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 quiet 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 ridiculous and underwhelming Ghostface reveal because the motivation is convoluted and makes absolutely no sense (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.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Last night my nephew and I went to see Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie at the Broadway and it is a hoot!  Canadian filmmakers Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol play fictionalized versions of themselves in this mockumentary based on the web series and, later, the television show Nirvanna the Band the Show (you don't need to be familiar with either because the movie definitely works on its own).  Matt and Jay are musicians who form Nirvanna the Band in 2008 and create a series of elaborate plans, always detailed on a white board, to get a gig playing at the Rivoli in Toronto.  When their latest plan to get publicity for their band by skydiving from the CN Tower into the SkyDome goes horribly wrong seventeen years later, Jay is exasperated when Matt comes up with yet another plan.  This one involves converting an RV into a time machine inspired by Back to the Future in order to travel back to 2008 for reasons but, when it actually works after Matt's last bottle of Orbitz is spilled in the flux capacitor, Jay takes steps to change the future by interacting with his younger self.  However, once they return to 2025, Jay regrets his actions so he convinces Matt to go to 2008 again to change things back. Complications ensue when they cannot find another bottle of the discontinued Orbitz and have to execute another plan involving the CN Tower.  The physical comedy is absolutely hilarious because it is filmed as a documentary with cameras following all of their stunts (the scenes at the CN Tower were filmed without permits and they used a GoPro positioned on a tour guide without his knowledge) and the reactions from the crowds they interact with are genuine (and so quintessentially Canadian).  It is also extremely amusing when they periodically break the fourth wall, especially when they talk about the potential copyright issues for all of the movies they reference.  This is one of the funniest comedies I've seen in a long time (I saw it with a big crowd and heard people laughing out loud the entire time) but it also has a surprisingly touching message about friendship.  Definitely seek this one out because you will have so much fun watching it!

Note:  I grew up about an hour south of Toronto and have returned several times since moving to the United States to see Blue Jays and Maple Leafs games so I enjoyed all of the inside jokes about the city.  I laughed out loud every time they referred to the baseball stadium as the SkyDome.  The name changed to the Rogers Centre in 2005 but the locals still call it the SkyDome!

Wuthering Heights

Last night I finally had the chance to see Wuthering Heights at the Broadway and, even though they may take away my English degree, I liked it.  The volatile Mr. Earnshaw (Martin Clunes) returns to Wuthering Heights, his Gothic estate, with a young boy (Owen Cooper) he rescued off the streets.  His daughter Catherine (Charlotte Mellington) adopts him as her pet, names him Heathcliff, and the two become inseparable, much to the dismay of Catherine's paid companion Nelly (Vy Nguyen), the illegitimate daughter of a lord.  Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) develop intense but unrequited feelings for each other as the years pass but Mr. Earnshaw lets Wuthering Heights fall into disrepair through his drinking and gambling so she contemplates marrying Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), a wealthy textile merchant who lives in neighboring Thrushcross Grange, to escape her circumstances.  She encourages his attentions and accepts his proposal but confesses to Nelly (Hong Chau) that she loves Heathcliff and is having second thoughts.  However, Heathcliff leaves Wuthering Heights unaware that Cathy loves him so she reluctantly marries Linton.  Her life at Thrushcross Grange is luxurious but empty so when Heathcliff returns as a gentleman with a mysterious fortune she begins a passionate affair with him.  Cathy is overcome with guilt and ends the affair so Heathcliff marries Linton's ward Isabella (Alison Oliver) to make her jealous which leads to tragedy.  Emerald Fennell takes many liberties with the novel by Emily Bronte to emphasize the tragic love story between Cathy and Heathcliff but what this version retains, in my opinion, is the scathing criticism of the rigid class system with the character of Nelly.  Much like Farleigh in Saltburn, Nelly is not a member of the aristocracy as represented by the Earnshaws (or even the wealthy merchant class represented by the Lintons) but neither is she a servant like Heathcliff.  She has no agency but she considers herself above all of these characters and manipulates their self-indulgent and self-destructive behavior to emerge as a survivor.  In addition to this intriguing social commentary, I absolutely loved the bold visuals.  The juxtaposition between Wuthering Heights, which is dark and foreboding and dominated by the intrusion of nature, and Thrushcross Grange, which is unnaturally bright and colorful and full of artifice (even in the costumes), is very striking and symbolic.  I also enjoyed the gorgeous cinematography on the moors and the atmospheric score.  Robbie and Elordi have tremendous chemistry (although I was expecting their scenes to be a lot more provocative) and I liked that their characterizations are appropriately unsympathetic but I was much more intrigued by the performances from Clunes, Oliver, and Hau.  I definitely enjoyed this more when I viewed it as inspired by, rather than adapted from, the novel and I recommend it as such.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

