Movies

Subterms

    More stories

    • 75 Shares149 Views

      in Movies

      ‘The Locksmith’ Review: A Botched Job

      by

      Ryan Phillippe plays a lock picker trying to escape his past in this clunky, clichéd crime thriller.In the world of crime capers and thrillers, the “one last job” narrative framework has been used enough that it’s less of a trope than its very own genre — films of all stripes can play in the fun house, so long as they find a way to keep it fresh or winsome. Nicolas Harvard’s directorial debut “The Locksmith,” though, mostly takes stock characters and narrative turns and throws them into its basket, unable to fill the rest in with much color or nuance.The film’s only hope for a defining quality is an awkwardly forced one: the lock-picking abilities of its protagonist, Miller (Ryan Phillippe), serving as an avatar for the past he can’t outrun. After a break-in goes awry and leads to a corrupt cop killing his friend, Miller is framed for the murder and sent to prison for a decade. He comes out ready to make things right with his ex-girlfriend, Beth (Kate Bosworth) — who happens to work on the force alongside the corrupt cop — and his young daughter. But, soon enough, an old friend — naturally, the former lover of Miller’s dead comrade — pulls him into one more scheme that only entangles him in a larger web of crime.Most of the movie is told with big, rudimentary handwriting and slathered in clichés. Its actors, including Ving Rhames — typecast as a gruff mentor but nevertheless an easy comfort — and a nostalgic pair of early-aughts stars in Phillippe and Bosworth, can’t do much with what they’ve been given. Bosworth is perhaps the only one who finds room for some subtlety in what amounts to a stilted, botched job.The LocksmithNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. More

    • 163 Shares159 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Love in the Time of Fentanyl’ Review: Heartbreak, Death and Hope in Vancouver

      by

      To combat the overdose crisis, a group that includes former and current users open a safe consumption site where shooting up does not have to mean death.In 2016, in response to record high overdose deaths in Vancouver, a group of artists, activists, and current and former drug users in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood came together to form the Overdose Prevention Society, a renegade safe consumption site where drug users could safely consume drugs. The O.P.S. staff tests the drugs for fentanyl, provides clean needles and has Narcan on hand in case of an overdose. “Love in the Time of Fentanyl,” directed by Colin Askey, tenderly documents this community’s lifesaving efforts.The film follows Ronnie, a frontline worker struggling with burnout; Sarah, an activist who opened the site and works to raise awareness about the crisis; Trey, a graffiti artist who memorializes lost community members on the center’s surrounding walls; Norma, an Indigenous elder and former drug user who cooks meals for the staff; and Dana, who is struggling with active addiction while working at the center.Despite the harrowing overdose scenes, Askey manages to infuse “Love in the Time of Fentanyl” with scenes of joy, creativity and friendship — whether it’s staff members dancing after hours, a guitarist singing an original song about O.P.S. (“O.D., O.D., O.D., Overdose Prevention Society”) or drug users chatting as they prepare their injections. A veteran talks about the trauma he endured during deployment. Another man says that he began using drugs after his girlfriend was killed by a drunken driver. All speak plainly about the challenges of quitting and the dangers of stigmatization. Though at times the film’s narrative momentum and focus on its subjects is lacking, it shows that drug users, to whom the drug crisis is more than an abstract idea, are perhaps the most capable of creating solutions to the overdose epidemic.Love in the Time of FentanylNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes. In theaters now and airing on PBS Independent Lens Feb. 13. More

