Category Archives: Mystery

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man                             4 stars

If you are ready to experience something more terrifying than the Coronavirus you can check out the new remake of The Invisible Man.  This film by Leigh Whannell reimagines the 1933 classic horror movie setting it in modern times and bringing several surprises and shocking moments with it.  Cecelia (Elizabeth Moss in Us last year) does a daring nighttime escape from her violent boyfriend, Adrian who is essentially holding her captive in his luxury home.  She is aided by her sister and a childhood friend James, a police officer (Aldis Hodge of Straight Outta Compton).  Adrian also happens to be a wealthy and brilliant scientist who has some interesting projects he is working on.  Before long while Cecilia is still in hiding she learns of the suicide of Adrian, but refuses to believe it.  She suspects it was faked and that it is just part of his scheme to control her.  At this point things get interesting when strange things start to happen in James’ house where she is hiding.  The film uses many slow panning shots where the camera shows us parts of the rooms with no one in them, but Cecelia is certain there is a presence there nonetheless.  As the tension rises so does the certainty that Adrian is out there but he is unseen, because, well, he is invisible.  The filmmaker comes up with an ingenious explanation for how this is all accomplished which I cannot share with you.  The shock comes from experiencing it for yourself.  But rest assured, many people will die before the end of the movie which you had to expect.  Leigh Whannell is probably best known for his work in the Saw series of films, only one of which I ever saw.  They weren’t movies that I cared to see, but The Invisible Man is well worth the ticket if you are in for two hours of shock and terror.

Annihilation

Annihilation                                        2 ½ stars

Annihilation by Alex Garland is a movie I was curious about when it came out in 2018 but didn’t see then.  It has a look of a fantasy adventure from the previews with its characters venturing into a strange landscape full of new plants and creatures giving it a biodiversity look.  Let me assure you that that is not what it is like.  It’s a full-fledged science fiction horror movie with a strange alien presence that has invaded earth.  For reasons I won’t go into the biologist character Lena (Natalie Portman) volunteers for a mission to enter an area on the Florida coastline taken over by the alien presence that is referred to as The Shimmer. It’s an area surrounded by a strange force field defeating all communication with those inside.  She is joined by psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), physicist Josie Tessa Thompson), paramedic Anya (Gina Rodriguez), and anthropologist Cass (Tuva Novotny).  It doesn’t help our confidence to hear that a previous expedition has never been heard from again.  The group discovers that they have lost some of their memories after entering and encounter strange plants and animals that are growing and taking on characteristics of other species.  Soon one member is attacked by a giant crocodile that the women dispatch with heavy machinegun fire.  (They are very well armed.)  One by one, the group are either picked off by strange creatures or by their own actions as their minds turn them against one another.  Until Lena must face the alien presence alone.  One can compare this movie to the science fiction film Solaris as there is a similar theme.  The film is based on a book, Southern Reach by Jeff VanderMeer and has been compared to the ancient myth of Orpheus.  It has a very slow moving and menacing tone to it with plenty of ominous music.  It’s very pretty to look at with some shocking surprises but it doesn’t make my list of great science fiction films.