Late last night I went to see Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die and it is absolutely bonkers!  An unnamed man (Sam Rockwell) from a dystopian future arrives in the present day and takes all of the patrons of a popular Los Angeles diner hostage.  He is looking for a specific combination of people to help him save the fate of humanity but tells them that, since this is his 117th attempt, he is not very optimistic about their chances for survival.  He eventually coerces Bob (Daniel Barnett), Marie (Georgia Goodman), Scott (Asim Chaudhry), and the couple Mark (Michael Pena) and Janet (Zazie Beetz) to join him and then Susan (Juno Temple) and Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson) volunteer for reasons.  He explains that people in the future have become obsessed with virtual reality to the exclusion of their own reality and, as a result, the natural resources in the real world have run out causing a catastrophic number of deaths.  The only hope for the future is to find the nine-year-old boy responsible for creating the AI that is about to take over the world and install a safety protocol into the program (he doesn't want to destroy the program because he believes that AI is inevitable). However, there are forces working against him and mayhem ensues. I enjoyed the surreal tone and the satirical humor made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion but there is also a powerful message about the dangers of technology that really resonated with me, especially the scene showing students enslaved to their phones.  I also enjoyed Rockwell's performance because he commits fully to the insanity.  His physicality is almost manic and it is fun to watch, particularly when he is trying to convince the customers at the diner that the world is about to end.  I sometimes found the pacing to be a bit off because the action is periodically interrupted by flashbacks to the backstories of some of the characters and, while these are interesting and inform what is happening, the transitions back to the present are jarring.  I also think the third act is unwieldy and goes on far too long (the drawn out explanations of several twists become very tedious).  This was a mixed bag for me but it is entertaining and I recommend it to those who appreciate a bold, if not always effective, swing for the fences.

Crime 101

Yesterday my nephew and I were able to catch a matinee of Crime 101 and we both really liked it.  Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) is a jewel thief who uses inside information to plan heists along Highway 101 that involve stealing from couriers without the use of violence.  Det. Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) suspects that all of these robberies are the work of one man but no one, including his exasperated partner Det. Tillman (Corey Hawkins), agrees with him.  When Mike refuses to do a job, his fence Money (Nick Nolte) gives it to an incredibly unstable and violent biker named Ormon (Barry Keoghan) and, when the job goes wrong, Mike is angry about the casualties.  He decides to do one final job on his own after beginning a romantic relationship with Maya (Monica Barbaro) and enlists the help of Sharon Combs (Halle Berry), a disgruntled insurance broker, to get information about one of her wealthy clients (Tate Donovan).  Money doesn't want to miss out on Mike's job so he has Ormon follow him to steal back what he steals.  Complications ensue when all of these characters become involved with the execution of the heist.  This is an incredibly stylish neo-noir crime thriller but it is also much more character-driven than I was expecting.  I especially enjoyed the arcs for Mike, Lou, and Sharon because all three of them are easy to root for despite their questionable behavior (the resolution is perfect).  I loved the requisite car chases with the equally requisite synth score as well as the dynamic camera angles and use of reflections (I've seen a lot of comparisons to Michael Mann's Heat but, in my opinion, this is not a negative).  Finally, the entire cast is great (Hemsworth is very well suited to his role and Keoghan adds another little freak to his collection) but Berry steals the show with her tough, yet vulnerable, performance as a woman who is fed up with broken promises.  This is highly entertaining and I definitely recommend it.

