March 19, 2025
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anthony Hopkins, Bill Skarsgård, David Yarovesky, Locked
The Locked guy before he gets Locked (CREDIT: The Avenue)
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins
Director: David Yarovesky
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Rating: R for Road Rage in a Parked Cars
Release Date: March 21, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Eddie Barrish (Bill Skarsgård) is desperate. Desperate, I say! And I’m pretty sure you’ll be inclined to agree with me if you go see Locked. He’s been trying to get his life back on track for the sake of his young daughter, but that’s a little hard to do when he doesn’t have the cash he needs to pay for his car repairs so that he can go pick her up from school. So he turns to carjacking for a quick score, which turns out so much worse than he ever could have possibly imagined. That’s because the vehicle he targets happens to be owned by a fellow named William (Anthony Hopkins), who’s been a victim of one of too many carjackings himself. So Eddie ends up trapped in the car, with William having rigged it up so that everything is controlled remotely. A simple apology is hardly enough to end this nightmare, and thus a deadly game of very targeted vigilantism commences.
What Made an Impression?: Sociopathic Overload: William is basically the answer to the question, “What if instead of bats, Bruce Wayne was inspired by felines, specifically the way that they mercilessly toy with mice before eating them?” The police were useless to him when he needed them, so now he’s enforcing his own brand of justice. But you get the sense that he’s just been looking for an excuse to behave this way for a very long time. Whenever Eddie pleads with him about how the deck is stacked against guys like him, William just automatically shuts him down and ups the torture. Hopkins is certainly talented enough to make William’s sociopathy entertaining, but it’s more than a little overwhelming when it’s this relentless.
Efficient Mileage: About 75% of Locked takes place in one location, and its cast consists almost entirely of just two guys, one of whom primarily phones in his performance. With a movie like this, you will likely end up with one of two reactions: either “Wow, this is cheap, and it shows,” or “Wow, this is cheap, but they worked around their limitations.” In this case, it’s mostly the latter. The subject matter may be torturous, and the villain may be overcooked, but director David Yarovesky keeps everything locked in gear. All the tightly contained torture may turn a lot of viewers claustrophobic, but it’s possible to appreciate the technical chops even while you’re wincing.
Locked is Recommended If You: Wish That One of the Saw Movies Had Taken Place in a Car
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Vigilantes
December 23, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
A Complete Unknown, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Babygirl, Bill Skarsgård, Boyd Holbrook, Brian Tyree Henry, Charlie Tahan, Dan Fogler, De'Adre Aziza, Edward Norton, Eli Brown, Elle Fanning, Emma Corrin, Eriko Hatsune, James Mangold, Lily-Rose Depp, Michael Chernus, Monica Barbaro, Nicholas Hoult, Norbert Leo Butz, Nosferatu, Nosferatu 2024, Oluniké Adeliyi, P.J. Byrne, Rachel Morrison, Ralph Ineson, Robert Eggers, Ryan Destiny, Ryan Harris Brown, Sarah Allen, Scoot McNairy, Simon McBurney, The Fire Inside, Timothée Chalamet, Will Harrison, Willem Dafoe
Merry Christmas from the Movies! (CREDIT [Clockwise from Top Left]: Aidan Monaghan/Focus Features; Sabrina Lantos/Amazon MGM; A24; Macall Polay/Searchlight Pictures)
A Complete Unknown
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Scoot McNairy, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, Eriko Hatsune, P.J. Byrne, Will Harrison, Charlie Tahan, Ryan Harris Brown, Eli Brown, Michael Chernus
Director: James Mangold
Running Time: 141 Minutes
Rating: R for Arrogant Artist Behavior
Release Date: December 25, 2024 (Theaters)
Nosferatu
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney
Director: Robert Eggers
Running Time: 132 Minutes
Rating: R for Ecstatic Sex and Bloodsucking
Release Date: December 25, 2024 (Theaters)
The Fire Inside
Starring: Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Oluniké Adeliyi, De’Adre Aziza, Sarah Allen
Director: Rachel Morrison
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Language, Jabs, and Hooks
Release Date: December 25, 2024 (Theaters)
The cinematic landscape at Christmas is typically dominated by franchise blockbusters and family-friendly flicks, with awards hopefuls also trying to make their way into the mix. But then there are also always some oddballs of various genres for anyone who prefers a more aggro or otherwise offbeat holiday. What’s interesting about December 25 this year is that all four of the wide releases arriving alongside Santa could be categorized in the alternative section. So which one of them should be your chaser after opening up all your presents? Or should you down some nog in preparation of a double feature? Here’s my take on the polar landscape.
