February 21, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Beanie Feldstein, Bill Camp, C.J. Wilson, Colman Domingo, Drive-Away Dolls, Ethan Coen, Geraldine Viswanathan, Joey Slotnick, Margaret Qualley, Matt Damon, Miley Cyrus, Pedro Pascal, Tricia Cooke
What’s in the box?! (CREDIT: Wilson Webb/Working Title/Focus Features)
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Colman Domingo, Beanie Feldstein, Bill Camp, Joey Slotnick, C.J. Wilson, Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon, Miley Cyrus
Director: Ethan Coen
Running Time: 84 Minutes
Rating: R for Unabashed Sexuality and Sucker Punch-Style Violence
Release Date: February 23, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: It’s 1999, and good friends Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) decide to take an impromptu road trip from Philadelphia to Tallahassee, Florida. Jamie is slipping out of yet another messy relationship, while Marian is too buttoned-up to have ever made a move on anybody. They’re both gay, but they’ve never considered each other as serious prospects. But perhaps that could change over the course of the next few days, as vacationing and stress both tend to make people closer. And this is certainly going to be a stressful ride, as a couple of criminal goons (Joey Slotnick, C.J. Wilson) are hot on their tails when the car rental joint mistakenly loans them a vehicle with a very valuable piece of luggage in its trunk.
What Made an Impression?: Those Old Reliable Yuks: After making some of the most beloved movies of the past few decades, brotherly filmmaking duo Joel and Ethan Coen have taken a creative break from each other. If their first solo directorial efforts are any indication, then it was Joel who specialized in the dark and probing drama, and Ethan who drifted towards their unique brand of wacky yet droll comedy. With Drive-Away Dolls, Ethan has teamed up with his wife Tricia Cooke for screenwriting duties, and the result very much sits on a continuum of Raising Arizona, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski, with a series of Jenga-like misunderstandings leading to comically violent escalation.
Out and Loud: Speaking of continuums, Jamie and Marian are part of the Coen-esque tradition of protagonists who don’t quite realize what type of movie they’re in before it’s too late to do anything about it. That’s mainly because they’re too busy being their unapologetically gay selves. Marian is certainly a lot more reserved than Jamie, but that doesn’t mean she’s ashamed in any way about her sexual orientation. Interestingly enough, though, they never really encounter any homophobia. That’s partly because they spend most of their time in defiantly gay spaces, but also because the straight people they stumble across just couldn’t be bothered to be bigoted. (Will & Grace did premiere in 1998, after all, so maybe those folks have been watching it.)
Secrets But No Shame: I don’t want to give away the truth about the package, partly because it would be rude to be a spoiler, but also because I want my review to be as family-friendly as possible. Let’s just say then that it involves a politician and a very personal form of pleasure. And when you have public ambitions bumping up against private escapades like that, it often leads to over-the-top shenanigans. That’s certainly the case in Drive-Away Dolls, much to our demented delight.
Drive-Away Dolls is Recommended If You Like: The comedy half of the Coens
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Makeout Sessions
February 20, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Adam Scott, Celeste O'Connor, Dakota Johnson, Emma Roberts, Isabel Merced, José María Yazpik, Kerry Bishé, Madame Web, Mike Epps, S.J. Clarkson, Sydney Sweeney, Tahar Rahim, Zosia Mamet
The Four Madames (CREDIT: Sony Pictures)
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabel Merced, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Adam Scott, Kerry Bishé, Emma Roberts, Zosia Mamet, Mike Epps, José María Yazpik
Director: S.J. Clarkson
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February 14, 2024 (Theaters)
It’s finally here!
Madame Web… what an experience. I can barely believe what I just watched, but I’m so grateful I did.
I can see the future now, but only a thin slice of it, specifically the part in which Madame Web becomes a midnight movie classic.
Half of it is run-of-the-mill meh mediocre. But that other half… It’s like the people who made this movie were half-asleep during all of 2003 and tried to recreate that year through telepathy.
The Amazon is a trip, man. They don’t make realities like this anymore!