A Private Life

I was really exited to see Jodie Foster in a role that is almost entirely in French (she swears in English) so I went to see A Private Life at the Broadway last night.  Her performance is even more captivating than I was expecting.  Dr. Lillian Steiner (Foster) is an American psychiatrist living in Paris.  When Paula (Virginie Efira), one of her long-term patients, commits suicide, her husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric) and daughter Valerie (Luana Bajrami) hold Lillian responsible because she used pills that Lillian prescribed to kill herself.  However, when Lillian discovers that the prescription was altered, she suspects that Paula was murdered by one of them and enlists her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil) to help her find the truth.  At first I found the narrative to be incredibly messy, with subplots involving a disgruntled former patient (Noem Morgensztern), a son (Vincent Lacoste) with whom she has a distant relationship, and a hypnotist (Sophie Guillemin) who reveals the possibility of childhood trauma and a past life that informs the present, but there is a moment when everything comes together and what I thought was just a murder mystery becomes a psychological character study about a woman in the midst of a breakdown.  Even though some of the ideas are underdeveloped and the tone is a bit inconsistent (some of the humor is very jarring), it is definitely a lot more complex and thought-provoking than some might suggest.  What everyone can agree on is that Foster is outstanding (her French is flawless) and gives a highly nuanced performance in which she is cold and detached but slowly becomes more and more vulnerable as Lillian investigates a suspicious death and her own psyche.  The rest of the cast is great as well, especially Auteuil who has a surprisingly sexy and playful chemistry with Foster.  I also loved the stylish interiors (especially all of the spiral staircases) and the rainy autumnal exteriors around Paris.  This is the kind of movie that really appeals to me (but might not appeal to others) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sundance Film Festival 2026

I wasn't very interested in the lineup but, since this was the final year that Utah would be hosting the Sundance Film Festival, I knew that I had to attend at least one screening to bid farewell to something that has been a part of my life for well over a decade.  I ended up seeing The Weight last night at the Rose Wagner with my nephew and I think it is incredibly appropriate that I ended with a film starring Ethan Hawke because I have seen so many of his films at Sundance over the years!  Both my nephew and I liked it because it feels like an old school Western but it is set in the Pacific Northwest during the Great Depression.  Samuel Murphy (Hawke) is a widower arrested for fighting and sent to a convict labor camp run by Clancy (Russell Crowe).  He is separated from his young daughter Penny (Avy Berry) and he is desperate to get back to her before she becomes a ward of the state and eligible for adoption.  Clancy is impressed by Murphy's ingenuity and offers him an early release if he smuggles gold from a mine run by his associate Taggert (Alec Newman) and transports it through a dangerous forest to a safe location before the federal government can confiscate it.  Murphy agrees and sets off with three other convicts, Rankin (Austin Amelio), Singh (Avi Nash), and Olson (Lucas Lynggaad Tonnesen), two armed guards from the mine, Amis (Sam Hazeldine) and Big (Jeffrey Lee Hallman), and Anna (Julia Jones), an indigenous woman on the run who joins them, on a perilous journey with higher stakes than he imagines.  It is incredibly tense (at one point everyone in the theater gasped out loud) because they face dangers from nature, from a miner (Cameron Brady) who happens upon them and suspects what they are doing, and shifting dynamics within the group.  It does sometimes get bogged down in between the action sequences but they are great, especially one on a suspension bridge and one during a thunder storm.  Hawke gives a riveting performance that hearkens back to classic Westerns as a rugged and resourceful loner on a mission and the locations are gorgeous.  It was really fun to experience this with a Sundance crowd and I will really miss the festival.

I have so many to choose from but here are some of my favorite memories from the festival:

Whenever I saw a screening at the Rose Wagner, I always tried to sit in the same seat and at one screening I got chatting with a volunteer about my preference.  During the next screening, I noticed that this seat had a reserved sign on it.  The volunteer had put the sign on "my" seat so that I would be sure to get it!

