The Christophers

 

          Steven Soderbergh takes a intelligent and fun story written by Ed Solomon and makes Indie film magic. Easily one of his best films in a while, Mr. Soderbergh directs a pitch perfect comedy/drama about a human connection that takes place in the world of art. 

          Ian McKellen is a retired artist who has nine unfinished paintings (the series is called The Christophers) stored away in his home. The paintings are legendary and if completed will be worth millions. The problem is he has no intention of finishing them. His adult children played by Jessica Gunning and James Corden hire an art forger, played by Michaela Coel to act as his assistant while secretly finishing the paintings.

          Ms. Coel and Mr. McKellen's growing relationship is at the heart of the film and it is wonderful. Their chemistry and the interplay between them is just a joy to watch. Ms. Gunning and Mr. Corden provide laughs in smaller roles as the greedy children who just want to sell the paintings once their father dies.

          The film is quite funny at times. Mr. McKellen carries the film and gets all the best lines (although Ms. Coel holds her own against the master). You certainly don't have to be an art aficionado to appreciate a clever story with a great cast.

The Drama

 

     Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, this is a cringe worthy comedy/drama starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. They play Emma and Charlie, who as the film begins, meet cute, date (in a montage), fall in love and decide to get married.

      About a week to go before the wedding, Charlie learns about something disturbing from Emma's past and it has a deep effect on him, causing him to question his feelings for Emma. Discussing the issue only causes a rift to develop between the two and Charlie grows increasingly shaken and disturbed.

       The film co-stars Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates, Sydney Lemmon, Anna Baryshnikov, and Zoe Winters. Zendaya and Mr. Pattinson are both terrific bringing great depth to their relationship but Mr. Pattinson, in particular, is outstanding, reacting to his world crashing down based on what he has learned about Emma.

        At the heart of the story is a deep moral question, which in itself would make for a fine drama but the comedic moments, while eliciting laughs from the audience, seem misplaced and distract from the seriousness of the subject. The film is definitely thought provoking. Emma's reveal and it's consequences will surely be up for debate once the film ends. 

  

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

 

        Seven year later, the sequel to "Ready Or Not",  begins immediately where the first film ended. With the same creative team behind it, they find a clever way to keep the original concept intact, even while building on it. The cast is bigger, the body count higher, filled with dark humor and excessively violent (especially towards women), the new film will satisfy fans of this growing trend of "Eat The Rich", violence porn.

          Samara Weaving once again stars as Grace but now we are also introduced to her estranged sister, Faith, played by Kathryn Newton. Joining these two "scream queens" together is inspired casting. Their chemistry is terrific. The new cast tasked with hunting the women down by Satan's "lawyer", played by Elijah Wood, include Sarah Michelle Geller (more inspired casting), Shawn Hatosy, Nestor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng, Varun Saranga and in a rather quick cameo, David Crohenberg.

           By coincidence, the plot of the film ends up almost the same as the other recent splatter fest, "They Will Kill You" as both films involve the rescue and protection of one's sibling from Satan worshippers, while avoiding being sacrificed. Both involve over the top cartoonish violence aimed at the wealthy elite. Even though the violence is cartoonish, there is one sequence in this film that really takes the beating of a woman too far, and you're no longer laughing. While it is important to the plot, it is really hard to watch.

             If you are a fan of the first film, you will almost certainly enjoy this continuation of the story and I'm sure if it makes enough money, we can expect a third film in the series.

They Will Kill You

 

      It seems the latest trend in horror movies is "violence porn" directed at the wealthy. Writer/director Kirill  Sokolov takes his "stab" at the genre with this new outragous kill fest. Produced by Andy and Barbara Muschietti ( of the TV show "IT" and "Welcome To Derry"), this is basically a live action, figurative, Bugs Bunny Cartoon starring Zazie Beetz.

      Ms. Beetz stars as Asia Reaves, who in a prologue, leaves her younger sister in the hands of their abusive father. Jump 10 years later and she is now searching for her sister to make amends. Her search takes her to a sinister apartment building/hotel in Manhattan where she applies for a job as a new maid. Unbeknownst to her, the building is basically a devil's cult of wealthy acolytes and almost immediately everyone is trying to kill her as a sacrifice.

       The film is a ninety minute orgy of cartoonish violence, which, at times is very inventive and actually poetic in it's fight choreography. Ms. Beetz shows off her athletic ability dodging an array of weapons, some of which do manage to inflict damage. 

       Co-starring are Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham, Myha'la, Angus Sampson, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, and the voice of James Remar.

        It's certainly not for everyone but fans of this growing genre will enjoy themselves.                                   

