Movie Review: Knock at the Cabin

 

Michael's Movie Grade: D-

This film fails to live up to its interesting premise and instead comes off as simply bland and surprisingly for a M. Night Shyamlan movie kind of boring. 

The main problem with this movie is apparent from the very beginning. As soon as the film starts, the story is already underway with no real set up. The problem we have had no time to be introduced to or get these characters. Over the course of the film, we learn very little about these characters. All these characters have strictly one-note personalities and because of this they never feel real to us and we have no emotional connection to this story. That is a shame because the premise of this movie is one that should be highly emotional. A family (two dads and their adopted daughter) is told they must choose between sacrifice one of themselves or the whole world will die. This premise has the ability to be something highly emotional, but if the characters never feel real than none of it holds any weight. The result then is surprisingly dull. This is not helped by the fact that this film has little of the twists and turns that are associated with director M. Night Shyamalan's movies. Because of this the story simply becomes repetitive. Though there is a sense of dread and atmosphere in some the early scenes, without the twists and turns, there is little to keep this feeling going through the rest of the film. With this the film really drags for much of its runtime. The movie also tries to delve into deeper themes, but in the end really doesn't say much more than homophobia exists and is a bad thing. Even that is told in a very clumsy way, through obvious and uninteresting dialogue  that often feels forced into the film. 

The only things that really work about this movie are the atmosphere of the early scenes and the good performances for the cast (especially Dave Bautista). Other than that, this movie is just a waste of time. 

Movie Review: Missing

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A well made and exciting thriller. 

In the vein of Searching (2018), this film is completely shown to us through technology. We see everything through computer and phone screens. Even though this storytelling no longer has the originality that it had in Searching, it is still incredibly effective. This proves that this style of storytelling is not just a novelty, but an effective mode of filmmaking. Here this works both because of how essential a part of our lives that technology has become and as a way of communicating what our main character is going through in a completely cinematic way. Our main character is an 18 year old girl whose mother has gone missing and she decides to find out what happened to her mother herself. The fact that we constantly see her on the internet trying to find any clue as where her mother could be, shows how tirelessly she is searching for her in a way that we could not see as effectively otherwise. It also works perfectly in the scenes before she finds her mom is missing because she is an 18 year old girl and therefore technology is a major part of her life and this helps establish who she is and the world that she inhabits. There are a few times, where it feels a little forced to have a computer or cell phone in a scene, but these are very rare. For the most part it feels like a natural way to tell the story. It also allows for some wonderful touches of filmmaking. The montage as she is throwing the party is a wonderful piece of filmmaking and shows just how well this type of storytelling opens itself up to filmmakers to explore cinematic ideas. 

The mystery and suspense elements work quite well. This is the type of movie that keeps you guessing quite a bit throughout, never fully knowing in which direction the film is going to go. The twists and turns here are simply a lot of fun and I had a great time trying to guess what was going to happen next. The climatic scenes of this movie are great examples of suspense. Seeing this in a movie theater, I had audible gasps from the audience during these scenes and I admit that I was kept on the edge of my seat. There was also a delightfully creepy and uneasy vibe to these scenes that I simply loved. The use of lighting in these scenes as well as the wonderful way the filmmakers used the only seeing things through technology method to the story only made them more effective. It also helps that we truly like our main character. She may not have a lot of depth to her but she is very likable and easy to relate to. 

This film does definitely have its faults though. As well as the mystery element works most of the time, it works less and less the more you stop to think about it. There are quite a few unanswered questions as well as moments that either don't add up or take too much of a suspension of disbelief. There is also the fact that the majority of supporting characters are quite bland and few more like plot points than characters. The movie also has too many red herrings and this can make it drag at times.

This movie marks the feature length directorial debut for Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, both of whom had been editors on the very similar, Searching. They also both wrote the screenplay for Missing. This screenplay was based on a story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty, who were the writers for Searching. 

Despite any faults this film is a lot of fun and a lot of the filmmaking is excellent.

Movie Review: Vikram Vedha

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A top-notch crime thriller from India.

