Multiplex Madness
Beau is Afraid
⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Comedy
Director: Ari Aster
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Parker Posey
We all know better than to expect the conventional when you walk into an Ari Aster movie. I'm accepting of this, but I might also have to accept that he doesn't have another Hereditary in him. He'll try. He'll make his movies bigger and more intricate. Load them with more metaphors and imagery, but they won't be that lightning in a bottle. Beau is Afraid is his most surreal film to date, as Joaquin Phoenix plays a neurotic man who learns that his mother is dead and makes the journey to her wake, which is more dreamlike and nightmarish than it would be for normal people. Beau is Afraid feels like a metaphor for anxiety, that unrelenting feeling that the world is out to get you and what it probably would look like if you were right. Everything in this movie is an exaggerated attack on Phoenix, and its unrelenting. Even when things are calm, something is amiss, preventing his personal peace. I think the film is interesting, but like Aster's previous film, Midsommar, it does feel like a long journey on the same road, becoming a monotonous drone along the way. I think it's a more engaging film than Midsommar, but I will admit Midsommar had a better destination, which would probably make it the more investing film for some. Meanwhile, Beau is Afraid is just as much an abstract piece that just ends when it feels like it.
Chevalier
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Genre: Drama
Director: Stephen Williams
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, Marton Csokas, Alex Fitzalan, Minnie Driver
Based on the life of barrier-breaking composer Joseph Bologne and how he rose to prominence leading up to the French Revolution, Chevalier aims to make a movie as large as his talent and accomplishments. The film will be of primary interest to history buffs and classical music fans, though it might be a bit too flavorful for traditionalists. It aims to have more attitude and sex appeal than that, emphasizing Bologne's challenging personality, pushing the limits as a Black man inhabiting a racist elite culture. This manifests in duels of music and opera, pushing an energy to a biopic that might feel like an anachronism of modern snark. What makes it work is that sort of attitude likely honors the type of man he was perceived as being at the time.
The Covenant
⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim
Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this military film by Guy Ritchie, as Gyllenhaal plays a soldier in Afghanistan who forms a bond with his interpretor through their mutual survival on the run from the Taliban. The Covenant might appeal solely to those who gravitate toward militaristic movies, but it's a very tight and investing one about life debts and heroism. Gyllenhaal is great, and so is his co-star Dar Salim. The film shines a light on the people of Afghanistan who risked their lives in standing up to the Taliban, even when there was little paid in return. Some of its systematic critique is heavy in this regard, though in other areas it seems soft on the occupation in general. But I suppose that's not the story it's telling, choosing instead to be about a couple of men stuck in a shitshow trying to do what they need to do and not die doing it. Sometimes Ritchie's strokes as a filmmaker are broader than he needs to tell this story, but he tells it affectively.
Evil Dead Rise
⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Horror
Director: Lee Cronin
Starring: Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher
Warning: Occupants of theater may get bloodsoaked. Chainsaws, boomsticks, and so much gory chaos, that can only mean Evil Dead is back in cinemas. Following the classic original trilogy, the balls-to-the-wall remake, and the hilarious TV series, Evil Dead Rise brings the satanic spirits of the Necronomicon to the big city, where another Book of the Dead has been uncovered and infects the occupants of an apartment complex. The fear of a new Evil Dead production is always the question of if it can maintain that manic energy without the deft hand of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell's meatheaded protagonist. Fede Álvarez's remake took a leap in proving it can be done, though it being stigmatized as a remake of something as distinctly personal as Sam Raimi's indie darling of tenacity always seemed to dangling over it. People are starting to come around on that movie, which is good, because it goes hard. Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise is more of a reboot/non-specified sequel, taking the lore of Evil Dead and trying to make something new, but also familiar. Despite some promising ideas, the mesh between the two doesn't always work. I don't want to say Evil Dead Rise is restrained (if anything, Army of Darkness is the restrained Evil Dead movie), but it doesn't have the grit and rawness of the best Evil Dead movies. It probably couldn't go full metal because of studio restrictions (there's a reason those first two independent movies are unrated), but I feel like it probably could have worked a bit more to keep its momentum moving, as it comes alive in small bursts. Sometimes with inspiration (there are several excellent sequences that play out through a peephole) and sometimes with nostalgia, to mixed effect (the recycling of Evil Dead II's eyeball gag is neutered and ineffective). What makes this movie really come alive is a killer performance by Alyssa Sutherland as the main antagonist and an absolutely ballistic third act. It's not enough to save it from being the least of the Evil Dead movies, but when you consider the pedigree that came before it, just being an Evil Dead movie should be enough. If nothing else, it's just the series wanting to prove it can break free of Raimi and Campbell for eternal franchise potential. There's enough here to be optimistic about that.
