Tag: hollywood

The Skeleton Key

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://www.rogerebert.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard
Where to watch: This movie was released in 2005. It keeps doing the rounds on the various OTT platforms
To watch or not to watch: The movie succeeds in creating an atmospheric horror, based on voodoo, which is an interesting plot device, and not something common

Caroline (Kate Hudson) is a hospice nurse who is looking for private work after losing a patient at the hospital where she used to work. She comes across a listing in the newspaper (the movie was made in 2005, when people still looked through the newspapers for jobs and such) for a nursing job in Louisiana, paying $1000 per week. The job would be to take care of Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), who is a wheelchair-bound, almost paralytic old man since he suffered a stroke some time back. At least that’s what his wife, Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands), tells Caroline. Caroline is a little sceptical about the job, since it is on the outskirts, but she is convinced by Luke (Peter Sarsgaard), who is the lawyer of the couple. Violet gives Caroline a skeleton key, which opens all the doors in the house, except the attic. Because it is a horror movie, and in horror movies people always go to forbidden rooms/hotels/cabins, Caroline finds the key to the attic and enters it, to find it filled with all the mirrors of the house and other paraphernalia which can be used for black magic, along with a vinyl record titled Conjure of Sacrifice. She later learns that 90 years before, the house was owned by a white couple with two kids (a boy and a girl) who employed a black couple as servants, Mama Cecile and Papa Justify. The black couple would practice a religion called hoodoo, which resulted in them being lynched by a mob. In parallel, Caroline is increasingly confident that Ben wants to tell her something about Violet and that Violet is somehow causing Ben to stay ill. Caroline is determined to save this patient even if this means she has to learn Hoodoo to do it.

It is easy to dismiss this movie because of the cast, as it was the first horror movie for all involved, and it is understandable, but in doing so people would be missing out, and this cannot be said for most of the movies out there. Any horror movie which can deliver without the age old plot of possession or haunting is a win, is definitely refreshing and delivers on the scares by subverting expectations. Unfortunately it does have cheap jump scares (it was made in 2005 after all) and has creaking doors and what not, it is still a solid movie. Do not go into the movie expecting gore or creepiness, or wait, scratch that. It is creepy, mostly atmospheric due to its setting, and it rains a lot in the movie, giving it the dark, muddy, restless feel. The pacing is slow and it reveals the dots disjointedly, but it all comes together in the end, leaving the viewer satisfactorily shocked.

There are plot holes in the movie, after all, not everyone can be Denis Villeneuve, but don’t let them distract you from the storyline. This movie skilfully deals with concepts of racism, trauma, and folklore, and doesn’t need any cheap tricks to keep viewers glued. There are multiple confusing points throughout the movie, which make sense after the ending, so be patient. Kate Hudson made a brave choice to star in a horror movie in between a range of rom-coms; this wouldn’t have been an easy decision. And while John Hurt doesn’t have more than 2 words to speak throughout the movie, he speaks volumes with his eyes and expressions. Peter Sarsgaard is, as always, a pleasure to watch, though he doesn’t get too much screen time, and Gena Rowlands is properly menacing as matron of the house. She embodied the role so well that it is difficult to separate her from it.
Definitely watch this one.

Hokum

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://www.thehindu.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh, Michael Patric, Will O’Connell
Where to watch: In theatres
To watch or not to watch: Flawed but strong horror movie from Ireland. It is turning the genre around in interesting ways

Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a borderline alcoholic author living alone in the US, struggling to finish a book which appears to be about the lack of humanity in diversity, probably a reflection of his own conscience. While writing at night in almost darkness, and slightly inebriated, he feels visited by his dead mother’s ghost. He rifles through the limited keepsakes, finds a picture, and assuming his mother was happy in that time and place, he decides to take his parents’ ashes to Ireland, checks himself into the hotel where his parents honeymooned, and meets the hotel staff members – Fergal (Michael Patric), the groundskeeper, and Mal (Peter Coonan), the desk clerk and the son-in-law of the hotel owner. He goes to scatter his parents’ ashes, and meets a happy-go-lucky homeless man named Jerry (David Wilmot), who offers Bauman moonshine while he himself partakes of milk with shrooms to “open his mind”. Bauman, uncharacteristically, is nice to Jerry and is grateful for the alcohol (obviously). He returns emotional and resumes his drinking in the hotel bar, while Fiona (Florence Ordesh) pours him drinks and listens to him sympathetically. Bauman is haunted by his childhood when his mother was shot in the face by an intruder when Bauman was 10, and his bitter father drunk himself to death. They talk about the locked Honeymoon Suite in the hotel, where he believes his parents stayed, but which has been locked up since the hotel owner trapped a witch inside. Then Alby (Will O’Connell), the bellhop enters, who expresses his ambition to be a writer, whom Bauman insults to no end, going as far as burning Alby’s hand, and Fergal pushes Bauman to go back to his room. A little later, Fiona goes to Bauman’s room to return his tape recorder, and when Bauman doesn’t open the door, because he has attempted suicide by hanging, Fiona and Alby save his life. On being discharged, Bauman learns that the hotel is closed for the off-season and Fiona has disappeared, and Jerry is suspected of her disappearance. Bauman feels grateful to her for saving his life, and wants to do a good turn to her by finding her. Jerry and him break into the hotel and go upto the honeymoon suite, where Jerry is shot by a crossbow, and Bauman is trapped inside, and he learns the truth about the whole situation, while also drinking whiskey from his old flask.

While watching the movie, it will seem to be a simple plot about a grumpy, lonely author in a remote B&B/hotel/what-have-you, trying to finish his book while battling his inner demons. Since Hokum has limited characters, and doesn’t dwell too much on plot development, on the surface it seems to be falling into the formula. As you can see from the paragraph above, it is longer than average. And that’s ok, because the focus of the movie remains on the story and the build-up to the crux and the resolution, but the movie would have benefited from a little more backstory, maybe worth 2 minutes extra, and removing the same 2 min fat from a few scenes which do not really do much to the storytelling. This movie is director Damian McCarthy’s third, after unfairly under-acclaimed Oddity (read its review here), and it was supposed to be a spin-off from it. The majority of the movie is shot within the hotel setting, and it is shot so beautifully that when the scene changes to the hospital, it is a subconscious physical relief – such is the skill of the cinematographer Colm Hogan. And the best part? The subtlety of the setting. Not the writing, but only the cinematography. The writing has a few moments where it is quite on-the-nose and would have benefited from the audience’s subconscious interpretation of the emotions present. Then we move to the second almost-half where it goes to the place we were all eager to see. That is literally going to leave the viewer with jitters.

McCarthy is turning out to be one in the league of Creggor and Peele, creating solid horror movies one after the other. Or maybe more in the league of the Philippou Brothers, as he created movies from Irish folklore. In fact, he is doing something more to the genre, exploring it beyond the supernatural or foreign or psychological, to mystery. Oddity was a scary murder mystery with a sprinkling of supernatural, and Hokum is similar. This is the experimentation which is going to be the saviour of the craft of filmmaking. And now let us spare a moment for the actor, Adam Scott. In a movie which already has limited characters, Scott has a disproportionately high screen time. And he smashes in conveying his emotions as if the audience his him, he is the audience. And that is because the centre of the movie is not the starring of an acclaimed Hollywood actor, but the story. Always. Looking forward to more from McCarthy.
This is not a movie for the faint of heart, definitely a must-watch for horror lovers.

Good Fortune

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://www.joblo.com/

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh
Where to watch: PrimeVideo
To watch or not to watch: Aziz Ansari shines in his directorial debut, the story is great, but fizzles out towards the end

Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) is a low-ranking angel in the hierarchy, responsible for saving people from accidents while texting and driving. But like most low-ranking people, he aspires to grow and be responsible for more serious soul-saving acts, but Martha (Sandra Oh) tells him that needs to perform the duties given to him diligently and that he is not ready to handle more responsibility. But Gabriel is adamant, and he finds Arj (Aziz Ansari) who is working odd-jobs and living out of his car. Arj meets Jeff (Seth Rogen) while doing one of his jobs, and learns that Jeff is in need of an assistant, and being enterprising, applies for the job, gets it and starts working as Jeff’s assistant. His life is good for almost one full day, until he uses Jeff’s company credit card to pay for a dinner on a date, which leads to Jeff firing him. Arj then hits rock-bottom when his car is towed because of unpaid parking tickets. Gabriel seeing this, decides that Arj will be the recipient of his beneficence, and grants Arj’s wish to swap places with Jeff, just to show Arj that money is not what it is purported to be. But on the contrary, Arj’s life is better than he could have imagined, and money has solved all of his problems. Martha learns what Gabriel has done and take away his angel status, and will return it only when Arj agrees to swaps his life back with Jeff. This is followed by a commentary on the economy, humanity, and how the wealthy can help the non-wealthy live a better life. It makes for a good concept but not a good movie.

Good Fortune takes the old trope of body swaps and turns it on its head to make it more real. It is turning the adage “High School are the best years” on its head for people who peaked later in life. Imagine Freaky Friday where Lindsay Lohan was having a horrible time at school because of not fitting in, and she swaps with her mother, who has a successful career and a stable relationship; she would not be complaining about the swap. The same thing happens here, which you have read above, and the results are so refreshingly new and honest that it makes the viewer want to wait and see where it goes. And where it goes doesn’t complement the premise. It then loses its USP and becomes predictable and downright silly. It leverages a lot of real personalities of the actors, most obvious being Keanu Reeves. It is easy to imagine him believing that money is not all it is made out to be, because that’s how he is in real life. Seth Rogen is unfortunately not doing much, though there is a lot of potential in his character – either that was his understanding of the script, or he was not very interested, who knows.

This movie has its heart in the right place – it sends a message of empathy and understanding for others who might be dealing with things we are not aware of. But because it is not well made and becomes childish towards the end (when it began as really mature and real and adult-like, it is jarring), it is difficult to say how many people would be watching this movie and then learning from it. It does get points for doing the right thing for the right reasons by the right people. It will be exciting to see Aziz Ansari come out with something interesting down the line. Watch this one, you won’t hate it, but not love it either. Hopefully it changes your perspective towards people who are less-advantaged than you.

Send Help

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://www.cinemablend.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Xavier Samuel 
Where to watch: JioHotstar
To watch or not to watch: It is a fun movie, subverts genre in the best way and makes for a good movie for a night in, but somehow… you know… not that great

Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is a manager at a consulting company, is very efficient, slightly socially awkward, dresses for function rather than fashion and as a result is overlooked for a much-anticipated promotion. What rubs salt on wounds is that she is passed over for a person who has been at the company for only six months, versus her 7 years, passes off her work as his, and plays golf with the boss, hence the promotion. Speaking of the boss, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) – he has recently inherited the company from his father, the same father who valued Linda’s contribution to the company and had all but promised her a vice-president position, which has kept her going. She is asked to prove herself once more on a trip to Bangkok on a private plane, where she decides that she has had enough and deletes her important document, right before the plane hits turbulence. Only Linda and Bradley survive the crash, Bradley with a serious injury. Now, our Linda is a Survivor enthusiast and has even auditioned for the show, so she is unarguably more suited to being stranded on an island than loafer-wearing Bradley. Linda nurses him, forages for food, builds shelter, basically is an all-around superstar, while Bradley is a whiney man-child who thinks he can build a raft off the island. She thrives on the island, really coming into herself (even her make-up is better), and he gets sunburnt – well, you get the gist. But there is more to Linda than what appears – she hasn’t forgotten how she was treated, and the bitterness is compounded by her loneliness, resulting in a movie which is a hybrid between slasher horror-comedy and thriller.

This movie is wont to leave viewers with confusion and opposing views because on the one hand it s well directed and written, but on the other, the twists are genre subverting in a way which doesn’t fit the narrative as a whole. Sam Raimi goes back to his Evil Dead roots with some of the gore and slasher scenes which give the movie an extra outworldly oomph (could have done without the gore, but it doesn’t take away anything from the movie, in fact, adds humour at some points). This movie is largely a two-handers with McAdams and O’Brien working with and over each other. Their dynamics in the movie as actors and characters they play is top-notch, and the reason why the movie is not trash. Another good thing is that the movie is original, with a premise most of us with day jobs will find relatable, and there is a ready hero of our stories in Linda at first blush.