Grade: Mike Epps and Emma Roberts Are Weirdly Also in This
February 9, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Bob Marley, Bob Marley: One Love, Daniel Mellville Jr., Hector Lewis, James Norton, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Sevana, Tosin Cole
Get Up, Stand Up, Go See a Movie. (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Daniel Mellville Jr., Sevana, Hector Lewis, Tosin Cole
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Political Violence and Some Herbal Remedies
Release Date: February 14, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: It’s 1976, and Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) is on the brink of unfathomably massive superstardom. Meanwhile, his native Jamaica is being torn asunder by violence between rival political factions. After an assassination attempt leaves him and his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) seriously injured, he flees for his safety to England. Meanwhile, he’s also in the midst of a world tour and preparation for a new album that will become the most acclaimed of his career. On top of all that, he’s trying to pretty much unite all of humanity with spiritual enlightenment. Alas, a deadly disease is looming in the way of every single one of his plans.
What Made an Impression?: Savior of the World?: I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of director Reinaldo Marcus Green or his team of screenwriters, but Bob Marley: One Love struck me as a rather messianic story. The parallels with Marley’s life and Jesus Christ are striking: death in their 30s, attempts on their lives, the spread of a new religion, efforts to forgive their enemies. The connection isn’t perfect, as One Love certainly doesn’t portray Bob as immaculate, and his cause of death is cancer, rather than a state-sanctioned execution. But it is notable that the movie’s story begins just a few years before his death, with some flashbacks to his childhood. Rock stars often inspire religious fervor in their legions of fans, and I don’t know if that’s ever been more true than in the case of Bob Marley.
Ya Mon or Not Ya Mon?: I’m no expert on Jamaican patois, and One Love doesn’t make much of an effort to accommodate me or anyone else who lacks that fluency. Even Kingsley Ben-Adir has admitted that he didn’t understand everything the real Bob Marley was saying when he watched videos of him to prepare for the role. And there are scenes within the film when non-Jamaicans struggle to make sense of him. Captions might have helped in this regard, but only to a certain extent. Still, I always got the gist of what was happening, and I ultimately appreciated the decision to keep it authentic this way.
Getting the Story Out There: One Love wisely keeps its narrative focus on a compressed time period, but besides that, it doesn’t distinguish itself with a whole lot of personality among the rock star biopic heap. We don’t get to see much of Ben-Adir performing, and when Bob Marley’s songs do play, it’s usually just a non-diegetic jukebox approach. Then the story stops somewhat abruptly, and we get the typical end titles about what else happened. Quite frankly, some of the events that were left out sound a lot more dramatically compelling than what was left in. So while One Love doesn’t quite reach the loftiest of heights, it at least doesn’t detract from its subject’s legacy. And if it inspires some viewers to dig into his discography and embrace his message of unity, well then it will have brought some good into the world.
Bob Marley: One Love is Recommended If You Want: To Research Everything About Bob Marley That Wasn’t Included in the Movie
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Dreadlocks
February 8, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andrew Santino, Clancy Brown, Ego Nwodim, Laura Cerón, Leah McKendrick, Scrambled
How Scrambled are they?! (CREDIT: Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)
Starring: Leah McKendrick, Ego Nwodim, Andrew Santino, Clancy Brown, Laura Cerón
Director: Leah McKendrick
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: February 2, 2024 (Theaters)
Scrambled is about a single 34-year-old woman named Nellie (Leah McKendrick, who also wrote and directed) who decides to freeze her eggs in case she doesn’t get pregnant the usual way anytime soon. So of course, I now have to ask: would I like to become scrambled myself?
Obviously, I can’t go on the same exact journey as Nellie, seeing as I don’t have a body that ovulates. But I certainly could one day undergo some medical procedure that requires me to poke needles into my body in preparation. That begs the question: could I actually stomach such a regimen? Perhaps my experience watching Scrambled could provide some hints.
It didn’t start off so great, as I kept holding my hands over my eyes whenever Nellie injected herself. But then I remembered that back in 2005, I had no trouble remaining focused during the infamous syringe pit scene in Saw II. So as Nellie made her final injection, I took Alejandro Amenábar’s advice and opened my eyes. And well, I’m still standing, and just a little bit scrambled.
