One Battle After Another

Movie Name: One Battle After Another
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Tony Goldwyn, Wood Harris, Alana Haim, Shayna McHayle, Starletta DuPois, Eric Schweig, Kevin Tighe, James Downey, D.W. Moffett, James Raterman, Jason Belford, Dan Chariton, Sherron Gassoway, April Grace, Ted McCarthy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
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Synopsis and Review

After the nostalgic "Licorice Pizza", writer/producer/director Paul Thomas Anderson has returned. This time around the film follows the story of Pat Calhoun, whom we first encounter as part of a revolutionary group known as the French 75. They break out detained immigrants from detention centers, they attack politicians' offices, attack power grids. He eventually falls in love with one of the movement's leaders, Perfidia Beverly Hills. Perfidia in one of their interventions comes across Steven Lockjaw, a commanding officer who gets sexually turned on by her authority. He starts pursuing the group, Perfidia in particular, and eventually catches up with them. He agrees to let her go after a sexual tryst. Perfidia eventually gives birth to a baby girl, Charlene, but refuses to abide to a sanitized family life with Pat, and leaves them both. She's eventually captured and in order to avoid jail time, rats everyone in the movement. She goes into the witness protection program, but eventually leaves and flees to Mexico. In the meantime Pat and Charlene also escape, and start new lives in the Baktan Cross area as Bob and Willa Ferguson. Sixteen years go by, and Lockjaw is now aiming to join a secretive club named Christmas Adventurers Club, one that thoroughly analyzes his background, including if he ever engaged in interracial relationships. He lies, though he starts looking for Willa, eventually dispatching troops to the Baktan Cross area under the guise of an immigration and drug enforcement operation. Willa is saved by one of the underground members of the French 75, while Bob barely escapes his house using a tunnel. They both set off to hide, while Bob is desperately trying to get Willa back, even though his perpetual drugged state doesn't help. 

"One Battle After Another" is loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's "Vineland", but Paul Thomas Anderson brought the themes and context of the novel to our current day, and it's pretty much a perfect fit for what we're currently going through. It still feels very much like a portmanteau of the lives of different characters, intersecting with each other, something he explored so well in "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia", but in this case, all through this common thread of these characters who have been united by this revolutionary movement, and by those trying to suppress it. While the film is being advertised and sold as an "action film", at its core is still very much a Paul Thomas Anderson feature, one where characters are on collision courses with each other, revealing more of themselves and of others, as a result of those interactions. There's elements of humor, elements of terror (what is being illustrated is not science fiction), but the director manages to bring all these elements together and makes them all work coherently. There are characters in the film that did deserve some additional screen time and more dimension, but the film manages to make its point across quite vividly, navigating a tone that is both satyrical and dramatic, making everyone look at what's happening in the world right now. The cast is uniformly fantastic, with Leonardo DiCaprio creating a fantastic deadbeat dad with hints from his Jordan Belfort (from "The Wolf of Wall Street"), with solid support from Sean Penn (though his character at some point becomes a caricature of itself, since it's played in the same note all the time), Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall (who is fantastic), and the revelatory Chase Infinity. The production team is top notch as well, particularly Jonny Greenwood's score and Michael Bauman's cinematography. Another great film from one of the most consistent and talented film makers working these days. 

The Last Showgirl

Movie Name: The Last Showgirl
Year of Release: 2024
Director: Gia Coppola
Starring: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Billie Lourd, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Jason Schwartzman, Linda Montana, Giovani L. DiCandilo
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Gia Coppola has quietly been making a career for herself, joining the talented ranks of her family, which includes Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Nicolas Cage, Talia Shire, Jason and Robert Schwartzman. "The Last Showgirl" follows the story of Shelly, a showgirl who has worked for three decades at a venue called Le Razzle Dazzle in Last Vegas. She has a few younger friends in the ensemble, Mary-Anne and Jodie, who view her as a mother figure. Shelly's best friend is Annette, a pior showgirl herself who now works at the casino as a cocktail waitress. Shelly's world is thrown upside down when Eddie, the stage manager for the show, lets the cast know that Le Razzle Dazzle is going to close down its doors, and is going to be replaced by a more contemporary type of entertainment. While Mary-Anne and Jodie start auditioning for other shows in town, Shelly views those shows as low class, though she fears for her future and livelihood. She also reaches out to her daughter Hannah, who lives out of town and is going to college. She's been raised by family friends, and their relationship has been strained (since Shelly preferred to focus on her career while Hannah was raised by other people). While attempting to have a special moment with Eddie, the conversation quickly escalates to a series of recriminations on both parts, his towards her for not raising Hannah, and hers towards him for being a father that never acknowledged Hannah and has never been a presence in her life. As Shelly tries to figure out options for what comes next, the challenges just keep piling on. 

While watching this film I had this odd feeling that this universe and what was being captured here had some similarities with the work from another writer/director, and then it dawned on me the talent I was thinking of: Sean Baker. "The Last Showgirl" reminded me of certain aspects of "Tangerine", "The Florida Project", and even "Red Rocket", though the work of Sean Baker has something going for it that I don't believe Gia Coppola has mastered just yet, namely authenticity. The narratives Sean Baker brought to life in the previously mentioned films felt very lived in and pulsating with life. "The Last Showgirl" feels more like someone's superficial exercise on what the last chapter of someone's once glamorous life is about to become. A bit like someone who is writing an article for a magazine, and who has to tag along the subject of the story for a few days. This story, authored by Kate Gersten, is not particularly revelatory, but it has enough substance to milk some ponderous questions from the central character, about her life ahead, but also about the choices that led her to where she is. What we end up getting instead, is a superficial view on someone who is confronting aging, her role in an industry that privileges youth, and past decisions that had an impact on her loved ones and her relationships, and all we get from that are long shots of Shelly looking to the Vegas horizon or smoking on the rooftop of a certain building. Gia Coppola doesn't seem to know how to illustrate the fear or terror that the character is going through, and decides to go with this atmospheric type of illustration, which works in Sofia Coppola's work, but not so much with this material (she should have looked at what Mike Figgis did in "Leaving Las Vegas" to capture a certain urgency and soul searching that happened there with Nicolas Cage and the luminous Elisabeth Shue). There are indeed sections of the film that work, namely Shelly's interactions with Eddie, and her relationship with Annette, but sadly they're not present as much as they should be. The cast is solid all around, with Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, and Billie Lourd creating the most striking characters. Pamela Anderson does a good job, but the film and the director should have given her more room to go in directions that could have been darker, and more rewarding (both for the character and for the audience). The production team is solid, though not particularly remarkable. It's watchable, but not a very memorable feature. 