This movie is exactly what a crime thriller should be. It is intense, thought provoking and very engaging. The main characters are fantastically realized and true to this movie's theme, do not always fit easily into the categories of good or evil. Because if this they always feel real to us and though many of us may not be either cops or criminals, we can still put ourselves enough in their shoes to give this movie its full effect. When they talk about moral decisions, these conversations are very thought provoking and often raise up very interesting questions that will keep us thinking about it long after the movie is over. Adding to the intelligence of this script is the scenes between the main character and his wife. Both are personally involved with this case on different sides (one as a cop and one as a lawyer) and this causes a lot of tension between the two at home. This is handled very well and intelligently, also giving us a lot of food for thought. This is also a thriller movie that truly keeps one on the edge of their seats. You never truly know what is going to happen next and many of the twists do a wonderful job of keeping you guessing. A lot of these twists are truly fantastic and while you may not see them coming, they make perfect sense when they happen. The ending is simply perfect.

If I were to complain about anything in this movie, it is that the musical score can at times be too loud and this can be a little distracting. I also did not much care for the song, Alcoholia.

All in all this is a truly wonderful movie. 

Movie Review: Don't Worry Darling

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A fantastic build-up that leads but a completely disappointing pay off. 

Olivia Wilde's directorial debut was the really fun raunchy comedy, Booksmart. Her follow-up film could not be more different. This is a dark psychological thriller with little humor in it. However both films show a real talent from directing from the popular actress. This movie does a wonderful job of building suspense and a real sense of dread. The visual representation of the town of Victory is very idyllic and yet at the same time haunting. This creates a wonderfully effective feeling of dread, as you never know when something is going to happen to upset this idyllic state. We have grown accustomed to the idea that anything idyllic is too good to be true and a movie like this perfectly plays with those notions, so that even as the film starts we have a feeling of uncomfortableness. This uncomfortable feeling grows as parts of the idyllic world start to slowly peel away. This is done so well as it is not done all it once but little by little, so that are sense of suspense and dread increases as the film goes on. All of this is helped by the wonderful visual style, that combines the 1950's with the feeling of a modern thriller. The bad dreams are especially wonderful visually and these scenes will stay with you after the film is over. This movie is also helped by starring the wonderful Florence Pugh. She is one of my favorite current actresses and this movie certainly shows why. Her performance perfectly carries you into the emotion of each scene. Oliva Wilde originally wanted to star in this movie herself but after seeing Florance in Midsommar changed her mind and thought Florance would be perfect for the role. It is easy to see why she felt that way watching this movie. 

This film does have a huge problem that befalls many movies like this. That is when you spend a whole film building up to something that something turns out to be a real let down. That is certainly true here. I was loving this movie up until this reveal but the reason behind everything that happens in this movie is terrible. Not only is it completely clichéd and overused, but it also is not very interesting and makes no sense in the context of the story. This is one of those twists, that makes you question even the motivations of some of the characters and raises just as many questions as it answers. Unfortunately since this twist is what the rest of the film was leading up to it can't help but leave a major black mark on an otherwise great movie. Still I can't deny how much I loved the film before that horrible turning point. 

If you are able to forgive a horrible payoff, the rest of this movie is fantastic.   

Movie Review: Breaking

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent suspense thriller. 

This movie is one that can really keep you on the edge of your seat. Part of this is because if you don't know the true story (I didn't), it will constantly keep you guessing what is going to happen next. Director, Abi Damaris Corbin knows just how to keep this film intense and never lose the attention of its audience without making it feel rushed. This movie also sets out to be more than just a suspense movie involving a bank hold up. This film is also an examination of how even a good man can be pushed too far and the mistreatment of our veterans. What the VA has done to this man is truly tragic and will rightfully make the audience angry. From a storytelling standpoint, this also makes it easy for us to care about a character, even when he is threatening to blow up a bank. This does not mean we agree with his methods or that the film endorses this as a healthy way to deal with this tragedy, but it does create a strong connection between the character and the audience. It also drives home a powerful point and some social commentary that will stay with us. It doesn't hurt that as the main character, John Boyega (best known as Finn in the Star Wars franchise) gives the best performance so far in his career. He gives a performance that captures the fear and anger in him, while still emphasizing his good intentions behind what he does. You can see why he scares the two bank employees, but yet you can still see his vulnerability.

The main fault with this film is that often the dialogue can feel forced and unnatural. This is especially true of the scenes between the main character and his daughter. These scenes feel too cutesy and clumsily written that they take us out of the movie. There is also quite a bit of clumsily dialogue between the main character and the two bank employees (such when he asks one of them what she likes). Meanwhile the scenes that take place outside of the bank are simply not that interesting.

