Rated PG for peril, action and thematic elements.
For young Nikolas (Henry Lawfull), he has always believed in the possibility of magic. His mother told him the legend of a community of elves that live in the mountains in the far north. But in the time since she passed, Nikolas’s home has lost its sense of hope. The king over the town (Jim Broadbent) makes a decree for his subjects to find some hope to bring home to make everyone feel better. This becomes Nikolas’s chance to prove that the stories his mother told him are true. So, alongside his pet mouse Mika (Stephen Merchant) and a reindeer he helped, he will travel to the far north to search for the home of the elves. This adventure will set in motion the events that will become a worldwide holiday celebrated by everyone and defines this most wonderful time of the year. A Boy Called Christmas is another attempt to create an origin story for Santa Claus, this time based on a children’s book by Matt Haig. The act of coming up with the origins of the classic holiday figure has been around for decades, being the concept of many holiday-themed movies and television specials. Since it has been done so many times before, there isn’t a lot of room for new takes on the idea. But somehow, this concept that has been run through the wringer more times than Marvel’s superhero origin formula manages to make for great stories almost every time. And that’s exactly what this movie accomplishes. It doesn’t do anything to reinvent the idea of Santa’s beginning, but it manages to be a charming family holiday film nonetheless. A lot of this is thanks to the performances of the cast. The ensemble is made up of a lot of surprise faces. And while they’re all playing characters we’ve seen in countless other family films and fairy tales, they play them in ways that make them a joy to watch. Credit should be given to young Henry Lawfull, who really nails his role as Nikolas. He makes him a great character and a protagonist truly worth rooting for. There’s also a sense of charm in the film’s script by Ol Parker and its director Gil Kenan. Their take on Santa’s origin has a lot of clever jokes and heartwarming moments that will delight children as well as parents. There are a few that feel like jabs towards the current state of family filmmaking, and of course a few stabs at problems with our society. It doesn’t do a lot to develop these themes, but they’re present long enough to get a laugh without feeling like overbearing references. I also have to give the film credit for its production design and visual effects. While Nikolas’s journey is rendered through CG effects, the world of the elves is done almost entirely through practical sets and props. This helps make the little town feel like a real place, and helps add to the film’s overall holiday spirit. In the end, the film is saved by the same thing that makes most Christmas-themed movies so great. It lovingly embraces everything that makes this holiday so great. It’s overall theme is how the act of giving to people creates the sense of hope and magic that can guide us through the darkest times. This holiday gives people a sense of wonder that they don’t get any other time of the year, and this movie embodies that fully. A Boy Called Christmas does nothing to reinvent the concept of Santa’s origins, but with a charming script, a winning cast, and a heartwarming embrace of the holiday spirit, it works nonetheless. It has enough in there for both kids and parents that will make it a fun holiday movie night for everyone. Only time will tell if this goes on to become an annually watched Christmas classic, but its surplus of magic could make it that in time.
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Rated R for language throughout, some sexual content, graphic nudity and drug content.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead! While analyzing the cosmos, astronomy student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers a comet currently passing through our solar system. She is celebrated by her classmates, and her awkward professor Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) aids the students in trying to pinpoint its trajectory. However, this little experiment reveals that the comet’s path puts it on a direct collision course with Earth. Faced with the near-certainty that the comet will destroy the planet, Kate and Randall head straight for the White House to convince president Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) to mount a mission to save the human race. Their findings, however, are only met with indifferent reactions from her and her chief-of-staff son Jason (Jonah Hill). Neither seem particularly interested in doing anything about it. Now, without the help of the useless American government, they, along with NASA scientist Teddy Oglethrope (Rob Morgan), decide to leak the news to the public in an attempt to get them behind their rescue mission. This media tour leads to the trio discovering the darkest sides of American society, as nobody seems all that worried about the impending apocalypse. Will they be able to convince the populace to just look up? This one is kind of hard to really wrap my head around. Don’t Look Up is the third film from director Adam McKay ever since he went from directing screwball comedies to sharper satires about the failings of America’s various systems. With this film, he attempts to take the style he brought to biopics like The Big Short and Vice and apply it to a fictional story that references our failure to properly deal with the climate crisis. Unfortunately, the sharp witted humor that defined those previous films isn’t present here. Much of the film’s humor seems to rely fully on how awkward certain conversations are or how absurd the situation