The Reel World

“A great man doesn’t seek to lead, he’s called to it. But if your answer is no, you’ll still be the only thing I need you to be. My son.”

Given that this was most likely the most anticipated movie of 2020, I must say that I expected much more from it. Especially given the who’s who list of Hollywood stars who were brought together for this production. Names like Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, and the list goes on. I suppose another thing that somewhat worked against the film was the long wait, as this was a movie that was slated for a year earlier, and then the pandemic complicated that, so anticipation for this film was high. Not to mention that this is a reboot of a beloved series that has already been adapted and garnered a large cult following. It is also my understanding that previous adaptation had the benefit of having the creator of the franchise on set to help guide it. That sounds like a recipe for success, if you ask me. Here we have the re-imagining of an idea with a very loyal fan base, which is always a dangerous undertaking. However, Denis Villeneuve’s proven resume with thrillers such as Prisoners and Sicario, as well as his work in the science fiction genre with Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 (which also was based on another classic film), suggested that he was uniquely up for the task of taking on a film such as this. While I did enjoy what Villeneuve created visually, my big issue was with the story, specifically, the fact that it was clearly incomplete.

Totally immersive, the movie The Last Duel takes you into 14^th century France where it deals with wars, the plague, and an economical decline for the kingdom.  Entwined, during that period, is a true story of misogyny, a power struggle, and a rivalry between squires. Powerful acting, direction, and cinematography deliver a compelling story that makes the two and a half hours fly by. In the 1300’s Europe has been wrecked with war and plague, and France has had a good share of the death and destruction. As the story begins, find notable squire and knight Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) returning to his castle from a vicious battle in defense of his king. Having lost his wife to the plague, he marries Lady Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), the daughter of a landowner with a vast amount of territory.

Equal in station to Jean de Carrouges, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) has fought alongside Sir Jean and is welcomed by the court of King Charles VI (Alex Lawther). With the backing of Sir Pierre d’Alencon (Ben Affleck), a favorite of the king, Le Gris underhandedly receives the title of Captain over rightful candidate de Carrouges.

“Michael Myers has haunted this town for 40 years … Tonight we hunt him down.”

In 2018 when Halloween came out, I have to admit I was disappointed. Maybe I just had such high hopes, or the film just simply didn’t offer up anything fresh to the series as I had hoped. Sure, it had its moments, like the long tracking shot of Michael doing what he does best and leaving a trail of bodies behind, but aside from that, I felt it was a relatively forgettable entry. I love the original film. What John Carpenter did scared me as a child and still excites me after numerous viewings. Halloween II is a fun watch that I continue to enjoy. And for a more controversial take, I’m even a fan of Rob Zombie’s Halloween. I liked the time spent with a young Michael Myers, and I look at the film as basically a southern re-telling of the Boogeyman. The franchise is hit or miss, and the numerous timelines do complicate the lore, so I was more than a little skeptical about Halloween Kills and it being the middle of David Gordon Green’s trilogy.

“As long as we are looking over our shoulder, the past is not dead.”

When it comes to Daniel Craig’s Bond movies, I’ve found them to be hit or miss. There are those I love, such as Casino Royale and Skyfall, and then there are those that I wasn’t that into, such as Quantum of Solace and Spectre. However, when it comes to No Time to Die, there is no question that it is my favorite of all the Craig-led Bond movies. Maybe it was how long I’ve been waiting to experience it given that the onset of COVID resulted in the film’s release being delayed multiple times, so by the time it was finally here, I could barely contain my excitement. However, I think it is more likely that the reason is the knowledge that this will be Craig’s final portrayal as the suave secret agent with a penchant for shaken martinis. Either way, Craig’s swan song film was without question great, despite certain elements not delivering on the hype. Craig leaves the franchise with is head held high, as I cannot imagine a more dignified exit for his portrayal.

