mid90s review

MID90S:

JONAH HILL’S DIRECTORIAL DEBUT IS AS POIGNANT AS IT IS NOSTALGIC!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

ADVISORY: This review contains some strong language

A24

Sunny Suljic and Na-kel Smith in mid90s

            Jonah Hill (Superbad, Moneyball, This is the End) takes us back in time to the 90s in his directorial debut, the new coming of age comedy-drama, mid90s. This man continues to impress me with his career, whenever I think of Hill I think back to his crude, foul-mouthed portrayal of Seth in Superbad, now he’s moved on to becoming an Oscar nominated actor for Moneyball and finally making the transition to directing.

            Given his background in comedy, you probably wouldn’t expect Hill to direct a movie like this, but he manages to deliver an honest yet touching story about adolescence and growing up. I don’t think it stands quite as tall as other coming of age stories like Boyhood or Lady Bird, but it doesn’t need to, mid90s accurately brings the era to life and carries a thoughtful story along with it.

            It’s clear Jonah did his homework and knew what he was doing while writing and directing this movie. The film is shot in an aspect-ratio similar to that of a home video camera, skateboarding was everywhere, and things that were popular at the time such as Nirvana, Super Nintendo, Street Fighter II, Beavis and Butt-Head, rap music, and PlayStation are present, it really feels like a time capsule put on-screen.

            The film follows a 13-year-old boy named Stevie (Sunny Suljic-The Killing of a Sacred Deer, God of War (2018 game), The House with a Clock in Its Walls) living in 1990s Los Angeles with his single mother, Dabney (Katherine Waterston-Steve Jobs, Fantastic Beasts 1 and 2, Logan Lucky) and aggressive older brother, Ian (Lucas Hedges-Manchester by the Sea, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Boy Erased). Life is rough for Stevie, he doesn’t have many friends, spends most of his time alone, and takes beatings from his brother.

            One day, Stevie comes across a Motor Avenue skate shop and befriends a group of young delinquents, Ruben (Gio Galicia), Ray (Na-kel Smith), Fuckshit (Olan Prenatt), and Fourth Grade (Ryder McLaughlin), all sorts of hijinks ensue, and Stevie finally has a place where he can fit in. He picks up smoking, drinking, and getting into all kinds of shenanigans with his new friends, however, these simple gang members may be wiser than they appear, and Stevie might even learn a few life lessons along the way.

            Overall, mid90s is a strong first directing effort from Jonah Hill and a poignant coming of age story. You can tell he’s writing and directing from the heart and the young stars sell every moment of it.

            Not going to lie but Sunny Suljic might be one of the best child actors I’ve seen in a really long time. All throughout the movie I forgot I was watching an actor and thought I was watching a real kid, he swears, gets into trouble, and breaks the rules, guess what? Those are kids and Suljic’s performance feels natural whenever he’s on-screen.

            I really like how they don’t make him out as a bad kid, despite him hanging out with a group of delinquents. Kids are allowed to make mistakes and do things that they’re not supposed to, so they can learn from them and try to do better as they grow up, and both Hill and Suljic knew this as you root for Stevie every step of the way.

            Of course, the supporting cast is just as strong as its protagonist, mostly consisting of newcomers. Na-kel Smith portrays the leader of the skater gang very well and has some great chemistry with Suljic, Gio Galicia does a solid job as the formerly youngest member of the group who eventually becomes jealous of Stevie, and let’s face it we’ve all had a friend or acquaintance like that, Olan Prenatt has some funny moments as Fuckshit though he can get a little annoying at times, and Ryder McLaughlin as the quiet member with a desire of becoming a filmmaker, basically a blonde-haired version of James Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd), but I digress, it works.

            My only complaints are with the mother and older brother characters, Katherine Waterston and Lucas Hedges portray them well, but I felt there wasn’t much time devoted to them. We don’t really see what the mom does for a living or the brother’s side of the story, a lot of the times after an argument with the mom or a fight with the brother it immediately cuts back to the kid with the gang, I think they would have been much stronger characters if we got to explore their lives a little bit more.

            But, that’s not where the focus needs to be, it’s supposed to be on our young protagonist and his journey of self-identity and purpose. Those are just a couple of things I think would make the narrative a bit stronger, but as is it’s still an engaging film.

            Mid90s is a sign for a bright future for Jonah Hill as a director, and a nostalgic yet poignant trip back in time to the 90s. It’ll make you laugh, cry, and point at the screen and say “Wow, I remembered that”.