is. Granted, absurdity can be used to great comedic effect, but the film delivers these moments with such a straight face that it’s hard to tell if the movie wants us to laugh at them. In fact, the whole movie really suffers from a major tonal imbalance. The first half attempts to be a straight comedy, albeit one with apocalyptic undertones, but also with that shred of hope that our characters will succeed. Then, when the movie heads into the second half, the comedy is almost entirely thrown out the window and it becomes a much darker kind of story. It’s a drastic change that’s so different, it feels like an entirely different movie. Not only does the tone completely change, but the story ends up breaking apart. Within its 138 minute runtime, the movie drifts into various subplots that do very little move the main story forward, and some of them just end with no real resolution or even a logical conclusion. They mostly feel like further jabs towards the stupidities of American culture, and it makes the film feel very bloated as a result. That’s really the biggest problem with the film. It feels like too big a swing a no real target. McKay’s delivery of the film’s overall message feels like he’s constantly pounding us over the head with a sledgehammer. It’s clear he’s trying to really drive home what will happen if we don’t start doing something to save our planet. But after seeing people not be convinced by COVID-19 vaccination ads to get the shot, I don’t think a movie like this will make people think otherwise. However, there are some bright spots to be found in this film. This mostly comes from the ensemble cast, especially DiCaprio and Lawrence. The character of Dr. Randall Mindy is a very different kind of performance for the supremely talented actor. It’s the kind of role you would probably see Steve Carrell play instead, and that would make sense given that he’s worked with McKay before. But DiCaprio pulls off the role with flying colors, just like any other role he’s played. However, the best performance of the film by far is that of Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky. It feels like it’s been sometime since we’ve seen her in a major role. And this is probably her best performance, even better than her Oscar-winning role in Silver Linings Playbook. She plays Kate with an array of emotions, constantly looking like a bottle of anger ready to explode; hopeful that they can save the world but always having that thought in the back of her head that they will inevitably fail and die alongside everyone else. It’s a stellar performance that shouldn’t be overlooked. Everything all comes to a head in the film’s final act. Even if it takes a major tonal shift, this closing act is something I haven’t felt before. As the inevitable apocalypse comes closer, Randal and Kate, along with many supporting characters, go about having a nice time together while everything falls apart around them. There’s something about watching this that fills you with fear, making you feel like you’re right there with the characters, waiting for your eventual demise. It’s an extremely powerful moment of the film that, whether you enjoyed it or not, will stick with you long after the credits. It’s hard to determine if Don’t Look Up is a genius, subversive satire or a self-centered, nihilistic disaster, but there’s no denying that it had an affect on me that I haven’t felt before. A handful of phenomenal performances and a third act that truly shakes you to your core aren’t enough to really make up for the stale humor and unfocused narrative. If it had kept that feeling of terror present at the end for the entire movie, it probably would have been the masterpiece it was aiming to be. It’s not necessarily a bad film, but for it’s gargantuan ambitions, it doesn’t do quite enough to meet them. Rated TV-14 (Contains Stylized Violence and Blood)
In 1868 Japan, in a world where humans co-exist with fantastical creatures like orcs, elves, and others, a quiet warrior named Izo mostly keeps to himself in a small village. One night, an orphan elf named Sonya is brought to his place of business. It isn’t long before an army of orcs raid the place, looking for the girl. Izo manages to makes it out alive, with Sonya and an orc named Raiden in tow. Sonya desires to make it to elf country to escape the danger. No longer wanting to be a thug, Raiden requests to join them on their quest. Izo is hesitant due to his prejudice against his kind, but reluctantly allows it. As they journey across the Japanese wilderness, the three will need to stay one step ahead of their enemies, and learn that there is more to their different species than what they appear on the surface. This is an anime-style spin-off to the 2017 Netflix film Bright, which starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton and had a very similar premise, only set in modern Los Angeles. Despite Netflix’s attempts to turn that film into a franchise, plans for a sequel have been continuously delayed for various reasons. It seems a little late to finally be trying to add a new entry into the franchise, especially with a new style like this. In some ways, Bright: Samurai Soul feels like a bit of a reboot to the first film. It contains a lot of the same themes as the first film, and even the same character dynamics. The first film saw a human forced to team up with an orc to save an elf from people coming after her. It also doesn’t do a lot to expand on the ideas introduced in the first film. It seems they were looking to restart rather than produce an actual sequel or prequel. Unfortunately, this belated continuation doesn’t do a lot to justify its own existence, and it seems too little too late to create a franchise out of Bright. This film feels more like a product of