Multiplex Madness
A Mistake
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Drama
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Simon McBurney, Mickey Sumner, Rena Owen, Richard Crouchley, Matthew Sunderland
Elizabeth Banks plays Elizabeth Taylor (NO NOT THAT ONE), a surgeon who makes an error during a surgery. After the patient dies, she has to deal with the fallout as her life spirals out of control. Medical drama enthusiests will find investment in A Mistake, which seems to be playing up to a comfort food audience while dealing with a subject that's less than comforting. The film is based on a novel, which feels very evident. The drama is very dependent on Banks's state of mind, which is easier to convey in text than it is through performance. Banks is eager to prop that on her shoulders, though the melodrama tends to weigh her down. The movie heads in aggressively somber directions, and its downbeat plot-turns pile up until the movie blows out its own wheels. I'm not convinced the movie needed to be this relentlessly dark, but it's also not boring.
Never Let Go
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Director: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B. Jenkins
Halle Berry plays a mother living in a cabin, which has been supposedly blessed to protect her and her children from a supernatural "evil" that lives in the woods. As time goes on, she begins to suspect the evil has possessed her children while they begin to doubt her story. It's not entirely dissimilar a premise to this year's Arcadian, except Never Let Go isn't nearly the pain in the ass to watch. The issue with Never Let Go is that its themes and style challenge each other for superiority. Its desire to keep the audience second-guessing turns a movie about trauma, paranoia, and social isolation into a movie that's almost about nothing. That is probably harsh, because the movie is effectively creepy and has heart-racing suspense scenes, it just becomes more obtuse as it goes because it's trying to be a tease. Whether or not it ends in a satisfying place is up to debate, and I'm willing to bet a lot of viewers will leave frustrated, but it's mostly a solid Autumn chiller.
The Shade
Another horror movie with PTSD themes, The Shade sees a young man suspecting that his brother brought home a dark entity into his family's house. I find myself torn on this movie. Half of it is a moody and understanding dissection of trauma, while the other half is a meandering bore. It's an unbalanced movie that seems to be more invested in its metaphor than its story, which would be fine if it didn't fumble plotting itself out. It dives into its characters, likely thinking the more we get to know them, the more we'll be invested. Unfortunately there isn't all that much to learn about them, and the movie winds up repeating itself on the journey to find horror in their anxiety. The horror sequences are well done. None are showstoppers, though genre enthusiests will likely find interest in the film that has been created here. It's unfortunate that the movie only seems to understand half the assignment.
The Substance
Demi Moore plays an aged aerobics celebrity who is given the opportunity to try out "The Substance," a procedure that turns her into Margaret Qualley for seven days at a time, so she can be younger, and more vibrant. MSTies will recognize the story as old hat, as variations of it play out in films like The Wasp Woman and The Leech Woman. The Substance is a more evolved version of the premise, adding in body horror and satirical parody. The Substance is a raw commentary on society's obsession with youth and beauty and the pressures of aging that walk hand-in-hand with it. It can grow a bit on-the-nose with its satire, but it's worth sticking with just to see how far it goes. And it goes pretty far, leading up to a climax that is Cronenberg meets Raimi as it seeks to sicken while also soaking the audience in body fluid. Both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are in full commitment, not only ready to flaunt their beauty for the camera, but to also jump into a deformed body suit to counteract the sex-appeal with something that will make you wince. The movie is about 50% Margaret Qualley gyrating her buttocks into the camera (I'm pretty convinced most of these scenes are body doubles, but I digress), but it's also 30% Demi Moore looking miserable and 20% vomit, so prepare for complex emotions.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
The innagural feature film from James Gunn's DC Studios (not including the first episode of The Penguin this week) is probably not what you would expect. Instead of hitting us with superhero action and adventure, they present us with a documentary of an actor who played a superhero who became an inspiration: Christopher Reeve. Unfortunately, this came after head company Warner Bros reproduced his image with CGI for a quick buck in the Flash movie, so they owed the man. Now, they just need to repent for the arguably in poorer taste George Reeves recreation and we'll be square.
Halle Berry plays a mother living in a cabin, which has been supposedly blessed to protect her and her children from a supernatural "evil" that lives in the woods. As time goes on, she begins to suspect the evil has possessed her children while they begin to doubt her story. It's not entirely dissimilar a premise to this year's Arcadian, except Never Let Go isn't nearly the pain in the ass to watch. The issue with Never Let Go is that its themes and style challenge each other for superiority. Its desire to keep the audience second-guessing turns a movie about trauma, paranoia, and social isolation into a movie that's almost about nothing. That is probably harsh, because the movie is effectively creepy and has heart-racing suspense scenes, it just becomes more obtuse as it goes because it's trying to be a tease. Whether or not it ends in a satisfying place is up to debate, and I'm willing to bet a lot of viewers will leave frustrated, but it's mostly a solid Autumn chiller.
