Movie Reviews: Making a Sentence Out of Two Titles Edition: The ‘Smurfs’ and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’

July 17, 2025

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We Smurfed What You Smurfed Last Smurf (CREDIT: Paramount Animation; Brook Rushton/Columbia Pictures)

Smurfs

Starring: Rihanna, James Corden, John Goodman, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Kurt Russell, Xolo Maridueña, Hugo Miller, Chris Miller, Billie Lourd, Marshmello, Spencer X, Chrisy Prynoski

Director: Chris Miller

Running Time: 92 Minutes

Rating: PG for Smurf Action and Some Rude Smurfin’

Release Date: July 18, 2025 (Theaters)

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Starring: Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Billy Campbell, Gabriette Bechtel

Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Running Time: 111 Minutes

Rating: R for Twisting, Poking, and Hanging, Plus a Few Seductions and a Couple of Joints

Release Date: July 18, 2025 (Theaters)

A couple of decades-old franchises are getting revived at the multiplex this weekend. That sentence could apply to just about any weekend from the past 25 years or so. But in case you’re reading this review from the future (or the past), the weekend I’m specifically referring to right now is the one that begins on July 18, 2025. And the movies I’m talking about are Smurfs (no “the”) and the same-titled lega-sequel I Know What You Did Last Summer. Is there any way both of these movies could possibly appeal to the same person?! Let’s use myself as a test case.

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‘The Life of Chuck’ Reveals All the Lives Within That Life of Chuck

June 4, 2025

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The Spontaneous Choreography of Chuck (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, Chiwetel Ejifor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, Annalise Basso, Mia Sara, Matthew Lillard, Carl Lumbly, Samantha Sloyan, Harvey Guillén, Kate Siegel, Nick Offerman, Q’Orianka Kilcher, David Dastmalchian, Rahul Kohli, Heather Langenkamp, Violet McGraw

Director: Mike Flanagan

Running Time: 110 Minutes

Rating: R for Language, Apparently (Nothing Overly Outrageous)

Release Date: June 6, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Told in three acts unfolding in reverse order, Act Three of The Life of Chuck opens on a future on the verge of apocalypse: the internet is becoming ever more unreliable, natural disasters are an everyday occurrence, and soon enough the stars are being wiped from the sky. Everyone is despairing, and the only sign of hope are literal signs popping up all around town thanking some guy named Chuck Krantz for his 39 years of service. But nobody has any idea who Chuck is! But then we step back to Act Two, taking place on one of the most memorable days of Chuck’s (Tom Hiddleston) life, when he spontaneously decides to start dancing in front of a busking drummer and quickly draws an enraptured crowd. And finally, Act One introduces us to a middle school-age Chuck (Benjamin Pajak), who’s living with his grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara) following the tragic death of his mom and dad.

What Made an Impression?: The King’s English: Mike Flanagan is currently our foremost adapter of Stephen King, with The Life of Chuck based on a novella that was published in 2020. I’ve never read a single story written by King, but it’s impossible to avoid him if you’ve been watching movies for the past 50 years. While I’ve enjoyed plenty of those big screen versions, they’ve never made me want to dive into the source. There’s something that’s just a little bit uncanny about the worlds that King weaves. It’s like he’s speaking a language that’s ever so slightly different from the one I’m speaking. And when that language is filtered through the lens of someone who’s clearly as much of a fan as Flanagan is, that uncanniness is a rather strong flavor.
Voice Overlord: I’ve enjoyed the narration in plenty of movies that feature it, and I’ve also enjoyed Nick Offerman in pretty much everything he’s ever done. But the narration narrated by Nick Offerman in The Life of Chuck? Well, that had me going “Huh.” It’s blunt, literal, and near-constant. But it also felt completely necessary if this movie was going to be the movie that it wants to be. Does that make sense?
One Life: The whole idea underlying The Life of Chuck seems to be that there’s an entire universe living within Chuck’s brain (and by extension, everyone else’s brain). To get mildly spoiler-y, he’s dying of cancer, and that universe is dimming in his final moments. Is Chuck truly worthy of this biographical treatment? Yes, insofar as every single individual is worthy of such treatment. If The Life of Chuck didn’t fully work for any of us, well, then perhaps we could respond by crafting our own The Life of (Whoever the Hell We Want).
All He Wants to Do Is…: Despite all my misgivings, I’ve got to give it up for that dance scene. Actually, there are multiple dance scenes, but I’m talking about that busking one right in the middle. Damn, Hiddleston-as-Chuck gives it his all. And you know what else this scene underscored me? I really love drumming. Taylor Gordon just pounds away on the skins, and it goes straight to my core. And then Annalise Basso plays Chuck’s impromptu partner, who’s wearing the perfect dress to accentuate all of their spins and dips. It’s one of the best scenes of the year.