Netflix wanting to cash in on the anime trend rather than truly trying to make further more chapters in the story. They just chose an IP that people were semi-familiar with and said, “let’s create an anime based on this because people love anime.” This is evident in the film’s story which, like I said above, just feels like an anime redo of the first film. Everything plays out almost exactly the same way as the live action, modern day-set film. It doesn’t make any attempt to try a new story or expand on the lore introduced in the first film. It just feels like the first film all over again, just with a new skin over it. It is also brought down be its strange animation. The film looks like a combination of traditional anime technics and three dimensional CG animation. It tries to give the world and the characters a more realistic look. But it really just ends up making it hard to look at. It all just looks unnatural, and when the violence really gets going, it makes the movie really unpleasant to look at. The vocal performances also bring the film down immensely. The English cast is headlined by Simu Liu, who just made headlines starring as Marvel’s Shang-Chi. But here, he sounds bored in his role as Izo. He sounds like he really doesn’t care about anything going on in the film. The young actress who voices Sonya is also very grating, over-acting to the point where her deliveries are almost laughable. Bright: Samurai Soul is proof that it may be too late to turn the once popular Netflix film into an expansive franchise. It doesn’t do anything to remix the story of the first film, merely just playing it over again in a way that feels like the studio is desperately trying to mine any potential out of the property. A sequel to Bright sounded like a good idea back in 2017, but now it seems like the potential franchise is better left retired. Rated PG-13 for violence and action, some sexual references, and strong language.
FBI Special Agent John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) has been on the path of notorious art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) for years. After finally apprehending him while attempting to steal one of three bejeweled eggs gifted to Cleopatra, he feels he has finally accomplished his goal. However, his plan is foiled when the recovered egg is instead stolen by an even more notorious art thief known only as The Bishop (Gal Gadot). Now blamed for the crime and on the run, John is forced to partner up with Nolan in order to put a stop to The Bishop once and for all. The three embark on a global journey to find the other two bejeweled eggs, taking them to exotic cities, gigantic mansion, and dense jungles. As they begin to uncover the mystery behind their locations, will John and Nolan be able to stand each other long enough to stop The Bishop and clear their names? Although, I guess the real question is will the audience be able to stand John and Nolan long enough to complete the movie. On the surface, Red Notice has everything it needs to come alive as a grade-A popcorn masterpiece. It has a star-studded trio of leads, a premise with a lot of potential, and a budget big enough to ensure that all this massive potential is pulled off with flying colors. Unfortunately, despite everything good going for it, Red Notice simply just never comes alive. It has a promising start that introduces us to the world through an action sequences that establishes the kind of bickering bromance that Johnson and Reynolds will share throughout the story. The problem is that, after this intriguing opening, everything about the film just falls flat on its face. The main problem is that the film just isn’t that funny. Writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber has written some truly hilarious films, like Dodgeball and We’re the Millers. He also has experience with action as well. Honestly, he has enough experience with both genres. But for some reason, his action scenes are bland and the jokes never get anything more than a slight chuckle out of the audience. A lot of this is probably due to Ryan Reynolds. Like most of his films since Deadpool, he plays Nolan like a quip-fueled meta commentator. All of his jokes are sly comments about the film’s clichés, always aware that he’s in a movie. However, this makes Nolan come off as overly-cocky, and with a barrage of jokes that never really land, he’s not a characters that’s really worth rooting for. The main core trio just doesn’t have good chemistry despite the potential of putting performers of this caliber on screen together. They all just feel like they’re playing the same roles they’ve been typecast as since they started. Though Johnson and Gadot do shine sometimes, they’re characters are never more than one-dimensional roles meant to fill the requirements of the script. The story also never really gets going. This isn’t a world saving plot where the three eggs will be used to bring about an apocalyptic event. John, Nolan, and The Bishop are just hunting after them, with The Bishop merely wanting them for a buyer who wants to gift them to his daughter. This results in a lack of narrative heft or stakes. Without them, there isn’t much for the audience to get attached to, because they certainly won’t attach to the characters. Red Notice should have been the prime example of how to make a masterful, crowd-pleasing action comedy, but instead, it stands as a prime example of how to waste a massive amount of potential. Even though the film itself is just okay, the very idea of what wasn’t taken advantage makes it a much worse experience. It certainly isn’t the next iconic action comedy franchise, even if they figure out how to do it anyway. Rated PG-13 for some strong language, some suggestive material and drug references.
