What’s New on Home Video – Week of April 20
by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com Well…not exactly a great week for new releases, although we do admit at […]
Bad Boys for Life
https://youtu.be/jKCj3XuPG8M
The Turning
https://youtu.be/rl33gU2APIs
Like a Boss
https://youtu.be/9ESkyRFEso4
The Gentlemen (DVD)
https://youtu.be/2B0RpUGss2c
" ["post_title"]=> string(43) "What's New on Home Video - Week of April 20" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(40) "whats-new-on-home-video-week-of-april-20" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2020-04-21 10:20:09" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-04-21 14:20:09" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(63) "https://wnnd-fm.sagacom.com/?post_type=saga_on_air&p=16848" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(11) "saga_on_air" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [1]=> object(WP_Post)#5125 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(16812) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "66" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2020-04-14 11:02:46" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-04-14 15:02:46" ["post_content"]=> string(1347) "by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com Couple of decent options available in home entertainment this week, and both of them went under seen. Catch one if you can this week.
Just Mercy
https://youtu.be/GVQbeG5yW78
Underwater
https://youtu.be/jCFWEzIVILc
by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com Another day, another desperate attempt to find entertainment. Well, unless you're willing to brave Target in search of a DVD, the new studio releases for streaming won't help, except ironically.
Little Women (DVD)
https://youtu.be/ZqFw0l6n8RA
The Night Clerk (DVD)
https://youtu.be/flDC7Ar2Deg
Dolittle
https://youtu.be/zjm6rDgKNMY
Cats
https://youtu.be/FtSd844cI7U
Brahms: The Boy II
https://youtu.be/TJTN0DypQ10
" ["post_title"]=> string(42) "What's New on Home Video - Week of April 6" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(47) "See what's new in home entertainment this week!" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(39) "whats-new-on-home-video-week-of-april-6" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2020-04-07 10:45:15" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-04-07 14:45:15" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(63) "https://wnnd-fm.sagacom.com/?post_type=saga_on_air&p=16755" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(11) "saga_on_air" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [3]=> object(WP_Post)#5131 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(16722) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "66" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2020-03-31 10:25:15" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-31 14:25:15" ["post_content"]=> string(1798) "by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com Still stuck at home! Well, if you've tired of Tiger King episodes and are looking for some new home viewing options, we have you covered.
Click on the film title to link to the full review.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qn_spdM5Zg
Sonic the Hedgehog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szby7ZHLnkA&t=12s
The Current War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJuG1hKQMk
" ["post_title"]=> string(43) "What's New on Home Video - Week of March 30" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(98) "If you've tired of Tiger King episodes and are want new home viewing options, we have you covered." ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(40) "whats-new-on-home-video-week-of-march-30" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2020-03-31 10:37:47" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-31 14:37:47" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(63) "https://wnnd-fm.sagacom.com/?post_type=saga_on_air&p=16722" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(11) "saga_on_air" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [4]=> object(WP_Post)#5132 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(16688) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "66" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2020-03-24 10:16:41" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-24 14:16:41" ["post_content"]=> string(3046) "by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
About half of this week's new releases are hot off their truncated theatrical releases. The other half is the set of movies we'd already expected to come out this week. The result? A boon in home entertainment! (Well, some of these are pretty bad, but still - boon!)
Click the title to link to the full review.
1917
https://youtu.be/gZjQROMAh_s
Clemency
https://youtu.be/HzUhz2XkFfE
Birds of Prey
https://youtu.be/kGM4uYZzfu0
The Gentlemen
https://youtu.be/2B0RpUGss2c
Bloodshot
https://youtu.be/_wigHuQF5mI
The Grudge
https://youtu.be/nFg6mhZbXEc
The Song of Names
https://youtu.be/Pbc3iujW6Oc
" ["post_title"]=> string(36) "We Can't Go Out - Week on March 23rd" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(33) "we-cant-go-out-week-on-march-23rd" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2020-03-24 10:16:41" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-24 14:16:41" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(63) "https://wnnd-fm.sagacom.com/?post_type=saga_on_air&p=16688" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(11) "saga_on_air" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [5]=> object(WP_Post)#5133 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(16634) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "66" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2020-03-18 10:07:49" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-18 14:07:49" ["post_content"]=> string(2730) "by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
Nobody wants to go out, and even if you did, there is nowhere to go. So, hunker down and let us help you find something to watch. Here's what's new in home entertainment.
Click the movie title to link to the full review.