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September 5, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Bill Skarsgård, Danny Huston, FKA Twigs, Isabella Wei, Jordan Bolger, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, Rupert Sanders, Sami Bouajila, The Crow, The Crow 2024
Something to Crow about? (CREDIT: Lionsgate)
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, Isabella Wei, Jordan Bolger
Director: Rupert Sanders
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: August 23, 2024 (Theaters)
Well, I just saw a movie, so I guess it’s time to ask myself once again: would I like this to happen to me? “This” being “become The Crow (2024).” I can definitely see the appeal! The Bill Skarsgård version of Eric’s trail of vengeance may be soul-destroying, but it’s relatively clean and about as straightforward as advertised. Plus, I’ve never seen the 1994 Crow (nor read any of the comics, for that matter), so I don’t have a sterling standard in my head to compare it against. Ultimately, if I could somehow finagle a fantastical Crow-like journey that wouldn’t seep into my mortal existence, I’d be down for it, especially if it meant having a mentor played by Sami Bouajila, who kind of reminded me of Luis Guzman in the “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux” episode of Community.
Grade: 3 Crows out of More Crows
April 23, 2024
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andrew Koji, Bill Skarsgård, Boy Kills World, Brett Gelman, Cameron Crovetti, Famke Janssen, H. Jon Benjamin, Isaiah Mustafa, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Moritz Mohr, Nicholas Crovetti, Quinn Copeland, Sharlto Copley, Yayan Ruhian
Oh, Boy! (CREDIT: Roadside Attractions)
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, Andrew Koji, Famke Janssen, Sharlto Copley, Yayan Ruhian, Nicholas Crovetti, Cameron Crovetti, Quinn Copeland
Director: Moritz Mohr
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Rating: R for Blood, Guts, and All Sorts of Deadly Injuries
Release Date: April 26, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: They killed his family right in front of him when he was a child, and now he’s spent the rest of his life preparing for vengeance. Isn’t that always the way on the silver screen? Indeed, the revenge genre remains vibrant and durable, especially when the setting is a fascistic post-apocalyptic society like in Boy Kills World. In the dystopian tradition of The Hunger Games and The Purge, Boy (Bill Skarsgård) is one of the many victims of The Culling, in which the ruling van der Koy family rounds up a group of citizens to be annually slaughtered on live TV. Boy’s mom and sister were among those culled many years ago in an attack that left him deaf and mute. Now, following his tutelage from a single-minded shaman (Yayan Ruhian), he’s ready to mete out some bloody, cheeky justice during this year’s edition. And since he can’t talk, we get to keep company with his cartoonishly nervous inner voice (H. Jon Benjamin, naturally) and the ghostly memory of his spunky little sis (Quinn Copeland).
What Made an Impression?: Kickbox the Rainbow: If Skittles stopped being a candy and started being an action movie, the result of that alchemy would surely be Boy Kills World. Boy’s bright vest is matched by the dandy-ish pants and cravats of the most eccentric van der Koy (Sharlto Copley, naturally), and counterbalanced by pops of canary yellow, particularly on the mysterious helmet-wearing combat specialist played by Jessica Rothe. Furthermore, the frenetic martial arts bouts feel like they were choreographed by eight-year-olds who mainlined their Halloween hauls, but then finessed by more sober professionals. This relentless approach could be blinding and exhausting, but it’s all tempered by Benjamin’s steadily phlegmatic narration.
