Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 2nd, 2024
“I have a ghost to bust.”
When Afterlife was initially announced back in 2021, my thoughts were: why do we keep messing with things instead of preserving them? Ghostbusters was an iconic film franchise that already suffered one failed attempt at reboot. So when I went to see Afterlife, I was expecting the law of diminishing returns to be in effect. However, to my mind, Afterlife, with its homage to the dearly departed Harold Ramis and inclusion of the original crew, was not a reboot, but a continuation. It worked, and brought with it some of the nostalgia from the franchise’s original run. Now as expected, one good turn deserves another, and we now have Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Once again, we were at risk of destroying a good thing, but thankfully we had the right people at the helm who were able to blend the old with the new, which is no surprise given that the film was co-written by the son of the franchise’s original director. Additionally, not only does the film maintain credibility by bringing back the entire cast of Afterlife such as Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, and Finn Wolfhard; it also reaches back in time and brings together the original crew in the form of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd (who also credited with the original story idea), Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton. Throw in new cast members like Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanijiani and Patton Oswalt, and you’ve got yourself a party.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on June 29th, 2024
It’s the little things I supposed. When forced to confront the prospect of your own death, what will you do with the time you have left. Some fight against their own extinction. Some seek help from a higher power. While some cling to the past and seek comfort in their treasured memories. In a Quiet Place: Day One we see a bit of all three. While Day One marks the third installment in the Quiet Place franchise, it serves as the prequel for the series showcasing how the world went silent after sightless aliens with sharp hearing and impenetrable armor plating take over the planet and attack the human population. For me, this is a welcome addition to the franchise because while watching the first two films, one of my recurring thoughts was I would like to see how the world went quiet. Imagine my excitement when I this movie was announced. In my mind, I figured the prequel would continue to follow the Abbott family. However, Day One is comprised of a predominantly new cast, with the exception of Djimon Hounsou, who was introduced in the second film. While I was initially disappointed, I got over it quickly as new blood provides a new opportunity to expand the story rather than restricting yourself. Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, and Alex Wolff represent our new additions to the franchise, and they don’t disappoint.
We’ve seen the result of the invasion. Now see how it began. The film centers around Nyong'o’s character Sam, as she finds herself trapped in New York City during the early stages of an invasion by alien creatures with ultra-sensitive hearing. As the central character, Nyong'o is our lens into this situation. A loner type with a pessimistic outlook of the world (there is a justifiable reason for outlook that I won’t spoil for you), she elects to go it alone. Obviously, that won’t do. It is in this vein that we are introduced to Quinn’s character, Eric. While their pairing was inevitable and expected, their endgame was not and leads me back to my opening statement. When faced with the prospect of your own death, what will you value the most. While I can’t fault what Sam and Eric valued, it truly embodies that opening sentence.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 29th, 2024
In 1993 when this film came out, 1962 just seemed like another time that as a teenager I just couldn’t wrap my head around. While the kids in Matinee were excited about these giant monster films, I could sort of relate, as I was getting into horror myself, but instead of atomic bugs, I was getting into the slasher heavy hitters like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. So a film about kids spending most of their time at a movie theater was something I could relate to easily, and as I got older I simply continued to appreciate the film more as I consumed more films from the past and grew to appreciate filmmakers like Val Lewton, William Castle, Roger Corman, and Lloyd Kaufman, the guys who knew how to turn a cheap film into an event experience through a variety of marketing gimmicks. The idea of ambulances being staged outside a theater because audience members may faint or having people in costume lunge at unsuspecting guests. These innovators make going to the movie theater an experience even if the movie wasn’t all that great … and now 30 years after the release of Matinee, I find myself bitten by the bug of nostalgia. I can’t help but miss how I used to consume movies, either spending an entire day at the multiplex sneaking into R rated films or hitting the video store and grabbing a bunch of videos to watch with friends. Now we have streaming, and it just isn’t the same. The movie theaters may not have the sticky floors that we all hated, and to be fair I do like the stadium seating, but it’s just not the way it used to be, and with ticket prices skyrocketing along with crazy rates at the concession stands, well, it isn’t too hard to understand why people want to believe the theater experience is dying.
