Category Archives: Action

Sasquatch Sunset

Sasquatch Sunset             3 stars

I first heard about Sasquatch Sunset at Sundance where it premiered earlier this year. There was a lot of talk about this movie which follows a family of Sasquatches in the North American wilderness, so I naturally had to see it when it was released in theaters. I know that I previously said The Beast was the most unusual movie of the year so far, but I now must award that title to Sasquatch Sunset. This movie by the Zellner brothers (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter and Damsel) imagines what it would be like to observe a quartet of these mysterious creatures in their natural habitat, following them for a full year. The movie is imaginative and frequently comical but is a little short on plot. But you must be warned that many filmgoers reportedly walked out early in the film. The actors are covered head to massive toe in hairy costumes that are certainly convincing, communicating through grunts and waling. The movie has the distinction of having a complete absence of dialogue in any language. Without getting too graphic, imagine going to the zoo and observing monkey behavior for a whole day and you might begin to understand what you will be in for. At some point the creatures engage in just about every bodily function you can imagine including sasquatch sex and childbirth. (There is even the rebuff of sexual advances.) As in their previous films, the Zellner’s provide plenty of comedic moments as well such as an encounter with a turtle and the consequences of consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms. This odd family consists of a papa sasquatch (Nathan Zellner), a mama (Riley Keough), and two juveniles (Jesse Eisenberg and Christophe Zajac-Denek) who spend their days munching on leaves and berries and encountering various wildlife in their lush green environment. There are times when you feel they are marveling at the natural world around them by their staring and the expression on their faces. (One of them struggles with the concept of counting when he looks at the stars or a handful of berries but finds he can’t express the idea of numbers.) We also sense that they were once part of a larger community when they try to signal others by pounding on trees with sticks and then listen for a response that will never come. Combine this with their reaction when encountering evidence of humans and you get a feeling of doom for this hairy bunch. Sasquatch Sunset is certainly not for everyone but can be a fun way to spend an hour and a half.

Nimona

Nimona                 4 stars

From the studios of Annapurna and Netflix comes the animated movie, Nimona, originally a graphic novel by ND Stephenson. This energetic story takes place in a futuristic medieval kingdom where knights wear suits of armor, carry swords that fire energy beams and ride around in flying cars through the streets of a busy metropolis. Everyone there is aware of the legend of Gloreth, who defeated a fearsome monster a thousand years ago and is still revered. In the present we meet Ballister (Riz Ahmed), a knight who has few friends, but is close to fellow knight, Ambrosius Goldenloin, a descendant of Gloreth. It is clear that the two men have a romantic relationship, with this being the most gay-friendly animated movie I can remember. Early is the story, poor Ballister is framed for a murder and the knights of the kingdom are tasked with hunting him down. But Ballister is befriended by a young girl named Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz) who isn’t all she appears to be at first. Nimona is a shapeshifter, a being that is not human and can assume the appearance of any creature in an instant and is practically invulnerable to things that would be fatal to a human. She is also a thousand years old and the only one of her kind. Ballister and Nimona see something in each other with Nimona wanting to protect Ballister and clear his name of the crime. She protects him by changing into a rhinoceros, an ostrich, a small bird and even a whale among other animals and runs circles around the hapless knights. Besides fighting knights she loves to wreck things destroying structures and statues that get in the way and doing it all in a bright shade of pink. It is apparent that the character is a stand in for a transperson. She is reviled by all and at one point says she doesn’t know what is worse, knowing that everyone wants to drive a sword through her heart or wanting them to do it. Nimona is seen as a monster to the population, but we learn that this image is really a creation by a society unwilling to accept someone that is different from everyone else. She is alone in this world and desperately needs to connect to someone. Besides the message, the movie has plenty of comic bits for the kids and plenty of action that will keep their attention. The movie was originally a project of Blue Sky Studios, which was acquired by Disney. Disney apparently thought the film was too gay for them and shut it down at which point Annapurna took over to complete it. The LGBTQ nature of the characters will not be lost on anyone. Good for the filmmakers for having the vision to see the project through.

