Review: "DUNE: PART TWO: Rocks the Heavens

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 of 2024 (No. 1992) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Running time:  166 minutes (2 hours, 46 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language

DIRECTOR:  Denis Villeneuve

WRITERS:  Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts (based on the novel by Frank Herbert)

PRODUCERS:  Denis Villeneuve, Cale Boyter, Mary Parent, Patrick McCormick, and Tanya Lapointe

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Greg Fraser (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Joe Walker

COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

SCI-FI/DRAMA and ACTION/WAR/THRILLER

Starring:  Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Lea Seydoux, Charlotte Rampling, Babs Olusanmokun, and Alison Halstead

Dune: Part Two is a 2024 epic science fiction and drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve.  It is the second part of the two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel, Dune, written by author Frank Herbert.  The first part is entitled Dune (or Dune: Part One) and was released in 2021.  Dune: Part Two focuses on a vengeful young nobleman who unites the desert people of the planet Arrakis behind his war against the noble house that betrayed and murdered his father.

Dune: Part Two opens in the wake of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and House Harkonnen's destruction of Duke Leto Atreides and the House Atreides.  Now, the Baron's nephew, Lord Rabban (Dave Bautista), has control over the desert planet, Arrakis, and over the production of the most valuable substance in the universe, which is known as “Spice.”  A highly-addictive drug, Spice extends human vitality and life and is absolutely necessary for space travel.  Spice is only found on Arrakis.

Meanwhile, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the son of Leto, and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who is pregnant, have joined the “Sietch Tabr,” a band of Fremen, the natives of Arrakis.  While some of the Fremen consider Paul and Jessica to be spies, the Sietch Tabr leader, Stilgar (Javier Bardem), believes that they are the prophesied mother and son from the “Outer World” who will bring prosperity to Arrakis.

Jessica belongs to the Bene Gesserit, a powerful sisterhood who wield advance mental and physical abilities.  The Bene Gesserit have a prophecy concerning a “superbeing,” called the  “Kwisatz Haderach,” and Paul may be this superbeing because of the machinations of his mother.  Stilgar believes that Paul is the prophesied Fremen messiah, the “Lisan al-Gaig.”  This belief spread once Paul takes the name Paul Muad'dib Usul.

However, Chani (Zendaya), a young and rebellious Fremen warrior (“Fedaykin”), believes that the messianic prophecies are nothing more than a fabrication meant to manipulate the Fremen.  However, as “the Battle for Arrakis” begins, Chani finds herself having strong feelings for Paul and follows him into battle against the Harkonnen, for better or worse. 

Dune and Dune: Part Two combine to form the third screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel.  The others were writer-director David Lynch's 1984 film, Dune, and writer-director John Harrison's 2000 television miniseries, also entitled “Dune.”  Also, there is a French/U.S. documentary film, entitled Jodorowskys Dune, that chronicles director Alejandro Jodorowsky's doomed attempt to adapt the novel into film in the 1970s.

Because HBO is preparing to release its Dune television series, “Dune: Prophecy,” I decided to finally see Dune: Part Two.  A horrible illness forced me to miss the film's theatrical release earlier this year.  Having finally seen it, I wish I had watched it in a movie theater, although IMAX is not an option for me.  Dune: Part Two should be seen on a screen in a movie theater.  It is one of the most epic science fiction films that I have ever experienced.  The production values, cinematography, film editing, production design, art direction and sets, hair and make-up, and costumes are separately some of the best seen in science fiction cinema thus far in the twenty-first century.  Director Denis Villeneuve is more than well-served by these collaborators.

He is also well-served by his co-writers, as the screenplay captures the religious and spiritual dogma and messianic madness that drives much of Dune's narrative.  As impressive as this film is from a storytelling point of view, the Fremen's faith is freaking scary and dominates the film.  That's why I think Hans Zimmer's film score sounds like it belongs in a horror movie.  Quite a bit of Zimmer's musical score is like the spiritual cousin of composer Henry Manfredini's “ch ch ch ah ah ah” sound effect for the 1980 film, Friday the 13th.

There are a number of great performances here.  Austin Butler, who surprised in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis (2022), does killer work in Dune: Part Two as Baron Harkonnen's psychotic nephew, na-Baron Fedy-Rautha.  Dune's make-up artists serve him well as Butler fashions a character that is as impish and devilish as he is relentlessly homicidal.