Grade: Enough Eggs to Be Viable
February 7, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Carla Gugino, Cole Sprouse, Diablo Cody, Joe Chrest, Kathryn Newton, Lisa Frankenstein, Liza Soberano, Zelda Williams
Frankly, my Lisa, I don’t give a Stein (CREDIT: Michele K. Short / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC)
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Joe Chrest, Carla Gugino
Director: Zelda Williams
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Some Violence and Sexuality That Could Easily Have Been R-Rated If the Most Intense Parts Didn’t Happen Off Screen
Release Date: February 9, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: It’s not easy being Lisa Swallows in 1989. For one thing, her mother was recently killed during a home invasion, and she appears to be the only one who’s actually been traumatized by that tragedy. Meanwhile, there are the more quotidian, but no less dramatic, struggles of being a teenage girl. Her dad Dale (Joe Chrest) has remarried a high-strung nightmare named Janet (Carla Gugino), which has forced Lisa to finish her senior year at a new high school. And since she’s an extremely mousy wallflower, she’s either ignored, insulted, or taken advantage of by her classmates. Her stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano) tries to look out for her, but there’s a vague sense of manipulation beneath the bonhomie. So Lisa spends much of her time at the local grave of a young man (Cole Sprouse) who died a bachelor long ago. And wouldn’t you know it, the power to reanimate the dead is in the air.
What Made an Impression?: Silence and Isolation: One of the most striking things about Lisa Frankenstein is its rather quiet sound mix, to the point that I wondered if there were any technical snafus while I was watching. But things are usually on the up-and-up at the screening room where I caught it, so I’m left to believe that this was in fact a creative choice. It’s at least thematically resonant, as Lisa never quite behaves the way that you would expect someone in her situation to. She’s lost in a suburban nowheresville in which nobody knows quite how to communicate with her, save for the resurrected creature hiding out in her closet. As for Sprouse’s turn as the monster, he’s clearly studied the likes of Boris Karloff and Peter Boyle, as he adapts their grunts and staggering gaits into an improbable heartthrob.
What Stays Buried: When I saw the trailer and read the premise for Lisa Frankenstein, I assumed it was going to be an adorably huggable gothic romance spin on Mary Shelley’s classic tale. But as it turns out, the Creature and Lisa have much more of an appetite for violence than I was expecting. Some whimsy tries to make itself felt, but it proves to be an odd match for Diablo Cody’s decidedly dark screenplay. This movie isn’t for the faint of heart, though I can imagine it being embraced by the latest generation of goths. Director Zelda Williams’ touch feels a little less than sure-handed in her feature debut, but the end result is unique enough that I don’t want to dismiss it entirely. There’s a reason why dark hearts like Lisa’s keep beating on the big screen, and while I’m not sure what her story means, I won’t be surprised if it’s embraced by a group of outcasts who locate some real resonance.
Lisa Frankenstein is Recommended If You Like: Edward Scissorhands and Heathers, especially the parts where people die
Grade: 3 out of 5 Graves
January 31, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Argylle, Ariana DeBose, Bryan Cranston, Bryce Dallas Howard, Catherine O'Hara, Chip the Cat, Dua Lipa, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Matthew Vaughn, Richard E. Grant, Rob Delaney, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Sofia Boutella
Wait a minute — the cat! (CREDIT: Universal Pictures/Apple Original Films/Marv)
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Sofia Boutella, Rob Delaney, Richard E. Grant, Chip the Cat
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Running Time: 139 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Violence That Makes the Main Character Constantly Wince
Release Date: February 2, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a super-duper successful espionage novelist, so much so that some actual spies have started to take notice of her. It turns out that the plot of her books have somehow mirrored the actual activities of an underground spy ring known as The Division. At least that’s the story that a bearded man named Aidan (Sam Rockwell) tells her when he randomly pops up like he’s in a Terminator movie to say that she better come with him if she wants to live. And well, he might be onto something, as there do seem to suddenly be a lot of people with guns and knives in Elly’s vicinity. Meanwhile, she keeps having visions of Argylle (Henry Cavill), the titular hero of her novels who seems to know her better than she knows herself.