Despite its faults, what this movie does well is simply fantastic. Therefore this is an excellent watch for all movie goers.  

Movie Review: Beast

 

Micahel's Movie Grade: F

A thriller that is so dumb that it can't even work as turn your mind off fun. 

While watching this movie in the theater, it was hard not to notice that people were laughing quite a bit at the scenes that were supposed to be scary or suspenseful and it was even harder not to join in. I am usually a person who finds it easy to suspend my disbelief, but the absurdity of this movie was hard for me to even believe. Much of this lies in the lion that is trying to kill our heroes. First off this lion looks incredibly fake. I knew going in that this character was going to be CGI, but I never excepted him to look so much like a cartoon character. I would have not been surprised if he started talking to the characters in English. The idea of a lion coming with an elaborate plan to capture a specific group of people, also seems like something that would work better in a cartoon-y comedy rather than a film that is supposed to be suspenseful and scary. All the scenes with the lion attacking people are too reminiscing for much better scenes from other movies to be in anyway memorable and shocking. This is not hurt by the fact that in every moment in this film is completely predictable. From the start we pretty much know how this film is going to end and there is not a single surprise along the way. Because of this, I actually got bored by a movie as over the top and silly as this one. It is sad when I care more about the family drama scenes then the actual lion scenes. 

Idris Elba is a great actor and Baltasar Kormákur has directed some good movies. With this in mind this film should be chalked down to everybody is entitled to a miss. 

Movie Review: Fall

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

An enjoyable suspense film with a few good scares.

This movie has an incredibly simple premise (in fact too simple for its runtime). Two young women climb up an abandoned TV tower in the middle of nowhere, but it does not go as planned and the two get stranded up there. Movies featuring characters being suspended in a very high place have a long history, think of Harold Lloyd in Safety Last (1923). There is a reason this premise still exists today and that is because it still has the ability to frighten and excite. This movie is proof of that. Even if you aren't afraid of heights, some of these scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat. Part of the reason for it is that even in today's movie savvy world, this film looks quite real. You really believe that these characters are about to fall to their deaths at any moment. The shots looking down from the tower are truly terrifying. This movie also benefits from there often being the slight moment of suspense that makes one wonder if the film is going to follow the cliché's or do something different. The main characters are also quite likable. There is little to no depth or subtlety to these characters, but they are likable, and this makes any scene with their lives in danger more suspenseful. There is also a twist towards the end that while done quite a few times before works better than should of. All of this means the most important aspect of the movie is its strongest asset. 

However, there is quite a bit that doesn't work about this movie. This is definitely evident in the dialogue. Much of this dialogue seems to be trying too hard to sound like how two hip young women would talk. There is some soap opera type drama that happens between the two main characters and it seems completely forced and unnecessary. The humor in this film is quite bad and I can't think of one time a joke made me even smile. However the main fault is the film is longer than it needs to be. While this may be strange to say of a movie less than two hours in a time when many movies ran well over two hours, the length is simply too much for this simple of a story. After a while there are too many attempts to get down and too many contrivances that make things more difficult that the film can feel a bit repetitive. 

This may not be a great film but it does provide a fun trip to the movies. 

Movie Review: Emily the Criminal

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A fantastic suspense thriller. 

Whether she is in a mainstream movie or an art house film, Aubery Plaza never fails to impress me in pretty much every role she takes on. She is an incredibly gifted actress and always shows incredible range. I also respect how she is not afraid to take on incredibly challenging roles (like the one here). Therefore it is a large statement when I tell you, I think in Emily the Criminal she gives perhaps her finest performance. This is a film that if the right actress was not cast, simply wouldn't work. Luckily Aubery Plaza is exactly the right actress. Because of her we can find ourselves relating to this mostly unlikable character. That is because her performance gives a bit of humanity behind the character's morally terrible decisions. There are times when we actually find ourselves wanting this character to get away with her crimes. Yet despite her adding humanity to this character, the actress knows not to go too far in this direction. Like the other characters in the film, we are never supposed to fully know this character and what she does next is supposed to be a mystery to us. Aubery understands this perfectly and though we can relate to and believe this character, we always know there is something underneath the actress is just not telling us.

