The sleepaway setting has long been a comedy and horror staple, from Meatballs, Friday the 13th, and The Parent Trap to Heavyweights and full-on satires like Wet Hot American Summer, and the delightful and crass new comedy The Floaters follows that in the same vein. It doesn’t matter the specialty or type of camp, assembling a hodgepodge group of characters is a foolproof and fast way of multiplying the classic coming-of-age arc we know and love.
Read MoreMost scientists in the SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) or METI (messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence) fields bank on theories that any real evidence we, as a planet, will get will come from signals more than flying saucers and little green men arriving on Earth. Similar to Contact, Clara, and Ad Astra that came before it, The Outer Threat follows that more plausible and intelligent path and still develops solid suspense.
Read MoreCompare your kinks and compare your calamity to theirs as the cross-examinations skirt the existential as well as the suggestive. This all feels like a brisk game and a bold test, and there is unmistakable brilliance to take away from such an experience, and witnessing the savvy theatrical chops, led by Olivia Wilde, it took to pull this kind of vampy subterfuge.
Read MoreLucky Strike makes two cardinal mistakes in its first two scenes, which, in turn, dilute the rest of the movie. It’s a shame, too, because The Last Castle and The Contender director Rod Lurie, filming in the thick woods of Bulgaria, utilized striking wintery location shooting to put his actors through their paces and make us feel every cold snap of this movie’s little piece of the famed Battle of the Bulge during December of 1944.
Read MoreMilly Alcock, thanks to all that posing working in her favor and the patience to hold putting the cape and big red “S” on her until the finale, builds to the kind of awe and presence the character needs. When we see her next, likely alongside Superman in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow, she’ll be in a different place and mindset from this adventure, and that promise counts as positive mojo—attitude and all.
Read MoreAs aforementioned, the premise of Rose of Nevada, bobbing our two strapping young men to the mercy of the seas of time, carries the “potential” of a story. Unfortunately, potential can only reach so far without actual progress. Try as George McKay can to unravel with his wide eyes to find an exit for Nick from this spiral, the oddness and downright tediousness of the plot never reach a true mindfuck level.
Read MoreLandship sticks to one solid episode of ordinary men surviving the worst of the worst for the man next to them, not medals pinned to chests or future storybook or silver screen glory. Dramatic license aside, witnessing the unbelievable made fluid and palpable—and the huge DIY effort to make it happen—becomes powerful enough without bigger patriotic swells unfurled for escapism’s sake.
Read MoreOne has to keep in mind that Leah McKendrick’s film is a romantic comedy, meaning, according to even the most refined and reinvented versions of the genre’s formula, a sticking point born from preventable mistakes or an unwashed Big Lie likely exists. In the case of Voicemails from Isabelle, the finagling of fate belongs to Wes. Like many rom-coms, a horses-holding “Let me explain” is needed.
Read MoreThat squint of doubt as a viewer is the main energy of Littermates, directed by short film specialist Scott Tinkman, making his feature-length debut, from his original screenplay partnered with Michael Woloson, who doubles as the cinematographer. Things seem too calm and mannerly, considering the chaos heard all around this property.
Read MoreIn The Death of Robin Hood poster did not already warn you, that right there is the brusque and dissentient attitude of this character and the entire film. Anything “merry” is as far away as the Sun during this drastic display of weather. Like body parts, the somberness can be cut with a knife or the deep strings and choral hymns from composer and folk singer Jim Ghedi, working on his first film.
Read MoreSimone Ashley’s shifting allure of evocativeness and conviction deflects predictability and shields the suspense very well, even if the rest of the cast cannot shake their tropes and witnesses and puppeteers at times. Some may argue that This Tempting Madness does not reach a radical enough tipping point to contend with that previous era of thrillers. Possibly, but Montgomery chose the wavelength of paranoia over titillation and distilled her own disturbing vibe just fine.
Read MoreWith a very welcome shift to put Jessie front and center instead of Buzz or Woody (Tom Hanks) for a change (though the billing in the credits suggests otherwise), the antique cowgirl’s spunky spirit and more impactful and wider revealed history steer this story to new, poignant places. In aspiring to do all that, Toy Story 5 finds its missing brevity again, in what might be the funniest entry in the whole series.
Read More