Cuando Acecha La Maldad/When Evil Lurks

Movie Name: Cuando Acecha La Maldad/When Evil Lurks
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Demian Rugna
Starring: Ezequiel Rodriguez, Demian Salomon, Silvina Sabater, Luis Ziembrowski, Marcelo Michinaux, Emilio Vodanovich, Virginia Garofalo, Paula Rubinsztein, Lucrecia Niron Talazac, Isabel Quinteros, Desiree Salgueiro, Federico Liss, Ricardo Velazquez, Jorge Prado, Diego Sampayo, Pedro Larrabide, Cleo Diaz, Agostina Aguilera
Genre: Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis and Review

Following the success of "Aterrados/Terrified", writer/director Demian Rugna returned with "Cuando Acecha La Maldad/When Evil Lurks", which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023. The film follows the story of two brothers, Pedro and Jaime, who live by themselves on a farm, rather isolated from everyone else. One morning they hear gunshots, and while tracing the sound, they eventually discover a corpse. As they try to understand what happened, they go to a nearby shack, where an elderly woman lives with her two sons. She explains that the corpse belongs to a "Cleaner", someone who had been sent to kill and exorcise one her sons, Uriel, who is being possessed by an unborn demon who is awaiting physical birth. Pedro decides to communicate with the authorities what is happening, but they dismiss his warnings. Ruiz, who is the landowner for the farms, is terrified, and decides with the help of the brothers to grab the infected Uriel, and drop the body far away from they are. However during their trip the body falls from the truck and they can't locate it. The following morning one of Ruiz's goats is possessed, and without thinking twice he shoots it, not realizing that it will only spread the possession further. Ruiz's wife also becomes possessed, killing him and then herself. Uriel's brother lets Pedro and Jaime know what has happened. The brothers decide to leave town, fearing the possession will affect everyone and spread further and further. They pick up their mother, and Pedro goes to Sabrina's, his ex-wife, to grab his children, and warn her and her new husband about leaving. They have a strained relationship, and as they argue, Sabrina's pet dog who has licked Pedro's contaminated clothes, becomes possessed, attacking Sabrina's daughter. As Leonardo (Sabrina's new husband), goes in pursuit of the dog, Pedro grabs a car and his two sons, in order to pick up Jaime and their mother and leave town. As they leave, they soon realize things are only going to get worse.

There's much to admire in Demian Rugna's "When Evil Lurks". It's a film that immerses us in rural Argentina, one where the characters feel vivid and authentic, particularly considering the fact they're facing a supernatural menace (hence the film being tagged in some websites as "folk horror"). The film brings to mind certain aspects of Guillermo del Toro's "El Espinazo del Diablo/The Devil's Backbone", since it balances a depiction of reality with events that are fantastical, but whereas Mr. del Toro usually goes for a gothic perspective on his films, Mr. Rugna opts to maintain a perspective that is deeply rooted in the locale, in the reality that his characters live in. The writer/director manages to efficiently position and describe the lead characters, with Pedro being the brother with a lot of emotional baggage, and a past that still haunts him, and his brother Jaime who supports and cherishes him as much as possible. As the situation escalates, and more and more characters are impacted by it, Demian Rugna manages to keep a fine balance between the despair of the characters who do not understand what is happening and the brutality of the supernatural occurrences that are taking place. It's a film that continuously surprises, much of it because of its unadorned approach (and its refusal to abide to the typical horror clichés), how it attempts and succeeds in marrying the realistic view of where these characters exist and also the brutally visceral aspects tied with the supernatural aspect of the narrative. The cast is solid, particularly Ezequiel Rodriguez, whose portrayal of Pedro really takes us on a journey of frustration, failure, and possible redemption. The production team is solid, particularly Mariano Suarez's cinematography and Laura Aguerrebehere's production & costume design. It's a film worth watching. 

Psycho Beach Party

Movie Name: Psycho Beach Party
Year of Release: 2000
Director: Robert Lee King
Starring: Lauren Ambrose, Nicholas Brendon, Thomas Gibson, Matt Keeslar, Beth Broderick, Amy Adams, Kathleen Robertson, Charles Busch, Kimberley Davies, Channon Roe, Nathan Bexton, Nick Cornish, Andrew Levitas, David Chokachi, Ruth Williamson, Nicholas D'Agosto
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

"Psycho Beach Party" originally started as a play in 1987, authored by Charles Busch (who has also written the screenplay and has one of the lead roles), and is in fact the feature directorial debut for Robert Lee King, after his prior experience with shorts and one of the segments of "Boys Life: Three Stories of Love, Lust, and Liberation". The film follows the story of Florence Forrest, a teenager who is determined to learn to surf and hang out with the young male surfers. The guys nickname her "Chicklet". Florence has a great relationship with her mom and best friend, but starts displaying multiple personalities, and experiences blackouts that she can't explain. A series of murders also start happening in her beachside town, and she questions if she's involved in those. In the meantime, the police, led by Captain Monica Stark, suspects Florence's mother may be involved in those crimes. 

