KNIVES OUT Review

"The exception that proves the rule."

The movies are nothing alike in terms of what they're about, how they're directed, tone, nothing. There's nothing similar about these movies at all really except for that, from the moment they begin, there is a sense of supreme assuredness in where they're going and how they're meant to get there. This feeling arises at the beginning of a fair amount of movies because there are so many that begin with such promise yet so many of them tend to lose themselves along the way or lose momentum or more often than not encounter the issue of knowing where they want to go without being sure of the best, most effective way to get there. Nearly three years ago now, when Jordan Peele's Get Out began to play in front of me for the first time on that cold Thursday in late February, I was granted the sense of this supreme assuredness that continued throughout the entirety of the runtime and through to that perfect conclusion. It wasn't difficult to see every aspect had been labored over and planned to a to T; as if not only the script, but the way in which each shot was constructed and how each line was delivered held a certain weight and intention. Every element had seemingly been executed with precise detail so as to convey this strong, specific point of view. In short, Get Out was a movie where every piece held a purpose all of which led to a culmination that fully displayed the power of the narrative, the charisma of the characters and the masterful way in which the filmmaker used the genre he was operating in to make his complex ideas accessible. This is all said not in an attempt to remind readers of how satisfying Get Out is, but to say all of this is very much true of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out as well.

HALLOWEEN Review

As much time has now passed between the original 1978 Halloween and star, original Scream Queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis' return to the role of Laurie Strode (though she did reprise her role in the original 1981 sequel) in 1998's Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later as it now has between H2O and 2018's Halloween. That is a long way of saying it's been forty years since writer/director John Carpenter first introduced us to "The Shape" otherwise known as Michael Myers, but it is also to point out that while Curtis' twenty-year reunion with her most famous character saw Strode as a woman on the run from her past, changing her name, concealing her identity, and attempting to move on while having raised a child in as much of a captive environment as possible director David Gordon Green's (George Washington, Pineapple Express) new film sees Strode as someone who has lived with the trauma of that single night for forty years and who has been waiting for an opportunity to take back what was stolen from her. It's admittedly both a rarity and an oddity to be able to see two different, but fully fleshed out interpretations of a single character and the aftermath of dealing with such a traumatic event, but it is in considering the different ways in which Strode's life might have unraveled as a result of that Halloween night in 1978 that Green and co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley find their "in" in terms of how they can make their iteration of a Halloween sequel both different enough and justified enough for it to exist in the first place. In reality, we're dealing with a viewer's pick of alternate timelines based on preference and 2018's Halloween throws its hat in the ring by offering up the idea that everything that occurred in each of the seven sequels, including 1981's Halloween II that famously disclosed Laurie Strode was Michael Myers' long-lost baby sister, ever happened. No longer is anything canon except for what went down in the only installment Carpenter himself directed. And so, with that, Michael Myers no longer has a familial connection to Strode and thus no reason to make her his mission. This opens up the possibility for 2018's Halloween to simply be about a cold-blooded serial killer who murders at random because he's a monster following his impulses whereas Curtis' Strode is now the one who has built-up this connection between herself and Myers and sees it as her destiny that the two of them might once again come face to face. That Strode is more attached to Myers than he is her is the "in" Green needed to bring a fresh perspective to this endlessly re-made and ret-conned horror franchise, but it is with this twist on the original, principle character that not only do we get fertile new territory to explore, but we get to genuinely and sometimes gruesomely see the process of Laurie Strode truly taking back what was taken from her all those years ago.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2018

The fall/winter movie season is always one of those times of the year where it seems there's so much to do and so little time. I've always attempted to find a balance between big-budget and indie fare rather than dismiss the blockbusters and only adore the smaller, more intimate movies and vice versa. That doesn't mean I'm necessarily more excited for Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 than I am something like Suspiria, but rather that I'm interested in both for very different reasons. While neither of those titles will be on my list I would place each of them just outside my top fifteen along with the likes of the sure-to-be juggernaut of this holiday season, Marry Poppins Returns, and the likely to be overlooked The Hate U Give from director George Tillman Jr. Elsewhere, there is your typical festival fodder like Beautiful Boy, The Favourite, Boy Erased, and Mary Queen of Scots that I'm certainly interested in seeing, but not necessarily overly excited for as I feel as if I kind of know what I'll be getting myself into with each of these (except for maybe the Yorgos Lanthimos experience), but am more than happy to take a chance and spend some time with them as any given movie could come out of nowhere and blow you away; if attempting to watch as many new releases as I do each year has taught me anything it is this.

