Tag: Drama

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

The Skeleton Key (2005)

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“It can’t hurt you if you don’t believe.”

Have you ever been told a story by someone and impatiently waited for them to get to the point? Or, wondered what the context was to make it worth your time and worth caring about? We all have, even to the point that we avoid people who ramble on and on. It’s not that what they have to say isn’t interesting, but how they tell the story is confusing or boring. The Skeleton Key can be viewed as such a story. 

It’s a shame because once you get to the end of this movie, you understand what was explained previously (early on in the film) as very relevant, but the delivery is off. In any thriller, you want breadcrumbs, even false leads, but you want something to engage the audience and build up suspense. One could be forgiven for thinking the director constructed a poor story frame because of ineptitude. However, I posit it was done as a method for the audience to feel what the main character, Caroline (Hudson), felt. To be in the mindset of the protagonist. 

Caroline is a hospice caregiver working toward nursing school who leaves a facility to work as a live-in aid for a woman’s dying husband. Caroline cares so much that people don’t die alone; she ignores the warnings. Several other people have left the job posting, which pays $1,000 a week. It’s remote, the wife is deflective and rude, and the husband doesn’t actually seem like he’s dying. Mix all that in with some psychological swamp magic, and you have the setup for Skeleton Key.

Kate Hudson in ‘The Skeleton Key’ Image: Universal Studios via imdb.com

Part of getting into the mindset of the characters of this story for the director was filming on location in Louisiana. The atmosphere of the area, the house, would be a supporting character in a way for the cast to work off of. In a psychological thriller, I can see how that would help an actor’s performance. 

This role is a nice departure from the romantic comedies that Kate Hudson usually did when this film was made. It allowed her to flex her acting chops in a different manner, and it worked for her. Working alongside Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, and Peter Sarsgaard must have helped because they are all, respectively, amazing actors. John Hurt has only one line in the entire film; the rest is facial expressions and body language. He was an exceptional actor. 

John Hurt & Kate Hudson in ‘The Skeleton Key’ Image: Universal Studios via imdb.com

If you think of The Skeleton Key as a movie you turn your brain off for, ignoring logic for the duration of the film, it’s not a terrible way to spend almost two hours. It creates tension and suspense more than it scares. Considering the onslaught of horror/gore/thriller movies out there as a dime a dozen now and the mislabeling of most of them, it can be hard to find a film that fits what you are looking for as a viewer. I don’t like gore or over-the-top spectacle. What I appreciate is the buildup, suspense, and thrills with a twist. Something reminiscent of John Carpenter’s original Halloween or Alfred Hitchcock than Rob Zombie. To each their own. 

If you’re looking for a change of pace, something new to watch, or a new addition to a Halloween night movie line-up, you can’t go wrong with The Skeleton Key. It’s well written, if not purposefully ambiguous in the beginning, well acted, and has a good ending. If you go into seeing this knowing nothing about it, the more surprised you’ll be, which is how it should be: spoiler-free. So go ahead and add The Skeleton Key to your watchlist.

  • A Pen Lady

Director: Iain Softley  Rated: PG-13  Runtime: 1h 44m  Studio: Universal Studios Screenwriter: Ehren Kruger  Cast: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt, Joy Bryant

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

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Director & Screenwriter: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert  Runtime: 2h 19m  Rating: R  Studio: A24  Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong 

Metaphysical, Philosophical, Enlightened, Trippy, Emotional,

Everything Everywhere All At Once won the Academy Awards for Best Picture. It had a solid cast, great directing, and cinematography. The script was well-written, though the story was weird as flark to me. 

Michelle Yeoh is incredible (as always) as a Chinese female Dr. Strange knock-off named Evelyn. With hotdog fingers, googley-eyes, and repeated references to a multi-verse, it’s a pretty apt parallel. She is pushed through multiple points in the multi-verse, where she encounters various versions of herself, which are all vastly different from her, of course, where she alone has to save all universes by interacting with her other selves. All while during an IRS audit by Agent Beaubeirdre (Curtis). Who doesn’t want to experience an acid trip or mental breakdown while at the IRS? This is the most minor mind-bending aspect of EEAAO. 

