June 19, 2025
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
28 Years Later, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alex Garland, Alfie Williams, Danny Boyle, Edvin Ryding, Jack O'Connell, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes
What would you do if Ralph Fiennes handed you a skull? (CREDIT: Miya Mizuno/Columbia Pictures)
Starring: Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Edvin Ryding, Jack O’Connell
Director: Danny Boyle
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Rating: R for Zombie Violence and Graphic Zombie Nudity
Release Date: June 20, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: In 2002, a little movie called 28 Days Later was released, introducing us to the Rage virus, which turned those infected into high-speed zombie-like creatures. Now it’s 23 years later, but a little bit more time has passed in this fictional world. And so, 2025 delivers to moviegoers 28 Years Later, in which the virus has been beaten back on continental Europe, while the United Kingdom remains under quarantine and left to fend for itself. This is the only world that 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams) has ever known, as he lives on a Rage-free island village along with his dad Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and chronically ill mom Isla (Jodie Comer). Intrepid souls occasionally travel to the mainland across a causeway for supplies while fending off the infected that freely roam about. With Spike now old enough to make the trip, he determines that he must track down a legendary doctor (Ralph Fiennes) to get his mom a diagnosis. Meanwhile, a few of the Rage zombies have leveled up with some of their own unique abilities.
What Made an Impression?: Out of Time: I only saw 28 Days Later for the first time a couple of years ago, but I already knew long before then that the cinematic landscape had been inimitably altered by its influence. Pretty much every zombie flick, post-apocalypse film, and general actioner owes it a massive debt. You could even argue that it’s influenced 21st century culture at large more than any other movie besides The Matrix. But while it’s timeless in that regard, it also feels very much of its moment. There’s no way that 28 Years could recreate that phenomenon, nor does it try to. But it does recreate its milieu on screen, and that’s a whose choice, considering how this is a world that has been essentially stuck in time for a full generation. I’m not saying that director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland have been grappling with the Rage-iverse every day for the past couple of decades, but it is clear that some significant parts of their souls never left. If this franchise means anything to you, you’ll surely feel the same way
Life is Combat: Several of the early scenes are interspersed with clips of what appear to be old British wartime propaganda videos, as well as movie scenes depicting war throughout the centuries. Life in the village is basically like ancient Sparta with a hint of The Wicker Man, where the threat is ravenous flesh-eaters instead of rival city-states. The vintage footage feels satirical, but also like a Zen acceptance of reality.
Memento Mori et Amori: Perhaps the most striking image of 28 Years Later is the one on its poster: a tower of skulls, consisting of the remains of both the infected and the uninfected. In the midst of inescapable violence, Boyle and Garland advise us once again to look to the ancients, specifically the concept of “memento mori,” Latin for “remember to die.” But add just one letter to that and it becomes “memento amori”: remember to love. In the midst of whatever catastrophe we’re living through, we must also embrace each other.
Surprise!: As I conclude this review, I look back to my state of mind as I anticipated this sequel’s arrival. Would it expand the lore, or would we perhaps get closer to a cure for the Rage virus? But of all the possibilities I considered, none of them were anywhere close to what we ended up with. That’s not to say that the setting or the characters are vastly different from 28 Years‘ predecessors, just that its winding plot path is thrillingly unpredictable and that I was happy to embrace the uncertainty.
28 Years Later is Recommended If You Like: A new chapter that raises more questions than it answers
Grade: 4 out of 5 Teletubbies
April 16, 2025
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andrene Ward-Hammond, Buddy Guy, David Maldonado, Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfeld, Helena Hu, Jack O'Connell, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Lola Kirke, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Omar Benson Miller, Peter Dreimanis, Ryan Coogler, Saul Williams, Sinners, Wunmi Mosaku, Yao
Sinners! (CREDIT: Warner Bros./Screenshot)
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, Jayme Lawson, Delroy Lindo, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li, Yao, Lola Kirke, Helena Hu, Peter Dreimanis, Saul Williams, Andrene Ward-Hammond, David Maldonado, Buddy Guy
Director: Ryan Coogler
Running Time: 137 Minutes
Rating: R for Guns, Nightlife Vices, and Supernatural Mayhem
Release Date: April 18, 2025 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: The boys are back in town! Those boys in question are twin brothers Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) and Stack (also Jordan), while the town is in rural 1930s Mississippi. They were previously sojourning in Chicago, but now they’ve returned with millions in hand (quite possibly attained through criminal pursuits) and plans to open the hoppingest juke joint in town. Joining them in this venture are their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton), a budding blues guitarist virtuoso; Smoke’s old flame Annie (Wunmi Mosaku); Stack’s old flame Mary (Hailee Steinfeld); and seemingly everyone else they grew up with. Their dream quickly comes together, but lurking just outside are a few party crashers with a thirst for blood who are here to ensure that opening night will be even more unforgettable than anybody bargained for.