If you check the internet, you will find people who have diametrically opposite views of the movie, and that is totally understandable. It is divisive in its greyness. Any more explanation and we will enter spoiler territory. Maybe it is something everyone decides for themselves – their choices in lives, and what makes them the way they are, which is not always and not in entirety in their control. Leaving you with such a crystal clear review, will definitely help you decide if you want to watch it or not. Not. It is a good movie, it is fun, thrilling, emotional and thought provoking. Do watch it with people so you can discuss and debate about it later.
(Interesting coincidence that this post is similar to the previous one in having Thailand as the location)

Caught Stealing

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://www.newyorker.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz,  Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bad Bunny
Where to watch: Netflix
To watch or not to watch: It is a fun ride, delivers what it promises, which is a non-exceptional chase thriller in New York, filled with quirky eccentric characters

Hank (Austin Butler) is a sweet, borderline alcoholic bartender, who is more than an average ball player and one of the biggest fans of Giants. One night, after closing up the bar, he returns home with his non-committed long term girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), only to find that his neighbour Russ (Matt Smith) is leaving for the airport to take care of his sick dad and has given the responsibility of his bad tempered cat Bud to Hank. Little does Hank know that Russ is running away from Russian mobsters who are out for Russ’ blood. They mistake Hank for Russ, and beat to a pulp so much so that he needs to be admitted to the hospital to remove his ruptured kidney. From there, he is contacted by narcotics detective Elise Roman (Regina King), who tells him that the ring of drugs run deeper than Russians. There is the Puerto Rican Colorado (Bad Bunny) who works with the Russians, who in turn owe Hasidic Drucker brothers (Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio), basically making a drug dealer’s Ponzi scheme. Fascinating.

The script is tight and clear, two of the most important and underrated things a script should be. It is fun to watch, doesn’t take itself too seriously (unlike Aronofsky’s Black Swan, The Whale, basically his entire filmography) and thus delivers what it promises, which is also not commonly seen these days. Another winning point in the movie’s favour is the character of Hank, who is unlike the macho, testosterone-filled action movie stars we see in these movies (cue: Jason Statham). Is he an alcoholic? Yes. Is he commitment-phobic? Also yes. But he calls his mother daily, is loyal and faithful to his non-girlfriend, takes care of a foul cat. And that’s adorable, and you don’t want the goons to be after someone so adorable. You are rooting for the guy. Even the bad guys aren’t totally bad; they are in a business and are only working to solve for the stolen merchandise. Some of them will observe the traditions set by their grandmothers and follow the rules of their religion (which added a little sumnin’-sumnin’, NGL). The real bad guys are the real surprise. This is a big shift from the regular grim Aronofsky flick, and it is a pleasant surprise that he is willing to experiment (and he goes with the body anti-dismorphia with Austin Butler).

Having said so many good things about the movie, there are some things which the movie fails to deliver. The individual gangsters are mostly cliched, the chase sequences predictable, the romantic storyline adding nothing much to the whole, etc. Basically, the parts that make it a whole, while flowing into each other seamlessly, are nonetheless not surprising. There are some unbelievable points like Hank being able to run right after getting his kidney removed, being a cliched hero with a traumatic past, a die-hard sports fan making him a stereotypical American, kinda make it a bit boring too. But here’s the thing, these parts also fit together, so you need to take the good with the bad, because altogether it is quite pleasant. Will highly recommend for a Friday night chill movie session. Austin Butler has great things ahead of him for sure.

MobLand

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment

Probably the only decent thing Guy Ritchie has been involved with recently

https://stanzedicinema.com/

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Starring: Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Paddy Considine, Joanne Froggatt, Lara Pulver, Anson Boon, Jasmine Jobson, Mandeep Dhillon, Daniel Betts, Geoff Bell
To watch or not to watch: Pierce Brosnan in his Irish drawl, Tom Hardy as a loyal fixer-upper, and Helen Mirren as a psycho/socio-path in a story about mobsters, family business and political play? Who can ignore it?