Aspiring musical theater writer Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) is at a crossroads in his life. As he is about to turn 30, he is disappointed by the fact that he hasn’t achieved his dream, since all his mentors did so when they were younger than him. He keeps slaving away on the musical that he thinks will make him a success, but he can’t seem to come up with the last thing that will complete it. Not only that, but he finds himself disappointed by how all his friends around him are either giving up on their dreams or dying. He wants nothing more than to be seen as a genius in the theater industry. So with an upcoming preview of his passion project only days away, he’s struggling to come up with one more song. Will he be able to fix his creative block, and discover what give him purpose in life? Tick, Tick… Boom! is the feature directorial debut of Broadway star and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda. It is based on the semi-autobiographical one man show by Jonathan Larson. Drawing inspiration from his own life at the time, the show represents his own struggles with creative inspiration and the thought of if he has chosen the right path in life. That idea is immediately what makes this film so great. As a creative person, I feel like I’m in the exact same mental state as Larson was at this point in his life. I struggle with creative inspiration, and am also questioning if I’ve made the right choice in life. Seeing Larson’s story and creative process play out over the course of the film gives me hope that I too can work through my blockage. It’s nice to have a film that speaks to me on a deeply personal level. Aside from this, the film is very well constructed. Under the directorial hand of Miranda, he utilizes his knowledge and experience of musical theater to craft some truly spectacular musical numbers. Much like Dear Evan Hansen, also written by Steven Levenson, the numbers are only as big as they need to be. They’re small and intimate when necessary, and they’re bombastic and funny when they call for that. Miranda also has a unique visual style to the way he shoots the film. The look of the film channels elements of Damien Chazelle’s first film Whiplash, albeit in a much lighter tone. It isn’t uncommon for first time directors to not have a fully fleshed out style, but Miranda seems to already have his own look. This gets me excited to see what kind of films he’ll direct in the future. The film also benefits from an amazing performance from Andrew Garfield. His performance as Jonathan Larson is another great accomplishment for the actor. He’s always seemed like an underrated actor, always getting praised for his roles but never getting as much recognition as he seems to deserve. Here, he chews every scene he’s in with a performance that makes Larson such a fun and endearing character. If you’re looking for a masterful film starring Andrew Garfield, that gives fans of its specific genre everything they’re looking for, then you’ll love Tick, Tick… Boom!. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Andrew Garfield bring the life of Jonathan Larson to life in a brilliant adaptation that successfully melds the worlds of musical theater and filmmaking together. Anyone with the creative urge should definitely check this one out. Rated PG for some thematic elements and mild action.
