Alphabetical Menu
Chronological Menu
God & Country, produced by Rob Reiner, is a provocative, timely and powerful wake-up call about Christian Nationalism. Director Dan Partland interviews Reverend Rob Schenck, Reverend William Barber II, constitutional attorney Andrew Seidel, among others, who provide insights about the history of Christian Nationalism, its rise, the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. He asks great questions which lead to interesting answers, i.e. "Is Christian Nationalism Christian?" The short answer is that it's not Christian which, therefore, makes it a misnomer. God & Country doesn't stop there, though, because it also explores the reasons why it's not Christian and shows evidence to buttress the explanation. Not surprisingly, much of the evidence comes from footage of the U.S. Capitol attack. This documentary will make you justifiably angry about what's happening in the U.S. this very day. Just to know that an ideology like Christian Nationalism can even exist and have so many followers is both alarming and scary. Thank you, director Dan Partland, for shedding light on one of the most dangerous ideologies which poses a major threat to American democracy. After all, it's much easier to lose democracy than it is to gain it. If democracy is at stake in America, so are truth and justice, two essential elements of a healthy, functional democracy. At a running time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, God & Country opens at Village East by Angelika via Oscilloscope Laboratories. It would make for an interesting double feature with What is Democracy?. 
Onlookers is a meditative, immersive and poetic documentary about Laos. Director Kimi Takesue opts for a fly-on-the-wall, observational approach similar to Manakamana and Samsara. There are no interviews, conversations or voice-over narration. Instead, the audience goes through a guided tour or travelogue through Laos with the sights and sounds of tourists and locals at various locations as they go about their daily activities. Onlookers gradually turns the mundane into something more profound while simultaneously inviting the audience to essentially become voyeurs. Takesue trusts that the audience will be able to decipher their own thoughts and feelings about what they're observing without being spoon-fed information or being told how to feel through music. So, this is a documentary that will reward audiences who are both patient and perceptive. If you pay close attention, there are even a few ephemeral moments of comic relief. The cinematography is exquisite with some breathtaking scenery, and the images often speak louder than words. At a running time of just 1 hour and 12 minutes, Onlookers opens at Metrograph via KimiKat Productions. Altered Reality  Oliver (Charles Agron) gets more than he bargained for when he accepts a pill from a mysterious man, Jack (Lance Henriksen), that will make him wealthy when he enters a business venture with Cooper (Tobin Bell). His daughter disappears and his relationship with his wife, Caroline (Alyona Khmara) goes on the rocks when she finds out that he's cheating on her with Alex (Krista Dane King). The screenplay by Charles Agron is a genre-bending amalgam of suspense, thriller, sci-fi and mystery. It's essentially about a man who enters a Faustian bargain that ruins his life. Oliver is Faust while Jack is Mephistopheles. On the surface, Altered Reality sounds like it could be a gripping thriller and provocative satire. Unfortunately, the execution of its premise leaves a lot to be desired. The dialogue is often stilted and on-the-nose, although, to be fair, at least there are no bad laughs like in Madame Web. The film bites off more than it could chew as it throws a lot of exposition and twists at the audience. Just when you think you see where the plot is going, it throws yet another twist. There are too many characters, most of whom are poorly introduced and merely on screen as plot devices. Also, yet another character shows up late in the third act which complicates the plot further. There's nothing wrong with complexity, but when a plot becomes too convoluted it can be frustrating. The less you know about what happens to Oliver after he accepts the pills that Jacks gives him, the better, because that's when the film begins to take the audience on a trippy mindf*ck full of surprises. American Satan and The Shift are more entertaining, moving and profound movies about Faustian bargains, though. Altered Reality makes the most out of its cinematography, use of color and lighting which add visual style. Director Don E. FauntLeRoy does an effective job of capturing the surreal moments in Oliver's desperate mission to bring his life back to normal and to find out what happened to his daughter. Charles Agron gives a solid performance as does Alyona Khmara. Both of them have a few moving scenes, but they're ephemeral. Tobin Bell and Lance Henriksen provide some gravitas in supporting roles, and it's nice to see Ed Asner briefly show up with some witty lines. The editing, though, feels occasionally choppy and there are also pacing issues. The ending, unfortunately, feels rushed, contrived and schmaltzy. Schmaltz belongs in matzo balls and latkes, not in movies. At a running time of 1 hour and 39 minutes, Altered Reality is a wild and dark trip down the rabbit hole with some shades of David Lynch, but it's more nauseating and clunky than riveting and exciting. It would make for an interesting double feature with Altered Perceptions.