I saw Hereditary at the old Tower Theater which is incredibly atmospheric (and probably haunted) and therefore a great place to see a horror film.  I jumped out of my seat and screamed out loud during an especially tense scene and so did everyone sitting around me.  It is one of the most memorable movie viewing experiences I have had!

When I was teaching, I was able to take my students to the free screenings offered by the Sundance Institute.  One year I had a group who really enjoyed reading Hamlet so I was beyond excited when we were able to see Ophelia.  They loved the film and all of their discussions on the bus ride home comparing it to the play made my teacher heart want to burst!

I am a big fan of the musical Hamilton so I had a fangirl moment when Daveed Diggs, who originated the role of Lafayette/ Thomas Jefferson, showed up for the Q&A after the screening for Blindspotting. I may or may not have screamed when he came to the stage.

I loved being able to talk to people who also have a passion for film while standing in line and I eventually became friends with several people who came to the festival year after year.  I always looked forward to seeing them and I am so glad that I got to connect with a few of them last night!

My favorite films seen at Sundance are Manchester by the Sea, A Ghost Story, Nine Days, Past Lives, and Sorry, Baby.

H is for Hawk

Yesterday I went to a matinee of H is for Hawk, an adaptation of the best-selling memoir of the same name by Helen Macdonald, and I found it to be incredibly moving.  Macdonald (Claire Foy) is a fellow at Cambridge University who is grief-stricken over the sudden death of her beloved father Alistair (Brendan Gleeson).  She is assaulted by memories of her father, especially their bird watching excursions together, so she decides to get an Eurasian goshawk, a particularly aggressive bird of prey, in order to keep these memories alive.  She subsumes her grief into bonding with and training the bird she names Mabel which causes her to abandon her research and teaching responsibilities and avoid her worried family and friends.  However, it is when she observes Mabel hunting that she begins to understand the necessity of life and death in nature which leads to acceptance and healing.  This is a very powerful portrayal of grief and I was particularly struck by how the memories of her father would randomly overwhelm Helen when she least expected them because that is my own experience with grief over the death of my father.  Her interactions with Alistair, shown through flashbacks, are so poignant that I had tears in my eyes on more than one occasion (Gleeson gives a lovely performance).  I also loved the strangely compelling interactions between Helen and Mabel (I wonder how long some of these sequences took to film and how much training Foy received because they appear so authentic) and the beautiful cinematography as Mabel flies through the sky hunting for prey.  Foy gives an amazing performance, in my opinion, because, even though it is incredibly restrained, you understand everything that Helen is feeling just by her body language and facial expressions.  This is a very slow and introspective movie so it might not be for everyone but its themes resonated very deeply with me and I loved it.

Shelter

If there is an action movie starring Jason Statham released in January I will be seated so my nephew and I went to see Shelter last night.  It is exactly what I expected and I liked it!  Michael Mason (Statham) is living in self-imposed exile on an isolated island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland for reasons.  His only contact with the outside world is a former Royal Marine with whom he served and his teenage niece Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) who deliver supplies to him every week.  When their boat capsizes during a turbulent storm, Mason is able to rescue Jessie but she sustains an injury that necessitates a trip to the mainland where he is caught on surveillance cameras.  This triggers a response from MI6, including an agent named Roberta Frost (Naomi Ackie) who believes that he is a priority-one terrorist and dispatches an attack force to the island, and Steven Manafort (Bill Nighy), the former director of MI6, who knows who he really is and sends a covert operative named Workman (Bryan Vigier) to kill him.  Mason takes Jessie on the run, calling on contacts from his past to help him, but will he be able to elude MI6 to get her to safety?  The story is both convoluted, with a nefarious plot involving a shady surveillance program called T.H.E.A. authorized by the prime minister (Harriet Walter) and a black-ops organization run by Manafort, and frustratingly vague, with hints about Jessie's identity that go nowhere, but it hardly matters because that is not why audiences see these movies!  The non-stop action sequences are a lot of fun, even if they are not particularly groundbreaking, and I especially enjoyed a sequence on the island involving booby traps, a car chase over rugged terrain, a stylish shoot-out in a nightclub, and two fights involving hand-to-hand combat (and the use of several ordinary objects close to hand).  Statham is his usual taciturn self but I liked the relationship that develops between Mason and Jessie (Breathnach is very appealing) and I always love seeing Nighy.  This is a decent entry in Statham's action filmography (I liked it more than last year's A Working Man but not as much as The Beekeeper) and I recommend it to fans of the actor.