Swallow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auVZKcxV7XQ
Jumanji: The Next Level
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBxcF-r9Ibs
A Hidden Life (DVD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXmdY4lVR0
Richard Jewell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9WjyYKPxHk
Black Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF4yRYbo1WE&t=10s
" ["post_title"]=> string(43) "We Can't Go Out...What's New On Home Video?" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(63) "Hunkered down at home? Here's what's new in home entertainment." ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(38) "we-cant-go-out-whats-new-on-home-video" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2020-03-19 09:37:59" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-19 13:37:59" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(63) "https://wnnd-fm.sagacom.com/?post_type=saga_on_air&p=16634" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(11) "saga_on_air" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [6]=> object(WP_Post)#5134 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(16610) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "66" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2020-03-16 20:17:07" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-17 00:17:07" ["post_content"]=> string(5279) "by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com Okay, so we can't go out to get our Irish on this year. Here are some great ideas for celebrating at home!Two For the family: Song of the Sea (2014)
This beautifully Academy Award-nominated watercolored dream mixes the modern day with Irish folklore to spin the yarn of a wee selkie and the brother who begrudgingly loves her. Magical, sweet, charming and funny, it's a treat parents will enjoy at least as much as their kids. It should have won the Oscar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgbXWt8kM5Qand The Secret of Kells (2009)
Pair it with director Tomm Moore's first Oscar nominee, the gorgeous Celtic poem The Secret of Kells. Moore's talent for blending everyday challenges with ancient magic is again at work as we shadow young Brendan through the riotous color and animated details of the enchanted forest outside the medieval abby where he lives. It's another visually stunning bit of animation that's as compelling to adults as it is to children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UuUOXfiz9Q&t=28sAnd six for the grown-ups:
6. The Boondock Saints (1999)
Let's start with the pretend Irish here at home. Wow, these brogues are terrible. Just awful. But writer/director Troy Duffy’s sordid story of the righteously violent McManus twins did find an audience. They’re out to clean up the Boston they love – or at least ensure that it’s the Irish, not the Russians, allowed to shoot up the neighborhood. Steeped in Catholicism, blood, pathos and, again, the worst imaginable accents, Boondock Saints is weirdly watchable. It helps that Willem Dafoe tags along as one insane FBI agent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydXojYfCF3I5. Knuckle (2011)
James Quinn McDonagh cuts an enigmatic presence through the bloody world of Irish Traveler bare knuckle “fairfights” in Ian Palmer’s documentary Knuckle. The unbeaten pride of the Quinn McDonaghs, James takes on challengers from the feuding Joyce clan. Unfortunately, each win quells the action only briefly, as family members’ chest thumping and boasting reignite the feud, and another challenge is made. Palmer aims to illustrate the culture that fuels rather than overcomes its grudges, due in equal measure to unchecked bravado and finance (wagers bring in fast money for the winning clan). Filming for more than a decade, Palmer uncovers something insightful about the Traveler culture, and perhaps about masculinity or warmongering at its most basic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX8qcOWFr-w4. The Guard (2011)
Then to a lighthearted look at drugs and crime on the Emerald Isle. Writer/director John Michael McDonagh assembles a dream cast anchored by the ever-reliable Brendan Gleeson to wryly articulate a tale of underestimation and police corruption in this very Irish take on the buddy cop movie. Through Gleeson, McDonagh shares a dark, philosophical yet silly humor, crafts almost slapstick action, and offers a view of hired guns as workaday folk. The Guard is a celebration of tart Irish humor and character; the actual plot merely provides the playground for the fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5pk6s-PRUE3. Calvary (2014)
McDonagh and Gleeson return three years later in Calvary. The endlessly wonderful Gleeson plays Fr. Michael, a dry-witted but deeply decent priest who has a week to get his affairs in order while a parishoner plans to kill him. Sumptuously filmed and gorgeously written, boasting as much world-weary humor as genuine insight, it’s an amazing film and a performance that should not be missed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGM5rq_vX4U2. Once (2006)
You can't celebrate St. Pat's without some music. In Once, an Irish street musician fixes vacuums by day and dreams of heading to London in search of a recording contract. His unpredictable relationship with a Czech immigrant becomes the needed catalyst. Writer/director John Carney creates a lovely working man’s Dublin in a film blessed with sparkling performances from heretofore unknown leads Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Their chemistry and their music are the heart of the film. This immensely charming slice of life picture, superbly crafted with tender realism, also boasts an honest, understated screenplay, and undoubtedly the best soundtrack of 2006. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4uFFNl6FQ41. The Commitments (1991)
Jimmy Rabbitte intends to manage the greatest soul band in the world, so he hand crafts The Commitments, a Dublin-based, all white, blue collar soul band the likes of which Ireland has never seen. (The band includes Hansard again, much younger and with a magnificent 'fro.) Alan Parker’s “behind the music” style tale of the rise and fall of a band is as charming, energetic and great sounding a way to spend St. Patrick’s Day as you will find. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSXGeUQc0Co" ["post_title"]=> string(22) "St. Pat's Movie Ideas!" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(19) "st-pats-movie-ideas" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2020-03-16 20:17:07" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-17 00:17:07" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(63) "https://wnnd-fm.sagacom.com/?post_type=saga_on_air&p=16610" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(11) "saga_on_air" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [7]=> object(WP_Post)#5135 (24) { ["ID"]=> int(16565) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "66" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2020-03-12 09:25:29" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2020-03-12 13:25:29" ["post_content"]=> string(12068) "Bloodshot
by George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
“Nobody wants to make any real decisions. They just want to feel like they have.”