Project Hail Mary

 

        Writer Andy Weir, author of  "The Martian", which was turned into a terrific film with a screenplay by Drew Goddard and Andy Weir, now has his second novel  released as another terrific film, again with a solo screenplay by Drew Goddard. The significance does not go unnoticed. Mr. Goddard has a great feel for the source material but has a knack for removing the science and math heavy plot points of the novel and making the film more accessible for a wide audience without sacrificing the story.

        Co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bring the story to life in an incredible way. The visuals are wonderful, and while filmed in IMAX, the scenes on Earth are shot in a different ratio making the space scenes even more remarkable. They also make a bold choice to refrain from rendering the  "Rocky" character in CGI and instead, he is a very life-like puppet. This adds an important layer to the emotional core of the story.

         When it is discovered the Sun is slowly dying, a team is assembled to visit a far away star that seems to be immune to the problem. Ryan Gosling stars as Dr. Grace, a scientist who figures out the problem and ends up on a spaceship to find a solution. Once he meets "Rocky", a alien sent from his planet for the same reason, the film becomes part science fiction drama and part cosmic buddy comedy. Mr. Gosling is the perfect actor to covey the comedy aspect as well as the dramatic and emotional parts of the film. He carries the film admirably. 

           Mr. Lord and Mr. Christopher intersperse the space scenes with flashbacks back on Earth with a flow that fills in many of the story gaps. My one criticism is that the directors appear to love their film so much, they avoid excess editing which would have tightened the film and avoided tedious scenes. 

           The film co-stars Sandra Huller as Eva Stratt, the director of Project Hail Mary and she is an excellent choice for the character. James Ortiz provides the eventual voice for "Rocky" and Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung and Milana Vayntrub also have smaller but important parts.

            This is an old fashioned Sci-Fi adventure that readers of the book will love and fans of the genre will certainly appreciate.

            

Undertone

 

      Written and directed by Ian Tuason, this new horror film is an experimental way to scare an audience. Imagine "The Blair Witch Project" taking place in a house rather than the woods.

      Podcaster Evie has moved back into her mother's house to care for her as she lies in her bedroom, close to death. The entire film takes place in the house. Evie and her mother are the only on-screen characters. Everyone else in the cast are off-screen voices.

      When Evie's podcast partner, Justin, sends her a set of 10 audio files from an unknown email, they begin to listen for their paranormal podcast. The sounds and dialog on the recordings get stranger with each file. and as each file gets more intense, Evie starts to lose her composure.

       Visually we get the standard spooky house trope. Closeups on religious paintings and statues, shadowy lighting, strange drawings and frequent shots of Evie's mom lying still in bed with raspy breathing all help to create the mood. But it's the sound design that's the star here. It's the audio files that create the growing tension and dread along with the dialog between Evie and Justin.

        Nina Kiri stars as Evie and while she is a capable actress, as basically the only on-screen character, the film becomes tedious even as the sounds attempt to draw you in. The off-screen voice actors are Adam DiMarco as Justin, Keana Lyn Bastidas as Jessa, Jeff Yung as Mike, Sarah Beaudin as Abby and Brian Quintero as Dr. Ram. Mama is played by Michele Duquet.

        The sound design experiment is fascinating but the film is not.

The Bride!

 

           Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, this is a complete reimagining of "The Bride of Frankenstein".  It is a feminist twist on the story from the Bride's point of view as she tries to understand her reanimated life and her relationship with "Frank" (Frankenstein's monster).

           The film is set in 1932 in various cities as the budding romance between these two "monsters" grows while they are on the run after committing multiple murders. They are chased by a detective (played by Peter Sarsgaard) and his assistant, Myrna (the smarter of the two) played by Penelope Cruz.

           The Bride is played by Jessie Buckley (who also plays Mary Shelly, the author of "Frankenstein" and the film's narrator) and she is simply electric (pun intended). Ms. Buckley is just incredible and she is equally matched with the terrific Christian Bale as Frank. While the film may be far from perfect, the two stars are and it's thrilling to watch them together.

              Co-starring are Annette Benning as the mad scientist that brings The Bride to life, Jeannie Berlin as her assistant, Greta, Jake Gyllenhaal as Ronnie Reed, a singing, dancing movie star that Frank idolizes, and John Magaro as a criminal hunting the pair.

                It's a great cast and Ms. Gyllenhaal certainly has lofty goals in bringing this story to life. Unfortunately, much like Frank, the film is stitched together rather haphazardly, moving in various directions that at times, is a parody of itself.  You are reminded in turn of  Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers musicals, "Natural Born Killers", "Bonnie & Clyde",  "Sid & Nancy" and even "Young Frankenstein". It's a fascinating experiment that is fun to watch but doesn't quite succeed. That said, it's worth it just to watch Ms. Buckley and Mr. Bale...they are remarkable.