The Life of Chuck is Recommended If You Like: Hanging upside-down while reading a book all day until the sun sets

Grade: 3 out of 5 Chucks

Please, One More Reckoning Before We Go! Okay, But This is ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’

May 14, 2025

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The Impossible Man (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures and Skydance)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, Rolf Saxon, Lucy Tulugarjuk

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Running Time: 169 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Near-Death Experiences

Release Date: May 23, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: It’s all come down to this. All those previous impossible missions that Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) pulled off over the decades? We thought they were more or less self-contained. But instead, it turns out that they were all part of a vast global conspiracy to sow widespread confusion and establish a new world order. This is set to be established by an artificial intelligence entity known as, in fact, “The Entity.” It is apparently going to accomplish this by infecting every connected device on the planet and then – as far as I can tell – launching every nuclear weapon and also just generally making everyone distrustful of everyone else. Some guy named Gabriel (Esai Morales) is trying to usher The Entity along to its destiny, while Ethan and his IMF crew attempt to do the opposite with their precision timing and the latest batch of stakes-raising, death-defying stunts.

What Made an Impression?: They’ve Got So Much to Say: The Final Reckoning definitely gives off end-of-the-series vibes, although I’m sure Cruise and the rest of the creative team are open to future installments for as long as he remains ageless. In the meantime, though, this chapter definitely closes the book on something. And it’s a big ol’ slam, clocking in at nearly three hours. Those minutes are filled with a trio of major set pieces, and plenty of talking in between about how those set pieces will be accomplished. And when I say “plenty,” I mean, “oh so very many plenty.” I really don’t think there needed to be this much dialogue for such an action-oriented flick. That’s not to say that the Mission: Impossible flicks ought to be silent (although that might be kind of cool if they were), but I personally would have advised a sleeker design.
Hey, Remember Those Times Way Back When?: When it comes to long-running action series, M:I is kind of the antithesis of Fast & Furious, insofar as the former sheds several of its supporting characters in between installments without any fanfare, whereas the latter seems to just collecting them for perpetuity until it’s bursting at the seams. To be fair, there are still a few IMF mainstays hanging around, although Ethan’s female counterparts have a tendency to disappear no matter how beloved they are by fans. The Final Reckoning takes a somewhat different approach by explicitly drawing upon some of the earlier entries in ways that would have felt impossible just a few years earlier. And that’s kind of thrilling for those of us whose favorite M:I chapters seemed like they’d been completely forgotten.
Timely Gobbledygook: Cautionary tales about artificial intelligence are so hot right now. But frankly The Entity doesn’t have anything to do with any real-life A.I. On the contrary, it’s just a profoundly vague MacGuffin. Or should I call it the villain? Can the MacGuffin be the villain? I think it is in this case. Anyway, it’s all just an excuse for the most baroque modern blockbuster action around, so whatever.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is Recommended If You Like: Parking your butt while the obsessive man does his thing

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Entities

‘Civil War,’ or How to Be a Photojournalist

April 11, 2024

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Civil War, what is it good for? (CREDIT: Murray Close/A24)

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nick Offerman, Jesse Plemons

Director: Alex Garland

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Rating: R for Gunfire, Grenades, and Piles of Dead Bodies

Release Date: April 12, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: The president of the United States refuses to relinquish power in the face of incoming secessionary forces. Meanwhile, a group of journalists sniffs out an opportunity, as they’re going to barge right into the White House for an interview. Nobody outside of the commander-in-chief’s inner circle has talked to him in who knows how long. But they’re warned that it’s essentially a suicide mission. The administration considers the press an enemy of the people, and the area in and around Washington, D.C. is the deadliest part of the country, or what’s left of it. Nevertheless, they feel compelled to make the trip, out of a sense of duty, or ambition, or steely commitment to the truth, or some combination of the above.

