MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond: Cinema Playground Journal 2023: Week 6 (My Cinema Playground)

Multiplex Madness

Consecration

⭐⭐

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Director: Christopher Smith

Starring: Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Janet Suzman

Jena Malone stars as a woman investigating the death of her brother at the convent he served. The nuns insist he was killed by a demon, but she tries to find a more grounded explanation when there might not be one. Malone is a excellent lead, and the set design and cinematography are wonderful. The mystery leaves a bit to be desired, as they way it unfolds is a bit chaotic, purposefully so to leave the audience confused and second-guessing as most of the revelations come through "visions" rather than evidence. It makes the mystery element less interesting as it feels like the audience is meant to just put up with the noise until the finale explains everything. The final solution is interesting, but one wishes the way it were told were more compelling.

Magic Mike's Last Dance

⭐⭐1/2

Genre: Comedy

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Channing Tatum, Salma Hayek Pinault

I went into this as a Magic Mike virgin and this movie did unspeakable things to me. I'd largely say I had a good time, because the film is very funny and the dance choreography lives up to the hype that the Magic Mike series has generated. For two acts I was genuinely into this third installment, which sees the beloved male stripper ported to England by a wealthy divorcee to put on a stage show. The idea had echos of doing a sequel to Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta as a Broadway dancer, just not done incompetently. But as fun as this movie can be, where it falls down is it's third act showcase of the performance, because the film feels like it's setting up something more special than we receive. I understand the idea of the "This play's theme is bullshit" facade, but just following it up with "So here's hot dudes dancing without shirts" is basic and anticlimatic. The climax doesn't really spring to life until Mike himself joins it for an erotic and unique dance with a ballerina, but everything around it is just great choreography without much purpose. The audience I saw it with was largely filled with rowdy women, and if that's any indication, I'd say Magic Mike fans won't care about its shortcomings and just want Mike's magic. They'd be throwing dollar bills at the screen if they could, and if the movie stuck the landing, I probably would have been right there with them.

The Outwaters

⭐⭐

Genre: Horror

Director: Robbie Banfitch

Starring: Robbit Banfitch, Michelle May, Angela Basolis, Scott Schamell

Because Skinamarink needed a challenger for most abstract horror movie of the year so far, here is The Outwaters, a found footage flick about a group of friends who hike into the desert to shoot a music video. Shit happens, people die, and that's pretty much all you can say about the story. I'm not avoiding spoilers, because that's pretty much what the entirety of the second half of the movie is. I'll give The Outwaters this, it's one of the more well executed found footage movies I've ever seen, as there are a number of handsome and creepy shots littered throughout that use the format effectively without feeling artificial. But while the found footage format is used effectively and is important to the film's aesthetic, there comes a point where it becomes unreasonable. The movie can't abandon it because it's too committed to it, but after a while it doesn't work narratively anymore and the movie ignores that. And I understand why it does, because the vision to this movie seems to be simulating a first person experience through something chaotic, confusing, and unsettling that you don't fully understand. That's all well and good and really this just means I'm trying to apply logic to a movie that doesn't wish to be held to logic, which is more of a me problem. I guess, in that sense, the movie is a success. I'd probably be more likely to be on board if the constant barrage of horrific acts without context weren't more numbing than scary. I have no problem with a movie being ambiguous, I just wish it weren't dull while doing it.

Art Attack

Triangle of Sadness

⭐⭐⭐

Oscars Nominated: Best Picture, Best Director - Ruben Östlund, Best Original Screenplay - Ruben Östlund

Genre: Comedy

Director: Ruben Östlund

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de Leon, Zlatko Buric, Iris Bergen, Vicky Berlin, Henrik Dorsin, Jean-Christophe Folly, Amanda Walker, Oliver Ford Davies, Sunnyi Melles

The last Best Picture nominee I had to see before I had seen all ten, Triangle of Sadness was kindly given a reissue at my arthouse theater. This ensemble comedy featuring Woody Harrelson and the late Charlbi Dean, who tragically passed away shortly before release at the young age of 32, Triangle of Sadness is a comedy of class inequality, showcasing various forms throughout. It covers a wide rage between sexist (and not the sexist type you'd expect), relationship, servitude, and even class shift through circumstance. The portrayals are always interesting, investing, and colorful, though the movie's tendency to wander and wallow in its own madness tends to get in the way as it continues on long past when its point is made. The movie also ends ambiguously, in a way that's thematically satisfying, but for those wishing for a full blown story might find unsatisfactory, because not every piece of the movie's puzzle falls into place. But it's successfully funny and engaging, which makes it forgivable for myself.

Netflix & Chill

In case you can't tell, Valentine's Day is this week and everyone has gotta have a romance movie.