For a movie that couldn’t have seen shutdown weekend coming, that’s one line in Bloodshot that feels pretty damn timely.
So whether or not there’s anyone in the theater to greet him, Vin Diesel brings the latest comic book hero to the big screen in a visual effects throwdown searching for any other resonant thread.
If, like me, you’re not familiar with one of the most popular characters in the Valiant comic universe, Ray Garrison (Diesel) is a battle-scarred soldier forced to watch his wife’s murder before he eats a bullet himself.
Waking up in lab of RST industries, Ray hears some hard truths from the brilliant Dr. Harding (Guy Pearce).
He died from that bullet, but he’s back now as the prototype “enhanced soldier” Project Bloodshot has been aiming for. Any injury Ray suffers will repair itself almost instantly, so he can soldier on for war and profit.
Does Ray have trouble accepting his reality? Not enough, which works in a way because the realities keep changing. While Ray only wants to track down his wife’s killer, the vast computer program that keeps Ray upright has surprises in store.
Bloodshot is director David S.F. Wilson’s debut feature after a ton of video game visual effects credits, which is probably why it looks like a giant video game drunk with budget allowances. And though that budget does buy some slick sequences, the film’s Matrix-type mainframe device leans too much on the buzzkill that is the computer keyboard.
Diesel’s guttural emoting is on auto-pilot, while Pearce gets to ham it up a bit and Baby Driver’s Elia Gonzales gets hung out to dry. As a fellow enhanced soldier, her superpowers seem limited to posing, pouting, and squeezing into the tightest wardrobe imaginable.
The screenplay, from the team of Jeff Wardlow and Eric Heisserer, does manage some needed self-aware humor about movie cliches, even as it’s serving them up alongside heavy doses of stilted, expository dialog.
By all means, support your local theater this weekend. And if you’re a fan of the Bloodshot comic, your decision to catch this big screen version will most likely be a good one.
Otherwise, there’s not really enough here to make you feel like it was.
https://youtu.be/vOUVVDWdXbo
The Hunt
by Hope Madden, MaddWolf.com
About a year ago, Universal Studios pulled the release of The Hunt because of the amount of gun violence. Commendable.
Later that year, other studios released Ready or Not—critical darling, but didn’t do great box office. Then Knives Out, which was both a critical darling and box office giant. And, of course, Parasite would go on to win all the Oscars. Even documentary short.
While The Hunt does contain a goodly amount of violence—guns, knives, hand grenades, pens, stilettos, kitchen appliances—it also boasts the one thing that appears to be the universal key to entertainment. It hates rich people.
Director Craig Zobel (Compliance), along with writers Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof (both of TV’s Watchmen and The Leftovers), takes no prisoners as characters take a bunch of prisoners, drops them in a field somewhere and, you know, hunts them down for sport. The film gleefully skewers both the left and the right, often in ways you wouldn’t expect but should.
This is a meticulously structured horror film, the tidy beats allowing the writers to insert surprises that play on your preconceived notions in clever ways. Like Jordan Peele, Zobel proves a nimble manipulator of both horror tropes and social commentary. And casting.
I have to think Betty Gilpin was the most disappointed when this film was shelved last year because it is her break out. No more support work as the hot mean chick, Gilpin’s Crystal is the wrong badass to underestimate. The performance is never showy but quirky and genuine, which goes a long way toward increasing believability.