Sisu
⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Action
Director: Jalmari Helander
Starring: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo
The latest Regal Mystery Movie had more walkouts than any other. I don't think many people expected to see that many heads explode that night. I mean, most of these movies are comedies, while this one was an action flick with a slightly cynical flair about a guy who will stab you in the face. Sisu is very much in the tradition of films like John Wick, Nobody, and Don't Breathe in that its main hook is that it's about a character who you'd assume is a pushover, but is secretly the most hardcore motherfucker on the planet. The film takes place in 1944 Finland, where an old man has just struck gold, but finds his claim jumped by Nazis. Cue him killing them all, because he's a legendary Finnish soldier who doesn't know how to die. The film is largely a realized pulp comic book, presented in segments that could be issues you pick up each month. Some might find it too narratively wanting, but a cult will look forward to each part because its their favorite thing ever. I found it a bit too reliant on the main character having luck or the villains just being cartoonishly stupid, but if you're into revenge fantasy, it's hard to argue with a film that's only ambition is to kill Nazis as brutally as possible.
Somewhere in Queens
⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Director: Ray Romano
Starring: Ray Romano, Laurie Metcalf, Sebastian Maniscalco, Sadie Stanley
The directorial debut of Ray Romano is a family dramedy of a family in Queens raising a son with esteem issues, has just broken up with his girlfriend, and finds it affecting his chance at a college scholarship. Romano plays the father, who tries to push his boy through some questionable means, but means well in doing it. Laurie Metcalf puts on her best Italian-American accent to play the mother, and is at her henpecking finest. The film doesn't have anything too spectacular or memorable in its tank, but it prefers to live in the moment, showing off performers doing true-to-life and funny work. It's a good relaxing watch.
Netflix & Chill
Ghosted
⭐⭐
Streaming On: AppleTV
Genre: Action, Comedy
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Adrien Brody
Cute, but underscripted, action vehicle has Chris Evans finding himself ghosted by Ana de Armas after a date that he thought went well, and in his attempt to find out why she won't return his calls finds out she's actually a CIA super-spy. Think of it as Second Date True Lies. Ghosted will be a fun watch for action film viewers, while the romantic tension between Evans and De Armas will provide enough amusement for couples looking for a fun date night flick. It falls limp in several areas to make it a full recommend, because while it's serviceable, it's not the whole package. I understand why you would want Evans and De Armas headlining this movie, as they're two attractive actors who are probably at their "in demand" height (De Armas is even fresh off an Oscar nomination). However, they both feel miscast for this particular movie. Evans is a bit too studly to pull off the whimpering boyfriend who hates violence that he has to play throughout most of the movie, and while it's true that he has to have a convincing turn into action hero toward the end, he just always looks like an action hero. De Armas works well as a spy queen girlboss, but she's a bit too stern of an actress to pull off her bickering banter with Evans for maximum comedic effect. It doesn't really help that the script is more anemic than it should be, feeling like it hasn't oiled out all of its kinks. Evans' character is even required to take several problematic actions for the film to move its plot forward, and how this movie got to the screen without calling some of them out is a bit of a mystery. That being said, I probably had more fun watching this movie than I should have. It's breezy, has good action, and I enjoyed a lot of the needless but funny cameos (some of which are notable if you're familiar with Chris Evans' Marvel career). If this were on my TV again for whatever reason, I wouldn't change the channel.
