Change Your Image
chiapet-25426
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Sasquatch Sunset (2024)
all about Bigfoots in the Pacific Northwest
The first thing you should know about 'Sasquatch Sunset': there are no human characters and no lines of dialogue in this highly-unusual film. It's about a small clan of the mythological Bigfoot creatures surviving in the Pacific Northwest.
It plays out more like an anthropological National Geographic film than a piece of mass entertainment. Whatever it aspires to, 'Sasquatch Sunset' is an unwatchable mess. Plotless, the film depicts unnamed Bigfoot beasts doing what comes naturally: they pick their noses, pleasure themselves, copulate, defecate and give birth in sometimes gratuitously graphic ways. Reading back that last sentence, I can't believe this is an actual movie being shown in theatres.
There is major talent associated with this curious project. Jesse Eisenberg, who usually plays smart characters like in 'The Social Network', has to play dumb-real dumb. He's one of the titular sasquatches, unrecognizable under layers of makeup and fur. One would never realize he was in the film without the credits or movie poster. Another sasquatch is Riley Keough, again totally unrecognizable. This will undoubtedly be the most curious entry on their career resumes, especially since these roles could easily been portrayed by stunt performers.
I saw this film at a screening near New York University and I submit that most NYU Film School projects would be more entertaining.
While I give credit to all involved for attempting to do something radically different than the usual multiplex fare, 'Sasquatch Sunset' is a weird experiment gone horribly wrong.
Back to Black (2024)
Marisa Abela brings Amy Winehouse to life
You don't have to be a fan of the music of Amy Winehouse to be completely enthralled by the biopic 'Back to Black'. Case in point, I saw it with a group of friends whose fan-level ranged from casual to unfamiliar and we all loved it.
The film depicts the meteoric rise of the husky-voiced jazz singer from her gigs in London pubs to world-wide acclaim that included winning five Grammy awards in 2008. The artist's largely troubled life was cut short when she died of alcohol poisoning in 2011 at only 27.
The MVP of this project is Marisa Abela who brings Winehouse to life, onstage and off. The performance scenes are stellar and Amy's family drama is also compelling. This is a star-making role and we'll see big things from Abela in the future.
Kudos to director Sam Taylor-Johnson for a finely-crafted biopic with a soulful soundtrack. The best compliment I can give 'Back to Black' is that I was fairly unfamiliar with Winehouse's work beforehand but now want to seek it out.
A word about the accents in the film: I happened to see 'Back to Black' at a screening with closed captions. Whereas this can be distracting with other films, I found the subtitles helpful here.
Abigail (2024)
Terror Tot has Bats in her Belfry
'Abigail' is not for the squeamish; there's enough blood in this vampire flick to fill an Olympic-sized pool.
And there's also enough neck-biting, impalings, and general grotesqueries that if horror is not your genre you have my permission to sit this one out.
The plot: a group of mercenaries kidnap a 10 year-old girl with the plan that each will receive $7 million as their cut from the ransom. The catch: they have to take the creepy ragamuffin to an erie estate in the boondocks and remain there with their hostage for 24 hours.
The twist: the seemingly harmless fifth-grader is actually a powerful vampire. And a ballerina vampire, at that.
'Abigail' borrows from 'Ten Little Indians', 'House on Haunted Hill' and other films in which a group of strangers are trapped in a house and are picked off one-by-one. The toothy new twist here is they're being picked off by a ballerina vampire.
In the grand scheme of things, 'Abigail' is a film that didn't need to be made. Still, I will give it credit for its audacity and creativity. The film has some swerves and I didn't know quite where it would go.
There are a couple of note-worthy performances. Melissa Barrera is strong and likeable as Joey, the most ethical of the kidnappers. Kathryn Newton seems to be in at least every third film these days and here she plays a kind of ditzy Valley Girl member of the kidnap crew.
Young Alisha Weir plays the titular terror tot and it's safe to say she kills it both in performance and body count.
The box office totals for 'Abigail' weren't stellar, making a sequel unlikely. Still, if I were running Hollywood, I'd love to see a cross-over sequel of 'Abigail' vs 'M3gan'.