Zobel populates the herd with familiar faces (Emma Roberts, Ike Barinholtz, Hilary Swank, Amy Madigan), mainly for sleight of hand. Though most get little screen time, and each is handed a fairly one-dimensional character, both the writing and the performances mine that gimmick for a lot.
Positioned to infuriate everyone in one scene or another, the film is brash and bracingly level-headed. It’s violent AF, no doubt, but what it reflects back at us is far smarter than what you might expect. The Hunt is a darkly comedic, socially savvy, equal opportunity skewering and it is a blast.
https://youtu.be/sowGYbxTPgU
Wendy
by Hope Madden, MaddWolf.com Earlier this year, Oz Perkins retold the old Grimm Fairy Tale Hansel and Gretel from the perspective of the newly adolescent sister. It was a fascinating way to reexamine folklore and coming of age.
Likewise, director and co-writer Ben Zeitlin reimagines the old Peter Pan tale, this time through the eyes of Wendy.
It’s not entirely clear why, though.
Zeitlin and writing partner Eliza Zeitlin impressed—more than impressed, they flabbergasted—with their near-perfect 2012 feature debut, Beasts of the Southern Wild. Their sophomore effort delivers a similarly loose narrative structure, another game cast of mostly children and unknowns, and gorgeous visuals that emphasize the chaotic and restless beauty of childhood.
Wendy opens strong. Zeitlin’s impressionistic camera work evokes an intimate if raucous scene of a toddler (Wendy) charming patrons on her mother’s hip at a dodgy diner abutting a train station.
It sets up a thrilling first act that unfortunately settles into thematic confusion once we get to Neverland.
Not that J. M. Barrie’s original text was entirely rational. The underlying theme—being lost without maternal love—remains intact, but for the Zeitlins, that theme takes on an ecological nature. Mother, in the form of a giant glowing fish, represents Mother Nature (and also Tinker Bell—stay with me).
Who would want to grow up when grownups do thoughtless, destructive things that damage, perhaps kill, the mother that sustains them? It’s a heavy-handed idea, but Zeitlin’s clearly Malick-esque style of evocative visuals held together by whispered narration keeps it from feeling like a sermon.
Still, it doesn’t entirely work.
If Tinker Bell/Giant Fish is the mother character, where does that leave Wendy?
What a fascinating question! I wish the Zeitlins had a better answer.
The Zeitlins don’t seem to know. The Peter character, played with mischievous energy by Yashua Mack, is also depicted without real clarity, but that’s OK. Peter is supposed to be an enigma, his relationship with Wendy (Devin France) is meant to provide the backbone that holds the adventure together. But they don’t have much of a relationship.
Not much in the film actually seems to have a clear relationship to anything else, which makes for frustrating, often tedious viewing. Worse still, the Zeitlins’ voice over narration, clearly meant to hold the pieces together and provide some forward momentum, echoes with world-weary wisdom and regret that sounds forced and inauthentic in little Devin France’s voice.
Rather than a reimagining of Peter Pan, Wendy feels like a misguided reworking of Beasts of the Southern Wild, which did not need tampering of any kind.
https://youtu.be/KKktQFFcXL0
The Traitor (Il traditore)
by George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
If you think Scorsese set the bar for three and a half hour mob epics, well, you may have a point.
But, although it clocks in at one hour south of The Irishman, Marco Bellocchio's The Traitor also uses one man's true-life experience to frame an expansive reflection on a life in the mob.
Tommaso Buscetta, the youngest of 17 children in a poverty-stricken Sicilian family, found his ticket out through organized crime. Rising to the rank of "Don Masino" in Sicily's Costa Nostra, he eventually lost many family members and allies to the mafia wars. Disillusioned, Buscetta became one of the very first to break the mob's strict code of silence and turn "pentito," or informant.
Pierfrancisco Favino, who probably gets women pregnant just from introducing himself, is tremendous as the "Boss of Two Worlds." Unlike DeNiro's Frank Sheeran, Buscetta is looking back with defiance, secure in his standing as the only man "honorable" enough to call out the less honorable. Favino brings a quiet intensity to this inner strength that comes to define Buscetta after personal loss drives him to the depths of despair.
The moral complexities of honor among killers is Bellocchio's strongest play. Early in the film, he sets the stakes effectively through sustained tension and stylish violence (a set piece inside a window factory is especially impressive) offset with familiar loyalties. Bellocchio invites our sympathies for a career criminal, and Favino rewards them.
