⭐️⭐️
Genre: Drama, Crime
Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, Michael Rispoli
Robert De Niro in a mafia movie? I can't recall if that's ever happened before. Nope. Nothing springing to mind.
The Alto Knights is based the true story of mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. Even though "Genovese & Costello" sounds like a comedy duo for the ages, they actually come into conflict during the final years of their rule, where Frank wants to get out and Vito orders a hit on him. Also, De Niro is playing both. I'm not sure why De Niro needs to do this. Is it some "They're actually alike at their core" bullshit symbolism? It's a cute novelty to have De Niro play off of himself, but it's more distracting than it is engaging. Eddie Murphy can get away with it because he's in an absurdist comedy when he does it. Director Barry Levinson wants us to take this deadly seriously, which is all well and good, but I'm left wanting De Niro to play off a formidable actor who is in the same goddamn room. I did appreciate that the movie used rubbery make-up and bad wigs instead of the ropey CGI Martin Scorsese lathered De Niro with when he made The Irishman. De Niro still looks fucking ridiculous, but at least it's charming this way.
As to the story itself, it's interesting enough. Levinson adds very little pizazz to it, probably hoping the actors will suck the viewer into the proceedings. But I did like little touches Levinson made to make the film feel very of-its-era, with some clever usages of stock-footage blended with new footage. I'm not sold that this is the best possible version of this story because it feels like it was made by boomers for boomers. It's not a very exciting nor enticing watch, just floating around with a base story and allowing the viewer to wallow in it. The Alto Knights is a serviceable mafia movie made for people who are mad that there aren't more mafia movies every year. It's a bone thrown to the dogs. If you're really that hungry, it will probably do, but it lacks the sustenance of a hearty meal.
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction
Director: Flying Lotus
Starring: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale, Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus is pulling a Rob Zombie, jumping from music to directing distinctive horror movies. Ash is his second effort, after one of the more bizarre segments of the V/H/S franchise. Ash is also a different beast in comparison to that small segment, directing a very visual-focused sci-fi horror movie. Eiza González stars as an astronaut who wakes up on another planet with portions of her memory missing and her entire crew dead. She tries to figure out what happened through trippy imagery and a few melting faces. Flying Lotus uses this blank slate main character as an excuse to curiously wander through the visceral imagery that he wants to flash at the viewer. Ash would be much more striking if it had any momentum behind it. Without it, it's a mildly disturbing series of flashing colors. The movie's story has a very basic foundation, one that branches out with psychedlia while occasionally throwing the audience a bone with a plot turn. The movie thinks it has masked it's biggest twist at the end with all of this, but it's actually a bit obvious what is occurring and how the visuals play into it. That's not to say it doesn't have value, because the way the story and its imagery intertwine is actually interesting in of itself, even if it is pretty anemic from a writing standpoint. If nothing else can be said about it, Ash is a visually creative triumph. Unfortunately, little-to-nothing else can be said about it.
Locked
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Director: David Yarovesky
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins
Based on the Argentinian thriller 4x4, Locked sees Bill Skarsgård breaking into a vehicle, only for owner Anthony Hopkins to lock him inside and psychologically torture him. Basically its one of those box thrillers where someone is in one spot and can't leave for some reason. Phone Booth. Buried. You know, one of those. Some are better than others, and while Locked gets pretty goofy at its worst moments, I'd call it a solid effort. The movie is more entertaining than you might expect. Bill Skarsgård stuck in a confined space screaming at a speaker could grow monotonous, however the opportunity to have all eyes on him makes Skarsgård shoot for the moon while his spicy interplay with Anthony Hopkins keeps things lively. Locked's weak spots tend to be more when the movie starts delving into ideology and the nature of people who do bad things. Hopkins would be a better villain the movie played him as if he had some sort of point he was trying to make. The movie gives him motivation, but his only ambition is to just be bad to bad people. The movie's bland attempts to explore the gray in between black-and-white morality are a belly flop, and whether you can look past the shallow writing is up to you. Those who can will probably get a few thrills out of it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Director: Elijah Bynum
Starring: Jonathan Majors, Hayley Bennett, Taylor Paige, Harrison Page, Harriet Sansum Harris, Mike O'Hearn
No, Jonathan Majors is not back. Magazine Dreams was initially going to be released during award season 2023 while Majors was at the height of his promising career. Then a fall-from-grace so astounding occurred as Majors was convicted of domestic assault, right during the high-point of 2023 where he was showcased as a villain in both a Marvel movie and a Creed movie, causing the entirety of Majors' Hollywood future to tank practically overnight. Magazine Dreams sat on a shelf over at Disney before finally being sold off, meanwhile Majors is coming out of the woodwork to promote it, likely testing the waters to see if he still has a career. Considering this movie has been getting positive responses so far, there is a possibility that he might just end this period crawling out of the gutter.
Majors plays an amateur bodybuilder who ambitions to become a household name. However, things tend to not go his way, as he struggles with his mental health while doubling down and pushing himself further. It's a role I'm sure Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lou Ferrigno would have been sought for if this movie were made in the 80's, because they were actors that hailed from bodybuilding. The movie is better for casting an actor who just happened to be enormous instead, allowing for a more focused performance to enhance the film's psychological drama. Regardless of what I feel about Majors' actions at home, and I assure you that I have full disdain for them, I also have to call it like it is because Majors is a hell of an actor. There was an incredible future for him that I mourn for, one that likely would have eventually garnered Oscar attention, though I won't lose sleep over the loss of it because it was his own doing. His performance in Magazine Dreams is interesting because he's playing a reclusive shut-in, one who dreams big but doesn't exactly experience reality. The film is a story of the repressed and the danger of going further inward as you reject everything around you, and what happens when that kind of mind reaches its limit. One sees Majors looking for human connection, but he goes beyond socially awkward to the point that all human contact is uncomfortable, and his desperation makes one grow concern for the well-being of those around him as he sits way too close to the edge.
