The Challenges of Ungentlemanly Tennis

April 29, 2024

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Ungentlemanly Warfare, huh, what is it good for? CREDIT: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures/Lionsgate

Challengers

Starring: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Running Time: 131 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: April 26, 2024 (Theaters)

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Starring: Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun, Cary Elwes, Til Schweiger, Henrique Zaga, Rory Kinnear, Danny Sapani, Freddie Fox

Director: Guy Ritchie

Running Time: 120 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: April 19, 2024 (Theaters)

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‘BlackBerry,’ Eh?

May 30, 2023

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Which one’s Berry? (CREDIT: IFC Films)

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer, SungWon Cho, Cary Elwes, Michelle Giroux, Mark Critch

Director: Matt Johnson

Running Time: 121 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: May 12, 2023 (Theaters)

I’m a BlackBerry Boy now! But only when it comes to the movie, not the phone, of course. Could you imagine, though? I’m making a motion for Research in Motion to stage a miraculous comeback in 2023! But let’s be kinder to each other this time around, please.

♪BlackBerry Beret!♪

Anyway, Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton were pretty much perfectly cast in this, and that’s all there is to it.

Grade: Fine Canadian Manufacturing

‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre’ is Impressively Confusing

March 1, 2023

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Which one’s Ruse? (CREDIT: Dan Smith/Lionsgate)

Starring: Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Josh Hartnett, Hugh Grant, Eddie Marsan, Bugzy Malone, Peter Ferdinando

Director: Guy Ritchie

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Rating: R for Spies Being Spies

Release Date: March 3, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Would you watch a movie in which the motley crew of Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, and Cary Elwes team up together for some espionage? What if we also threw Josh Hartnett into the mix as one of the biggest movie stars in the world? And what if Hugh Grant played the billionaire arms dealer they have in their crosshairs? Well, that might all sound ridiculous, but it’s exactly what Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre has to offer. Will the plot make any sense, or will everyone be too stylish and quippy to even care about something like logic?

What Made an Impression?: I often find espionage movies difficult to parse, and I know I’m not the only one. In a way, that’s the nature of the genre.With all the subterfuge and double-crossings, these stories tend to be opaque by design. And Operation Fortune really takes the cake in that regard, because pretty much immediately I had no idea what was happening. Who are these spies? What country, if any, do they work for? What disaster are they trying to prevent? Does anything even matter?

That confusion isn’t necessarily a problem, especially if you have style and wit to spare, but it’s also nice to have a sense of something resembling a base reality. Instead, the Operation Fortune engine plows forward without letting us know its origin or destination. It’s so ill-defined that I was positively shocked when Guy Ritchie was revealed as the director during the credits. It certainly features some of his trademarks and regular players, but it also feels so out to sea that I could hardly believe that it was actually made by someone so familiar.

Anyway, even though I abandoned all hope of ever understanding what was happening, I at least held out hope that I might be entertained. That happened sporadically, with Plaza providing her trademark bitterly playful edge, which is a new flavor for Ritchie World. And at one point Cary Elwes says something that I’m pretty sure was meant as a subtle reference to The Princess Bride‘s poison cup scene. Other than that, everyone in the cast seemed to be enjoying themselves, while I was left out in the cold crying, “I wish I knew what was going on!”

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is Recommended If You Like: Hugh Grant being a total dirtbag

Grade: 2 out of 5 Hard Drives

‘Black Christmas,’ You Need to Get Down with Your Supernatural Self

December 17, 2019

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CREDIT: Kirsty Griffin/Universal Pictures

Okay, Black Christmas 2019 Remake Version, I understand that you want to be a feminist takedown of rape culture in addition to being a bona fide slasher flick. I heard you the first 100 times, you didn’t need to tell me 100 more! I’ll allow you some leeway with your college setting, as that is a place where more people than usual will combine academic and activist language in their conversations on a regular basis. But at a certain point, you need to trust that your audience is familiar with the ideas you’re working with and get on with your own unique contribution. And honestly, when you do get around to explaining why the frat boy misogyny is a little more aggressive than usual, it’s actually interesting (it just takes too dang long to get there). There is a supernatural undercurrent that offers a terrifying vision of the insidiousness that fuels the attacks on the sorority and pairs well with Professor Cary Elwes’ devious grin.

Horror movies of the world, please take this note: don’t hide your big idea as a third-act twist when it should be the main premise.

I give Black Christmas 10 Arrows Shot Back with a Note Asking to Speed Things Up.