"Psycho Beach Party" is an homage to the surfing movies of the 1960s, infused with a rather campy slasher ingredient, making the film a rather humorous concoction. Robert Lee King manages to illustrate the context and the various plot points the script sets in motion fairly well, mimicking some of the aspects that made the 60s surf films so iconic and memorable for audiences, but sadly doesn't fully embrace the motif, or for that matter, has a very strong stylistic point of view on the topic  (unlike what Peyton Reed did with "Down with Love" for instance). What does work about this film is the tongue in cheek aspect of the script authored by Charles Busch, with its gay references, the campy interactions between the characters, and the production design that is on display. Charles Busch clearly relishes creating these archetypes for the group of performers he has in place, and the cast goes along for the ride, which makes this film a harmless one to watch. It does borderline on a fun TV Movie of the week in some sections, but it's nonetheless well crafted and well acted. The cast, particularly the underrated Lauren Ambrose, Amy Adams, Kathleen Robertson, and Matt Keeslar are all highlights. The production design from Franco-Giacomo Carbone and the costumes from Camille Jumelle, are the highlights from the production team. The material needed a stronger directorial voice and a more defined stylistic point of view, but the film is still enjoyable and humorous. 

Lazy Susan

Movie Name: Lazy Susan
Year of Release: 2020
Director: Nick Peet
Starring: Sean Hayes, Margo Martindale, Carrie Aizley, Allison Janney, Jim Rash, Danny Johnson, Kiel Kennedy, Darlene Hunt, Madison Paige Ochoa, Matthew Broderick
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"Lazy Susan" is director Nick Peet's feature directorial debut following a few short features. The film co-written by Sean Hayes, Darlene Hunt, and Carrie Aizley, follows the story of Susan, a woman in her 40s, who has been let go of her job, and who pays her bills by latching on to her very generous mother. Susan sleeps late, and is very content in selfishly looking out for herself, doing collages, and engaging on music rehearsals with her best friend Corrin. She's horrified to find out that her brother and his family are planning to take their mother to Niagara Falls to celebrate her birthday, but no one is paying for her ticket (in other words, if she wants to go, she has to pay for her own way). In the meantime, she starts a relationship with a man by the name of Phil, whom she casually meets at the gym, and who rear-ends her at a stop sign. Susan thinks the relationship is soaring, but suddenly realizes he's married, and has a new baby on the way. She also gets evicted, as she has consistently failed to pay the full rent. She comes to terms with the fact that she needs to sharply change her attitude and life.

The immensely talented Sean Hayes, whose company also produces this feature, is at the center of this film, portraying Susan as a woman who has steadily refused to grow up. Susan lives in a special bubble she created for herself, where everyone is a featured player in supporting her dreams and desires. Her family can't stand her selfishness anymore, and the only support she has is her friend Corrin, whom she eventually also disappoints. This tale of someone who is this hapless and has this lack of self-awareness could have been some seriously potent material in the hands of John Waters or even Todd Solondz, sadly Nick Peet's point of view is a rather generic one, that fizzles out all the insane episodes Susan goes through, even if Sean Hayes is all invested in bringing that character to life, no matter what the situation may be. Most of the problems with this film, aside from its low budget, come from this unwillingness from the director to crank up the volume a bit more, and truly bringing to life the situations Susan finds herself in. The supporting characters even in their limited scope and screen time are actually quite suggestive, including Allison Janney's Velvet, Matthew Broderick's Doug, and Danny Johnson's Leon. The cast is solid, including the funny and always underrated Jim Rash, while the production team is a bit uninspired. It's an interesting film, one with a great cast, that simply needed a stronger directorial point of view to make it more memorable. 

The Frighteners

Movie Name: The Frighteners
Year of Release: 1996
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace Stone, Chi McBride, Jake Busey, Jim Fyfe, Troy Evans, Julianna McCarthy, R. Lee Ermey, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Angela Bloomfield, John Sumner
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

Before he embarked on the adaptations of J. R. Tolkien's books which made him a millionaire and a household name, Peter Jackson was a writer/director primarily well known for his fantastical films "Bad Taste", "Meet the Feebles", and "Dead Alive". He took a detour from the horror and supernatural genre with the well received "Heavenly Creatures", but went back to his previous genres with "The Frighteners". The film follows the story of Frank Bannister, a former successful architect, who suffered a traumatic past accident which resulted in the death of his wife, and who now makes a living as an exorcist of sorts. In reality he works with ghosts who stage the hauntings in the houses of unsuspecting people, so that he can come in, perform the exorcism, and reap the rewards. One of his clients turns out to be Dr. Lucy Lynskey and her husband Ray. While exorcising their home Frank notices the number 37 glowing on Ray's forehead. Ray passes away a few days later, and while helping Lucy communicate with her late husband, Frank notices another individual has the number 38 marked on his head. He's terrified to witness this Grim Reaper like entity killing the man who had the 38 mark, upon which he decides the entity. That supernatural angel of death keeps killing people, and Frank realizes that the murders that are taking place are implicating him. He decides to turn himself him, just as an unstable FBI agent joints the investigation, believing that he is indeed the killer of all these people, including his late wife. 

