Weekend Mullings - The Odyssey

When it comes to Christopher Nolan movies, more often than not, I come away from them impressed, but rarely enamored, and The Odyssey is no different. There are some moments that are undeniably awesome. But there are also a lot of moments that left me wanting more.

After ten years at war, Odysseus (Matt Damon) is trying to get home to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland), but the gods are not making it easy on him or his men. Essentially lost at sea, whenever they find land, their attempts to find shelter and provisions are thwarted at almost every turn from the likes of a Cyclops, cannibalistic giants, and a witch who is not fond of strangers, especially men.

These encounters are the highlight in this three hour epic, with the run-in with the witch Circe (Samantha Morton) being a particular fave. (Can we get Morton in a spin-off based on the novel by Madeline Miller now, please?) But like many of the encounters the men have with the more magical aspects of their journey, it is too short. Odysseus's encounter with Circe seemingly lasts about 20 minutes, as opposed to the year he actually spends with her in the original story. Plenty of time is given to the numerous battles against both the sea, and other men, but we are given only a brief and foggy hazed view of the Sirens?

Also woefully underutilized are Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy (and her twin sister Clytemnestra), a fact that I can't say for certain was influenced by the racists who were outraged by her casting, but can certainly imagine won't upset them, and Zendaya as Athena, who sometimes stands along side Odysseus (only he can see her) looking disappointed, or occasionally offering some platitudes. 

The Odyssey is the very definition of an epic movie, but I guess I was just expecting to be a little more wowed by it all. That it's a technical achievement can't be disputed. The entire film was shot on IMAX, which, if you ever seen the size of an IMAX camera, you know must have been an odyssey unto itself. With that in mind I was expecting it to look a little...better? Action scenes are often blurry and confusing. The lands Odysseus find himself visiting are...dull. And Ithaca itself does not look like a place anyone would spend 20 years desperately trying to get back to. And as is often the case in Nolan's films, the sound is...challenging, often unbearably loud with some dialogue hard to understand.

You're also going to have to accept that everyone in this movies speaks with a flat American accent, which ultimately makes as much sense as everyone in this Greek story speaking in some kind of generic British accent, but it still takes some getting used to, especially hearing Telemachus repeatedly refer to Odysseus as "My dad!" 

After all that it may come as a surprise when I say The Odyssey is worth seeing. It is the kind of classic Hollywood epic that deserves to be seen somewhere bigger than your living room. You need to see that Trojan horse in a giant theater. You need to see the Cyclops on a screen the same size as he is. This is a Christopher Nolan movie, don't you want to be impressed?

Weekend Mullings - Supergirl

Supergirl is like a blend of Star Wars movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, and 2025's Superman, but the proportions are all off. It's not a bad movie, but it's also not very fun.

Milly Alcock is Kara Zor-El, cousin to Kal-El, AKA Clark Kent, AKA Superman. She's surly, disillusioned, turning 21, and celebrating by making a pub crawl across the universe, preferably on planets with red suns, since she can't actually get drunk on planets with yellow suns, like Earth. Her sole companion is her rambunctious dog, Krypto. After space pirate Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) shoots Krypto with a slow acting poison dart, Kara joins forces with the orphaned Ruthye (Eve Ridley) to find this common enemy. Ruthye wants to kill Krem, and Kara needs the poison antidote he carries.

In flashbacks we learn how Kara made it to Earth years after her cousin, and Superman (David Corenswet) does make a brief appearance. The band of space pirates Krem leads are also human traffickers, kidnapping young girls to be breeders for their all male society, but unlike in Fury Road, these girls are never anything but background players in need of saving. And the pubs Kara crawls are filled with all the creative alien scum and villainy you'd expect to find in the likes of Mos Eisley.

Craig Gillespie directs, but it seems producer James Gunn can't resist his usual urge to include Earthly pop songs in a story that only briefly includes stops on Earth. That Kara's record collection and iPod (!) would be filled with the hits of Earth makes sense, but I am not convinced The Girl From Ipanema is a tune that would have reached the song list of an alien lounge singer on some distant planet.

Milly Alcock is really winning as Kara, but she's stuck in a gloomy and repetitive movie that feels like it has been overstuffed with violent dudes - including Jason Mamoa as Lobo, for some reason - as a way of overcompensating for the fact that the two leads are girls. (Well, one is a girl. Supergirl is a woman, and why she's called "Supergirl" and not "Superwoman" does not go unnoticed.) I fear if this movie doesn't do well, this may be the last we see of this Supergirl, which is a shame because I really would like to see what she could accomplish back on Earth with her old cousin Kal-El.

Weekend Mullings - Toy Story 5

After seeing Toy Story 5, I decided to re-watch the previous films (except for the first film, because I've seen it more than any of the sequels, and also the primitive state of the animation just kind of depresses me at this point), and I'll stand by my probably overly simple take that after Toy Story 3, the films should have been re-titled. The first three films are about the toys living in the Andy's world, with a very clear ending to that arc in Toy Story 3. Toy Story 4 and 5 are in Bonnie's world, and despite still containing the core characters (to varying degrees) that have defined the series, they are in a new story era. I wish the titles of the films acknowledged this.

