Shorts from The Screening Room – April 2020

In Theaters:

Note: Due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States, theaters will be closed until further notice.

From the Video Store Shelf:

Blow the Man Down (2019 / AMAZON) – Set in Easter Cove, Maine where recently-adult sisters Pris and Mary Beth have just buried their middle-aged mother. As the hours that follow become a night of grief-stricken escape, the pair find themselves down a dark road of small-town history, secrets, and murder.

Concerning the basic film topics of production value/lighting, casting/acting, editing and the like, the film is fine. What’s impressive though, is that the film is filled to the brim with interesting characters and a story-related history that’s significantly intriguing. Unfortunately, the film’s overall effectiveness is stymied by a shortened runtime.

Everything happens quickly in the film, so quickly in fact that it doesn’t allow the audience enough time to get close to the characters. I think you know them well enough to like them, but not well enough to really understand them and the depths they’ll go to support or oppose the other characters in the film. Oh, the audience gets it, but they could have felt endearingly connected, if there was more time allotted.

My Admission - $5.00
One Line Review – “People, Places, and History You Want (Need) to Know More About”
MPAA Rating – R for language, some violence, sexual material and brief drug use

Gemini Man (2019 / DVD) – Will Smith stars as a retiring U.S. Government assassin; the best in the business, of course. But being the best won’t stop him from becoming the target of his former agency when he learns that his final target may have been more than he was led to believe. The assassin sent to kill him though…“Details Inside!”

The script for “Gemini Man” began at Disney in 1997. Over the years it saw a myriad of directors, writers and actors attached, all of which came to naught. The rights were eventually sold, technology caught up with the story idea, director Ang Lee and actor Will Smith were hired, and the film went into production with three credited writers: David Benioff (“Game of Thrones”), Billy Ray (“Hunger Games”), and original screenwriter, Darren Lemke (“Jack the Giant Slayer”). Collectively, this group deliver a mixed bag of a movie; i.e. it’s not terribly impressive, though not all bad either, just alarmingly weaker than you’d like. That’s not surprising but it still sucks after spending so many years in Development Hell.

“Gemini Man” is a film that goes to extremes quickly, lingers on exposition, and fails to give you enough character concern to warrant extended stays. These are not individuals, or ultimately a story, that you’ll find a strong investment in, just something you kind of want to know about, like glancing over a larger news article for the highlights, before moving on.

Yes, it’s got some visual effects problems, but that’s not surprising since the film was an attempt to push some technical envelopes; i.e. shot in 4K 3D at 120 fps and utilizes de-aging or mo-cap effects; few of which are properly displayed in current cinema or on home theater formats. The technical problems stand out during fight sequences that look like they came straight from the “Matrix: Revolutions”-era of computer effects, and the weakening melodramatic story isn’t enough to help the audience overlook it.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead continues to be an impressive force, scoring high marks here for her stunt and action-oriented work. Her fight scene on the dock is one of the more impressive of the entire film, but I wouldn’t look to any of the other cast members for equivalent work.

My Admission - $4.00
One Line Review – “I’m Just Not That Into…Either of You”
MPAA Rating – PG-13 for violence and action throughout, and brief strong language

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019 / DVD) – Arriving in great form, this highly entertaining sequel brings back all of the major characters from the first film, and scores bonus points for its casting and character additions, all while managing to significantly expand the original’s gaming universe.

Filling itself out wonderfully, at a roughly two-hour timeframe, the film delivers completed arcs for its characters and affirms the thematic bond of friendship and group effort; at least for the good guys. The bad guys? Not so much, but that’s the friggin’ Hound, Yo!

My Admission - $7.00
One Line Review – “Successfully Switching It Up”
MPAA Rating – PG-13 for adventure action, suggestive content and some language

Late for Dinner (1991 / DVD) – I’d like to find a way to describe the film’s story without spoiling it but I’m finding it very difficult to do so. Basically, it’s a litely sci-fi and somewhat comedic family romance about long-term separation and reunions that includes supporting performances from Marcia Gay Harden and Peter Berg.

“Late for Dinner” is a film that feels like it has something to say rather than a story that has to be told. The conceit is cared for early on in the film, so there’s no lingering action to resolve in the film’s second half, leaving only the emotions and “have to says” of its face-to-face scenario left to complete. That makes the smallness of the movie a much more pleasant memory and keeps it cute and simple to boot.

My Admission - $5.50
One Line Review – “Home Honey, I’m Hi”
MPAA Rating – PG for adult situations and language

The Nightingale (2018 / DVD) – Set in 1820s Tasmania, “The Nightingale” tells the story of a convicted Irish woman hellbent on vengeance against her lingering English captors. The film, from writer/director Jennifer Kent (“The Babadook”), has been called a meditation on the horrors of Australian colonization; and what horrors they must have been because “The Nightingale” is a strident and painful capturing of struggles not only endured, but perpetrated.

