Bad Times at the El Royale review

BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE:

A STYLISH AND BLOODY THRILLER THAT’S DEFINITELY WORTH CHECKING IN!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

20^TH CENTURY FOX

Chris Hemsworth in Bad Times at the El Royale

            Writer/director, Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, The Cabin in the Woods, The Martian) returns to the director’s chair after the critical and commercial success of 2012’s The Cabin in the Woods with the new thriller, Bad Times at the El Royale. Unlike The Cabin in the Woods which didn’t lure me in until the reviews came out and I actually sat down in the theater and watched it, I was hyped for El Royale from the start.

            Cabin in the Woods blew me away when I saw it and became a possible contender for my favorite horror movie of all time. I was waiting for another Goddard directed movie with similar anticipation people have regarding a new Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars movie.

            The trailers made it out to look like an homage/spoof of murder-mystery films set in a creepy old hotel like Psycho, Vacancy, and Hostel. Kind of like what Cabin in the Woods did for horror movies set in a cabin or at a campsite but for hotels instead.

            I think I may have set my expectations up too high with this film, Bad Times at the El Royale is a lot of fun and has an interesting premise, but it never quite lives up to the chaotic impact of The Cabin in the Woods. The film clocks in a 141-minute runtime, the final act is a bit anticlimactic compared to Cabin in the Woods, and the plot, while fascinating and keeps you guessing, does suffer some pacing issues.

             The film takes place at the El Royale, a hotel that literally sits right in the middle of California and Nevada with a state line dividing the two states and follows seven strangers meeting there one day. The strangers consist of aging priest, Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges-The Big Lebowski, Iron Man, True Grit (2010)), struggling soul singer, Darlene Sweet (Theater actress, Cynthia Erivo-Widows), woman on the run from a dangerous cult, Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson-Fifty Shades trilogy, Black Mass, How to Be Single), her sister, Rose (Cailee Spaeny-Pacific Rim: Uprising, Vice, Devs), FBI agent masquerading as a vacuum salesman, Dwight Broadbeck (Jon Hamm-Mad Men, Million Dollar Arm, Baby Driver), the young and psychologically damaged concierge of the El Royale, Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman), and charismatic cult leader, Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth-Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Cabin in the Woods, Rush), all of which are hiding a secret.

            They soon realize the El Royale has a long and dark history and all sorts of strange occurrences begin to happen. Over the course of one fateful night, these seven strangers have one last chance for redemption and right any of the wrongs they have done in the past before everything goes to hell.

            The film also stars Nick Offerman (Sin City, Parks and Recreation, Fargo (TV series)) as Felix O’Kelly, Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother, Elephant Song, Boy Erased) as Buddy Sunday, Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire, Fast & Furious 4 and 6, Kong: Skull Island) as Dr. Woodbury Laurence, Mark O’Brien (Republic of Doyle, Halt and Catch Fire, The Front Runner) as Larsen Rogers, Charles Halford (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Constantine (TV series), The Death of Superman) as Sammy Wilds, Jim O’Heir (3^rd Rock from the Sun, Star Trek: Voyager, Parks and Recreation) as Milton Wyrick, and Manny Jacinto (The 100, The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story, The Good Place) as Waring “Wade” Espiritu.

            Overall, Bad Times at the El Royale is a stylish, well-acted, and interesting thriller that balances bloody popcorn fun and dark humor with a twist of social subtext. The movie basks in Drew Goddard’s directing style and there are some ideas in here that feel like variations of concepts from The Cabin in the Woods like the secret rooms where people watch your every move, the one-way mirror that’s reflective on one side but transparent on the other, and even the building itself hiding a dark secret feels like it’s ripped from that movie.

            The mystery is deep and fascinating and each one of the characters could be the culprit, they all have their suspicious moments and complex story arcs, and some of them aren’t as they seem, even if they’re not the bad guy. All the actors play the parts well, Jeff Bridges as an aging, booze drinking priest, Cynthia Erivo who has already earned serious praise for her stage work as a soul singer trying to make it big, Jon Hamm as a cocky vacuum salesman/FBI agent, Dakota Johnson finally using her tying and binding skills in a good movie as a woman trying to save her younger sister but made out to look like a criminal, and the two performances that stood out to me were Cailee Spaeny and Lewis Pullman as the estranged sister and accomplice of the cult leader and the psychologically damaged caretaker of the hotel.

            Spaeny and Pullman are relatively new actors but every time they were on-screen, they legitimately gave me the creeps. Whenever they would say something or act out of the ordinary I thought to myself “They’ve seen and done some things…I just know it!” hopefully both of them will go places in their careers.

            A casting choice I found rather odd was Chris Hemsworth as the cult leader, not that he’s bad, he plays the role fine and it looks like he’s having fun with it. But whenever I see Chris Hemsworth either in movies or interviews, threatening never comes to mind, he’s too charming to be a bad guy, but I digress.

