Category: Movie Reviews

Den Store Stilhed (2023) | REVIEW

Kristine Kujath Thorp plays the Norwegian nun Alma in Katrine Brocks’ DEN STORE STILHED — PHOTO: Mia Mai Dengsø Graabæk, DFF.

International Title: The Great Silence — Directed by Katrine Brocks — Screenplay by Katrine Brocks and Marianne Lentz.

Katrine Brocks’ The Great Silence follows Alma (played by Kristine Kujath Thorp), a Norwegian nun in a Catholic convent in Denmark. Alma is preparing for her perpetual vows — her marriage to God, as some characters put it — when her Danish half-brother Erik (played by Elliott Crosset Hove), a recovering alcoholic, stops by to ask for his half of the inheritance that their father left her. However, Alma, formerly named Silje, has already donated the entire inheritance to the convent so that they can repair their leaky ceiling. Hoping that Alma can also repair her relationship with her brother, the Mother Superior bends the rules and invites Erik to stay for a few days. Having him back in her life brings back traumatic memories that she may now finally have to confront.

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They Cloned Tyrone (2023) | REVIEW

(L-R) Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx, and John Boyega in THEY CLONED TYRONE — PHOTO: NETFLIX.

Directed by Juel Taylor — Screenplay by Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor.

Last week, moviegoers flocked to theaters — most of them dressed in pink — and walked down the pink carpet to take part in the movie event of the year known as Barbenheimer — i.e. the simultaneous release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. We were lucky to have two films that were so excellent released on the same day so that people of all ages could celebrate movie theaters all over the world. However, that same weekend, there was also a third film released that cineastes ought to check out. Released on Netflix just last week, Juel Taylor’s feature directorial debut They Cloned Tyrone is a genuinely funny and stylized sci-fi comedy that I highly recommend to audiences looking for something special from the comfort of their own home. 

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Oppenheimer (2023) | REVIEW

Cillian Murphy is outstanding as the titular theoretical physicist in Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER — PHOTO: Universal Pictures.

Directed by Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk; Tenet) — Screenplay by Christopher Nolan.

In 1965, famed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer appeared on a television broadcast, and, on said broadcast, he gave an account of how people reacted and what went through his head during the so-called ‘Trinity Test’ in 1945, when Oppenheimer and a group of physicists had successfully created and detonated the first nuclear weapon. Oppenheimer claimed that a specific line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita popped into his head: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” It is a chilling quote that has echoed through generations and had a life of its own. For the twelfth feature film in his oeuvre, the immensely popular auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan opted to tell J. Robert Oppenheimer’s story. It’s a film about a man full of paradoxes, such as how he became a political figure with strong left-wing disarmament views but was also the man who is known for having willfully created a weapon that once dwarfed all others and forever changed warfare and foreign policy. But it is also a film that gets to the heart of the rot of the American soul in the 20th Century. It is an intimate account of the complicated headspace of a historically significant genius, but it is also a haunting and damning cautionary tale about learning the wrong lessons, naivete, guilt, covetousness, and ripple effects. It is an astoundingly brilliant achievement and much more than your average biopic.

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Barbie (2023) | REVIEW

(L-R) Ryan Gosling as ‘Ken’ and Margot Robbie as ‘Barbie’ in Greta Gerwig’s BARBIE — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Directed by Greta Gerwig (Little Women) — Screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story).

This weekend, the movie event of the year finally arrived with the release of the escapist comedy and social satire picture Barbie and the dark and dense historical epic and biopic Oppenheimer. The simultaneous release of two films from modern auteurs Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan couldn’t just be counterprogramming. Rather, the internet decided that it had to be a meme (Barbenheimer, it’s been dubbed). Theater owners all over the world ought to be rejoicing at the internet’s impromptu online public support for a double billing of two films that in most ways couldn’t be farther apart. Moviegoing audiences are also in luck, because it just so happens that both films are terrific. Although the very pink and mostly lighthearted IP-driven comedy from Greta Gerwig may, from the outset, seem trivial when compared to the adult-oriented three-hour Christopher Nolan epic about our ability to destroy ourselves, the Barbie movie does have quite a bit to say, and it would be wrong to disregard it as a cynical cash grab or a marketing exercise. This one is as fun and lighthearted as it is critical.

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Bird Box Barcelona (2023) | REVIEW

(L-R) Gonzalo De Castro, Georgina Campbell, Mario Casas and Naila Schuberth in BIRD BOX BARCELONA — PHOTO: Andrea Resmini / Netflix.

Directed by Álex and David Pastor — Screenplay by Álex and David Pastor.

In the late 2010s, sensory-based apocalyptic horror-thrillers were all the rage. John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place (2018) was a box office success, spawned a sequel, and was Oscar-nominated. Susanne Bier’s Bird Box (2018) was met with mixed reviews but was still a massive hit for Netflix yet it also inspired a hazardous and controversial social media blindfold challenge. Then there was something like John R. Leonetti’s The Silence (2019), which was another Netflix release, but Leonetti’s film was quite rough in most ways. Well, now Netflix has decided to cash in on the brand recognition of Bird Box by releasing its first sequel titled Bird Box Barcelona, a mostly Spanish-languaged spin-off that I don’t think has all that much new to say, unfortunately. 