 Along the way, she encounters other versions of her husband, Waymond (Quan), daughter Joy (Hsu), and father, Gong Gong (Hong). All give fantastic multi-faceted performances. Playing one version of a character is one thing, but playing multiple versions of that character is another level of acting ability. 

Brian Le, Michelle Yeoh, Andy Le in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’ 
Image: A24 via entertainmentweekly.com

The set designs are believable in the mundane, like the laundromat and apartment, to vivid and surreal other places. At a point, a person explodes into confetti just by being touched. While that’s bizarre, it’s also creative. Most of this film is full of examples of eccentric displays of behavior that borders on off-the-rails fun, and where the hell is this going? What’s the point of all this? This is the point, the second act, where I was done. There is so much going on simultaneously with no sense of where most of it connects to something else. Madness; it’s just chaotic. 

It’s not lost on me that this chaos personified parallels the madness we all face in life. A whole host of random shit we encounter and thus must deal with where from the outside it looks like total anarchy, and only from our inside takes does any of it make sense or have meaning. That mixed in with a question of “what if” about our potential and how and where our choices in life lead us. Family is also a big theme in this wacky film. Like the protagonist, there’s nothing humorous about my life. While I wish I could find solace in this cinematic display to enlighten people, they are not alone; they’re all on a similar, trippy ride, I can’t. It’s not my cup of tea, and that’s okay.

Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, & Jame Hong in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’ 
Image: A24 Studios via Syfy.com

That’s the beauty of so many stories and points of view within a global film industry; everyone can tell a story that’s (ideally) meaningful in some way to some.

One of my first thoughts on this film was, what were the writers on when they wrote this? I thought the same thing about the original Willie Wonka movie with Gene Wilder once I understood what hard drugs were because I didn’t enjoy it as a kid. I can watch it now as an adult, and maybe I’ll come around someday, too, for Everything Everywhere All At Once. Despite my aversion to this movie, I’d still say put it on your watchlist because if the story doesn’t bother you, you’ll find a well-directed and performed two hours of entertainment. 

-A Pen Lady

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

The Circle (2017)

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Directed: James Ponsoldt  Runtime: 1h 50m   Rated: PG-13  Screenwriter: James Ponsoldt, James Eggers  Studio: STX Entertainment  Cast: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, Patton Oswalt, John Boyega, Karen Gillan

The Circle is a film about an all-knowing, all-connected social media tech conglomerate with no history, making it no better than a bot. Except that we see it exists, it lives and breathes via the ideas and algorithms created by its creators, Eamon Bailey (Hanks) and Tom Stenton (Oswalt), who are anything but transparent. 

Based on the book of the same name, the setting is reminiscent of Apple’s headquarters. Yet, while watching this film, one can’t help but also think of Google, Facebook, and Amazon. It is a film that posits that “Knowing is good. Knowing everything is better.” The notion of privacy is stealing information from everyone else, so what’s the real agenda of a place like this and the people who run it? 

Emma Watson in ‘The Circle’. Image: STX Entertainment via IMdB.com

This film has a solid casting, and director James Ponsoldt squandered every one of their acting chops. It boggles the mind to cast actors with so much potential into roles pathetically void of depth or meaning. It’s akin to writing the first draft of a book and not fleshing out anything meaningful about each character besides their names, jobs, and what they look like.  

  Oswalt is a fantastic actor who does nothing more than stand around with a pissed-off look for the movie. Bill Paxton sits around and shakes. Karen Gillan’s Annie is nothing more than a once happy puppy (on Adderall) who, by the end of the film, is a hollow shell of a beaten dog with no real context except work burnout. Her character had the makings of a way for the director to peel back what The Circle does but backs off, forgetting the character entirely. All that pales next to Ty (Boyega), the creator of TrueYou, the app to end all other apps. TrueYou is The Circles’ most used feature; it renders every other app you use obsolete because it does it all. Except, like all well-meaning creations throughout history, it was implemented in a way Ty didn’t design it for. So Ty gets paid to sulk around the campus of The Circle. Why doesn’t he leave? For the paycheck, zero self-respect? Who knows, and the filmmaker isn’t interested in logic or backstory. Character development doesn’t exist here. 

