August movie reviews

In Theaters:

TRAP

This M. Night Shyamalan film follows the pattern of a lot of his works. The premise is good, the execution for a while at least hooks you, and then the 3rd act arrives. What's unique here is that I both thought the 3rd act went completely off the rails, yet I enjoyed it anyway. And I really liked the entire concert-set part of the film. I am totally on board with the Josh Hartnett renaissance, and you know, Shyamalan's daughter being such a big part of the film is not a problem. She's gorgeous and can sing a little. 

BORDERLANDS

One of the flops of the year, this video game movie has an eclectic cast and lots of colorful costumes and sets. I know nothing of the game, but the movie clearly was meant to be a new Guardians of the Galaxy or Suicide Squad. But for some reason this property (and a large budget) was handed to Eli Roth, a filmmaker whose body of work is both largely terrible and does not at all indicate the ability to do this kind of film. Fittingly the movie is a chaotic mess, in which nothing makes sense at all, and nothing coalesces. It's not awful to sit through cause of the cast. Cate Blanchett is having fun, and Arianna Greenblatt is a rising star. 

ALIEN: ROMULUS

The Alien franchise is all over the place as far as quality. The best one in the last 30+ years was barely even tied to the title creatures. Romulus is pretty damn good though, a deliberately back to basics grimy horror movie that really works. The film has a few really terrific set pieces, and while I wouldn't say I was scared, I was tensed. The new ensemble is solid, with David Jonsson the standout as a synthetic with changing objectives. The movie has a few nods to the larger lore, but wisely keeps things mostly centered on scary monsters attacking people. 

CLOSE TO YOU

Went in totally cold on this film, only knowing it starred Elliott Page. This is the first thing I have really seen of his post-transition, and it's still strange to see them now. The film, about Page coming home to see his family, is clearly a very personal and presumably at least somewhat autobiographical story for him. But Jesus is it a boring film, with dialogue so preachy and on the nose that it blunts its own impact. Hopefully Page is able to still carve out a career with better projects. 

DIDI

I can't handle it that a movie can now be set in 2008 as a nostalgic look back.

A very good coming of age dramedy about an Asian kid about to enter high school, with all the accompanying awkwardness. It's sort of like if Mid90s and Eighth Grade had a baby. It's very entertaining throughout, though probably a notch down from the best of the genre. 

BLINK TWICE

Did not expect this to be one of the worst films I've seen this year.

I'm not one of those people who says you can't put certain content in a film. Even showing sexual assaults of drugged women can serve a purpose narratively or thematically.

But it requires a MUCH surer hand to pull it off than Zoe Kravitz is at all capable of in her directing debut.

It clearly is modeled after similar films like Get Out or Midsommar where characters go to a location, and there's something very weird going on, but we don't know what it is. But it is in the reveals where those films really elevate. Here, once we get the reveal, the film disintegrates into a complete disaster.

Despite seemingly having something to say, it has nothing to say. It's why those assault scenes feel so grotesque. They exist only for shock value. Now, if Kravitz were trying to actually make an exploitation film, okay (the 3rd act kind of gets into a bloody revenge mode for a few minutes). But it's clear she thinks this film has a point to make. The ending (which is completely out of left field and makes zero sense) is there for a reason. What that reason is, one can only guess.

Beyond all that, the film is also just quite dull and obnoxious. I like the cast on paper (Geena Davis is here?!) but they aren't playing people. It's shot fine, I suppose. But it's a nothing movie masquerading as something.

Everything else:

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

From 1951, this is about mankind's effort to escape Earth before a rogue planet crashes into it. I was interested in watching it cause Deep Impact originated as a loose remake of this. As with many sci-fi films of that era there's a lot of men talking in rooms scenes, so it's a bit dull, but some of the old times fx are pretty neat.

JIM HENSON: IDEA MAN 

Ron Howard directed documentary about the man who created the Muppets, among many other things. It's warm and affectionate and a good watch.