The Testament of Ann Lee

I have been looking forward to The Testament of Ann Lee ever since it premiered at the Venice Film Festival last fall so I was really excited to see it at the Broadway with my nephew last night.  A musical about a historical figure seems like something I would love but I did not love this.  It documents the life of Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), the founder of the Shaker movement, beginning with her childhood in Manchester yearning for God with her brother William (Lewis Pullman), her affiliation with a sect of Quakers who use boisterous song and dance to worship, her marriage to a believer named Abraham (Christopher Abbott), the loss of four children who die in infancy, her imprisonment for disturbing the peace during which she has a vision about the Garden of Eden and original sin, her subsequent edict that believers should practice celibacy, her proclamation as the female Messiah, the persecution that leads her to take her followers to New England, the establishment of a utopian settlement, conflicts with the Continental Army for her group's pacifism and skirmishes with angry mobs who suspect her of witchcraft, and her death amidst a thriving community.  The story is told through rapturous music and dynamic choreography inspired by the spastic movements made during worship and, at first I found this to be very compelling, but it soon grows monotonous as the same words and steps are repeated over and over.  My favorite musical scene was "All Is Summer" because, even though the lyrics and choreography are repetitive, it takes place on the ship coming to America and shows the followers dancing in all kinds of weather (the editing in this scene is amazing).  The narrative often feels like a mere recitation of facts about Lee, complete with endless narration by Sister Mary (Thomasin McKenzie), and it moves quickly from event to event without a lot of in depth exploration.  I did not learn anything of substance about Lee or her movement.  Despite a tremendous performance from Seyfried, Lee is portrayed as a charismatic leader of a cult rather than a religious figure of importance and so much of what is perceived as miraculous about her ministry is debunked (her vision is shown as a hallucination after days without food or water and her divinely inspired message about celibacy is just a response to years of sexual trauma). I did love the cinematography (particularly the overhead shots), the production design (the scenes of woodworking and furniture making, which also go on for too long, are very authentic), and the beautiful visuals that look like period paintings but I definitely didn't enjoy this as much as I was expecting.

Send Help

Last night my nephew and I were able to see an early access screening of Send Help and I thought it was a lot of fun.  After Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien) takes over as CEO from his father, he gives the promotion meant for the socially awkward Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) to his less qualified fraternity brother Donovan (Xavier Samuel).  He treats her in a very demeaning and sexist way but takes her on an important trip to Thailand because he knows that she will do all of the work.  When their plane crashes in the middle of the ocean, they are the only survivors and are stranded on a seemingly deserted island.  Linda uses her superior survival skills to care for an injured Bradley and find food, water, and shelter but, when he becomes angry about the reversal in their roles and criticizes her for not finding a way off the island, she leaves him to fend for himself.  He suffers from exposure, hunger, and dehydration before he eventually apologizes for his behavior, both on the island and in the office, but this makes him even more determined to take control.  Who will survive?  This definitely features some gory horror elements, especially a scene involving a wild boar, but I loved all of the dark humor as two completely unhinged characters keep shifting the power dynamic between them.  I found it very riveting and I eagerly anticipated every increasingly sadistic thing that Bradley and Linda do to each other.  I couldn't wait to see who would ultimately survive (and I kept going back and forth about who I wanted to survive because of all the surprising twists and turns).  Both McAdams and O'Brien are fantastic because they fully commit to the madness but also have moments of vulnerability that give their characters added dimension and they have great chemistry.  I thoroughly enjoyed this wildly entertaining mix of the horror, comedy, and psychological thriller genres and recommend it to fans of Sam Raimi.