A Vicious Cycle: Boy Kills World could have settled for just delivering shallow thrills, but it has more on its mind than that. The question hanging over Boy’s journey ultimately isn’t whether or not he can kill all his enemies, but whether or not he can ever truly escape this oppressive society. And on top of that, can any of the van der Koys untether themselves from their violent family legacy? The final act makes it clear that Boy has become so much more twisted by his trauma than he realizes, and he’s not the only one. For anyone who’s been born into a clan with unhealthy patterns that keep repeating themselves, this movie might just provide the inspiration you need to disengage from that paradigm. The presentation might be as cartoonish as possible, but the psychological underpinnings are as firm as can be.
Boy Kills World is Recommended If You Like: Street Fighter, Sugar rushes, Traumatic psychology
Grade: 4 out of 5 Cullings
March 23, 2023
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Bill Skarsgård, Chad Stahelski, Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ian McShane, John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 4, Keanu Reeves, Lance Reddick, Laurence Fishburne, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Shamier Anderson
I’m thinking he’s back. (CREDIT: Murray Close)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins
Director: Chad Stahelski
Running Time: 169 Minutes
Rating: R for The Usual Hail of Bullets and Blades
Release Date: March 24, 2023
What’s It About?: John Wick is finally getting out of the game, somehow someway. Keanu Reeves’ superhuman assassin has had everything he loves ripped away, and now he’s excommunicated from his deadly vocation and thereby marked for the grave. Although, if memory serves correctly, I’m pretty sure this latest excommunication is just adding to a pile of excommunications. I guess we’ve reached Double Secret Probation Excommunication at this point. Anyway, for this go-round, John is completely in go-for-broke mode. He’s going to escape the clutches of the High Table, the ruling council that controls everything, or die trying. Meanwhile, Bill Skarsgård is on hand as the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, the dandiest of dastardly villains who likes to keep all his pretty pawns in place. Will John’s friends help him out, or will they too be forced to kill him? Either way, the bullets (and all the other cleverly improvised killing devices) will be flying.
What Made an Impression?: The John Wick series has a legion of fans thanks to its boundless swagger and pizazz. But it’s never quite won me over, due in no small part to its overwhelming acoustics. Furthermore, as the mythology expanded with each successive entry, I found myself caring less and less about the codes and rituals of this assassin culture. In the wake of Chapter 4, I wouldn’t say I’m a convert, but I can at least appreciate it as an achievement of singular craftsmanship and vision.
The running time is nearly three hours, which represents a gradual ballooning over the course of the franchise, as the first one clocked in at a mere 1 hour and 40 minutes. But it never feels bloated; quite the opposite, in fact. There’s a lot to accomplish and plenty of globe-hopping, but the mission is lean and focused. And the minutiae of the mythology is toned way down, so if you missed the first three, or forgot all the details, you can dive right in and still get the gist. And for those of you hardcore Wick-ians, there’s plenty new to love here, especially Donnie Yen as a blind assassin with unparalleled acrobatic lethality. It’s a colorful world of killers out there, and they’re all digging into the delectable feast.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is Recommended If You Like: This clip from a Japanese game show
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Bounties
October 3, 2022
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Barbarian, Bill Skarsgård, Georgina Campbell, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Zach Cregger
So Barbaric (CREDIT: 20th Century Studios/Screenshot)
Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake
Director: Zach Cregger
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: September 9, 2022 (Theaters)
Right before seeing Barbarian, I got some fried ice cream for the first time at a place I’d been meaning to try for a while. And it was as delicious as I’d hoped for! So I took that as a wonderful portent that Barbarian would also be able to meet my sky-high expectations. So let me assure everyone quickly: it was a wonderful evening all around.
Barbarian is one of those movies where you don’t want to talk to folks who haven’t seen it in too much detail, because all the twisty surprises are so much fun to discover unspoiled. But unlike a lot of other movies of that ilk, there’s plenty to talk about without spoiling the monster. Like, I could mention that Justin Long is in it, and that he’s got a pretty significant part, despite not being in the trailer at all. And that spoils nothing! Well, it spoils Justin’s sudden, previously unannounced introduction. But that only amounts to about 1% spoilage. Anyway, how are there not more basement-based horror movies?
