Tag: Movie Review

REVIEW: ‘Last Breath’ is deep on suspense, shallow elsewhere

This film is somewhat paradoxical in that it gets about as low as you can go in terms of depth, but isn’t exactly deep.

In 2019 director Alex Parkinson released the documentary “Last Breath.” The film centered on an incident where a deep-sea diver tasked with repairing pipes was nearly lost when his umbilical cable snapped and he was left on the ocean floor. Parkinson has now followed that up with a feature length narrative film.

The movie showcases how Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) was cut off from the air supply on the seabed and ran out of oxygen. It also shows fellow divers Duncan (Woody Harrelson) and David (Simu Liu), as well as ship Captain Andre (Cliff Curtis) and repair supervisor Craig (Mark Bonnar) making rescue attempts.

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REVIEW: ‘Mickey 17’ is a clumsy creation from Bong Joon-ho

Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up to “Parasite” is unfortunately, no awards contender.

The latest from the South Korean filmmaker is a dark sci-fi action-comedy centered on the character Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson). Needing to flee Earth because of a loan shark, Mickey boarded a spacecraft to a new planet, and took a job known as Expendable, where he does repairs in awful conditions.

In the case of death, his memories and personality has been downloaded, and his body can be recreated, allowing him to live on. The movie picks up with Mickey now on body 17 and surviving a dangerous incident where he should have died. As a result, an 18th Mickey is made. In doing so, their combined presence alters the course of the future for the a space colony.

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REVIEW: ‘Novocaine’ is an action-comedy knockout

There’s no pain for the main character in this film and there’s no pain for the audience either, because this one is quite enjoyable..

Jack Quaid stars in “Novocaine” as assistant bank manager, Nathan Caine. On top of being rather mild mannered and introverted, he also lives with congenital insensitivity to pain, meaning he can get hurt, but not feel a thing. Internally, though, he does feel attraction to one of his co-workers, Sherry.

After finally going out on a date with her (Amber Midthunder), things seem to be looking up. That is until the bank he works at is robbed and Sherry is abducted. On a quest to get her back, Caine uses his inability to feel pain to fight back against those behind the heist.

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Animation at the 97th Oscars: A Recap

The full length animation category in the Academy Awards line-up often features a mix of smaller releases and major productions.

That was the case this year, with two widely released pictures from Pixar and DreamWorks, along with three that were released directly via streaming and/or made by smaller studios. In the lead-up to this year’s ceremony, having seen “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2,” I caught up on the other three.

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REVIEW: New ‘Captain America’ is more bland than brave

This film is the culmination of an origin movie from over a decade ago. “Captain America: The First Avenger?” No, 2008’s “Incredible Hulk.”

“Brave New World” picks up a few years after the events of the “Falcon and Winter Soldier” series. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is now Captain America and he is assisted in missions by a sidekick, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez). The film picks up with Sam and friends attending an event at the White House where General Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) is now president.

During the event, an attempted assassination takes place and a friend of Sam’s is framed. Captain America sets off in the aftermath to clear his friend’s name and bring the plotters to justice, before world relations breakdown as several nations are also vying for a new valuable mineral.

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REVIEW: Mishandled tone makes ‘Heart Eyes’ a disappointment

The mask worn by the villain in this slasher is certainly great. The rest of the movie? Not quite so much.

The antagonist in this film shares the name of the movie itself. Heart Eyes is a serial killer who has been on a rampage the last few years, killing several couples on Valentine’s Day. The film picks up again on Valentine’s Day in the present, centering on a Seattle-based marketing professional named Ally (Olivia Holt).

Because of trouble at work and her single status, she’s not too excited for the holiday. Things only get more complicated when she meets Jay (Mason Gooding), a new colleague she has chemistry with, but sees as a work rival. Unfortunately, the two are mistaken as a couple by Heart Eyes and now have to go on the run from the killer.

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REVIEW: Angelina Jolie is at her absolute best in ‘Maria’

For the third time in a decade, director Pablo Larraín has helmed a biographical film about a complex woman, and like the other two, it’s one of the year’s best.

Larraín previously directed 2016’s “Jackie” about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and 2021’s “Spencer” which centered on Princess Diana. His latest is about the opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), though it takes place mainly after her illustrious career.

The movie focuses on the last week of the singer’s life, and explores how she was reflective of a career that she lost. Over time, her voice began to fail her, which caused her to leave her profession, and later her health began declining as well. The film is about the culmination of this, with her still at times trying to sing, while looking at the past and dealing with health issues.

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REVIEW: ‘Hard Truths’ has stirring drama but scope is limited

“Hard Truths” is a title that works for this movie. Others could have been “Mean Truths,” “Pessimistic Truths” or “Negative Truths.”

That’s because the main character in this film, Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), is dealing with depression, resentment and grief, which has manifested in aggression. Pansy is often in a state of frustration or anger, and it results in outbursts toward both family and strangers alike.

Much of this stems from conflicted feelings toward her late mother. This has caused a strain in her marriage to her husband Curtley (David Webber) and relationship with her son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). The one person she still manages to confide in usually is her sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin).

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REVIEW: Gere lifts Schrader’s middling drama ‘Oh, Canada’

The film may be named “Oh, Canada,” but a great deal of the drama in this takes place south of that nation’s border.

“Oh Canada,” from director Paul Schrader, centers on documentary filmmaker and professor Leo Fife (Richard Gere), an American who moved to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. The film picks up with Leo, now a terminal cancer patient, being interviewed by a former student.

Now a documentary filmmaker himself, Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), is interviewing Leo for a movie about the man’s decision to avoid Vietnam and his award-winning film career. However, as Leo begins to reflect on his personal life as he is asked about various points in his past.

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REVIEW: ‘The Piano Lesson’ is a well-acted but imperfect adaptation

As someone not familiar with the source material, I can’t say I at all expected a ghostly haunting in this period piece drama.

Based on a 1987 stage play with the same name, “The Piano Lesson” centers on the Charles family. John David Washington stars as Boy Willie Charles, a young man from Mississippi who’s traveled to Pittsburgh to pick up his family’s piano and sell it. His goal is to use the money to purchase the farm where his ancestors were enslaved and have his own land.

His sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), though, is opposed to the sale, noting its importance to their family’s legacy and history. The two remain at odds through the film, and as tensions rise, eerie things start happening.

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