Don't Let Go review

DON’T LET GO:

DESPITE A UNIQUE PREMISE, IT’S BEST TO SEND THIS DISJOINTED THRILLER TO VOICEMAIL!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

BLUMHOUSE

David Oyelowo and Storm Reid in Don’t Let Go

            A man’s family is murdered, but gets a mysterious phone call from the dead who turns out to be from the future and tries to prevent the incident before it happens in Don’t Let Go, the new thriller produced by Jason Blum (Split/Glass, Get Out, Us) and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes (Mean Creek, The Details, 7 Minutes). Despite hearing very little about this movie outside of a trailer shown before Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this looked like an interesting movie with a unique premise regarding time-travel, and no it isn’t another Groundhog Day, Edge of Tomorrow, or Blum’s own Happy Death Day, moving on.

            Almost like if Taken or last year’s Searching had a time-travel plot without it being shoved down our throats. While not high on my list, I was curious to see how the movie would play out and came out of it with rather mixed thoughts.

            I still stand by that this is a brilliant premise and the film has its moments of genuine thrills and suspense. Unfortunately, it all boils down to the execution which to me, was rather clumsy and awkwardly paced.

            The film follows Detective Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo-Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Butler, Selma) who after picking up his niece Ashley (Storm Reid-12 Years a Slave, A Wrinkle in Time, Euphoria) from the movies, his family is suddenly murdered including Ashley. However, things get strange when he suddenly gets a phone call from the deceased (and I ain’t talking about a ghost or Jack going paranoid!) who turns out to be none other than Ashley from two weeks into the future. 

            Realizing he has a second chance to right the wrong, Jack works to prevent her death before it even happens. But time is ticking with only three days to track down the men responsible for Ashley’s death and stop them.

            The film also stars Byron Mann (The Expanse, Arrow, The Big Short) as Detective Roger Lee, Mykelti Williamson (Miami Vice, Forrest Gump, The Purge: Election Year) as Bobby, Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Frida, Spider-Man 2) as Howard, and Brian Tyree Henry (Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) as Garret Radcliff.

            Overall, Don’t Let Go has its moments of thrills, but the film’s fascinating premise gets bogged down by clumsy directing and editing, lack of character development, and relying on many cheap horror/thriller movie tropes. Which is a shame because you can see a good movie trying to get out of this. 

As previously mentioned, I love the use of time-travel in this movie and there are times where the visual depictions of it are creatively done through one person sticking a wad of gum under a table and it suddenly appearing in a different time period where the other person sees it as well as both individuals sitting in a diner across from each other but cannot see each other and they communicate through their phones, for the most part these moments are done very well.

However, there are times where the logic doesn’t make sense particularly regarding Ashley, who is supposedly from two weeks into the future, but she was killed in the past, that’s kind of confusing. There’s also a time without giving much away where Jack gets shot and is severely wounded and is taken into an ambulance but when he dies, he is suddenly resurrected while driving his police car…yeah, not buying that movie, not buying that! How did he go from being on a hospital bed slowly dying to waking up in his car? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I have an easier time believing the logic behind Kenny from South Park’s deaths and resurrections, at least those make sense.

It also doesn’t help that the film’s characters aren’t that well developed and while David Oyelowo and Storm Reid do a solid job portraying the protagonists, there isn’t much time devoted to them so we can grow attached to the characters before the bad things happen. Don’t get me wrong, the idea of a young girl trying to outrun her future demise at every step of the corner is terrifying, but the film never really shows what Ashley is like as a person, who her friends are, hobbies, etc. these would have made her a more interesting character and all the more heartbreaking when she gets murdered.

            The mystery itself feels lazily executed either at the cutting room floor or by studio notes, the script feels very rushed and like it’s on autopilot as the film progresses and I swear the big reveal of the culprit is just out of the blue with very little development or build-up. Had the movie taken an approach similar to Get Out or even the 2013 film Prisoners and catch the audience off-guard by the end, this would have been a much better movie, here it just feels like mystery-thriller clichés awkwardly stitched around an interesting but botched premise.

            Don’t Let Go might offer enough suspense to satisfy fans of the genre and the concept itself is remarkable, but through its awkward pacing, lack of character development, and ideas never fully realized, it becomes an underwhelming and dull thriller and it’s probably best to send it straight to voicemail.  

Angel Has Fallen review

ANGEL HAS FALLEN:

YEP, ANOTHER ONE OF THESE AND SOMEHOW EVEN DUMBER AND LAZIER THAN ITS PREDECESSORS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: * ½ out of 4

LIONSGATE

Gerard Butler in Angel Has Fallen

            Gerard Butler (Tomorrow Never Dies, 300, How to Train Your Dragon trilogy) is back as Secret Service agent Mike Banning in Angel Has Fallen, the third installment of the Fallen trilogy following 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen and 2016’s London Has Fallen. Before we dive into the latest chapter, let me take a moment to discuss my thoughts on its predecessors.

            The first film Olympus Has Fallen objectively is not a good movie and has a lot of cheesy, over-the-top moments but makes for a flawed but fun action movie that even spawned its own rip-off the exact same year with Roland Emmerich’s White House Down. The sequel on the other hand London Has Fallen while I saw it in theaters and reviewed it a few years ago I hardly remember a thing about it aside from the exact same plot as Olympus but at a different location. 

            It’s a perfect example of a mediocre, mixed-bag franchise that you turn your brain off and enjoy some intense action sequences and corny dialogue for a couple hours. There’s clearly a fanbase as they were able to spawn an entire franchise out of this finally coming to a close with Angel. 