"The Frighteners" is one of those films of the 1990s that feels a bit orphaned, much like Kathryn Bigelow's "Strange Days" and Alex Proyas' "Dark City". All films from interesting directors, who at the time of their release struggled to find an audience, even if the films themselves had fairly good reviews, and solid casts. Of the three of those mentioned before, "The Frighteners" is possibly the most muted of all, and also the one that has aged a bit more poorly, primarily due to the quality of the visual effects themselves. Peter Jackson who later had a chance to develop his storytelling scope and techniques with "The Lord of the Rings" series, devised this original plot with his wife and co-writer Fran Walsh. Some of his habitual topics surface on this tale, namely the central figure who is apparently a normal individual, but who is haunted by a traumatic past, and also someone who has something unusual about himself, which renders him just a bit off kilter, resulting in that central figure being deemed eccentric or quasi an outcast. Frank Bannister embodies these traits, and he is a good host for all the events that occur throughout the narrative. He's a bit of charlatan with a heart of gold, someone who is a bit lost, but who means no harm to anyone. The film however has some tonal issues, which start with Peter Jackson revealing the ghosts too early in the story. They're introduced abruptly and in a manner that is a bit jarring, particularly because they come across as a loonier version of Dr. Emmett Brown from Robert Zemeckis' "Back to the Future" (Mr. Zemeckis was originally going to direct this film and stayed on as a producer). Peter Jackson doesn't build much of a context or environment for all these characters, before introducing this supernatural motif, that becomes an omni-present element for the remainder of the feature. The main characters take a back seat for all the supernatural noise that is happening, something that also takes away from the impact that those characters were building. There was a tone similar to David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" in some of the early scenes, with the police officers, but that is quickly pushed aside to pursue the supernatural conspiracy taking place. The tonal shifts, the over abundant (and borderline in poor taste) visual effects, and some of the acting (particularly the overacting from Jeffrey Combs), tilt the film in a rather mediocre direction. However the film does feature the always reliable Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Troy Evans, and John Astin doing solid work, even if the always lovely Dee Wallace Stone and Jake Busey are also, and much like Jeffrey Combs, overacting just a bit much. The score from Danny Elfman is a highlight, even if the rest of the production team is not. It's a watchable film, but one that needed a bit more restraint.

Mayhem

Movie Name: Mayhem
Year of Release: 2017
Director: Joe Lynch
Starring: Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Steven Brand, Caroline Chikezie, Kerry Fox, Dallas Roberts, Mark Frost, Claire Dellamar, André Eriksen, Nikola Kent, Lucy Chappell
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review

"Mayhem" is Joe Lynch's follow up to "Everly", a "Colombiana" style film which featured Salma Hayek as the lead actress. The film focuses on the story of Derek Cho, a young man who has been diligently working at a massive consulting firm. He comes across a client by the name of Melanie Cross, who is desperately trying to retain ownership of her home, and Derek explains her options and how she can do so. When the tension escalates he asks security to escort her out. He realizes that a mess of a legal case has been pinned on him by his boss, Kara Powell, someone he considerably dislikes. The tension also escalates there and they decide to take the situation to the next level, the CEO of the company, John Towers. Derek is targeted as the fall guy for that messy situation, and is fired by Human Resources chief, Lester McGill. As he is about to be escorted out from the building, the building itself is placed under quarantine, as the virus ID-7 (a red eye virus which makes people fall prey to their darker instincts, including murder) has been detected inside. While a neutralizing agent has ben released in the building, it will take approximately eight hours for the virus to be decimated. Stuck inside the building, Derek decides to protest and get his job back, however he is taken to the basement to be beaten up by Towers' security team. Derek gets beaten, his friend Derek gets killed, and he eventually finds himself locked up with Melanie, who didn't make out of the building before the quarantine procedures. They eventually decide to work together, and start solving both their problems and eliminate anything that stands in their way, starting with Kara Powell. 

This film feels oddly prescient of the times we're currently living. At a time when most organizations are reaping more financial rewards at the cost of laying off more and more people, the events this film illustrates seem ironically relevant. The director smartly positions this film as a B-movie vehicle, though at times one can't help but think what someone like David Cronenberg could have done with this material in the 1980s. What this means is that we get barely defined characters, but these archetypes, including Derek's fall guy who is in reality a hard worker who had to climb the ladder with perseverance and talent, Melanie the client who is facing eviction, the villainous managerial staff, all of them are so finely embodied by these actors, one can't help but appreciate the over the top events that are taking place. The film is pretty straightforward on its premise, and very low on pretension: hard worker gets blamed and fired, client is desperate and is pushed aside, management is unscrupulous and greedy, and a rage catalyst virus is spread across the building. Those ingredients start a series of non stop action tableaus that are bloody, and at times, even quite funny. The director and his creative team get their point across quite well, namely that the greed DNA isn't easily extinguishable, but that ultimately everyone gets their comeuppance. The cast is uniformly solid, with Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Dallas Roberts, and the unexpected (for this film) Kerry Fox, giving credible and ferocious performances. The production team is solid, with the highlight going to Mina Buric's production design, building the corporate offices into something believable and relatable, and also Steve Moore's score. It may not be for everyone, but it's an entertaining film nonetheless. 

Blue Steel

Movie Name: Blue Steel
Year of Release: 1990
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Louise Fletcher, Philip Bosco, Elizabeth Peña, Kevin Dunn, Richard Jenkins, Markus Flanagan, Mike Hodge, Mike Starr, Tom Sizemore, Matt Craven
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

"Blue Steel" was Kathryn Bigelow's third feature since her debut with "The Loveless" in 1981. It was also another collaboration of her with screenwriter and director Eric Red, who made a name for himself in the 1980s with Robert Harmon's "The Hitcher", his own "Cohen and Tate", and his previous collaboration with Kathryn Bigelow, the vampire film "Near Dark". The film focuses its narrative on a fresh out of school police officer by the name of Megan Turner. In one of her first assignments she's forced to shoot a robber, who is holding up a neighborhood supermarket, and is threatening to kill people. When she shoots him, his gun falls to the ground, and one of the people in the supermarket, commodities trader Eugene Hunt, takes the gun and eventually slips away. Even with the eyewitnesses, but because the gun could not be retrieved, Megan is suspended from the job (and treated very harshly in the process). Eugene in the meantime starts killing random people with the gun all the while having paranoid delusions. Megan is trying to clear her name, but also starts dating Eugene, who has become obsessed with her. He admits to her he took the gun from the supermarket, and has been killing people since then. Megan arrests him, but Eugene is freed since his lawyer claims lack of evidence. Megan manages to partner with Detective Nick Mann, and they both seek out the evidence needed to arrest Eugene, but the following events just keep harming Megan's credibility further and further.

