MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond: Cinema Playground Journal 2024: Week 39 (My Cinema Playground)

Multiplex Madness

Azrael

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Director: E.L. Katz

Starring: Samara Weaving, Vic Carmen Sonne, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett

Taking place years after the Rapture, Samara Weaving plays a woman who has escaped a ritual sacrifice to the undead corpses in the wilderness, fleeing into the post-apocalytic woods for survival. Like last year's No One Will Save You, Azrael is a thriller told mostly in pantomime, which is something that makes me giddy while also being a gateway into style over substance. Azrael is a very handsome-looking grit thriller, though it sacrifices narrative elements in doing so. No One Will Save You was simple enough to understand despite it's lack of dialogue, while Azrael has complexities that it brushes by because it chooses implication rather than exposition, leaving us with questions throughout the story that we never get the answers to. Azrael works in spite of this, because context matters little to the main character herself, who is just fighting for her life and doesn't care why. Samara Weaving's role can be argued to be a career highlight, giving an expressive performance of feral desperation. It's another argument for her being the best scream queen of her generation. Weaving keeps eyes on her, stumbling in and out of obstacles with determination, while the film's grit keeps the looming threats in mind when even when they're off-screen. It's a thrilling watch, with just a little hint of a desire for more on display.

Bagman

⭐️

Genre: Horror

Director: Colm McCarthy

Starring: Sam Claflin, Steven Cree, Antonia Thomas, Adelle Leonce

A man protects his son from a superstitious being known as the Bagman, who takes people's children and feeds on their fear. Suspense scenes are few and far between in this go-nowhere horror film, which is unfortunate, because it's better at tension than it is in other departments. Setpieces are actually okay enough, though it's the run-up where the movie bores its audience. The lore-heavy film seems exhausted in explaining itself, while character scenes lack characterization, and it ends on a lame twist ending that sucks up what little esteem the movie has. Bagman falls flat because everyone involved in the film looks like they can't be bothered with enriching it. It's hard for me to work up enthusiasm for a movie that doesn't seem all that enthusiastic about itself.

Lee

⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Drama

Director: Ellen Kuras

Starring: Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samburg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O'Connor, Alexander Skarsgård

Kate Winslet stars as real life model-turned-journalist/photographer Lee Miller, who is sent into active warzones during World War II to cover them. Lee is a film that is very prideful in its feminism, covering its own feminine warrior during a time of what can be considered a man's battleground. One can't blame it for rallying behind its subject, though its bland monotone in its idolization makes it less compelling than it wants to be. But trying to wrestle away it's melodrama from it feels mean, because the movie clearly feels like it earned it. Winslet follows the tone's lead, with a performance that is good at being what the movie wants it to be without ever escalating what it needs to keep it from dropping into mediocrity. The entire movie shouldn't rest on her shoulders, but the filmmakers push more of it on her because she's its chosen asset. Lee is a movie that would benefit if it took some of that burden and spread it around.

Megalopolis

⭐️⭐️

Genre: Science Fiction

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emanuelle, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Lawrence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman

This long-gestating Francis Ford Coppola passion project hits without much fanfare, likely because it would have been more interesting in the 90's than it is in its present state. Magalopolis is a utopian city dreamed up by Adam Driver, made up of some bullshit material that allows him to freeze time. This material is called "Megalon," which I assume is a resource mined from the Godzilla villain of the same name. Anyway, he strives to create, while others in the city seek to smear his reputation. The movie is very Fritz Lang influenced, in its cinematography, transitions, and vibes, while it's hard not to think of Metropolis when looking at several of its visuals. The movie also feels like vintage comic book pulp, like a film like Dick Tracy or Sin City. For better or worse, it's a movie that's unlike anything else you'll see this year. But that just means it sucks in its own distinct way. It's the rare instance where a movie might be more excusable if it were made by a hack instead of a renowned auteur.