Mercy

Last night my nephew and I went to see Mercy and, while it is not a great movie, it is definitely not as bad as I thought it would be based on the reviews.  In a dystopian future where Los Angeles is overridden with violent crime, LAPD Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) is instrumental in creating the Mercy Capital Court where AI is used as judge, jury, and executioner for the worst offenders.  However, he is soon *ahem* at the mercy of his own creation when he is accused of killing his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis) and put on trial by AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson).  He is restrained and given 90 minutes to prove his innocence below a 92% guilt probability threshold or he will be executed on the spot.  He has access to the Ministry Cloud, which includes surveillance footage from all over the city and the social media accounts of every citizen, in order to prove his innocence.  He also has the opportunity to communicate with anyone able to provide evidence, including his daughter Britt (Kylie Rogers), his AA sponsor Rob Nelson (Chris Sullivan), and his partner Jacqueline "Jaq" Diallo (Kali Reis).  Will he be able to solve the mystery of his wife's death before time runs out?  I initially wanted to see this because it seemed like a cautionary tale about the dangers of giving AI too much power, which it is to a certain extent, but then this message becomes muddled in the third act and it really weakens the narrative.  Both Pratt and Ferguson give incredibly bland performances because they are both stuck in a static location and all we see are close-ups of their faces for most of the runtime (Pratt can be good but, in my opinion, his best performances involve physical comedy so this is beyond his abilities).  Having said that, I did enjoy the use of the screenlife genre in the storytelling (I am a fan of Missing, Profile, and Searching) because this footage adds immediacy and tension, especially the clock counting down in real time.  I found the mystery to be compelling, even though the investigation is extremely convenient in order to happen during the time limit imposed by the narrative, and I was fully engaged until the action becomes a bit unwieldy in the final moments.  I didn't hate this but it probably should have gone straight to streaming.

Dead Man's Wire

I thought the trailer for Dead Man's Wire, which is based on a true story, looked really intriguing so I went to see it last night and enjoyed it even more than I was expecting.  Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgard) is a would-be Indianapolis real estate developer in 1977 who blames all of his financial woes on the Meridian Mortgage company.  He arrives at their office to confront the president M.L. Hall (Al Pacino) but, because he is on vacation in Florida, Tony abducts his son Richard (Dacre Montgomery), instead.  Tony uses a "dead man's wire" to bind Richard and himself to the trigger of a shotgun so that Richard will be killed instantly if anything happens to him.  He alleges that Meridian sabotaged his plan for turning his property into a shopping center by discouraging potential tenants from leasing from him so he demands $5 million for lost revenue, immunity from prosecution, and a public apology from M.L. Hall for his actions (which he callously refuses to do despite the threat to his son).  Detective Michael Grable (Cary Elwes), one of Tony's drinking buddies, attempts to negotiate but tensions escalate and Richard is kept hostage in Tony's apartment for three days.  However, Linda Page (Myha'la), a local TV reporter who happens to be in the right place at the right time, and Fred Temple (Colman Domingo), a popular morning DJ, both broadcast sympathetic portrayals of Tony which turn him into a folk hero and this leads to an outcome that I found quite surprising (and strangely satisfying).  This is very thought-provoking, incredibly entertaining, and surprisingly funny (a scene involving a flow chart on a chalkboard by an FBI profiler made me laugh out loud).  All of the performances are outstanding, particularly Skarsgard, who is absolutely brilliant as an ordinary man who has been pushed too far by a greedy company, and Domingo, who has such a velvety smooth voice that he could actually be a DJ.  I loved the cinematography in the style of a gritty 1970s crime thriller, especially Linda's TV footage and the black and white crime scene photographs, as well as the immersive production design and costumes.  Finally, all of the 1970s needle drops are a lot of fun (my favorite is "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron).  I really dug this and highly recommend it.

