Monday, March 26, 2018

In Case You Missed Them

by Adam Riske
A rundown on new releases!

These are ranked from my least favorite to favorite.

A Wrinkle in Time – Before I went to see this movie, I was worried it would be Tomorrowland all over again. Sadly, it's much worse. The experience was like reading a Theoretical Physics textbook at Epcot Center and when you ask someone a question about it, they speak backwards and throw confetti in your face. I left the theater for five minutes at one point in the middle because I couldn’t take any more of the movie. I don’t take any joy in panning A Wrinkle in Time. I adored Ava DuVernay’s film Selma and was hoping this would be another movie I love. I have to be honest, though. The script is word salad, when it’s not platitudes, the narrative has no flow with scenes seemingly happening at random and some of the performances (not all, but some of the child performances especially) are like something out of Fuller House. I was stunned by how bad this film was. It’s so bad that it makes you sit back and think it’s a miracle that more movies (where hundreds of people collaborate on a single story) don’t turn out this poorly. I liked the intent, some of the visuals are appealing and Chris Pine is good because Chris Pine, but that’s about all I enjoyed in A Wrinkle in Time. I weep for the editor.

Rating: 1 out of 4 Riskes
Thoroughbreds – This movie is very Sundancey. Thoroughbreds is a strange drama in the package of a dark comedy. I think they’re doing a disservice marketing the film the way they are, but I get it because the studio is trying to make it seem more palatable than it really is. The performances carry the film and they’re all good, with a cast led by Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy and the late Anton Yelchin, but the dialogue they’re given is very scripty, where everything is just too precise by half and the tone of the movie follows suit. Thoroughbreds is a movie I appreciate more in the days after I saw it because it develops into a more haunting story than I expected, but that’s not enough for me to recommend it wholeheartedly.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 Riskes
Tomb Raider – Thank goodness for Alicia Vikander. The new Tomb Raider is better than the Angelina Jolie movie from 2001 and probably one of the best video game film adaptations I’ve ever seen. However, that field is so lousy it doesn’t mean that the 2018 Tomb Raider is a grand success by most measures. Vikander is spunky and a great action hero. When she’s on screen, there’s always something to watch, but the story is a very by-the-numbers Diet Sprite version of an island/jungle (I can’t remember) adventure with wasted talents like Walton Goggins and Nick Frost either having not enough to do or far too sparse amounts of screen time. Everything about this movie was just aggressively average and flat. I was zoned out for much of it, but at no point did I think the movie was bad. It’s just…there.

Rating: 2.5 out 4 Riskes
The Strangers: Prey at Night – Here is the pleasant surprise of the month of March. I am not a fan of the original The Strangers (home invasion horror isn’t my thing) and I was shocked to enjoy the sequel as much as I did. It takes the material and does something different with it, like Aliens or The Devil’s Rejects. This time “The Strangers” are slasher villains going after a family in an isolated trailer park. The set pieces are very stylish, the atmosphere is thick and the suspense is thrilling. All I ask for in a slasher movie is for the victims to have a chance to fight back so it’s not just a death march, and Prey at Night director Johannes Roberts (of 47 Meters Down fame – another movie I liked) feels the same and keeps it fun. The use of music in the film (with classics from Bonnie Tyler, Tiffany and Air Supply) is cinematic and feels like when you’re 16 years old, hear a great song and direct an action sequence in your head to it. This is a horror flick I’m going to come back to in future Octobers.

Rating 3.5 out of 4 Riskes
Unsane – I’m so glad Steven Soderbergh is back making movies. Logan Lucky felt like a warm-up and Unsane is him actually facing live hitting again. This movie is so tense that I forgot my hat in the theater and had to walk back and go get it. I was shook. It tells the story of a woman (played by Claire Foy in an excellent performance) evading a stalker (The Blair Witch Project’s Joshua Leonard) who is involuntarily committed to a mental asylum. Things escalate from there in a fashion I really admired because it happens deliberately in increments. Unsane is unrelenting. I kept expecting Soderbergh to stop, but he continues ratcheting up the tension more and more throughout the movie to the point where he dances with being in bad taste. He really walks the line here and that’s exciting to see. Much has been made of the gimmick that Soderbergh shot this film on an iPhone camera, but I was so engrossed by the story that I barely noticed. If anything, it makes the movie feel more surreal and less like a movie. Also, Jay Pharoah co-stars and he’s terrific.