Earlier this year, Megalopolis had a marketing controversy when it put up an ad that was trying to get ahead of the film's spiraling polarizing reception by pulling quotes from negative reviews of Coppola's most popular films. The ad wound up being pulled because the quotes wound up being fake, possibly AI generated, but the intent of the ad was clear, as it tried to gaslight you into believing that if you didn't like this movie then you didn't get it. I counter that the movie is easy to understand, it's just kinda shitty. The movie is a story of a visionary/artist who tries to express his vision, only to be criticized or railed against, and it's a bit meta in that it presents such a tale in a manner that's meant to polarize its own audience as it reaches for the stars while still seemingly aware that creative choices don't work, but do them anyway because MY ART, I DON'T CARE. How do you criticize a movie that's basically just saying "Joke's on you! You're the system that I am criticizing!" Nice try. If your art is crap, it's still crap. Coppola's attempt at boundary pushing and innovation is stale and expired, while utilizing visual symbolism that make Coppola seem desperate to create a masterpiece out of thin air but only makes him look out of touch. Megalopolis is a vision of the future that's stuck in the past.

My Old Ass

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Director: Megan Park

Starring: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks

A teenage girl has a strange trip on shrooms and sees a vision of herself from twenty years in the future, played by Aubrey Plaza, who gives her life advice and warns her away from a boy she might be interested in. My Old Ass is an interesting take on the coming-of-age tales, one that's is really bizarre if you try to think of the logistics of what is happening, so it's best to not care and go with its flow. The movie presents itself as a story of "What would you tell your younger self?" but it hesitates in committing. Instead, it becomes a movie about treasuring the moment while it lasts, and not regretting that it doesn't last forever even when you wish it did. There's something brilliant about how it turns its moral around like that, though I feel it would have benefitted from more of its premise at work. Aubrey Plaza is in the movie less than you'd expect, and that's because the movie is primarily about a teenager making teenage decisions and just an overall ode to being young and dumb and the experience that brings you. It might have been interesting to dwell on those decisions with the hindsight perspective more, instead of Plaza giving off one cryptic warning and fading into the background. But the movie is funny, charming, and has a sweet tearjerker ending regardless, which will make it a must-watch for those who like movies about young people finding themselves.

Notice to Quit

⭐️⭐️

Genre: Comedy

Director: Simon Hacker

Starring: Michael Zegen, Kasey Bella Suarez, Nell Verlaque

Well-intentioned indie comedy sees a down-on-his-luck realtor struggling to keep his feet on the ground, who's daughter comes for a surprise visit and springs the news on him that she and her mother are moving. If a comedy can coast on quirk, Notice to Quit has its bases covered. It's full of scenes that are conceptually amusing while being underlined by lighthearted music crafted to amplify a silly tone. I find the movie difficult to dislike, mostly because it's such an earnest screwball and everyone involved looks like they're having a good time. They can't overcome its flat simplicity, which makes the movie less joyful than it clearly wants to be.

The Wild Robot

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Comedy

Director: Chris Sanders

Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Tsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames

Based on the bestselling children's book, The Wild Robot is the story of Roz, a robot who is shipwrecked on an island and adapts to survive. Primarily, the film is an allegory for parenthood, as its main storyline sees Roz raising an orphaned gosling and teaching it leave the nest. The film is warm and brisk, the latter sometimes comes at the expense of narrative. It makes up for that by filling itself with heart, dressing it up with gorgeous storybook animation. It's a stunning looking movie that is in constant momentum, telling a saga of trust, friendship, and family, while borrowing the best elements of films like Wall-E, Ron's Gone Wrong, and Bambi. If at least two of those movies hit the top of you animation admiration list, The Wild Robot is a must-see, while also being a frontrunner for best animated movie of the year.

Movies Still Playing At My Theater

Alien: Romulus ⭐️⭐️1/2

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Deadpool & Wolverine ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

It Ends with Us ⭐️⭐️

The Killer's Game ⭐️⭐️1/2

Never Let Go ⭐️⭐️1/2

Speak No Evil ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Substance ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Transformers One ⭐️⭐️

Whiplash ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

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