MAGIC

 

MAGIC 

B

I really wish that Jaret Morlan was still on Facebook. He once asked me years ago if I had ever seen a film with a weak screenplay, but such strong performances, that I couldn't help but still give the film a positive review. At the time I couldn't think of anything. Now, I have an answer and that answer is Magic. 

I don't know if I would necessarily refer to the script as weak. It's more along the lines of a script of this mediocrity didn't deserve to have the A list ensemble of talent that it did. It was more like a good B film, that should be treated like a good B film, but somehow or another acquired some of the greatest thespians of our time. It'd be one thing for a film of this nature to have had one A list name, but this film had a ton! Anthony Hopkins, Ann Margret, Burgess Meredith & who I personally feel is the most underrated actor of all time David Ogden Stiers. It truly was a miracle that it was somehow able to attract this much talent. 

Had the film had less known actors, actors that more or less matched the material, it probably wouldn't have come off as good. I'm almost positive that with the exact same story & exact same direction, I probably could have dropped it to at least a B- if not a C+.  That's very uncommon for me, as usually a film's story, to me is the central focus of how I grade the film. It's so rare for anything, be it the acting, the directing, or anything else to be so good that it trumps the story.  Be this the exception. 

As to the story it was rather intriguing & suspenseful, but as you expected it to grow stronger, it actually grew weaker. You start off wondering if Corky is insane or if the dummy may be real to then feeling sorry for the mentally unstable Corky. Towards the end of the film you're waiting for it to be over, as it throws a final twist your way that is nothing short of laughable. 

Again, not a great film as far as story is concerned, but some really strong performances. Although it would be 13 years before Hopkins took the role of Hannibal Lector in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS you can see the beginnings of the character in his performance as Corky.  

The Pope's Exorcist

 

THE POPE'S EXORCIST = A

Anytime you go into a film like this, your personal beliefs, thoughts & theories have an effect on how you perceive what you are watching. I'm sure a Christian probably has preconceived concepts that I do not have as an agnostic, which would make the viewing experience much different. I for one do not hold strong convictions that would have a dramatic effect on how I would view such a film, so I was able to more or less view it strictly as a piece of art. 

And strictly as a piece of art, I found the film to be quite good. It was captivating, full of the right pace of horror & action. I found the character of Gabrielle & Russell Crowe's performance to be outstanding. I was excepting a bit more of a soul searching, questioning his faith, nearly giving up on it, rediscovering it prose, but wasn't disappointed as it dove right in to the heroic elements of the film. 

I appreciated the Batman/Robin-esque partnership between Gabrielle & Esquibel.  Stories of true friendship & selflessness are so rare nowadays.  It was refreshing to see the two have one another's backs, stop at nothing to save the child & risk their own lives to save one another. 

I also appreciated how neither character was perfect nor in a realm of false modesty. Both were open and honest of their sins & Gabrielle's encouragement for Esquibel to be vulnerable, without being critical or judgmental of him added to the strength of their duo. 

Of course a film like this will raise questions, both philosophical as well as theological. I know it did for me, & I'm sure it would for most who watch it.  

I did not find this to be preachy, religiously prolific or even a film of secret conversion. It was simply a good film that happens to deal with a religious subject.  I'd watch it again. 

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

 

MY BLOODY VALENTINE: D- 

This was a remake, so I can only hope that the original was much better than this utter pile of rubbish.  The only saving grace of this entire film was that it had an all star cast. It's a shame that talents like Tom Atkins & Kevin Tighe were wasted on such a nonsensical, convoluted script, but it was fun to see them on the screen nonetheless. 

So little of this film made sense. You were left wondering, "why?" "what?" "how?" "when?" & "who?" so many times throughout the film. It was written as if someone had one idea that they wanted to go with, someone else had another & then a third person came in and wanted to go a completely different direction. The director took a look at all three ideas & decided that even though they contradicted one another, all three would be implemented into the film.  

Of course like all films that fail, there are few likable characters & the more likable they are, they more likely they were to be killed off. Then of course the character you like the most, turns out to be the killer. 

What a pile of garbage.  If it wasn't for getting to see Atkins & Tighe on the screen, this would have been an F. 

