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Reviews for December 20th, 2024



      László Toth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Jewish architect who survived the Holocaust before immigrating to America in The Brutalist. Once there, a wealthy entrepreneur, Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) recognizes his talent and hires him for a project that includes building a school. Meanwhile, László hopes to reunite with his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), whom he corresponds with through letters. The screenplay written/directed by Brady Corbet and co-writer Mona Fastvold hooks the audience with a captivating, sweeping and poignant first half. However, its second half suffers from a disjointed plot, clunky dialogue and undercooked subplots, i.e. someone being accused of rape and someone expecting to do an Aliyah to Israel. There are too many characters and too much left to the audience's imagination. Moreover, the ending feels very rushed while skipping over too many key events and fails to pack an emotional punch. However, at least it's not a dull slog like Horizon: An American Saga - Part One. Adrien Brody gives an Oscar-worthy performance, one of his best since The Pianist. Guy Pearce is also superb, recalling his powerful performance as the villain in The Count of Monte Cristo. The well-chosen music score and stunning cinematography, with a few trippy sequences and mesmerizing birds-eye view shots, add plenty of style which becomes part of the film's substance. At 3 hours and 35 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission, The Brutalist, is beautifully shot and initially captivating, heartfelt and spellbinding before it loses steam and becomes clunky and undercooked. It opens in select theaters via A24.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2





 

       Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney), a sailor in love with Mercedes (Anais Demoustier), gets sent to prison after being falsely accused of being a spy for Napoleon in The Count of Monte Cristo. When he breaks out of prison 14 years later, he finds treasure and disguises himself as The Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who wronged him including Mercedes' cousin, Fernand de Morcerf (Bastien Bouillon).  The screenplay co-writers/directors Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte is yet another adaptation of the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas. Although not as gripping and exhilarating as the 2002 American version starring Guy Pearce and Jim Caviezel, this French version is sweeping, exquisitely shot and well-acted with great production design. It lacks comic relief, though, which the American version has in the form of Jacopo (Luis Guzmán); here Jacopo (Abdel Maziane) isn't quite as funny and the prison break scene lacks palpable thrills. However, it's fun and exciting to watch Edmond go on his quest for revenge while he pines for Mercedes. At 2 hours and 58 minutes The Count of Monte Cristo opens in select theaters via Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3





 

       After a nuclear bomb explodes off the coast of California,  Jeff  (Bailey Chase) takes his wife, Tara (Kearran Giovanni), and teenage son, Abe (Tyler Lofton), to the compound of Ian (Neal McDonough), a billionaire, for safety in  Homestead. Little do they know that they're far from safe. Based on the novel series Black Autumn by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross, the screenplay by co-writers Phillip Abraham, Leah Bateman and Jason Ross is a convoluted, disjointed, contrived and uninspired misfire. This is yet another film set in a post-apocalypse that bites off more than it could chew and leaves the audience feeling cold. The characters are underwritten, there are too many subplots, too many conflicts, an uneven tone and not nearly enough focus. Beyond that, it also overstays its welcome by at least 20 minutes. At 1 hour and 50 minutes, which feels more like 3 hours, Homestead, directed by Ben Smallbone, opens nationwide via Angel Studios.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4





 

       When his older brother, Paco (Héctor Medina), a punk rocker, intentionally injects with himself with HIV to be sent to a sanatorium  with his punk rock band, Gustavo (Eros de la Puente) joins him there in Los Frikis.  Co-writers/directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz have woven a captivating, warm and tender emotional journey well worth taking. The story, set in 1990s Cuba and based on true events, begins with some exposition about how Fidel Castro banned punk rock in 1959 and some people, "Los Frikis", secretly played punk rock. Paco and Gustavo both come from poverty and remain stuck in a country with a tyrant who won't give them their artistic freedom, so they only escape is the sanatorium for HIV patients. Gustavo  meets  Maria (Adria Aronja), a sanatorium worker, there and has a secret romantic affair with her. That subplot feels a bit contrived, though, and distracting from the main plot. She's much older than him and in a position of authority, so it seems like she's taking advantage of him every time they sneak off to have sex even though he's not a minor. What will Maria do if and when she finds out the truth he faked his HIV status just to get into the sanatorium? Will she rat on him? The audience already knows from the get-go that he faked it, so it's no surprise nor is her reaction a surprise either. Fortunately, the performances, especially by Héctor Medina, Eros de la Puente and Adria Aronja, are all solid. The relationship between Paco and Gustavo represents the film's emotional center and keeps it engrossing despite a few minor flaws, i.e. a third act that feels rushed and skips over too much, leaving the audience with more questions than answers. At 1 hour and 45 minutes, Los Frikis, is  It opens in select theaters.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2





