MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond: Cinema Playground Journal 2024: Week 3 (My Cinema Playground)

Multiplex Madness

The Beekeeper

⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Action

Director: David Ayer

Starring: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Jeremy Irons, Jemma Redgrave, Bobby Naderi, Philicia Rashad, Minnie Driver

Why, yes, I was wondering what Jason Statham's own personal Commando would look like, thank you. That's something every action hero owes their audience, where it's them versus an army and somehow the army is outgunned and left embarrassed. Or you could be Steven Seagal and be boring by making it the only movie you make instead of your masterpiece. Statham has a lot of movies where he can just plow through the competition, but never quite on that level where he makes it through without a scratch because hell yes. The Beekeeper sees Statham as a retired secret operative called "the Beekeeper," who retired to live a life as an actual beekeeper, which makes sense. After a friend of his kills herself after being scammed online, Statham follows the money trail to make the bad guys pay the Jason Statham way. I guess that's as good a plot as any. Those going to see Statham kick faces will be very enticed by this movie, because the action is excellent. The script is probably less so, with what exactly a "Beekeeper" is being a bit too vague to the point where it's just a generic buzzword (lol buzz) to make the bad guys identify him as being a badass with one word. At the same time, we do meet another Beekeeper in the film, and her role in it is disappointingly brief to the point that she could have been cut out. It's a tease of this idea that is never elaborated on that frustrates, especially when we have similar movies like John Wick that explore these ridiculously elaborate worlds beneath their simple premise. But it's all just probably an excuse for bee puns.

The Book of Clarence

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Comedy

Director: Jeymes Samuel

Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, R.J. Cyler, Anna Diop, David Oyelowo, Michael Ward, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch

It's kinda Life of Brian, but heavier and with racial subtext. The Book of Clarence tells of the brother of Thomas, one of Jesus's Apostles, a non-believer who tries to get himself out of debt by posing as a new messiah as a street hustle, though he begins to find himself and his faith through his deceptions. I'm not sure if I should look too deeply into the idea that these brothers' names are Clarence/Thomas, or what this movie is trying to say through that implication, assuming it's not a weird coincidence, but here we are. The movie is very humorous in nature, but seriously put together. It's a good looking movie, with great sets, nice cinematography, and excellent actors. It's a comedy that looks like a lavish biblical drama. It takes its presentation very seriously, I'd assume to really work it's themes of finding guidance even through persecution. It's an interesting movie, and while it's not really what you would call "ha ha" funny, it's satiracle undertones keep it amusing even as it's story gets dark (because if we're doing a Jesus story, you have limited options of how to end it).

Cult Killer

⭐️1/2

Genre: Thriller

Director: Jon Keeyes

Starring: Alice Eve, Antonio Banderas, Paul Reid, Shelley Hennig

Antonio Banderas gets paid for two days work so this thriller can put him on the poster, which otherwise sees Alice Eve searching for the woman who killed him, and gets elbow deep into a sex cult that she has been murdering. The small glimmers of potential are what eat at me the most in this movie. Alice Eve is a solid lead, and her interplay with Shelley Hennig actually masks the movie's lousy screenplay at times. Eve and Hennig are close to building something interesting out of this, but there is only so much that they can do. Cult Killer is a movie that really wants to delve into a Girl with the Dragon Tattoo style thriller that are underlined by the trauma of the main characters, though Cult Killer can't seem to tell the difference between utilizing trauma for characterization and almost fetishizing it. Even if that wasn't an issue, the movie has a habit of grinding to a halt for a flashback featuring Banderas, just to remind us that he was on the poster. These flashbacks are only minimally relevant and add nothing to the film, only ensuring the movie is 100 minutes long instead of 90. Every once in a while, the movie does something interesting or even good, which is usually Eve or Hennig's doing, but it almost feels by accident.

Founders Day

⭐️⭐️

Genre: Horror

Director: Erik Bloomquist

Starring: Naomi Grace, Devin Druid, William Russ, Amy Hargreaves, Emilia McCarthy, Olivia Nikkanen, Catherine Curtin

New holiday, new serial killer. This slasher flick sees a masked killer who kills around a local town's Founders Day celebrations, and at the center is a young woman whose girlfriend was the first victim and finds everything circling back to her. Like last year's Thanksgiving, Founder's Day is a detailed recreation of 80's slasher movies. Unlike Thanksgiving, its tone is more inconsistent. I often wondered if it was satire, and the movie would at different times either nod enthusiastically at me or just stare blankly and shrug its shoulders. But there is no way the filmmakers made this particular movie without knowing what movie they were creating, because Founders Day's vision for itself seems so specific, so I can only conclude that it wants to be both earnest and goofy at the same time. Whether they succeeded in balancing the two is up to the viewer, though I'm inclined to find the movie fumbles the ball with it. I encourage the effort, though.