M3GAN

 

M3GAN = C

Be it rather ironic that a film whose very topic deals with the consequences of unpreparedness, not thinking things through & moving forward despite plausible ramifications, when it itself suffers from the exact same problems. It's almost hypocritical in a way, as it is doubtful that this was intentional. A film's goal should be to be as perfect & flawless as possible. Yet M3GAN was every bit as flawed & foible as was Gemma in her design & implementation. 

The film suffered the same fate as our main character. A good central idea, that was put together too quickly & not thought out well enough before being launched.  The death of the dog made sense as it attacked Cady and posed a serious, immediate threat.  The death of the neighbor who could potentially cause problems made sense as well. Although the bully at the school was cliched, unnatural & so convenient to the plot that it about makes you vomit, even his death made sense. 

You know what didn't make sense though?  The death of David & the death of Kurt. I could see why M3gan wanted to eliminate Tess & Cole. That made sense. They were aware of the danger & of what she was capable of. If anything killing David & Kurt was detrimental to M3gan's plan. Neither of them were aware of the danger or what she had done. As far as they knew she was the answer to as David said, "Kicking Hasbro right in the ' ' ".    David & Kurt would have been the types to have wanted to have made more M3gans and to have consistently updated her.  Killing them not only didn't make sense, it killed the momentum of what was supposed to be a very intelligent self learning computer. 

I appreciated the usage of Bruce at the end of the film to aid Cady & Gemma's fight against M3gan, but again the fight in itself didn't make a whole lot of sense. If M3gan's core objective was to protect Cady at all costs, as the programming was said to have done, then no amount of self learning would have ever put itself ahead of its main objective. In other words M3gan wouldn't have put herself/itself ahead of the protection of Cady. Had it seen itself as a threat to Cady, it would have either stopped itself or even tried to destroy itself. It made no sense from an objective standpoint for M3gan to turn on Cady.  Not from the setup, the dialog or the structure of the story.  

I have to commend the film on the character arch of Gemma.  The shift of her starting off cold, callous & almost robotic in nature against the actual robot of M3gan seeming more empathetic & human was done quite well.  As the layers of M3gan were stripped away to reveal the inhuman bronze structure beneath, the layers of Gemma were added to reveal her humanity.  The film did well here. 

Yet overall, there was too much convenience to move the plot forward. There were too many character choices, especially from M3gan that didn't fit the narrative. The pieces didn't fit the board smoothly & were instead jammed into places where they didn't fit.   The suspense and mystique of it all is enough to keep you watching, as the action seems to make up for the obvious holes within the plot.  The good is there, but so is the bad. Hence the straight C, as fair and objective a grade as one can give it. 

Have to comment on how much the M3gan doll looked like the Olsen twins.  It was so similar it was almost freaky.  If only M3gan had said, "you got it dude" somewhere within the film. 

M3GAN  is in a nutshell THE TERMINATOR meets CHILD'S PLAY (2019) meets ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK'S: THE TALE OF THE CURIOUS CAMERA.  

NOPE

 

NOPE =  B


I enjoyed this film.  Of all the Jordan Peele films I have seen thus far, this was by far the best. It was a simple, man vs nature story, that might have benefited by sticking on the paved path, rather than occasionally venturing down the unknown.  Then again without the occasional, ambiguous, cryptic scene here and their, would it really have been Jordan Peele? 

It took me a while to really understand the character of Ricky Park (Steven Yeun) and what his true purpose was to the story.  It was obvious that the Gordy scenes had a deeper meaning to the story's message, but it took me a while before it all came together.  When simplicity  interweaves with convolution, it can cause you at times to make things more difficult than they actually are.  I kept thinking that the two stories would literally come together at some point, when in fact it was pure symbolism. 

The Gordy incident didn't happen out of ignorance. Those in charge were fully aware of the risks involved but they didn't care because of the monetary gains that could be acquired through exploitation.  Hence why we see the Chimpanzee wreck havoc killing & injuring his costars , with history to repeat itself when Park & his audience are devoured by the extra-terrestrial. 