            When the third film was first announced I was less than thrilled after the bland, forgettable results of London Has Fallen. Even the title sounded awful, Angel Has Fallen, isn’t that clever? A more appropriate title would have been Franchise Has Fallen because nobody was asking for Olympus Has Fallen to become a franchise outside of the film performing well at the box-office.

            But I tried to keep an open mind and hoped that Angel would return the series back to its dumb, over-the-top roots that made the first film a recent guilty pleasure. And…being disappointed by the end result would be an understatement. 

            Angel Has Fallen is a complete mess and while Gerard Butler gives it his all, he’s not enough to save the film from its loud, thinly written script, lazy plot twists, and action sequences shot so dreadfully it puts Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich to shame. Not even the action in this movie is good, which was one of the highlights of the first film. 

            After the events of the previous film, U.S. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Butler) undergoes training at a private military facility and is recommended by the President of the United States Alan Trumball (Morgan Freeman-Driving Miss Daisy, The Dark Knight trilogy, Wanted) for the position of Secret Services director. But when an assassination attempt occurs on the president and Mike is wrongfully accused for it, he goes from a hero protecting the president to a fugitive of the law. 

            On the run with no one to turn to, Mike makes it his mission to evade his own agency while also outsmarting the FBI to find the person responsible for the attack and uncover the truth behind the real threat to the president as well as the entire country. This eventually leads to a partnership with his long-lost father, Clay Banning (Nick Nolte-The Thin Red Line, Hulk, Tropic Thunder) who abandoned him at a young age, as Mike fights to clear his name and save the world. 

            The film also stars Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Looper) as Leah Banning, Tim Blake Nelson (O’ Brother Where Art Thou?, The Incredible Hulk, Lincoln) as Vice President Martin Kirby, Danny Huston (The Constant Gardener, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Wonder Woman) as Wade Jennings, Michael Landes (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Final Destination 2, Love Soup) as Sam Wilcox, Jada Pinkett Smith (The Nutty Professor (1996), The Matrix 2 and 3, Gotham) FBI Agent Helen Thompson, Lance Reddick (The Wire, Fringe, John Wick trilogy) as Secret Service Director David Gentry, Mark Arnold (The Edge of Night, Trancers 4 and 5, Teen Wolf) as CIA Director James Haskell, Joseph Millson (Casino Royale, 24: Live Another Day, The Last Kingdom) as FBI Agent Ramirez, and Ori Pfeffer (Munich, Hacksaw Ridge, The Hitman’s Bodyguard) as Agent Murphy.

            Overall, Angel Has Fallen may satisfy fans of the franchise but casual moviegoers will just get a barrage of bland action sequences over characters and plot with little to no sense of thrills or suspense that will make you want to shout, “Make it stop!”. What should be on-the-edge-of-your-seat excitement has been downgraded to an overabundance of obnoxious shaky-cams, generic shoot-em-up action sequences and many of which are either shot in the dark or shot too close that it’s hard to even make out what’s happening on-screen, it is some of the most poorly-executed action sequences I’ve ever seen, I’m dead serious.

            It doesn’t help that the characters are barely developed which makes it difficult to get attached to them and care whenever an intense moment happens. The closest I can think of is maybe Freeman as the president because well, he’s the man who runs our country and at least takes his job more seriously than ours in reality (FORCED POLITICAL SATIRE!), but for better or for worse he’s stuck in a coma throughout most of this shitty movie and is barely in it. 

            Butler is just doing his usual shoot first, ask questions later attitude from the earlier films and by the climax, it gets stale after a while. Not to mention the sub-plot with his dad doesn’t really go anywhere and just serves as an excuse to drop some exposition behind Butler’s character. 

The plot is the infamous hero turned criminal cliché used whenever a desperate franchise is running low on steam (Superman III, The Fate of the Furious, and Transformers: The Last Knight anyone?) somehow made even worse with some of the laziest plot twists I’ve seen in a while. All throughout the movie I was able to tell which characters were going to be killed off and who the bad guys are, absolutely no surprises and nothing was gained, if anything it felt like a lot was taken away from me…like my wasted time. 

Angel Has Fallen is one of the laziest, uninspired action movie sequels I’ve seen in a long time that ranges from dumb action movie fare to flat-out audience-insulting ridiculous and dull. Even with the talents of Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman, it’s a loud, thinly plotted mess that just makes you want to throw up your arms and say, “The action is intense I guess but so what?”. 

If you’re a fan of its predecessors and want to see how the franchise ends, you might find something to enjoy. Everyone else should just stick to John Wick: Chapter 3 and Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw for your over-the-top action movie needs for the remainder of the summer. 

By the way, the new Roland Emmerich movie, Midway looks like crap too! 

Ready or Not review

READY OR NOT:

THIS GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK IS DARK, TWISTED, FUN!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Samara Weaving in Ready or Not

            After getting married to her new husband, a young bride joins him and her rich in-laws in a game of hide and seek that goes to dark, horrific places in Ready or Not, the new black-comedy thriller from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (V/H/S, Devil’s Due, Southbound). I was hyped for this movie the moment I saw the trailer, the premise alone sounded so bizarre and wild that I had to know what the end result was going to be, kind of like an old murder-mystery plot mixed with Saw but with a more comedic edge to it. 

            Granted horror movies with a humorous tone is nothing new, films like the Scream franchise, The Cabin in the Woods, and recently Get Out all blended terror and comedy in a seamless fashion and were all huge hits. Granted I’m not familiar with any of Olpin and Gillett’s other work, I haven’t seen V/H/S and I skipped Devil’s Due when it was released, so I’m coming into Ready or Not with zero knowledge of these filmmakers and…I had an absolute blast.

            I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard at a scary movie while still being on the edge of my seat at least since the release of Get Out, but there you go. Ready or Notgave me what I wanted, a well-made, completely bonkers homage to the murder-mystery genre with a dark sense of humor and top-notch performances by its cast.