Border

Border                                  4 ½ stars

The Swedish made movie, Border has to be one of the most unusual movies of 2018 or for that matter any year.  It concerns a young woman, Tina, who works as a customs inspector and possesses a most unusual and valuable talent.  She has the ability to smell emotions in people such as guilt, shame and fear which is instrumental in catching individuals trying to smuggle illegal goods into the country.  She even gets involved in a police investigation of a child trafficking ring.  Her unique qualities don’t end there though.  Tina’s appearance is especially striking as she has to be one of the most unattractive women ever to appear in film.  She has a protruding forehead and a very heavy jawline so one would always notice her in a crowd.  If I would have checked ahead I would have known that the film was nominated for the Academy Award category of Best Makeup and perhaps wouldn’t have been so surprised by her appearance.  Tina lives in her isolated shack of a house with her lazy boyfriend who likes to watch lots of TV and enter his dogs in dog shows.  Besides that she makes regular visits to her elderly father in a nursing home.  Then one day her world is changed forever when she meets a man on the job who resembles her in many ways including the facial features.  And she finds that her special skills don’t work on Vore which is very confusing to her.  As she spends more time with him she finds that they have much more in common such as an interest in walking through the woods, insects and worms and the occasional snack on maggots.  And that is far from the most bizarre thing about the movie.  As she makes a connection with Vore certain hidden aspects of her life become clearer to her especially when things get weird.  And then the movie gets even weirder.  And then when you think it’s as weird as it can get, it gets so weird that I can’t even describe it.  Something happens that I have never seen in a movie before and it might make you uncomfortable in mixed company.  It is certain that Vore has a very different take on people and the world than what Tina has ever felt.  Ultimately, I think the movie is about realizing who you are and finding your place in the world.  I know that despite all the weirdness I liked it.  I can’t spoil the surprises for you.  It will be more fun to find it out yourselves.

Lizzie

Lizzie     4 stars

The psychological thriller Lizzie from 2018 is a retelling of the Borden family murders in Falls River, Massachusetts in 1892.  It was a personal project of Chloe Sevigny who served as producer and star and is made more relevant by the recent MeToo movement for women’s rights to be heard in cases of sexual abuse.  Sevigny has the title role with Kristen Stewart starring as Bridget, the hired maid for the rich family.  Lizzie’s oppressive situation is clearly outlined with her life being controlled by her domineering father Andrew (a lecherous Jamey Sheridan). The family also includes her step mother (Fiona Shaw) and her sister Emma.  Even though she is 32 years old she is not allowed to leave the house at night.  Lizzie strikes up a close kinship with Bridget (who is called the diminutive “Maggie” by Andrew Borden) especially when it is discovered that her father has been molesting her regularly. In this version their close relationship develops into more than being just friends.  The movie focuses little on the investigation of the murders and the trial and concerns itself mainly with the oppressive situation of the female characters and how they are trapped in their world and can see no escape from it.  Lizzie can’t even count on an inheritance as Andrew takes steps to ensure her life would be controlled by men even in the event of his death.  The way Sevigny plays the role and the way the scenes are shot gives the movie a closed in feeling.  Of course the gruesome scene of the actual murders is included so the audience has no doubt what happened even though the jury could not find a guilty verdict.  Lizzie brings new life to this classic American tragedy.

Relic

Relic       4 stars

The last time I was at Sundance I saw several good horror movies, but at the end of the festival ran into one moviegoer who said he had one more to see called Relic that was supposed to be pretty interesting. I finally sat down to watch Relic as it was just released and I wasn’t disappointed. The movie is by a new filmmaker and concerns the effects of a loved one’s dementia on their family. The movie is set in a big house is an Australian town that is home to an elderly woman, Edna (Robyn Nevin). Edna is reported missing which brings her daughter (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter (Bella Heathcote) to the house to investigate. After a few days of searching, Edna suddenly reappears without explanation of where she was. Although she is physically fine it’s clear something is wrong here. As daughter and granddaughter stay to take care of her, the house seems to mysteriously decay as a black growth slowly appears on the walls. This coincides with Edna hearing strange noises and having conversations with someone that’s not there. She behaves in ever increasing erratic and violent ways that confuses her family. The large house is full of cluttered hallways and mysterious doorways that helps to add to all the confusion the family members are experiencing. There is a background story about an ancestor who had a horrible death that offers some explanation of the seemingly supernatural happenings, like all good horror movies need to have. The movie does a slow moving buildup to an eventual frenzy of frightening events that will overwhelm the viewers. Although the movie is not quite at the level of The Babadook or of Hereditary, it’s good if you are up for some good family horror and clicks in at only 90 minutes long.