Kathryn Bigelow has a rare talent of making her stories and her characters both vivid and authentic. Even when the narrative is a futuristic one such as "Strange Days" or more of a trip back in time such as "The Weight of Water", every story fills inhabited by credible characters and situations. "Blue Steel" is one of her films where the plausibility of what's taking place is stretched beyond reasonable. While the obsessive relationship that is captured between Eugene and Megan has some possible ties with reality, everything else that is occurring around it, is stretched to a limit that undermines the narrative that is being told. There are sub-plots in the film that aim to bring some additional dimension to Megan as a character, and they do have enough dramatic ethos to do so (namely the relationship between her parents), however that is not extended to any of the other characters, including Eugene, who is illustrated as a sudden serial killer who is able to hold a very visible job during the day (he's the original "American Psycho" apparently). What eventually starts happening as the film progresses, and the incredulity of the situations mount, the ability to capture the audience's attention and investment lessens. The disconnect between where the narrative started and where it eventually leads is enormous, which in itself is not problematic, but that journey for the characters themselves feels less organic and more like a science-fiction narrative (which I don't think is the purpose). Jonathan Demme in his brilliant take on Thomas Harris' "The Silence of the Lambs" also took us on a journey, but one where even with the horrific tale being presented on screen, there was a consistency to it that made it engaging to go on the journey with Clarice Starling from beginning to end. This film lacks a supple journey, Megan's events feel unstructured, and Eugene's ability to circumvent every single challenge, particularly for someone who has no idea of what he is doing, feel unreal. The cast tries their best with the material they have, particularly Jamie Lee Curtis who gives it her all, with Clancy Brown, Louise Fletcher and Philip Bosco providing good support. The production team is impeccable, including Brad Fiedel's score and Amir Mokri's cinematography. It's a lessen feature in Kathryn Bigelow's body of work.

Rosaline

Movie Name: Rosaline
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Karen Maine
Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Minnie Driver, Christopher McDonald, Sean Teale, Kyle Allen, Spencer Stevenson, Bradley Whitford, Nico Hiraga, Alistair Toovey, Alhaji Fofana, Mercedes Colon, Nicholas Rowe
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review

Karen Maine's feature directorial debut, "Yes, God, Yes", made a considerable splash upon its release, and "Rosaline" is in fact her sophomore feature. The film is an adaptation of the book from Rebecca Serle, which is in turn inspired by the events of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". The film focuses its attention on Rosaline, whom we discover is a strong willed and opinionated young woman from the House Capulet. She's been secretly dating Romeo, a member from the House Montague, the rival house to hers. She misses a ball where she was meant to have a rendez-vous with him, since her father has been trying to find her a suitable husband. Romeo in the interim, meets Rosaline's cousin, Juliet, and becomes smitten by her. Rosaline soon discovers he is persistently going after Juliet. Rosaline attempts to court Romeo back, by spreading some rumors to her cousin about his philandering, while also introducing her to other potential available suitors. Juliet eventually discovers what Rosaline has been doing, becomes enraged, and distrustful of all her actions. Rosaline discovers a letter from Romeo to Juliet asking her to elope with him. She tries to thwart these plans with Dario, the young man her father tried to set her up with. While they both fail, things escalate from then on, when Romeo and Juliet's marriage is uncovered by their respective families.

The attempts to modernize or capitalize on the works of William Shakespeare are almost as frequent as the adaptations of his works themselves. However for every successful take, such as Baz Luhrmann's "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet", there's those slightly less accomplished ones such as Michael Almereyda's "Hamlet", to name but two examples. "Rosaline" doesn't fall on either one of those sides, but rather a bit in between: it's not terribly memorable, but thankfully it's not purely terrible either. The film's saving grace is in reality the always fantastic Kaitlyn Dever, a performer who manages to move seamlessly between drama and comedy, with a perfect timing across all the parts she decides to tackle (and she's a terrific singer as well). The modernization of the Shakespearean lore in this film almost works, even if at times the film does feel a bit like the cast of "Booksmart" is attempting to do a rendering of one of the plays of the bard. There's a bit of a disconnect that permeates throughout the film: Rosaline is the one who functions as the main bridge of modernity from the audience towards the classicism of the words and actions that are taking place, which means that whenever she's not on screen the film retreats to something that lacks spark, and frankly, talent to hold our attention. What we're left with is a slight and occasionally funny film, mostly brought to life by Kaitlyn Dever. The creative team tries to make the feature into a feminist statement, particularly in the last chapter, however it feels bland, lacking impact, and ultimately failing in bringing more life into these characters and situations. The supporting cast features good performances from the always underrated Minnie Driver, Bradley Whitford, and Christopher McDonald. The production team is competent, with the biggest highlight going for the costumes from Mitchell Travers. This is watchable for Kaitlyn Dever's talent alone, but she deserves better vehicles than these. 