On the streets of Havana, Cuba, a kinkajou named Vivo (Lin-Manuel Miranda) plays songs alongside his owner Andrés (Juan de Marcos). They are beloved by the town for their musical talent. One day, Andrés receives a letter from an old flame named Marta (Gloria Estefan), who left Cuba to become a world-famous musician before he could tell her how he felt. Now, she is looking to reconnect with him after all these decades. Unfortunately, the elderly Andrés dies before he gets the chance to see her final performance in Miami. Looking to honor his owner, Vivo makes it his mission to deliver a song Andrés wrote for Marta to her. Once he makes it to Florida, he finds himself forced to partner up with a spirited young girl named Gabi (Ynairaly Simo). The journey will lead both to discover the true power music has on themselves. Vivo is another Sony Pictures Animation film that was originally set for a theatrical release, before the pandemic forced the studio to license it off to Netflix. It actually was original supposed to be produced by DreamWorks instead of Sony, but Universal’s acquisition of the former led to the project getting shopped over to the latter. That actually makes a lot of sense after watching the film. There are a number of elements of Vivo that feel like something out of a DreamWorks movie rather than a Sony Animation one. Much of the story beats play out like Shrek or Kung Fu Panda. And even the general tone of the film feels like those and many others produced by that studio. It’s not really the most adult-friendly movie, but it also doesn’t lean so heavily into the kiddie humor either. However, that doesn’t stop Vivo from being quite a charming movie. Yeah, the story is far from original, and everything plays out pretty much exactly as you would expect. There aren’t many surprises or subversions of story elements seen in countless other family films. But as I always say, as long as what you make is good, it doesn’t have to completely reinvent the wheel. That fine balance between what’s friendly for kids and what’s friendly for adults makes it a fine film for a family movie night. The kids will get a laugh out of the bright colors, quirky characters, and silly jokes, while the adults won’t have to worry about suffering through lines involving bodily functions. In fact, aside from one specific joke, this movie has nothing of that kind of humor to speak of. The filmmakers are aware of keeping adults entertained as well as kids, and that’s rare to find outside of a Pixar film these days. The movie is really just generally well constructed. It has a familiar formula, following the beats of the Hero’s Journey right down to every last detail. But it doesn’t waist time introducing certain elements or spend too long trying to make them seem funnier than they are. The script, co-written by In the Heights writer Quiara Alegría Hudes and director Kirk DeMicco, knows how much time to spend on each element before moving on to the next. The animation also really shines. The film incorporates a few different looks and styles between its story moments and its musical numbers, each one representing the personalities of the characters on screen. This amount of visual variety gives the film its own personality. It is aware of who the characters are and is willing to let us get to know them. That’s what makes them easy to get invested in. The voice cast also helps in this regard. Miranda, in particular, does a great job as the titular Vivo. He really nails both the dramatic moments and the musical ones, making Vivo a fully fleshed-out character as a result. Simo also does a great job as his companion Gabi. She may be a little hard to enjoy at first, but her development throughout the film makes her more and more likable as a result, and Simo really helps in that regard. Vivo isn’t all that imaginative, but it strikes a good balance between something for kids and something for adults that makes it a great choice for a family movie night. It’s got great animation, a great voice cast, a catchy soundtrack, and enough heartwarming moments to make you feel good inside. It appears Sony Pictures Animation has had a great year. First, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, then Wish Dragon, and now Vivo. All there of their films for this year, even if all were sent to streaming, were all special in their own way. Rated PG for thematic content, peril, some language, unsettling images and smoking.
Young Japanese reporter Makoto Fukamachi is struggling to find a story different from the ones he’s already covered. He has just covered a team of Japanese mountain climbers who have scaled Mount Everest, but disliked having to climb the mountain himself just to cover it. However, as he is trying to find a different story to cover, he is presented with an intriguing opportunity. He becomes wrapped up in the mystery of a camera belonging mountaineer George Mallory, who attempted to climb Everest back in 1924, only to disappear during the expedition. If he finds the camera, he’d be able to solve the mystery that has fascinated mountain climbers for decades. And he believes he may know its location; in the possession of a jaded climber named Habu Joji, who is planning one final climb himself. An animated film from France, The Summit of the Gods is based on a Japanese manga series of the same name. I wasn’t familiar with the series, and knew very little about the movie going in. However, when I saw the trailer, it got me very interested. I always love it when animation studios are willing to produce more adult oriented films that aren’t just endless shock humor and subpar animation. And this film was what I was hoping for. The Summit of the Gods is a perfect example of how to produce an animated film for a more mature audience. It’s a grounded and dramatic story with no real humor of any kind, but it’s held together by great characters, great vocal performances, and stellar animation. At its core, the film is a story about finding what drives people to do dangerous things. That concept is explored through the emotional journey of the characters, who are all very well-developed. They all feel like real people with real goals in life and real trauma that they have to work through. Over the course of the story, it’s their emotional journey that makes it easy to get invested in them. These great characters are brought to life by a great voice cast. I will say that I had to watch the film with the English dub when trying to keep up with the subtitles as well as the film became too difficult. However, what I heard of the original French cast was very impressive. It was their performances that brought a level of world-weariness to the characters during the opening act. But I have to give credit to the voice cast that did the English dub. Many foreign Netflix productions often have English dubs, but the actors they get to do them aren’t always the greatest. Here, however, the English voice cast is just as good as the French one. They do a great job embodying their respective characters and the struggles they go through over the film. The animation is also a major highlight. The 2D style has a level of realism that gives it a unique look and feel. There’s a lot of detail put into the mountain climbing sequences, and it all feels very immersive. For being a movie that can only be watched on a television, the filmmakers do a great job creating a vastly detailed world that is really able to suck you in and make you feel like you’re right there, dangling on the side of the mountain. The Summit of the Gods is adult animation done right; focused more on a realistic, character-driven story over subjecting artificial people to mean-spirited jokes. Brought to life by a stellar voice cast, both French and English, gorgeous animation, and a truly immersive feel, this may just be one of the best adult animated films I’ve ever scene. I recommend to anyone looking for something more mature in animation filmmaking. Rated PG-13 for thematic material, some racial slurs and smoking.
For Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson), life isn’t easy living in New York in the 1920s. As an African-American woman, she fears the kind of attention that people like her risk receiving every time they left their homes. However, because her skin color is lighter than others, she has the ability to pass as a white woman. It’s not something she likes to do, but it’s also not something she has a choice in sometimes. One day, while passing in a rich, white neighborhood, Irene runs into her old friend Claire (Ruth Negga). For years, Claire has also been passing as a white woman, even marrying a wealthy white man who openly detests African Americans. The two decide to restart their friendship, and they start to become close again. This renewed friendship starts to dig up old wounds, and the two will begin to confront the reality of the modern world. Passing marks the feature directorial debut of actress Rebecca Hall. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen. This is certainly an interesting choice for her first movie, both in style and subject matter. I’m surprised that Hall would try something so ambitious for her first go behind the camera. But for trying something like this without much prior experience, that’s certainly worthy of some praise. Passing isn’t necessarily a fun movie to watch, but for a low-budget attempt to recreate a dark moment from our past, Hall does a great job. It’s nice to have a movie that actually tries to faithfully recreate the past rather than try to mold it to fit its own modern agenda. I have to give Hall credit for finding a way to make an accurate recreation of its historical period on a budget of only 10 million dollars. Much of the film takes place inside single rooms, and any exterior shots are close facing walls or in confined spaces. It’s all expertly design to recapture the era while trying to keep any evidence of our modern time out of the frame. And it feels very accurate. She also does a great job with the script. The majority of the story plays out through just conversations between the characters. These conversations are very well written and do a great job of giving us all the details without being to obvious about it. It does mean that you have to pay close attention to what everyone it talking about, as well as the uncomfortable presence of old-fashioned racial slurs. But thanks to the lead performances of Thompson and Negga, it’s an experience that is very rewarded. They are the glue that hold the film together. Both actresses bring real life to their characters to life, embodying the uncomfortable situations that they have to go through. They clearly don’t like to say the things that their characters are saying, which really helps add to their overall performances. Passing is a promising directorial debut for Rebecca Hall, offering proof that she knows how to be resource and use limitations to her advantage. It’s great that she took the time to really recreate the era, and does a great job bringing it to life. Thompson and Negga give powerhouse performances, and are one of several strong elements that make this a great examination of identity in a divided world. Rated R for strong violence and gore, language, some sexuality and brief drug use.