             The film follows Grace (Samara Weaving-Out of the Blue, SMILF, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) who has just been married to a young man named Alex (Mark O’Brien-Republic of Doyle, Halt and Catch Fire, Arrival) coming from a rich, eccentric family. As a family tradition, Grace joins her husband and in-laws in a game of hide and seek where they attempt to find her before dawn. However, things go horribly wrong when Grace realizes that her in-laws intend to hunt and kill her for a satanic ritual and must find a way to escape this crazy, CRAZY family with only her wits and Alex going against his family as her only chance of survival.

            The film also stars Adam Brody (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Thank You for Smoking, Shazam!) as Daniel, Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible, Clear and Present Danger, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) as Tony, Andie MacDowell (Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Groundhog Day, Michael) as Becky, Kristian Bruun (Murdoch Mysteries, Regression, Orphan Black) as Fitch Bradley, Melanie Scrofano (Saw VI, Nurse 3D, Wynonna Earp) as Emilie, Elyse Levesque (Normal, Stargate: Universe, The Originals) as Charity, Nicky Guadagni (Street Legal, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Lars and the Real Girl) as Helene, John Ralston (Flash Gordon (2007), Degrassi: The Next Generation, On the Basis of Sex) as Stevens, and Nat Faxon (Club Dread, Hamlet 2, The Way, Way Back) as Justin.

            Overall, Ready or Not is some of the most fun I’ve ever had watching a scary movie and Pennywise could be facing some rough competition for the craziest horror movie of the year, we’ll have to wait and see when It: Chapter Two comes out in a few weeks. I was laughing and on the edge of my seat all throughout the movie fully invested in the plot and main characters. 

            The film fully embraces its bizarre narrative and gives a unique twist to the murder-mystery formula with a darkly comedic edge while still having a chilling mystery at its core. I’m so relieved that the trailers didn’t spoil the actual film and most of the time you’re not sure where the movie is going and whenever you think you’ve figured everything out it throws you for a curveball. 

            As a matter of fact, there was almost a twist in the movie during the climax that I wasn’t a fan of but was quickly redeemed before the credits roll. I dare not ruin it here, it is absolutely hilarious once you get to that point.

            With all the slaughtering and madness happening, the film doesn’t shy away from having a horror movie protagonist worth following all the way through thanks to Samara Weaving’s performance as Grace. She’s far from being the stereotypical dumb-blonde you would normally see in a Platinum Dunes horror remake (Aye-Yo!) and instead goes from a defenseless woman stuck in a creepy old mansion with her in-laws trying to kill her to a tough badass that you want to root for as she fights for survival even if it means having an excessive body-count and a lot of one-liners. 

            Ready or Not delivers the right amount of crazy to your murder-mystery movie watching thanks to its dark sense of humor, over-the-top deaths, twists and turns, and a strong performance by Samara Weaving at the heart of it. If you’re looking for something different than the usual horror/suspense movie fare then this is a game of hide and seek definitely worth playing, gory deaths, sadistic in-laws, and all. 

The Angry Birds Movie 2 review

THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2:

HOLY “PLUCKING” HECK, THIS ANIMATED FOLLOW-UP IS SURPRISINGLY FUNNY!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES AND SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

(From left to right) Bomb, Red, Chuck, Leonard, and the Hatchlings are back in The Angry Birds Movie 2

            The flightless birds of Bird Island are back in The Angry Birds Movie 2, the latest film from Sony Pictures Animation and follow-up to 2016’s The Angry Birds Movie based on the popular mobile game of the same name. Going back to the first movie, I can best describe it as harmless at best, obnoxious at worst and while the animation is colorful and the character designs accurately represent their in-game counterparts, most of the humor falls flat and the film itself lacks charm. 

            There are some occasionally funny moments in the first movie like the reasons why the main characters are stuck in an anger management class, one of which is brilliantly done with Sean Penn in a non-speaking voice role as one of the classmates, but other times the execution of the jokes feel off and not set-up properly coming off more as awkward than getting a genuine laugh, kind of like the Ghostbusters (2016) formula where anything funny is almost immediately followed by something unfunny. 

            The first Angry Birds movie is harmless but uninspired that should make for a fine kid’s distraction with a few jokes for adults once in a while. But because it was a success at the box-office a sequel was inevitable despite no one really asking for it. 

            That’s where The Angry Birds Movie 2 comes in and unlike the first film where Sony Pictures Animation only received a studio credit, this one has the studio logo slapped right onto the beginning of the movie as their next big animated film following last year’s unanimously acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which still stands as their best film to date. Sony Pictures Animation has always been hit-or-miss for me in terms of their films, they made two decent movies about food falling from the sky with Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 1 and 2, brought some of the most energetic and exaggerated animation to the screen with Hotel Transylvania, adapted the Smurfs cartoon twice with mixed results, and completely insulted children’s intelligence with The Emoji Movie. 

            Things started to look up with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which became their first animated film to win a Best Animated Feature Oscar and brought animation to the screen unlike anything you’ve ever seen. And then…The Angry Birds Movie 2 is what they decide to follow it up with which felt like an insult when the trailers came out. 

            But to my surprise, The Angry Birds Movie 2 is surprisingly a very funny animated movie and a huge improvement over its predecessor. I’m not sure if they got new writers or if the old writers finally recovered from severe brain damage, but they’ve managed to bring what should have been a generic cash cow and made it into a colorful, fast-paced, and genuinely funny adventure. 