Revenge

Movie Name: Revenge
Year of Release: 2017
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Starring: Matilda Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchede, Jean-Louis Tribes
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
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Synopsis and Review

For those of us who were surprised by "The Substance", "Revenge" is the feature directorial debut from Coralie Fargeat. The film follows the story of Jen, a young woman whom we first encounter arriving at a luxury residence alongside her partner, a man by the name of Richard. We soon realize that he's married, and even though Jen doesn't know him that well, she believes he can help her with her dreams of moving to LA. After their first night in the house, two of Richard's friends arrive, Stan and Dimitri, so the three of them can go on a hunting trip in the desert. Richard is forced to introduce Jen, though he expected her to be gone by then, since his friends know his wife. That night they all party, and the following morning Richard is away. Stan tries to flirt with Jen, but she dismisses him. The situation continues to escalate, until he rapes her, while Dimitri just goes to another room dismissing what is happening. Upon Richard's arrival, he understands what has happened, and tries to salvage the situation, by telling Jen she can move to Canada at his expense. The exchange gets heated, and Jen runs off into the desert, with the three men on her chase. Richard pushes Jen off the cliff and she is impaled by a tree branch. While Stan is shocked, they all decide they have to get rid of the body. However Jen regains consciousness, and by the time the men return to check on her, they can't locate her anymore. Jen wanting to survive the ordeal, slowly but surely turns the tables on them.

It would be easy to dismiss "Revenge" as just another violent film in a genre that seems to have died down in the 1980s (the staple still being of course Abel Ferrara's "Ms. 45"). However what is so fresh and unique about this film, is the approach that Coralie Fargeat gives to these characters, their motivations, and how they all have an arc from the beginning all the way through the last moments. Jen, the lead character, who could at first glance be dismissed as the "beautiful woman without much depth", goes through a radical transformation and metamorphosis, eventually becoming not simply an avenging angel, but a resourceful and capable woman, ready to defend herself with everything she has at her means. The conspirators, who initially are portrayed as loving, clownish, and even clueless, demonstrate their darker side, and how viciously dismissive they can be. The situation and what it evolves into, forces them to confront their own fears, even if they don't question their line of reasoning and what they're attempting to do for one second. It's a film that Coralie Fargeat stages with an incredible precision, not only with a stylistic point of view, but also giving the characters just enough space that allows them to become more than simple cardboard illustrations of what a monstrous individual can be (though Dimitri sadly gets the less screen time which would allow us to understand a bit more of who he is). The cast is solid, with highlights going to Matilda Lutz, who goes through a radical transformation, with great support from Vincent Colombe, who while playing a truly morally bankrupt character, tries to demonstrate that while weak and spineless, he's not totally without sense of what he's doing. The production team is equally solid, in particular Robrecht Heyvaert's cinematography, Robin Coudert's score, and the makeup team of Pierre Emmanuel Kass, Ghislaine Nejjar, and Laetitia Quillery. A visceral yet indelible film worth watching. 

Until Dawn

Movie Name: Until Dawn
Year of Release: 2025
Director: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A'zion, Ji-young Yoo, Belmont Cameli, Maia Mitchell, Peter Stormare, Lotta Losten, Tibor Szauervein, Willem van der Vegt
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

After the fizzle of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods", and some of the noise surrounding David F. Sandberg's reaction to the reviews (he didn't take the less than stellar reviews well), the director has returned to the genre who made him originally a household name (or at least well known). "Until Dawn" is derived from a video game with the same name and its script is authored by the talented Gary Dauberman (who adapted and directed the recent "Salem's Lot", but also authored the "Annabelle" films and the first chapter of "The Nun" series) and Blair Butler (she wrote "The Invitation"). The narrative focuses on a group of friends who are trying to find out what happened to the sister of one of them who disappeared on her way to New York. The group is comprised of Clover, her ex-boyfriend Max, Megan, and the couple, Nina and Abe. The missing girl's name is Melanie and she is Clover's sister. The group stops at a gas station where Melanie sent a message to Clover, and she asks the attendant by the name of Hill, if he remembers her at all. He lets her know that people disappear in the area of Glore Valley, a mining town. The group continues on and they're hammered with heavy rains. They decide to take shelter at a visitor center, which oddly enough has no rain around it. As they look around the whole area is empty, but Abe eventually finds a wall with posters of missing persons, one of which is Melanie. As they continue to investigate the space, they discover another house underneath it. Things take a dark turn when a masked psycho kills Abe, and then proceeds to kill everyone else in the group. They all re-awake at the same place, with memories of being killed, only this time around, their photos are also on the missing persons panel that Abe checked before. They realize the night is repeating, something that an hourglass in the main room is clocking. They once again suffer gruesome deaths, and eventually realize they have to work together since these are going to continue repeating themselves, until they become trapped in that reality.

Most video game adaptations don't fare very well. And it's typically easy to pinpoint the issues, namely understanding who the characters are, where their motivations lie, and making them believable in whatever scenarios they find themselves in. Even the mildly successful adaptations such as Paul W. S. Anderson's "Resident Evil" series, never primed for a very developed central persona, particularly when it came to its heroine Alice, much less any of the supporting characters. "Until Dawn" has very similar issues, not to mention that it bypasses much of the context setting for whatever is indeed happening with these characters. There are of course the tropes of the horror genre, namely a group of young people seeking out someone who disappeared (there's always a group of people at the wrong place, which is the case for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "The Hills Have Eyes", "Wrong Turn" series, and the list goes on), but this one takes a supernatural twist, with dashes of "Groundhog Day". Meaning, the deaths keep happening until these individuals can find out what's at the root of everything, otherwise they face being trapped in that reality forever. David F. Sandberg manages to create a very effective ominous scenario and the production design also plays a considerable part in it. However the storyline itself has some considerable gaps, something that extends to the characters themselves that are rather copycats from so many other horror films, meaning that the film fails to exhibit much originality when it comes to the horror genre. The cast tries their best with the material they have, and as usual Peter Stormare manages to be the most memorable performer of the ensemble. The production team is solid, including Maxime Alexandre's cinematography, Benjamin Wallfisch's score, Jennifer Spence's production design, and the entire prosthetics team. David F. Sandberg is a talented filmmaker and he deserves better material than this. 