Johnny English Strikes Again review

JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN:

ASIDE FROM A FEW LAUGHS, IT’S MUCH OF THE SAME!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Rowan Atkinson in Johnny English Strikes Again

            Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean, Rat Race, Scooby-Doo) returns as bumbling MI7 agent, Johnny English in Johnny English Strikes Again, the third installment in the Johnny English film series dating back to 2003. I remembered being 9 or 10 years old when the first movie was being advertised and thought “This looks really stupid!” I didn’t even bother seeing it in the theater, it looked so dumb to me, a similar response I had regarding Mr. Bean’s Holiday in 2007 (Apparently, I was an evil child back then).

            I eventually warmed up to it and decided to give it a watch when it came out on DVD and it was pretty funny. Is it a dumb movie? Undeniably, but through well-timed slapstick and jokes, homages/parodies of popular spy movies, particularly James Bond, and Atkinson’s dopey but likable portrayal of the character, ended up being a box-office hit, despite its mixed critical reception and a nice introduction to Rowan Atkinson’s comedy for a lot of kids.

            The exact same thing happened to me when its sequel, Johnny English Reborn was released in 2011. I thought this was going to be the one that would crash and burn, not to mention I was starting my senior year of high school when it was coming out, so I wasn’t really seeing movies like this at the time, but like its predecessor I watched it at home and it turned out to be funny.

            After watching the second film, I thought for sure it would be the end of this buffoonish spy, give him seven years and you got the third film. Unlike its predecessors, I came in with some excitement but tried to keep an open mind and…it’s the one that crashes and burns unfortunately.

            I wouldn’t go as far to calling it awful and it still has some legitimately funny moments, but compared to the first two, it’s just more of the same and left me feeling disappointed. Very often while the movie was playing I thought “Oh, there’s Rowan Atkinson being a doofus again!” or “Here’s that gag again!”, these are signs that his Johnny English character is wearing thin.

            When a massive cyber-attack strikes the MI7 and exposes the identities of all their current field agents, they are forced to reinstate an older agent as Britain’s last hope. They enlist Johnny English (Atkinson), now working as a geography teacher who secretly trains his students in the art of espionage, to track down the culprits behind the attack with the help of his sidekick, Bough (Ben Miller-The Armstrong & Miller Show, Death in Paradise, Paddington 2) and a beautiful yet seductive Russian spy, Ophelia (Olga Kurylenko-Hitman, Quantum of Solace, Oblivion), before these mysterious cyber criminals launch another attack so big it will make the entire world go dark.

            The film also stars Emma Thompson (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Nanny McPhee 1 and 2, Men in Black 3) as the British Prime Minister, Adam James (Band of Brothers, De-Lovely, Last Chance Harvey) as Pegasus, Jake Lacy (Better with You, The Office, Carol) as Jason Volta, Pippa Bennett-Warner (Patient Zero, Silent Witness, Sick Note) as Lesley, Miranda Hennessy (Give Out Girls, Pramface, The Royals) as Tara, Matthew Beard (And When Did You Last See Your Father?, An Education, The Imitation Game) as P, and Pauline McLynn (Father Ted, Shameless, EastEnders) as Mrs. Trattner.

            Overall, Johnny English Strikes Again doesn’t “Strike” as hard as it should and just has Rowan Atkinson acting like an idiot for an hour and a half with a few legit laughs jumbled into a lacking and uninspired script. I’m not acting like the first two got it right, all the Johnny English movies are dumb movies and have very recycled plots, but they felt fresh at the time and even the sequel had some variety in jokes.

            Here, it feels like the script was written and the movie was made simply for a paycheck, the writers have clearly run out of ideas and there’s really nowhere else you can take the character. So, they decided not to try and instead do Johnny English paint by numbers with a lot of “Been there, done that” gags and plot points and very little imagination and wit.

            With that said, there are some funny moments in here, such as a scene where English disguises himself as a waiter at a French restaurant where the culprit is dining and attempts to flambé some lobster only to accidentally set the entire place on fire, and a downright hilarious sequence involving virtual reality. This is the kind of stuff I look for in a Johnny English movie and wanted more of that, but I didn’t quite get it.

            It’s a shame because I think Rowan Atkinson is a comedic genius when it comes to visual gags and slapstick. Similar to Jim Carrey, he has a very rubbery and expressive face and is able to contort it as well as his body in humorous, almost animated ways, even when he’s in a bad movie he manages to add some kinetic energy to the film, couldn’t you have added more here?

            Johnny English Strikes Again is…watchable, it’s not bad enough to induce anger but not good enough to watch again. If you’re a fan of Rowan Atkinson’s humor, the previous Johnny English films, or you just want to take your kids to something silly, you’ll have an inoffensive time, and with a recommendation like that closing the review, this dopey MI7 agent has run his course and desperately needs a retirement.

