At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

A great legacy sequel that tries to capture that Spielbergian feel of coming of age... until it goes off the rails with cheap nostalgia grabs. Ghostbusters Afterlife is its best when it's a Jason Reitman film, where it feels a bit like Young Adult meets Men, Women & Children and it's at its worst when it's trying too hard to connect this to Ghostbusters. Early on in the film they do a good enough job weaving in the coming of age plot with Ghostbusters stuff to where it's pretty fresh and energetic. Mckenna Grace, who's probably the most famous kid actor today that nobody knows, is easily the best part about the movie who plays the granddaughter to Egon along with Carrie Coon who plays the mom. There's also some great performances from the rest of the cast like Finn Wolfhard, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, and Paul Rudd. You can exactly pinpoint where this movie falls apart by nostalgia and product placement once Paul Rudd enters a Wal-mart buying Ben & Jerry's and marshmallows. It's as if the direction was taken over by a Sony exec who wanted to appease corporations and ungrateful fanboys with no subtly at all. The third act drags this movie down so much to where you're literally rewatching the ending of the original Ghostbusters. Overall, I still enjoyed it for what its worth. The good part still outweighs the bad even though the bad part is so egregious. Also I thought the tribute to Harold Ramis was touching.
3/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

Last Night in Soho

This was inspired by various giallo movies. This was fun. At the same time, it was too predictable. ATJ and Thomasin were great, but I still felt like this should've been more. Wright had a co writer on this, and I got the feeling that each had a different idea and then meshed those two together. ATJ plot of the movie is far more interesting and something that I would've preferred to see if i'm being honest, especially when we found out those 'twists'. I also felt like they could've done a lot more interesting stuff with the whole going into the 60s, kinda like a 'Midnight in Paris'. Eh, I admire the premise more so than the finished movie. Nothing about an Edgar Wright film is lazy, but this felt like he took some short cuts. This should be one of the great films of the year and yet, it was simply a fun solid outcome.

3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Passing

A really well done directorial debut for Rebecca Hall that tackles biracial identity set in the 20s in a very atmospheric NYC. I love how it's constructed and shot like the talkies of that era in the 20s and early 30s where music and sound are just beginning to take over the silent film era. Great subtle performances by Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson who really give it their all in here, but not hamming it up. I also really liked André Holland here who gets a couple scenes that stand out. There's a lot of layering of themes and ideas that really mix well for a movie like this and while I enjoyed the slow burn pacing of it all, some of the middle kinda drags a bit. Overall, really enjoyed it.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Kate

"Kate will return in the Gunpowder Milkshake cinematic universe title card"

A neon fueled assassin flick that kinda takes a similar structure like La Femme Nikita and Leon the Professional and combine with it a with a vivid visual style like Gunpowder Milkshake and John Wick. Only problem is the story is so incredibly predictable and it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who's pretty much playing the Huntress again) is the only one carrying this movie as she's the only one giving a really good performance here along with the action set pieces that are indeed pretty well choreographed and well shot. Overall, the movie kinda evens out and the action part of the movie and MEW's performance slightly outweighs the trite and boring aspects.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Prisoners of the Ghostland

For a Nic Cage movie that is absolutely absurd and out of its f**kin mind, this was surprisingly dull for the most part. It's a high concept film that takes some 90s anime influences like Cowboy Bebop to create a bizarre mishmash of Japanese culture with an American western wasteland. The performances are purposely hammy, but not really entertaining to watch except from Nic Cage from time to time. Overall, while I admire the ambition of it all from director Sion Sono, this fell mostly flat for me which was shocking.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