The Woman in the Yard

Movie Name: The Woman in the Yard
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha, Russell Hornsby, Okwui Okpokwasili
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

The prolific Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra is back, after the huge hit he had with "Carry-On" which he directed for Netflix (and that has become one of the most watched films ever on that platform). This time he goes back to the supernatural and horror genre, where he started, namely with the remake of "House of Wax" and "Orphan". "The Woman in the Yard" follows the story of a family reeling from a devastating car accident which caused the death of the father/husband in the family. Ramona, the mother, is disabled following the car crash, and is now the sole provider for the family, which includes her two kids, teenager Taylor and the child, Annie. Ramona still dreams of all the plans she and her husband had for their life, including finishing the renovation of the farm house where they live. As they go through their regular lives one day they realize there's a woman draped in back that appears in their front yard. She claims that "Today's the day", and she then just stays there. As the woman moves closer to the house, their dog disappears. Shortly after their electric power goes out. The tension in the house also escalates, with Ramona snapping at Taylor, until she eventually decides to confront the Woman, only to realize there's more to her than it seems. 

The script for "The Woman in the Yard" was on the Black List at some point (the list for the best un-produced scripts), and while the film starts with some momentum, Jaume Collet-Serra has some challenges in bringing these characters to life, particularly illustrating what made the connection between these individuals so meaningful (particularly the relationship between Ramona and her husband). The story wants to illustrate how someone's grief and depression can manifest itself in rather sinister outputs, but this film isn't like Andrzej Zulawski's "Possession", where Isabelle Adjani's character also manifests a creature she interacts with. "The Woman in the Yard" is less visceral and less believable, since the characters are rather bland, and Ramona in particular, never feels like a fully realized person, but someone who seems rather miffed by the turn her life has taken, as opposed to someone who is coming to terms with the direction she needs to embark on. This is a film that could have been that much more sinister and darker, since a real threat to a family unit would be at the core of what was happening.  However the central relationships between these characters, particularly the one between Ramona and her husband, is illustrated by vignettes that are elliptical in their scope and ultimately rather shallow in terms of their dynamics. It's a film that has some ambition, but that eventually goes nowhere, even if it weaves a rather ambiguous ending. Neither the cast nor the production team particularly elevate what is happening here. It's a forgettable endeavor. 

Final Destination: Bloodlines

Movie Name: Final Destination: Bloodlines
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Alex Zahara, April Telek, Tinpo Lee, Tony Todd, Brec Bassinger, Gabrielle Rose, Max Lloyd-Jones, Brenna Llewellyn, Natasha Burnett, Jayden Oniah, Mark Brandon, Yvette Ferguson
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein made a name for themselves with the solid but sadly a bit sidelined "Freaks" which premiered in 2018. They have partnered on this most recent installment of the "Final Destination" franchise, with the writing team comprised of Guy Busick (who has been a writer on the most recent chapters of the "Scream" franchise, but also "Abigail" and the show "Castle Rock"), Lori Evans Taylor, and Jon Watts (who has been one of the creative forces behind the revitalizing of the most recent "Spider Man" series of films). This chapter of the franchise starts by introducing Iris Campbell and her boyfriend Paul, who in 1968 are going to the grand opening of the Sky View, a fancy high-rise restaurant tower. Iris has a premonition that all will collapse and there will be multiple fatalities. She warns people of the impending doom, and manages to save many. 57 years later Iris and Paul's maternal granddaughter, Stefani, is a college student, haunted by these recurring nightmares of the averted accident that Iris experienced. She decides to investigate more about what's happening to her, since these nightmares are also impacting her ability to stay focused in school, have good grades, and she's about ready to flunk. Upon returning home, Stefani is met with surprise from her father and brother, as she has rarely kept in touch. She decides to investigate more about Iris, asking her uncle about it, who confides in her that his mother had serious mental issues, which impacted his and his sister's upbringing (Stefani's mom who after giving birth to her and her brothers, one day decided to leave the family household and never returned). Stefani eventually discovers where Iris lives, an isolated and fortified space, and while initially Iris discourages her from coming in, she eventually agrees and tells Stefani what she thinks is happening. Iris has documented every aftermath of what has happened since the events of the Sky View, in the hopes of keeping her family safe. Stefani finds the story impossible, and Iris decides to come outside her safe space, sacrificing herself in the process, so Stefani believes what she just described. Stefani realizes that her family is all on the path for death to collect them all, and frantically goes after every one of them in the hopes of saving them.

The "Final Destination" series always abides to a consistent formula where a central character has a prediction about a fatal event, which he/she then avoids, alongside a few others who believe the prediction, only for all of them to become targets for a series of fatal accidents. This formula is on display once again with "Final Destination: Bloodlines", with a slight imaginative difference/departure. This narrative goes back in time to illustrate how Death haunts this generational enclave and how it crosses time in order to achieve its sinister intent. While the characters fail to have much dimension to them, the family dynamics are nonetheless fairly well established, in the sense that there's a certain amount of friction and tension between them all, something that this threat seems to change and eventually dissolve, nearly bringing them together, including the leading character's long lost mother. This attempt at stopping Death's sinister plan turns out to be the glue this fractured family needed to find a common ground. For all its shortcomings in terms of giving these characters something more substantial that makes them more authentic, the film moves surprisingly swiftly, and while its gory premise remains intact, the film isn't solely focused on this aspect, allowing for the narrative to feel fluid and sensical (something that the prior films at times battled with). It's a slick and polished B-movie at its best. The cast, particularly Brec Bassinger, Rya Kihlstedt, and Gabrielle Rose bring their characters to life with conviction, while the production team is solid, featuring some great production design work from Rachel O'Toole (the period elements at the beginning of the feature and the Mad Max inspired compound are inspired). It's an entertaining, even if at times gruesome, addition to the series. 