At Midnight

⭐⭐

Streaming On: Paramount+

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Director: Jonah Feingold

Starring: Diego Boneta, Monica Barbaro, Whitney Cummings, Anders Holm

At Midnight sees an actress famous for dating her co-star in their epic superhero franchise filming the latest installment in Mexico, where she meets and falls in love with a hotel manager. This tonally confused romcom feels like it takes after late-90's romances targeting teens nervously wondering if they can sneak in a kiss, stylized like it's a Disney Channel movie made for tweens who barely know what love is, while written a bit hornier like it's meant for college students who will turn it on and start fucking after twenty minutes. It's not unpleasant (depending on your tolerance for cheese), but it's difficult to fully embrace what it's trying to accomplish when the movie itself doesn't seem quite sure what it's trying to accomplish. The funniest parts of the movie are when it parodies blockbuster filmmaking, because while it's not subtle, it's over-the-top delivery is good for a chuckle. It's hard to recommend this movie to those who don't watch Hallmark romances, but at the very least it works well as a showcase for Monica Barbaro, who proves she has it in her to be a solid leading lady. She just needs a better project to fall in her lap.

Attachment

⭐⭐1/2

Streaming On: Shudder

Genre: Horror, Drama

Director: Gabriel Bier Gislason

Starring: Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick, Sophie Gråbøl, David Dencik

Shudder's latest acquisition hails from Denmark, though a good portion of it is actually in English (but the whole thing is subtitled anyway). This little spookums movie sees a Danish woman escorting her girlfriend back home to her mother in England after she injures herself. Once there she finds her mother to be strange and cold, while odd incidents happen in the house. While not exactly an original story, Attachment's strengths lie in how hard it works to keep us invested in the main character's relationship. The central couple feels real and their love is a strong backbone for the movie. This is good because subtlety is not one of the movie's strong points. The movie features heavy-handed foreshadowing and telegraphed plot points that ruin the surprise of most twists. Select horror fans might be disappointed to find that the movie isn't a full-blown scary experience, as most of its horror is regulated to creaks in the house every ten minutes or so until the third act answers come rolling in. And even then, it's still not a full scare-tactic movie, but rather a dramatic conflict with its problem rooted in horror. The film has some issues with the climax, as some of the editing techniques used to imply certain events are confusing, but for the most part it's a reasonably satisfying ending that doesn't get bombastic to overshadow the movie's intimacy.

Somebody I Used to Know

⭐⭐⭐

Streaming On: Prime

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Director: Dave Franco

Starring: Alison Brie, Jay Ellis, Kiersey Clemons, Danny Pudi, Haley Joel Osment

This Alison Brie vehicle has her playing a TV producer who returns home after her series is cancelled to find that she might still have feelings for her ex-boyfriend, who is getting married that weekend. It takes a while for the movie to settle into a groove, but what I appreciate about this movie is that the actors have a naturalistic chemistry that makes it easy to believe they all have history together. While the movie probably could be better than it is, that chemistry charmed its way into my good will. Digging deeper into the movie, it has interesting themes about love, dreams, passion, and how they must coexist to temper regret. It's a pretty interesting plot told through a well-worn story, and while it sometimes gets sidetracked with humor a little too wacky for its tone, I came out feeling positive about it.

Your Place or Mine

⭐⭐1/2

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Director: Aline Brosh McKenna

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Ashton Kutcher, Jesse Williams, Zöe Chaos, Wesley Kimmel, Tig Notaro, Steve Zahn, Shiri Appleby

Predictable, but serviceable romcom sees Millennial favorites Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher as best friends with a touch of "Do they?/Will they?" who housesit for each other at different ends of the country so she can study for her degree and he can babysit her son. They both interfere in each others life, shenanigans ensue, yadda yadda yadda, they kiss at the end because that's what happens. Your Place or Mine isn't likely to win over anybody who isn't in the market for exactly what it's selling, which is a very specific brand of cuddle movie underlined with quirky humor. For those who are buying that, it will kill an evening at home with relative ease. There are elements of its plot that are underdeveloped, it's finale is undercooked, and I don't understand why Steve Zahn is even in this movie, but those who are in the bag for this movie already know who they are. Reese Witherspoon is at her bubbly best, and Ashton Kutcher is...Ashton Kutcher. If that combo sounds appealing, give it a spin.

Oscar Nominees (bold indicates Best Picture nominee)

Aftersun N/A

All That Breathes N/A

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed N/A

All Quiet on the Western Front ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Argentina, 1985 ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Avatar: The Way of Water ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Babylon ⭐⭐

The Banshees of Inisherin ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths N/A

The Batman ⭐⭐⭐

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ⭐⭐⭐1/2