A really solid and straightforward biopic about the life of Tammy Faye that's centered on the PTL scandal. It's a movie truly built on Jessica Chastain's eccentric performance trying to capture who Tammy Faye was on and off camera. And while it's not really centered on him, Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker was also pretty good. Also, Vincent D'Onofrio playing Jerry Falwell as a more sinister Wilson Fisk could not be more perfect. It's directed by Michael Showalter who's able to balance a comedic tone with some deep emotional drama. I thought the production design was extremely well done... they did a great job capturing the 70s and the 80s in terms of clothes and decor. What kinda drags the movie down a bit is the stuff towards the end where they rely heavily on existing footage (with Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield inserted in) to push the story on the scandal instead of them showing us what exactly happened. It almost felt like they ran out of time and rushed the ending. Overall, I thought it was really good.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Injustice

So, I don't subscribe to the notion of "the only way to make Superman interesting is to make him the villain" crap, so I've always avoided the games and the comic. That being said, the movie is has some small nuggets of interesting moments that asks some interesting morality questions. Only problem is the same dull writing and dull voice performances that has plagued a lot of these DC animated movies has prevented it from being anywhere clever or original. It also doesn't help that the stiff animation is still the worst thing about these movies. All that being said, I did really enjoy them using Mister Terrific and Plastic Man to greater effect for once. Overall, it's yet another disappointing DC animated movie where they use every cheap shortcut to get get this made.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog

You know you're out of ideas when you got an animated old white man rapping to fill time.

It's yet another Scooby-Doo crossover where by all means should work since it's Courage the Cowardly Dog, but they immediately run out of steam the moment after they first interact. You can tell it was originally supposed to be a 20 minute episode, but they stretched it to over an hour... so there's a lot of filler that doesn't mean anything. The writing isn't there, so it's eventually becomes more of a Courage the Cowardly Dog easter egg hunt where you try to spot all the villains that's in the background. There's maybe a couple of moments in here that kinda worked but overall, it's a big disappointment. I feel like this would have been so much better if they had John R. Dilworth working on it.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms

When you got the Ultra Instinct Shaggy meme to open your movie, it all goes downhill from there.

This continues from where Scorpion's Revenge left off and technically while this is a proper Mortal Kombat movie with all the attention to the tournament and the lore, the execution had left me pretty bored. It feels like they dialed it back after how gory and over the top Scorpion's Revenge was and kept it pretty light for the most part. Animation is also petty lackluster and the voice cast felt like they just woke up to record some dialogue. I will say I did enjoy them including some of the more minor MK characters even if they don't do much with them. Overall, it's pretty forgettable to say the least.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

House of Gucci

Al Pacino and Jared Leto trying to find their rental car and getting lost was truly an experience.

This was such a campy and soap opera-ish biopic about the Gucci family that it kinda works both ways. Instead of making an authentic and real life portrayal of this story, they kinda use the blueprint of the first two Godfather movies with the comedic tone of Succession and a daytime soap opera. It's really the outlandish performances of the cast putting on a stereotypical Italian accents that comes and goes is what will split a lot of people from enjoying this. I'll say Adam Driver is probably the only one in here who gives a somewhat real serious performance while everyone else is going for straight camp like Jared Leto and Lady Gaga. All that being said, the story does go through the politics of the family business pretty well and how it all crumbles was still pretty well done. Overall, while this probably isn't gonna get Oscar attention, I thought it was pretty enjoyable all things considered.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

Going in with expecting nothing, I did come out of it enjoying it way more than I thought I would. Thankfully it feels less like a WS Anderson RE flick and more like the other mid to late 00s horror flicks that had some cool slow burn moments like The Hill Have Eyes, The Crazies, and Silent Hill with a mid tier budget. I probably would give the first half of the film the most praise because of how it builds up to the craziness of it all. Once it got to the 2nd part where they try to copy the first two games, it got a bit too silly for its own good, but then again... it mimics the games pretty well. I didn't mind the cast they got here and I thought Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield was probably the only highlight. While the CG did look cheap, it was still impressive considering what budget they had make it. Overall, while it's not anything special or particularly great, I did got some enjoyment out of it. It's the definition of a "you tried" sticker.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Humans

A phenomenal family drama set during Thanksgiving that's rooted in realism and contemplation. It takes the typical dysfunctional family tropes and dip it in a horror mindset of a bottle film... So a lot of the film has that unnerving feel to it like the claustrophobic cinematography and the mysterious sounds creeping around the apartment. The movie is almost entirely held up by the great performances of the cast with Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, and Steven Yeun being the standouts. The writing is so well done that almost every line feels authentic and natural. Overall, while this is probably not for everyone, I thought it was incredibly engaging from start to finish and easily one of the best films of the year.
4.5/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

IRONMASTER

I've been slowly going down the rabbit hole of Umberto Lenzi movies.