Emma Watson & Karen Gillan in STX Entertainment’s ‘The Circle’ Image: Via vanityfair.com

I say story, but that’s being too generous; there’s the most basic story here, and the same with the plot. Considering this film is based on a novel whose author co-wrote the screenplay for this adaptation, it’s a wonder nothing meaningful made it to the screen. Having never read the book myself, this film gives me zero desire to do so. So what’s left? What should a viewer expect? Emma Watson’s Mae is a grateful young college graduate who gets a job at the best company in the world after a stint as a temp. Many people can relate to that and the overwhelming joy when starting. It’s here where we see the attempted point of this film: to show all that’s wrong with big tech, social media, and, by extension, the internet. The intersection of working for a company is your only life, productivity, and zero privacy. 

We give away little bits of our right to privacy when we create an account, download a new app, or subscribe to something. We expect our stuff not to be shared or sold without permission; we don’t consider the more significant implications in small bits. In The Circle, TrueYou does everything all apps used to do. Why use thirty apps when one will do? Streamlining is better, right? Would you give away your right to privacy when you see, all in one place, how much of you is actually out there? Do you understand the ramifications of using your personal information as analytics to sell you stuff, spy, or control you? It’s one area this movie gets right, getting the audience to think about how far is too far in balancing the right to privacy and transparency. 

Emma Watson, Patton Oswalt, & Tom Hanks in ‘The Circle’ Image: STX Entertainment via IMdB.com

The Circle is by no means the best film ever made. It had so much potential to be meaningful, but it’s a peacock; it’s all flash and little substance. Having said that, I’d still say put it on your watchlist. Why? For all its missteps, it made me think. It made me ask questions and provided an opportunity to have a conversation. I like stories like that, even if it didn’t translate to the big screen so well. It’s worth seeing once. 

-A Pen Lady

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

Quiz Show (1994)

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Directed: Robert Redford  Runtime: 2h 13m  Rated: PG-13  Screenwriter: Paul Attanasio, Richard N. Goodwin  Studio: Hollywood Pictures  Cast: Ralph Fiennes, John Turturro, Rob Morrow, Christopher McDonald, David Paymer, Hank Azaria, Mira Sorvino

In celebration of the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike and a brand new year, I went way back for this week’s review. I first saw Quiz Show in 1999 during my video production class at the vocational school I went to in high school. At that point, this film was around five years old, and when you’re learning about the history of television, it’s a great example to use in class. 

Quiz Show follows the real-life story of people involved in rigging quiz shows in the 1950s. The first television broadcast was in 1928, but it wasn’t until the later part of the 1940s and 1950s that TVs in the home started to become commonplace. As such, the newly established TV networks (only a handful) needed content to air. Game shows were a massive hit and a large portion of programming. One such show was called ‘Twenty-One.’

Most of Quiz Show follows the real-life events of the’ Twenty-One’ scandal but also takes artistic license. It is a movie, after all. It follows the rise and fall of contestants Herb Stempel (Turturro) and Charles Van Doren (Fiennes) after Dick Goodwin’s (Morrow) attention peaked after an article came out in the New York Times. Goodwin is a member of a Congressional oversight committee in Washington, D.C., that oversees television broadcasts. The burning question was, were contestants given the answers ahead of time?

Ralph Fiennes, Christopher McDonald, & John Turturro in ‘Quiz Show.” Image credit via Metacritic.com

It is a well-written script, and compelling real-life events can make that easier to accomplish; Quiz Show is no exception. The story comes to life beyond just the salacious details of the scandal because this movie has an excellent cast. At its core, Quiz Show makes everyone question their integrity and morals. Is it fraud? Is it okay to lie to the audience about what they are watching when they think it’s all real? Where is the line? What is the crime? 

The quiz shows scandals of the 1950s, while not talked about in the film, did alter the course of TV broadcasting and advertising that still applies largely to this day. Laws were changed, regulations were created, and it is also the single reason commercials exist today. Over sixty years later, network TV and advertisements via commercials have stagnated in their purposes in the wake of streaming services and no-ad plans. When you can’t sell air time between show segments for companies to sell stuff to viewers, how do they make money when the viewer just wants to watch their show? Where is that balance that no longer exists? 