And I’m serious about not being for the timid. I’m a relatively skilled cinephile and I was ready to shut the whole thing off at the 30-minute mark because of the film’s early effectiveness. I had very little idea what I and those with me were sitting down to watch, but in the gaping and horrific silence of a darkened screening room, apologizes only go so far. Thankfully, or unfortunately, the physical violence doesn’t last as long as the verbal does; either way, the movie never becomes comfortable and it deserves credit for remaining that way throughout.

The cast is exceptional here, delivering both direct and nuanced performances at a staggeringly high and effective level. Kudos to Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Damon Herriman, Harry Greenwood, Michael Sheasby, and newcomer Baykali Ganambarr for stepping up to their respective plates.

My Admission - $6.00
One Line Review – “It’s Not Fun, It’s Fucking Mean”
MPAA Rating – R for strong violent and disturbing content including rape, language throughout, and brief sexuality

Onward (2020 / Disney+) – Set in a modern-day fantasy world, two elvish brothers set out on a quest to bring their father back from the dead for one final day together. The conceit that mythical creatures never died out, instead they just evolved into a modern-day world similar to our own, is fun and jam-packed with fan-service goodies.

Despite doing less than comparable film takes might, “Onward”, while never being great ultimately manages to work. It’s fantasy world, where elves, centaurs, and winged creatures are as normal as traffic “Halt” signs, and cans of “Mountain Doom”, keeps eagle-eyed audiences engaged long enough for it to deliver a semi-solid payoff that, while feeling a bit too “Frozen” to call it uniquely its own, still manages to effectively tug on some heartstrings.

The film also boasts a surprisingly small voice cast that includes Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louise-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, Mel Rodriguez, Kyle Bornheimer, Lena Waithe, Ali Wong, Grey Griffin, Tracey Ullman, Wilmer Valderrama, George Psarras, and John Ratzenberger.

My Admission - $5.00
One Line Review – “Call It, ‘Your Little Brother’s Frozen’”
MPAA Rating – PG for action/peril and some mild thematic elements

Queen & Slim (2019 / DVD) - From director Melina Matsoukas (“Beyonce: Lemonade”) and writer/producer Lena Waithe (“Dear White People”, “The Chi”, “Boomerang”) comes this tragic road trip picture that pits two disparate African Americans against a troubling but all-too familiar circumstance.

Jodie Turner-Smith (“The Last Ship”, “Jett”) and Daneil Kaluuya (“Get Out”) star as two very different singles who meet and, over a meal together, learn they’re not right for each other. However, before they can conclude their evening, the pair are participants in a traffic stop that has dire consequences.

What unfolds is a unique and oxygen-rich film that will be described as a bit “Bonnie and Clyde” but actually has little legitimate comparison to that story. There’s a strong difference of character here that feels off putting to begin with but makes much more sense when you understand that the characters of Queen and Slim were created to analogize what it would be like to have Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr trapped in a car together and on the run.

With that framework in mind, the film feels more human, spacious and evolutionary as the characters struggle against, work together, and ultimately open up to each other while the world outside of the car, for its own differing reasons, looks to immortalize them.

Note: Bokeem Woodbine, Flea, and Chloë Sevigny have small supporting roles.

My Admission - $6.00
One Line Review – “Martin and Malcolm Sitting in A Tree”
MPAA Rating – R for violence, some strong sexuality, nudity, pervasive language, and brief drug use

Rambo: Last Blood (2019 / DVD) – Sylvester Stallone returns as both writer and star of this fifth outing of the famed and damaged character. This time around, John Rambo is living on a ranch in New Mexico, where for the last 10 years he’s participated in the raising of a “niece”. Uhh, okay? When the need arises for answers to familial questions, a trip across the border turns this into a film about the world’s second largest money maker, the sex trade, and as you’d expect (it is the reason you’re here, right?), a host of violence ensues.

At roughly 80 minutes, “Rambo: Last Blood” has no fat to spare; perhaps expectedly, it doesn’t have enough meat to go around either. Not since “Rambo: First Blood Part II” has a film in this franchise been this lean and/or mean. Seriously, this installment makes a strong case for being the meanest of the bunch. And I’m assuming that’s easier to accomplish when everything, and everyone, is this one-dimensional.

The filmmakers have claimed that the movie explores Rambo’s continued character psychology. That’s not completely inaccurate but I’m not wholly convinced that that’s what’s happening here either; anyway, have your grains of salt handy and understand that this isn’t meant to be Shakespeare. Psychology, rationality or whatever, aside, “Rambo: Last Blood” appears to understand itself and who its target audience is and delivers the blood, guts, and body count to back up that claim at least.

My Admission - $4.00
One Line Review – “It's the Headless One”
MPAA Rating – R for strong graphic violence, grisly images, drug use and language

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