Yet this movie does not rest solely on the wonderful performance of Aubery Plaza. Writer and director John Patton Ford knows how to keep us the edge of our seats and always guess what is going to happen next. Despite this incredibly being his feature length debut, this film feels like the work of an old pro. There is not a second of film wasted and everything is so wonderfully designed to keep us on the edge of our seats. The film never moves too quickly to lose its feeling of suspense or too slowly that it might lose our interest. He knows when to give us a strong suspense scene and when to give us a breather. He also knows how to incorporate social commentary without ever stopping the film to sermonize to us. The premise of this film is very simple and not that different from similar suspense movies. A young woman is stuck in dead end job without enough money to pay her student debts. Yet John Patton Ford knows just how to make this premise feel new and fresh. I cannot wait to see what this director does next.

A must see.   

Movie Review: Vengeance

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent dark comedy-thriller. 

B.J. Novack's first movie as a director (though he has directed TV show episodes and acted in movies) is a delightfully fun but dark comedy-mystery. The film has a great storyline. A writer for the New Yorker is successful at his job but wishes to be more than just a writer. He wants to be a "voice" that people around the U.S.A. will know and respect and he feels the way to do this is through a podcast. After a woman he hooked up with once or twice passes away, her family (who thought the relationship was more serious) takes him to Texas for her funeral. The woman's brother believes that she was murdered (her cause of death was an overdose of drugs) and tries to convince the writer to try to get vengeance on whoever killed his sister with him. The writer than decides to make this his podcast and have it be about how people invent conspiracy theories to shield themselves from the pain of the truth. From here the story takes many twists and turns that will even keep the most experienced movie goers guessing. I truly never knew what was going to happen next and was often on the edge of my seat. This all leads to an ending that I feel will divide many (I personally liked it). Regardless of what you think of the ending though, it is a heck of the ride there. Despite the amount of comedy in this movie it is not afraid to go to dark places and it is all the better for it

Much of the humor comes from the cultural divide between the main character, a New York intellectual and the woman's family, Texas rednecks. Despite this, the film is never too mean spirited about either side and it delightfully makes fun of both sides. The New York intellectual, tries to sound like an intellectual about everything, even those he knows nothing about and though the Texas family falls into a lot of stereotypes, they can also subvert them. A wonderful scene that shows this has the writer references Anton Chekhov to one of the family members, she starts talking about his plays to which the writer has never read or seen them and quickly tries to change the subject. This may be a simple joke but it lets us know not every character is the complete stereotype we might assume them to be. While this movie may poke fun at certain accepts of Texas culture, it is both good natured and funny enough for anyone to laugh at it. This movie is often downright hilarious, and I laughed out loud quite often watching this. The Waterburger scene and a reference to Schindler's List (1993) will stay in my mind for quite a while.  

This film also benefits from a wonderful performance by Ashton Kutcher, who steals every scene that he is in. If you think of him simply as that dumb guy from "That 70's Show" you need to see this movie. He truly gets to show his range here in not only the comedic scenes but some of the film's most serious and disturbing moments. He may not have as much screentime as other members of the cast, but he certainly leaves an impression on you. 

On the downside is the conversations between the writer and his podcast producer. These scenes simply give both characters time to ramble in their pseudo-intellectual way and frankly there are too many of them. They add little to the story, don't have any real deep meaning to them and after the first of these scenes you fully get what they are trying to say about the characters. Also the podcast producer and the other characters in the New York scenes, just simply aren't the least bit interesting. 

All in all this is an excellent film.

Movie Review: Titane

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A terrifying, suspenseful and oddly touching French film.

This movie has clear elements of suspense, horror, comedy and family drama but does not fit neatly into any of those boxes. I have never seen another film quite like Titane and I doubt you have either.  This movie has so many twist and turns that I could never once see where it was going. This kept me on the edge of my seat and unable to look away from the screen no matter how grotesque any scene got. Through much of the first part of the film, one feels they have a pretty good idea what type of movie they are about to watch. We see a young woman (Agathe Rousselle) use her sexuality to violent murder multiple people (in a series of really violent set pieces). Yet this movie then takes what has happened and takes us in a direction, no would have seen coming. All along the way this movie takes you for a wild ride. While I am always hesitant to care or emotionally connect with fictional characters that perform horrible violent acts, this film was so well done it is a major exception. There is something surprisingly sweet and touching about the latter part of this movie and that works heavily to the film's advantage. This film can be watched on two levels. On one hand you can watch it trying to understand all the symbolism and follow the stranger and more mysterious  parts of the story or you can take it on face value and just enjoy the ride. Either way this is like nothing you have seen before and it is a movie that will stay with you and haunt you long after the credits are finished. 