In 1999 when The Sopranos first premiered on HBO, I don’t think anyone was expecting just how much it would change the television landscape. In its run it made cable TV a main contender for the Emmys, but it also changed the way we see TV, as it took the gangster movie dynamic and stretched it out into a series that ran successfully for 86 episodes. Then there was the way the series came to a close that has had fans and critics talking nearly 15 years after it last aired. It’s the show that raised the bar for what television can be and has been the standard since which only a handful of shows have been able to match in quality. Personally (and I know this is a controversial take) I’m only a fan of the first three seasons, but even a bad episode of The Sopranos is better than most television shows out there. There was talk for a while about spin-off shows and possible movies. This kind of talk would of course get fans excited, but the question always was, where can you go with the story? Then in 2013 when James Gandolfini died, it seemed like any possible revival was squashed.

Whenever I hear about a show or film wanting to do a prequel, I immediately think of what happened with the prequel trilogy with Star Wars.  We all got excited; it was Lucas in full control, and he’d be telling us the story of how Vader became the big bad Sith in the galaxy far, far away. How did that work out for us fans? Now, granted, a film talking about how Tony Soprano became the gangster he would evolve to be is a very tempting idea; then when you see how much his son Michael Gandolfini looks like his dad, man, it seems like a sure thing. Sometimes things should be left alone. Heck, we all expected the spin-off film El Comino following Jesse from Breaking Bad would be good, and how did that turn out?  How about that Entourage film? I mean, there are so many examples that should have prepared us for this, but we all just wanted to believe that David Chase could surprise us all and deliver us just one more serving of the crime family we all love. The problem is he teased us all with the promise of one story, and instead he threw in so much more that no one wanted or cared about that he practically pissed all over a sure hit in the process.

"That was a long time ago, wasn't it?"

Everyone has one. There is that shirt in your closet. Or maybe it's a pair of pants, socks, or even shoes. Whatever it is, it should have been thrown out decades ago. There could be holes, and it's certainly so threadbare that you could do the New York Times crossword through the fabric. It's not practical, if it ever even was. If it were any other piece of clothing you'd be embarrassed to be wearing it. But the dang thing is so comfortable. It's soft against your skin, or maybe it brings back one of your favorite memories. Whatever the reason, you love that thing, and you wish you could wear it all the time. That's exactly how some of us feel about Clint Eastwood. I was a teen in high school when he asked us if we felt lucky and begged us to make his day. A lot of years and a lot of movies have come and gone since then. Clint doesn't have the abilities to run around shooting up the joint anymore. His delivery has gotten softer over the years. Face it. Clint has lost more than a few steps. At 91 years of age, it's somewhat amazing that he's still directing with the quality he does, and every time he also steps in front of the camera, I'm in the audience saying my goodbyes. But I've been saying goodbye since before Gran Torino in 2008. Now it's 2021, and after Hollywood has experienced its most grueling two years in the last century, it is becoming clear to me that Clint Eastwood isn't going anywhere. And that makes my day.

As fans of the MCU, I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been anxiously waiting to see what Phase 4 would be bringing us. In a lot of ways this is the new era of Marvel characters and a new story arc that will be kicking off since Endgame seemed to wrap things up.  Disney Plus as been teasing fans and tiding us over with Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and then Loki. On the cinematic front we had the long delayed Black Widow, but considering that film took place in a pre-snap timeline, the question remained, what was next for the Avengers?  With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, we finally get that answer, and as exciting as that is, I have to admit I’m a little worried. I’m not saying it’s time to abandon ship, because I’ll be upfront and say I enjoyed Shang-Chi, but the Disney influence  is starting to rear its head, and I’m a little concerned for how much influence studio heads are having over the product and how much control is being taken away from the creative heads, i.e. the writers and directors.