Taken with this mindset I also feel it's easier to forgive some of last two films' shortcomings. It would be impossible to omit Woody and Buzz from the franchise entirely, but the gradual reduction of their screen time together feels less like a loss, and makes more sense in the context of this new era, especially because we've got a little girl as the toys' kid now; of course Jessie should take center stage. 

Bonnie was a pretty shy kid in Toy Story 4, and as Toy Story 5 begins, that hasn't changed. She's still happy to play alone with her toys, but she is also beginning to long for the companionship of other kids, but finds it hard to connect. Knowing so many kids these days are "connecting" (scare quotes very much intentional) via screens nowadays, Bonnie's parents buy her a "Lilypad," thus opening Bonnie up to the world of online gaming, chatting, and cyber bullying. Whoops!

Seeing how miserable the device is making Bonnie, the toys try to intervene, but only manage to make things worse. So they decide to try and connect Bonnie with a real friend, someone who matches Bonnie's level of quirk. This quest also brings Jessie face to face with some traumas from her past.

(Also, there's an army of shipwrecked Buzz Lightyears making their way to Bonnie's town, in a side-story that eventually pays off, but is a bit of a head-scratching distraction until that happens.)

Bonnie is such an anxious little kid, having to watch some of things she goes through can be rough, especially for anyone who's either been that anxious and shy kid (hi!) or has been a parent to one. It's not a surprise to say I cried more than once, Pixar movies often reduce me to a sobbing mess. But I feel like it's been a while since one was so overtly heart-tugging, and even painful to watch at times.

Which is not to say the movie is a total downer! There are plenty of laughs. Greta Lee is great as the voice of Lilypad, the perfect benevolent villain. And I love Joan Cusack's Jessie finally getting to be a hero. Of course Woody does show up to lend his help, but he's an aging Woody, and a lot of laughs are milled out of that. I also really loved the pastel animation used to depict Bonnie's playtime scenarios, an approach I'm really surprised hasn't been used sooner in the series.

Toy Story 5 will never be my favorite Toy Story movie, but I think over the years, and perhaps after the release of even more Toy Storys, it may become the one I appreciate the most, for tackling a complicated and often painful aspect of modern childhood.

Weekend Mullings - Disclosure Day

I want to live in the kind of world Steven Spielberg envisions in Disclosure Day. A world where people not only want to believe, but actually would believe if presented with proof of alien life. A world where reaction to proof wouldn't immediately be an exclamation of "That's A.I.!" or "Fake news!" But if the collective shrug that was the response to the release of government UAP files this past May is any indication, I'm not sure people would even bother looking into a revelation long enough to debate its validity. 

This latest alien adventure from Spielberg is more Close Encounters meets Minority Report than it is E.T. the Extraterrestrial, though it's fun to think that Close Encounters and E.T. actually take place in the same universe as Disclosure Day, and were just two more alien events in our history that have been covered up by covert operators. 

Josh O'Connor stars as whistleblower Daniel Kellner, who is determined to release 79 years worth of secret film, video, photos, documents, and alien tech proving that the United States has had contact with aliens since Roswell. And a lot of that contact was not so great for the aliens. On the run from Wardex, a secret branch of the U.S. government, and its head, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), Daniel and his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson), fight to stay two steps ahead of their pursuers. Meanwhile, Kansas City TV meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) begins to suspect she has a higher calling after she suddenly develops a kind of ESP where she can read people's thoughts, along with a fluency in Russian, Korean, and an alien dialect. Together Margaret and Daniel soon learn they have a history that explains how they've ended up on the same quest.

Disclosure Day is not a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but it definitely has a lot in common with it, including this central relationship between two strangers who are drawn together by alien encounters, and a government that is trying to suppress the truth, though this time that suppression feels more nefarious. And this desire to suppress the truth doesn't just involve people in power. Jane, a Catholic who once studied to become a nun, questions Daniel's intentions because she fears the knowledge that we are not alone in the universe could somehow destroy people's religious faith so much that it could bring about societal collapse. 

Spielberg seems more interested in delving into this existential threat than into anything evil the government might be up to, but frankly I think he ignores just how intertwined stubbornness and faith can be. I'm not sure the knowledge of intelligent life outside of our solar system would make that many people give up the belief that we're still smarter. Or stronger. Or better.

Even if I don't really believe the reality of that faith-based concern, I did appreciate its inclusion, as it allows Spielberg to get philosophical while also giving us a some of the action he's historically good at. There are plenty of well executed chases and action sequences, including a banger involving a car and some trains, to keep this two-and-a-half-hour movie from feeling long. 