What Made an Impression?: We’re in a Spy Movie!: I found it difficult to embrace Argylle, because it just never felt like any of these characters were particularly spy-like. Instead, they felt more like people who were excited to be in a spy movie. Now look, I’ve never met a secret agent (that I know of!), so I can’t say with authority what genuine espionage dialogue truly is. But I’m still a little skeptical that the cloak and dagger set would refer to their adversaries as generically as “the bad guys.” And that seeming lack of authenticity is doubly felt by how antithetical it is to Argylle‘s premise.
Dance For Your Life: In general, I’ve found Matthew Vaughn’s films to be at best only fitfully compelling. But I can’t deny that he knows how to choreograph some marvelously kinetic action sequences, particularly when they marry combat with dance. In 2015’s Kingsman, the standout set piece was a massacre in a church set to “Free Bird,” while Argylle ups the ante with a battle royale on a train soundtracked by Sylvester and Patrick Cowley’s disco hit “Do You Wanna Funk.” Vaughn’s characters might be fighting over nonsense, but these melees are something special.
Stupid Fun or Just Stupid?: In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I won’t reveal why Elly’s novels are so prescient, but I will say that once we do get an explanation, Argylle really kicks into a higher gear. Suffice it to say, the explanation is a classic trope based on presumably bogus science. But as far as hokum goes, it’s enjoyable-enough hokum that can push the plot along in zippy directions. It justifies at least a little of all this silly business.
Argylle is Recommended If You Like: The Kingsman series, Unknown, Hypnotic
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Gray Cats
January 30, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Bashir Salahuddin, Dagmara Domińczyk, Gideon Adlon, Jade Hadley Bartlett, Jenna Ortega, Martin Freeman, Miller's Girl
CREDIT: Lionsgate/Screenshot
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Martin Freeman, Gideon Adlon, Bashir Salahuddin, Dagmara Domińczyk
Director: Jade Hadley Bartlett
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: January 26, 2024 (Theaters)
Miller’s Girl is the sort of tawdry movie that probably makes a lot of viewers go, “Why is this coming out in 2024? And why did we ever think this type of premise was okay?” When I ask myself that question and wonder why this sort of thing didn’t bother me in the 90s and early 2000s, I realize: it was because I didn’t watch that stuff back then!
Here’s the deal: Jenna Ortega plays a precocious high school student who gets a little too explicit for her teacher Martin Freeman to handle while working on an assignment that riffs on Henry Miller. Meanwhile, her friend Gideon Adlon flirts with another teacher (Bashir Salahuddin), just for the hell of it, I suppose? Anyway, it’s all mostly rather tame and forgettable (with the exception of some bluntly flowery voiceover).
When I first read the premise, I glossed over the “creative writing” part of “A creative writing assignment,” and I somehow got it in my head that the assignment in question had to do with espionage. I would have much rather lived in that reality.
Grade: It’s Not Miller Time
January 29, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Adam Driver, Alan Tudyk, Alec Newman, All of Us Strangers, Amber Heard, Andrew Haigh, Andrew Scott, Angelique Cabral, Aquaman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Ariana DeBose, ason Momoa, Bruce Herbelin-Earle, Calah Lane, Callum Turner, Charlotte Ritchie, Chris Buck, Chris Diamantopoulos, Chris Pine, Claire Foy, Courtney Henggeler, DCEU, Della Saba, Dolph Lundgren, Ellie White, Evan Peters, Fawn Veerasunthorn, Ferrari, Freya Parker, Gabriel Leone, George Clooney, Giuseppe Festinese, Hadley Robinson, Harris Dickinson, Harvey Guillén, Holt McCallany, Hugh Grant, Isy Suttie, Jack Mulhern, Jack O'Connell, James Wan, James Wolk, Jamie Bell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Jeremy Allen White, Jim Carter, Joel Edgerton, Jon Rudnitsky, Keegan-Michael Key, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Lily James, Luke Slattery, Martin Short, Mathew Baynton, Matt Lucas, Maura Tierney, Michael Mann, Murray McArthur, Natasha Rothwell, Nicole Kidman, Niko Vargas, Olivia Colman, Paterson Joseph, Patrick Dempsey, Patrick Wilson, Paul King, Paul Mescal, Penélope Cruz, Peter Guinness, Phil Wang, Rakhee Thakrar, Ramy Youssef, Randall Park, Rich Fulcher, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawins, Sam Strike, Sarah Gadon, Sean Durkin, Shailene Woodley, Simon Farnaby, Sophie Winkleman, Stanley Simons, Temuera Morrison, The Boys in the Boat, The Iron Claw, Thomas Elms, Tim FitzHigham, Timothée Chalamet, Tom Davis, Tom Varey, Tracy Ifeachor, Victor Garber, Will Coban, Wish, Wonka, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Zac Efron
CREDIT: NEON
Heading into the Christmas break, it seemed like I had a lot more new movies to catch up on than usual. Or maybe it was actually a normal amount, and I was just cataloging my filmgoing plans a little more closely than I typically do. Either way, it took me about a month, but I’ve finally checked off everything that was on my to-watch list. So let’s run down some quick thoughts on all of them!