 Madame Web  Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) works as a paramedic in NYC. One day, she develops superpowers that enable her to see into the future. She uses those powers to save the lives of three teenagers, Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor), from the nefarious Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim).
The screenplay by writer/director and S.J. Clarkson and his co-writers, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker, is a superhero movie that's almost as dumb and exhausting as Argylle, but not quite. The plot begins with an expositional prologue set in 1973 before jumping forward to 2003 to introduce Cassandra Webb at work while she's driving her ambulance. She doesn't have her superpowers yet, but worry not---she'll get them within the next 10 minutes. It takes her too long to realize that she has them, though, so she and the audience aren't on the same page when she has her "Aha!" moment on a subway train. That's the least of the film's issues. The dialogue often sounds stilted with very poor exposition and over-explaining. Just having characters standing around in the middle of a forest to briefly talk about themselves is one among many examples of lazy exposition. Why not have them sit down to eat instead while they share details from their past? Moreover, some of the lines, particularly from Ezekiel, are unintentionally funny. The rules of Cassandra's superpowers, i.e. when she could use them, aren't very clear, although, for some reason, she can't use them whenever she wants to. Even with suspension of disbelief, Madame Web makes less and less logical sense as the plot progresses. Internal logic is thrown out the window with too many plot holes and undercooked subplots to count. Those flaws would've been forgivable if the film were to have compensated for it with some imagination or mindless, guilty pleasure instead. Unfortunately, it even fails to be imaginative enough. Madame Web is, indeed, mindless, but far from a pleasure. Dakota Johnson gives a decent performance that's undermined by the bland screenplay which doesn't manage to rise above. The same can be said for her co-stars who are wasted in underwritten, forgettable roles, especially the villain, Ezekiel. It's never a good sign when a superhero movie has a weak villain. This film is beneath Tahar Rahim who deserves better material. The choppy editing, uneven pacing and poorly choreographed action sequences don't help, either, with not a single scene that stands out in terms of visual spectacle. Perhaps it should've been animated instead. At just under 2 hours, Madame Web is a clunky, dull and unintentionally funny mess that's neither thrilling, fun nor exciting.
 Land of Bad  Kinney (Liam Hemsworth), a Delta Force officer, joins other soldiers, Abel (Luke Hemsworth), Sugar (Milo Ventimiglia) and Bishop (Ricky White), on a dangerous rescue mission in the Philippines. He communicates with a drone pilot, Reaper (Russell Crowe), in a Las Vegas Air Force base.
The screenplay by writer/director William Eubank and co-writer David Frigerio dives right into the meat of the story as Kinney embarks on his mission to rescue a CIA asset who's been kidnapped. There's little to no backstory about Kinney or any of the other soldiers, but they do have a few brief moments where they get to know each other. Reaper has a wife who's pregnant and could go into labor at any moment. He's expecting a phone call to be there with her at the hospital, so he loves her more than his work. The plot itself is by-the-numbers and conventional without any major twists or turns. However, at least it remains lean, easy-to-follow and focused without veering into unnecessary tangents, i.e. romantic subplots, or resorting to a non-linear structure. Its straightforwardness is welcome and refreshing. Fortunately, the dialogue has some wit and avoids becoming stilted. Eubank and Frigerio also handle exposition effectively without confusing the audience or over-explaining anything. Moreover, they maintain a moderate level suspense from start to finish. Land of Bad is lucky to have a solid cast of charismatic actors with Russell Crowe being the stand-out and adding gravitas. Crowe also has some great comedic timing during certain scenes that provide much-needed levity. The performances by Milo Ventimiglia, Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth are decent without anyone under-acting. The cinematography along with the action sequences are also among the film's highlights because they invigorate it and make it a viscerally intense experience without making the audience feel exhausted. There's some gory scenes, but nothing over-the-top or shocking. At 1 hour and 50 minutes, Land of Bad is a B-action/thriller that delivers the basic goods, no more and no less, even though it's often shallow, conventional and ultimately forgettable.