The legend behind the ten rings is relatively simple; who ever wears and wields the rings is given godlike powers of strength and immortality. For 1000 years Xu Wenwu (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) has had control of the rings and has led his army and taken on all challengers. I love the time spent with this character as we see him as a vicious leader and then his attempt to enter a magical city stopped by one of the cities’ protectors. This is the first defeat Wenwu has had in his 1000 years, and how he handles this loss, well, it was refreshing. We get more of Wenwu’s journey over the course of the film, and to be honest, I wish the film was all about this character, because this is really one of the most fleshed out “villains” we’ve gotten to see in the MCU. The arc we see the character go through definitely humanizes him. We see him as an immortal who finds love and attempts to go down a road of redemption, and then all that is taken from him. And this is all background story that’s shown to us in a series of flashbacks. Normally it’s something I’d be annoyed with, but I genuinely enjoyed this back story more than the rest of the film, and it’s due mostly to the great performance Leung delivers.

From Bride of Frankenstein to Night of the Living Dead and even Godzilla, horror has been a platform filmmakers have used for decades to handle larger societal issues. In 1992 when the first Candyman released, it was a film that tackled issues of class and race, but it did so in a manner that didn’t feel forced, and in doing so it added an extra level to what I’d consider one of the best horror films of the 90’s. I love the story of Candyman, and the performance Tony Todd gave this tragic character was an equal blend of horror, menace, and sympathy. The way the first film builds its impending doom for Helen Lyle has rarely  been matched in films since. Watching as her life crumbles around her up until the moment she finally surrenders herself to Candyman and accepts her awful fate is an impactful moment. The sequels just never lived up to the first film, and it’s a shame, because I simply loved the idea of this modern urban legend that haunted the projects of Black America. Candyman and the tragedy of Daniel Robitaille deserves better. As much as I love Friday the 13^th and several other franchises in the horror genre, Candyman has always been the character ripe with so much untapped potential that I’m surprised it’s taken this long to get the reboot/sequel it rightfully deserves. Though the moment I saw that Jordan Peele was involved, I started to worry.

I’m being upfront and saying I just don’t like Jordan Peele when it comes to horror. It’s like when Michael Bay started up his horror company and churned out The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Horror just isn’t for everyone to dip their toes into, and I don’t care about what awards films may get or box office it may gross; I’m not going to cave to the bandwagon. That being said, I’m more than willing to give a film a chance if the trailer can hook me or if I care about the property, so with Candyman this was one I was on the fence with. I was ecstatic about seeing this character back on the screen, but I was still cautious, because it was being helmed by Nia DaCosta, a director with no experience in the horror genre. As it would turn out, she’s a director who shows plenty of talent and promise, but can’t build a moment of tension even with all the tricks and tools of the industry at her disposal.

"We all have secrets."

Right from the jump there's a lot to like about The Night House, directed by David Bruckner and starring Rebecca Hall. It's the kind of horror film that derives its scares from the point of emotional loss that cuts to the center of the kinds of things that really scare us all. From that point the film immerses us deep into the kind of atmosphere that doesn't come from gory special effects or even some of the nicely placed jump scenes. Instead Bruckner engineers his cinematography to play slight tricks on our eyes that immediately reveal some clever usages of the film's set designs and an Escheresque distortion of our point of view. It's the kind of film that demands you pay very strict attention and then rewards you for the effort. Sounds like a great movie, yeah? Unfortunately, the screenplay, written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, who both penned the now shooting Hellraiser reboot/sequel, is the glaring weak link that caused me to leave the theater repeating, "I almost loved it."

“The past can haunt a man.  That’s what they say. But the past is just a series of moments. Perfect … .complete … a bead on the necklace of time.”

So, an interesting factoid that I learned about the film’s director Lisa Joy: she is the sister-in-law of director Christopher Nolan. This doesn’t really add anything to the review, just an interesting fact that I thought I’d share. Then again, I do remember thinking when the film first opened up that it felt very shades-of-Nolan. Not to say that Nolan had any influence over the film, but just the idea of a movie based off a construct is very much in his wheelhouse. Memory is the construct that is explored in this film, and I must admit that the addictive nature in which the film portrays this construct did have some appeal; however, the film tries to bring too many different themes and elements together, and it results in not enough attention being paid to any of them. Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson are the film’s big draws, and while their electricity helps to make the film decent, it cannot make it great.