Posts by Jeremy Butler

Now here is a series that me and my wife just didn’t seen eye to eye on. For her, the series was a triumph and had great depth. For me, it made me wonder whether we were watching the same thing. Because outside the beautiful scenery, I did not discern any great depth to this anthology series, which appeared to feature unhappy people. The series featured a cast of recognizable faces, which included Alexandra Daddario, Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, Sydney Sweeney, and Jennifer Coolidge; however, their characters weren’t what I would call loveable. It was difficult to find anyone pure or worth cheering for. Granted, the characters had varying degrees of sins, and none of them were what I would call evil, but none of them were worth investing in. Of course that is merely this humble critics opinion, as it would appear that many people have found something to love, given the series recent award success, such as two Critic’s Choice Awards and five Primetime Emmy Awards, including for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. I guess this explains the series being granted a Season 2, which is scheduled to premiere in October 2022.

The series details a week in the life of vacationers as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise, or at least attempt to relax and rejuvenate. While these vacationers may appear to be picture perfect, it is shown almost immediately that each of them has hidden darker complexity. These complexity are not limited to the travelers, as members of the hotel’s cheerful staff, are also not as they appear. When I first heard about the series, I was anticipating a sinister turn, something to the effect that one of the patrons would be killed and everyone would be under suspicion. It’s a troupe that can become a bit of a cliché, but it is one that instills intrigue. While there is a death in the series, it does not fall under these conditions, and in all honesty, it is difficult to muster any sympathy for the character.

Unfortunately, this film was a little immature to gain the Nalyce stamp of approval. While Japanese animated films have been her bread and butter in recent years, her tastes venture more towards anime such as Inuyasha and My Hero Academia. When it comes to Panda! Go Panda!, it was just too kiddie for her. Had this been a year or two ago, she would have been all about it. Perhaps there will be such an opportunity with my son, but given that he is only a week old, time will have to tell. As far as I’m concerned, it was a cute story if impractical. I recommend a suspension of belief if you chose to watch the film. Given that a suspension of belief is a prerequisite for all animated films, that shouldn’t be too much to ask. While I understand the need for this suspension of belief, I’m afraid I wasn’t fully able to achieve it at times.

Divided into two short-film formats, the story follows a young girl named Mimiko, who is left on her own when her grandmother leaves to attend her grandfather’s memorial service in Nagasaki. Having never known her parents, this leaves Mimiko alone. Let’s pause here: this is a point where suspending belief was difficult. By all accounts, Mimiko is a little girl, not even a teenager, so the idea that her grandmother would leave her with no supervision whatsoever is a hard thing to sell. I would have bought it more if the events took place while traveling with her grandmother or with distant relatives looking after her. However, as is, I am unable to accept that idea. Maybe it’s the parent in me.

I would categorize this as a unique movie. Not only based on its premise, even though that did possess a measure of intrigue. Zero Contact has multiple things that make it unique, such as it is the first film from a major Hollywood studio to exist on the blockchain. According to my research, the film will premiere on new NFT platform Vuele, a premier platform for collecting, watching, and trading exclusive, limited edition feature-length films and collector NFT film content. However, while this is interesting and potentially could serve as a new frontier for cinematic releases, there was another factor that made the film unique in my eyes. To me, Zero Contact’s most unique quality is that the film was produced in 17 different territories entirely virtually during the 2020 global pandemic. Anthony Hopkins leads the cast and is supported by a cast of faces that I recognize, but whose names are not on the rolodex of actors that I keep in my head.

The film’s setup consist of five strangers who are remotely connected and must work together to shut down a tech titan's most secret invention, a machine that could represent the solution to mankind's problems or the end of life on Earth. As expected, Anthony Hopkins portrays our tech titan. In regards to his character, there isn’t much substance to him. He is predominantly referred to in the past tense by the rest of the cast, which should give you some idea to his current status within the film. Naturally, certain film sequences raise questions about this status, causing it to become ambiguous. The film’s premise leads us to believe that these five strangers are the only thing standing between the world and a potential global extinction event. While strangers to each other, each has a connection to our titan and his company; an attorney that served as the company’s outside counsel, the tech’s business partner, a freelance cybersecurity expert, and a project leader on the secret invention, and the tech’s estranged son.