Not all of it hits. Josh O'Connor is just not that...interesting? At least compared to Emily Blunt, who gets to be weird, and funny, and vulnerable. And Coleman Domingo spends the majority of the film talking on the phone while wandering around what looks like a 1990's sitcom set, and the ultimate reveal of just where he is doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Disclosure Day is almost definitely not Spielberg's final film - he's already started working on a Western - but it does feel like it could at least be the culmination of the one realm of his career. He lands on a hopeful, and yes, somewhat hokey - in the best Spielberg version of hokey! - message about our place in the universe, and the power of empathy. I may not entirely buy it, but I want to believe it.

Weekend Mullings - The Mandalorian and Grogu

I'm going to come right out and say when it comes to the Mandalorian franchise, I can't even pretend to be an impartial critic. I just love Grogu so much!  The Mandalorian and Grogu could have been two hours of Mando and Grogu sitting in a cockpit, not talking, with Grogu occasionally eating a snack, and I'd have come out satisfied. So even though this ultimately just feels like a few episodes of the series filmed in IMAX, I don't care. And more importantly, why would I care? Because it's a cash grab by Disney? Yes, and...? I wanted more of the series. I got an enjoyable movie. I'm not going to nitpick this.

The film opens with a scenario that feels like the cold open of a James Bond movie. Mando and Grogu are on an assignment on an icy planet, attempting to capture an Imperial warlord. After their successful mission they report back to Ward (Sigourney Weaver), the New Republic commander they've been working for. She has a new mission for them that involves Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), son of Jabba, who as been kidnapped.

This first half of the film plays like a Star Wars version of a gangster story, with Mando and Grogu fighting crime bosses and corrupt "prize fighting" on a planet visually reminiscent of Blade Runner. It even features a cameo by gangster film godfather Martin Scorsese as a diner cook with four arms and some loose lips.

The second half finds Mando and Grogu on a more traditionally Star Wars-y world, with lots of fighting against various androids and aliens. And this part of the film also allows Grogu to take center stage, often with the help of an (almost literal) handful of delightful Anzellans. 

The Star Wars universe is filled with abandoned children, and both heroes and villains with daddy issues. The story of Mando and Grogu has always followed in that vein, though it is becoming, more and more, a saga about a reluctant father learning to accept that responsibility, and then accepting that he will eventually have to let go of it

But it's also a movie about Grogu waddling around behind his dad, getting into places he shouldn't, eating whatever he can find, and learning how to become a...whatever it is an adult Grogu becomes. And that is the way. That is the way, and it is enough for me.

Weekend Mullings - Obsession

One of the oldest horror plots out there is a Monkey's Paw story; how a wish granted goes terribly wrong. It's the central conceit of Obsession, the feature film debut of 26-year old director and comedian Curry Barker, who got his start doing Internet sketch comedy with Cooper Tomlinson in a duo called "that's a bad idea." I bring up his age, and his background, because I think it informs a lot of Obsession, and the things that work in the movie, as well as the things that don't.

Bear (Michael Johnson) has long been in love with his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette), but is too afraid to confess his feelings. When purchasing a gift for Nikki at a new age crystal shop, he also buys what appears to be a novelty gift called a One Wish Willow, a stick that, when broken in half, is supposed to grant the user one wish. After another night of chickening out over confessing his love to Nikki, Bear breaks the One Wish Willow, wishing for Nikki to "love him above anything else in the world." 

He gets that wish, and the horror movie plot falls into place. Nikki does "love" Bear, but it's an obsessive and violent love that Bear, though freaked out by much of her behavior, goes along with - for way too long. From the beginning of their "relationship," Nikki has weird episodes, but they are tempered by cliched love story moments, like watching movies together on the couch, sharing breakfast, laughing over strangers at a diner...and sex. And that's where the film gets...icky.

Nikki has no free will, and this is proven definitively when one night, while Nikki is sleeping, the voice of the real Nikki comes out, begging Bear to put her out of her misery. The real Nikki is a prisoner, and that means all of their sexual encounters have been, essentially, rape, a fact the film just ignores completely.

The script tries to walk the line between portraying Bear as a villain and a victim, but by giving the real Nikki no agency, and no real establishment beyond "manic pixie dream girl" before her imprisonment, we aren't really able to feel sorry for her, because the things she does are so, so horrifying. Bear's victimhood is established from the very beginning: he's a sad sack, lovelorn loser and Nikki is a curse on his life.

And all of this is huge bummer because there is so much in this movie that is good. There is effective dark humor that runs throughout. Barker has a gift for tension, and keeping things just out of frame, or in partial darkness, leading to truly creepy moments. But the biggest highlight is Inde Navarrette's performance as Nikki. She holds nothing back, fully inhabiting this possessed character, balancing between funny and furious, in a performance that includes some jaw-dropping physicality.

I mentioned director Curry Barker's age earlier because I do believe, or at least hope, that someone with a little more life experience would be able to expand beyond the "bitches do be crazy!" cliches in the story, and move the audience's sympathy away from Bear. And maybe someone with a little more filmmaking experience would skip the animal death that opens the film, knowing that's going to turn off a large swath of the audience right off the bat. And perhaps someone with more developed tastes would veer away from the moment of nudity near the end that is so distasteful and unnecessary it took me completely out of the movie.