After discovering what may be the key to ending the curse of Sarah Fier on Shadyside, Deena attempts to put that plan into action. However, in doing this, she learns that there may be more to the story than any citizen of Shadyside ever thought. Deena is transported back to 1666, to the Union colony that would soon become Shadyside and Sunnyvale, where she learns the truth behind the curse. Within this tiny colony, Sarah was a seemingly average teenager trying to keep up her family’s farm. The colony is struggling to stay afloat, especially when mysterious plagues start to poison the town’s food and water. It appears that witchcraft is afoot, and Sarah must learn what the source is before the evil consumes everything. What she discovers will become the key to ending the centuries-old madness once and for all. Here we are at the final chapter of the Fear Street trilogy. The series as a whole hasn’t been that consistent. Part one wasn’t anything to write home about, and the obnoxious characters really brought it down. Part two managed to improve on the first one with better characters and a better story. So, does the final chapter of this trilogy bring the series to a satisfying conclusion? Well, not really. Fear Street: Part Three - 1666 returns to a lot of the problems that dragged down the first film. Now that half the film is set back in the 1994 era, we’re back spending time with the characters that made that film hard to get through. Not only that, but the same actors are also playing counterparts within the 1666 era. And that’s where the movie really falters. None of the cast members properly embrace the historical setting. If anything, the 1666 portion of the film feels like a high school drama clubs’ loose reenactment of the era. The setting itself looks cheap and unconvincing. Everything from the production design to the costumes looks like an imitation of puritan times rather than truly trying to recreate it. It just doesn’t give us a chance to really get into the setting. It also doesn’t help that the actors give probably worse performances than when they play their modern counterparts. Again, like a high school drama club, they all act and sound like unconvincing imitations of people from that era. There’s a feeling throughout the film that the filmmakers and the cast don’t really care about history, more interested in molding it to fit the modern image of their film. Then when the truth about the curse comes out, somehow the film gets even worse. I won’t spoil what the big twist is, but it doesn’t feel satisfying given what was given to us in the previous films. It’s a kind of twist that hasn’t been used that much, yet already feels overused and lazy. It adds to the feeling that the makers really don’t care about the historical setting at all. Everything culminates in a finale that doesn’t really try anything new. The final battle against the evil is a stereotypical “fight to the finish” that goes entirely in predictable directions. It ends up finishing exactly how you would expect, making the entire experience feel unsatisfying. The filmmakers had the chance to offer a truly subversive conclusion, but they didn’t, and that really hampers the story as a whole. Fear Street: Part Three - 1666 feels like the punctuation mark on the trilogy’s style; an in-your-face 90s attitude no matter what era it’s set in, more focused on imitating other horror films rather than being its own thing. The trilogy as a whole feels unsatisfying despite the immense potential it had. If there should be any prime example of how teen horror films are now, whether you love or hate them, this should be it. Rated PG-13 for thematic material, some strong language, and suggestive material.
Husband and wife Lilly (Melissa McCarthy) and Jack Maynard (Chris O’Dowd) are going through tough times. After the sudden death of their baby daughter Katie, they are struggling to make it through their grieving processes. Jack is admitted into a psychiatric hospital after attempting to take his own life, and Lilly is trying to come to terms by doing various things that wind up incomplete due her emotions. As she attempts to rebuild her garden, Lilly finds that a small starling bird has already claimed it as its territory. Every time she tries to do something, the bird swiftly attacks her. In her grief fueled mind, she makes it her mission to rid herself of the bird once and for all. Through all of this, however, the bird will help both Lilly and Jack rediscover what it means to truly live again. The Starling comes from director Theodore Melfi, who came onto the scene with critically acclaimed films like St. Vincent and Hidden Figures. While the premise of this movie, that of a woman attempting to get rid of a pesky bird, seems like one made for more of a slapstick comedy, it was surprising to learn that it was instead a more serious drama about going through grief. While most critics tend to love to shut movies like this down, I’ve always been fond of stories about people working through emotional pain. And while this movie doesn’t really do anything to reinvent the concept, it smartly runs through the typical beats without ever feeling unoriginal. This type of film is a kind of comfort food, with each entry into the genre feeling satisfying even when it does nothing new. All it has to do is hit its required emotional beats, and this movie does that with flying colors. The journey that both Lilly and Jack go through is one that will bring tears to your eyes. The moments of comedy between Lilly and the bird aren’t really meant for laugh-out-loud moments, so much as light-hearted bits that get us to really see the emotions that Lilly is going through. And it works very well. The emotional beats are also accomplished by the performances of McCarthy and O’Dowd. McCarthy, in particular, really nails her performance as Lilly. It feels like a natural, and necessary, evolution of her particular style. There’s still a bit of slapstick when she confronts the bird, but it doesn’t feel as unhinged or forced in to get a laugh out of the audience. It’s movies like this that really show how talented she truly is. The Starling is an emotional journey led by a pair of great performances that will make you feel good if you’re willing to open yourself up to it. Its story about going through grief transcends its comedic sounding premise, able to weave its funnier moments into the greater dramatic arch. If you’re someone who loves these kinds of movies, than this is one for you. |
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