Dune: Part Two

Dune: Part Two                 5 stars

Do you remember back in 2021 when we saw the movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s famous science fiction novel Dune, but then were disappointed to see that it only covered the first half of the book? At the time it wasn’t known how well it would be received or whether there would be another movie. Well, after waiting on the actors and writers strikes last year that delayed several movies’ releases into this year, we finally have the second half, Dune: Part Two by director Denis Villeneuve. This epic presentation of the classic book is truly a spectacle. The viewer gets his fill of action filled battles on a wide expanse, a reluctant hero seeking to find his true path, mysterious characters who talk of mysticism, a budding romance, some truly evil murderous villains, and those giant sand worms that roam the desert. In Dune (Part One) we left off with the dreaded Harkonnen’s invading the planet Arrakis and wiping out House Atreides, killing the Duke, so that they could control the spice, the most valuable substance in the galaxy. But unknown to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgârd), the Duke’s wife, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) (who is pregnant and is able to talk telepathically with her unborn daughter) and son, Paul (Timothée Chalamet) have survived the invasion and are under the protection of the native people of Arrakis, the nomadic Fremen. The story is far too involved and there are so many characters for me to adequately describe here, but I can say that the movie captures the feel of the novel as we watch Paul Atreides grow from a confused young man to become the foretold messiah of the Fremen, known as Muad’Dib. He and his mother, Lady Jessica gradually win over the confidence of the Fremen with the help of a hallucinogenic substance called The Water of Life administered by the Bene Gesserit, and the belief of the Fremen leader, Stilgar (Javier Bardem). Along the way we learn that the Emperor (Christopher Walken) was behind the plan to annihilate the Atreidis family all along. And that the mysterious Bene Gesserit through their control of genetics for centuries have been manipulating these characters from behind the scenes. The central theme of the book is successfully portrayed in the movie and that is how the need for absolute power can corrupt and become destructive, a lesson that is especially relevant even today. Besides those portraying the characters I have mentioned so far there is a long list is A-list actors in Dune. Zendaya returns as Chani, the Fremen woman of Paul’s dreams, and Florence Pugh puts in a performance as Princess Irulan, the Emperor’s daughter. From House Harkonnen, there are the two nephews, Dave Bautista as Beast Rabban and Austin Butler as the psychotic Feyd-Rautha, who brags about killing his own mother. Léa Seydoux appears briefly as one of the Bene Gesserit and Anya Taylor-Joy makes an even shorter appearance as the adult daughter of Lady Jessica. The use of special effects is truly amazing in that an entire new world is created on screen with everything appearing immense in size. The gladiator arena on Giedi Prime filled with cheering bald headed male spectators is especially impressive and of course there are those giant sand worms. I recommend that you see the movie on the largest screen possible to get the total effect. Villeneuve’s movie bears no resemblance to the David Lynch 1984 movie called Dune which in my opinion was incomprehensible. It should be the standard for measuring all future science fiction epic movies.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home         3 ½ stars

I know I am late to the party on the Spider-Man movies, but I just saw Spider-Man: No Way Home, directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland as the crime fighting webslinger, a.k.a. Peter Parker. The last Spider-Man movie I saw (not counting the animated ones) was back in 2007 when in Spider-Man 3 Tobey Maquire was Peter Parker and he fought two major villains plus his own suit. That was two iterations ago and things have changed quite a lot since then. For one thing that was before the Spider-Man character was added to the Marvel universe which sort of explains why this Peter Parker doesn’t know about the Avengers. Also, the idea of the multi-verse was added, meaning that this Spider-Man is from a different universe than the earlier versions. This plot device is needed since in the previous Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man’s secret identity has been revealed by Mysterio before he was killed, something that had not happened before. Is that complicated enough for you? Now Peter is being bombarded by the press and onlookers, threatening him and girlfriend M.J. (Zendaya) and preventing them from getting into MIT as engineering students. (Parker and friends are still high school students and behave like it.) Fortunately for Peter, he is familiar with one of the Avengers, the sorcerer Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who can cast spells and change the past. So, he asks Strange, “Call me Stephen” to remove the knowledge of Spider-Man’s secret identity from everyone’s memory and make things return to normal. Of course, this plan backfires enabling five villains from other universes to come and challenge Spider-Man to some colossal battles. But things are not all bad because two other Spider-Man’s from other universes come to join our Spider-Man to even things out. The other Spider-man’s are Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield who previously took their turns in the role and none of them are aware of each other before meeting. Apparently, this means that whenever there is a new Spider-Man in the movies, we are actually going to a different universe. This is a very convenient tool for the screenwriters of Marvel movies since this means they never have to worry about maintaining continuity from one movie to the next. It’s just a different universe. And we can credit Doctor Strange with making this possible with his ability to open portals to the multi-verse. (It seems to me that this power would make him by far the most powerful super-hero in the Marvel universe, but maybe I am just over-analyzing.) The movie keeps a high level of comedy throughout, even if most of it is at a juvenile level. The most notable things about Spider-Man: No Way Home are the creative visual effects, especially the contorting of reality done by Doctor Strange when he unleashes his magic spells. The CGI people really work wonders. Otherwise, this is just another Marvel super-hero movie that is mainly about the action fight scenes with the super villains. It’s not one of my favorites.