The cover art is far greater than the finished outcome.

A tribe discovers how to make weapons out of iron and decides to conquer the surrounding tribes. One can easily call this a Conan ripoff, but they were released around the same time period, but considering the material and bidget that this had, it is amazing what Lenzi was able to pull off. Funny enough, just like Arnold, the lead here is a bodybuilder, he has no real charisma and looks funny as hell next to everyone around him, you can tell he was filled with roids up to his neck, and those awful wigs. Still, Lenzi somehow makes it work. I gotta be honest here, I was mainly captivated by Elvire Audray. She is absolutely stunning. I immediately looked her up and was bummed out to read about her tragic ending.

Eh, this is a must watch if one is onto italian film sleaze.

 

[Kane52630]

Clifford the Big Red Dog

They really made the only Asian kid in the movie yell "Dogzilla."

It's a very formulaic kids movie that takes another beloved kids property and turn into a CGI/live action hybrid movie that uses the same kind of plotting that you've seen before. The CG of Clifford is very hit or miss especially early on when they didn't need to make him CG as a small dog. The scenes with Darby Camp and Jack Whitehall with Clifford could have been really good if they've done something more clever with that whole plotline. The movie fills the rest of the time by having a bizarre dognapping plot with Tony Hale's character and it surrounds itself with other comedians like Keenan Thompson and Russell Peters that only get a scene or two. It's a movie that plays itself so safe in a direct to video kind of way so there's not a whole that stands out in here. Overall, while it's not the worst thing I've seen this year, it's probably the most simplest movie of the year.
1.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Bruised

A well produced, but very formulaic and super melodramatic sports film involving MMA that is only carried by Halle Berry's performance and some of her direction. It goes through a checklist of what everyone expects a sports drama to have (or in this case, what usually happens in a boxing movie) and in result it made the movie pretty derivative. The movie is at its best when it's focused on the mom and son relationship and the MMA training. What brings this down are some of the other performances like Adan Canto who plays the abusive boyfriend and some of the out of character moments that weren't written well or didn't go anywhere. Overall, a it's a mixed bag.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Addams Family 2

Unintentional torture. You know you're out of ideas for a animated sequel when a vacation road trip and a out of character hip hop soundtrack are the only things you can come up with. It's them trying to imitate Hotel Transylvania: Family Vacation which was already not a good sequel to begin with and somehow made it worse. The story is centered on Wednesday Addams and her finding her true parents and it doesn't really commit to that plot when it's too busy trying to fit in product placement and gen z slang. Even the animation got worse which I didn't think was possible. Overall, it's sadly straight up garbage.
0.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Nine Days

A thought provoking high concept film that tackles existentialism with heavy sentimentality. It's similar to something like Pixar's Soul where it evaluates a person's life and what it means to be human. The movie is almost entirely supported by the performances of Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, and Benedict Wong who are great here. All that being said, the movie is a bit dull that moves on a snails pace and at times it goes from thought provoking to kinda pretentious. It definitely needed something more to keep you attached to these characters. It's a shame because I really wanted to love this, but it keeps an arms length when it needed to drive a point home. Overall, pretty good yet kinda disappointing.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Till Death