But once Buscetta starts singing to anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi), the film gets bogged down in the minutiae of courtroom testimony. Though American audiences may be intrigued by some of the differences in Italian trial procedure, Bellocchio's prolonged attention to these details makes us long for the pace of the film's first two acts.
The scope of Buscetta's story is grand and Bellocchio's ambitions noteworthy, but even at 145 minutes the film ultimately feels like a finely-crafted overview. Favino has the goods to give us the The Traitor's soul, but not the freedom.
Maybe another hour or so would have done it.
https://youtu.be/iQF1uhlQH5s
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by Hope Madden, MaddWolf.com Dan Scanlon’s been kicking around Pixar for a while. He’s been part of the “Senior Creative Team” for some of the greatest animated films of the last decade: Toy Story 4, Coco, Inside Out. He also wrote and directed Monsters University—his only w/d credits with the animation giant—and that movie is one of Pixar’s rare missteps. Can he right his footing with a fraternal quest, a hero’s journey, a nerdy road trip? Not quite. Onward, Scanlon’s first directing effort since that monstrous 2013 Revenge of the Nerds riff, opens where many a hero’s journey begins: a birthday. Shy elf Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) is turning 16. He’s a little awkward, and maybe even slightly embarrassed by his magic and folklore obsessed older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt). Ian never met his dad, but his mom’s been saving a gift for just this occasion. It will set a series of actions in motion that will show the town how cool (and destructive) magic can be. But will it turn meek Ian into a hero? Scanlon sets up a funny if slight near-satire of the mythical hero’s quest, and the most enjoyable sight gags in the film come from his eye for other (better) films in this vein: all things Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones. There’s even a bit of Guardians of the Galaxy (which feels a little too on-the-nose) and maybe just a touch of Weekend at Bernie’s. Plus feral unicorns. I will be honest, he had me at feral unicorns. And it is these little flourishes that Onward gets right, but that’s just not enough to carry the film. Pratt and especially Holland – who continues a run of solid voice work (even if no one saw Dolittle or Spies in Disguise) – both find a rapport that feels honest enough to give the emotional climax a little punch. But there’s just nothing particularly magical about this movie. The core story is paint by numbers obvious and the nods to other epic adventures become so frequent and so brazen that it’s hard to find a single inspired or original thought in the entire film. It’s nice. It garners an amused chuckle or too, maybe even a sniffle, but you’ll be hard pressed to remember anything about it besides those unicorns, and there was no real point to those.
https://youtu.be/gn5QmllRCn4
Emma
by Cat McAlpine, MaddWolf.com “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition…had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” So begins Jane Austen’s final novel, and so too starts Emma., with text across the screen that almost seems to smirk. We find Emma as she is described: beautiful, put together, and just mischievous enough. She is also vain, childish, and compulsive in a way that mysteriously endears you to her. Anya Taylor-Joy (The VVitch, Thoroughbreds) delivers a masterful performance that is always on the verge of a laugh or a tear, depending on which way the day goes. Well matched in chemistry and in his ability to show an astonishing depth beneath the veneer of decorum is Johnny Flynn as George Knightley. I have loved Flynn since Lovesick was titled Scrotal Recall (yes, really), and his performance in Emma. is earnest and authentic as always. The character growth, across the cast but most importantly for Emma and Knightley, is masterfully done by both and makes this one of my most favorite period pieces. There are no nonsensical professions of love, you can see every spark light and burn – even in the slightest nods and prolonged bits of eye contact. Josh O’Connor so well telegraphs his nervous and misplaced intentions as Mr. Elton, that it’s even funnier that Emma is in the dark ’til the end. Supporting the hilarious, heartfelt journey is a cast of wild and weird characters with impeccable timing, namely Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse, Mia Goth as Harriet Smith, and Miranda Hart as the unfathomably lovable Miss Bates. In fact, it is the background of Emma.’s tapestry that makes the story so vibrant. So rarely do the wealthy find themselves truly alone, and director Autumn de Wilde capitalizes on the presence of society members and household staff alike—often out of focus but still on screen—to mine even more comedic opportunities. In her first full length feature, de Wilde deftly uses the camera to double down on subtext and deepen the most important moments. Her use of camera emphasizes the screen as its own type of narration and honors the story’s origin as a novel. Eleanor Catton’s debut screenplay expertly weaves the multitude of characters and circumstances. Neither de Wilde nor Catton is afraid to slow down and strike a vignette, but the pacing is only occasionally labored, as the gorgeous cinematography and costume design alike provide plenty to gawk at. Finally, I would be remiss to leave out the score, which has its own humor and cagey attitude to support the litany of other masterful elements. The entire production has a beautiful, rhythmic choreography to which all things, movement, people, and intentions, inevitably adhere. I often both benefit and suffer from being sporadically read. As George Knightly muses, “Emma has been meaning to read more ever since she was twelve years old.” Me too, bud. I’ve never read Emma, or seen an adaptation, so I can’t tell you how well this holds up to the source material. Based on the reactions of the mostly middle-aged female audience in my showing, it holds up marvelously. Based on my own viewing, this is a charming, funny, and soon-to-be-classic viewing experience for anyone.