‘Quiz Show’ is A Hollywood Pictures film. Image Credit: Via IMdB.com

Network TV took over as the primary communication source from radio, as streaming and the internet have now done to TV. However, this transition is not as seamless or profitable, and in that, actors and writers are the ones questioning integrity and morals now instead of the government. They are the ones now saying, ‘This is not okay,’ and trying to figure out where the new line in the sand is on balance in this changing and expanding entertainment arena. 

Quiz Show is a wonderfully acted and directed story that uses its runtime to the fullest. It shows the dog and pony show of how early TV operated. Yet, it’s still an adept cautionary tale of the pitfalls of working in broadcasting (in an age where “reality TV” still exists, no less). An aged nugget in the cinematic archives, Quiz Show, is a movie everyone should have on their watchlist.

-A Pen Lady

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

The Forgiven

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Director & Screenwriter: John Michael McDonagh   Runtime: 1h 57m Rated: R   Studio: House of Un-American Activities Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Ismael Kanoter, Saïd Taghmaoui

Set in the middle of nowhere of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, a large group of rich white people attend a lavish weekend-long party. On the way, a local boy is run over in the dark, killing him. 

Ralph Fiennes is David Menninger, a jaded London doctor; and a drunk. Jessica Chastain is vastly underutilized as Jo Menninger, David’s malcontent wife and sometimes novelist. For that matter, Matt Smith’s Richard, the party’s host, is given little to work with too. It’s a shame because they both have fantastic acting chops. 

While Richard instructs David to be nice and seem sorry when the cops show up, he wonders why he should. The boy stepped in front of the car in the dark of night; how is it David’s fault? The boy is a nobody to him. But he relents as it’s Richard and his partner’s villa. No one wants the local cops looking too closely at the gay couple and their guest’s activities.  

Matt Smith and Caleb Landry Jones in ‘The Forgiven’ from House of Un-American Activities studio via Limelightmag.com

The trailer for The Forgiven implies way more drama and suspense than there is. That’s not to say the film isn’t filled with emotional subtext with gravitas and subtly. It is; coupled with racist, homophobic, and culturally inappropriate lines, which might be forgivable if the film’s story was more robust. After all, a story is all the events that, when appropriately arranged, show a straightforward plot. The plot is clear-ish, but it doesn’t answer the “why” about three prominent aspects of the film. Plot holes that ruin the whole point of a movie vex me. 

At one point, the dead boy’s father, Abdellah (Ismael Kanater), arrives at the villa with two other men, one a translator (Taghmaoui). It is customary (apparently) for David to come with Abdellah to bury the boy. David thinks it’s a shakedown, or that they’re ISIS, that they’re going to kill him—all of the above. Richard gets David on board, and off he goes into the middle of nowhere. Everyone else gives in to champagne-guzzling, cocaine-fueled frivolity. 

Ismael Kanoter in ‘The Forgiven’ from Roadside Attractions via MovieNation.com

It’s when David leaves that the audience gets a clearer, more purposefully depicted show of the cultural divide between these Western elitist twats and the Muslim desert locals. 

The weekend-long guilt trip finally gets to David—showing he’s not just a drunken racist is asking too much of even an actor with Ralph Fiennes skillset. Why? For this established character’s character, it’s utterly unbelievable! More likely, he’s channeled his deep need for a drink (after going without for a few days) into something other than anger/contempt. He still thinks he’s going to die. 

Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes in ‘The Forgiven’ from Roadside Attractions via The Tribeca Film Festival

The ending doesn’t go with the rest of the film’s tone. The Forgiven is very much a juxtaposition of two cultures. Still, the film’s final act shifts too much to an artsy avant-garde feeling. That feeling does not blend well with the rest of the movie’s tone and established awful characters. 

The Forgiven had potential, but there are too many rough edges to make it worth watching, so skip putting it on your watchlist. 

-A Pen Lady 

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

The Founder (2016)

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Directed: John Lee Hancock  Rated: PG-13  Runtime: 1h 55m  Studio: TWC   Screenwriter: Robert Siegel  Cast: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Linda Cardellini, Laura Dern, Patrick Wilson

The Founder follows the life-changing meetup of Ray Kroc (Keaton) and the McDonalds brothers. Highlighting the rise of instant gratification, meeting consumerism, and the billion-dollar-a-year business it all gave rise to; under the golden glow of some arches. 