Obsession is good. I just wish it were better. 

Weekend Mullings - The Devil Wears Prada 2

Junk food is popular for a lot of reasons, but one that immediately came to mind after watching, and enjoying, The Devil Wears Prada 2, is that it is invariable; you know you're gonna get the same thing every time. And because of that, you know you're going to enjoy it, even though it's probably bad for you and may make you feel a little ill afterwards. I had fun while watching The Devil Wears Prada 2, even if a lot of it left a bad taste in my mouth.

It's been twenty years since these character last shared the screen, and credit to all of the cast's surgeons and dermatologists, because absolutely none of them looks any different. Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is still running Vogue Runway magazine, though the print edition is a lot thinner these days, and Nigel (Stanley Tucci) is still at her side. Andy (Anne Hathaway) has had a successful journalism career, albeit winning an award and losing her job on the same day; she's victim to cuts that seem to hit newspapers on a weekly basis. And Emily (Emily Blunt) has remained in fashion, now an executive at Dior.

One of those contrived scenarios that can only happen in movies finds all of these characters back together again, revolving around Miranda, who has her hopes set on a big career move. Indeed, many of the plot points hearken back to the first film, as that's what we expect from our sequels. But I was pleased to see the film pivot a in a few ways that, while not exactly surprising, were at least not entirely predictable. 

Andy starts the film as a single gal, focused on her career, but about a third of the way into the film she has a meet-cute with an apartment flipper named Peter, played by Patrick Brammall. This romantic plot-line feels entirely forced and unnecessary, but at least he's a step above both of the shitty men Andy had to deal with in the first film, and this time she doesn't make career decisions based on how this random dude feels about them.

I'm not certain, but I think Streep has more screentime as Miranda this time around, but more is not necessarily better. She definitely has moments that are memorable, like how absolutely exhausted she looks after having to hang up her own coat. But I can't think of a single line that's as quotable as anything she says in the first film. Miranda as a character works better as a spice than a meal.

This sequel is obviously working with a much larger budget and reputation than the original, resulting in a lot of cameos and fashion flashing across the screen. And I do mean flashing, as director David Frankel never lets his camera linger on any of the couture long enough to really take the clothing in. But I guess that's what streaming and pause buttons are for.

While the story is filled with pretty clothes, fancy apartments, European landscapes, and beautiful people, ultimately, none of the characters stands on very steady ground, with careers and lifestyles that are not guaranteed. And that's because of one ugly truth the film hammers home: billionaires are both the cause of, and potential solution to, all of life's problems. (h/t: Homer Simpson.)

Weekend Mullings - Mother Mary

I wouldn't argue with anyone who thinks Mother Mary isn't a very good movie. It probably isn't. But sometimes a film is about things so specific to things you love, you can look past "quality" and just appreciate all the ways it succeeds and fails.

Anne Hathaway plays "Mother Mary," a pop star who is staging a comeback after an accident that may or not have been an accident. But she's reached a breaking point, and is convinced the perfect dress will be her only salvation, and her only savior will be her former stylist Sam Anselm (Michaela Cole). But there was a fracture in their partnership and friendship that Sam hasn't come to peace with, so she's more than a little reluctant to take on the project, especially since Mary needs the dress in three days.

None of the dialogue these two women share in Sam's expansive studio (a converted barn on a country estate) is anything close to realistic. Their speech is filled with so much innuendo, vagueness, and symbolism that at one point Mary says "these metaphors are exhausting." But this dialogue - and I agree, it does become exhausting - fits the film's mood, which is gothic and ethereal, and includes a ghost. 

Horror movies centered on pop stars seem to be having a moment (Smile 2; Trap; hell, I'll even include KPop Demon Hunters here). Mother Mary takes a while to reveal its horror, but it's definitely there, if a little hard to define. Is that a real ghost? Or another exhausting metaphor?

There are two reasons Mother Mary doesn't fall into a black hole of pretension and that's Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole. Hathaway makes a great pop star, singing very catchy songs by Charli xcx and Jack Antonoff. Writer and director David Lowery has said Taylor Swift was the primary influence for the character of Mother Mary, but Mary's way more goth, and reads much closer to Lady Gaga, at least aesthetically. Either way, the concert scenes are electric, and Hathaway's scenes in Sam's studio can often feel monotonous in comparison.

And I can't imagine any other actress being able to deliver a performance as haunted as Michaela Cole's. If you've seen her brilliant TV series I May Destroy You, you know she can balance moments of gut-busting comedy with gut-wrenching drama perfectly. She is able to do so much as Sam with just her amazing face alone, a face that definitely deserves to be seen on a big screen. I hope she gets a huge studio movie that allows her to be hilarious.

I'm not entirely sure what Mother Mary is ultimately trying to say about stardom, collaboration, friendship, or even ghosts. But I do know riveting performances, catchy music, beautiful gowns, and a gothic vibe can sometimes be enough to enrapture me.