https://youtu.be/qsOwj0PR5Sk
Greed
by George Wolf, MaddWolf.com Greed is a film with a big, timely target and a handful of well-groomed darts. But as much as it consistently lands shots on the board, it never gets close to the bullseye. To be fair, landing a knockout satire is no easy trick. That writer/director Michael Winterbottom can’t manage it is one problem, but you’re never quite sure he’s fully committed to trying, which is the bigger issue. He did land a stellar cast, starting right at the top with Steve Coogan, who plays retail fashion mogul Sir Richard McCreadie to pompous perfection. McCreadie, Britain’s “Monet of Money,” is ready to celebrate his 60th birthday with a huge, Gladiator-themed blowout on the coast of Greece, complete with a recreated Coliseum, a live lion, and entertainment from Elton and Coldplay. Those Syrian refugees camped out on the public beach, though? Yeah, they’re ruining the view, so they’ll have to go. While McCreadie’s mother (Shirley Henderson), his ex-wife Samantha (Isla Fisher), their son (Hugo‘s Asa Butterfield, all grown up!) and various employees and hangers-on dodge his frequent outbursts, official biographer Nick (David Mitchell) is trying to make sense of it all. Winterbottom, writer and/or director for all of Coogan’s The Trip franchise, uses Nick’s fact-finding as the catalyst for plenty of time hopping. From a ruthless young McCreadie (Jamie Blackley) building his empire to a well-scripted episode of “reality” television filming alongside the party planning, Greed unveils a surface-level social consciousness in search of a clear direction. There’s absurdity, clever amusements and some outright laughs (especially McCreadie haggling over the prices for big-ticket entertainers and a financial writer explaining the illusion of money), but Winterbottom doesn’t seem to trust himself – or his audience- enough to get off the pulpit and commit to satire. The unveiling of shady business deals, the folly of the “self-made man” and the distance between wealth and consequence is all valid terrain, but Greed is content with paths less challenging and more obvious. And on one occasion, the film’s timing works against it, because as great as this cast is at dry humor and glossy obnoxiousness, hearing someone label McCreadie a “parasite” only underscores how vital this class warfare theme can be with more inspired execution.
https://youtu.be/S3ZJB1zUY7g"
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The Invisible Man
by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
Leigh Whannell likes him some mad science.
Two years ago the Saw and Insidious writer found his footing as a director with the unreasonably entertaining Upgrade. In what amounted to Knight Rider as imagined by David Cronenberg, the film gave the old yin/yang concept a robotics feel thanks to the work of an evil genius.
The evil genius concept is back for Whannell’s reimagining of The Invisible Man. But the most interesting thing about this version of the old H.G. Wells tale is that the man—invisible or not—plays second fiddle.
Instead of the existential ponderings that generally underscore cinematic Invisible Man retellings, Whannell uses this story to examine sexual politics, abuse, control and agency.
It’s a laudable aim, but the reason it works is casting.
How great is Elisabeth Moss?
Not just in this film—but make no mistake, she’s fantastic. Whether it’s her TV work, small bits in indies like The Square or The Kitchen, or leading film roles, she’s been brilliant in everything she’s ever done. (Last year’s Her Smell is making its cable TV rounds – watch it!)
Whannell’s script is smart, with much needed upgrades to the invisibility formula as well as the havoc wrought. There are a handful of unrealistic moments, mostly in terms of character development, but a game cast (including Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer and Michael Dorman) consistently elevates the material.
There is also an irritatingly convenient employment of security footage: there when it suits the film, but weirdly unmentioned when it would derail the plot.
The fight choreography, on the other hand, is evenly fantastic, and these one-sided battles had to be hard to execute.
But the success of The Invisible Man is almost entirely shouldered by Moss, who nails every moment of oppressed Cecilia Kass’s arc. And early on, Moss has to sell it - pardon the pun- sight unseen. We're only told Cecelia is abused, but Moss makes sure we never doubt that it is so.