But the stars are really Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.  As Paul, Chalamet depicts both the manipulation and machinations of a rise to power and also the evolution and revelation of a religious cult leader.  As Chani, Zendaya is the spiritual heart of this film.  She is the center of calm and reason in the super-storm of madness that envelopes Arrakis.  It is not hard to see why both actors are some of the most popular young stars in world cinema.  For all Denis Villeneuve cinematic skills and tricks, a movie this grand needs that traditional tower of power, the movie star.  Dune: Part Two has two shooting stars.

10 of 10

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Entertaining "MaXXXine" is No Pearl

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 of 2024 (No. 1991) by Leroy Douresseaux

MaXXXine (2024)

Running time:  103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)

MPA – R for strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Ti West

PRODUCERS:  Mia Goth, Jacob Jaffke, Harrison Kreiss, Kevin Turen, and Ti West

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Eliot Rockett (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Ti West

COMPOSERS:  Tyler Bates

HORROR

Starring:  Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavole, Moses Sumney, Chloe Farnworth, Lily Collins, Halsey, Ned Vaughn, Simon Prast, and Giancarlo Esposito

MaXXXine is a 2024 horror drama from writer-director Ti West.  The film is the third entry in the X film series and is a direct sequel to X (2022).  MaXXXine focuses on an adult film star and aspiring mainstream actress who finally gets her big break, while a mysterious killer leaves a trail of bodies that threatens to reveal her troubled past.

MaXXXine is set in Los Angeles in the year 1985.  The city is in the middle of the hysteria concering “the Night Stalker” murders, but 32-year-old, porno actress, Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) really doesn't have time to pay attention.  She is making an attempt to transition from pornographic films and into mainstream movies.  Her big break comes via an audition for the horror movie sequel, “The Puritan II.”  Because she impresses the film's director, Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki), Maxine lands the role of the film's villain, “Veronica.”

However, the horrifying events that occurred on a farm estate in rural Texas six years earlier (as seen in X) threaten to expose Maxine's troubled past.  People connected to her are starting to be brutally murdered, and two homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department, Williams (Michelle Monaghan) and Torres (Bobby Cannavale), are tailing her.  Then, there is the sleazy private detective, John Labat (Kevin Bacon), who pops up – often with threats.  Can Maxine protect her big break, and what is she willing to do to protect it?

In the 2022 film, X, Mia Goth played both the potential victim, Maxine Mink, and also Pearl, one half of the elderly homicidal couple.  In X's prequel, Pearl (2022), Goth reprises the role of Pearl, as the films delves into the title character's early life and hardships.  Now, Goth is Maxine again in X's direct sequel, MaXXXine.

In Pearl, the film focuses on a young woman who is mentally troubled and socially outcast and who lashes out in violence after one too many betrayals.  In MaXXXine, I found myself waiting to see Maxine Mink lash out to protect what she has and is about to half.  There are those moments in MaXXXine, such as Maxine's brutal take down of a stalker.  Otherwise, MaXXXine seems like an attempt to tame Maxine Mink of her potential for ultra-violence.

The film's plot and narrative progress are uneven, and the narrative seems like an audiovisual and conceptual pastiche of events and culture related to L.A., circa 1985.  For instance, from 1984 to 1985, serial killer Richard Ramirez terrorized the Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area regions, assaulting, humiliating, and killing some of his victims, and he became known as the “Night Stalker.”  Ti West's screenplay offers tantalizing references to the killings, but the “Night Stalker” is merely a red herring in the film's narrative.

That pretty much summarizes the film.  There are tantalizing characters, subplots, and settings (many of them seeming sinister even in the middle of the day), but MaXXXine never really lets loose.  The Triple-X in the title suggests that the film is triple-strong or at least among the nastiest things around, but MaXXXine is more hard-R than X.  Even the references to Satanic murders and rituals end up like weak tea.