What Made an Impression?: Thought Number One: The fact that Civil War takes place in a near-future United States is kind of beside the point. The landscape matters in a logistical sense, but the underlying principles would remain the same no matter what the setting or how much it is or isn’t based in reality. Fundamentally, this movie is a dramatized how-to guide for how to be a wartime photojournalist. As veteran photog Lee (Kirsten Dunst), her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), ambitious youngster Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), and Lee and Joel’s mentor Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) embed themselves in combat zones, they’re just as vulnerable to bullets and bombs as any soldier or civilian. The big block “PRESS” letters on their vests and van are supposed to relay a message of objective neutrality, one that most (but not all) of the combatants respect.
Thought Number Two: Any viewer expecting Civil War to be a specific warning about the current state of affairs in the United States will likely end up disappointed. This country may be more polarized than it’s been in decades, but the exact nature of that polarization is not exactly reflected in writer/director Alex Garland’s vision. This is simply an alternate possibility of what that division could look like, one that Garland thoroughly declines to offer any explanation for. Even the president (Nick Offerman) remains nameless! Once I accepted that Civil War was going to be light on backstory, I could appreciate its cinéma vérité qualities. Still, I was frustrated by the impenetrable characterization of the people that we do get to know. Although, that was perhaps by design, as Lee and Joel have been hardened by the lesson that they must subsume themselves within their jobs. Weirdly enough, that loss of personality is enough to remind me of how urgent it is to avoid any actual civil war.

Civil War is Recommended If You Like: Primary (1960), Abandoned highway cinematography, Ominous road trips

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Alliances

‘Origin’ Brings Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste’ to Vibrant Cinematic Life

January 16, 2024

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CREDIT: NEON/Screenshot

Starring: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Emily Yancy, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Blair Underwood, Donna Mills, Leonardo Nam, Connie Nielsen, Finn Wittrock, Victoria Pedretti, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Mieke Schymura, Isha Blaaker, Myles Frost, Gaurav J. Pathania, Suraj Yengde, Nick Offerman

Director: Ava DuVernay

Running Time: 135 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Historical Discrimination

Release Date: December 8, 2023 (Awards-Qualifying Run)/January 19, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Perhaps you read the 2020 nonfiction book Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents and found yourself wondering how the author, Isabel Wilkerson, went about crafting such a book. Well, it’s your lucky day, because in the grand tradition of Adaptation, Ava DuVernay has written and directed Origin, a big-screen version that reveals the story behind the story. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor plays Isabel, whom we’re introduced to in the buildup to Caste‘s publication. We also get to know her ailing mother Ruby (Emily Yancy), her protective husband Brett (Jon Bernthal), and her cousin Marion (Niecy Nash-Betts). Interspersed within are some stories that demonstrate Isabel’s theory about how American racism is a classic example of social stratification seen throughout human history.

What Made an Impression?: Hung Up in Jargon: Since it is the story of a writer’s life, I was a little worried that Origin would be a little too talky for its own good. And for the first third or so, my fears were well-founded. As Isabel has polite debates with her editor and fellow cocktail party attendees, I realized why these conversations are not usually considered especially cinematic. These moments might be interesting to literature grad students, but for the rest of the population, they could come off a little dull and impenetrable.
Compelling Turning Point: Fortunately the rest of the movie does not maintain that overly literary veneer. And there’s one crucial scene that spells out a change in priorities. Isabel and Marion are hanging out together at a family cookout while Isabel explains the premise of her new book. Marion is initially bewildered by her rather abstract explanation, but then Isabel gets down to brass tacks with a more concrete example of what she’s getting at. Marion then assures her that this sort of storytelling ability is exactly how she should write her book, and the movie wisely follows that cue as well.
The Points Become Salient: Isabel’s journey of writing Caste takes her to the American Deep South, Nazi Germany, and India, with historical re-enactments illustrating how each of these societies have been shaped by strikingly similar caste systems. These segments are fairly straightforward, but what pushes them over the edge are Isabel’s reactions of inspiration. Ellis-Taylor is a subtle master at quiet euphoria. (That quality also serves as a counterpoint to the deep wells of sadness she must convey.) By the end of the movie, you’ll hopefully be able to feel as hopeful as Isabel appears to be. Not because these intractable problems will be solved anytime soon, but at the very least because someone is able to identify and explain them.