Palm Springs

Palm Springs      4 ½ stars

The last time I went to Sundance the Andy Samberg/Crintin Milioti romantic comedy was the hottest ticket going and I was not able to see it then (in spite of getting to over 30 movies). I finally saw it after it was released on Hulu and found it was a real delight. It seems to start out with the old formula of Groundhog Day as Andy Samberg’s Nyles is attending a wedding with his girlfriend Misty and finds that he is in a continuously repeating loop of the same day that always starts over the moment he falls asleep or is killed. He has apparently been at this for hundreds of days when we see him but things change when circumstances bring Cristin Milioti’s Sarah, the older sister of the bride into the same loop to share Nyles’s fate. Nyles plays seemingly amazing tricks on people as he already knows what events are going to happen to the second and tells people details about their lives that he has learned in previous iterations. Things take a darker turn as the two explore imaginative ways of trying to get out of the loop including killing themselves, but then speculate on how meaningless everything is in this strange world they find themselves in. Ultimately, the romance in the romantic comedy shows up as the two find out how much the other means to each. This “formulaic” romantic comedy works well and is definitely worth seeing.

Honey Don’t

Honey Don’t                       3 ½ stars

Honey O’Donoghue is a female private detective solving cases in and around Bakersfield California where she mainly sees clients who need to know if their spouse or partner is cheating on them. The movie poster says “She only has two desires and one of them is justice”. It doesn’t take long before you figure out what the other one is. Margaret Qualley is Honey in Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s new film Honey Don’t. She is a rock-solid detective almost like that of a Raymond Chandler private eye who talks like one of those B movie film noir detectives out of the forties. Her one weakness is that she can’t turn down flirtatious women and often ends up in the sack with them. As the movie begins O’Donoghue becomes involved in a case of a fatal car accident in the desert where one of her potential clients has been found dead. A local police officer, Marty Metakawitch (Charlie Day) on the scene believes it to be a simple car accident, but O’Donoghue thinks there is more to it. A running gag in the film is Marty asking Honey to join him in a drink, but she says “I Like Girls” to which the clueless Marty says “You always say that.” It doesn’t take long until more murders are discovered, and O’Donoghue finds leads that indicate that a local church called the Four-Way Temple may be somehow involved. The church is led by the Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans) who is a real douchebag who likes to engage his female parishioners in sex and has some side businesses going on too that sometimes require the elimination of certain problems. During her investigations Honey encounters MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), a female police officer who also happens to be gay and Honey does not miss the opportunity. (But don’t worry. The sex scenes are pretty tame.) Honey also has a sister who has a large brood of children which Honey is very protective of. All of the female characters seem to have one thing in common and that is having bad relationships with their fathers, especially true for Honey and her sister. When one of the sister’s girls (who was beaten by her idiot boyfriend) goes missing, O’Donoghue pays the boyfriend a visit in his trailer asking where she is. Not getting a good answer, Honey gives him what he deserves and let’s just say you had better not mess around with Honey. Like other Coen movies there is plenty of ironic violence and moronic villains to go around. The movie falls apart somewhat due to a plot that isn’t quite coherent. I felt there were some things being left out leaving it less than satisfying. But I will say that Margaret Qualley’s performance makes up for the film’s shortcomings. I would love to see her in a sequel. She has been in some great roles including those in Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, Poor Things and The Substance. This movie by Coen and Cooke (who is Ethan Coen’s wife) is the second in a planned B-movie trilogy that are centered around lesbian characters. The first was last year’s Drive-Away Dolls that also starred Qualley as a girl on a road trip with her very uptight friend. (Along the way they encounter some very inept crooks and an all-lesbian soccer team.) It is one that I recommend. The third installment is still in the works. I have no idea what Coen and company have in mind yet, but I will certainly watch for it. Also, I am convinced that I have no need to visit Bakersfield, California.