That's a shame because the movie starts off forcefully, and there are a lot of good ideas.  But … for a movie partially set in the world of adult entertainment, including pornographic films, peep shows, and coke-fueled sex parties, MaXXXine self-censors.  Not much is really exposed, and there is a bloody last act that is at once impressive and then, lame.  That's a shame, but MaXXXine really doesn't take it to the max... but man, it really could have.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Monday, November 4, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "HALLOWEEN ENDS" Because It Ran Out of Gas

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 of 2024 (No. 1989) by Leroy Douresseaux

Halloween Ends (2022)

Running time:  111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)

MPA – R for bloody horror violence and gore, language throughout and some sexual references

DIRECTOR:  David Gordon Green

WRITERS:  David Gordon Green & Danny McBride and Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier (based on the characters created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill)

PRODUCERS:  Malek Akkad, Bill Block, and Jason Blum

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Michael Simmonds (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Tim Alverson

COMPOSERS:  Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, and Daniel Davies

HORROR/THRILLER

Starring:  Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton, Jesse C. Boyd, Michael Barbieri, Destiny Moné, Joey Harris, Marteen, Joanne Barron, Rick Moose, Michele Dawson, Keraun Harris,Kyle Richards, Michael O'Leary, Jaxon Goldenberg, Candice Rose,Jack William Marshall, and Omar Dorsey

Halloween Ends is a 2022 slasher-horror film from director David Gordon Green.  It is the thirteenth installment in the Halloween film franchise.  It is also the third film in a trilogy of sequels to the original 1978 Halloween, the first of that trilogy being 2018's Halloween.  Halloween Ends finds Laurie Strode wondering if the troubled young man that her granddaughter is dating carries the evil she saw in her decades long nemesis, Michael Myers.

Halloween Ends opens in Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night, 2019.  Twenty-one-year-old Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is babysitting a bratty 11-year-old boy.  The night ends tragically, and Corey becomes a pariah in Haddonfield.

Three years later, it is 2022.  Haddonfield is still reeling from the aftermath of the killing spree launched by the notorious Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) in 2018 (as seen in 2018's Halloween and 2021's Halloween Kills).  Michael has vanished, and his main victim, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), is writing a memoir and living with her granddaughter, Allyson Nelson (Andi Matichak).  Corey is working at his stepfather, Roger's (Rick Moose) salvage yard.

A bullying incident brings Corey into contact with Laurie, so Corey meets Allyson, who is immediately taken with him.  It seems as if the pariah Corey and the traumatized Allyson have found the perfect mate in each another.  However, Corey has a strange and unexpected encounter that might lead to the creation of a new serial killer.

One could argue that Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) is a soft reboot of the first two films in the franchise – Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981).  Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) was a reboot of the franchise in that it ignored franchise entries four through six.  Rob Zombie's 2007 film, Halloween, was an ever harder reboot.  Halloween 2018 was not so much a reboot as it was a true sequel to the original story.  Halloween Kills (2021) was basically an attempt to insert a course correction of Halloween II that would sit between the original Halloween and 2018 Halloween, while kicking 1981's Halloween II partially to the curb.

Halloween Ends is spiritually related to Rob Zombie's 2007 film, at least a little.  Zombie's film asks the question what creates a monster like Michael Myers.  Halloween Ends depicts how a town's toxic legacy and history and its shitty townsfolk can come together to create the kind of monster and inhuman killer that will stalk the town's streets and kill the townsfolk.

Halloween Ends flirts with brilliance, but director David Gordon Green and his co-writers turn the second half of the film into a tedious display of ultra-violence.  The film has a lot to say about scapegoating, pariahs, grief, trauma, post-traumatic stress, victim-blaming, and mercilessness, to name a few.  In the end, however, Halloween Ends has to be a Halloween movie and bodies need to be dismembered, smashed, crushed, shot, and violently penetrated.

I really enjoyed this movie for a time; then, I was ready for it to... end.  The performances are good, but no one performance really stands out to me, although (sexy) Will Patton as Deputy Frank Hawkins certainly tries, as he usually does in all his film and television performances.  Whatever future this franchise has, it is time to move on to something really new.  Halloween Ends is a good, but not great way to end the murder spree that began with the original film.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "HALLOWEEN III: Season of the Witch" is More Strange Than Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 155 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Running time:  98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)

MPAA – R

DIRECTOR:  Tommy Lee Wallace

WRITER:  Tommy Lee Wallace

PRODUCERS:  John Carpenter and Debra Hill

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Dean Cundey (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Millie Moore

COMPOSERS:  John Carpenter and Alan Howarth

HORROR/SCI-FI/FANTASY

Starring:  Tom Atkins, Stacy Nelkin, Dan O’Herlihy, Michael Currie, Ralph Strait, Jadeen Barbor, and Brad Schacter

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 American horror and science fiction-fantasy film from director Tommy Lee Wallace.  It is the third installment in the Halloween film series and the only one not to feature the franchise's star antagonist, Michael Myers.  British science fiction author, Nigel Kneale, and series co-creator, John Carpenter, joined director Tommy Lee Wallace in contributing to the writing of this film.  Season of the Witch focuses on a doctor who uncovers a plot use children and a particular brand of Halloween masks to resurrect an ancient ritual.