Shirley (2024)
a biopic with no backstory
Shirley Chisholm shattered glass ceilings in Congress, but the film 'Shirley' doesn't quite move the needle in the biopic genre. It's an earnest, straight-forward film, buoyed by a stand-out performance by Academy Award-winner Regina King.
'Shirley' focuses almost entirely on Chisholm's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. There's a lot of organizing and political strategizing. But we don't get to know Shirley the person and the movie has zero backstory.
As important as Shirley Chisholm was in American politics, the film lacks a sense of drama; this can be attributed to limiting the narrative to Chisholm's campaign, which viewers know will fall way short of the finish line.
Chisholm had a long career in Congress, winning eight terms. We don't see any of that. Nor do we see much of Chisholm's personal life and none of her pre-Congressional career as a school teacher in Brooklyn. Her life might have made for an interesting mini-series on Netflix, which produced the film.
Surely, 'Shirley' does have its attributes. The period costumes, sets and soundtrack all transported me to back in the day. For me, the best scene in the film was a tense powwow between Chisholm and the California leader of the Black Panthers, hosted by actress Diahann Carroll. Who knew?
'Shirley' is an OK film, but I wanted to know more about Shirley the person.
Wildcat (2023)
a beautiful, dreamlike film about writer Flannery O'Connor
Whether you're a devotee of writer Flannery O'Connor or unfamiliar with her work, 'Wildcat' is a very intriguing film. It challenged me like no other film I've seen in years.
O'Connor was a Southern writer in the mid-twentieth century whose life was cut short by lupus. The movie not so much examines her life and work as puts you in the middle of it. It's like a dreamlike poem, with snippets of the artist's life seguing into vignettes from her short stories and vice versa. At times I wasn't sure if I was watching a scene from the artist's life or from her work.
'Wildcat' is not for everyone but it is a beautiful film and should please the arthouse crowd and certainly readers of Flannery O'Connor.
The film was a labor of love for its star Maya Hawke, who was an executive producer. You might know Ms. Hawke from TV's "Stranger Things". To me, her performance in 'Wildcat' is a revelation. She brings the artist to life, capturing her vulnerability, creative fire and physical frailty. Hawke plays multiple roles in the film in the various vignettes inspired by O'Connor's short stories.
Esteemed stage and screen veteran Laura Linney hits the mark as O'Connor's well-meaning but sometimes clueless Southern Belle mother. Linney also plays multiple roles in the film's dreamlike vignettes.
Renaissance man Ethan Hawke, Maya's father, directed and captured the sweeping southern landscapes as if they were postcards and much of the cinematography is achingly beautiful. The story goes that this was Maya's project all the way, and that Ethan had to be interviewed to get the job directing his daughter.
Whether or not 'Wildcat' will find a large audience, its lasting legacy will be that people like me will find the work of Flannery O'Connor. It will also mark a turning point in the career trajectory of Maya Hawke, who is an artist to keep an eye on.
The Fall Guy (2024)
a high-octane action film for smart people
Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. Case in point: one of the best films of 2024 is loosely based on a largely forgotten 1980's TV show.
Even if you were around in the '80s, there's a solid chance that you never watched an episode of 'The Fall Guy'.
No matter. On its own, the film 'The Fall Guy' is an exhilarating joyride - a high-octane action movie for smart people.
It succeeds effortlessly as pure entertainment and as a heartfelt homage to the stunt professionals whose work in film goes largely unappreciated.
Ryan Gosling, fresh off the global success of 'Barbie', may have launched a new franchise here. He plays Colt Seavers, once the best stuntman in the business but now recovering from a devastating back injury. He's left the business and is now valet parking cars at a Mexican restaurant in LA.
Seavers is lured back into stunt work by producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham in full Dragon Lady mode), who wants to hire him for a big budget shoot in Australia. The job would re-connect Seavers with the girl he let get away (Emily Blunt), who happens to be directing the film.