Grade: 476/500
September 18, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Bill Skarsgård, Blake Baumgartner, Dan Berk, Jeffrey Donovan, Kyra Sedgwick, Maika Monroe, Robert Olsen, Villains
CREDIT: Anna Kooris
Starring: Maika Monroe, Bill Skarsgård, Jeffrey Donovan, Kyra Sedgwick, Blake Baumgartner
Directors: Dan Berk and Robert Olsen
Running Time: 88 Minutes
Rating: R for Gunfire, Bloody Whacks on the Head, and Resourceful Cocaine Use
Release Date: September 20, 2019 (Limited)
Don’t you just hate it when you’re a criminal on the run and you break into a house and then it turns out that the homeowners are much more devious than you are? This seems to happen relatively often in the movies, but perhaps less so in real life. I certainly would not want to participate myself, both because breaking and entering is illegal and because it can be quite creepy to walk around an unfamiliar house. But I am perfectly happy to watch others do it, and the latest example why is Villains.
This bloody little black comedy thriller stars Maika Monroe and Bill Skarsgård as Mickey and Jules, a couple whose love is strong and tender enough to overcome the stress of covering up their crimes. It’s a neat trick that they pull off with their performances, wherein they get us to root for them by consistently reminding us of their humanity without ever asking us to excuse their convenience store robbery in the opening scene. It certainly doesn’t hurt how much they stand in contrast to Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick’s George and Gloria, a couple whose efforts to craft the perfect genteel dollhouse-style home has led them to kidnap a little girl (Blake Baumgartner, who played a young Nicole Fosse in Fosse/Verdon) and chain her up in their basement. Mickey and Jules’ efforts to escape this predicament while negotiating an uneasy truce with George and Gloria makes for an economical little battle of wits (as well as an occasionally physical battle) that will have you constantly puzzling out (along with the character)s what the best course of action is.
Villains is Recommended If You Like: Don’t Breathe, Ready or Not, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Grade: 3 out of 5 Negotiations
September 5, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andy Bean, Andy Muschietti, Bill Hader, Bill Skarsgård, Chosen Jacobs, Finn Wolfhard, Isaiah Mustafa, IT, IT: Chapter Two, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jaeden Martell, james mcavoy, James Ransone, Jay Ryan, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Jessica Chastain, Sophia Lillis, Stephen King, Wyatt Oleff
CREDIT: Brooke Palmer/Warner Bros.
Starring: James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff
Director: Andy Muschietti
Running Time: 169 Minutes
Rating: R for Bloody Clown Chomps, A Few Stabbings, Nervous Vomiting, and Creepy Nudity
Release Date: September 6, 2019
IT: Chapter Two is solidly built upon a foundation of a melancholy truth about human existence. When we’re young, we may vow to keep what’s important to us as children just as important when we became adults. But somehow, some way, we all forget some of the things we once held dear, while also remaining stuck in some of the patterns we thought we would eventually grow out of. The Losers Club of Derry, Maine represent the epitome of this mercurial attachment to the past. And so it is that 27 years after their first series of misadventures, they must return to once again defeat the supernatural evil entity that terrorizes their hometown.
This melancholy setup is an apt formula for psychological agony mixing with real in-your-face terror, but the trouble with Chapter Two is that so many of the scares are so scattered from the overarching purpose. Winged insect-bird hybrids popping out of fortune cookies and an old naked lady who turns into a floppy-breasted gargoyle are plenty creepy in and of themselves, but these moments just keep piling onto one another as a series of random horror set pieces, and the effect is eventually exhausting. Even some of the moments that actually feature Pennywise (like a gay couple being beaten up by a mob only to then fall victim to the clown or a cute little girl bonding with Pennywise over facial deformity) are effective mini-movies unto themselves, but they could have easily been cut without losing the main thread involving the Losers. Their story of coming to grips with what won’t leave them alone is effective when the full-to-bursting script actually focuses on them. Ultimately, IT: Chapter Two is decidedly overambitious and overdramatic, but it is a fascinating mess, embracing Stephen King at his weirdest and most extra.