 

      In Mufasa: The Lion King, Rafiki (voice of John Kani) the mandrill tells Kiara (voice of Blue Ivy Carter), the story of her grandfather, Mufasa (voice of Aaron Pierre), who befriended Taka (voice of Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) as an orphan and became his adopted brother. The screenplay by Jeff Nathanson is mildly engaging and has a few amusing and tender moments, but, for the most part, its emotional beats don't land and it fails to be thrilling, fun or exciting despite the potential given the premise. The wrap-around narrative involving Rafiki telling Kiara about Mufasa's story feels tacked-on, distracting and unnecessary, especially when it interrupts the narrative flow. It's as though Nathanson and director Barry Jenkins didn't trust that Mufasa's story has enough going on to engage the audience in terms of conflict. There's plenty of conflict and even a twist, but everything just seems to be going through the motions with little to no emotional depth. The music numbers are lackluster, the voice actors are decent and the CGI animation looks photorealistic, but doesn't give the animals much personality to enliven the film.  At 1 hour and 58 minutes, Mufasa: The Lion King is a visually stunning spectacle, but often dull and emotionally hollow. It opens nationwide via Walt Disney Pictures.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4





 

      Upon learning that her friend, Martha (Tilda Swinton), is dying of cancer, Ingrid (Julianne Moore), an author, visits her and agrees to accompany her to second home in upstate New York where she plans on taking a euthanasia pill to kill herself in The Room Next Door.  Based on the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez, the screenplay by Pablo Almodóvar is dull and undercooked with stilted dialogue. What could've been a unflinchingly moving and profound movie that explores life, death, friendship and happiness, it barely scratches the surface. There are far more powerful films about assisted suicide like The Sea Inside. Almodóvar seems more concerned about engaging the audience's eyes with stylish set designs, cinematography, and costume designs rather than providing a window into Martha and Ingrid's heart, mind and soul. Why leave the audience at such a cold distance from them? There's a hint of suspense during the last thirty minutes as Ingrid tries to figure out how to avoid getting into trouble for knowingly allowing Martha to take the euthenasia pill. Of course, she claims that she was unaware and lies that Martha didn't tell her the real reason why Martha asked her to be with her in her upstate NY home. The ending, with its heavy-handed use of symbolism, feels anticlimactic and rushed. No matter how hard Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore try to breathe life into their roles, they don't quite manage to accomplish that task because they're undermined by the weak screenplay. At 1 hour and 46 minutes The Room Next Door is shallow, contrived and sugar-coated with style over substance. It opens in select theaters via Sony Pictures Classics.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3







      Sonic (voice of Ben Schwartz), Tails (voice of Colleen O’Shaughnessy), and Knuckles (voice Idris Elba) team up with Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to defeat their new nemesis, Shadow the Hedgehog (voice of Keanu Reeves) in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The screenplay by Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington is mildly amusing, but for the most part silly while lacking the wit and thrills found in the last two films in the series. So, the third film in the Sonic series basically runs out of steam and eventually becomes more exhausting than fun. Does it really need to clock at nearly 2 hours? Just when you think it's over, it goes on and on and on perhaps to show off its big budget. Yes, the CGI effects are solid and there's plenty of action sequences, much more than the previous films, so this one feels more like an anime movie or a long video game. Jim Carrey does his best to enliven the material with his over-the-top performances, but he's undermined by the dull screenplay that aims for low-hanging fruit. In a cringe-inducing scene, it even breaks the fourth wall. Other cringe-inducing scenes include an attempt for poignancy in the third act between two characters after an intense action sequence. If you're coming into Sonic the Hedgehog 3 without watching the other Sonic films or if you're not already a fan of Sonic, chances are that this film won't give you much of a convincing reason to become a fan. At 1 hour and 50 minutes, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, directed by Jeff Fowler, opens nationwide via Paramount Pictures.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3