            

Halloween review

HALLOWEEN:

MICHAEL MYERS AND THE FRANCHISE GO BACK TO THEIR SLASHER MOVIE ROOTS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND MIRAMAX

Michael Myers is back to finish what he started in Halloween

            The legendary slasher movie killer, Michael Myers (Nick Castle-Escape from New York, The Last Starfighter, Major Payne) returns in the eleventh installment of the long-running Halloween film series and a direct sequel to the original 1978 John Carpenter classic. The original Halloween movie remains one of the most cherished and iconic films of all time, it was a hit with both critics and audiences at the time of its release, made Jamie Lee Curtis (A Fish Called Wanda, True Lies, Freaky Friday (2003)) a household name, and it continues to be watched by many every year.

            Even if you’ve never seen the movies, you know who Michael Myers is and have probably seen his image before. You could make the argument that he was one of the original slasher movie villains and an inspiration for Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13^th.  

            Halloween stood on its own as a horror movie classic, but then it made money and the studios wanted more. What was once a self-contained scary flick is now a massive franchise spawning seven sequels from 1981-2002 as well as a remake in 2007 directed by Rob Zombie, which also spawned its own sequel in 2009.

            While commercially successful, most of the Halloween sequels were poorly-received, some are better than others not going to lie, but none of them were able to recreate the fear and thrills of the original…until now.

            Ignoring the continuity of the sequels, director, David Gordon Green (Snow Angels, Pineapple Express, Joe) and producer, Jason Blum (The Purge franchise, Split, Get Out) take the franchise back to its roots with Halloween (2018). A direct follow-up to the original film with Carpenter returning as an executive producer and Curtis reprising her role as Laurie Strode, the babysitter who survived Michael Myers’ 1978 killing spree.

            Taking the Jurassic World approach and ignoring the events of the previous sequels and bringing Michael and Laurie back together to settle the score was the right thing to do. I don’t think it’s better than the original, but this is a damn good follow-up that’s as nostalgic as it is thrilling, kind of like a high school reunion…with a lot of blood.

            The film is set forty years after the Haddonfield murders of 1978 and Michael Myers has been locked away to spend the rest of his days in a mental institution. However, when Myers and several other patients are to be transferred to another institution, the bus suddenly crashes, and he escapes to finish what he started all those years ago.

            Meanwhile, Laurie Strode (Curtis) has shut herself out from the rest of the world and anticipated Myers’ inevitable return. Laurie spent the past forty years training every day, was married and divorced twice, and even had a daughter, Karen (Judy Greer-Dawn of/War for the Planet of the Apes, Jurassic World, Ant-Man 1 and 2) who she taught day and night in how to fire guns and fight to prepare her for a dark world.

            Karen, who started a family of her own, hopes her mother will one day be able to put Michael Myers in the past and move on. But as the news comes that Michael has escaped and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois, Laurie gears up for one final showdown to settle the score and protect her family.

            The film also stars Andi Matichak (666 Park Avenue, Orange is the New Black, Blue Bloods) as Karen’s daughter, Allyson Strode, Haluk Bilginer (Ishtar, Buffalo Soldiers, The International) as Dr. Ranbir Sartain, Will Patton (Armageddon, Remember the Titans, Falling Skies) as Frank Hawkins, Jefferson Hall (Game of Thrones, Wizards VS Aliens, Vikings) as Aaron Korey, Toby Huss (King of the Hill, Carnivále, Halt and Catch Fire) as Ray, Virginia Gardner (Project Almanac, The Goldbergs, Marvel’s Runaways) as Allyson’s best friend, Vicky, and Miles Robbins (The Greatest, Blockers, The X-Files) as Dave.

            Overall, Halloween is a bloodily satisfying return to form for this long-running film series and the filmmakers knew to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the first movie with a bang, unlike Halloween H20 which was released for its 20^th anniversary. Bringing Curtis and Castle back as Laurie and Michael, ignoring the previous installments, paying homage to the original through its opening credits and music score, and delivering plenty of over-the-top deaths.

            Fortunately, the kills and homages never interfere with the film’s story and characters, it explores more of Michael Myers’ past which I found interesting and managed to transform Laurie from a babysitter into a Sarah Connor type character. Like the original, you grow attached to the people Michael is out to get and want to see them survive the night with very few stock characters.

            The acting is solid, but it’s Jamie Lee Curtis who steals the show as Laurie, she acts like someone who’s been through hell and will do whatever it takes to protect her family. She’s tough but has vulnerability, Laurie is prepared to kill Michael but shows fear and even though she pushed Karen to extreme lengths during childhood, it’s done with the best intentions.

            This is some of Jamie Lee Curtis’ best acting and a refreshing change of pace for Laurie’s character. She wasn’t prepared back in 1978 but she’s prepared to fight him again right now.

            This is the best Halloween sequel by far, a nostalgic and bloody trip down memory lane but with modern updates. I doubt it will become a classic like the original, but as a scary movie to watch this month, it’s a thrilling slasher movie treat.