In 1954 Ray Kroc was a desperate, terrible salesman. He saw potential buyers as dollar signs, nothing more. His only sales pitch never connected to those he attempted to sell milkshake machines. Except for one place, it wasn’t because Ray was a good salesman. 

John Carroll Lynch, Nick Offerman, and Michael Keaton in ‘The Founder’ Image Credit: TWC via Setdecorators.org

That big sale was to Dick (Offerman) and Mac (Lynch) McDonald’s restaurant in Southern California, the co-owners of the legitimately first McDonald’s hamburger joint. They liked what they had, appreciated that it worked (with proper oversight), and were content with their creation. Ray, on the other hand, saw potential and lots of dollar signs. That’s part of the ‘American dream,’ right? Why be content when you can be rich?

In the film, Ray aims to get the brothers to franchise and to see things his way. But they always say no. Some see the brothers as stubborn fools, but they aren’t; greed wasn’t their thing. They were happy, and Ray couldn’t understand this because nothing satisfied him.

‘The Founder’ Image: TWC via beyond50radio.com

That’s what The Founder boils down to, an antagonist who didn’t understand contentment and protagonists who were blind to how deep ambition went, what Ray calls persistence.

The casting for The Founder is superb. Offerman and Lynch are so in-tune with their characters and how they play off one another. It’s seamless. Keaton does a marvelous job of playing well–the walking personification of a greedy dick. 

Michael Keaton in ‘The Founder’ Image: TWC via Vox.com

Films based on a true story are only sometimes well done, let alone accurate, but the essence of the characters in this movie is spot on. It’s an excellent example of a cautionary tale of what happens to the “little guy” when legal loopholes, someone else’s vision, and manipulation play a role in a takeover. 

Cinematically this film is well-directed, edited, and flows logically from one part to the next. It’s easy to watch and compelling enough of a story to keep viewers engaged. I found it interesting, and I don’t even like McDonald’s. I haven’t eaten there in almost 20 years. Not every bio epic is done well, but The Founder is and is worth a place on your watchlist. 

A Pen Lady

2/23/23

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

Contagion (2011)

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Directed: Steven Soderbergh  Rated: PG-13  Runtime: 1h 46m Studio: Warner Bros.  Screenwriter: Scott Z. Burns Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Ehle, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow

Tell me if this sounds familiar; an animal, a virus, fear, global contagion, millions die, the military is involved, a run on goods at stores, and the entire world stops. So why isn’t this a review of Rise of Planet of the Apes? That’s what you were thinking, right? I understand your confusion. The plot of that film and Contagion is very similar, and Rise debuted in theaters a month before this one. 

Dystopian disasters and end-of-the-world films never seem to go out of style. In 2011, Contagion seemed like a dystopian reality that couldn’t actually happen. Then, a decade later, Covid-19 shut the world down. Life imitated art. To watch Contagion now, to sit and view an odd re-telling of a reality we’ve lived through, with its eerily similar accurateness in so many regards, is unsettling. 

A woman (Paltrow) travels home from a work trip in Hong Kong. She feels a bit off but chalks it up to jet lag. The C.D.C. and World Health Organization (W.H.O.) are involved within the next few days. 

Now, hindsight is a bitch. After living through COVID and watching a movie like this afterward, it would be difficult not to question how certain things are done in this film. However, some basic protocols and procedures, and policies have existed for a long time with groups like the C.D.C. and WHO, so how are they not used in this film? Like C.D.C. employees walking around sick people (especially before you figure out how the virus travels) with no masks on! It’s not like we will forget that actress is Kate Winslet or that actor is Matt Damon. 

Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, & Jennifer Ehle in Warner Bros. Pictures ‘Contagion’ Image: Cinemablend.com

This film also calls what’s going on an epidemic, when that’s not accurate either. It is, in fact, a pandemic. It’s like no one bothered to proofread medical terms. Dictionaries must have been so hard to come by for some reason in 2011. Digressing from that are the components of this film that resonate with real life (now) all too well. It has pure scientists, skeptics/conspiracy theorists/deniers, governments, angry crowds, looters, scavengers, and piles of dead people. With all that going on, there’s still a well-written script, acting, and set designs (such as they are). It also has a great, simple explanation for how a virus travels and how contagious (or not) it may be in a way I never heard someone say during the real-life pandemic. 