IT: Chapter Two is Recommended If You Like: The most unfiltered Stephen King adaptations
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Hidden Memories
September 19, 2018
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Abra, Assassination Nation, Bella Thorne, Bill Skarsgård, Hari Nef, Joel McHale, Odessa Young, Sam Levinson, Suki Waterhouse
CREDIT: NEON
This review was originally posted on News Cult in September 2018.
Starring: Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Joel McHale, Bella Thorne, Bill Skarsgård
Director: Sam Levinson
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Rating: R for Very Bloody Violence, Scandalously Lascivious Behavior, and Casual Drug Use and Profanity
Release Date: September 21, 2018 (Limited)
Assassination Nation paints the picture of what might happen if online rage riots coalesced beyond the screens. A hacker who goes by “Er0str4tus” dumps the personal files of the Salem, Massachusetts mayor, exposing him for the hypocrisy of running as a family values, anti-LGBTQ candidate while he gets up to lascivious behavior with other men. The moral calculus is a lot harder to square when the next data dump victim is the local high school principal, who gets labelled an abuser for having nude photos of his young daughter in the bath. He (justifiably) insists that he has done nothing wrong and refuses to resign, further inciting the mob that the entire town is becoming.
We see the consequences of the hacking play out through the lens of the high school, particularly four tight-knit friends: Lily (Odessa Young), Sarah (Suki Waterhouse), Bex (Hari Nef), and Em (Abra). They all demonstrate their bona fides when it comes to having a social conscience, Lily especially so. She is wise beyond her years, but angry in a way that belies her youth. She has insightful thoughts about feminism, the male gaze, and just generally treating people with respect. Whenever someone is the target of rage, she considers them fairly and compassionately, recognizing that everyone is a person and contains multitudes. But she is far from perfect, as she is carrying on a rather sleazy emotional affair with her neighbor Nick (Joel McHale), the father of a girl she used to babysit.
When Lily’s secrets are exposed and evidence suggests that she might be behind the hack, she and her friends become the target of the town’s unhinged id, as a full-fledged vengeance-seeking posse takes bloody devastating form. Plenty of women have been threatened with rape and murder for the mistakes that Lily has made (or even milder sins), and the climax of Assassination Nation illustrates how terrifying it would be if a mob of people made good on those promises. While she has transgressed, it is nothing to be killed over, and her attackers correspondingly look insane and inhuman. Ultimately, Lily and her friends are able to fight back in some stylish red leather outfits. It might strain a little credulity that they are suddenly so capable in guerrilla combat, but this film is more feverish than believable, and besides, they have the power of righteousness on their side.
Assassination Nation is Recommended If You Like: The Purge, ’80s John Carpenter, American Horror Story: Cult, South Park Season 20
Grade: 4 out of 5 Red Leather Jackets
November 24, 2017
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andy Muschietti, Bill Skarsgård, Chosen Jacobs, Finn Wolfhard, IT, IT 2017, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, You'll float too
CREDIT: Warner Bros.
I am surprised that I haven’t come across more (or any) takes of IT that talk about how big a deal abuse is. Because as far as I can tell, that is what the whole thing is all about. Like, I’m pretty sure Pennywise is a metaphor for an entire town poisoned by a legacy of abuse. And that is what makes this movie scary. Every member of the Losers Club has a home life that ranges from sad to actively dangerous, and then when they go out into town, they are beset by shockingly violent bullies, who themselves are the victims of brutish parenting. It makes sense that Bill steps up as the leader, as the worst his dad does is refuse to confront his family’s loss head-on. The relative stability in that unit is allowed to be rocked by the death of younger brother Georgie because abuse has a long tail.
IT often presents its abuses and the responses to it with some combination of baroque and grotesque. Bev’s sexual advances from her father are met with their bathroom being filled with buckets of blood. Eddie’s mother, who fuels his hypochondria, is not just obese, she is so abnormally shaped that it looks like she has a bunch of balloons under her dress. The evil in IT is both morally and aesthetically ugly. In the town of Derry, it only makes sense that a force of pure evil would take the form of a smiling, dancing clown.
I give IT (2017) 400 Floats of 500 Too’s.
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