What Made an Impression?: Get Yourself Excited: A quick note before I really dig into the meat of this review: you all should know that I say this movie’s title with the same cadence that Superintendent Mario Chalmers refers to Principal Seymour Skinner on The Simpsons. (It’s also how I say the last name of a certain Italian tennis player.) That didn’t really affect my enjoyment one way or the other, but I do like to be transparent.
The Bloodiest Good Time: I’ll just go right ahead and get this off my chest: Sinners might just be my favorite vampire movie of all time! That’s not a huge huge surprise, as I’m not a major aficionado of Dracula and the like, so the bar wasn’t particularly high. But there are still plenty of fine examples that now must give up the throne. Perhaps you’re surprised to hear this, considering that the trailers play a little coy with the premise’s true nature. But that patient approach in which writer-director Ryan Coogler waits a little while to show off his full hand is a big reason why it’s so successful.
A Sense of Time and Place: Sinners nails every temptation that’s so tantalizingly cool about its era, but in a way that also makes you realize that America is and also has been like this. The outfits and diction might change, but working folks and the discriminated classes have always been trying to scheme and break free and find their families. There’s a lot more to what makes Sinners cook than that, but that’s a good starting point to let you know why it’s so exhilarating.
Play It Again: There’s a magnificent set piece about halfway through in which Sammie’s singing and strumming is so magical that it summons the spirits of multi-genre past and future musicians into the party. (That power is a big reason why those supernatural baddies have found their way here.) Speaking of music, the rest of the film is soundtracked by frequent Coogler collaborator Ludwig Göransson, who blends an intoxicating stew that both honors and transcends its Delta trappings.
It’s a Beaut!: Sinners‘ cinematographer is Autumn Durald Arkapaw, a name I’m not too familiar with, although she did shoot the second Black Panther and a few other flicks I’ve seen. But man oh man, she outdid herself here. Every frame just pops off the screen and irons itself into your brainstem. I’m sure costume designer Ruth E. Carter (another Coogler regular) appreciated the fine lens work, since it made it undeniably clear how her duds were in no way duds.
Get Comfy: Don’t bolt out of your seat after the credits start rolling, because there’s more to come! If Marvel blockbusters have you feeling cynical about mid-credits and post-credits scenes, well, forget all that, because Sinners offers a couple of codas that deliver a few new flavors while deepening everything that it’s all about.
Sinners is Recommended If You Like: Only Lovers Left Alive, the American blues songbook, BlacKkKlansman
Grade: 5 out of 5 Smokestacks
June 12, 2024
jmunney
Cinema
Adria Arjona, Amy Winehouse, Anne Hathaway, Annie Mumolo, Austin Amelio, Back to Black, Eddie Marsan, Ella Rubin, Ema Horvath, Evan Holtzman, Freya Allen, Froy Gutierrez, Gabriel Basso, Glen Powell, Hit Man, Jack O'Connell, Juliet Cowan, Kevin Durand, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Lesley Manville, Lydia Peckham, Madelaine Petsch, Marisa Abela, Michael Showalter, Nicholas Galitzine, Owen Teague, Perry Mattfeld, Peter Macon, Reid Scott, Renny Harlin, Retta, Richard Linklater, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Sanjay Rao, The Idea of You, The Strangers, The Strangers: Chapter 1, Wes Ball, William H Macy
CREDIT: Amazon Prime Video
There are a handful of movies I saw in May that I haven’t shared any extended thoughts about yet, so here’s a Spring Cleaning-themed review roundup. Typically May is considered part of the summer movie season, but that leaves short shrift to the time of year when it actually is spring. If May 1-Labor Day is Summer Movie Season, and October-December is Fall Movie Season, and Thanksgiving-New Year’s is Holiday Movie Season, and January-February is Awards Holdovers/Winter Dumping Ground Season, well then, we really only March and April for Spring Movie Season, and a good chunk of March is spent fretting about the Oscars! So let’s give some love to the month with the best weather of the year (apologies to those of you with vernal allergies) and check in on the May spring movies.
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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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September 9, 2017
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Alicia Vikander, Cara Delevingne, Christoph Waltz, Dane DeHaan, Holliday Grainger, Jack O'Connell, Judi Dench, Justin Chadwick, Tom Hollander, Tulip Fever, Zach Galifianakis
At the end of Tulip Fever, I thought, “Oh, that’s what that was all about.” It ultimately becomes clear that there is an incredible amount of kindness inherent to the main characters. They struggle because they find themselves in situations that are far from ideal and beyond their control, but they ultimately find a way out. That is a fine bit of satisfaction. But for the first 95%, the floral mania is totally confounding and there is little in the way of enjoyability beyond the (not-that-out-of-place) comedic relief from Zach Galifianakis and Christoph Waltz’s nicknames for his penis.
I give Tulip Fever 1 Bulb Just Barely in Bloom.
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