The overall atmosphere of Contagion is excellent, without taking itself too seriously despite the heavy subject matter. The cast is terrific, not just with the delivery of their lines but the emotional resonance behind them. Cotillard’s Dr. Leonora Orantes, Ehle’s Ally Hextall, Winslet’s Dr. Erin Mears, and Fishburne’s Dr. Ellis Cheever get the lion’s share of the screen time, and they are all wonderful with the material they are given. 

Marion Cotillard & Chin Han in ‘Contagion’ from Warner Bros. Pictures Image: Telegraph.co.uk

Winslet and Cotillard play epidemiologists, and they both deliver a performance that makes me feel for those that do this job in real life. I was more interested in those characters than in Matt Damon’s. His character represents the average person’s reaction to such an event. Perhaps I’m jaded after the last few years, but as a viewer, I liked the informational perspective, mainly because that wasn’t my reality. With a film like Contagion, people will take away something a little different from others, and that’s okay. Soderbergh packs a ton into this film.

Alan Krumwiede’s (Law) denier mentality is tame compared to real life, yet his tactics via his blog and interviews are spot on. Jude Law doesn’t get as much screen time as the other characters, but his character’s inclusion breaks up everything else to help with flow. One might think his character is the antagonist, but he’s not; the virus is. You can’t yell, shoot, or negotiate with a virus, and its ‘agenda’ (if you will) doesn’t discriminate against whom it goes after.

Jude Law in ‘Contagion’ from Warner Bros. Pictures Image: via LaTimes.com

This isn’t an action disaster film. There are no mobs hoarding supplies protected by large groups like in The Walking Dead; it’s a slow unfolding of events in a manner not usual for this genre. Yet it works. I particularly like how the film hops from one location to another around the globe to show how the virus is perceived by other cultures and how they handle it. 

The trailer for this film is well done too. It gives you enough relevant information to tell you about what you’ll be watching but gives nothing important away. The tone-setting music is perfect as well. It may not be something everyone wants to watch after the past few years, but at some point, Contagion is worthy of a place on your watchlist. 

-A Pen Lady

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

Causeway (2022)

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Directed: Lila Neugebauer  Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry Rated: R  Runtime: 1h 32m  Studio: A24/Apple TV  Screenwriters: Ottesa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel, Elizabeth Sanders

Causeway follows Lynsey (Lawrence), a woman from a crappy family who gets out of her Louisiana town the same way many in her situation do; she joins the military. When an explosion overseas leaves her with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), she’s sent home. She believes, as many service members often do that she’ll recover enough to return to duty. But to recover, she’s sent to the one place she doesn’t want to be; home. 

The filmmaker starts with the mundane—the part where Lynsey must learn how to be a person again. Cinematically the tone of the film conveys “the everyday person” and the settings that go with it. It’s subdued but thoughtful. The characters are silently driven by deep emotions, which reverberate in everything they do. 

Nothing exciting happens in this film. It’s the exhale between heartbeats, where the precipitating events already occurred, and what’s left is the aftermath. Being in the shoes of the broken is what Causeway wants from its audience. Usually, stories about returning war vets are male leads/perspectives and how it affects them and their families. It’s refreshing to see a female lead because women also serve and are affected by war trauma. 

Brian Tyree Henry and Jennifer Lawrence in A24/Apple TV’s ‘Causeway’ via NYT.com

The script is well written. It considers the nuances of dealing with a TBI, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, guilt, and depression. The life-numbing psychological toll it plays on a person, with none of the loud, stereotypical bullshit. Lynsey is in her own private hell, so when she encounters James (Henry), who is living with his own pain and guilt from a life-altering event, the two become friends. Lynsey’s personality makes this new relationship difficult, but James mostly understands. 

Causeway’s script is a masterclass depicting people in their most vulnerable state. Showing the raw emotional parts of ourselves that we all have, but without the fluff, heavy exposition, and unnecessary buildup. The tone and flow of this film are spot on. Those involved did their homework on these topics or knew someone well enough to reflect accurately on them. 