The acting was good in this film.  Daniel Kaluuya is to Peele what Johnny Depp is to Tim Burton.  I was disappointed we didn't get to see more of Keith David & I thought Brandon Perea did a fine job. Keke Palmer was rather annoying, but I'm sure that had to do more with the way the character was written than the way she portrayed her.  

What was most fascinating to me was hearing Michael Wincott speak in what I would assume is his actual speaking voice?  From Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves to The Crow to The Count of Monte Cristo  he usually accentuates and exaggerates his iconic voice.  It's been well over 30 years, but this marks the first times I think I've heard what he actually sounds like. 

No real deep thoughts on this film, although I could go into a long rant about Peele himself & how he's become a representation being judged not so much by his work, or his performance as he is the topics he deals with & the issues he tackles.  

Again, this was one of the better films of his that I have seen. 

KNOCK AT THE CABIN

 

KNOCK AT THE CABIN =  B- 


A director that has relied so heavily upon twist endings, it was only a matter of time before M Night Shyamalan finally took the direct approach. No gimmicks, no shocks, no surprises, just a straight forward, predictable plot with a predictable ending. Perhaps in essence, Shyamalan's greatest twist ever, in that one would come into this film expecting a great reveal, only to leave empty handed. 

As I felt with READY OR NOT, I do feel that practicality would have served this film better than the "this was all real" approach.  For a brief moment the film leaned towards Eric & Andrew perhaps convincing the cult of four into other beliefs.  I think that would have made for a better, more interesting film.  Andrew & Eric, as well as Wen coming together in order to manipulate & brainwash their way into defeating the others. I feel that the direct approach instead feeds into the crazy, insane conspiracies we already have way too much of on this earth.  I don't think that is a good thing. 

Yet taking my disdain for the film's overall approach & looking at it for what it is, rather than what I would have had it rather have been, I conclude that it was told well. The acting in the film was pretty good & I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with Dave Bautista.  From Terry Funk, to Roddy Piper, to Hulk Hogan and  The Rock, pro wrestlers have never been known for their dramatic abilities.  I thought he did a superb job.  I actually think he's a better actor than he was a pro wrestler & I am glad that he was given the opportunity to showcase his skills.  Kudos to Shyamalan for not automatically disqualifying him because of his physique.  Their has been progress within the theater! 

This is a "what will happen next?" mystery/suspense that really throws you for a loop by doing exactly what it says it will do, when you're instead expecting the unexpected.  In THE SIXTH SENSE we find out that Bruce Willis has actually been dead the whole time.  In THE VILLAGE we find out that what seemed to take place long ago, is actually in the present day.  In THE VISIT we find out that they really aren't their real grandparents. 

In KNOCK AT THE CABIN what we get is what we see.  

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

 

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER - B 

In the modern era of movies it can be rather difficult to fairly assess a film that is 65 years old. To compare it to it's predecessor TITANIC released nearly 40 years later would be petty and unfair.  In many ways A NIGHT TO REMEMBER was every bit as good as TITANIC & in many ways far more historically accurate. A plot driven story, there was little focus on the characters & their backgrounds and a stronger focus on the event & the responses to it. 

Like TITANIC Bruce Ismay was made out to be at fault for the disaster but he wasn't painted anywhere near the coward. Instead they portrayed him to accurately be concerned about the passengers getting as many of them on to the lifeboats as he could.  It's very subtle, but him looking around seeing no one else & asking, "Is there not anyone else" added a strong context that was not their in the 1997 version. 

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER also laid heavily into the Californian none to afraid to call the captain & crew out for their incompetence and mistakes. 

I will say that this film took a while to get started. The first hour felt more like an historical piece or a documentary. Something you'd watch in history class with names, facts and dates.  It wasn't until the ship actually struck the ice berg that you felt a since a urgency.  That's when the film began to pick up & the action really began to start.  

Considering that special effects were still in their infancy at the time, the actual sinking of the ship was done quite well.  I appreciate an attention to detail of Officer Lightoller and the efforts he went to in saving as many passengers as he could.  

There were many brave & heroic individuals the night that Titanic went down & I feel A NIGHT TO REMEMBER showcased that quite well.  If you're a Titanic buff the way I am, this is a must see.  If anything, for the second hour especially.