Origin is Recommended If You Like: Anti-racism, Listening to people who have liberal arts degrees

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Castes

‘Dumb Money’ is Smart Storytelling

September 13, 2023

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So Dumb (CREDIT: Sony Pictures/Screenshot)

Starring: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Dane DeHaan, Myha’la Harold, Rushi Kota, Talia Ryder

Director: Craig Gillespie

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: R for Dumb Profanity and Cheeky Nudity

Release Date: September 15, 2023 (Limited Theaters)/September 29, 2023 (Expands Wide)

What’s It About?: STONKS! I could attempt to continue to write the rest of this review of Dumb Money in the lingua franca of the r/WallStreetBets subreddit, but alas, I’m probably not well-versed in it enough to produce something coherent. So I’ll instead keep it generally prosaic. Back in 2020 and early 2021, r/WallStreetBets was the social media hub for something rather strange happening in the stock market. Based on the advice of a chicken tender-obsessed financial analyst named Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a whole cadre of amateur traders decide to go all in on the retail chain GameStop. Meanwhile, Wall Street types like Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen) and Kenneth Griffin (Nick Offerman) are fairly confident that they should do exactly the opposite by short selling GameStop stock, what with the general decline of in-person retail video game sales. But the meme-fueled enthusiasm of working class folks like a nurse (America Ferrera), a couple of college classmates (Myha’la Harold and Talia Ryder), and even a GameStop cashier (Anthony Ramos) ensures that Opposite Day will be arriving very soon.

What Made an Impression?: Cutting Through the Malarkey: If you feel that the financial markets are a rigged game, it’s probably because their rules are too intricate and incomprehensible to anyone who can’t afford to spend hours poring over them every day. So it’s a bit of a minor miracle that Dumb Money is so easy to understand despite all that. It certainly helps that it’s based on a story that was widely covered by the media. And the underlying concepts are straightforward enough that you don’t have to sweat the details. But maybe we’ve also become more financially literate as a society since the days of Occupy Wall Street and the other populist movements that followed in its wake, along with the democratizing rise of the Robinhood stock trading app, which plays a major role in this story. But also, it comes down to simple storytelling skills: the characters are compelling, so it’s easier to pay attention to what’s going on.
A Busy Pandemic: Recent history is a major part of popular cinema, and if that trend is going to continue, then we can’t ignore the COVID-19 of it all. As this story takes place during the height of the pre-vaccinated pandemic, there are a lot of face masks. That was a time of heightened anxiety, but it was also a time of doing whatever the hell else was part of your life, whether that meant surreptitiously texting in class, trying not to curse in front of your kids, or even trying to run that sub-4:00 mile you could never quite pull off in college. Buying stocks that become worth millions of dollars isn’t cool, you know what is cool? Making billion dollars’ worth of memories that you’ll cherish forever.
What’s Behind the Screen?: Context is king. Dumb Money relies on a fair amount of pre-existing news footage, as well as clips of real politicians from Congressional hearings. This mix of documentary and dramatization equals illumination. The events of this story initially played out behind Zoom screens and Internet-speak, and now we get some juicy peeks into how those scenes might have played out in the flesh. They’re filled with the high-stakes foibles of humanity, offering an irresistible mix of voyeurism but also sympathy, as well as savagery but also a dollop of optimism. If the Almighty Dollar remains king, we’ll all remain dumb for it, but hopefully we can still blast through the status quo a bit in the meantime.

Dumb Money is Recommended If You Like: The Social Network, The Big Short, Memes

Grade: 4.5 out of 5 STONKS

‘Sing 2’ Sure Features a Lot of Singing! Is it Too Much? Let’s Find Out

December 16, 2021

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Sing 2 (CREDIT: Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures)

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Bobby Canavale, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Nick Offerman, Letitia Wright, Eric André, Chelsea Peretti, Bono, Garth Jennings, Adam Buxton, Jennifer Saunders, Peter Serafinowicz

Director: Garth Jennings

Running Time: 112 Minutes

Rating: PG for Threats of Grievous Bodily Harm

Release Date: December 22, 2021 (Theaters)

In Sing 2, Bobby Canavale voices wolf/media mogul Jimmy Crystal, who’s basically the lupine version of the studio executive that Graham Chapman played in Monty Python‘s “20th Century Vole” sketch. He says that he wants to see something “big” and “different,” but really that’s just code for “I’m impossible to please!” When we first meet him, he’s auditioning a menagerie of potential acts for his next live show, and they all look pretty unique to me. I mean, have you ever seen a lemur sing Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend” while doing gymnastics or a trio of ducklings nailing Eminem’s “My Name Is” while dressed like Dick Van Dyke-style chimney sweeps? Maybe Jimmy Crystal has, because he immediately dismisses them with a “been there, done that” attitude. So what does he want? Guaranteed cash flow, I assume, because just about the only thing that excites him is the mention of legendary lion Clay Calloway (voiced by Bono), a rock icon-turned-recluse who nobody’s heard from ever since his wife died. And for some reason, plucky koala impresario Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) has promised that he can book Calloway.