Jayne Houdyshell and Jennifer Lawrence in ‘Causeway’ from A24/Apple TV via IMDb.com

I wasn’t sure I wanted to review this film because, at first, I wasn’t sure how to articulate the nothingness I felt when it was over. Causeway didn’t make me consider the perspective of people with TBIs, PTSD, or guilt. And I appreciate serious films that make the audience think about the subject matter they’re watching. I felt nothing about how the movie ended. I’m not heartless, but I know people who have gotten TBIs. I have PTSD and a few members of the alphabet soup club, so I get it. I don’t have to put myself in the character’s shoes; in a way, I already have a pair. In this movie, the audience doesn’t see who Lynsey was before, only how she is now. The adulterated version of her is what there is now, despite whatever progress she makes for herself. 

Causeway is a looking glass into a subject, a reality for many that aren’t talked about enough and not understood enough by the average person. It depicts valuable insight into a reality many deal with and suffer through and is worth discussing. You may only ever watch it once, but Causeway deserves a place on your watchlist. 

-A Pen Lady

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

Moonfall (2022)

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Directed: Roland Emmerich  Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 2h 10m Studio: Lionsgate Movies Screenwriter: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser, Spencer Coen 

Cast: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Michael Peña, Kelly Yu

Some movies are “so bad, they’re good,” which is a polite way of stating ‘it sucks, but not so much I couldn’t sit through it again.’ Moonfall is no such movie.

Watching the trailer for Moonfall, I cringed and snickered while the lines from a Britney Spears song popped into my brain regarding director and writer Roland Emmerich; “Oops!…I did it again!” 

In Moonfall, it’s not an all-out alien invasion, this time out to destroy Earth. No, it’s the ludicrous, deeply implausible manner in which the moon will swing around Earth until it smashes into it completely. 

Emmerich certainly has a genre type he likes to make, but his problem isn’t the genre; he can’t write anything original for it anymore. He suffers from the same issues as director/writer James Cameron; they recycle their past works with new packaging. It’s reminiscent of a bad copy-and-paste job for a word file. We, the audience, see it and the flaws, but why do we keep going to see these? Continuing to see these insults to cinema is (partly) why studios keep green-lighting these projects. We, the movie-goers, must stop this crazy cycle! Other filmmakers are guilty of this too, but it takes a certain level of arrogance and stupidity to keep letting it happen with high-budget projects. How many regurgitations of the same story from the same filmmaker do we need? 

Halle Berry & Patrick Wilson in Lionsgate Movies ‘Moonfall’ via NYT.com

Besides Moonfall giving off watered-down Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow, Armageddon, and Transformers vibes, in the weakest sense, plot and storyline-wise, is the terrible dialogue! Point of observation, if you, the writer, write lines so frequently, in a non-comedic attempt, that has viewers thinking, “no shit, Sherlock,” or “thank you, Captain Obvious,” so much you could get half drunk a third of the way in, you need to rewrite. Or burn the script and start again. 

Even a good cast couldn’t have saved Moonfall from this poorly-written script, even with a good director. Yet, with Moonfall, the writing is mediocre (I’m being kind), the plot/story is ridiculous…and the acting. They may be lovely people, but when Halle Berry and John Bradley are your prominent cast members, even next to Patrick Wilson, what about that casting choice implies this film won’t be an abject failure? Halle Berry is the top billing for this film; I know it’s going to suck before I ever watch the trailer (totally misleading, BTW) because she can’t act! 

Image from Lionsgate Movie’s film ‘Moonfall’ via Polygon.com

The characters are all just…there. You can tell who’s related, who can’t stand who (and why), and how others are connected. Cool. It’s the end of the world, so who wouldn’t want their families safe? Still, none of them have depth or develop into someone or a subplot you want to root for. Why bother watching if you’re not invested in the characters or the story? 

There are so many plot holes and basic scientific blunders; the moon might as well be real Swiss cheese! How many people are required to launch a space shuttle? Three? Five? Oh, and the arrogance factor! A global catastrophe is occurring, and America is the only country to act or have a say in what to do about the moon. And, of course, there are nukes. At least in Emmerich’s Independence Day, there was communication and cooperation, or attempts at it. Here, no one but NASA is in charge until even they say, “fuck it, I’m out.” It’s a wonder the writers of this film had the balls to think the sequel they set this film up for would ever see the light of day. That will never happen! 

