Weekend Screen Scene: Heart Eyes, Love Hurts

Valentine's Day lends itself well to a horror movie plot, especially when you consider the violent origins of the holiday itself. The most well known V-Day horror is probably My Bloody Valentine, though my personal fave is a batshit crazy 1982 movie known as both Hospital Massacre and X-Ray. 

This year's entry into the Valentine's horror genre is Heart Eyes, which attempts to blend horror with romantic comedy but only partially succeeds at either. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding star as Ally and Jay, two young professionals who meet cute but end up together on a platonic work date on Valentine's Day while Heart Eyes, a serial killer who targets couples is on the loose. When the killer sets his sights on Ally and Jay, they try to convince him they aren't actually a couple, to no avail.

Too much of the movie feels like a first draft, with jokes that fall flat more often than they hit, a weirdly paced plot with scenes that go one forever, all leading to an ending that's both obvious and dumb. Heart Eyes wants to be Scream so bad, but it isn't nearly as clever; it's a waste of a genuinely good concept for a slasher killer's mask, even if those heart eyes don't make a lot of sense when you think about it.

Before his return to acting and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All At Once, Ke Huy Quan had been working behind the scenes choreographing fight sequences for a number of action films. Now he's the one doing the fighting in Love Hurts, this week's second Valentine's Day-themed film. And while not a horror movie, it definitely has as much, if not more, blood and violence as most of the V-Day horror movies out there.

Quan stars as Marvin, a seemingly mild-mannered real estate agent who finds himself called back into the crime world he left behind when Rose (Ariana DeBose), the woman he loves but was also supposed to kill years ago, returns to town.

Aside from that, the film really doesn't have much of a plot, and is instead scene after scene of fighting and shootouts, shootouts and fighting. As good as some of these sequences are - director Jonathan Eusebio does his best to place the camera in some unexpected places - it gets very repetitive very quickly, to the point of exhaustion. I fought the good fight and kept my eyes open, but I promise it wasn't an easy battle to win.

Weekend Screen Scene: Presence

Last year's In a Violent Nature was a unique approach to the slasher movie, an essentially POV movie that literally follows a killer around as he commits numerous murders one night in the woods. Steven Soderbergh's new ghost story, Presence, takes this POV approach one step further, as the whole film is "seen" through the eyes of a silent ghost in a haunted house.

POV movies seem to be having a moment. Last year also brought the (recently Oscar nominated) Nickel Boys, which is told entirely through the eyes of its two protagonists. This meant that often, other characters will be looking and speaking directing into the camera, as they interact with the two leads. But because the "presence" in Presence is an unseen entity, the film's characters, for the most part, do not know its there, and do not interact with it. In that respect, it balances a fine line, because when you think about it, the camera in most movies kind of behaves like an unseen ghostly entity floating around, capturing moments in time. 

The film's plot is pretty simple. Rebecca (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan) and their teenage children Chloe (Callina Liang) and Tyler (Eddy Maday) all move into a house with a ghostly presence that takes a little while to make itself known to them. When it does, it focuses on Chloe, who is dealing with depression after the mysterious death of her best friend. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Chris are having some issues that may or may not involve something illegal on Rebecca's part, and Tyler is focused on swim meets, getting into college, and befriending the most popular boy in school.

The "ghost" pops in at random times in the family's daily lives, which means we, the audience, only get snippets of these characters interactions and conversations. As a result, some things remain pretty vague, while other things become painfully clear.

Soderbergh, as he often is, was also the cinematographer, and the handheld camerawork is smooth and suitably ghostly, like we're following the afterlife of a dead Steadicam operator. I would imagine having the director as, essentially, another cast member, albeit one holding a camera in your face, could be disconcerting to the actors, but all of the performances (save for one, near the end), feel completely real and natural.

Presence is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and I could see it disappointing some horror fans, as it's not exactly a scare fest. It's a strange amalgam of traditional storytelling techniques, and experimental production. But at the hands of Steven Soderbergh, and at a brisk 90 minutes, it's an experimental movie that doesn't feel tedious.

Weekend Screen Scene: Wolf Man

Wolf Man, a reboot of the classic Universal character, was announced back in 2014, and was originally set to star Ryan Gosling. But when Universal's plans for a Dark Universe - a cinematic universe conceptually similar to Marvel and DC's cinematic universes - ended up dead on arrival with the 2017 reboot of The Mummy, plans to tie all these monster movies together were scrapped. Instead, Universal has released some stand-alone reboots of classic monster movies, including the aforementioned Mummy, Renfield, and The Invisible Man.

Which brings us back to Wolf Man, which also comes from The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell. I enjoyed The Invisible Man, which I thought was a clever modern twist on "invisible" monsters, both literal and figurative. And I can see that Whannell is trying to do something similar with Wolf Man, turning it into a story about the horror of generational trauma, and also, you know, a werewolf. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work.

Christopher Abbott and Julie Garner star as Blake and Charlotte Lovell, San Francisco-based writers (we know they live in San Francisco because of the establishing shot of the skyline, and also because the one street scene - not actually shot in SF - includes a suspicious amount of homeless people on the sidewalk), who are parents to young daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth). When Blake gets news that his father, after disappearing years before, has been officially pronounced dead, he decides a visit to the remote cabin that filled his childhood with fear would be a great place to take his family.