Moon and his musical crew are basically in the business of putting on the sort of live musical spectacular that you’d see at Las Vegas. They perform a jukebox medley of all sorts of hit songs along with a vague storyline. At the beginning of Sing 2, they’re putting on something inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but they’re eventually told to come up with something original, so resident librettist pig Gunter (Nick Kroll) crafts a space opera about traversing the planets of War and Joy. That sounds like a pretty great show to me! They don’t need a giant cat voiced by one of the most famous rock stars of all time to make it work. I mean, I’m not saying that they should get rid of Bono, but I understand the over-the-top theater kid appeal of this endeavor with or without him.

The other major thought about Sing 2 that I want to express has to do with its inclusion of U2 songs. Quite a few are featured, and the implication seems to be that in the Sing universe, every single U2 song is a Clay Calloway song, which suggests a whole host of metaphysical implications that I’m not sure writer-director Garth Jennings is prepared to grapple with. (Or maybe he is! And if so, I’d love to hear his thoughts.)

Anyway, this is all pretty lightweight, but I can’t deny that my ears pricked up and my heart swelled at some key moments. The voice cast has been assembled for good reason. Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, and Taron Egerton all know how to sing. And I’m particularly invested in Tori Kelly as nervous elephant Meena, because she’s a 100% Certified Cutie (Kelly, that is, not Meena, although I don’t judge if you’re into cartoon pachyderms). Halsey joins the fun with a full-on Joisey accent, while Kroll, Eric André, and Chelsea Peretti deliver an acceptable amount of funny. It’s bright, it’s buoyant, and my only major disappointment is that the Minions didn’t show up again after they appeared for the Illumination production logo.

Sing 2 is Recommended If You Like: Relentless soundtracks, Cartoon characters embodying clichés about evil media moguls, Elephant trunks holding ice cream cones

Grade: 3 out of 5 Big Leagues

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 1/1/21

January 1, 2021

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The Chase; Celebrity Wheel of Fortune; The Hustler (CREDIT: Ron Batzdorff/ABC; Carol Kaelson/ABC; Christopher Willard/ABC)

Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.

Movies
–Pieces of a Woman (January 7 on Netflix)

TV
–Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (January 1 on BBC America)
–Earth to Ned Season 1 Part 2 (January 1 on Disney+) – A delightful talk show hosted by an alien. I wrote about it on my newsletter.
–RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 Premiere (January 1 on VH1)
–Call Me Kat Series Premiere (January 3 on FOX) – Starring Mayim Bialik and cats.
–The Great North Series Premiere (January 3 on FOX) – New animated show with the voices of Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Jenny Slate, Will Forte, and others.
-Alex Trebek’s last week of new Jeopardy! episodes (January 4-8, check local listings)
–The Hustler Series Premiere (January 4 on ABC) – Another game show on ABC! This one’s hosted by Craig Ferguson.
–History of Swear Words (January 5 on Netflix) – Hosted by Nicolas Cage himself.
–Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist Season 2 Premiere (January 5 on NBC)
–Name That Tune Reboot Premiere (January 6 on FOX) – Hosted by the one and only Jane Krakowski.
–Celebrity Wheel of Fortune Series Premiere (January 7 on ABC)
–The Chase Reboot Premiere (January 7 on ABC) – Jeopardy! all-time greats Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer square off against contestants. Sara Haines hosts.
–Mr. Mayor Series Premiere (January 7 on NBC) – Ted Danson gets right back in the sitcom swing.

Movie Review: ‘The Lego Movie 2’ Has Some More Valuable Lessons to Teach Us With Bright Colors and Peppy Songs

February 5, 2019

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CREDIT: Warner Bros.

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman

Director: Mike Mitchell

Running Time: 107 Minutes

Rating: PG for Traumatizing Lego Destruction

Release Date: February 8, 2019

Where does a sequel go after the original makes such a definitive statement? This is the conundrum facing The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. (That subtitle is infinitely unnecessary, but not indicative of the movie’s humor as a whole, and also this title would have looked rather naked without a subtitle.) 2015’s first part summed up in cinematic form the whole ethos of the iconic Danish building blocks: in a world that often favors rigidity and conformity, you cannot give up on your individuality, because everyone can be and is special. Childlike imagination and wonder are what fueled The Lego Movie to be as successful as it was. Those values will get you pretty far in life. So why do any more statements need to be made?

