devoured by the sharks circling below.

The film then shift gears by introducing us to Zephyr (Hassie Harrisson), an American who has travelled to Australia and has taken up a nomadic life, living out of her van so she can live her best life surfing. She runs into Moses (Josh Heuston), who is having some car trouble, and their brief meeting turns into something a little bit more …This sequence is pretty much a way to give us Zephyr’s back story of living in foster care, and of course she has trust issues and can only trust herself. Moses, of course, seems to have fallen in love overnight, and when he comes to deliver her breakfast in bed (her van), it turns out she’s already gone (cue the sad trombone). All seems lost for Moses till he gets a text message from Zephyr to meet him at a surfing spot, but alas, she gets kidnapped, and only Moses seems to know anything about Zephyr’s existence, so it is up to him to find her.

It would seem that ever since Hereditary came out in 2018, it kind of paved the way for the new sub-genre of horror, “grief-horror”, basically horror films that delve into the emotional horror of losing loved ones and the reckless attempts people may make to reach out to them in the afterlife. This isn’t subject matter most horror fans enjoy; for me I find an odd sense of comfort with these films. When Talk to Me came out, that film especially struck a nerve with me, and I absolutely loved that film from the first-time Australian filmmakers and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou.  Talk To Me managed to bring something new to the supernatural genre, and the grief the main character was going through was very relatable for me, so of course I was going to be a little excited about what this duo would do next (at least before they tackled their sequel to Talk To Me). As it would turn out, I wouldn’t have to wait long for their next film, and Bring Her Back tackles the horror of grief in a manner that has stuck with me since exiting the theater.

Bring Her Back wastes little time with setting the tone of the film as we see Andy (Billy Barratt) and his sister Piper (Sora Wong) return home to find their father dead in the shower. To further the trauma for the kids, a social worker intends to separate the siblings. Andy wants to have guardianship of his sister, but because he’s not quite 18, it isn’t allowed. After some desperate pleas by Andy, they allow him to stay at the foster parents’ home on the condition that he behaves himself. The relationship between Andy and Piper is very much the heart of this film. They are step-siblings, and because Piper is blind, Andy has played the role as her guardian for some time even before the passing of their father. The film really does a good job of establishing this bond early on, and it’s necessary, because once they get to the foster parents’ home, things definitely take a turn.