Weekend Mullings - The Drama

Can you ever truly know someone? And would you ever really want to? That's one of the big questions at the center of the romantic anti-comedy The Drama, the new anti-romantic comedy from Norwegian writer and director Kristopher Borgli.

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are Emma and Charlie, one of those couples that seem to populate countless romantic comedies. They meet cute at a coffee shop, have seemingly interesting, if vaguely defined jobs that pay them enough to live in a beautiful, two-story New York flat, and they're about a week away from their wedding day.

During a wine and entree tasting with their best friends Rachel and Mike (Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie), Rachel suggests they all confess the most horrible thing they've ever done, since she and Mike both did the same prior to their wedding. This is, of course, a terrible idea, but being slightly drunk, they all do detail their terrible past deeds, and laugh them off - until they get to Emma, who confesses something so horrible no one is able to get past it.

I think it's probably possible to go into the movie knowing what that terrible thing is and still have it be an effective experience. But there's also some fun to be had in being surprised and possibly shocked by her confession, so I'll be vague and just point out that what she confesses is merely something she planned to do, whereas her fiance and friends very clearly did horrible things.

That no one points out this difference is a little frustrating. Emma's being Black is also never taken into consideration by her fiance, or friends, or really, the film itself, in how that might have played a part in Emma's past actions. 

Zendaya continues to impress in every role she takes on; she's so vulnerable and lovable as Emma, it becomes really painful to watch those around her just lose their shit after her confession. Alana Haim's turn as Rachel reaches almost Karen levels of hysteria; she's effective, if a little shrill. And Pattinson is quickly turning into a master when it comes to milquetoast partner roles.

Director Borgli's non-linear approach to the story line, with its many flashbacks, and flashes of fantasy projections, keeps the film moving at a clip, but can also be frustrating as it does not allow time for the characters of Emma and Charlie to fully develop. Still, I found myself completely engaged with this frustrating film. Conversations about it are likely to be more complex and insightful than anything the movie has to say about the controversial topic at its center. But maybe that's the point? 

Weekend Mullings - Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary is based on a book by Andy Weir, who also wrote the novel The Martian, which Ridley Scott adapted into a film in 2015. I liked The Martian a lot, and felt it owed a lot of its success to its lead, Matt Damon.

I read The Martian, and found it incredibly dull; just not my jam. I have not read Project Hail Mary, but I have a feeling the books are very similar, and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller may have learned an important lesson from the movie version of The Martian: in order to make a story filled with a lot of science talk interesting, you need to cast someone very charismatic to deliver all that science talk. And Project Hail Mary works almost entirely because of Ryan Gosling's performance as reluctant astronaut Ryland Grace. 

The Earth is dying because something is draining the sun of its power. And not only the sun, but several other stars in the universe. Middle school teacher and molecular biologist Grace is approached by a government agency, led by Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller, giving a wonderfully dry performance) to help figure out just what is happening, since his previous work in molecular biology...is somehow related. 

Like I said, the detailed science stuff isn't my bag, and I'm not as entertaining as Ryan Gosling is in explaining it, but trust me that within the film, it does make sense. Grace is happy to help with the research, but draws the line at going into space. Of course, he does end up in space, and while there, pairs up with an unusual life form that is also trying to prevent the death of a star.

This pairing is both the comedic and emotional hearts of the film, and at times, the sentimentality is a little heavy handed, but Gosling prevents it from ever falling into maudlin territory. At a little over two hours and thirty minutes, Project Hail Mary is way, way too long, especially for a story that treads some well worn science fiction tropes. Also, for a movie filmed for IMAX and set in space, there weren't a lot of moments where I felt truly in awe of what I was seeing, even though I know that was the intent. Ultimately, this huge movie succeeds in smaller ways, and primarily because Ryan Gosling proves he can have chemistry with the unlikeliest of costars, even a rock.

Weekend Mullings - undertone

I have a feeling the new horror movie undertone may become a victim of its own pre-release hype. Any time a horror movie gets hyped up as the "scariest movie in years," it's bound to disappoint people. But that doesn't mean the movie is bad, it just means its marketing is.

And OK yeah, I am sure there are some people who are utterly terrified by slow camera pans to the left that reveal...nothing. I am not. But I am impressed when seeing, or more accurately, hearing things I've never heard in a horror movie before, and undertone is ultimately an aural horror movie experience. (If you're going to see it in a theater, see it in a Dolby theater. And if you're going to watch it at home, wear headphones.)

Storywise it centers on Evy (Nina Kiri) the co-host of the paranormal podcast The Undertone, in which she is essentially the Scully to her co-host Justin's Mulder. (He's played by Adam DiMarco, but is never seen.) Justin lives in London, while Evy is living back in her childhood home in the States, caring for her dying mother (Michèle Duquet). That home (which is the director Ian Tuason's actual childhood home) is filled with Catholic art and knickknacks, which are creepy enough during normal hours, but take on an even creepier tone at 3am, the hour Evy records the podcast, to better align with her co-host's working hours.