I’m coming in kind of midway through the story on this one, guys. While the film does provide a couple of flashbacks to the previous film, those flashbacks do very little to fully provide needed context, making my viewing of Fortress: Sniper’s Eye a bit of a rocky one. Based on what I gleaned, Bruce Willis and Jesse Metcalfe play Robert and Paul Michaels respectively, a father and son duo who live in and manage a top-secret resort for retired U.S. intelligence officers. The resort is attacked by a group of criminals led by a familiar enemy. It is evident that there is shared history between the Michaels and Balzary (Chad Michael Murray). As expected, the Michaels, aided by others, are able to thwart the assault despite being outnumbered and outgunned. Balzary is thought to be killed, but not before making a plea to Robert to rescue his wife from her captors, which is ultimately revealed to be the reason for the assault. This is what frames the basis for our second film. Second of a planned three, I should add.

Now that we are somewhat caught up, that brings us to our sequel in this planned trilogy. Following the assault, the Fortress facility is being shuttered, and the Michaels are in the process of decommissioning the site. When I say the Michaels, I mainly mean Paul, as Robert is recovering from injuries sustained while rescuing Sasha (Natali Yura), Balzary’s wife, thus fulfilling his former protégé-turned-adversary’s dying request. Meanwhile, the budding romance between Paul and Kate Taylor (Kelly Greyson) is about to hit its first milestone, as her mother and sister come for a visit following news of the assault.

“It’s simply his way of illustrating the misrepresentation of having quantum particles existing in two states. The cat in the box is either dead or alive. But we can’t tell until we open the box to observe it, so until we do so, the cat is both dead and alive.”

I’ve seen a lot of horror and thrillers in my time. This is my first one with mathematics at the heart of it. I applauded the film for introducing me to something new. However, the moments of intrigue are surrounded by periods where the plot seems to drag on. Also, I’m not sure that the characters’ reactions to particular events are sensible. For example, my daughter suddenly goes missing, and I suspect that her disappearance is somehow the result of my newly acquired residence. No matter how irrational that idea may be, the first thing I would do is get me and the rest of my family a hotel. In the case of The Cellar, the Woods family just keeps on living there. Now this could be partially forgiven, as the mother, played by Elisha Cuthbert, is determined to find her daughter. But once I get a distinct impression that my family is not the only presence in the house, I’d be conducting my investigation from a safe distance.

All is fair in the spy game. Or least that is the principle that this film embraces, as every character attempts to get the upper hand on the others. Though the film is not without its thrilling moments, it does take a bit of time to get to those thrilling bits. Told in a nonlinear fashion, it takes a moment to adjust to the constant shift between the two plots. It is only when things start to synch that I found myself completely engaged with the story. On the plus side, the film has a cast of recognizable faces, to include Arrow’s Katie Cassidy, The Cleaning Lady’s Adan Canto, Chicago Fire’s Annie Ilonzeh, Dermot Mulroney, and last but not least, Mel Gibson. While I would not categorize the film as box office quality, there are some elements that make for an intriguing story once things get into a groove.

It should have been a straightforward op, the kind that they’ve done hundreds of times over a career spanning decades. But from the very beginning, CIA officers Bill (Jason Isaacs) and Harris (Mulroney) sense that there is something suspicious about the assignment. It’s an interrogation at a black site of a man recently granted political asylum after speaking out against a dictator. The intelligence tells them that the man’s group has extremist affiliations. But from the moment they speak with him, he appears nothing like he’s supposed to. Complicating matters is a new member to their team (Ilonzeh), who’s pushing for more direct measures, or perhaps a better word would be enhanced, in order to get information. Either way, something isn’t sitting right with Harris and Bill.