            Sometime after the events of the first film, we find Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis-Saturday Night Live, Horrible Bosses 1 and 2, Colossal) being loved by all the citizens of Bird City after stopping the villainous pig leader, King Leonard (voiced by Bill Hader-Saturday Night Live, Superbad, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 1 and 2) from stealing and eating their eggs, and declared a hero alongside his friends Chuck (voiced by Josh Gad-Frozen 1 and 2, Beauty and the Beast (2017), Artemis Fowl) and Bomb (voiced by Danny McBride-Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, This is the End). But a new threat emerges in the form of an eagle named Zeta (voiced by Leslie Jones-Saturday Night Live, Top Five, Ghostbusters (2016)) banished to a frozen wasteland and plots to destroy Bird Island and Piggy Island with giant ice balls to make way for her very own private resorts and forces Red and Leonard to work together to stop her. 

            But they can’t stop Zeta alone as these former enemies must put together a team consisting of speed demon Chuck, explosives expert Bomb, Brainiac and Chuck’s sister Silver (voiced by Rachel Bloom-Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Batman VS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Trolls: World Tour), Mighty Eagle (voiced by Peter Dinklage-Elf, Game of Thrones, Avengers: Infinity War), Courtney (voiced by Awkwafina-Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians, The Farewell), and Garry Pig (voiced by Sterling K. Brown-American Crime Story, This is Us, Frozen II) and save their islands from destruction. 

            The film also features the voices of Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live, Bridesmaids, The Good Place) as Matilda, Tiffany Haddish (The Carmichael Show, Girls Trip, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part) as Debbie, Nolan North (Uncharted (video game series), Assassin’s Creed (video game series), Deadpool (video game)) replacing Sean Penn as the voice of Terence, and Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Veep, Toy Story 4) as Mime Bird. 

            Overall, The Angry Birds Movie 2 continues in this summer’s bizarre streak of movies you wouldn’t think would be all that good but end up being very pleasant surprises like Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Dora and the Lost City of Gold and a huge improvement over its average predecessor. For something as dumb as ANGRY BIRDS 2 I was shocked at how much I laughed at this movie especially after a rough start with the first movie. 

            Unlike the first film where the laughs were very rare, about 80% of this movie is absolutely hilarious stuff whether visual jokes or well-timed cartoonish slapstick. Which is more than I could say for the first movie where it felt like the animation equivalent of waving your keys around at a little kid. 

            The sequel on the other hand is much better paced, smartly written (for an Angry Birds movie), and feels a lot more confident in the final cut than its predecessor where it was sloppily stitched together with no real direction behind it. The Angry Birds Movie 2 could have easily been another lazily made cash cow like the first film but I’m so relieved that the filmmakers worked with what’s been given to them and gave a thoroughly enjoyable animated adventure for the entire family.

            I can’t believe I’m saying this but The Angry Birds Movie 2 is worth a watch whether a fan of the games that inspired it or looking for a fun animated movie with colorful visuals, wacky characters, and a good sense of humor. An unexpected win for the Angry Birds…does that mean we can get a good Ratchet & Clank follow-up? Please? Anyone? 

Blinded by the Light review

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT:

I GUARANTEE YOU’LL BE COMPLETELY BLINDED BY THIS LIGHT IN ALL THE BEST WAYS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND NEW LINE CINEMA

Viveik Kalra in Blinded by the Light

            A young man from Pakistan discovers the influential music of Bruce Springsteen and does everything in his power to make the voice of The Boss heard by everyone including his strict father in Blinded by the Light, the new film directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) and inspired by the life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and his love for Bruce Springsteen’s music. I just started listening to Springsteen’s music fairly recently, so I don’t really have the same connection to The Boss’ work as other people do. 

            Through some friends and family members of mine, they told me that he is one of the most influential music performers of all time and the messages he conveys through his songs. So, I listened to his Greatest Hits CD on iTunes and…yeah, The Boss is pretty incredible not going to lie and I was able to familiarize myself with his songs more just in time for me to talk about this movie. 

            After coming out of it I can gladly say that Blinded by the Light is genuinely fantastic whether a die-hard Springsteen fan or not. Thanks to a charming breakout performance by Viveik Kalra, some brilliant methods of using Springsteen’s songs to tell the story, a fascinating gateway into a new culture, and a thoughtful and easily relatable message about pursuing your dreams, it’s a light worth going blind for. 

            The film follows a young man from Pakistan named Javed (Kalra) who lives in Luton with his parents Malik (Kulvinder Ghir-Howard’s Way, Rita, Sue and Bob Too!, Goodness Gracious Me) and Noor (Newcomer, Meera Ganatra) and his sisters Yasmeen (Newcomer, Tara Divina) and Shazia (Newcomer, Nikita Mehta). Javed is a struggling poet living under a strict household with his father basically controlling every moment of his life. 

            That all changes on his first day of college and befriends a student named Roops (Newcomer, Aaron Phagura) who lends him a couple Bruce Springsteen cassettes. Upon listening to them Javed becomes entranced by the songs and inspired to continue writing his poems and spread the word of The Boss to his school and family. 

            However, Javed finds himself stuck in a mental war between his Pakistan family struggling to make a living and the words of Bruce Springsteen telling him to pursue his dreams. With the help of his friends Roops, Matt (Dean-Charles Chapman-Game of Thrones, The Commuter, 1917), Eliza (Nell Williams-The Revolting World of Stanley Brown, Game of Thrones, London Town), and a supportive English teacher named Ms. Clay (Hayley Atwell-Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cinderella (2015), Christopher Robin), Javed will discover if he is Born to Run and prove to everyone how influential Bruce Springsteen really is while hopefully winning the love of his father in the process.

            The film also stars Jonno Davis (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Casualty, King of Crime) as Michael, Rob Brydon (The Trip trilogy, The Rob Brydon Show, Early Man) as Matt’s father, and Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones trilogy, Veep, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as Mrs. Anderson.