The episode Evy and Justin are recording focuses on a series of recordings Justin received in which a man essentially starts recording his partner so they can try and figure out what she has been saying when she talks in her sleep. Of course, what he ends up recording is much more than that. 

If it sounds like this movie is essentially just watching a woman listen to spooky recordings, you wouldn't be wrong. What makes it hit or miss is if you find those recordings spooky and compelling yourself. I felt the film did an excellent job of building up extreme tension purely through the use of sound and visual suggestion. But a buildup without a satisfying payoff can be damned disappointing, and that's how I felt coming out of undertone; to put it bluntly, it whiffs its ending. Not bad enough to negate the entire film, but enough to suggest you tamper the expectations set up by the film's marketing,

Weekend Mullings - The Bride | Hoppers

Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride! is one of the most disappointing movies I've ever seen, primarily because the concept, a bride of Frankenstein story set in 1930's Chicago, just seems tailor made to my interests. Unfortunately the end result is much more than that, and that's its biggest problem.

To start, Mary Shelley opens the film as a kind of narrator. Shot close up and in black and white, Mary is very angry. She's upset she was never able to write the story she wanted to tell, and sees that now is her chance. It's not entirely clear if the story she's telling is the movie we're watching, or if she's in fact possessing Ida, a gangster's moll in 1936 Chicago. Perhaps it's both, because both Ida and Mary are played by Jessie Buckley.

Ida is murdered and quickly dug up by Frankenstein (Christian Bale) - who identifies as Frankenstein, and not Frankenstein's monster, because, as he tells it, Frankenstein was his father's name. He's been wandering the world for over 100 years, and wants "an intercourse." Luckily local mad scientist Dr. Euphronious (Annette Benning) has the skills and lab necessary to fulfill just such a request.

And thus the "motherfucking Bride of Frankenstein!," to quote the ghost of Mary, is born, with a shock of platinum hair and a permanent black pout that bleeds into a splash across her cheek - the result of vomiting up whatever the concoction it is that has reanimated her.

From there the movie goes in many directions. Too many directions. Ida, who is soon re-christened Penelope, and "Frank," become outlaw lovers on the run, wanted for murder - some of it justified. They are pursued by both the mob, and a pair of detectives played by Peter Sarsgaard and Penelope Cruz. They hide out in more than one movie theater, watching Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), Frank's favorite matinee idol, sing and dance on screen. They crash a party that turns into an elaborate musical number. They take to the rails. They steal a car. They have the kind of sex you'd expect two reanimated corpses to have. (Scars and fluids - not the usual kind - are involved.)

Granted, all of this sounds like it could be fun. But there is too much of it, and none of it ever meshes together. Scenes are repeated, and then go on too long. Buckley resorts to guttural screaming too often, and Bale, who has never passed up an opportunity to mumble through a role, mumbles like hell through this one. 

But perhaps its biggest sin is just how didactic and heavy handed Gyllenhaal's screenplay is. It's a story about women's autonomy, consent, and sexual violence, and she's going to make damn sure you don't forget it. And sure, perhaps subtlety isn't something you should expect from a movie featuring monsters boning. But there's got to be a more artful way to convey your message than to have the Bride actually scream "Me toooooo!!!!!!!" more than once.

 

Hoppers, Pixar's 30th film, may not hit the emotional punches of some of the studio's earlier classics, but neither have a lot of their recent offerings. It almost feels like with this film, they decided to not even try to wrench those ugly tears, and instead just focused on laughs. In that, they succeed.

Mabel (voiced by Piper Curda) is a 19-year-old college student and impassioned environmentalist and animal lover determined to save her beloved local forest glade from destruction due to the freeway the mayor (Jon Hamm) is intent on building. Canvasing for signatures proves fruitless, so when she discovers her college professor (Kathy Najimy) has developed a technology that allows humans to "hop" into lifelike animal robots, Mabel "hops" into a beaver and ventures into the forest in an attempt to convince the animals to return, en mass, to the glade they've been driven out of.

If Hoppers sounds like Avatar but with animals, you'd be right, and the movie even gets meta with that comparison when Mabel brings it up to the professor, who vehemently denies her experiment is anything like Avatar all. Of course cute talking animals are a staple of animated films, but some of the film's biggest laughs come from the communication gap between the animals and some of the humans they encounter. While Mabel is in robotic form, she can communicate with animals. But neither she, nor the animals, can communicate with humans, and hence you have what may become even more meme-able moments involving iPhones, Siri, and emojis.

Listen, I am a sucker for cute animals of any kind, and slapstick humor always makes me laugh, and Hoppers is filled with both. I still can't get over Meryl Streep's cameo as an insect queen who has one of the most memorable exists every given a character in a Pixar film. That audacious moment alone makes the film worth seeing.

Weekend Mullings - Wuthering Heights | Crime 101 | Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

I really wish people would just calm down about Emerald Fennell in general and her "Wuthering Heights" film in particular. I am not sure why Fennell seems to raise such ire in some cinephiles (personally, I liked both Promising Young Woman and Saltburn a lot), or why that hatred almost feels personal at times, but from the moment she announced she was adapting Emily Bronte's novel, a lot of people have been in their feelings about it. 