This may not be for everyone, but for those who don't mind something far off the beaten path, this is a must see.      

Movie Review: Promising Young Woman

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B-

A well made set up leads to an ending that simply doesn't work.

This movie got off to a great start, as we see our main character pretending to be a drunk girl in a bar, so a "nice guy" will pick her up and she can get the upper hand on them when she revels herself to be sober and the one in control. This is fantastic, as it brings us something dark and twisted and yet darkly funny at the same time. We begin to wonder just who this woman is and what turned a seeming intelligent into this character. As such we are completely engrossed in the film from the beginning. When we learn the answer it is so tragic and disturbing that we find ourselves drawn further into the dark world of the film. Meanwhile there is a well done romance with someone she used to know in school. This romance is very cleverly worked into the dark storyline and both offsets it with its delightful sense of humor and adds to it with some dark twists. This is a very well done set up. The characters may not be likable or sympathetic, but they are interesting and we are also very drawn in to the dark and pessimistic world of this film.

Unfortunately with a such a good set up the movie doesn't live up to what it set up. The climatic scene is completely disappointing lacking the necessary suspense or unsettling feeling that is required for it to work. It then goes for a twist that while brave, doesn't work. I appreciate that the filmmakers wanted to take a risk, but the danger with taking risks is that they don't always work. This one certainly doesn't. I can kind of get what the movie was going for but I was left completely cold and the only emotion I felt was a strange disappointment. After this twist the movie continues for a bit that feels a lot longer than the rest of the film put together. Worse yet comes the movie's actual end scene. I hate to use this word because the rest of the movie was the opposite but the best way to describe the ending was cute. It felt like it came from a completely different and much more lighthearted movie.

However no matter how much the film goes downhill towards the end, I can not deny that the rest of the movie was darn good.         

Movie Review: The Courier

 

Note: I saw this film in a theater and I am so glad to be back.

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A top notch Cold War spy thriller. 

I must start this review by praising what everyone else is praising about this movie and that is Benedict Cumberbatch's performance. To be honest before this movie I was mostly familiar with him from the MCU and The Current War. While I knew he was a good actor from these films, I was unaware he was capable of a performance like this. His acting here is incredible and despite the fact that I knew who the actor was, I never once thought about the actor while watching his performance. This performance starts out as charming and quite comedic but as the storyline gets more intense so does the way he plays this character. Yet this always feels like the same person, no matter how intense or how charming the performance is. Cumberbatch knows how to make you believe you are watching a regular likable person being pushed to his limits. The last act of this movie is simply a tour de force for Cumberbatch. That is not to say that he is the only good member of the cast. In fact everybody in this movie truly shines.  This film also benefits from an incredible true story. This story is a perfect story for a movie like this because while it is true it also larger than life. The story is told extremely well. There is not a single scene in which my attention drifted. Yet at the same time it is told at a pace that never once feels rushed. This film also extremely benefits from a fantastic score by Abel Korzeniowski that perfectly captures and adds to each scene.

This is simply a must watch movie. 

Movie Review: Red Dot

 

Note: This film can be watched on Netflix.

Michael's Movie Grade: F

A very disappointing Swedish thriller.

This film has a very intriguing premise. A couple goes on vacation and find themselves being hunted by unknown killers. This plot has the makings of a top notch thriller. Unfortunately the execution is horrible. One of the biggest problems is that there is not one likable character in the entire movie and yet the filmmaker obviously want you to sympathize with these characters. This is simply impossible when they consistently do horrible things and yet are seemingly undamaged by guilt. The only personality traits the two "protagonists" have outside of being horrible people is that they are walking clichés of the type we have seen in many bad sitcoms. I got tired of their poorly written and annoying bickering before the real storyline even started. Because of this I had no emotional connection to anything happening on screen and simply found myself bored. The only thing worse than the characters are the plot twists. The execution of the biggest plot twist was so bad it has to be seen to be believed. It comes completely out of nowhere with nothing even slightly hinting at it. There is not even the slightest bit of a setup to this and I am sure it will leave many people wondering if maybe they missed something. The truth is sadly they missed nothing. This is simply bad storytelling. The film is also hampered down by a lot of completely forced and awkward dialogue and a heavy-handed attempt at social commentary. 

If you want to watch a good thriller, skip this movie at all costs. 

Movie Review: The Little Things

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B-

A tense and exciting if quite flawed thriller.