 Monolith  An unnamed journalist (Lily Sullivan) with a podcast investigates a mystery surrounding strange bricks that others claim to have received. The screenplay by Lucy Campbell works best during the first hour when it doesn't reveal the true purpose of the black bricks. Until then, the psychological horror builds slowly as the journalist digs deeper and deeper into the mystery and as the sense of paranoia increases. Are the bricks a hoax or something else? Are they supernatural? She, much like the audience, wants clear proof one way or the other. When it comes to the plot, it's not very complex, imaginative or profound for that matter. All the audience learns about the nameless journalist is that she's hiding out at her parent's home while they're away on vacation after she was disgraced for falsely accusing someone during a previous investigation. She doesn't want to make the same mistake again. What about her love life? Does she have any friends or anyone she can open up to? What's her relationship with her parents like? With very little exposition, Monolith dehumanizes its protagonist. There's nothing wrong with focusing on the main plot and keeping it lean without much padding, but not if it sacrifices humanizing the main character. In turn, the emotional beats don't quite land during the overwrought, undercooked and rushed third act. Lily Sullivan gives a terrific performance that anchors the film with some much-needed humanity. She rises ever so slightly above the shallow screenplay, so Monolith is lucky to have her. As for the set design and the fact that the film takes place in primarily one location, it's not always cinematic and sometimes feels a little dull as well as tedious. That said, at least director Matthew Vesely doesn't rely on shaky cam, gore or excessive CGI nor does he resort to telling the story through "found footage", a very lazy type of filmmaking which, thankfully, hasn't been used in a while. At a running time of 1 hour and 34 minutes, Monolith is a mildly intriguing psychological thriller with shades of De Palma and Lovecraft, but undercooked and emotionally hollow.
 No Way Up  Ava (Sophie McIntosh), her bodyguard, Brandon (Colm Meaney), her boyfriend, Jed (Jeremias Amoore), his friend, Kyle (Will Attenborough), a married couple, Hank (James Carroll Jordan) and Mardy (Phyllis Logan), and their granddaughter, Rosa (Grace Nettle), along with a flight attendant, Danilo (Manuel Pacific), survive when their plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean. They must struggle to remain alive with depleting oxygen and the danger of sharks lurking in the depths of the ocean. Screenwriter Andy Mayson spends the first 10 minutes introducing the characters as they board the plane which takes off without incident until a flock of birds crash into the engine. Other passengers get sucked out of the plane while the remaining passengers are now stuck inside the plane at an air pocket beneath the Pacific Ocean. Their struggle for survival should be enough material to generate tension, but there are very few truly intense and nerve-wracking scenes. Even the added bonus of shark attacks don't lead to much in terms of suspense or thrills. So, to say that No Way Up squanders its many opportunities to be terrifying, exciting and exhilarating horror action/thriller would be very accurate. The dialogue ranges between dull and stilted with some clunky exposition involving Brandon's traumatic past that haunts him as he tries to protect Ava. None of the characters come to life which makes them hard to root for. That would've been forgivable if the film were entertaining enough. Unfortunately, No Way Up takes a sharp nosedive the second that the plane takes a sharp nosedive into the Pacific Ocean. None of the actors or actresses manage to rise above the vapid screenplay. The CGI effects aren't anything exceptional nor do the camework or set design add much to the sense of claustrophobia. Although there are no bad laughs, the plot doesn't go anywhere interesting or surprising as it runs out of ideas early on. Perhaps it could've used some zaniness like in The Meg or taken the horror up a notch or two with more sharks and gore instead of being so serious and tame. At a running time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, No Way Up is bland, unimaginative and monotonous.
 |