She never claimed she was making a faithful adaptation of the novel, and if that's what you're after, there are plenty of other versions out there that adhere closely to the book. And if those don't satisfy because of their casting, then may I direct you to Andrea Arnold's 2011 version. Emerald Fennell's teenage fever dream of a version won't be for everyone, and that's OK!

This "Wuthering Heights" forgoes large portions of the story, and omits several characters, to better focus on Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), two insanely hot, terrible people who, in all senses of the term, deserve each other. 

The moors in this version are desolate and perpetually foggy. Wuthering Heights is a black, sunless estate situated, essentially, in a cavern. Cathy's father (Martin Clunes) is a drunk gambling addict, and aside from Heathcliff, Cathy's only other friend is her paid companion Nelly (Hong Chau). It's understandable that Cathy would be drawn to the rich Linton family that moves in close by, even if it means forsaking her soul.

But really what sticks in my mind is less about plot, and more about images and feelings. A mansion with shiny red floors, and a fireplace with a mantle of sculpted hands. Walls the color of Cathy's skin, complete with moles and blue veins. A snail crawling up a window. Hands in a fish's mouth, raw eggs, bread dough, and between legs. Anachronistic dresses made from materials that don't even look like they should exist now. A corset tied so so tight it draws blood. And the irrepressible desire for the one person in the world who is the worst person for you.

I cannot fault Emerald Fennell for wanting to make a movie where Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, two of the most beautiful people working in films today, are her own personal Barbie and Ken, acting out her teenage fantasy of Wuthering Heights, because that's something I immediately wanted to see. And I can't wait to see it again.

Crime 101 is an appropriate title because this tale of cops and robbers covers a lot of the same ground crime dramas that came before it have covered; it's definitely a throwback to movies like Heat, to which it owes a lot. 

In this case, Mark Ruffalo is the cop, and Chris Hemsworth is the robber. A series of jewel heists that take place near the 101 freeway in Los Angeles, along with other similar MOs, have the cop convinced they're all the work of the same criminal. But the robber is meticulous in never leaving any prints or DNA at the scene - until one mishap changes that. 

Nick Nolte also makes an appearance as the robber's grizzled old crime boss, Barry Keoghan is his usual weirdo self as the crime boss's twitchy and dangerous new protege, and Halle Berry is an insurance agent who has run ins with several of them. Everyone in the film is excellent, and at times the plot can get exciting, especially when all the characters begin to converge. But too often the story meanders into side plots that halt the momentum, bloating the running time to almost two and half hours it doesn't earn. 

Director Gore Verbinski hasn't made a feature since 2016's A Cure for Wellness, which was his second flop in a row. He's been in proverbial "director's jail" since then, and I am not entirely sure Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is going to be the movie to set him free.

It starts out great. Sam Rockwell's nameless character enters a Los Angeles diner and announces he's come from the future on a mission to save humanity. Problem is he looks more like an eccentric homeless man than some kind of hero, though he insists his attire is the height of fashion in his timeline ("our homeless look dead!"). As he holds the diners hostage he reveals he has been through this scenario countless times before, failing every time, and keeps coming back to try and assemble the right combination of people to help him save the future.

These first 20 minutes or so are riveting, due in large part to Rockwell's performance. But once his team is assembled, and they leave the diner, the film begins to feel like a season of Black Mirror, as the back stories of his team members (who include Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple, Zazie Beetz, and Michael Pena) are revealed. 

Where the story ends up is very chaotic, not entirely understandable (it involves A.I., because of course), and pretty predictable if you've ever seen a movie involving time travel. But the first third or so of the film is so strong I can narrowly recommend it solely on that. Good luck, have fun, tamper your expectations.

Weekend Mullings - Dracula: A Love Tale

You guys, I don't think Luc Besson has actually read Bram Stoker's Dracula. But I am positive he's seen Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I'm pretty sure he thinks that movie was a faithful adaptation of the book, since in more than one interview he insists the original novel is a love story (it's not). Luc Besson's Dracula: A Love Tale  is such a blatant rip-off of Francis Ford Coppola's 1991 film, Besson should just call it a remake before he gets sued. 

Like in Coppola's film, Dracula (Caleb Landry Jones) begins his eternal life as a prince who rejects God after the death of his wife, and then spends hundreds of years looking for her reincarnation; he also has an elaborate white bouffant hairdo and pale, wrinkled skin when he's visited by solicitor Johnathan Harker (Ewens Abid); when he see's that Harker's fiancee, Mina (Zoë Bleu) looks like his long lost love, he ventures to Paris (instead of London), dons a top hat, and seduces her, though this time not via mind control, but instead via some...magic perfume??

This Dracula does have one thing Coppola's doesn't, and that's an army of animated gargoyles that act as Dracula's personal minions. It's also got Christoph Waltz as a vampire-hunting priest, which puts the actor in both a Frankenstein and a Dracula movie within the span of one year. (Sadly, I don't see him in the cast list for the upcoming Mummy movie.)