            Overall, Blinded by the Light is a loving tribute to some of the most influential songs of all time with a thoughtful message about pursuing your dreams at the center of it. It isn’t a tacked-on message about following your dreams like a Disney movie but rather one that says it will require a lot of hard work to achieve it and to never give up on it.

            Javed lives in a run-down neighborhood with an immigrant family desperately trying to survive and requires everyone to hand over their work wages to their father in order to pay for the house. It’s a rough life but after listening to Bruce Springsteen he decides he wants to leave his home and the rules of his traditional Pakistani household and live his own life, it’s very relatable and you root for him to succeed in every step of the way.

            The film brilliantly utilizes Springsteen’s song lyrics through text that appears whenever Javed listens to a song that basically tells the story of what is happening with him and his family. It’s almost like parts of the film’s story are being told through song and they match up perfectly showing the power music has on us all.

            Whether you’re a fan of rock, rap, jazz, country, or any other genre of music, I’m sure there has at least been one song you’ve heard that hit you on an emotional level and impacted your life in a big way. That’s exactly the case with this movie, Bruce Springsteen is speaking to Javed personally through his songs and telling him to go live his life and not let his strict father get in the way. 

            However, what I appreciate about the movie is they don’t make Javed’s father a straight-up villain but rather a lost soul who lives under these religious and cultural rules and has a hard time accepting change while also having a difficult time making money at his job. As Javed changes throughout the movie, Malik goes through a character-arc of his own trying to appreciate what his son has accomplished and builds up to a very satisfying final act.

            Blinded by the Light is a well-acted, heartfelt, and at times funny rock anthem set to some of the best songs you will ever hear with an equally powerful moral about following your dreams but never forgetting about family. Add a talented cast and a story about the relationship between a son and his father at the heart of it, I can guarantee you’ll be “Dancing in the Dark” by the time this film ends. 

Good Boys review

GOOD BOYS:

THESE BAD BOYS ARE GOOD, AND SO IS THIS VERY FUNNY COMEDY!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

(From left to right) Lucas, Max, and Thor (No, not that Thor!) are in for a wild day in Good Boys

            Three middle-school boys learn how to kiss when they are invited to a party with lots of girls but goes horribly wrong in Good Boys, the new comedy produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad, This is the End, Sausage Party) and featuring some foul-mouthed sixth-graders. When the trailer for this movie first came out it looked like the rehashed plot from Superbad with the middle-school demographic which makes sense given the film is produced by the same people who made that movie, it looked funny albeit familiar to say the least.

            Good Boys seemed like every other Seth Rogen comedy but with kids, kind of like what Superbad did for teenagers. But hey, if the movie’s funny then it did its job and…it certainly is, quite funny actually AND at times, heartfelt. 

            Don’t worry, you still get all the sex jokes, drugs, and profanity you’d expect out of a Seth Rogen comedy with a childlike innocence, but Good Boys also cleverly puts in a thoughtful message about growing up that doesn’t feel out of place. Add a talented young cast on top of it and you got some bad boys that are good.

            The film follows sixth-graders, Max (Jacob Tremblay-Room, Wonder, Doctor Sleep), Thor (Newcomer, Brady Noon), and Lucas (Newcomer, Keith L. Williams) who are invited by one of their classmates at school to a kissing party with lots of girls. However, there is one tiny problem, they don’t know how to kiss and with little time to prepare.

            So, they decide to use Max’s father’s drone which they are forbidden to touch, to spy on their teenage neighbors making out. But things go entirely wrong when the drone is confiscated by their neighbors. 

            Desperate to get the drone back before Max’s dad (Will Forte-That 70s Show, MacGruber, Nebraska) realizes it’s gone missing, the boys go on a wild goose chase with accidentally stolen drugs, frat-boy paintball, and running from both the police and two terrifying teenage girls who just want their “Molly” back. All the while getting to the party on time for a night they’ll never forget.

            The film also stars Lil Rel Howery (The Carmichael Show, Get Out, Rel) as Lucas’ father, Sam Richardson (Veep, Detroiters, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) as Officer Sacks, Retta (Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Parks and Recreation, Good Girls) as Lucas’ mother, Millie Davis (Wonder, Orphan Black, Esme & Roy) as Brixlee, Benita Ha (Street Cents, Smallville, X-Men 3: The Last Stand) as Soren’s mother, and Stephen Merchant (The Office (UK), Extras, The Ricky Gervais Show) as Claude.

            Overall, Good Boys delivers exactly what it promises, crude sex jokes, excessive profanity, drugs, and drinking in a middle-school environment…that probably can’t even see the movie to begin with. But for the people who are old enough to watch it will get a lot of laughs and a surprisingly charming young cast making you laugh. 

            The kids portrayed in this movie don’t feel like they’re acting almost as if they’re written like real kids and the chemistry between Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, and Keith L. Williams is very strong. I could believe these three as best friends getting into all kinds of shenanigans in real life and the script allows them all to have their moments to shine. 

            You got Tremblay who had previously earned unanimous praise for his performance in Room as the average kid who just wants to learn how to kiss so he can tell his crush how he feels about her at the party is probably the most relatable out of the boys, Noon as the wild, party animal with an aggressive attitude and a severe hatred for sippy-cups (It’ll make sense when you see the movie) gets some good laughs in, and Williams as basically the quirky black sidekick who I thought was going to be incredibly annoying but ended up being one of the funniest things about this movie, and he has his own sub-plot about dealing with his parents’ divorce which can actually get pretty emotional at times, all three of them work off each-other perfectly and hopefully they’ll go on to do more great projects in the future.