    • 100 Shares149 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Body Parts’ Review: Even Sex Scenes Have Rules

      by

      The documentary features performers and filmmakers discussing onscreen nudity and sex, but offers little on the subject of sexual exploitation.Cinema’s first kiss was recorded in 1896, and the American film industry has been obsessed with desire and sex ever since. The documentary “Body Parts” is an attempt to account for cinema’s prurient interests. The documentarian Kristy Guevara-Flanagan interviews performers and filmmakers — including familiar faces like Jane Fonda and Karyn Kusama — on the topic of onscreen nudity and sex. Their stories of exploitation and negotiations are supported by archival clips from Hollywood movies of the present and past.The movie is strongest when it focuses on labor rules. Interview subjects explain the use of nudity riders, contractual documents that specify what acts an actor is willing to perform. Intimacy coordinators discuss their work as liaisons between actors and filmmakers, and the documentary shows them directing actors on how to touch appropriately. In these sequences, the film helpfully elucidates the practical side of filmmaking, and personal stories demonstrate how clear contractual practices can create a safer work environment.However, the movie is limited when it comes to deeper philosophical considerations, and its use of archival footage at times undermines comments from interview subjects. They describe the frustration of having intimate scenes posted online without context, on websites intended for pornography. But this documentary also includes decontextualized clips of nudity, with no onscreen reference to the process of informing the performers depicted. And pornographic performers are not interviewed about their work rules at all.It’s not that these omissions make the movie unethical, but their absence does suggest an intellectual laziness, a lack of precision or curiosity on the complex subject of sexual exploitation and how it relates to the work of making movies. Ironically, the film mirrors the callow cinematic dynamics it critiques: It titillates, even as it scolds.Body PartsNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 26 minutes. In theaters. More

    • 163 Shares199 Views

      in Movies

      ‘The Amazing Maurice’ Review: A Cool Cat and His Band of Merry Rodents

      by

      Hugh Laurie voices a quippy, self-referential cat in this animated adaptation of a popular Terry Pratchett book.“You know, in many ways, I don’t think the plot of this adventure has been properly structured,” observes the droll Malicia Grim (voiced by Emilia Clarke) during a brief lull in the middle of “The Amazing Maurice.”An animated comedy based on Terry Pratchett’s semi-parodic children’s novel “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents,” the film abounds with this style of flamboyant, self-congratulatory humor, as Malicia and the talking feline hero Maurice (voiced by Hugh Laurie) routinely break the fourth wall with satirical commentary and glib meta wisecracking.The effect is a kind of self-important distance, as if the director Toby Genkel and his co-creators considered the material beneath them. What should be a cute story about a mischievous orange tabby cat instead becomes an ironic, even vaguely smug movie in the vein of something like “Deadpool.”The foundation of the story derives from the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin — in particular the version made famous by the Brothers Grimm: Maurice and his band of friendly, intelligent rats (among them the voices of David Tennant and Gemma Arterton) travel from town to town feigning an infestation, then providing the helpful services of an ersatz pied piper, Keith (Himesh Patel), to clear it up.The modern, coolly sarcastic big-kid riff on a familiar fairy tale has been done before, most notably in “Shrek.” And while it might still have seemed somewhat fresh when Pratchett’s book was first published, in 2001, it now feels like a poor imitation — doubly so when one considers that the script for “The Amazing Maurice” was penned by the “Shrek” screenwriter Terry Rossio, who, with his constant gags about fairy tale clichés, does little to elevate the copy above the original.The Amazing MauriceRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters. More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Movies

      ‘True Spirit’ Review: Around the World in 210 Days

      by

      Nothing rocks the boat for long in this can-do drama based on the true story of Jessica Watson, an Australian teenager who sailed the globe.The soft-rock bard Christopher Cross once sang, “Sailing takes me away.” For one gutsy Aussie, Jessica Watson, “away” meant circling the globe at age 16. “True Spirit” streamlines and sanitizes her impressive real-life feat, which began in October 2009, into pure inspo fuel, recounting Watson’s maritime journey without ever turning grim for long.A sunny Teagan Croft (“Titans”) plays Watson, backed by Cliff Curtis as the coach and Anna Paquin as the iron-willed mom in a loving family, alongside a softie dad (Josh Lawson) and three cute siblings. Watson’s trial run ends in a collision, triggering a media frenzy, but she sets out eastward as planned on a pink sailboat covered in decals.The cleanly shot movie cruises through storm-tossed seas and dead air alike, buoyed by a soundtrack of teen anthems, as well as flashbacks to Watson as a tween. Her solitude isn’t absolute, thanks to phone and internet access (she vlogs), and she celebrates Christmas virtually with the family, who packed gifts for her. (On the actual journey, her parents also did flyovers in a small plane.)It all goes by fast — is that the Indian Ocean already? — and nothing rocks the boat for long, though a final-boss storm plays as a cliffhanger (albeit a brisk one). The message of manifesting your goals reigns supreme, which is great, but it’s worth mentioning that Watson’s willpower benefits from the privileges of financial security, family support and a curmudgeonly-turned-selfless coach. Without all that backing, seven months alone on a sailboat might be a non-starter (though many of us, myself included, would be in no rush).True SpiritNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More