The Hunger Games Marathon

Yesterday I spent the entire day at the Megaplex for another movie marathon.  This time it was for The Hunger Games and it was so much fun!  I really love the books and movies in this series because I think Katniss Everdeen's hero's journey and Coriolanus Snow's radicalization are very compelling.  In The Hunger Games, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is thrust into the spotlight when she volunteers as tribute from the impoverished District 12 to save her sister Primrose (Willow Shields) when she is selected at the reaping.  Her survival skills in the game help her become the victor but an act of defiance with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the other tribute from District 12, sparks unrest and angers President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland).  In Catching Fire, Katniss is used as a pawn by the Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the District 12 Mentor Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), and the Victors Beetee Latier (Jeffrey Wright), Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), and Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) in their plot against Snow during the Quarter Quell. In Mockingjay Part 1, Katniss is uneasy about her role as the symbol of the rebellion and reluctantly participates in the propaganda used to unite the districts but, in Mockingjay Part 2, she finally accepts her role and fights to end the tyranny of both President Snow and President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore).  In The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is traumatized by the fact that his once powerful family has sunk into poverty and obscurity.  He sees a chance for advancement by becoming a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12, but he is forced to resort to deception, manipulation, fear, and ruthlessness in order to secure her victory and ultimately betrays her and his friend Sejanus Plinth (Josh Rivera) to restore his family to prosperity.  I watch these movies all of the time but I am so glad that I got to see them on the big screen again because the visuals are so vivid.  I love the worldbuilding, production design, and costumes, especially those worn by Katniss during the tribute parades and interviews with Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) as well as all of those worn by Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks).  I love all of the action sequences in the arena, particularly the cornucopia bloodbath in Catching Fire because the changing aspect ratio is so dynamic, and during the Battle for the Capitol in Mockingjay Part 2 because it is so tense.  Finally, I love the performances because I think every actor perfectly embodies their character (I was not happy when Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz were cast but now I can't imagine anyone else as Haymitch and Cinna, respectively).  The large crowd was a lot of fun and, even though I didn't see anyone dressed up, they were very enthusiastic and I enjoyed interacting with everyone seated around me (which is very unusual for me).  Megaplex has several more movie marathons scheduled this year, including ones for Pirates of the Caribbean in February, Jurassic Park in April, and Harry Potter in August, and I highly recommend the experience.

Now:  I am now even more excited for the movie adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

I was incredibly hyped to see 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple with my nephew yesterday and, unbelievably, it lived up to my expectations!  After leaving the relative security of the island, Spike (Alfie Williams) is coerced into joining a Satanic gang led by the charismatic, but psychotic, Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) as they terrorize the survivors they encounter.  Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) continues memorializing victims of those infected by the rage virus in his ossuary known as the Bone Temple.  When Kelson encounters the Alpha leader of the infected, who he has nicknamed Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) for his strength, he sedates him with a morphine dart from a blowgun which makes him docile enough to interact with.  Samson becomes addicted to the morphine and their growing connection allows Kelson to study him and realize that the rage virus might be cured.  He administers anti-psychotics to him but this experiment is interrupted when Kelly (Erin Kellyman), a member of Jimmy's gang, observes Kelson and mistakenly believes that he is Satan.  In order to keep control, Jimmy threatens Kelson into portraying Satan for his gang which results in an epic confrontation between the two of them.  This installment in the franchise is wild, chaotic, and incredibly gory (which is what I was expecting from the more meditative 28 Years Later) but it is also surprisingly emotional.  I loved the unusual friendship that develops between Kelson and Samson and I was particularly struck by the juxtaposition between Jimmy's psychosis and Samson's because this brilliantly expands on the theme that humanity is capable of savagery even without the virus.  Fiennes gives an absolutely fearless performance and one scene in particular (accompanied by Iron Maiden's "The Number of the Beast") must be seen on the big screen (trust me on this).  O'Connell is also an incredibly compelling villain and his scenes with Fiennes crackle with energy.  I loved this and I am now even more excited for the next movie in the trilogy!