Where this movie best successeds is in creating a sense of suspense and unease. The sense of unease is firmly in place from the start of the film. Much of this comes not only from the dark subject matter but also from our main character (Denzel Washington). It is clear that whatever has happened in the past (something we are not immediately told) has taken its toll on this character's mental health. Though he can often appear to others as normal, we know that we are looking at a very damaged man, whose intentions we can never be sure of. Because of this we never know whether to trust this film's "protagonist" or not. This is not a part many actors could pull of but Denzel is a master at his craft and pulls it off to perfection. Jared Leto also does a very good job as a rather creepy suspect and adds just as much to the suspense in a part that feels tailor-made for him. Writer and director John Lee Hancock, once again shows us that he knows his way around a movie providing us with a lot of great traditional suspense moments. This movie also supplies us with some truly surprising plot turns.

This film does have its share of flaws as well. There are plenty moments that leave you wondering what the characters are thinking. At over 2 hours this movie feels a little padded and could have used some cutting. There are some bits of cliché dialogue. I also never felt I connected with or felt much towards one of the main characters, Jim (Rami Malek). Still despite these faults I found this to be an effective thriller.  

Movie Review: Let Him Go

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A very atmospheric and suspenseful little thriller. 

The casting played such an important part in making this movie work so well. These roles are so perfectly suited to Kevin Costner and Diane Lane and no one could have played them better. These performances are so real and heartfelt that you can except this film's very farfetched storyline. This is because Costner and Lane bring a lot of simple humanity to these roles and that gives the movie a down to Earth feeling it needs. The characters are in many ways very different, yet the subtle moments of acting make their relationship feel more real than many more elaborate Hollywood romances. Yet these performances aren't the only reason for this film working. The pacing in this movie is fantastic. This is a film that takes its time and lets the atmosphere and characters build the story. Yet the moments are violence are so sudden and quick. It is the contrast between the laid back pace of the rest of the film and these violent scenes that make them so effective. This film is also simply lovely to look at. Much of this movie takes place out in nature, and in a very rural small town. This movie captures the the beauty and majesty of such places and story-wise this serves as an effective contrast between the natural beauty of the environment and the darkness of this story. Director and writer Thomas Bezucha, shows that he certain knows how to set up and deliver a story like this. 

On the downside, the film is quite cliché and predictable. The main antagonist (Lesley Manville) is a bit too over the top and doesn't always mesh with this often quiet and reflective movie. 

Though not perfect this movie delivers just what a suspense movie is supposed to. 

Note: I watched this movie in a movie theatre and am so happy to be back. It feels like returning to home sweet home and watching films at home can never come close to comparing to watching them in theatres. 



 

Movie Review: The Hunt

Michael's Movie Grade: D-

Despite this movie's constant attempts to be controversial and edgy, once you get down to it, it doesn't really say anything.

This film is nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is. It constantly references the current political climate, but makes no actual commentary than basically to say that both sides are jerks. The liberal characters are mean spirited caricatures of liberals and the conservatives are mean spirited caricatures of conservatives. This is in the end the height of this film's political commentary, yet it is constantly shoved down our throats like it is some brilliant revelation. It isn't this is stuff we have seen in mindless comedies a million times, yet we are supposed to take it as something brilliant and thought provoking here. This all makes this the weakest kind of satire imaginable. It presents its message in a heavy-handed manner yet says nothing at all.

Another problem with making the characters all complete caricatures is that it is hard to care about any of them. Because of this the only reaction I had when a character died was "that was really gory." Because of this there is not the satisfaction of seeing the bad guys being killed or the horror of the good guys being killed. There is just simply people being killed. This makes the gore simply unpleasant to look at and little else. This works against this movie's attempts at suspense because in the end, we really don't care what happens one way or another. 

While the majority of the humor in this film falls completely flat not working on a single level, there were a couple moments that made me laugh. After these moments were over, I couldn't help but wish the rest of the film could have captured the dark comedy in these scenes. Unfortunately these are isolated moments in what is otherwise a complete mess of a movie.

If you want to watch a movie about humans hunting other humans watch The Most Dangerous Game.
-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: The Rhythm Section

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

An enjoyable little thriller if not anything more.