The Characters:
In a land up north, there are two families controlling the business of the underworld- the Harrigans and the Stevensons. An increasingly chaotic and unpredictable Conrad Harrigan (Pierce Brosnan) and an evil Meave (Helen Mirren), who can put Shakespearean villains to shame make up the patriarch and matriarch of the Harrigan family. They have three kids – Kevin (Paddy Considine), the youngest and the one most involved with the family business, Brendan (Daniel Betts) who has screwed up all the deals he ever put his hand in, and the sophisticated and efficient Seraphina (Mandeep Dhillon), a result of Conrad’s “quickie in the bathroom”, and forever a belittled by Meave. Kevin and his wife Bella (Lara Pulver) have a son Eddie (Anson Boon) who has been spoilt rotten by Meave. And all this is tied together by their man Friday, Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy) who is their cleaner-advisor-messenger-fixer-upper all rolled in one. Kevin and Harry were in the juvenile correctional facility together, and since then have been more brothers than friends.

The Scene:
Eddie Harrigan has gone off and killed Tommy Stevenson, and Richie Stevenson (Geoff Bell) is out for blood to avenge his son’s murder. While Eddie’s antics are not totally difficult for Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy) to fix and wipe clean, this is something which requires him pulling all stops. In this mess, there is Meave being an out-an-out sociopath and urging Eddie to continue being the slimy sleazeball that he is. In the parallel, Harry wants to control the fentanyl business which is currently with the Stevensons. We also have Bella concocting a plot of her own for some personal reasons. Then Brendan goes and tries to get Seraphina to participate in a plan with some dangerous people, all to prove to Conrad that he’s not a screw up. As can be expected, all this requires a lot of people management, change management and micromanagement of the conceited, spoilt brats, which is in the repertoire of Harry, keeping him busy, all to the chagrin of his wife Jan (Joanne Froggatt) and daughter.

MobLand is a really good show. Like, really good. The star is undoubtably Tom Hardy, followed by the plot, followed by Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, then everyone else follows. But this description itself casts a wide net as Tom Hardy is almost EVERYWHERE. He is probably the best and most efficient consigliere. There is nothing he bats an eye over, no problem too big/small/complicated. It is almost inspiring to watch his attitude to the jobs the unhinged and chaotic Harrigans ask of him. The plot with the multiple people trying to play to their own vanity, often to complete disregard to consequences is both frustrating and exhilarating. There are some sub-plots the series could have done without, but it doesn’t take much away from the main story. This is the gangster story audience can get behind, all complete with Fontaines DC’s Starbuster as title track. Cannot wait for season 2.

Heretic

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
A worthy attempt to subvert a genre, but loses its way halfway through
https://www.latimes.com/

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East
To watch or not to watch: It is a decent first watch, and has a lot of shock value, but take that away, and you have any generic thriller

2 LDS missionaries are trying to spread the word of their lord and saviour from home to home, come over to an isolated house near the end of a road. The house is occupied a Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) who had previously shown interest in learning about the LDS church. Since Mormon women can’t enter a house without a female present, the sisters Barnes and Paxton (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) check with Mr. Reed if he has a girl roommate. It starts raining heavily and after Mr. Reed’s confirmation that his wife, his soulmate is inside, the sisters enter Mr. Reed’s home, away from the torrential rain and a promise of pie. They discuss how religion is not the centre of culture anymore (which we witness in the initial few minutes where some young adults harass the two sisters). The three talk about how important it is to believe in a doctrine and find out through testing what one true religion is. And that is the whole premise of the devilry of Mr. Reed.

This is a clever movie, no denying that. In the typical horror movies we have seen, religion has been used as a weapon to ward off evil, be it The Exorcist, or the more recent Conjuring universe. This movie flips the trope on a tangent and raises the question – which is the correct, true, highest, purest religion? And theoretically, the road to the answer is paved with evil deeds by Mr. Reed (clever, right? *eyebrows wiggling*). And this is also the point where the movie loses its spiel. It begins as a debate on the truth taught by religion, which mostly asserts that that religion is the first religion, the one and the only. But what is first – The Landlord’s Game or Monopoly, Radiohead’s Creep or The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies or Get Free by Lana Del Ray. That is the debate, which gets lost in the rest of the movie. Or if it is present then it is only in words, not in action. Which kinda makes the whole premise lose steam.