I don’t mean to be so bleak, especially when Matinee is far from being a downer; instead it is a charming love letter to a time where as a kid things would have been so simple, but for adults the terror of an atomic missile strike kept many parents in fear. Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) is your typical kid, but with his father being in the military his family bounces around a lot, and while his father is deployed he feels the need to be “the man of the house” and look after his mom and his little brother. This new deployment has them brought down to the Florida Keys, and at the worst time imaginable, during “he Cold War, and when the Russians are threatening to drop atomic bombs on the States. We see how the kids are prepping with bombing drills and folks around town are emptying out the store shelves (a scene oddly reminiscent to when the COVID panic recently struck and the nation was in a panic over toilet paper). Gene is eager to simply just leave the base and find his sanctuary at the local theater and just watch movies all day. It’s at the movies he happens to run into one of his idols, Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), who has come to town to premiere his new film, a B-monster movie called MANT, and he’s going to be presenting the film in what he calls “Atomic Vision”.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 25th, 2024
"Somebody went to a lot of trouble here, and I want to find out, lawsuit or no lawsuit. I'm not the one who's supposed to be caught with his pants down."
The word "classic" gets thrown around a lot. Everybody has their own list. I get that. Whenever someone starts listing films from the last year or so, I just smile and take it with a grain of salt. Because I know they don't know what they're talking about. I don't know how many years it takes to be a classic. Is it 10 ... 20 … or even 30 years? Well, how about 50 for a nice round number? The film has certainly stood the test of time. That's one of those things you can't say about a film under a decade or two old.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 25th, 2024
It’s been about 10 years since Richard Linklater gave us Boyhood, which for me may not be my personal favorite of his films, but it is the one that certainly got the attention of the Academy Awards. Linklater is a director I’ve always been a fan of. It’s hard to really describe his filmography other than to say it is diverse, but at the heart of all his films they are about the characters. It’s no surprise that his new film Hit Man is once again a film about the characters and definitely has more heart than violence, even if the central character is supposed to be a contract killer. The film is loosely based on a true story and was written by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, who also stars in the film, and my first reaction is this is immediately shooting to the top of my list of my favorite films I’ve seen this year. Though this film has some familiar tropes, I have to say it is a breath of fresh air. A film without CGI, it isn’t an established IP; it’s just a good story that is carried by great performances and was fun start to finish. The first impression I got from the film as the credits rolled is that it reminded me of the fun and cool crime films of the 90s. To be even more specific, this reminded me of Grosse Point Blank and Out of Sight if the films had a love child and for an extra splash of cool blended in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, but some how it still manages to be its own thing.
Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson, who is a college professor in New Orleans. On the side he works with the police department as a simple tech guy … that is until he’s put in the position where he has to go undercover and pose as a hit man when the department’s “hit man” is put on a 120-day suspension. To everyone’s surprise it turns out Gary is really good at pretending to be a professional killer, and he is given the full-time gig for as long as the under cover agent, Jasper (Austin Amelio) is under suspension. Gary takes the new job seriously and starts to research the people who are wanting to hire him as a hit man, and he takes on a persona he feels best suits the hit man they are looking for. We get to see Gary take on a wide variety of looks and personalities, and if this was all the film was I would have been happy, but things take a bit of turn when Gary is confronted by Madison (Adria Arjona), a woman looking for someone to kill her husband. The identity Gary uses with Madison is Ron, and under this persona Gary seems to find this untapped confidence and manages to convince Madison to not go through with hiring him for the hit. While this may seem like a bust for the undercover unit, Gary seems to enjoy acting like Ron, and he kind of runs with this personality.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2024
"For most of human civilization, we believed that we were Earth's most dominant species. We believed that life could only exist on the surface of the planet. Well, after a certain point of view, you have to wonder what else we were wrong about. In the beginning, Hollow Earth lived in harmony with the surface world. The Titans were the guardians of nature, and the Great Apes became the protectors of humanity. But a great evil threatened the peace. A powerful and ruthless ape desperate to conquer the surface world led his tribe into war against the one they call the Monster Who Ate a Star. The war with the Apes nearly destroyed Godzilla. But after a great battle, he imprisoned the apes in a fiery realm of Hollow Earth. Their false king remains obsessed with reaching the surface. The Iwi call him the Skar King."
That in a nutshell is the plot of the latest Monsterverse film from Legacy and Warner Brothers. It's called Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, and we're told the X is silent. And here I thought it was some kind of a multiplier.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on June 8th, 2024
“You're my bad boys. Now clear my name.”
