Scream 7

Despite the controversy surrounding Scream 7, I thought the trailer was really intriguing so I decided to see a Thursday preview with my nephew last night.  I am only a casual fan of the franchise but I was incredibly disappointed with this installment (I am 0 for 3 with movies this week).  When Ghostface sets fire to the Macher house in Woodsboro, California after killing a couple spending the night there as part of the "Macher Experience," there is speculation that Stu (Matthew Lillard) is still alive.  Sidney Prescott-Evans (Neve Campbell) now lives with her husband Mark (Joel McHale) and daughter Tatum (Isabel May) in Pine Grove, Indiana.  When she receives a video call from Ghostface threatening Tatum, she is unnerved when the killer unmasks and it is Stu.  However, when her family is attacked, Ghostface is revealed to be a mentally ill serial killer.  She suspects that the call was AI and begins investigating with Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) but soon all of Tatum's friends, including Hannah (McKenna Grace), Lucas (Asa Germann), Chloe (Celeste O'Connor), and Ben (Sam Rechner), are brutally killed.  Eventually, Tatum must confront Ghostface in a scene that mirrors what happened to Sidney 30 years ago.  I did not mind the nostalgia that some have taken issue with because I think the dynamic between Sidney and Tatum, and her fear of passing on generational trauma to her daughter, is very compelling.  I also liked the subplot with Gale as she passes the torch of reporting on Ghostface to the Meeks-Martin twins (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding).  There are even some really grisly kills and I did enjoy the opening sequence.  In fact, I liked the first two acts well enough despite the fact that the meta-commentary about horror tropes that makes these movies so much fun is largely missing.  What is most disappointing is the absolutely ridiculous Ghostface reveal because the motivation is convoluted and strains credulity (it also makes one of the kills truly diabolical).  What I also found incredibly frustrating is that, in my opinion, the perfect ending (to the movie and to the franchise if this is actually the final one) was right there.  Ugh!  Definitely avoid this!

Midwinter Break

The second movie in the double feature with my nephew last night was Midwinter Break and, based on the trailer, this looked like the kind of slow-burn drama that I usually enjoy.  However, I found it even more disappointing than the first movie we saw.  Stella (Lesley Manville) and Gerry (Ciaran Hinds) are an older couple who seem companionable but have grown apart so Stella surprises him with a trip to Amsterdam for Christmas.  They excitedly pack, gush about their hotel room, and begin seeing all of the usual sights.  However, as they visit churches for her and pubs for him, flashbacks slowly reveal that Stella was the victim of an attack forty years ago during the troubles in Northern Ireland.  She views her survival as a miracle and, as a result, she is extremely devout but he views what happened as a failure to protect her and buries his pain in alcohol.  Tensions, which appear after he mocks her piety and she criticizes his drinking, eventually force them to address their long-buried trauma.  There are way too many tedious scenes in which Stella and Gerry do everything but talk about what is wrong (she tries to pretend that everything is fine and he is completely oblivious) and I spent most of the runtime waiting for some kind of catharsis which, when it does happen, is incredibly rushed and anticlimactic.  The ambiguous resolution also left me feeling very frustrated and made me wonder what the point was.  Manville and Hinds are brilliant actors but not even they can elevate this dull material into something compelling.  I did enjoy the beautiful cinematography featuring the city of Amsterdam (and my nephew loved the soundtrack) but I recommend giving this a miss.

How to Make a Killing

Last night my nephew and I had a double feature and we started with How to Make a Killing.  I was really looking forward to this because the trailer reminded me of the hilarious stage musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (both are inspired by the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets) but, unfortunately, it was very disappointing.  Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) is visited by a priest (Adrian Lukas) hours before his scheduled execution for murder.  He recounts the events that led him to his fate beginning with when his mother Mary Redfellow (Nell Williams) was disinherited by her wealthy father Whitelaw Redfellow (Ed Harris) for becoming pregnant with him.  His mother tells him that, even though there are seven people ahead of him, he is still in line to inherit the vast Redfellow fortune and, when he reconnects with his childhood crush Julia Steinway (Margaret Qualley), she gives him the idea to kill all of them to get the money.  Party boy Taylor Redfellow (Raff Law), photographer Noah Redfellow (Zach Woods), megachurch leader Steven Redfellow (Topher Grace), philanthropist Cassandra Redfellow (Bianca Amato), and pilot McArthur Redfellow (Alexander Hanson) all die under unusual circumstances but suspicious FBI Agents Brad Matthews (Stevel Marc) and Megan Pinfield (Phumi Tau) are unable to prove Becket was involved.  He eventually inherits the fortune when stock broker Warren Redfellow (Bill Camp) dies from a heart attack and when he shoots the patriarch of the family, Whitelaw Redfellow, in self-defense but complications ensue when he begins a relationship with Noah's ex-girlfriend Ruth (Jessica Henwick) and when Julia wants in on the fortune.  What I love most about the musical, which is one of my favorites, is the manic energy as each member of the family is dispatched in an absurd and completely over the top sequence.  This version is strangely inert because it plays it straight with an eat the rich message that becomes muddled in the third act and the family members have little more than cameos in scenes without any bite.  Powell's charisma is wasted, in my opinion, as a character that is surprisingly bland and Qualley does not do much beyond displaying her long legs for the camera.  I wanted this to be funny, or at the very least satirical, but I found it boring and I recommend giving it a miss.

