This had potential, and I wanted to like it, but like so many other bad horror films, so much of it was stupid. The setup was clumsy and heavy-handed, so when the twist comes, you realize it’s not that much of a twist since you’ve known it for the last 20 minutes. The ending felt rushed and out of place with the rest of the film. And I expected more from actors who’ve been around the block a little (Alexandra Daddario, Johnny Knoxville, Maddie Hasson). I thought some of the lesser-knowns, such as Keean Johnson, did a better job.
Harpoon is one of those films that should have been a B-movie, but through some impressive performances and competent, if overly stylistic directing, it ends up becoming a combination thriller/dark comedy that is greater than the sum of its parts.
As usual with Quentin Tarantino films, I never seem to like them as much as others do. His movies always seem so self-indulgent, and this one seemed even more so than usual. As usual, QT fills the film, for better or worse, with pop culture nods to the time period. For me, too often, that just comes across as “stuff that Quentin thinks is cool.” A way of saying “look at how good I am at recreating 1969.” And I guess he is fairly good at it, but to what end? How many times do we need to see the cover of a TV guide, for example? Yeah, we get it—everyone had them back then. But all of that detail doesn’t quite make up for an aimless narrative and lack of character development. He spends more time demonstrating how well he knows the time period than he does giving us insight into the characters. And the other issue I have with it is that after all that effort to faithfully recreate the time period, he constantly reminds us that it’s NOT reality. He throws in an obviously fake dog food brand (“rat flavor?”) in among all the other, real products that are literally in just about every shot. And he once again plays with history. I won’t give any spoilers, per se, but I am about to hint at something, so skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to read even a hint. He uses the horrific Tate-LaBianca murders by members of Charles Manson’s “family” as a way to increase tension in the film, but then, sadly, turns them into an odd sort of punchline at the end.
High school seniors Molly (Beanie Feldstein, just announced as a Golden Globe nominee) and Amy (“Last Man Standing”’s Kaitlyn Dever) have spent the last four years doing all the right things: working hard, studying hard, eschewing a social life. And their sacrifices have paid off. Molly is headed to Yale, and Amy to Columbia. On the last day of school, however, they find out that all the popular, partying kids they thought were headed towards a life of adequate mediocrity (is that redundant?) are actually headed for top 10 schools or great jobs. Even Molly’s rival—the class tramp (Molly Gordon, also great in Good Boys this year!)—will be attending Yale with her. “I’m incredible at hand jobs,” she says, “but I also got a 1560 on the SATs.” Molly begins to wonder if they’ve missed out on four years of fun and decides that there’s only one thing for the two to do—try to cram four years of partying into one night!
I love a good, old-fashioned cozy mystery. Knives Out isn’t a good one, however. It’s a great one. Writer/Director Rian Johnson channels his inner Agatha Christie to bring us the story of a dysfunctional family who discovers, the morning after the family patriarch’s birthday party, that said patriarch lies dead, his throat cut, in what appears to be a gruesome suicide. But this is no ordinary patriarch; this is Harlan Thrombey, multi-millionaire mystery writer, played by Christopher Plummer. And it soon becomes evident that it may not be a suicide, thanks to the presence of Consulting Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, doing Sherlock Holmes, by way of Hercule Poiroit, by way of…well, someone with an outrageous southern accent).
If you stop watching this sometime within the first half hour, you will likely curse me and never trust one of my reviews again. And I probably wouldn’t blame you. But if you stick with this film until the end, you might be pleasantly surprised.
One Cut of the Dead opens with a 37-minute long unbroken take depicting a Japanese film crew shooting a low-budget zombie film in an abandoned WWII facility. Little do they know that there are real zombies lurching about! The director, who is happy to now see real fear on the faces of his actors, orders the cameras to keep rolling, despite the impending demise of his cast and crew. As you watch, it’s clear that it doesn’t seem to be a very good movie. But surprise—it’s not supposed to!
When working within a genre, the target for a film generally seems to be “the same…but different.” I always take that to mean that while a film may seem familiar and comfortable, there’s a newness to it that makes us feel as though we’re watching that particular kind of film for the first time. I think Susan Johnson’s film To All the Boys I’ve loved Before gets it just right. A Netflix original, there’s nothing here that breaks new ground. Change the clothing and slang and this could be an ‘80s John Hughes film. (Sixteen Candles is even referenced in the film.) Yet it’s a heartwarming film that succeeds in spite of its devotion to the genre, rather than because of it.
The Peanut Butter Falcon is a sweet buddy picture. Zak (Zak Gottsagen), a young man with Down Syndrome, escapes from the retirement home that has been his home for several years, in order to make his way to a wrestling training school and fulfill his dream of becoming a wrestler. He very quickly meets up with a rebellious-but-kind-hearted local on the run named Tyler (Shia LaBeouf). Together they embark on a Huck-Finn-style river trip. The duo becomes a trio when Zak’s health-care worker Elanor (Dakota Johnson, about as adorable as I’ve ever seen her) catches up with them, with instructions to return Zak to the home. Zak and Tyler have other plans, however.
Just watched one of my favorite old comedies: Bob Hope, the insanely gorgeous Elke Sommer in numerous bubble baths, and Phyllis Diller on a motorcycle…what’s not to like?! (running time 1:39)
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS is Martin McDonagh’s 2012 dark comedy/thriller. It’s really an intriguing name, but I’m not sure the film lived up to it. It’s not that there weren’t seven psychopaths actually in it. (I’m pretty sure there were more than seven.) It’s that it seemed a little disjointed to me; an interesting title, with a not-as-interesting follow-through. In some ways it’s a “meta”-film, about the film within a film that Colin Farrell’s character, Marty, is writing. And after a while, I thought it was just a touch intrusive. Continue reading →
Who Cares What You Think? 