    • 100 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Pathaan’ Review: Fighting the Good (and Long) Fight

      by

      Filled to the brim with action set pieces, “Pathaan” stars Shah Rukh Khan as a secret agent saving India from havoc unleashed by a vengeful former operative.The all-out action movie of the sort honed by Hollywood is not as prevalent in Bollywood. But “Pathaan,” a record-setting addition to a series of spy adventures, rolls out a flaming dessert cart of chugging guns, midair melees and ceaseless showdowns.Shah Rukh Khan stars as an affable Indian government agent, Pathaan, who’s pursuing a vengeful former agent named — somewhat less than diabolically — Jim (John Abraham). Jim’s been hired by a rogue Pakistani general to sow havoc in India because of a dispute over Kashmir. He turned smirkingly nihilistic after India once refused to pay ransom for him and his (now dead) pregnant wife.Plotting or politics is an afterthought in this delivery system for action on planes, trains and automobiles, in Dubai, Moscow, Paris, the Spanish coast and apparently the Italian Dolomites. The director, Siddharth Anand (“War”), opens big with Pathaan’s breakout from detainment, swiveling the camera to follow kicks and sending a helicopter aloft indoors.Other setups have the same top-this sense of fun. Anand’s crew boasts the stunt coordinator of “Top Gun: Maverick,” Casey O’Neill, and the “Mad Max: Fury Road” stunt performer Craig Macrae. But the director doesn’t have the greatest feel for tempo, or a consistent flair for staging. A monotonous fight on a train is only redeemed by a Looney Tunes escape from derailment.Lending welcome panache is Deepika Padukone as another deadly operative, Rubina, who may prove helpful to Pathaan. The sweet rapport between Padukone and Khan loosens up the film’s endless fracas, and it’s the spark for, yes, a song. When Pathaan spots Rubina poolside in Spain, she launches a joyful crowded bump-and-grind number. (“The moment I feel a wave of modesty, I throw it to the wind!”)As a villain, Jim’s a bit of a cold bath, and not just because he starts video-calling in threats of biological warfare. “Pathaan” is in some ways a save-the-world superhero movie without suits, and while less self-serious, the hefty length can lag. More is not always better — though the gusto of Padukone speedskating to the rescue at one point goes a long way.PathaanNot rated. In Hindi, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 26 minutes. In theaters. More