            There are some narrative choices that are definitely an acquired taste, it isn’t a straight-forward story and it’s told in a similar way to some of the early Quentin Tarantino films. There are title cards depicting the hotel’s rooms and characters’ names that lead into flashbacks explaining their origins and how they ended up at the El Royale.

            Sadly, there are some details that aren’t fully elaborated on, there are discussions about the hotel’s history and reasoning behind the occurrences that happened there, but they’re never shown and just leave you with more questions. In The Cabin in the Woods all the weird things happening came from a group of technicians underneath the cabin who controlling everything inside through computer screens, at one point in El Royale the hotel concierge admits that he’s terrified of management and we never see them in the entire film.

            Bad Times at the El Royale is a little rough around the edges, but nevertheless I had a fun time watching this movie. It’s a stylish mystery-thriller with surprises around every corner that’s worth a stay.

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween review

GOOSEBUMPS 2: HAUNTED HALLOWEEN:

THE MONSTERS RETURN MINUS MOST OF THE FUN AND CHARM OF ITS PREDECESSOR!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES AND SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

Slappy the Dummy is back with some Halloween scares in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

            The monsters of R.L. Stine have returned in the sequel to the 2015 critical and commercial hit, Goosebumps, based on Stine’s hugely-successful children’s books of the same name. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Goosebumps books and TV series growing up, but I read a few of the books and watched an episode from time to time.

            While the stories are undeniably fascinating and kept you up at the night wanting to know what’s going to happen, a lot of the books and episodes had weak payoffs, or they were just too cheesy to me. However, when the first movie was being advertised back in 2015, I thought it looked interesting and fun, plus it’s got my man, Jack Black as the author himself, R.L. Stine.

            A movie where kids find R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps manuscripts and accidentally unleash every monster that he created upon a small town, and they have to team up with Stine to put them back into their books. Not the most original premise seeing how it was very reminiscent of Jumanji, but I found the first movie to be quite entertaining.

            The first film is no masterpiece or anything like that, but it had a lot of imaginative creatures, a slightly rehashed but still unique premise, laughs, and some likable main characters. Goosebumps managed to surpass my expectations and be a hauntingly entertaining ride for both kids and adults.

            I guess I’m not that shocked that a sequel would be made given that its predecessor was a hit with both critics and the box-office. In comes Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween with Jack Black (School of Rock, Kung Fu Panda trilogy, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) reprising his role as the voice of the psychotic dummy, Slappy and Ari Sandel (West Bank Story, The DUFF, Where We First Met) replacing Rob Letterman as the director.

            Unlike the first film which had me interested by the marketing, the red flags started going off when I saw the trailers for Haunted Halloween. No Jack Black as R.L. Stine, the plot felt like a watered-down version of its predecessor, and that stupid trailer with the Gummi Bear song.

            But I still wanted to give the sequel a chance and I had already seen Black in yet another creepy family film last month that I enjoyed with The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Sadly, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween lived up to my disappointing expectations.

            Sometime after the events of the first movie, the film follows Sonny Quinn (Jeremy Ray Taylor-It) and Sam Carter (Caleel Harris-Think Like a Man 1 and 2, The Loud House, Peanuts (2014)), two kids cleaning junk from an abandoned house as part of an after-school job. They discover a mysterious book that has been locked in a dusty old trunk in the house and the key that unlocks the manuscript.

            Sonny and Sam unlock the book and they unknowingly unleash Slappy the Dummy upon the world once more. Free from his written prison, Slappy plans to literally bring Halloween to life and destroy the town, and only these two kids and Sonny’s older sister, Sarah (Madison Iseman-Tales of Halloween, Still the King, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) can stop the monsters and put Slappy back into the book.

            The film also stars Wendi McLendon-Covey (Reno 911, Bridesmaids, What Men Want) as Kathy Quinn, Chris Parnell (30 Rock, Archer, Rick and Morty) as Walter, Ken Jeong (Community, The Hangover trilogy, Crazy Rich Asians) as Mr. Chu, Shari Headley (Coming to America, All My Children, The Bold and the Beautiful) as Mrs. Carter, and Black reprising his role as Goosebumps author, R.L. Stine.

            Overall, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween may satisfy younger viewers, but compared to its predecessor, it doesn’t offer much for everyone else. The monsters aren’t as imaginative this time around, the jokes fall flat, and the plot is recycled from the first movie but only slightly changed.

            The characters are throw-away stereotypes from other kids’ movies and just aren’t that interesting. Yes, you could argue the characters in the first movie are stereotypes, but they were still likable, and the actors had good chemistry together.

            Here, it’s a generic sibling rivalry between the younger brother and older sister and the best friend is a quirky black sidekick, yeah, haven’t seen that before. The mother is forgotten about after a while and Jack Black barely has screen-time as R.L. Stine, yes, the character who represents the author behind the books this movie is named after doesn’t impact the plot in any way, in fact he doesn’t even meet the main characters until after they’ve already saved the town.