Wolf Man wastes no time throwing the family into chaos; there's no settling into the cabin and getting comfy for this clan, and that's one of the film's biggest problems. Given no meaningful time to know these characters and care about them, when they're faced with danger and difficult decisions, we really have no investment in the outcome. And for a movie that's not even two hours long, stretches of it are incredibly boring.

There are some interesting aspects. We're given a glimpse into the world as the werewolf experiences it - in monochromatic color, eerily attuned to sounds in far off rooms, and suddenly unable to understand what people around him are saying, like a dog just hearing garbled sounds from its owner's mouth. And the transformation - every werewolf movie has to have one! - is gross in some surprising ways, and sticks primarily to practical effects, which is refreshing to see. I just wish those effects were a little...better. And that goes for the movie as a whole.

Weekend Screen Scene: Gladiator II, Wicked

I was not a big fan of the first Gladiator back in 2000, and I figured it was just because I don't like movies above gladiators. I rewatched it in preparation for Gladiator II and can now safely say I don't like that movie because it's kind of boring! Aside from Joaquin Phoenix's performance, which, love it or hate it, isn't boring, it simply takes itself too seriously.  

Gladiator II does not take itself seriously, and in many ways it is absolutely ridiculous. And that's probably why I liked it.

Just how ridiculous? I'll just say this: the movie has sharks in battle mode, and a monkey elected by a mad emperor to be a Roman consul (a nomination that, after this week, doesn't actually seem that far-fetched). Those two things, along with plenty of anachronisms and implausible plot points steer the film into the realm of silliness, and Denzel Washington's scenery chewing, as a power hungry former slave who hopes to rule Rome, certainly doesn't steer it back on track. It almost made me feel a little sorry for star Paul Mescal, who certainly does seem to be taking the whole thing very seriously, because the insanity that surrounds him actual makes his character a tad underwhelming. And while I'm always happy to see Pedro Pascal (the movie is not lacking for movie star hotness, that's for sure) he felt a little under utilized.

Still, I came away from this very definitely entertained, though I'm not sure it will ultimately result in me thinking about the Roman Empire anymore than I already do, which is to say, never.

In case you've been living under a rock, or under a house that was dropped on you after a tornado, Wicked has arrived. If you're a fan of the stage musical, you've probably been counting the days to release, and have probably already seen it. And if you're not a fan...I'm not entirely sure the movie will make you one.

I read Gregory Maguire's Wicked when it came out, and saw the stage musical back in 2016, but for the life of me, I did not remember a lot of the story, so much of the movie was new to me, with entire characters and plot lines that I had no memory of. I bring this up because Wicked is so much movie, I was convinced they had to have put in all of these things I had no memory of just to pad out what is only the first part of this two part epic. Turns out, that's not the case! And being that the first act of the stage musical is definitely its best act, with the only two really memorable songs in the whole thing, I kind of worry about part two.

This origin story for the Wizard of Oz's, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good, stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, and I've really got no fault with either of the performances; they both have the vocal and acting chops for their roles, and are both very engaging. But while it does feel like Erivo is really making the part of Elphaba her own, it does feel like Grande seems to be channeling Kristin Chenoweth a lot of the time. (Though that may simply raise the question: how much of Glinda was in the original writing of the part, and how much did Chenoweth instill of herself into it.) 

There is so much in the movie to marvel at, with sets that take inspiration from Gothic, Venetian, and Moorish, and costumes that will make both Barbie girls and gothy gals envious; at times it almost feels overwhelming. And overwhelming is probably the most apt word for the movie as a whole. At about the 90 minute mark of this 160 minute movie I began to feel a little exhausted, so perhaps it's a good thing part two won't show up for another year. And I just hope part two brings us more of Bowen Yang, who, as one of Glinda's school friends, is by far the funniest thing in the entire movie. I demand a Pfannee spin-off!

Weekend Screen Scene: Anora

While I've definitely enjoyed Sean Baker's movies, I don't think I've adored his work as much as many critics seem to; they always just miss the mark of excellence for me. For instance, I thought The Florida Project was marred by the performances of its non-actors, and Red Rocket was about 20 minutes too long.

Anora is probably my favorite film of his so far, elevated by Mikey Madison and her electric performance as the titular Anora, a twenty-three year old exotic dancer and sex worker in New York. One night, because she is the only dancer in her club who speaks Russian, she is encouraged to chat up a young Russian named Vanya, played to perfection by Mark Eidelstein. Vanya takes a liking to "Ani," ultimately paying her for sex, inviting her to his New Year's Eve party, and eventually offering her $15,000 to be his girlfriend for a week. That week leads to a Vegas marriage, which Vanya's oligarch parents back in Russia are none to happy about.

Anora feels almost like three movies. The first third is a fun, gritty take on a Pretty Woman type of story, a whirlwind of sex, drugs, parties, and lavish spending that's intoxicating to watch. The middle third, which brings in Russian and Armenian goons (all excellently played by Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and especially Yura Borisov, as Igor), feels like something from a Safdie brothers movie, a tense night full of potential violence as characters visit multiple New York locations. And the final third brings this Cinderella story to a realistic finish, with a final scene that brought me to tears.

Anora is a movie with faults, but every single performance in it is outstanding, making it easy to overlook some of the story's repetitions and weaknesses.