    • 113 Shares159 Views

      in Movies

      ‘A Lot of Nothing’ Review: The Cop Next Door

      by

      Mo McRae’s feature debut, about a well-off Black couple and their white neighbor, is more of a trauma drama than a satirical thriller.In “A Lot of Nothing,” James and Vanessa, a Black couple, are watching television on the couch in their well-appointed Los Angeles home when a news flash alerts them to “another officer-involved shooting.” James (Y’lan Noel), a corporate lawyer, and Vanessa (Cleopatra Coleman), who works in finance, are rattled and furious. Then they learn that the cop is their white neighbor, Brian (Justin Hartley), with whom Vanessa has already had words — following his contemptuous use of “you people.”After a little fury-as-foreplay sex and a tense day at their respective offices, they spin into action, but their confrontation with Brian on his doorstep spins out of control. Things become thornier still when James’s brother, Jamal (Shamier Anderson), and Candy (Lex Scott Davis), Jamal’s “baby mama” — as Vanessa says derisively — arrive for dinner.In his feature debut, the director Mo McRae displays a nice way with actors and a gift for visual tension, but in aiming for absurdist humor, he lands on something more vexing. It’s the script — by McRae and Sarah Kelly Kaplan — that’s the problem. “A Lot of Nothing” touches on microaggressions, colorism, class, gentrification, fertility, veganism and the sexual fantasies of a biracial Black woman who is this movie’s update on the tragic mulatto trope.More of a trauma drama than a satirical thriller, it never lets up on the buttons it’s pushing or the characters it’s manipulating. Viewers are whiplashed away from empathy and insight, and toward a feeling of superiority to everyone and everything onscreen. Given the film’s precipitating news bulletin and the recent events in Memphis, superiority would seem to be just about the last thing we’ve earned.A Lot of NothingNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Vudu and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. More

    • 88 Shares159 Views

      in Movies

      ‘80 for Brady’ Review: Remember These Titans

      by

      This stubbornly charming romp starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Rita Moreno is inspired by the story of a real group of female friends with a love for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.Tom Brady, the oldest starting quarterback in N.F.L. history, has said he is retiring “for good” at the age of 45. But at a combined age of 335, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Rita Moreno muscle “80 for Brady,” a comedy about a fan club’s frenetic Super Bowl weekend, over the goal line. The setup is that Lou (Tomlin), who is living with cancer, is adamant that she and her besties will attend a Super Bowl before she returns an urgent message from her oncologist. Betty (Field), a math professor, calculates that they have a .0013% chance of winning a call-in contest to see the 2017 showdown between Brady’s New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. But wish fulfillment is in their favor, as is the director Kyle Marvin’s choice to treat obstacles like breakaway paper banners to be torn through by its winning team.This stubbornly charming romp is, quite literally, fan fiction inspired by a group of female friends from North Attleborough, Mass., one of whom had a grandson with the Hollywood connections to pitch their story to Tom Brady’s film production company. Brady serves as one of the movie’s producers, as well as its motivational mascot. In times of need, he pops up as a talking bobblehead who whispers advice, while flashbacks to the game itself hail that year’s victory as one of football’s most memorable comebacks.Predictability doesn’t scare the screenwriters Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, who collaborated previously as writers of “Booksmart.” Their script is a barrage of quirky one-liners that punch up familiar set pieces like an accidental drug bender, a hot wings-eating contest, and a high-stakes card game. It gambles, correctly, that the veteran cast can convince the audience to play along with outlandish contrivances — including an assurance that four seniors in loudly bedazzled jerseys can, when needed, sneak around like ninjas.The benefit of leads with decades of personal chemistry, plus the classic studio ingénue training to hoof it through corny material, is that Marvin is freed up to lavish attention on his bit players. Even brief parts like a book store clerk or an underpaid worker at a carnival game earn solid snickers from just a sentence or two of dialogue. The only thankless role goes to Sara Gilbert as the daughter tasked to nag Tomlin’s character about her health; Gilbert’s stuck in reality while everyone else is doing jazz hands with Gugu (Billy Porter), the halftime choreographer.Instead, the more absurd the gag, the better it works. As Trish, a lovelorn author of Rob Gronkowski erotica (sample title: “Between a Gronk and a Hard Place”), Fonda finds herself selecting the perfect Barbarella blonde wig for a romance with a debonair jock played by Harry Hamlin. Moreno’s Maura, a widow with a flair for bold jackets, stumbles into a room steeling herself for an orgy only to find a poker table of Guy Fieri clones, a mesmerizing image destined to be painted on velvet and mounted over a plate of nachos. We’re so pleasantly pummeled by silliness that the film comes to feel like a massage. As soon as I roused myself to wonder if the friends would wind up on a Jumbotron, there they were, grinning for the camera. I grinned back.80 for BradyRated PG-13 for drug use and suggestive references to Rob Gronkowski. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. In theaters. More