When her father is murdered in his hospital bed, Ellie Grimbridge (Stacy Nelkin) begins to suspect the involvement of a powerful novelty company with whom her father, Harry (Al Berry), had a relationship.  She convinces an over-stressed physician Dr. Daniel “Dan” Challis (Tom Atkins) to accompany her to the headquarters of the company, Silver Shamrock, where they meet the company’s creepy owner Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy).

Silver Shamrock’s big sales push occurs at Halloween, and everywhere the two go, they encounter omnipresent television ads for the company’s three Halloween masks.  As Halloween gets closer, the world around Dan and Ellie becomes more perilous and stranger, and they delve deeper into Silver Shamrock’s evil plans for the holiday.

After wrapping up the story he began in the 1978 film, Halloween, in the sequel, Halloween II (1981), John Carpenter had different plans.  He intended Halloween III: Season of the Witch to be the first in an annual series of Halloween movies that each told a different Halloween related story.  Each film would, of course, have the “Halloween” brand name, but this film failed at the box office and killed that plan.  Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, the film editor of the original Halloween and for Carpenter's 1980 film, The Fog, Season of the Witch is average horror film with the potential to be something really great.  It is gross-filled genre fare having equal doses of horror, mystery, and science fiction.

It is difficult to point out concretely just where it all went wrong.  The mystery element is great, while the science fiction element is far fetched and more fantasy than science.  The sci-fi/fantasy element fails because of a lack of proper execution and because the magical elements are flat and unconvincing.  The horrific aspects are strong, and the dénouement is bracing and unsettling.  Somewhere along the line, however, it all falls apart, and the movie can leave the viewer as unsatisfied as it will leave him curious about what happens in the story after the movie fades to black.

Still, I’d watch it again.  There’s something in it, warts and all, that intrigues me, and I wish the filmmakers had taken the time to get whatever it is right.

4 of 10

C

★★ out of 4 stars

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Review: "BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE" is Morbidly Wonderful and Wonderfully Morbid

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 42 of 2024 (No. 1986) by Leroy Douresseaux

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

Running time:  104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material and brief drug use.

DIRECTOR:  Tim Burton

WRITERS:  Alfred Gough & Miles Millar; from a story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (based on characters created by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson)

PRODUCERS:  Tim Burton, Dede Gardner, Tommy Harper, Jeremy Kleiner, and Marc Toberoff

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Haris Zambarloukos (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Jay Prychidny

COMPOSER:  Danny Elfman

COMEDY/FANTASY/HORROR

Starring:  Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Nick Kellington, Santiago Cabrera, Burn Gorman, Sami Slimane, Amy Nuttall, and Danny DeVito

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is that rare sequel that is as weird and as wonderful as its weird and wonderful predecessor

Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara are so good at reprising their original roles that it is hard to believe that it has been 36 years since they first played them

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is director Tim Burton's most crowd-pleasing film since 1999's “Sleepy Hollow” 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a 2024 American dark fantasy and comic-horror film from director Tim Burton.  It is a direct sequel to Burton's 1988 film, Beetlejuice.  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice finds three generations gathering after a family tragedy only to discover that the latest generation's actions have lead to a new encounter with the Afterlife and also has drawn the attentions of a certain bio-exorcist.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens over three decades after the events depicted in Beetlejuice.  Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is now a “psychic mediator” who hosts a supernaturally themed talk show, “Ghost House,” produced by her current boyfriend, Rory (Justin Theroux).  Lydia is estranged from her daughter, Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega), who is resentful that Lydia had a falling out with Astrid's father, Richard (Santiago Cabrera), who died during an expedition to the Amazon.