            With all the R-rated raunchiness happening, Good Boys probably has the most heart out of any of Seth Rogen’s previous films even if he doesn’t appear on-screen in it. Yes, it’s about middle-schoolers running away from crazy teenage girls because they stole their drugs and trying to get their drone back in over-the-top ways, bur when you really get down to it, Good Boys is a movie about the importance of friendship and growing up and anyone who was once a kid can relate to it in some sort of fashion, it speaks to your inner-child and makes you reminiscent about your childhood and the high-points and struggles you’ve faced in life. 

            Good Boys is an uproariously funny comedy with all the raunchy humor, sex jokes, and drugs you would expect but still retaining a childlike innocence thanks to the charm of its talented young leads. I guarantee you’ll get some “Good” laughs with these “Good Boys” just…don’t bring the kids…please. 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark review

SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK:

FILM ADAPTATION OF POPULAR BOOK SERIES IS CREEPY FUN!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

LIONSGATE AND CBS FILMS

An ancient book’s horrifying curse will be unleashed in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

            A group of kids break into a creepy, abandoned house, find an ancient book, and unintentionally unleash a nightmare upon a small town in the new horror film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark based on the series of books of the same name by Alvin Schwartz. Here’s a shocker, I’ve actually read some of these books in middle school and the best I can describe them are Goosebumps for tweens and young adults and like Goosebumps it’s a tongue-and-cheek kind of scary and more about having fun being scared rather than nightmare-fuel. 

            The stories themselves are basically generic plots and situations seen in horror movies and while Goosebumps took a similar approach with its stories, Scary Stories had the advantage of being a picture book with some of the most haunting imagery ever seen, the stories themselves are cliché scary stories but it’s the illustrations and horrific monsters that everyone remembers.

            Now we have a film adaptation produced by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy 1 and 2, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) and directed by André Øvredal (Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Mortal) following in the footsteps of the recent Goosebumps movie that came out a few years ago where the monsters from the book are accidentally unleashed into the real world. 

            Very much like that movie, this acts as a gateway for younger horror enthusiasts rather than a legit scary movie. But unlike the Goosebumps movie where it was geared towards families, Scary Stories is mostly aimed for older kids, teens, and adults with grotesque-looking monsters, ghastly imagery, and death (No blood, but still). 

             So, does Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark do justice to its iconic source material? In my opinion, yes. This is a very fun scary movie with plenty of the imaginative monsters from the book’s haunting illustrations come to life, a generic but self-aware horror movie plot, and some solid performances by its young cast. 

            Set in 1968 Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, the film follows a group of teenagers consisting of horror-obsessed amateur writer Stella (Newcomer, Zoe Margaret Colleti) and her friends Auggie (Newcomer, Gabriel Rush), and Chuck (Newcomer, Austin Zajur) and a drifter named Ramón (Newcomer, Michael Garza) who decide to explore an old haunted house on Halloween night. While there, they come across a mysterious book of scary stories that once belonged to a girl named Sarah Bellows. However, they soon realize that the book is writing its own stories and what happens in the story happens in real life. 

            Soon, their neighborhood is attacked by all kinds of horrors such as a grotesque scarecrow with a pitchfork, a corpse looking for her missing toe, The Jangly Man, and a giant zit (I’m not kidding). With no one to turn to, Stella and her friends must uncover the mystery behind Sarah Bellows and figure out a way to get the monsters back into the book before Mill Valley turns into a town of nightmares.

            The film also stars Austin Abrams (The Kings of Summer, The Walking Dead, Brad’s Status) as the neighborhood bully Tommy, Dean Norris (Lethal Weapon 2, Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as Deputy Roy Nicholls, Gil Bellows (The Shawshank Redemption, Ally McBeal, The Agency), and Lorraine Toussaint (Any Day Now, Law & Order, Selma) as Louise “Lou Lou” Baptiste, Javier Botet (REC trilogy, Mama, The Conjuring 2) as the voice of The Toe Monster, and Andrew Jackson (Merlin’s Apprentice, Kyle XY, Twists of Terror) as the voice of The Jangly Man.

            Overall, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark probably won’t keep you up at night like its source material but makes for a spooky, fun time watching a horror movie. Obviously, this movie is “slightly” more family-friendly than other scary films so you won’t see kids getting killed in gory ways or anything like that (Save that for It: Chapter Two), but it still has a PG-13 edge to it to act as a gateway to the horror genre for younger viewers without ever going too far.

            The designs for the monsters are imaginative and ripped right from the illustrations of the books so nostalgic readers can relive those haunting, nightmare-fueled memories. Something I really appreciate about the monsters and effects in this movie is that they’re mostly done practically with little CGI and incredible makeup work with del Toro on standby, but whenever CG is used it’s meshed with the practical effects very well and gives more of an illusion compared to most mainstream movies these days.

            Luckily the effects don’t get in the way of the story and characters that while a tad cliché and stereotypical keep you invested in the situations that are happening in the film. Sure, they follow various horror movie tropes like the geek, the socially awkward person, the jock, and the guy who gets roped into helping them, but each of the characters are given depth and interesting stories and personalities of their own to make you care about them and the actors do a solid job representing these characters, not quite the Losers Club from It, but close enough. 

            If I had to point out an issue with this movie it would be the ending is a little anti-climactic and there’s not much of a payoff. Not saying it’s bad but it just felt like an attempt at sequel-baiting a More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie rather than a satisfying conclusion to the movie I just watched, but that’s mostly a small gripe. 

            Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is fright-filled fun for horror enthusiasts or fans of the original books young and old. Terror, imaginative monsters, and a sense of fun, these are “Stories” definitely worth telling. 

Dora and the Lost City of Gold review (500TH POST!)

DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD:

LIVE-ACTION ADAPTATION IS AN UNEXPECTEDLY FUN ADVENTURE FOR ALL AGES!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND NICKELODEON MOVIES

Dora the Explorer and her new friends on the adventure of a lifetime in Dora and the Lost City of Gold

            The explorer who captivated children since her introduction back in 2000 makes her big-screen debut in Dora and the Lost City of Gold, a live-action film adaptation and continuation of Nickelodeon’s popular educational animated series Dora the Explorer from their Nick Jr. block. While I watched a lot of Nickelodeon shows growing up like Rugrats, SpongeBob Squarepants, Blue’s Clues, The Fairly OddParents, Invader Zim, and Avatar: The Last Airbender to name a few, Dora the Explorer was released after my time but I would eventually familiarize myself with the basic premise of the series through my little sister who watched it when she was young.

            From what I’ve seen, it’s a harmless show for little kids with some nice animation, a colorful cast of characters, and some adventures to keep them entertained while also learning a few phrases in Spanish along the way. Apparently, the show did its job too well as it spawned several merchandise and a couple spin-off shows like Go Diego Go revolving around Dora’s cousin Diego and a sequel series Dora and Friends: Into the City…which I know absolutely nothing about. 

            Now we have this live-action film adaptation set some time after the events of the series with Dora as a teenager having to transition from life in the jungle to high school, oh the wacky shenanigans. I’ll be real with you all, when the film was first announced I thought it was a joke, Dora the Explorer who spent her time embarking on exciting adventures in the jungle being thrown into a boring, old high school in suburbia…also, it was rumored that it was going to be produced by the Destroyer of Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Michael Bay as if it couldn’t get any more surreal but luckily that was just a rumor. 

            Even without Bay’s involvement this still seemed like an odd project and when I first saw the trailer, I was convinced that it wasn’t a real movie but rather a fake trailer that was deleted from Tropic Thunder and Paramount decided to release on the internet just because. But posters, movie theater standees, and commercials on TV started popping up so naturally this was real. 

            It’s such a bizarre concept that I was curious to see how much of a disaster Dora and the Lost City of Gold was going to be. And coming out of it, the film is anything but a disaster and instead a fun adventure movie for the whole family. 

            This sounds insane but the DORA THE EXPLORER movie is a very enjoyable movie that’s entirely different from its source material in tone but still retains its spirit leading to some very humorous in-jokes for those who grew up with the original show. It’s a good balance between being faithful to the source material and still appealing to the mainstream. 

            The film follows Dora (Isabela Moner-100 Things to Do Before High School, Transformers: The Last Knight, Instant Family) who has lived her whole life in the jungle and going on exciting adventures with her cousin Diego and her best friend Boots the Monkey. But when Diego’s family moves out of the jungle and into the city at a young age, Dora is left on her own to explore with only Boots at her side.

            Now a teenager Dora learns from her parents Cole (Michael Peña-Ant-Man 1 and 2, The Martian, My Little Pony: The Movie) and Elena (Eva Longoria-Desperate Housewives, The Sentinel, Arthur Christmas) about a lost city of gold known as Parapata which is thought to be an old legend but her parents tell her that they will embark on a journey to find it…unfortunately, not with Dora.

            Claiming that the jungle is too dangerous for Dora alone, her parents arrange a flight for Dora to go to the city and spend time with Diego (Newcomer, Jeff Wahlberg) and his family. You know what that means? Dora the Explorer goes to high school, let the wackiness begin. 

            Dora has a very difficult time fitting in as she is overly energetic and for a lack of better word a little ditzy. But while on a field trip/scavenger hunt at a museum, Dora, Diego, and their classmates Sammy (Madeleine Madden-Around the Block, Ready for This, Tidelands) and Randy (Newcomer, Nicholas Coombe) are captured by a group of treasure hunters searching for Parapata and brought to the jungle to solve the mystery behind the lost city of gold, outsmart the mischievous Swiper the Fox (voiced by Benicio del Toro-Sicario 1 and 2, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars: The Last Jedi), and save her parents from an even greater threat. 

            The film also stars Temuera Morrison (Star Wars: Episodes II and III, Moana, Aquaman) as Powell, Adriana Barraza (Babel, Cake, Wild Horses) as Abuelita Valerie, and Pia Miller (East West 101, Home and Away, Bite Club) as Aunt Mami. 

            Overall, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a fun time for all-ages and a lot better than it had any right to be. A movie based on an educational show that most parents put on for their little kids to keep them occupied and they could have thrown anything together just to make a quick buck off a nostalgic property, but they didn’t. 

            The film fully embraces its absurd premise and has fun with referencing and paying homage to the original series but never to the point where it’s distracting. A couple examples I have are a brilliantly funny scene early on in the film where Dora looks at the camera and asks the audience ‘Can you say Delicioso?” in which Michael Peña tells Eva Longoria “It’s just a phase” which had me genuinely tearing up laughing and a clever use of the original show’s animation I dare not ruin here but let’s just say you may want to watch this movie while on a form of substance but…this is a “Family Picture Review” no naughty business here. 

            Isabela Moner is the heart and soul of this movie and she eerily portrays Dora perfectly and not once did I think she was out of place. I was convinced that I wasn’t watching an actress play a live-action teenage Dora, I was watching the actual character as a teenager and in live-action, perky face, sunny and at times annoying personality, and all, and it all works and it’s never to the point where it makes Dora look dumb, she remains a smart and experienced jungle adventurer but not the strongest social skills in the high school environment, that’s relatable.