There are two movies in particular that I had a difficult time grappling with whether they should go on my list and furthermore, where they should go on my list if I were to include them, but ultimately they didn't make it and I'm still not sure if that was the right choice or not. First is Jonah Hill's directorial debut, mid90s, which tells the story of a thirteen-year-old in 90s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop. I think Hill will probably have a rather distinct voice and good handle on conveying his own screenplay given the sheer amount and vast variety of creative people he's worked with, but the subject matter isn't something so near and dear to my heart that I find myself aching to see it. And then there is the first film from writer/director Alfonso Cuarón since Gravity earned him a Best Director Oscar five years ago. Cuarón's two hour and fifteen-minute opus that chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s wuill have its festival run, but is set to largely premiere to a wide audience on Netflix in mid-December. This may be the smarter route financially, but the anticipation of such an event and/or return can't help but to feel a little undercut by the knowledge that in my region of the country it's unlikely I'll be able to experience Roma on the big screen. All of that said, you won't find the likes of Bumblebee, The Mortal Engines, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, or that new Robin Hood movie on my list, but like I said, I'm by no means opposed to unabashed blockbusters as is evidenced in my number ten pick...

First Trailer for HALLOWEEN Starring Jamie Lee Curtis

Universal Pictures and Blumhouse have released the first trailer for the new sequel to John Carpenter's original 1978 slasher film, Halloween. This titled exactly-the-same, forty-year-later sequel is said to pick up in real time after the events of the first film, disregarding all subsequent films, and follows the residents of Haddonfield on another horrifying Halloween night as Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode faces her greatest fears when Michael Myers escapes the asylum where he’s been locked up since his first killing spree. Naturally, Strode has attempted to move on with her life and seemingly has as this movie will feature Judy Greer as Laurie's daughter, Karen, as well as Andi Matichak (Orange is the New Black) as her granddaughter. Where the narrative will go outside the "one final confrontation" remains to be seen as this teaser trailer more or less plays up the return of the series to its roots more than it does offer any insight into what the actual movie will contain-which is more than fine as it does this in an effective manner-but this is no doubt the point of most concern and curiosity. Curiosity due to the fact the screenplay was penned by new franchise director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Stronger) and one of his past collaborators in Danny McBride (yes, that Danny McBride). There is no doubt Green is a capable director who has the ability to ride any genre of film to success (see All the Real Girls, Snow Angels, Prince Avalanche, and Joe) and there is even less doubt that McBride is a capable writer with a twisted mind (see The Foot Fist Way, Eastbound and Down, and Vice Principles), but to see both of these guys go in on and come up with their interpretation of one of the original and greatest horror films in cinema history seems an experiment too good to actually have been funded. There will undoubtedly be a lot of influence from the original film at play here and I'm anxious to see how Green decided to balance that with his and McBride's interpretation, but mostly-and in part thanks to this teaser-I'm just really excited to see a fresh take on classic material considering the interesting and intelligent people they've recruited to accomplish that task. The film will also star Will Patton, Virginia Gardener, Dylan Arnold, Drew Scheid, Toby Huss, Miles Robbins, and will feature the return of the original Mike Myers, Nick Castle, in the iconic role with stuntman and actor James Jude Courtney helping to bring "The Shape" back to life. Halloween is set to open on October 19th, 2018.

VERONICA MARS Review

I've never seen an episode of Veronica Mars and thus had no interest in what answers this fan-funded feature might provide seven years after the three season show was abruptly cancelled. All I can equate this to is my love for Arrested Development, its too-soon cancellation after three seasons and my massive anticipation for the fourth when it was announced and rolled out on Netflix last year. If anything, I feel empathy towards the fans of Veronica Mars and find Kristen Bell a pleasant enough presence to take a peek into what all the fuss is about. It would be silly to think that starting from the end and working backwards would provide the same kind of reaction or emotional impact those who have been waiting for this will receive so it is with obvious warning that my opinion on the Veronica Mars movie is that of a person unacquainted with these characters and their past traits and relationship, their little quirks, their inside jokes or what makes some of the reunions at Veronica's ten year high school reunion that much more special than others. All of that said, this was a serviceable enough film and it provides a nice bit of whodunit which I always enjoy, but I had to come away from it wondering if I, or anyone else for that matter, would be too impressed with it if it stood on its own. Now, facts are that this movie would have never been made if it had to stand on its own (literally, the fans of the series who were upset about the ending they got put up the cash for this to be made because no one else would), but still, like we take each episode of a TV series we have to take this on its own terms especially since it is operating in the arena of big screen entertainment rather than a weekly series. Rob Thomas, who created the show, writes and directs here and the most obvious thing about his care with this film are the characters themselves and preserving what they were and what they have become and for me that is what made this film something a little more than average, something slightly more intriguing than I expected that will have me streaming through these seasons whenever they become available and really allowing me to become a part of this world that has clearly always existed, but that I have never been a part of before. Veronica Mars may not exactly be grade-A cinema, but it is a fun, hard-hitting murder mystery that will seemingly satisfy those who've been waiting for it and introducing others to a welcome unknown.