Slipping back into their roles as Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett must be as easy as slipping on their favorite jacket for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence at this point. Their chemistry has been what has sustained this nearly thirty-year franchise, and they continue the trend with the latest installment, Bad Boys: Ride or Die. If this is to be the final addition in the franchise, I would be more than satisfied, and Ride or Die would be a very good high note to go out on in my opinion, as it offers a measure of catharsis for both characters. Not to mention paying homage to an O.G. character who was tragically killed (I’m still upset about it) in the previous film. Naturally Smith and Lawrence are the returning vets for the series, but there are also a few other returning faces, such as Paola Nunez, Jacob Scipio, Vanessa Hudgens, and Alex Ludwig, who were introduced in the last film. However, that’s not all, as the film demonstrates excellent character continuity by including characters introduced in the first movie. Characters like Dennis Greene as Reggie, and even better, a surprise cameo from a very tall former criminal that dates to the original film. You’ll know him when you see him. Unfortunately, Theresa Randle (who played Marcus’ wife in the other installments) does not return, due to what I’ve been led to believe were medical concerns. Wishing her a full recovery. Meanwhile, Tasha Smith graciously steps into the role.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 8th, 2024
It’s summertime, and that means people will of course be flooding the beaches to soak up some rays and enjoy frolicking in the ocean. Because of pop culture and the legacy of Jaws, I’m sure plenty of those beachgoers will have that terrifying thought about what could be lurking beneath the surface, potentially stalking them and ready to strike. The reality is sharks want nothing to do with us; they’d rather feast on a tasty harbor seal or a giant tuna, but that doesn’t change how so many people are afraid of sharks, and Hollywood has happily cashed in on those fears, churning out numerous shark-attack films year after year. Jaws is of course the pinnacle of the genre; then I’d consider The Shallows and Deep Blue Sea to follow behind it. Personally I’m a fan of this sub-genre of creature feature films. No matter how absurd these films may get, if it has a shark turning swimmers into its own little buffet, I have to check it out. To be fair, there have been some duds in the genre, but the only one I wish I could take back and erase from my memory would be last years Black Demon. Yikes, that was a bad one. Right now, though, I’m going to be talking about the new French film that Netflix has released, Under Paris. Is it worth taking the plunge, or does it follow in the footsteps of many previous films from the streaming giant and turn out to be a dud?
The film opens up in the Pacific Ocean, where a group of scientists are exploring the great garbage patch that is floating in the open waters. They are there because they’ve been tracking a mako shark, and they soon realize that there’s something strange about their shark. It has managed to grow double the size it should be. The shark wastes little time before chewing its way through the scientists, leaving behind Sophia (Berenice Bejo), who’s just watched her husband get killed along with the other members of the team. The film jumps ahead three years, and an activist group has been tracking this mako, and they’ve discovered it has found its way into the Seine River and has made the river its new hunting ground. It just so happens Sophia is working at an aquarium not too far from the Seine River. This coincidence does give some heavy Jaws IV: The Revenge vibes, only instead of revenge, perhaps the shark has come to finish what it started.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 4th, 2024
"I, Bass Reeves, do solemnly swear that I will execute all lawful precepts directed to the Marshall of The United States for the Western District of Arkansas without malice or partiality, perform the duties of Deputy Marshall and take only my lawful fees. So help me God."
He was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. Bass Reeves is one of the biggest icons of the old west and perhaps one of the least remembered. He served for 35 years and managed to bring in over 4000 wanted men for their day in court and likely the noose. It's a huge story, and the filmmakers of Lawmen: Bass Reeves have taken on the enormous task with just 8 episodes of this limited series with no follow-up planned or on the books. Were they able to meet such a challenge? That's going to require some explanation. The series was based on the first two of a series of books written by Sidney Thompson, who serves as a consultant on the series.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2024
"Seems like a nice day for a swim."
Walt Disney Studios has struggled of late. It's been a while since they've had much of a hit, and that includes their Marvel and Pixar components. In the years just before the pandemic the studio was outperforming anyone in the industry. One Disney executive once said that actually printing money would be less profitable than the billions the studio was raking in. But something changed around the pandemic, and it had little to do with a virus. The studio started to flex its muscles in the political arena, and those elements started to dominate the on-screen product. It doesn't really matter if one agrees with them or not. I think it's tricky when a part of the entertainment industry starts to get too involved with a particular social ideology. Just ask the Dixie Chicks. The who? That's my point. It's cost the studio a considerable sum and an over 50% plunge in their stock value over three years or so. Why would you alienate half of the prospective audience? Forget politics. It's just not good business. So this was the backdrop in which I attended our screening of Young Woman Of The Sea. If ever there was a film that looked to really pile on, that sure sounded like the title to me. To my surprise, the film appears to avoid all of that and ends up being the best Disney film I've seen in a few years.
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