Pillion

Last night I went to see Pillion at the Broadway and I was surprised by how much I loved it!  Colin (Harry Melling) is a timid young gay man who lives with his parents Pete (Douglas Hodge) and Peggy (Lesley Sharp), works a menial job as a parking lot attendant, and spends his free time singing with a barbershop quartet.  When a blind date arranged by his mother proves disappointing, he catches the eye of a handsome and enigmatic leader of a biker gang named Ray (Alexander Skarsgard) which leads to an awkward sexual encounter.  Colin is very inexperienced but Ray quickly initiates him into the world of BDSM as his submissive and he soon proves his aptitude for devotion.  Colin is so desperate for a connection that he allows Ray to have complete control but, as their relationship progresses, he demands more autonomy which Ray initially refuses.  However, Ray eventually begins to allow more and more intimacy but his feelings for Colin overwhelm him and he suddenly disappears from his life.  Colin emerges from the relationship devastated but with more confidence and a greater understanding of his own boundaries which ultimately leads to a new partner.  This is explicit (although, in my opinion, it is not shockingly so) but it is also a very tender love story where both men are transformed by being together even if they cannot stay together.  There are powerful turning points for each of them, including when Colin steals Ray's motorcycle and feels the freedom of actually controlling the bike rather than riding pillion and when Ray kisses Colin for the first time and realizes that he loves him (Ray's moment of truth is more subtle than Colin's but it is no less compelling).  This is also features a lot more humor than I was expecting, especially the scene in which Colin meets up with Ray for the first time with his family's long-haired dachshund only to see that Ray has a rottweiler (it perfectly telegraphs their eventual relationship without saying a word).  Finally, both Skarsgard and Melling give brilliant performances.  I have to admit that my motivation for seeing this movie was Skarsgard, and he is both sexy and vulnerable as Ray, but I was especially impressed by Melling because his portrayal of Colin's journey to self-discovery is incredibly dynamic and I was particularly struck by the difference in his demeanor in the two scenes with his barbershop quartet.  I highly recommend this with the proviso that some of the sex scenes might make some people uncomfortable.

Ballet West's Peter Pan

Last night I went to see Ballet West's production of Peter Pan, a ballet I had never seen before, and I was incredibly impressed by the thrilling athletic performances.  As with Jekyll and Hyde, I really enjoyed how movement is used to tell the story (especially since the story differs significantly from the one that audiences may be more familiar with) and I found the choreography to be very innovative and fun to watch.  The Darling children, including Peter (David Huffmire), Wendy (Lexi McCloud), Michael (Victor Galeana), and John (Jacob Hancock), are under the care of terrifying nursemaids who eventually lose Peter so Tinkerbell (Maren Florence) and other Fairies regularly visit their nursery to protect them.  After Mr. and Mrs. Darling  (Jordan Veit and Katlyn Addison, respectively) say goodnight to the children before attending a party, Wendy has a nightmare in which she is chased by shadows.  When she awakens, she sees that a wild boy named Peter has chased them away.  He teaches the Darling children to fly and invites them to join him in Neverland where they are welcomed by the exuberant Lost Boys who ask Wendy to be their mother.  They have a great adventure rescuing Mermaids (Alexis Bull, Tea Hinchley, and Anisa Sinteral) from Captain Hook (Adrian Fry), who has a mangled hand in the shape of a claw, and his band of Pirates but, when Wendy longs for home, the Lost Boys want to go there with her which angers Peter so he abandons them.  This gives Captain Hook the chance to take everyone prisoner on his ship, and to try to gain their sympathy by having his son James (Vinicius Lima) act out how his hand was mangled by a teacher who beat him, until Peter sneaks on board and challenges him to a duel.  The Mermaids help Peter throw Hook overboard where he is swallowed up by a crocodile.  The Darling children are then reunited with their parents but when Peter returns and asks Wendy to visit Neverland again she refuses and begins a family of her own.  I loved the sequence when Wendy dances with the shadows, both real and those portrayed by dancers, because it is such a cool effect and I loved all of the powerful acrobatic leaps and spins as Peter interacts with the Darling children in the nursery.  The aerial choreography when Peter and the children fly is absolutely magical because it seems like a natural extension of the steps they perform on the ground.  The Lost Boys and the Pirates execute wild and boisterous steps in unison while the villainous Captain Hook's movements are very stylized with flamboyant jumps and spins.  My favorite moments came in Act II when Huffmire and McCloud dance a beautiful and emotional Pas de Deux in which Wendy feels the push and pull between the excitement of Neverland and the contentment of home and in Act III when Huffmire is flying in the air while mirroring McCloud's movements on the ground because it shows their impending separation.  The sets are really imaginative, especially the way that nature is incorporated into the nursery to emphasize the influence of the fairies who protect the children and the way that Hook's ship resembles the skeleton of a whale with its skull serving as the prow, and the puppets are a lot of fun.  The score by Edward Elgar is very lively and adventurous during the battles but I also loved the plaintive violin during the Pas de Deux.  This is an enchanting production but there are only two more performances so act quickly to get a ticket (go here) before you lose your chance to visit Neverland!