Being unoriginal is bad enough, but Dracula: A Love Tale is also one of the flattest and ugliest films I've seen in a while. Scenes are too often brightly lit, with deep focus normally seen in movies shot on older video cameras. I will give it this: some of the costumes, of which there are many, are fine. I particularly liked the completely impractical veil Elisabeta wears as she's attempting to flee capture near the beginning of the film. 

Frankly, it's surprising Besson is still allowed to make films, since it seems like he's gotten away with some pretty horrific things. So the fact that he's made a terrible movie that is essentially guilty of the crime of copyright infringement definitely tracks.

Weekend Mullings - Send Help

Sam Raimi hasn't directed a horror movie since 2009's Drag Me to Hell, and while Send Help isn't strictly horror, it definitely dips its toe into the genre more than once. Call it perhaps, Drag Me to Paradise.

Rachel McAdams stars as Linda Liddle, a smart and eager, but also frequently off-putting, analyst at a consulting firm. She's been promised a promotion, but when the head of the company (Bruce Campbell, in a painted portrait cameo) dies, his smarmy and overly confident son Bradley (Dylan O'Brien) takes over, and he does not take to Linda, denying her that promotion. But when they end up the sole survivors of a plane crash, deserted on an island together, roles are reversed, and Linda proves all the studying she's done with hopes of getting cast on a season of Survivor has finally paid off.

Casting McAdams in an "ugly girl" role probably seems like it would require the usual bit of Hollywood disbelief, but I don't think Linda is supposed to be ugly, per se. It's more that she's clueless when it comes to matters of fashion and hygiene, and has a problem with personal space. You can understand why people might find her annoying, but you still sympathize with her because her coworkers and boss are such assholes.

But the tides turn, and that's where I had a bit of a problem. There's no doubt Bradley is a total tool and remains one even when it's obvious he needs Linda to survive. But Linda ends up doing some really terrible things, so it becomes a story about two horrible people battling for survival, and I found it hard to root for anyone.

But I have a feeling that may just be a me problem, and most will be comfortably Team Linda the entire time. And all that aside, I still enjoyed seeing Sam Raimi getting back to some of his fun old tricks, with the kinds of comedic gore and jump scares he's a master of. 

Weekend Mullings - 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

The 28 Years franchise has never been my favorite horror franchise, mainly because zombies - or whatever we want to call the victims of  the "rage" virus here - aren't my favorite kind of monster; they're pretty boring! And gross! So that means zombie movies need to lean heavily on the personalities of those fighting the zombies, a little more so than in other horror genres.

I liked last year's 28 Years Later more than 28 Weeks Later, though probably not as much as 28 Days Later. I just had so many questions! After 28 years, where are all the raging zombies on the quarantined isle of England coming from? Do they age? If they can give birth, do the babies turn into zombies? Why would the rest of the world not provide those survivors on the uninfected islands with more goods and services? Where did the doctor get all that iodine? And how'd he get those bone temples so tall?

I suppose thinking about such things is the definition of overthinking it, but if I found the rest of the movie more engaging I don't think my mind would have wandered so much. So, I wasn't particularly excited to learn a sequel would be coming out - and not even a year later. 

Turns out, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is the best movie in the franchise so far.

Picking up immediately where the 28 Years Later left us, Spike (Alfie Williams) has been captured by Jimmy Savile looking gang of blonde-wigged, tracksuit-wearing hooligans, led by Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell, seen last year as the lead vampire in Sinners). They are looking to include Spike in the gang, if he survives their initiation. Spike soon learns it's not a gang anyone in their sound mind would want to join, as Jimmy Crystal is, in a nutshell, a sadistic Satanist, and his gang is there to carry out his torturous requests.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), continues his solitary existence, building his temple of bones, and reminiscing in his bunker filled with old photos and Duran Duran records. But he is also experimenting on the "alpha" zombie he's dubbed Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), and he thinks he may have found a cure for the virus, or if not a cure, at least a kind of "treatment," that may calm the rage that drives the afflicted. That Jimmy Crystal and Dr. Kelson will meet is inevitable, and that meeting is a glorious heavy metal fueled spectacle of fire and brimstone.

Director Nia DaCosta has had an eclectic career, split between big budget genre films (Candyman; The Marvels) and low budget dramas (Little Woods; Hedda). The Bone Temple is equal parts horrifying - some of the violence is so brutal, it almost derails the movies - and beautiful. Costa attempts to mimic Danny Boyle's kinetic filmmaking style near the beginning of the film does not work - it was so jerky and ugly that I feared the whole movie may become unwatchable. Thankfully, that doesn't last long, and DaCosta calms down enough to capture some gorgeous imagery. Alex Garland's screenplay ventures into some surprising territory for the franchise, and the ending provides some definite fan service. 

Danny Boyle is set to direct the third entry in this trilogy, but I have to admit, after seeing The Bone Temple, I'd welcome more of Nia DaCosta's vision.