Things on the movie set go awry when the star goes missing. Seavers is tasked with finding the actor and returning him to the set before the studio shuts the project down.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. As Seavers unravels the mystery of the star's whereabouts, he is framed for murder - to take the fall, as it were.
True to its mission statement, the action sequences of 'The Fall Guy' are state-of-the-art. A turbo-charged chase through the streets of Sidney is as good as it gets.
And as thrilling as the set pieces are, the movie has heart and grit. The dialogue is whip-smart and the quieter scenes between Gosling and Blunt resonate. They have obvious chemistry and 'The Fall Guy' has all the best elements of a Rom-Com sprinkled between the action.
I have to say that I've seen so many mediocre-to-bad movies this year that 'The Fall Guy' is an inspired breath of fresh air. Even the end credits are entertaining with behind-the-scenes footage of the film's signature stunts.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
An ecto-plasmic proton blast of nostalgia
I'm somewhat surprised to say this but I really enjoyed 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire'. It's not just a cynical cash-grab of the 40-year old hit movie.
As expected, you get a mix of ecto-plasmic proton blasts, nerdy paranormal techno-speak and '80s nostalgia - but 'G:FE' also displays unexpected heart and grit.
The first half of the film focuses on the Spengler family, who've moved into the famous Manhattan firehouse to carry on the family business of trapping spooks. When New York once again faces an existential threat from the paranormal, we are re-introduced to the O. G. Team: Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd). Ernie Hudson is back in an expanded role both in pecking order and screen time - he's now a financier and in charge of a ghost-busting research group.
Is the new Ghostbusters a must-see movie event? Not exactly, but it's solid. The movie trades on the good will of fans of the original but doesn't take it for granted.
The newer cast members who carry the ball most of the film are likeable and the visit with the O. G. Crew was a pleasant-enough blast from the past.
Now to answer some burning questions about 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire':
1. Does it have the iconic theme song by Ray Parker Jr.? Yes
2. First appearance by Bill Murray? About the midway point
3. Is the 2016 "Female Ghostbusters" film referenced at all? No.
Cabrini (2024)
the Best Superhero Film of 2024
'Cabrini' is the best superhero film of 2024. It's an important film and deserves to find a large audience.
Francesca Cabrini was an Italian-born nun who championed the cause of orphans, immigrants, the poor and infirm in a crime-ridden and politically corrupt New York City in the early twentieth century. Her lasting legacy can be felt today and she was the first U. S. citizen to be canonized a saint.
But 'Cabrini' is by no means a preachy religious film, nor is it an endorsement of the Catholic Church of the day, whose high-ranking officials attempted to thwart Mother Cabrini's wide-scale efforts at every turn.
The film captures the gritty mean streets of New York's treacherous, rat-infested Five Points district, where a young and sickly Cabrini has to go up against an unsupportive archbishop, corrupt cops, a pimp, assorted thugs, and deeply-ingrained anti-Italian sentiment. But the biggest villains come from New York's City Hall, where the Mayor's team is embarassed by the flourishing and highly-visible community that is being built by the Italian immigrants. John Lithgow portrays Mayor Gould, a villain worthy of Darth Vader.
Italian actress Christiana Dell'Anna gives an aspiring performance in the title role, capturing both Mother Cabrini's inner toughness and her physical frailty.
The film itself masterfully entertains as it educates about a dark period in New York history. Credit co-writer and director Alejandro Monteverde. A moving performance by Andrea Bocelli and Virginia Bocelli of the song "Dare to Dream" plays over the credits - a fitting coda to a beautiful film.
Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
A mildly amusing monster mash-up
'Lisa Frankenstein' is a monster mash-up: it's a fusion of a Tim Burton-style horror movie and an '80s teen movie. It's uneven but mildly entertaining.
Kathryn Newton (who seems to be everywhere nowadays) plays Lisa, a more-or-less normal teen. Sure, she prefers hanging out in the local graveyard to the shopping mall. Oh, and as a young girl she witnessed an axe murderer kill her mother in the family home. So there's that...