John Bradley in ‘Moonfall’ by Lionsgate Movies via DigitalSpy.com

If Independence Day 3 ever happens, I’d rather see that than watch this film again, let alone a sequel. Comparatively, Independence Day: Resurgence was a far superior film (that Emmerich only directed, thankfully) worth rewatching, or just about any other disaster/apocalyptic movie. 

Moonfall isn’t “so bad it’s good;” it’s a master class on multiple things not to do in a film. Ever. That’s nothing to waste your free time on, so skip placing this movie on your watchlist.

-A Pen Lady

Film Critic, Movie Blog, Movie Reviews

Empire Records (1995)

apenlady

Director: Allan Moyle Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 1h 30m
Studio: New Regency (Warner Bros.) Screenwriter: Carol Heikkinen
Cast: Liv Tyler, Ethan Embry, Robin Turner, Johnny Whitworth, Rory Cochrane, Debi Mazer, Renée Zellweger, Coyote Shivers, Maxwell Caulfield

Adolescence is messy and confusing; adulthood doesn’t improve this, and Empire Records zeros in on this truth, though audaciously. 

Films set in ’a day in the life’ can be challenging to embody multiple points about movies that make them watchable. Character development is such an area. Several characters staff the store at Empire Records, but there isn’t just one main focus. This film is centered around the plot, with the characters woven in, telling the story (as they should be) even if none of them is deep or developed. There’s just this right mix, blending, to make it all right. 

Rory Cochrane in ‘Empire Records’ by New Regency via IMDb.com

Joe (Lapaglia) is the manager of Empire Records, who is beloved by his (clearly longstanding) employees. Lucas (Cochrane) learns that the owner, Mitchell, wants to sell the store to a big box chain music outlet. Doing so insults independent stores and expression and would see them all fired. So, he takes all the money from that day’s sales and heads off to Atlantic City instead of the bank. That doesn’t go to plan and helps fuel the main drive of the story. To top off learning he’s been robbed (the next day), Joe must contend with the has-been 80s pop star, Rex Manning (Caulfield), being in his store signing autographs. The filmmakers seemed to go for a mashup of David Hasslehoff and Fabio, wearing tight ass pants and a puffy pirate shirt. 

Forget the reality that the store is constantly full of people, and a large chunk of the film centers around most of the staff in the back or elsewhere. Those extras are off-screen; think of them as paused for these moments. In these moments, we see slices of each employee as people and friends. Professionally who wouldn’t want all their workers to jive well together? Who wouldn’t want to go to a job they enjoyed without worrying about co-worker goobers? I think it’s a great accomplishment writing-wise and shown cinematically because they are all very different people. But that’s what you should strive for in a business like a record store, a great blend of people who are going to know a bit about every music type so they can best interact with the customers. However, there are few interactions with the customers in this store. There’s still time to catch shoplifters, which is one of the funnier sequences in the movie. 

Maxwell Caulfield & Brendan Sexton III in New Rengecy’s ‘Empire Records’ via Slashfilms.com

The cast is full of many actors who were early into their careers and went on to do more significant and more notable parts. Liv Tyler for Armageddon and Lord of the Ring trilogy. Ethan Embry for Can’t Hardly Wait, Sweet Home Alabama, Once Upon a Time. Robin Tunny in The Craft and The Mentalist. Empire Records is a fun story that needs to be enjoyed for the feel-good comedy of becoming an adult in the mid-90s. It’s not campy or cheesy and has a well-blended soundtrack that merges perfectly with the pace and tone of the overall film. Was it a box office flop? Hell yes! 

Empire Records is a film that knows what it is. It was never difficult to sell or market to the public, yet the studio utterly failed with the trailer for this film. They over-explained, gave away too many details, and left nothing to the imagination. If they had given this movie a proper trailer, more people would have gone to see it. Empire Records is on the list of films that bombed at the box office but rose to cult classic status, deservedly. 

Johnny Whitworth, Renée Zellweger, & Liv Tyler in New Regency’s ‘Empire Records’ via Ranker.com

If watching comedic movies without thinking about them seriously is your idea of a good time, Empire Records is a hidden nugget worth a place on your watchlist. Watch the trailer at your own risk. I dislike it so much that I opted not to include it in this post, but nothing I said was a spoiler, as it was in the trailer. Cheers!

-A Pen Lady