I'm a little lost on whether the film wants us to sympathize with him or to just be afraid of him. Maybe a little bit of both? It's not entirely clear what the movie exactly honing in on with its character study, though it is compelling enough to take a look at. I'm also not sold that bodybuilding was the best profession to center this story on, though I suppose it does play with the stereotypes of testosterone and manly men while making a statement on men's mental health. The movie is a startling watch, in a good way. At the very least, it's something that will shake you awake and make you contemplate what it's getting at.
⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fantasy, Musical
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap
Hi-ho! It's another Disney remake to go! This time they've doubled back to their very first full-length feature for inspiration, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. What took them so long to get here? Not sure. Maybe they were avoiding the stuffed 2012 roster featuring two Snow White movies (one with Julia Roberts and Lily Collins and another with Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron), but Disney plowed straight through the Andy Serkis Jungle Book movie with their own until it submitted and went straight to Netflix. Disney isn't a company that runs scared. They are definitely a company that will blunt force its way to success, even if the product itself is creatively inert. Time will tell if they've achieved success again with Snow White.
There probably isn't a person alive that doesn't know the story of Snow White, where a humble young girl escapes from an evil queen who is jealous of her beauty, taking refuge with a hardworking group of dwarfs in the woods. There are little flourishes in the film to expand it so the movie isn't a simplistic bore, mostly to make Snow White a little more empowered and her love interest less of a blank slate catchall of Prince Charming perfection, while also by embellishing the climax, by not having the traditional "True Love's Kiss" be the conclusive victory but rather the start of the third act conflict. Oherwise it's just a musical theater performance of Disney-flavor Snow White. It's an inconsistent performance, though I doubt the youngest of children will mind its imperfections because it's pretty much made to play up to them specifically. The vibe of the movie is like spending an hour-and-a-half in the Land of Make-Believe on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It's wholesome in an odd and plastic way, interpreting whimsy in a very sterile storybook fashion. I don't know what I expected, but some of these Disney remakes at times strive for more, even when that extra effort creates a garish nightmare, like Beauty & the Beast. Director Marc Webb strives for simple and light, probably hoping for charming, but sacrificing weight in doing so. It's a pretty movie to look at (ropey CGI people notwithstanding), but not pretty enough to immerse for a theatrical experience.
There have been choice words (some fair and some bizarre nonsense) said about the cast in the months leading up to the movie, but judging based solely on their work in the film, it's a bit all-over-the-map. Rachel Zegler looks so goddamn cute cosplaying in Snow White's trademark blue and yellow dress and her little bob, and even though she's asked to do a very theatrical performance of innocence in a pouty "I'm modest, but still pretty" way, she at least puts those West Side Story vocal chords to work. Gal Gadot is a more complicated case, because she's given a role where she's not only a Queen in title, but also playing it like she is a full-blown primadonna. Gadot is really, really into it, and is elbow-deep in scenery-chewing camp. She stumbles through the few musical numbers she has while trying to mask her musical inexperience with ham. The Seven Dwarfs are simply terrifying, as the film barrels straight into the uncanny valley with hideous and expensive CGI creations rather than giving jobs to a group of talented little people. I'm not ready to lay blame at the production for this, because it reeks of a corporate decision for merchandising rather than a creative one. It really sucks in practice, though.
Watching Snow White, it started to re-settle-in exactly why I've always felt that Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella is the best of these live-action remakes that Disney has been doing. Cinderella is a very similar story to Snow White, but when Branagh made his movie, he approached it as a distinct interpretation of the Cinderella story that shared the DNA of the Disney movie it was supposedly remaking, resulting in something charming and creative while also comfortable and familiar. Snow White just wants to be a live-action version of a cartoon. For better or worse, it commits to the bit.
Fun Note: The theater for this movie was full of families. The lights dimmed, as all the children started anticipating the PG-rated princess movie that was about to play, the first thing they saw was the teaser trailer for M3GAN 2.0. Granted, this is one of my favorite trailers of the year, because it's just M3GAN serving like the absolute queen that she is, but it was really funny to me that they opened Snow White with a teaser to a slasher movie that is almost presented as if it's for children (with the exception of a few uses of the word "bitch"). In fairness, M3GAN is PG-13, and the next trailer was for Jurassic World: Rebirth, which is a part of a franchise that is more graphic and has a higher body count than the first M3GAN movie, so I guess it's not a huge deal, but it was certainly funny. I'll never forget hearing a five-year-old in the row behind me, undoubtedly unable to form long-term memories when the first M3GAN came out, who told her mom "I want to see that." The mom just simply responded "No."
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
Black Bag ⭐️⭐️1/2
The Day the Earth Blew Up ⭐️⭐️1/2
Last Breath ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mickey 17 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Monkey ⭐️⭐️1/2
Mufasa: The Lion King ⭐️⭐️1/2
Novocaine ⭐️⭐️1/2
Opus ⭐️
Paddington in Peru ⭐️⭐️⭐️
New To Digital
Last Breath ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Dead Friend Zoe ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Riff Raff ⭐️⭐️
New To Physical
Moana 2 ⭐️⭐️
Wolf Man ⭐️⭐️
Coming Soon!