Still, Lisa seems fairly well-adjusted and is settling in to senior year in high school. Things go topsy-turvy when she encounters a cultured fellow who seems to be interested in her. OK, so he's a long-dead zombie, but Lisa can work with that. Of corpse, she can. She gives him a series of much-needed makeovers utilizing the family tanning bed.
The Creature is played by Colin Sprouse, who just completed an extended run as Jughead on TV's "Riverdale". Sprouse has to make a lot out of a little, as he has no dialogue and spends much of the movie covered in dirt and maggots. He makes the Creature sympathetic, even if he winds up killing a person or two (or three).
Carla Gugina makes an unexpected appearance as Lisa's step-mom from hell.
'Lisa Frankenstein' clearly isn't suited for all family members and especially those with weak stomachs. I found it to be an okay (if twisted) Rom-Com one might watch during Halloween.
Argylle (2024)
A stylized caper smug with its own cleverness
'Argylle' makes for a great coming attraction but as a full-length feature it's a hot mess.
Nothing is what it seems and you can't keep track of your spies without a scorecard. This caper careens from one plot twist to another with the tables turning so many times that I stopped caring who the good guys and bad guys were.
'Argylle' is smug with its own cleverness with its book-within-a-movie premise. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Elly, a mystery author whose books are becoming all too real. She's chased by good spies and bad spies, chief among them Sam Rockwell. He comes to her rescue on a train, but is he friend or foe?
'Argylle' has an all-star cast and I wanted to like it, but the film wouldn't let me. It's loud and has too many twists so that the good will of the audience is trampled. Director Matthew Vaughn has a panache for stylized violence, but here it's overdone and too much of a good thing.
I did enjoy the vignettes with Henry Cavill as the titular spy, especially the sexy assassin's tango with Dua Lipa. But that scene is in the coming attraction, so there's no reason to sit through this bloated film.
Madame Web (2024)
What a tangled web we weave...
'Madame Web' is an utterly unnecessary superhero film, loosely based on a fairly obscure character in the Spider-man universe. It joins the growing niche of "Spider-man movies without Spider-man" produced by Columbia Pictures, which includes 2018's 'Venom', 2023's 'Morbius' and the as-yet unreleased 'Kraven'.
'Madame Web' is a watchable bad movie. Dakota Johnson plays Cassie Webb, an NYC paramedic who is ambivalent and coldly detached from her profession of saving lives. She hasn't yet learned that with great power comes great responsibility. An accident knocks her into the East River, which somehow triggers a penchant for clairvoyance. Clearly this isn't the most logical origin story in the annals of comic book movies.
The story picks up with Cassie on a commuter train and envisioning an assassin killing three young ladies. The non-descript Baddie is in the next train car and heading Cassie's way. Ruh-roh.
Much of the film is Cassie playing reluctant Mother Hen to the trio, played by Sidney Sweeney, Isabel Merced and Celeste O'Connor. We glean that the three are budding heroes in waiting if this franchise can get off the ground.
But that doesn't seem likely as this film never takes off. The burning question is: who thought it was a good idea to produce a stand-alone film based on Madame Web?
I did appreciate some on-location scenes shot in New York City, including some face time for two of my favorite neighborhoods in Queens: Astoria and Long Island City.
During the press junket for 'Web', Dakota Johnson freely admitted that she hasn't watched the film and has no plans to. So even Madame Web isn't a fan of 'Madame Web'.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Like being caught in a long sand storm
Back to the World of Arrakis with an All-Star cast and "Long live the fighters" and all that... But for me, watching 'Dune: Part Two' was like being trapped in a never-ending sandstorm. The film is almost three hours but felt like five. Don't it make my brown eyes blue.
'Dune 2' 's biggest misstep is muting the charisma of Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya. It would have been more interesting to watch these two stars eat lunch together than to sit through this bleak and bloated mess.
The plot is as clear as mud to those who haven't read the popular books. Much of the film's dialogue is in the desert language of Arrakis, so subtitles are required. Not that anyone says anything particularly riveting in any language. But the film does offer the unexpected scenario of a fight to the death between Willy Wonka (Chalamet) and Elvis (Austin Butler).