Lydia is stressed of late because she has been seeing visions of Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), the “bio-exorcist” from the Afterlife who tried to force her to marry him over thirty years ago.  Meanwhile, in the Afterlife, Betelgeuse (pronounced “Beetlejuice”) is having his own relationship problems as he has learned that his former wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci), a soul-sucking witch, has been revived and is hunting him in order to avenge the wrong she believes he did to her.

Back in the world of the living, Lydia's stepmother, Delia Deetz (Catherine O'Hara), informs her that her husband, Lydia's father, Charles Deetz, has died.  Lydia, Astrid, and Delia return to Winter River (the setting of the original film) for Charles' funeral.  The three women suddenly find their worlds turned upside down when the Afterlife intrudes and Betelgeuse plots to turn this series of unfortunate events in his favor.

Because of the decades long wait for this sequel, I wondered about the quality of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.  After seeing it, I am pleased and happy to say that I enjoyed it as much as I have any film I've seen this year (2024).  I saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice during a Thursday night preview showing, and there were several children present.  The children were restless and acted up a bit, especially early on.  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not a children's film, or it is, at least, not as child-friendly as the first film.  Beetlejuice had a darkly humorous and macabre sensibility that was similar to the work of the late Charles Addams (1912-1988), the cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine who was best known for his recurring characters that became known as “The Addams Family.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a darker film with a morbid rather than a macabre sensibility.  The specter of death – especially sudden, violent, accidental death – hangs over this film.  Yet it all seems like ghoulish fun and games, thanks in part to director Tim Burton's creative cohorts.  The costume design, production design, film editing, cinematography, lighting, visual effects (practical and CGI), and musical score (by frequent Burton collaborator, Danny Elfman), recall the creative and intense inventiveness of the original film  They make Beetlejuice Beetlejuice more grand theater than “Grand Guignol.”  Still, I don't think elementary school age children, in general, will really enjoy this new film.

I'd call Beetlejuice Beetlejuice perfect except I do take exception with the film's writing.  Although the overall plot is very interesting, the screenplay has some extraneous threads and inessential characters.  I won't mention them just in case they end up being spoilers.

I will say that Tim Burton is fortunate to have the trio of Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara carrying the load for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.  When I first saw Beetlejuice, I didn’t care for Michael Keaton’s performance as Betelgeuse.  I thought his manic energy seemed forced and phony and that the late Robin Williams, who was really coming into his own as a movie star at the time, would have been a better choice.  Sixteen years later (2004), I watched Beetlejuice again, and that time I thought Keaton was perfect.  Go figure!  How wrong I was.  With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Keaton proves that no one can be the “ghostest with the mostest” like him.

As Lydia Deetz, Winona Ryder truly evolves the character in interesting and genuinely human ways.  Ryder could easily pull off a third film if one were to be made in the next decade (hopefully earlier).  Given chance, Catherine O'Hara always proves that she is a giant among comedic actors, and does so again.  What she offered in the original film, she offers in comedic droves here.

I had a thoroughly great time at the movies last night, and even the restless kids could not ruin the very funny “Soul Train” references.  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that rare sequel that matches the original film in many ways and surpasses it in others.  As a movie fan, I feel blessed to have it.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, September 6, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review "TERMINATOR: JUDGMENT DAY" is Still Landmark and Bloated

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 of 2024 (No. 1985) by Leroy Douresseaux

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Running time:  137 minutes (2 hours, 17 minutes)

MPAA – R

DIRECTOR:  James Cameron

WRITERS:  James Cameron and William Wisher

PRODUCER:  James Cameron

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Adam Greenberg (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Mark Goldblatt, Conrad Buff, and Richard A. Harris

COMPOSER:  Brad Fiedel

Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, Earl Boen, Joe Morton, S. Epatha Merkerson, Castulo Guerra, Danny Cooksey, Jenette Goldstein, Xander Berkeley, De Vaughn Nixon, and Michael Edwards

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 American science fiction film and action-drama from director James Cameron.  Also known as “T2” and “T2: Judgment Day,”, it is a direct sequel to the film, The Terminator (1984), and is also the second entry in the Terminator film franchise.  Judgment Day focuses on a cyborg that travels from the twenty-first century to protect a boy from a more advanced and powerful cyborg.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day opens in the year 2029.  Earth has been ravaged by the war between the artificial intelligence, Skynet, and the human resistance.  This war started on August 29, 1997, also known as “Judgment Day,” when Skynet launched the United States' entire nuclear arsenal, which started a global war.  Afterwards, humanity emerged to find a devastated world, one filled with the machines – called “Terminators” – that were programmed to kill humans.  Resistance leader, John Connor (Michael Edwards), has lead humanity to the brink of defeating Skynet and its human-killing machines.