The Good House

Movie Name: The Good House
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, David Rasche, Rebecca Henderson, Molly Brown, Kathryn Erbe, Kelly AuCoin, Georgia Lyman, Beverly D'Angelo, Paul Guilfoyle, Jimmy LeBlanc, Holly Chou
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"The Good House" is the first credited release of the directing duo of Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky, though individually they've directed quite a few features of their own (Forbes directed "Infinitely Polar Bear" and Wolodarsky directed "Seeing Other People", and they have also written many other features including "The Rocker" and "Monster Vs. Aliens", to name but a few).  "The Good House" is an adaptation of the novel by Ann Leary and the directors/writers collaborated with Thomas Bezucha on the script. It focuses on the life of Hildy Good, a realtor in the beautiful area of Andover, who has been struggling to catch a break. She's gone through a divorce, and her former assistant Wendy, has stolen some of her clients while she was in rehab for alcoholism (at the insistence of her daughters). Hildy has been attempting to help a local family with an autistic child sell their home, and asks local handyman Frank, whom she has always been attracted to, if he can help them with some house renovations. Hildy also navigates the social ecosystem of the town, having befriended Rebecca, a recent addition to the community who is married to a well off man, but who is having an affair with Peter, the local psychiatrist, someone Hildy has known all her life. Hildy's life gets progressively more out of control, as her drinking escalates, and as she reminisces about her own mother, and what drove her to her sad ending. 

"The Good House" is an interesting film that experiences a rather darker tonal shift midway through it, but one that remains thoroughly engaging very much due to the impeccable central performance from Sigourney Weaver. As the narrative commences, Hildy's breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly, feels very much like a series of snarky and very self aware comments about her own life and those in it. These comments are incisive and funny, and give Hildy this loose and relaxed vibe that instantly make her charismatic and relatable. However as the narrative progresses, and her issues with alcohol abuse become more pronounced and her ability to lead her life seem to evaporate further and further, that joyous tone also becomes less and less visible, revealing a woman who has been avoiding addressing certain issues and problems in her life. It's a very interesting narrative progression, since initially the film has some winks and nudges to the dark humor of Sam Mendes' "American Beauty", but then it shifts into something definitely more heartfelt and even more dramatic. This journey is one worth going through with Sigourney Weaver, who hasn't had a part this dynamic in years, and she has a great partner in Kevin Kline, whom she shares great chemistry with (they made a great couple in Ivan Reitman's "Dave", and also the illicit adulterers in Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm"). Sadly the supporting characters are rather thinly characterized and developed, including Morena Baccarin's Rebecca, Rob Delaney's Peter, and Kathryn Erbe's Wendy, all characters who could have benefited from a bit more attention. The production team on the film is solid, with highlights going to Andrei Bowden Schwartz's cinematography, Theodore Shapiro's score, and Carl Sprague's production design. It's a nicely crafted film with some fantastic performances worth watching. 

Weapons

Movie Name: Weapons
Year of Release: 2025
Director: Zach Cregger
Starring: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Amy Madigan, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, June Diane Raphael, Whitmer Thomas, Callie Schuttera, Toby Huss, Sara Paxton, Justin Long, Clayton Farris, Aaron Quick Nelson, Scarlett Sher
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
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Synopsis and Review

Following the well received "Barbarian", writer/director Zach Cregger has returned with a more ambitious, and even more effective dark and original story. The film takes place in Maybrook, a town in Pennsylvania, where as the narrator lets us know, seventeen children get up in the middle of the night, and leave their houses. They're all students of Justine Gandy, a discrete and somewhat timid teacher. The police seek their whereabouts, and nothing is uncovered, no bodies are found, nothing is traceable. The principal of the school, Marcus Miller tries to bring parents and teachers together to collectively try to deal with the situation, but the situation quickly escalates as the angry parents hold Justine responsible for what happened, without any proof or reason for doing so. The narrative then focuses on different lead characters of the narrative, starting with Justine, whom we encounter having to resort to drinking to cope with the trauma of the situation. She also hooks up with a married prior boyfriend of hers, a local police officer by the name of Paul. She tries to understand what has happened to all the children by following the only boy who didn't disappear, the quiet and shy Alex. Alex was interviewed by the Police and everyone at school and has no idea where his colleagues are. As Justine continues her investigation, she's accosted by one of the parents of the missing children, Archer Graff. As he's questioning her at a gas station, she's viciously attacked by Marcus, who is intent on killing her (out of nowhere). As the narrative focuses on different characters, including Archer, Paul, James (a local drug addict), Marcus, and Alex, we begin to realize what took place in the days leading to the disappearance of the children, and all the ties that intersect these characters' lives. 

"Weapons" is one of those rare films that manages to hold one's attention, by asking a very simple question. What if a collective traumatic event happened in a small community, and there was absolutely no way to figure out what had caused that event? The massive trauma that occurs to these families jumpstarts this narrative, that then takes us on a journey of understanding these singled out characters, but also slowly starts uncovering the nefarious and darkness reasonings that lie beneath all the events that have and are  happening. The first two thirds of the film are truly a lesson in being able to create an environment that is primarily one of anguish, and anger, and as the third chapter comes along, and all the pieces start coming together, some additional questions do appear, but the overall darkness of what is taking place becomes both more apparent and disturbing. This is indeed Zach Cregger's version of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia", in the sense we all get to understand a bit of all these lead characters and why their lives intersect, but with a sinister and supernatural take on it, which eventually dictate their outcomes. Without spoiling what takes place in the narrative, the film is finely crafted in terms of illustrating the context in which these characters exist, and giving just enough dimension to all of them which allows us to understand their plight. The writer/director also provides just enough horrific moments which jolt the film with a certain energy, never gratuitously being overly grotesque. The cast is uniformly fantastic, with Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan all excelling in their compositions. The production team is equally impeccable, in particular Larkin Seiple's cinematography, Ryan & Hays Holladay (with Zach Cregger)'s score, and Tom Hammock's production design. A very good film worth watching.