Our main character is surprisingly quite interesting and the movie works best when it is a character study of her. She is a character is haunted by the death of her family and due to this tries to hide her humanity from herself and others to keep from going through anything painful like that again. However she can not completely hide herself from that humanity. While the script doesn't explore this as deeply as it should, Blake Lively's performance sure does. She turns in one of the finest performances of her career, both displaying the outward coldness and the inward humanity. However every other character in this film lacks any basic interest to the audience. The rest of the characters are not only stereotypes of movie characters but they also feel more like plot devices than characters. While some talented actors play these characters, they never get the chance to show off their acting chops in the way Lively does.

The storyline is just as bland as these supporting characters. This is the type of story you will hardly remember a week after watching the film. It is really just a collection of clichés and plot twists that are not properly built up to.

For a globe-trotting adventure this film is visually beautiful. I guess this should come as no surprise once we consider that director Reed Morano was a former cinematographer and he is working with the very talented cinematographer Sean Bobbitt. Together they bring us a fantastic looking movie. Steve Mazzaro's music is also very good and the choices of songs in the background work quite well.

This film provides an enjoyable time at the movies, but it is nothing that will stay in your memory long after you finish watching.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: The Good Liar

Michael's Movie Grade: B

An engaging thriller that requires more than a little suspension of disbelief.

So much of the success of this film comes from our two stars (Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren). These two give nearly perfect performances playing characters that in lesser actors' hands would have not worked at all. Ian McKellon plays a fantastic conman. He is perfectly charming when he needs to be but completely ruthless at other times. You can fully see why so many have fallen for his fake charm, yet at the same time when we see the real him, he is as dark and sinister as can be (honestly I was kind of surprised by just how dark this character can be at times). Helen Mirren is equally fantastic in her role, playing perfectly off of her costar. The basic storyline of this film is a good one (if not an original one), and it is very well told, especially when it comes to some very well written dialogue and engaging characters. This is also a very visually engaging movie, and though the film can be quite dialogue heavily the look of the film always enhances the story very well. This is especially true of Tobias A. Schliessler's excellent cinematography. Carter Burwell's musical score is also quite good.

The biggest fault of this film is the biggest fault of many thrillers. The twists and turns require too many coincidences that have to work out absolutely perfectly for these twists to make sense. The more you think about these twists the less believable they become and one wonders how the characters possibly planned for each of these coincidences to work out exactly as they did. This becomes much truer as the movie goes on. However this fault is still won over by how good what works in this movie is.

-Michael J. Ruhland    

Movie Review: Parasite (Gisaengchung)

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

This Korean film is not only the best movie of the year, but one of the best of recent years.

This is a movie that is not afraid to change tones as it goes along. It can go from a silly comedy to social satire to a very dark and disturbing suspense film in a heartbeat. How incredibly well this movie does this is perfect. The social commentary on the often complicated relationship between rich and poor is a lot of what holds this together. This movie never stops to preach to us, as would be done by lesser filmmakers, nor does it simplify the complexities of its subject. Despite this the movie's lighter and dark moments fit together because they are both connected to this similar theme. The mixture of lighter and darker moments is also part of what keeps this movie so suspenseful. You never know if what is coming up not will be funny or disturbing. There were times when I felt I knew where this movie was going and was shocked to see it go in another direction, but each time what it did was better than what I saw coming. Adding to this is that the characters were all completely untrustworthy. There is no one who has a true moral compass and everyone is capable of great darkness. This movie could have so easily done what so many movies about the rich and poor do, making one side good and one side evil. However this is too simplistic and too cliché of an approach for this film. Life is not defined by simple terms like good and evil and neither is the world of this film. Between all the black and whites are many grays. This is all perfectly crafted in a way only a master filmmaker Bong Joon Ho can do. It is no exaggeration to call him one of the greatest filmmakers of our generation.

It may seem with some of what happens that one might want to call a comparison to another brilliant Korean film, The Housemaid (1960). However the two movies are extremely different and this movie never borrows from that earlier classic. Instead this is a one of a kind work of art that is a true rarity in any time period. If you are a movie lover, you have no reason not to see this movie. I don't care if you don't like to read subtitles you still need to see it. There is nothing else quite like this and I am sure it will go down in film history as one of the best movies of our generation.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Burks on "The Wrong Man"

Like any film buff, I love Alfred Hitchcock movies and am a fan of Robert Burks' cinematography for Hitch's films. Because of this I found this following 1957 article from American Cinematographer, where both Hitch and Burks talk about their work on the movie, The Wrong Man (1956), extremely interesting.

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