Using time machine technology, Skynet sends an advanced prototype Terminator – a T-1000 – back in time to the year 1997 in order to kill 12-year-old John Connor (Edward Furlong).  The T-1000 (Robert Patrick) is made of a “mimetic poly-alloy,” a liquid metal that allows the Terminator to shape-shift.  To protect his younger self, the 2029 John Connor reprograms a model 101 Terminator and sends it back to 1997 to protect young John.  The 101 looks just like the T-800 that traveled from the future to kill John's mother, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), back in the year 1984.

Can Sarah, John, and the model 101 Terminator come together to stop the T-1000, especially after they become fugitives from the law?  Or is this new Terminator simply to advanced and wily to be stopped?

As I write this review, it is Tuesday, September 3, 2024.  In Terminator mythopoeia (not “mythology” and not “lore”), August 29th is “Judgment Day”  and fans of the franchise make note of it.  This year, “Judgment Day” carries a little more relevance because of the arrival of the new Netflix animated series, “Terminator Zero.”  I am planning on watching Episode 1 soon, but I felt that I needed to watch T2 again.  It is the only Terminator film that I have not previously reviewed, and I had not watched it in its entirety in about thirty years, if my memory serves me well.

The Terminator, T2, and the 2003 film, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, form a trilogy of sorts.  In many ways, each film seems like its own thing, with the second and third films officially being sequels.  However, these sequels feel like a hybrid of sequel, remake, and re-imagining.  They contradict the original in some ways and both try to grapple with or correct the franchise's time-traveling shenanigans.

T2 is now acknowledged as being among the greatest science fiction, action, and sequel films in movie history.  It is certainly a landmark film in terms of special visual effects and in the use of CGI (computer-generated imagery).  The transformation and metamorphosis of actor Robert Patrick into the liquid metal, shape-shifting Terminator still wows, impresses, scares, and stuns me over thirty-three years after originally seeing the film.  Some of T2's action scenes and sequences, especially the 18-wheeler tractor unit plunge off the overpass and the motorcycle crash into the helicopter still stop my breath.  The film's director, James Cameron, made one of the most awesome (if not the most awesome) action films of the 1980s in The Terminator with what amounts to a micro-budget for an action and science fiction movie.  With a one-hundred million dollars at his disposal of T2, Cameron and his crew and creative cohorts unleashed the most spectacular action scenes that had been seen in American film to that point.

On the other hand, back when I first saw T2 in 1991, I found it to be bloated.  It is easily twenty minutes too long.  As a character drama trio, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and Edward Furlong as John Connor seem more melodramatic than genuinely dramatic.  Much of the family unit feels contrived.  Schwarzenegger and Furlong have moments that seem poignant, but there are other moments that are made weaker but Furlong's acting inexperience.  That Hamilton had reshaped the soft body she had in the original film into a sinewy, muscular, warrior woman for T2 was and still is impressive.  Her performance in this film, however, is loud, even when it should be quieter and more subtle.

I once said that T2 was a two-and-half out of four stars film.  I don't know if it is nostalgia, but I like the film more now.  Some of it is still landmark and superb, and much of it is very well executed.  Still, I think Terminator 2: Judgment Day needed to be tamed, both in terms of it runtime and in the scope of the story.  In 1991, it was a hugely discussed and anticipated film.  Terminator 2: Judgment Day holds a special place in the filmography of its director, James Cameron.  If it were a better film, it would be at the top, where Avatar is now.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 5, 2024

NOTES:

1992 Academy Awards, USA:  4 wins: “Best Sound” (Tom Johnson,Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers, and Lee Orloff), “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (Gary Rydstrom and Gloria S. Borders), “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak), and “Best Makeup” (Stan Winston and Jeff Dawn); 2 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (Adam Greenberg) and “Best Film Editing” (Conrad Buff IV, Mark Goldblatt, and Richard A. Harris)