Note:  The needle drops are fantastic!  In addition to his use of the aforementioned song by Iron Maiden, Kelson seems to be a big fan of Duran Duran!

The Choral

Last night my nephew and I went to see The Choral and it should come as no surprise to anyone that I thoroughly enjoyed a British period drama (my favorite genre of movie) set during World War I (a historical period that fascinates me) about the power of art to heal (one of my favorite themes) starring Ralph Fiennes (one of my favorite actors).  Bernard Duxbury (Roger Allam), an alderman in the Yorkshire town of Ramsden, hopes to revive the Choral Society but many of their members, including their choirmaster, are now at the front.  The committee reluctantly appoints Dr. Henry Guthrie (Fiennes), despite his unpatriotic love of German composers, as the new choirmaster, opens membership to anyone willing to sing no matter their social class, and decides to perform The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar (Simon Russell Beale).  Complications ensue but, when Elgar objects to the changes made to his composition in order to include a wounded soldier who has recently returned home, they lose hope.  However, it is the power of the music that ultimately overcomes all obstacles.  This is a slow and gentle movie (my nephew likened to something that would be shown on PBS) but it is ultimately very heartwarming with an incredibly poignant final scene that mirrors the theme of Elgar's oratorio.  I loved how the impact of the war on everyone in the town is portrayed and I was especially struck by two different scenes at the train station in which soldiers go off to war with much fanfare and cheering followed by the more somber arrival of soldiers coming home with devastating injuries.  I also loved a montage showing the various members of the choral society practicing in different locations around town because it shows the unifying influence of the music.  Fiennes gives an incredible performance because he is able to show so many conflicting emotions on his face at the same time, particularly a scene where he simultaneously receives permission from Elgar and news of the probable death of his lover, and I also really enjoyed Amara Okerete as a Salvation Army volunteer who performs a solo because her voice is so angelic (all of the scenes featuring music are outstanding).  Finally, the production design is absolutely beautiful and the costumes are very authentic.  I loved this and recommend it to fans of period dramas.

Is This Thing On?

Last night I went to the Broadway to see Is This Thing On? and, even though it is very predictable, there was enough humor and pathos to keep me invested.  Alex Novak (Will Arnett) is a middle-aged man who has recently separated from his wife Tess (Laura Dern) after years of growing apart and is now struggling with how to co-parent his sons Felix (Blake Kane) and Jude (Calvin Knegten) and maintain relationships with the couple's shared friends Balls (Bradley Cooper), Christine (Andra Day), Stephen (Sean Hayes), and Geoffrey (Scott Icenogle).  After an especially tense evening with Tess and their friends, he decides to get a drink but, when he doesn't have the money to pay the cover charge at a comedy club, he puts his name down for open mic night in order to get in free.  He uses his divorce as inspiration for his routine and, because he gets a few laughs, he soon has the confidence to perform regularly and finds catharsis and a new lease on life.  Meanwhile, Tess begins coaching volleyball after retiring from playing on the national team years ago to have a family.  Complications ensue when Alex and Tess start to see each other in a different light after years of taking each other for granted.  I enjoyed the dynamic handheld camerawork, particularly during the comedy routines, and the naturalistic sound design, especially in a scene at a birthday party between Alex and Balls, because they really add to the authenticity of the narrative.  The performances from both Arnett and Dern are incredibly poignant and I loved their interactions as a couple who have lost themselves but somehow find their way back to each other (they have tremendous chemistry) because they feel so honest.  I also loved Cooper as the goofy best friend because he is a perfect foil to Arnett.  Finally, I found this to be very heartwarming but it is also quite funny, especially when Alex and Tess try to hide that they are breaking up from their friends in an early scene and then conceal that they are back together in a later one.  I enjoyed this charming take on navigating a divorce and would definitely recommend it.

Note:  When I first saw the trailer, the plot reminded me of how the comedian John Bishop got his start (which I heard him talk about on The Graham Norton Show).  It turns out that the character of Alex is loosely based on his experiences and that he is also an executive producer.