The Rental

The Rental                          4 stars

With The Rental, actor Dave Franco shows that he can direct an effective thriller/horror film that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s hard to describe this movie without giving away spoilers so I can’t go into great detail. In the movie, a group of four friends decide to celebrate Dan’s successful business venture by renting an oceanside house for the weekend. Dan, his wife Michelle, his brother Josh and his business partner Mina travel to the house they found online planning a drug fueled fun weekend. Josh and Mina also happen to be starting their own relationship with each other. Tensions start to mount when they meet the caretaker who has racist tendencies toward Mina who has a foreign name. As in a good thriller, things get progressively more tense as we see that some of the characters are less than honest with each other. Suspicions arise when Josh’s dog, Reggie suddenly disappears. When one pair of our friends discovers evidence that someone has been watching them, the fear of revealing secrets set in and accusations are made. It is here that what starts as a character driven thriller suddenly transforms into something more sinister and the violence finds its way into the story. The movie is aided by effective cinematography, some well placed foggy night scenes and four good performances by the actors portraying some rather narcissistic and not so nice people. As in most horror movies, the characters make some very questionable choices that only make their situation worse. The Rental is good entertainment that takes its time to develop and does not rely on sudden scare scenes, but it will only work for true horror fans.
 

Loaded

Loaded                 1 star

The 1994 British made indie thriller Loaded can be described as an exercise in navel gazing involving a bad LSD trip. The movie has a group of London teenagers traveling to a remote old mansion where they aim to make a bad horror movie. Along the way there is lots of philosophizing about life and what they hope to get out of it. One character, Neil, theorizes that thoughts toward a person can make one responsible for what befalls them and this may be a premonition. Two of the characters have real ambitions of becoming filmmakers with one of them having an obsession with real psychopaths. Eventually, when the group takes LSD the consequences are severe as one of their members ends up dead. Then the group must decide together what actions to take. The movie is only notable for early roles for two of the actors, Catherine McCormack and Thandie Newton. This film is a collection of clichés, self-pity and nineties hair styles. It should be avoided.

The Batman

The Batman        4 stars

In 2022 we got yet another incarnation of the most depicted, depressed superhero in movies, TV or comic books. This time it is Matt Reeves (two iterations of The Planet of the Apes movies) giving us his version of the caped crusader, otherwise known as Batman. What can he do that Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan or Joel Schumacher haven’t already done? Apparently, it is creating the darkest and moodiest Batman yet to hit the big screen. This Batman (Robert Pattinson) has seemingly been suffering from PTSD ever since his parents were murdered some twenty years before. He regularly goes skulking around Gotham City looking for criminal gangs to beat up on and shows them no mercy. Bruce Wayne, the millionaire, does appear in a few scenes, as well as his butler, Alfred (Andy Serkis), but he is not the playboy type that has been seen in other Batman movies. He typically shares in Batman’s moodiness. The entire movie takes place at night, with much of it in the rain to add to the gloomy feel of it. There isn’t even a hint of comedy throughout the movie. In Reeves’ movie Batman isn’t just a crime fighter. He must also take on the role of detective when a series of high-profile murders are taking the lives of the most prominent men in the city including the mayor and the DA. At each crime scene a letter is left addressed to Batman with a puzzling riddle that he, together with Commissioner Gordon (Jeffrey Wright (probably the finest actor in the movie)) must find the answer to. Slowly it is revealed that a web of corruption has infected every level of the local government, and this hidden psychopath has made it his mission to clean things up while also believing he can get Batman to help in the endeavor. Each victim seems to have ties to a crime boss named Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), a real slimeball who operates an exclusive club and hangout for criminals in Gotham City. One other character figures prominently in the story. Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz in her most athletic role yet) is a showgirl at Falcone’s club and wants answers as to what happened to her missing friend there. She can help Batman in finding the truth but tends to go off on her own with a vengeance. (She also provides a home for several cats.) There are hints of a love interest as well. When the murdering psychopath (Paul Dano) is finally unmasked, it seems that he and Batman are like two sides of the same coin, each having a deep need to root out the corruption in the city, only the murderer doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process. The Batman combines elements of what we’ve seen in the comics and the more recent movies as well as traditional detective noir stories. It has plenty of action and story packed into its almost three-hour running time. And there is word of another The Batman movie in the works!