            Had Black appeared in the movie more often, it could have been a stronger movie, I doubt it would be as good as the first one, but I’d at least be more forgiving towards it. This was a major turn-off point for me that got me furious over a mostly harmless kids’ movie.

            If you got kids who love the books and movies, then they might enjoy Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween. However, it’s one of those movies that you drop your children off to see because there is very little in here to make for legit family entertainment, all you will see is a bad pumpkin that desperately needs to be smashed.

First Man review

FIRST MAN:

RYAN GOSLING LANDS ON THE MOON AND CARRIES A THRILLING, EMOTIONAL JOURNEY WITH HIM!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND DREAMWORKS PICTURES

Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in First Man

            Ryan Gosling (Drive, La La Land, Blade Runner 2049) reunites with Oscar winning director, Damien Chazelle (Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Whiplash, La La Land) in the new biopic, First Man, based on the true story of astronaut Neil Armstrong and how he went down in history as the first man who landed on the moon. The film itself is an adaptation of James R. Hansen’s book, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, and there were talks of adapting it into a movie dating back to 2003.

            Originally Clint Eastwood, who had previously Space Cowboys in 2000, was set to direct the film under Warner Bros. (Having some déjà vu here) but it never came through. Ultimately, Universal and DreamWorks picked up the rights in the mid-2010s and after Chazelle and Gosling received acclaim for 2016’s La La Land, they were brought in to bring this moment of history to the screen.

            I was hyped for this movie when I saw the trailers, both Ryan Gosling and Damien Chazelle already won me over many times before. A cinematic depiction of the 1969 Apollo 11 landing on the moon with Gosling portraying Neil Armstrong? I’m in.

            While I wouldn’t say it’s quite on par with Chazelle’s previous films, it’s still a pretty damn incredible experience. From the special effects and perilous sequences to the camera work and acting, it really feels like history has come alive and that you’re watching footage from the actual landing.

             However, First Man doesn’t focus entirely on the moon landing but rather the years leading up to it and the impacts it had on everyone. Most of the movie revolves around the drama, training, and bumps in the road that happened at NASA while they were preparing for it.

            From injuries, malfunctions, and even death, Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll-House of Cards, The Strain, Ant-Man), and the rest of their crew must face impossible odds and the chance that they might not make it back home as the clock ticks closer to launch day. The film glorifies the moon landing event but also walks the line of asking, was it all worth it?

            Back in 1969, it was a dream to be able to fly to the moon, but a lot of people lost their lives trying to make it happen. The film addresses the impacts it had on the astronauts’ family members, NASA, and the world in general.

            The movie also focuses a lot on Neil Armstrong’s family, particularly his wife, Janet, played tremendously by Claire Foy (Wreckers, Unsane, The Girl in the Spider’s Web) which gives more of an emotional depth to the film. When Neil has to leave her and his children to go to the moon, she shows both enthusiasm that her husband is about to make history and concern that he might not make it back during the mission, it’s very relatable whether your loved one is an astronaut in space or a soldier in a war.

            The performances from both Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy are stellar, what I appreciate about Gosling on-screen is that he never looks or acts like he’s trying to win an Oscar. He plays the part of Armstrong very natural and despite being a very quiet and subdued actor, manages to say a lot and be emotional with little dialogue.

            Claire Foy I’ll go on record and say almost upstages Gosling in certain parts of the film, she depicts the concerns Janet Armstrong had when Neil went to the moon and the difficult times of raising their children all by herself. She shows excitement and fear about the mission and goes to extreme lengths to ensure that her husband is safe and alive, such as storming into NASA and demanding the radio signals be turned back on and getting Neil to talk with their children about the mission and that he might not make it back, I’m hoping she’ll be nominated for her performance here.

            The special effects are quite impressive in the movie, most of the effects are done practically so what you’re seeing on-screen is really there. In fact, there were times where I couldn’t even tell what was CG and what was actually in front of the camera.

            Besides the acting and visuals, the directing and camera work are also aspects to be admired, Damien Chazelle has a clear understanding of the event and honors Neil Armstrong’s legacy but doesn’t shy away from the difficulties that came along the way. He even chose to shoot the film on 35mm film cameras and the graininess of the picture quality adds more to the historical authentication while shooting the lunar sequence in IMAX.

            This is a movie that was made for IMAX and takes full advantage of what the format can do, the moon landing sequence looks incredible on the giant screen and the booming sounds of the rocket taking off really makes you feel like you’re in space. I wouldn’t say it’s as impressive as Gravity, but it still looks and sounds unbelievable when watching it in the IMAX format.

            First Man honors the legacy of Neil Armstrong and celebrates one of the most famous events in American (and world) history while delivering a thrilling and captivating journey. We probably can’t go back to the moon right now but seeing this movie on IMAX would be the next best thing.