1992 BAFTA Awards;  2 wins: “Best Sound” (Lee Orloff, Tom Johnson. Gary Rydstrom, and Gary Summers) and “Best Special Visual Effects” (Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, Gene Warren Jr., and Robert Skotak); 1 nomination: “Best Production Design” (Joseph C. Nemec III)

2023 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  “National Film Registry”

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "ALIEN: ROMULUS" is Proud to Be an "Alien" Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 37 of 2024 (No. 1981) by Leroy Douresseaux

Alien: Romulus (2024)

Running time:  119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)

MPA – R for bloody violent content and language

DIRECTOR:  Fede Alvarez

WRITERS: Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues (based on characters created by by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett)

PRODUCERS: Walter Hill, Ridley Scott, and Michael Pruss

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Galo Olivares (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jake Roberts

COMPOSER:  Benjamin Wallfisch

SCI-FI/HORROR/THRILLER/ACTION

Starring:  Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Reaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu, and Robert Bobrocyzki

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Alien: Romulus is a solid science fiction movie that wholeheartedly embraces the horror movie roots of the Alien film franchise

Director Fede Alvarez and his creative cohorts deliberately make Romulus look and feel like a film from the early days of the Alien franchise, as the film is set between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986)

Alien: Romulus is a bit over the top, especially at the end, but David Jonsson's performance as “Andy” keeps everything on point in this film that is for longtime fans and will certainly create new Alien fans

Alien: Romulus is a 2024 American science fiction, horror, and action film from director Fede Alvarez.  It is the seventh entry in the Alien film series (and the ninth overall when including the Alien vs. Predator films).  Alien: Romulus focuses on a group of young space colonists who come face to face with a terrifying life form while scavenging aboard a derelict space station.

Alien: Romulus introduces Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), an orphaned young woman.  She lives and works on the mining colony of “Jackson's Star.”  She lives with a surrogate brother, Andy (David Jonsson), a malfunctioning android or “synthetic human” who was reprogrammed by Rain's late father to be her companion.  After her work contract is unexpectedly extended, she realizes that her employers, the mega-corporation, Weyland-Yutani, realizes that she will be trapped on Jackson's Star at least another five years.

However, her ex-boyfriend, Tyler (Archie Reaux), has a plan.  He has discovered that a derelict space station has drifted into orbit around Jackson's Star. Tyler believes that the station has cryonic stasis chambers (for suspended animation), which they could salvage.  The cryogenic units would allow them to make the nine-year journey to the next nearest human colony, a remote planet named “Yvaga.”

Andy is essential for the mention because he can communicate with the space station's computer systems.  Rain and Andy join Tyler and his crew:  his sister, Kay (Isabela Merced); their cousin, Bjorn (Spike Fearn); and a pilot, Navarro (Aileen Wu).  After boarding “the Corbelan,” a mining hauler, they head for the space station.  What none of them realize is that waiting aboard the space station is a decades-old secret conspiracy and the most terrifying life form in the universe.

After watching Alien: Romulus last night, I realize it is shamelessly proud to be an Alien film, and that it gleefully embraces the good, the bad, and the ugly that is the franchise's wacky narrative.  Although it is a standalone film, Romulus is set between the events depicted in Alien (1979) and its sequel, Aliens (1986), and directly references story elements from both films.  Romulus also references story and elements from the franchise's prequel film, Prometheus (2012), and at least one of the original Alien sequels, Alien: Resurrection (1997).

I did not like Romulus director's Fede Alvarez's Hollywood calling card, Evil Dead, a 2013 “re-imagining” of Sam Raimi's beloved cult classic, The Evil Dead (1981).  Alvarez's Evil Dead had none of the imagination of the original, and it was as if Alvarez was using his film to purge the Evil Dead franchise of its flavor.  Here, Alvarez and his co-writer, Rodo Sayagues, immerse this new Alien film in the trappings of the franchise, and the result is a very good science fiction film that celebrates the horror that science, the future, and technology can unleash upon mankind.  And Romulus is a gory, bloody, body-ripping scary movie.

What keeps Alien: Romulus from being great is that Alvarez offers too much of everything – too much peril and too, too many cliffhangers.  At times, Romulus feels like sound and fury signifying overload.  As he did in Evil Dead, Alvarez offers a group of characters who are nothing more than intended victims, and that goes even for the “final girl,” Rain.