Freud's Last Session

⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Drama

Director: Matt Brown

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, Liv Lisa Fries

I've got an original idea for a drama: an atheist and a Christian debate each other. Freud's Last Session is a movie based on the idea that famed psychologist Sigmund Freud might have met Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis before he died. Not that he did, mind you, just that he might have. The movie sees Lewis paying a visit to Freud several weeks before his suicide, as they discuss theology, war, sexuality, and other fun topics that surely won't create butting heads. Fans of the playlet style of two-guys-in-a-room will find interest value in the idea of what might have happened if these two figures shared a space, and Freud's Last Session could potentially scratch that itch. The movie isn't bad, it just becomes clear that as it goes on that it's not necessarily going to go anywhere of value. Neither figure will give any sort of leeway on their topics of discussion and neither really goes on any sort of character journey, which seems like it should be important for a character piece. There is a small arc about Freud potentially coming to terms with his daughter's homosexuality, but it feels overshadowed and never really blossoms. In fact, the constant side-scenes and flashbacks only make the film feel fragmented. It's well-cast, though. Anthony Hopkins is magnificent as Freud, and Matthew Goode holds his own against him as Lewis. It's a movie that's more compelling in theory than in practice.

I.S.S.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller

Director: Gabriela Copperwaite

Starring: Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Maria Mashkova, Costa Ronin, Pilou Asbæk

A group of American and Russian astronauts work together peacefully on the International Space Station, only to be blindsided when nuclear war breaks out below. Each team receives orders from their government with a clear objective: take control of the station by any means necessary. The premise isn't so different from a movie that us MSTies saw on Cinematic Titanic called Doomsday Machine, except somebody actually had a budget to finish this one and made a movie that was actually good. I.S.S. is an exquisite potboiler thriller set in a confined space with a condensed cast full of characters who are unprepared for the situation and don't know who to trust. The film is a slow-burn film in a confined space and little context for what is happening outside their area, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I found the film a tense examination of paranoia based around characters in a dangerous environment, each with limited information and with their only trusted sources being the thoughts in their heads. Despite the film's exploitations of the U.S.'s rising tensions with Russia, the movie isn't actually political, instead being a character driven story of people who are separated from the politics and are torn by an unexpected order, which leads to complicated and messy results. It leads to a finale that refuses to take a side, instead showing that the people of a country do not represent the leaders who bring them into conflict.

Mean Girls

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Comedy, Musical

Director: Arturo Perez Jr., Samantha Jayne

Starring: Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp, Auli'i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Christopher Briney, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Jenna Fischer, Busy Phillips, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows

Confession: I have never seen the original Mean Girls. I've heard it was good, but it came out at this awkward time when I was fresh out of high school and saw a high school movie centered around popular girls and I was like "no thanks." I found out much later that my childhood crush, Lacey Chabert, was in it, which probably would have changed my mind. But I wasn't going back to it as a man in my 30's just to see a girl I thought was cute because that would be weird and creepy. Besides, I obsess over Jenna Coleman now. Lacey's still fetch, but not as fetch.

(Yes, I have a type, shut up)

Mean Girls fans already know the story of Mean Girls, which sees a new girl half-assemilated into the popular girl clique and the weird outsider clique, as she goes on a quest for revenge against the most popular girl in school. It's basically a tale of alpha dogs who dress in pink. This version of the story is based on the Broadway musical adaptation that reimagined the story as a rock opera. The songs are cool and catchy, while the choreography is mostly pretty good, though at times very oddball. The cast is the real winner, with just about everyone perfectly suited for their roles, including Moana herself, Auli'i Cravalho. I wouldn't say I was wowed by it, but if you like the original and dig musicals, it's probably worth a watch.

Art Attack

All of Us Strangers

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Director: Andrew Haigh

Starring: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Clair Foy

One of the most interesting dramas of awards season sees an emotionally closed-off writer who starts a relationship with a man in his apartment building, but also begins to see visions of his dead parents at the same time. The film is based on a Japanese novel called Strangers, which in turn was already adapted into a Japanese film called The Discarnates, and from my understanding the original material leans more into...not exactly horror, but is a bit more macabre than the film seen here. All of Us Strangers decides to leave some of the more disturbing elements of the metaphors it plays with at the door, choosing instead to be a fantastical tale of a lonely man who lives inside his head. It maintains the story of a man who is haunted by traumatic events and using the supernatural to move past them. The idea is porwerful, as we see him sitting down and having conversations with the people who didn't get to watch him grow up, telling them about who he became and what has happened in the years since. The romantic plot enhances it because it shows the therapeutic benefit he is receiving from the scenario, as he starts to open doors that he would usually leave closed. I do quibble a bit with the ending to the romance, which does have an excellent twist to it, but in changing a detail of the ending from the source to make it more bittersweet, the themes of moving past trauma start to deflate as it ends with this character finding a new purgatory of trauma to live inside. It was a sweet gesture, but it didn't work for me. Other than that, it's an excellent movie that's well worth watching.

Movies Still Playing At My Theater

American Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anyone But You ⭐️1/2

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom ⭐️⭐️

The Beekeeper ⭐⭐1/2

The Book of Clerence ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Boy and the Heron ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Boys in the Boat ⭐⭐⭐

Godzilla Minus One ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (no)

The Iron Claw ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mean Girls ⭐️⭐️⭐️