Cecelia's desperation, her fear, her logic, self-doubt as well as belief—all of it rings absolutely true. When you’re building a fantasy film in which one character is invisible and most actors are responding to an empty room, authenticity is key (and often very hard to come by). Moss makes it look easy.
But beyond the sci-fi and horror elements, Whannell's success at weaving this tale through a #metoo lens comes from our total investment in Cecelia as a person first, personification of a systemic problem second. Without that, the gaslighting is less resonant and the eventual payoff less earned.
The two-hour running time does come to feel a tad bloated, but this new monster vision boasts plenty of creepy atmospherics, controlled tension and - wonder of wonders - well developed jump scares.
At its core, The Invisible Man is an entertaining B-movie horror propped up by contrivance. Whannell's aim is to give the story new relevance, and thanks to Moss, his aim is true.
https://youtu.be/dSBsNeYqh-k
Seberg
by George Wolf
Another film on the blonde 60s starlet who died far too young, and under mysterious circumstances? Yes, a starlet, but not Monroe.
She may not have been the icon Marilyn was, but Jean Seberg's celebrity life and tragic death had its own "Candle in the Wind" comparisons, all embodied with beguiling grace by Kristen Stewart even when Seberg falls back on superficiality.
Seberg's breakout in 1960's Breathless made her a darling of the French New Wave, but Jean was an Iowa native. As the winds of change in her homeland began raging, Seberg took an interest in the counter-culture that was strong enough to make her a target of the FBI.
Director Benedict Andrews anchors the film in Seberg's involvement with the civil rights movement, and her relationship with activist Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie). Two FBI agents (Vince Vaughn and Jack O'Connell) report Seberg's status as a "sympathizer," and the increasing surveillance throws her life into turmoil.
Andrews, a veteran stage director, seems most at ease recreating Seberg's glamorous life, enveloping the film in an effective old Hollywood gloss and Stewart in consistently loving framing. She responds with what may be her finest performance to date.
We meet Seberg when she is already a star, and Stewart conveys a mix of restlessness, conviction, selfishness and naivete that is never less than compelling. In just over an hour and a half, Stewart takes Seberg from confident fame to paranoid breakdown, and the arc always feels true.
O'Connell leads the strong supporting cast (also including Stephen Root, Margaret Qualley and Zazie Beets) with a nuanced performance as the young agent with a nagging conscience. But while the script from Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse (The Aftermath, Race) wants to draw comparisons with more recent government overreach, Andrews has trouble meshing the FBI thriller with the introspective biography.
Too much of the spying agenda ("This comes from above!") seems paint by numbers, but it never sinks the film thanks to Stewart's command of character. Much like her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, Stewart has followed her blockbuster fame with a string of challenging projects and impressive performances.
In case you've missed any, Seberg is a good place to start catching up.
https://youtu.be/Tck5EBUTeoc
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
by George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
How big of a music geek are you if you can name all five members of The Band?
They were the rare musical breed whose biggest personality was not the lead singer. Still, even charismatic guitarist Robbie Robertson remained largely anonymous next to the very rock stars his work was influencing.
Writer/director Daniel Roher makes Robertson and his memoir the anchor of Once Were Brothers, and while that does limit the film's scope, Robertson is such an enthusiastic and engaging storyteller - and his access is so valuable - you come to understand the choice pretty quickly.
Robertson met his future Band-mates while he was still a teenager, playing guitar and writing songs for Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. The Hawks' talent soon outgrew Hawkins rockabilly style, as Robertson and the boys moved on to a legendary Hawks collaboration with Bob Dylan, before cementing their legacy as The Band.
Roher and executive producer Martin Scorsese surround Robertson (looking fantastic at age 76) with praise from of a succession of legendary fans (Eric Clapton exclaims "Big Pink changed my life,") and, of course, plenty of priceless archival footage.
Music docs are always going to be most interesting to the subject's core following, but even casual Band fans will get bracing reminders of Robertson's guitar virtuosity and drummer Levon Helm's passionately soulful vocal power.
Plus, getting a peek at Dylan telling folk fans "Don't boo me anymore!" and hearing Scorsese deconstruct his own filmmaking on the iconic concert film The Last Waltz fosters an engaging intimacy. At times, the reach extends beyond Robertson's music history to touch on the creative process itself.
As a rock doc, Once Were Brothers blazes few trails, but the ones it travels are well worth revisiting. And though the lack of any counterpoint from surviving member Garth Hudson is noticeable, tour guide Robertson is the kind you're ready to tip when the day is done.
Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Hudson, Helm and Robertson, by the way, but you knew that.
Geek.
https://youtu.be/ZYTpMZjZxwI
Blood on Her Name
by Hope Madden, MaddWolf.com
Good intentions are very mortal and perishable things.
So are people.
Leigh Tiller lets good intentions muck up what should have been an easy crime to get away with. No one would have known. No one would have suspected. Not that there wouldn’t be complications, but she’d deal with those later.
While co-writer/director Matthew Pope doesn’t reinvent the wheel with his Rust Belt noir Blood on Her Name, it is actually the refreshing simplicity of the storytelling that compels you to pay attention. That and Bethany Anne Lind’s performance.
As Tiller, Lind weaves a dotted line between upstanding and sketchy. Her compass doesn’t always point due North, or maybe it does, or at least maybe it could. Right? It could. It’s this struggle, most of it internal, that Lind characterizes with subtle anguish to give the film an aching, remorseful tenderness, a longing for what should be but what is always just out of reach.
Pope populates his low rent neighborhoods with an intriguing mix of characters, none of whom are rendered with broad strokes. Dani Wilson is especially strong as a fading white trash hottie, while Will Patton finds dimension as an old man who believes he deserves a second chance but probably does not.
Blood on Her Name is a film that should feel bleak but it rebels against its own grim fate. This is a film that knows Leigh Tiller deserved better choices, stronger options. It’s a film that doesn’t want to give up on small town, low rent, hard work. But it’s also a film that’s bracingly clear-eyed about the reality that balances that optimism.
The result is a memorably quiet eulogy.
https://youtu.be/z2-rIloYMP0
Disappearance at Clifton Hill
by Hope Madden, MaddWolf.com
A seedy motel, a low-rent Sigfreid & Roy, the sketchy side of a tourist town during low season—Albert Shin’s Disappearance at Clifton Hill is a neo-noir told mainly in nostalgic colors, smoke and mirrors.
The setting for the mystery is the Rainbow Inn Motel, a dump just off the Niagara River gorge that’s seen better days, though it’s tough to imagine when those days might have been.
Abby (Tuppence Middleton – British much?) is home to complicate the fulfillment of her mother’s will, because that will involves selling the old Rainbow Inn to the town mogul who looks to raze Abby’s memories in favor of day-glo paint ball.
What is it she remembers, exactly? A fishing trip down in that gorge. A one-eyed boy. A kidnapping.
Shin mines all those wistful ideas about going home again as Abby begins sifting through sordid secrets, wealthy families, and the decay of the once wondrous world of her youth. Where will her sleuthing lead?
Aah, the untapped resources of your local public library. Is that a microfiche machine?!
Shin excels at nailing atmospherics. Tourist trap towns do feel seedier off-season, their sparsely populated amusements somehow sad. In Shin’s hands, the town, its near vacant fun house and caged tigers all conjure the notion of childhood perverted.
Magician’s trickery. Sleight of hand.
The delightfully dodgy Abby is the epitome of an unreliable narrator, although to Shin’s endless credit, we’re not asked to believe something she’s telling us. We are with her, step by step, as she convinces herself of something, which allows us—like Abby herself—to really hope she might actually be on to something.
There’s a fluidity to the way Shin and co-writer James Schultz unveil Abby’s own sketchiness, beginning with a barroom conversation/seduction. This is also where he begins to introduce a delicious stew of supporting characters, each one a little quirkier than the last.
Hannah Gross particularly impresses as Abby’s far more grounded sister Laure, but I was probably most excited about Walter.
When you think of David Cronenberg—and I think of him often—you don’t always consider his acting. But he does add a little something something to films. Here he charms as Walter, area historian and podcaster: “Remember, rate and review.”
Disappearance at Clifton Hill is not a flawless film, but it is deceptively competent. It’s fun and clever. Middleton’s clear eyed yet delusional Nancy Drew never ceases to be appealing.
And just when you think Shin and company have tidied up a little too quickly…smoke and mirrors, my friend.
https://youtu.be/TjNYN5bqi8I
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Well...not exactly a great week for new releases, although we do admit at the top of the list is a movie everybody seemed to like except us.
Bad Boys for Life
https://youtu.be/jKCj3XuPG8M
The Turning
https://youtu.be/rl33gU2APIs
Like a Boss
https://youtu.be/9ESkyRFEso4
The Gentlemen (DVD)
https://youtu.be/2B0RpUGss2c
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