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Living with Chucky
⭐⭐⭐
Streaming On: Various
Genre: Documentary
Director: Kyra Gardner
Starring: Brad Dourif, Fiona Dourif, Don Mancini, David Kirschner, Jennifer Tilly, Alex Vincent, Christine Elise, Billy Boyd, Tony Gardner, Kyra Gardner
My internet took a dump this week, which gutted my streaming plans (mostly). Luckily I had received this documentary on Blu-ray, which helped fill that void. It was also fun to have two new projects to look forward to this week in two of my favorite comedy-adjacent horror franchises: Evil Dead and Child's Play. Living with Chucky is a documentary on the latter, obviously. Made by Kyra Gardner, the daughter of Tony Gardner, who has been the puppet designer for the Chucky movies since 2004 (aside from the 2019 remake film), Gardner makes a film that masks itself as a documentary about the Child's Play legacy and switches gears to tell a story about family bonds. This is an interesting take for this particular series, because one of the things that makes Chucky appealing as a horror creation is that he was a massive horror gateway character to children of the late-80's and early-90's, because a lot of kids were frightened and oddly fascinated by the idea that a toy could spring to life and try to kill you. The first three Child's Play movies were certainly one of things that opened my doorway into the genre, and because of that they'll always have a special place in my heart. A lot of us grew up with Chucky, so to speak, and the film's hypothesis may extend to us, because Gardner is just like us, and it almost makes us part of one weird family. She devotes a lot of time to Chucky voice actor Brad Dourif, and his daughter Fiona, who was only a little girl when the original Child's Play was released and would eventually play Nica in Curse of Chucky, Cult of Chucky, and the Chucky TV series, and there is talk about her coming in and inheriting this legacy that she gets to share with her father. Gardner, herself, gets on-camera as well, talking about her relationship with her father throughout his time on the movies, dating back to when she was a little girl and saw the dolls decapitate him in his cameo in Seed of Chucky, recalling how upset it made her. Also discussed is the "Chucky family," as most of the crew that works on each film is largely the same, talking about them as an adopted family of their own. I feel I would have appreciated this documentary more if it had decided to deep dive into its family aspects more. There have been many documentaries on the making of Chucky films, and Living with Chucky spends a little over an hour covering the productions as quickly as it can with tidbits we've heard before, before switching gears for more intimate talk that lasts the remaining half hour. It feels like it should side with one or the other, because both feel like they're are getting shortchanged. On the film-side, Child's Play 3 is practically tossed to the side while the remake isn't discussed at all (it was a different production crew, but maybe talk on how everyone felt about it might have been welcome). The TV series is briefly discussed, but this documentary was primarily filmed before it went into production, so there wasn't really anything to say. But if this is the family story that Gardner presents it to be, the theme should be spread more evenly. I understand what Gardner is doing, because she's going through the films one at a time about this production family building as new members come and go, then surprising you by showing you just what the movie is really about two-thirds in, but everything feels lopsided. It might have been more interesting to see her interject at the beginning of the film to tell her story of seeing her father decapitated by Chucky, and then see her work her way through this family of killer doll movie makers coming together with her as a narrator. I think that would have made for a great hook and helped spread the documentary's message of the love behind these murder movies. But it's a solid look at this often overlooked series that does successfully shed a new light on them, and for that I give her kudos.
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
How to Blow Up a Pipeline ⭐⭐⭐1/2
Mafia Mamma ⭐⭐1/2
The Pope's Exorcist ⭐⭐1/2
Renfield ⭐⭐⭐
New To Streaming
65 ⭐⭐
Marlowe ⭐⭐
A Thousand and One ⭐⭐⭐1/2
New To Physical
Cocaine Bear ⭐⭐⭐
Living with Chucky ⭐⭐⭐
Magic Mike's Last Dance ⭐⭐1/2
Marlowe ⭐⭐
The Son ⭐⭐⭐
Coming Soon!
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