            Is it a movie I would see again and buy when it comes out on home media? Probably not, but for a one-time viewing in the theater Dora and the Lost City of Gold was one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve had in recent years. With a fish-out-of-water story reminiscent of the 1997 film adaptation of George of the Jungle mixed with an Indiana Jones adventure and some references and homages to its source material sprinkled in and you got a fun movie to take the kids to, all I can say is “Vámonos”.

The Kitchen review

THE KITCHEN: 

TALENTED LEADS GET TRAPPED IN A MOSTLY HALF-BAKED CRIME-THRILLER!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND NEW LINE CINEMA

Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss in The Kitchen

            Three housewives in 1978 Hell’s Kitchen take the Irish mafia to a whole new level in The Kitchen, the new crime-thriller directed by screenwriter Andrea Berloff (World Trade Center, Straight Outta Compton, Blood Father) in her directorial debut and based on the DC/Vertigo comic book miniseries of the same name. I’ve never read the original comics and have no idea how faithful it is to the source material, so I’ll be looking at this film on its own. 

            The movie looked promising by the trailers although it (slightly) looked reminiscent of last year’s female-centered heist film, Widows (By the way, I’m still pissed that the Academy snubbed that movie at the Oscars). You got three women living in crime ridden streets pulling off a dangerous heist or crime, it’s easy to see the similarities. 

            Nevertheless, it looked interesting to say the least and it features the talented trio of Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids,The Heat, Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip, The Last O.G., The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part), and Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, Top of the Lake, Us) as the leads. While her comedy is hit-or-miss to me, McCarthy made an unexpected turn to the drama genre with 2014’s St. Vincent and last year’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? Which were unanimously praised for her performances in both films, clearly The Kitchen will be just as amazing as those right? Not quite. 

            While the film has its moments and the cast is clearly giving it their all, the end result is a clumsy, jumbled crime-thriller that can be entertaining while watching it, but you’ll most likely forget about it upon leaving the cinema. It isn’t as bad as most reviews are making it out to be, but it’s unremarkable and at times awkwardly executed.

            Set in 1978, the film follows three housewives of Hell’s Kitchen mobsters trying to make a living in one of the most aggressive neighborhoods in New York City. Kathy Brennan (McCarthy) has two children and her supportive husband Jimmy (Brian d’Arcy James-Spotlight, Molly’s Game, West Side Story (2020)) wants to leave the mob and set a better example, Ruby O’Carroll (Haddish) is married to Kevin (James Badge Dale-24, The Departed, Iron Man 3) who is the heir to the mob empire, and Claire Walsh (Moss) has the roughest life of them all being married to Rob (Jeremy Bobb-The Knick, The Drop, Marshall) who is constantly abusive towards her. However, when a convenience store robbery lands their husbands into prison for three years and the new heir to the mob empire barely giving their wives enough money to survive, Kathy, Ruby, and Claire make matters into their own hands and become mobsters themselves and unexpectedly proving themselves capable of anything from running the rackets to literally taking out the competition. 

            The film also stars Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter franchise, Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Revenant) as Gabriel O’Malley, Bill Camp (The Night Of, The Leftovers, Black Mass) as Alfonso Coretti, Margo Martindale (Million Dollar Baby, The Savages, Justified) as Helen O’Carroll, Common (Smokin’ Aces, Suicide Squad, John Wick: Chapter 2) as Gary Silvers, Annabella Sciorra (True Love, The Sopranos, Cop Land) as Maria Coretti, E.J. Bonilla (Guiding Light, Revenge, Unforgettable) as Gonzalo Martinez, James Ciccone (The Deuce, Joker, The Irishman) as Joe Goon, John Sharian (Death Machine, The Machinist, Patti Cake$) as Duffy, Stephen Singer (Don Juan DeMarco, Love Life, Obvious Child) as Herb Kanfer, and Brandon Uranowitz (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Stage Fright, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Shmuli Chudakoff.

            Overall, The Kitchen is a well-acted and serviceable but unfortunately misguided crime-thriller that may feature three talented and glamorous leads but without a compelling or interesting story the film treads familiar waters and reminds audiences of the other, better, crime films that inspired it. The film feels like it’s desperately trying to capitalize on the success of other female-centered crime/heist films like Ocean’s 8 and Widows but doesn’t really know how to add something unique to the story. 

            It’s a shame because a lot of good people worked on this movie, writer Andrea Berloff hot off the 2015 film, Straight Outta Compton directing her very first movie and Melissa McCarthy redeeming her “Summer of Annoyance” which consisted of Life of the Party and The Happytime Murders with the acclaimed Can You Ever Forgive Me? And the film is adapted from source material that would usually make for some great, intense movies. I have no idea what happened to it whether studio interferences or drama behind the scenes, but the end result is a mediocre, uninspired crime-drama that might be enjoyable to pass the time at best.

            Some of the character motivations make sense like McCarthy trying to provide for her family or Moss getting away from her abusive husband, but other times the reasonings behind the women becoming mob bosses come out of nowhere with no time to explain why. Going back to Widows, the reason behind the heist was to finish what their deceased husbands started otherwise the mob would kill them, in the second half without giving much away Haddish’s character becomes a little too full of herself and almost becomes an antagonist to take power as a black woman, but it’s so out of the blue that the film doesn’t give much time to develop that sub-plot.

            What keeps this average crime film afloat are the performances by Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss, all three of them are giving it their all. To the cast’s credit nobody is really half-assing a performance except for maybe a slightly hammy performance by Myk Watford (Spider-Man, The Hoax, No Country for Old Men) as the new mob leader Little Jackie. 

            The Kitchen may keep you entertained as an intense time-killer with some talented actors and a kickass soundtrack consisting of classic 70s tunes, but there isn’t much substance here to make much of an impression. Not the worst “Kitchen” but an uninteresting one that could really use some renovations.