To be fair, 'Dune 2' 's visual effects are impressive. The aforementioned coliseum showdown between Chalamet and Butler recalls Ben-Hur. The problem, though, is the two-and-a-half hour slow slog to get to that point.
The legions of Dune fans will eat all of this up. But for those who aren't desert dwellers, 'Dune 2' is a tough watch. May thy sword chip and shatter, indeed.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
this Monster Mash is a mess
The makers of 'Godzilla x Kong: the New Empire' should be sued for false advertising: the two titular titans don't encounter each other until the home stretch of the movie.
Before that, there's endless and unnecessary exposition. 'G x K' suffers from having too much plot and it takes way too long to bring the iconic monsters together.
The film is a continuation of 2021's 'Godzilla vs. Kong' and has a few of the same cast members, including Rebecca Hall as a Kong-ologist.
Kong has been banished to Middle Earth to prevent another catastrophic battle with Godzilla. Oddly, no one seems overly concerned that a giant reptile with radioactive breath is roaming around freely. In fact, 'zilla has gotten comfy taking naps in the Coliseum in Rome.
Kong is having a much more stressful time in Middle Earth, encountering a race of similar giant apes ruled by the violent Scar King. And in a bizarro-world twist, Scar King has a giant lizard pal who can freeze things with his breath - basically a bad version of Godzilla.
It's up to the human cast members to save Kong by steering Godzilla his way so that they can form a kaiju tag team.
Yeah, none of this makes sense. 'G x K' could have made for a good popcorn movie if it had a much tighter plot and brought the two title monsters together much earlier. As it is, 'G x K' is way too long, and at times, very tough to sit through.
The CGI effects, especially of Kong, are impressive. But the film as a whole is less fun than a barrel of monkeys.
Civil War (2024)
An odd road trip movie that lacks focus
'Civil War' has little to no exposition and its politics are equally as murky.
At the film's open, the war has already been raging for an undisclosed amount of time and it's never stated who's fighting whom. Red States vs. Blue States? Democrats vs. Republicans? Maybe, maybe not.
The combatants are undefined and the only morsel given to viewers is from audio from an off-screen television broadcast that references a secessionist movement by the statescof California, Texas and Florida. The fictional president is not identified as Democrat, Republican or Independent, but is said to be in his third term.
The actual civil war in 'Civil War' - and whoever its faceless combatants are - is mostly a backdrop to a story about a group of war photographers lead by Kirsten Dunst. At its heart, 'Civil War' is an odd road trip picture in which an SUV of journalists make the frought journey from New York to Washington along deserted byways in an effort to interview the president.
If the film has any point at all, it's to honor war correspondents and highlight the dangers they face in service to others. The film could've been set in any war-torn location and anchoring it in a fictionalized version of America is distracting.
The film lacks the focus to make any lasting political statement and equally fails as a piece of mass entertainment. It will be forgotten long before the next political cycle.
Immaculate (2024)
Bloody Nun-sense
'Immaculate' opens with a scene of a terror-stricken young nun attempting to escape from her order, only to be intercepted by a gaggle of sinister sisters who snap one of her limbs like a twig before proceeding to bury her alive.
Next scene: a bright-eyed young novice named Sister Cecilia is arriving in Italy to serve at that very same convent. Ruh-roh! As a viewer you want to scream 'Don't do it Sister!'
The young nun-in-training is played by Hollywood It-Girl Sidney Sweeney, easily the most compelling thing about 'Immaculate'.
Clearly, this film isn't for the sqeamish. The question is does it deliver enough thrills for horror fans?
'Immaculate' is about a notch above average for the genre. Which isn't a ringing endorsement, but bloody nun-sense isn't my thing. But it does deliver the requisite amount of suspense and gore, if that's your thing.
'Immaculate' could make even the most avid traveller want to avoid a trip to Italy.
The biggest question I was left with was why did Sidney Sweeney choose this picture? And 'Madame Web' earler this year?
A side note: when a film nowadays has a nun as a significant character, it's usually a horror movie -and that's a very bad habit.