Rating 3.5 out of 4 Riskes
Ready Player One – Yes! I was getting worn out by Steven Spielberg detractors, so I’m relieved and excited to say that Ready Player One is a total blast. The film reminded me of when Martin Scorsese made The Wolf of Wall Street, dropping a film that exceeded the energy of filmmakers’ half his age. Spielberg knows exactly what he’s doing in Ready Player One and it’s obvious he’s invigorated by mining pop culture staples he created and influenced throughout his legendary career. I love the film’s whimsy (it never feels heavy like so many blockbusters of its scale and budget) and its thesis (NO SPOILER) about nostalgia and where it fits in our lives. The visual effects are gorgeous with many standout action sequences, the performances are charming and the energy is joyous. I also can’t say enough good things about Mark Rylance in this film. He’s so great as the film’s virtual reality messiah. This is one movie you’ll want to see in a theater with great projection and sound. If Ready Player One isn’t a box office success, I expect it to be a cult hit of the future. It’s the "hold my beer" answer to people like me who wanted this from Valerian.

Rating 3.5 out of 4 Riskes

Have you seen any of these flicks? What have you been seeing recently in theaters that you liked or didn’t like? Leave a comment below!

18 comments:

  1. You don’t know how much that RiskRec (Riske Recommendation) of Ready Player One means to me. My excitement finally feels justified.

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  2. I saw Unsane this weekend and liked it very much. I didn't know it was an iPhone film before going in, but the photography def8nately felt bizarre and took a few minutes to settle into. Luckily, the performances are writing were so sharp I didn't care (Josh Leonard plays the creepiest creepy fuck of all time so perfectly). I'm interested to see it again, the ending has a strange structure that I'm not sure completely works together.

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    1. NO SPOILER I liked the ending (specifically the epilogue). It was different and the credits being so quick was cool because it left me with that uneasy, nervous feeling as I walked out of the theater.

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  3. i have to say, the trailers for Ready Player One didn't make me want to see the movie, but seeing the good reviews for the last few days, and now Mr Riske's review, i have to go see it now.

    i was also disappointed with Tomb Raider. Alicia Vikander is perfect in the role, but the movie is a big fat MEH. i was expecting move, i actually liked the trailers for this one. but turns out it's just another origin story, spending more time NOT doing what she's known for and never seeing the dual wielding guns. what a let down. i laughed when she point a bow and arrow at an helicopter.

    as for movies shot with iPhones, i strongly suggest you all watch Tangerine. it's an awesome movie shot on an iPhone 5.

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    1. You're right about Tangerine, it is a gorgeous movie. But for a movie that maybe 85% interiors, and seemingly lit by mostly fluorescents, I'm not sure it works. It reminded me of Public Enemies, a movies who's sets, subjects, and tone clashed bigly with Mann's digital photography. I hope it's more like Collateral tho, and I get over all that stuff on a second viewing

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    2. For me, Tangerine works from start to finish.

      I don't remember Public Enemies, so i can't comment on it

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  4. That is exciting to hear about ready player one. I was going to skip the Strangers because I don't like seeing bad things happen to Christina Hendricks. Do you think it's good enough to see anyway?

    Also what kind of hat were you wearing?

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    1. I liked Strangers but I dunno in your case. You'll have to make the call, ya know?

      I was wearing my Sox hat, yo.

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    2. Maybe I'll just close my eyes when something bad starts to happen to her. That's what I do when I rewatch Drive.

      The Sox should really make a fedora.

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    3. I'm not in my fedora years yet.

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    4. I understand. I'm not yet either. I've wondered what it will be like the day I get there.

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  5. Yes! I'm pumped for 'Ready Player One' now. Just got the Riske seal of approval! Unsane sounds like my kind of movie as well, glad to hear Soderbergh is returning to form. I saw Strangers: Prey at Night and I'm very mixed on it. I love the second half of the movie, but that first half is so bad, I guess I shouldn't expect much, I don't know. I was really worried after the brutal intro and set up. The dad was not great...but I agree there were some cool set pieces and the use of music really helped raise the mood of it. Bordering on horror tropey, it succeeds in what it set out to do and that's all you can ask. It could have been so much worse and I'm sure it will be a movie I grow to love. I've been a big fan of the original for years and I think my hesitation to like it had a lot to do with expectations.

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    1. I agree with you about the dad in Strangers Prey at Night. Although, it was charmingly bad for me somehow??? I can't really explain it.

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  6. I've got to see Strangers 2 now. Unsane is terrific. Not a false note from b to e. iPhone makes you really feel inside characters head.

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  7. Looking forward to seeing Unsane. Have to say I really enjoyed Thoroughbreds; a gem of a movie. I'm sure I was to last to see it but Annihilation was fantastic, looked great on the big screen. Worth a trip to the cinema.

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    1. Yep. Annihilation is either my favorite (or second favorite) movie of the year so far.

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    2. I really liked Annihilation too. It didn't last long in the big theaters, but I managed to catch it at a 2nd run place.

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  8. Given that I found Tomorrowland one of the worst movies I've ever seen, the prospect of a "much worse" flick terrifies me...

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