A pretty straightforward situational thriller that kinda combines Gerald's Game with Panic Room. It's a role that seemingly fits Megan Fox's sensibilities as a performer as she's trying to survive being handcuffed with her dead husband while intruders are looking for her. It starts off pretty bland with some obvious set up that you know will come back somehow. Once it gets into the thick of it, the direction gets a little better with some interesting cinematography. What brings this down is the predictability of it all and the performances are pretty generic. Overall, not bad for a thriller, but it's got wasted potential.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Vacation Friends

A sort of good hang of a comedy that, while completely derivative and disjointed, got some charm from its main cast to carry the film. It's got similar a tone to Meet the Parents and the Hangover, but nowhere near in quality. What I really dug is the chemistry between John Cena, Lil Rel, Yvonne Orji, and Meredith Hagner and how their personalities clash throughout it. It's got a mix bag of jokes that landed for me and while some really don't land, they try to movie it along to the next thing. I'll say you can easily see why they dump it on Hulu instead of a theatrical release, at a certain point they lose steam in the plot. Overall, while it may be forgettable, it was entertaining for what it was.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Four Good Days

A very Oscar baity family drama that tackles drug addiction that at times feels like a overt PSA commercial. What takes this above average for me are the performances by Glenn Close and Mila Kunis... who's really going for it as a drug addict trying to get clean (even though you kinda see the seams of her character and the makeup is probably overdone). They do a good job showcasing how it affects family and the painful steps into getting clean and possibility of relapse and how that can create some paranoia. Overall, a pretty standard movie about addiction with some notable performances.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Power of the Dog

*file under movies that make you want to play RDR2 again*

A really well done western drama set in 1920's Montana that examines masculinity and gender roles. It's a slow-burn movie (that's more in the same vein as There Will Be Blood) that really takes advantage of the landscape and production value with the top notch performances by Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Jesse Plemons. I thought the direction it went with the story was pretty fascinating and the dynamics between everyone in the cast was pretty good. The only issue I have is this is missing that big swing memorable moment like a lot of movies like this would have to make it stand out from the rest of the Oscar-ish movies. Overall, a phenomenally directed and acted western that I wish had a little more to offer.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Summer of Soul

A solid documentary that also fits as a concert movie about the forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Questlove and his team did a great job adding historical context in between the restored footage of the musical acts that would have old news reels, recent interviews of the attendees, artists who performed, and a lot more. It's all edited together flawlessly as each part of the doc tackles all sorts of themes and issues whether it is the racial injustice in the late 60s to the Harlem's drug epidemic to everyone's thoughts on the moon landing while the festival was happening in real time. Overall, it's a doc that really elevates over other music documentaries.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

C'mon C'mon

A meditative drama by Mike Mills that aims to be thought provoking while exploring bipolar issues even though some of it comes off as self indulgent. It kinda reminds me of Jim Jarmusch's Paterson in a sense, but I felt that had a bigger connection to me where as this left me feeling cold at times. It still manages to be well put together by the performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Woody Norman and the black and white cinematography. I feel at its strongest, the movie does well when they showcase these interviews of kids wondering about the future. Overall, not bad, but not great.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Wolf

Despite the obvious furry jokes I could make, I thought this was an interesting drama that uses species dysphoria in a allegorical sense whether it is conversion therapy or any kind of identity issues. As a concept it feels like the inverse of The Lobster. The movie plays more observational than anything and you spend most of the movie see each of their behavior as they're being "cured" or failing to do so and the abuse that comes with it. It centers mostly on George MacKay who I thought did a great job in a physicality sense and Lily-Rose Depp who does have some good moments in between. I'll say I don't think the movie totally works and towards the end it kinda leaves you hanging on what it really wants to say. Overall, well directed film with a pretty interesting concept that could have been even better.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Old Henry

A solid straightforward western that was able to deliver a pretty effective thriller despite the use of old tropes. It all works because of Tim Blake Nelson's performance as a old isolated framer with a secret past who mistakenly gets into trouble. It also has a fugitive subplot that worked even though you kinda know where it's going. Overall, it's worth checking out if you're a fan of old fashioned Westerns.
3.5/5