It turns out that while The Lego Movie offers a philosophy with wide-ranging applicability, it is not quite a grand unified theory that covers absolutely everything. It spoke to the power of a singular creative vision, but The Second Part demonstrates how collaboration is equally vital. Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) and his Lego friends are now living in the wasteland Apocalypseburg, because in the human world that is controlling them, a little sister has invaded the playspace of her big brother. So Emmet, Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), and company head out to broker a peace with some differently designed block-creatures. This leads to permanent bachelor Batman becoming engaged to a sparkly shape-shifter voiced by Tiffany Haddish, while Superman (Channing Tatum) lives happily alongside General Zod in a Stepford-esque perfect suburb.

Sizing up the situation, Emmet believes that his mission is to free his friends from the brainwashing of strangers. But while it may seem that all is not what it seems, it turns out that that particular mystery trope is not being played as straight as you might expect. The Lego Movie taught us to be skeptical about a constantly smiling world insisting that everything is awesome, but it also taught us that awesomeness sometimes really is awesome if it has genuine feeling behind it. The candy-coated invading milieu of The Second Part initially appears to be fundamentally suspicious. But sometimes a bright, peppy outer layer is only covering a bright and rewarding core. Sometimes a catchy song that jams itself right in your head is so buoyant that you’re happy it’s stuck there. Belief in yourself is important, but don’t forget to be open-minded about everyone else.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is Recommended If You Like: The Lego Movie and its spin-offs, Playing with your siblings

Grade: 4 out of 5 Catchy Songs

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ Fits As Many Crazy Characters And Genre Twists as Possible Into a Quirky Hotel

October 9, 2018

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CREDIT: Kimberley French/Twentieth Century Fox

This review was originally published on News Cult in October 2018.

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Chris Hemsworth, Nick Offerman

Director: Drew Goddard

Running Time: 140 Minutes

Rating: R for The Violence of Lawmen, Career Criminals, and Desperate People

Release Date: October 12, 2018

Drew Goddard has a thing for surveillance. His directorial debut, The Cabin in the Woods, was all about the pleasure and ritual of watching young people being ripped apart by monsters. That thematic concern was to be expected with Cabin, which deconstructed in one fell swoop all of horror cinema, a genre that more than any other grapples with voyeurism at its core. Bad Times at the El Royale, Goddard’s second film, is by contrast about a group of various strangers converging at one central location. This setup does not by definition invoke surveillance, but it is just as concerned about the watchers and the watched as Cabin is. Thus a series of question is raised: is Goddard watching all of us? Is he sounding the alarm about the nefarious forces that are watching us? Or does he take that nefariousness as a given, and is he then using cinema to process it?

The action becomes quickly pear-shaped at the titular hotel, which straddles the state line between California and Nevada, with their differing liquor and tax laws separated by the two halves of the establishment. It’s a novel premise that keeps you on your toes and alert for other oddities. The El Royale might be off the beaten path and have fallen on hard times, but it seems to serve as a beacon to folks with similarly dual natures. All who are getting ready to spend the night there – a vacuum salesman (Jon Hamm), a priest (Jeff Bridges), a soul singer (Cynthia Erivo), a rude, mostly silent young woman (Dakota Johnson), and even the concierge (Lewis Pullman) – are much more than they initially appear to be. That is hardly surprising, given how over-the-top or opaque they are when we first meet them. Bad Times does not reinvent the wheel, but it never lets its hands off it.

That maximal level of control is essential to what Goddard is pulling off. Once again, he is in deconstructionist mode. This time he is taking on the subgenre of post-Tarantino, nonlinear crime flicks. Obviously this is much more specific than what Cabin was targeting, but there are still plenty of threads to pull at, and Goddard pulls at all of him. (In a way, this is not so much a deconstruction of Tarantino’s imitators as much as it is a reconstructed better version.) He sets out to examine how each character could have possibly gotten to this point, diving into as much backstory as possible. That formula makes for A WHOLE LOT of movie. What could have been an hour-and-a-half shootout is instead a nearly two-and-a-half-hour dissertation. It is worth consuming it all, but prepared to be exhausted immediately afterwards and to continue to digest it for days, or even weeks, later.

Bad Times at the El Royale is Recommended If You Like: The Hateful Eight, Agatha Christie Mysteries, The Cabin in the Woods, Classic Rock and R&B

Grade: 4 out of 5 Room Keys

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