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Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One (2023) | REVIEW

Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise driving a yellow Fiat 500 through Rome in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE — Photo: Paramount Pictures.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie (M:I – Fallout) — Screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen.

During, and in the immediate aftermath of, the COVID-19 pandemic, certain films tried and failed to bring loads of people back into theaters. When all else — including a pretty good and underappreciated Christopher Nolan film — failed to win back the moviegoing audience, Tom Cruise, in true Ethan Hunt fashion, accepted the mission to ‘save cinema.’ And, well, he sort of did. His and Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun Maverick (in which Cruise’s hero, in a way, sets out to prove that human beings are more capable than unmanned fighter aircrafts) was such a hit that Steven Spielberg reportedly proclaimed that Tom Cruise, now 61 years of age, “saved Hollywood’s ass,” and that his film might have “saved the entire theatrical distribution.” “Is there anything Tom Cruise can’t do?” you might ask. He seems adamant to test that question out with the awe-inspiring stunts that he insists on doing each and every time he headlines a major motion picture nowadays. Now, with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One, Tom Cruise, the savior of the theatrical industry, is back as Ethan Hunt, the IMF agent and so-called living manifestation of destiny, and this time he wants to fight back against AI and algorithms (some might even suggest he’s up against streaming algorithms, thus taking that saving cinema allegory even farther). That’s right, it’s the second Tom Cruise film in a row to be about a man fighting back against technological advancements, and, once again, it doesn’t disappoint. This movie is a lot of fun. 

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Insidious: The Red Door (2023) | REVIEW

Patrick Wilson in Screen Gems’ INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR.

Directed by Patrick Wilson — Screenplay by Scott Teems — Story by Leigh Whannell and Scott Teems.

Insidious is just one of several horror film franchises kickstarted by modern horror icons James Wan and Leigh Whannell. Eventually, both Wan and Whannell have had to pass the director’s chair off to someone else whose job it is to not just continue the style of previous entries in these series but also someone careful and considerate enough to shepherd the values of the franchise. With 2018’s Insidious: The Last Key, the fourth film in the franchise, Wan and Whannell (who has a screenwriting credit on the film) passed the director’s chair to Adam Robitel, whose Insidious film was the second prequel film in the series, as well as the second prequel film in a row to abandon the Lambert family haunting in favor of focusing on the paranormal investigators and the psychic introduced in the first two films. But eventually, the Lambert family haunting narrative that Wan and Whannell made us so invested in with Insidious Chapters 1 and 2 (released in 2010 and 2013, respectively) had to continue. That’s where scream king and star of the original two films, Patrick Wilson, comes in — because he wasn’t just convinced to return in a significant role for the fifth and potentially final film, he also signed on for it to be his feature directorial debut. 

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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) | REVIEW

A de-aged Harrison Ford in INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY — PHOTO: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Directed by James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari) — Screenplay by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, and James Mangold.

When it was first announced that Steven Spielberg was not going to direct this fifth and supposedly final Indiana Jones big-screen adventure, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was filled with a feeling of trepidation. After all, even though Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — the fourth Indiana Jones film and the final of the bunch that was directed by Spielberg — was met with harsh criticism from vocal online parts of the fandom, it still occasionally has that infectious Spielbergian magic and bravura (and it isn’t as bad as its online reputation suggests). Lucasfilm instead lined up Logan and Ford v Ferrari director James Mangold to take over as director of a film that also wouldn’t have co-creator George Lucas as a credited screenwriter. So, these were definitely uncharted waters for Indiana Jones fans. It did feel wrong to see it go on without Spielberg and Lucas, but, based on his talent as a filmmaker and his excellent recent filmography, I honestly trusted James Mangold to be the steady hand this endeavor needed. Having now seen the film, I can say that while you definitely feel Spielberg’s absence, Mangold has managed to make a genuinely affecting action-adventure film. I really enjoyed it.

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Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones Films | REVIEWS

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones standing next to the Golden Idol in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures.

Putting into words exactly how much Indiana Jones means to me is not an easy feat. What I can say is that it holds a special place in my heart, and had the film series not existed I can say that I would have been a different person. Without Indiana Jones, I would not have pursued an archaeology school internship when I was very young. without Indiana Jones, I would not have been as excited to pursue academia. I can trace so many of my interests back to these films. They mean a lot to me. But I had never previously sat down to watch them with a critical eye and with the purpose of reviewing them. So, as Indiana Jones was set to make his return to the big screen this week with James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I decided to finally review the four Indiana Jones films that Steven Spielberg directed.

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) | REVIEW

Zachary Levi as SHAZAM! in SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Directed by David F. Sandberg — Screenplay by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods takes place four years after the events of the first film. Nowadays, Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel and Zachary Levi) and his Shazam Family of foster siblings are trying to balance being superheroes and being kids and teenagers at the same time. It’s not exactly going to plan as they are dubbed the ‘Philadelphia Fiascos’ by local media. Having grown older, the foster siblings are growing apart, and Billy is especially struggling with it, and right at this moment in time a trio of super-powered individuals appear. These are the daughters of the Titan Atlas — Hespera (played by Helen Mirren), Kalypso (played by Lucy Liu), and Anthea (played by Rachel Zegler) — they want revenge on the Wizard (played by Djimon Hounsou) and plan to remove the Shazam Family’s powers.

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