The real pull of the movie is seeing Hugh Grant, the rom-com heartthrob who could star opposite Julia Roberts and make people wonder who is prettier of the two, as an old, wrinkled, charming man, with the signature Grant smile and the disarming look of dismay, as a conniving, heartless, sadistic misanthrope. Since this movie is essentially a three-hander chamber piece, it would have been a total dud if it wasn’t for Thatcher and East. They both have given themselves to their characters from beginning to end, and also developing themselves along the way. East being born into the church, but still curious about the world outside it and Thatcher being a convert and dedicating herself to it totally, completely. So strong is her conviction that she has converted 8-9 people through proselytising! It is interesting to see the two young women tackle their belief against a formidable opponent. But it doesn’t mean the story is strong, infallible or that its flaws can be written off as foibles. A worthy attempt in the age old genre, but needs improvement. Watch it with popcorn, but prepare to be disappointed.

Poker Face

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Starring:  Natasha Lyonne, Adrian Brody, Simon Helberg, Benjamin Bratt, Ron Perlman, Rhea Perlman and many other celebrities who appear for 1 episode
Where to watch: Peacock+/Jio Hotstar (2 seasons, 22 episodes in total, 50 min per episode)
To watch or not to watch: A must watch for people of all ages, preferences, inclinations, etc. And guaranteed fun!

Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) is a real life human life detector – she doesn’t need to check your pulse, or pupils, or anything such thing. She just knows, there is a tell, a small flicker somewhere in the voice, face, anywhere, which makes her call people’s bullshit. Excellent for a poker players, not so good when you run into criminals everywhere you go.
Well, Charlie is a layabout, easy going, cigarette smoking, beer drinking free spirit, who is banned from gambling because of her remarkable ability, but it helps the owners of said gambling dens to catch cheaters. But things take a turn for the worse when she becomes a target of the mafia and has to be on the run, where she inadvertently runs into murders and murderers and their victims leading to the case-of-the-week structure with many celebrity cameos.

The format of the show is similar to Columbo, where we see the crime happen in the opening sequence of the episodes and then we see how Charlie falls into the scene, only Charlie notices things like Psych or The Mentalist and solves the crimes with the help of her power. Of course, some episodes are better than the others, and the episodes go from good in the beginning of the season to mid in the middle and ending with real good ones. But even the mid episodes will not dim the charm of the show, primarily contributed by Lyonne’s Cale. This Johnson-Lyonne duo is a match made in heaven, where it looks like everyone was having fun while making it. The vibe of the show is easy and fun, and the cases they present are serious crimes.

There are quite a few articles comparing Poker Face with Elsbeth and it is a fair comparison – they both have the same format of opening sequence revealing the crime entire followed by the sleuthing to uncover it, where Elsbeth relies too much on the character’s quirk, Poker Face divides that between the quirk and the quality of the story. There is also an over-arching theme of Charlie Cale’s run for her life from thugs, which adds a bit more spice to the show. Over-all, Poker Face is just better. It is that simple. Rian Johnson has found his niche and is doing a good job in this genre enough that the fiasco of The Last Jedi can be forgiven, unless he ruins the Knives Out franchise with the new installment, that is. His story writing skills are equal to the directorial ones, giving us one banger after another. This one is not to be missed!

Novocaine

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://www.cinemablend.com/

Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Starring:  Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon
Where to watch: Prime Video
To watch or not to watch: It has only one joke, but it plays it well!!! A high dose of entertainment for all action movie lovers

Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) works as an Assistant Manager at a local bank, leads a simple, quiet life, has an unassuming personality, and has a crush on the teller by the name of Sherry (Amber Midthunder) who has the opposite personality of Nathan, being extroverted, a spitfire and full of spark. One day, some lowlives decide to rob the bank, and kidnap Sherry. Nathan being a one-woman-man, has ro rescue his woman from the thugs, even though they are not a real couple. But unbeknownst to people at large, Nathan has a superpower – he doesn’t feel pain. At all. Not even the bladder sensation to pee, or biting tongue while chewing, for example, which means that he has led most of his life sheltered and limited. Now with the love of his life (even if it was only one date) being kidnapped, the curse he has led most of his life threatening his very existence becomes his power where he can fight the bad guys without restraint (luckily he has some good fighting skills without ever learning them). So, that’s what happens – Nathan Caine, aka Novocaine to his bullies, becomes the knight in a bloody body armour to rescue his princess.