The Shade
⭐️⭐️
Genre: Horror
Director: Tyler Chipman
Starring: Chris Galust, Dylan McTee, Laura Benanti, Mariel Molino, Sam Duncan
Another horror movie with PTSD themes, The Shade sees a young man suspecting that his brother brought home a dark entity into his family's house. I find myself torn on this movie. Half of it is a moody and understanding dissection of trauma, while the other half is a meandering bore. It's an unbalanced movie that seems to be more invested in its metaphor than its story, which would be fine if it didn't fumble plotting itself out. It dives into its characters, likely thinking the more we get to know them, the more we'll be invested. Unfortunately there isn't all that much to learn about them, and the movie winds up repeating itself on the journey to find horror in their anxiety. The horror sequences are well done. None are showstoppers, though genre enthusiests will likely find interest in the film that has been created here. It's unfortunate that the movie only seems to understand half the assignment.
The Substance
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid
Demi Moore plays an aged aerobics celebrity who is given the opportunity to try out "The Substance," a procedure that turns her into Margaret Qualley for seven days at a time, so she can be younger, and more vibrant. MSTies will recognize the story as old hat, as variations of it play out in films like The Wasp Woman and The Leech Woman. The Substance is a more evolved version of the premise, adding in body horror and satirical parody. The Substance is a raw commentary on society's obsession with youth and beauty and the pressures of aging that walk hand-in-hand with it. It can grow a bit on-the-nose with its satire, but it's worth sticking with just to see how far it goes. And it goes pretty far, leading up to a climax that is Cronenberg meets Raimi as it seeks to sicken while also soaking the audience in body fluid. Both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are in full commitment, not only ready to flaunt their beauty for the camera, but to also jump into a deformed body suit to counteract the sex-appeal with something that will make you wince. The movie is about 50% Margaret Qualley gyrating her buttocks into the camera (I'm pretty convinced most of these scenes are body doubles, but I digress), but it's also 30% Demi Moore looking miserable and 20% vomit, so prepare for complex emotions.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Documentary
Director: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Dana Reeve, Matthew Reeve, Will Reeve, Alexandra Reeve Givens, Gae Exton
The innagural feature film from James Gunn's DC Studios (not including the first episode of The Penguin this week) is probably not what you would expect. Instead of hitting us with superhero action and adventure, they present us with a documentary of an actor who played a superhero who became an inspiration: Christopher Reeve. Unfortunately, this came after head company Warner Bros reproduced his image with CGI for a quick buck in the Flash movie, so they owed the man. Now, they just need to repent for the arguably in poorer taste George Reeves recreation and we'll be square.
Super/Man tells the life story of Reeve, switching back and forth between two periods in his life. The first presents his early days as an actor, being cast as Superman, and raising his family, and the latter showing the aftermath of his paralysis, which resulted in his creating of the Christopher (& Dana) Reeve Foundation. Sometimes the flow can feel jumbled because it's telling these two stories side-by-side, but there is a narrative to be found in both of them to keep the audience in their seats. The film's main focus is the post-paralysis period, keeping Reeve's acting career as more of a subplot that pops in. The reason they do this is to combine the inspirational figure with the image of a superhero as long as possible, and it's striking. Sometimes it can be a tad cheesy, like a scene of Reeve addressing Congress that's mixed with a scene at the United Nations from Superman IV or the constant image of a Superman statue that is growing Kryptonite, but it is an effective piece despite this. It even has the looming presence of Reeve's friend Robin Williams to bring levity to the film's darkest moments. It's a movie that we all know is going to have an unhappy ending, but it's crafted in a way that even after its bittersweet conclusion hits, it makes us feel like we can fly.
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
Alien: Romulus ⭐️⭐️1/2
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Deadpool & Wolverine ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Despicable Me 4 ⭐️⭐️1/2
Inside Out 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It Ends with Us ⭐️⭐️
The Killer's Game ⭐️⭐️1/2
Reagan ⭐️
Speak No Evil ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Transformers One ⭐️⭐️
Whiplash ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
New To Digital
1992 ⭐️⭐️1/2
AfrAId ⭐️
Blink Twice ⭐️⭐️1/2
Cuckoo ⭐️⭐️1/2
Slingshot ⭐️1/2
You Gotta Believe ⭐️⭐️
Coming Soon!
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