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January 23, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Adam Weppler, Amy Hargreaves, Andrew Stewart Jones, Arun Storrs, Callie Beaulieu, Catherine Curtin, Devin Druid, Dylan Slade, Emilia McCarthy, Erik Bloomquist, Founders Day, Jayce Bartok, Kate Edmonds, Naomi Grace, Olivia Nikkanen, Patrick Zeller, Shravan Amin, Tyler James White, William Russ
Founders, Keepers (CREDIT: Mainframe Pictures/Screenshot)
Starring: Naomi Grace, Devin Druid, William Russ, Amy Hargreaves, Catherine Curtin, Emilia McCarthy, Olivia Nikkanen, Jayce Bartok, Andrew Stewart Jones, Tyler James White, Erik Bloomquist, Adam Weppler, Kate Edmonds, Dylan Slade, Arun Storrs, Patrick Zeller, Shravan Amin, Callie Beaulieu
Director: Erik Bloomquist
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: January 19, 2024 (Theaters)
Founders Day is an indie slasher about a series of masked murderer killings in a small town centered around a particular occasion (specifically, a mayoral election). To paraphrase 90s David Spade, I liked it better the first time I saw it… when it was called Thanksgiving.
But hey, it’s nice to see William “Alan Matthews” Russ getting some work and showing the kids how it’s done. As for the matter of whether or not I would like my hometown or my current city to celebrate their own versions of Founders Day: alas, I can’t say I’m convinced.
Grade: 10 Elections out of 23 ½ Subterfuges
January 19, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alfre Woodard, Anna Diop, Babs Olusanmokun, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brian Bovell, Caleb McLaughlin, Chase Dillon, Chidi Ajufo, David Oyelowo, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, james mcavoy, Jeymes Samuel, Lakeith Stanfield, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michael Ward, Nicholas Pinnock, Omar Sy, RJ Cyler, Teyana Taylor, The Book of Clarence, Tom Glynn-Carney, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor
Book ’em, Clarence (CREDIT: Moris Puccio/Legendary Entertainment/TriStar Pictures)
Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, Anna Diop, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Michael Ward, Alfre Woodard, Brian Bovell, Teyana Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Nicholas Pinnock, James McAvoy, Chase Dillon, Babs Olusanmokun, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chidi Ajufo, Tom Glynn-Carney, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor
Director: Jeymes Samuel
Running Time: 129 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: January 12, 2024 (Theaters)
Should The Book of Clarence become a new Easter viewing tradition? In the name of the Father, it might deserve it. So why did it come out in January? I suppose it has something to do with the fact that it’s a weird cinematic beast that TriStar didn’t really know how to promote. To be fair, though, I’m not sure any other studio would’ve known what to do with it. A funkified, unapologetically Black biblical fan fiction doesn’t exactly have a built-in audience. But I’m certainly glad it made its way to the big screen. It’s a vision, it took me on a journey, and it both challenged and restored my faith.
Grade: 3 Resurrections out of 4 Crucifixions
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