It is a good movie, it is fun, it doesn’t take itself seriously, and neither should you. It is a typical light-hearted movie where the trope is the underdog becoming a hero. That’s it. That’s the review.
Well, the last part can be explained a bit more. There are multiple moments where the plot is only a hole, where the cringe is high and gore is more. But then again, it did not promise to be a high intensity thriller with morals and takeaways. It is a plain and simple action comedy, which is hastily thrown together to make it a quasi-cohesive movie which delivers on entertainment. There is much to be said about self-awareness in the movie making world and it is almost always a positive character trait.

It is fun to see Quaid in a The Boys+Punisher mash-up of a role. He is good at it, and after The Boys, it is easier to see him in movies where things blow up and there is blood and gore. Maybe we are seeing him too much in this genre? He is a decent actor by all accounts, his role in The boys is nothing to sneeze at, and maybe because of the success of the series, he is not getting any other scripts? This is of course, only conjecture, unless Jack Quaid himself comments on the website (wishful thinking). This is only to say that he has potential to be more than one role, one character typecast into this. It will be fun for us, but maybe not so fulfilling for an actor of his calibre. Watch Novocaine on a movie night with a bunch of friends and have fun!

Oddity

Published on by cinemadilemmaLeave a comment
https://talesfromthepaulside.com/

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Starring:  Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, Caroline Menton
Where to watch: Prime Video
To watch or not to watch: Absolute must watch for lovers of supernatural horror movies. A simple movie with limited spread of the story which keeps the viewer bound

Dani (Carolyn Bracken) is married to psychiatrist Ted (Gwilym Lee) and they have recently moved to the countryside where she is renovating their home. Ted runs the local mental asylum and works at night. While Dani is alone at home, a patient of Dr Ted comes to warn her of a man who is trying to hurt her. Not entirely disbelieving the clearly disturbed man (with a glass eye) she goes inside and locks the door. Cut to a year later, Dani was brutally murdered that night, Ted has moved on and is now in a new relationship with Yana (Caroline Menton), Ted visits Dani’s blind identical twin sister Darcy in her antique store, to (not) invite her to his house (same as the one he bought with Dani) on the anniversary of his wife’s death. Darcy believes there to be more to the murder of her sister than the police have concluded and goes over to Ted’s house to stay for the night to find out more. To help her with this, she has also brought a wooden gollum, which was passed onto her by her mother.

This movie is goodddd… There are a many things which work in its favour and a few which don’t.
This movie excels in the feels, the creeps, the chills. The gollum placed at the head of the dining table, overlooking the entire living room, is one of those side eye pieces, which let us know there is something weird at all times. There are also some jump scares, which can be termed a cheap ploy, but somehow they work in this movie. There is an expectation of something about to happen, but when that thing happens, it is worth the slow build. And this movie is a slow build overall. There are some long scenes filled with conversations and timed pauses, and they slowly build the premise brick by brick. There are also some conversations which give clues to the whole story, thus conversations become vital.
At the same time, there are some plot holes, which are very small, but they are there. The whole movie is engrossing and a person probably will not notice the holes during the runtime, but they might nag later, after mulling over the movie. Thus this movie is a very good first watch, and delivers on expectations from a horror movie, but might not be worth a second watch.

The atmosphere of the movie is contributed largely by Carolyn Bracken as Darcy. The colourless portrayal of the character is so in contrast to the surrounding that it becomes a subconscious plot point. We know she has a quiet strength, which could have been explored further and could have added to the daunting nature of the supernatural. Gwilym Lee has the same acting skills as the wooden gollum, and the gollum had more screen time than Lee, which is fitting. All in all, a very good watch for all horror movie lovers.