However, the script does invest nuance and character in Andy, brilliant played by David Jonsson, a British actor.  Jonsson steals Romulus by dabbling in multiple layers, making Andy frightening, sympathetic, and mesmerizing.  Jonsson's turn as Andy reminds me of British actor Chukwudi Iwuji's turn as the “High Evolutionary” in Disney/Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).  Jonsson vastly elevates the character drama in Romulus, as the other actors do their best work with him, especially Cailee Spaeny as the ostensible lead, Rain.

Alien: Romulus is a welcome return of the Alien franchise's roots, as it firmly sets itself in the tone, style, and aesthetic of the franchise's earlier films.  I heartily recommend Alien: Romulus to fans of the franchise and also to those who want to be fans.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, August 16, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE" Brings the Friends and Family Vibe Back to Marvel

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 of 2024 (No. 1978) by Leroy Douresseaux

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Running time:  127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)

MPA – R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references

DIRECTOR:  Shawn Levy

WRITERS:  Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy, and Zeb Wells (based on Marvel Comics characters)

PRODUCERS:  Kevin Feige, Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, and Lauren Shuler Donner

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  George Richmond (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Shawn Reid and Dean Zimmerman

COMPOSER:  Rob Simonsen

SUPERHERO/COMEDY/ACTION

Starring:  Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfayden, Jon Favreau, Rob Delaney, Morena Baccarin, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Aaron Stanford, and Leslie Uggams with Chris Evans, Jennifer Garner, Dafne Keen, Ray Parks, Channing Tatum, Blake Lively, Matthew McConaughey, and Wesley Snipes

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Once again, Ryan Reynolds' comic talent shines as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, making Deadpool & Wolverine the best Deadpool film.

--Hugh Jackman brings dramatic balance and heft to the wackiness of Deadpool & Wolverine, but Jackman also adds a deft comic touch to the strong bloody violence and rapid-fire coarse language.

--There are multiple cameos and short appearances, but the surprise appearances of four particular characters from earlier Marvel films make Deadpool & Wolverine a winner

Deadpool & Wolverine is a 2024 American superhero film and action-comedy directed by Shawn Levy and produced by Marvel Studios.  It is the 34th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It is also the third entry in the Deadpool movie franchise.

The film is based on two Marvel Comics characters.  The first is Deadpool, a character created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, and that first appeared in New Mutants #98 (cover dated: December 1990).  The second is Wolverine, a character created by writer Len Wein and artists John Romita and Herb Trimpe and that first fully appeared in the comic book, The Incredible Hulk #181 (cover dated: November 1974).  In Deadpool & Wolverine the movie, a space-time organization has set Deadpool on a mission to save his own universe, so he brings in Wolverine to help him.

Deadpool & Wolverine basically begins on March 14, 2018.  That is the day that Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), the smart-mouthed mutant mercenary, approaches the Avengers organization about becoming a member of the Avengers.  It doesn't work, and Wade falls into a deep depression that takes a toll on his relationship with his beloved Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin).  It's also time to celebrate Wade's birthday, and his friends gather at the apartment he shares with Blind Al (Leslie Uggams).

In the middle of the revelry, agents of the “Time Variance Authority” (TVA) arrive to take Wade into custody.  At TVA headquarters, project head, Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden), informs Deadpool that his own Earth/universe, Earth-10005, is scheduled for destruction, but that he can live in another universe.  Determined to save his world, Deadpool rejects the offer and goes rogue.  He travels throughout the multiverse searching for a version of Wolverine that can help him save his Earth.  Eventually, Deadpool finds a variant of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) with a tragic past.

Deadpool and Wolverine spend more time cursing, fighting, and stabbing each other than they do world-saving.  However, they end up in a place called the “Void,” where they face its leader, the murderous and ultra-powerful mutant, Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin).  Now,  Deadpool and Wolverine are forced together to save a universe, but luckily, they will find themselves joined by an unexpected, but familiar quartet of heroes.

In preparation for Deadpool & Wolverine, I decided to watch the earlier films:  Deadpool (2016), Logan (2017), and Deadpool 2 (2018), that lead up to the new film, to one extent or another.  However, viewers may find such films as Blade (1998), X-Men (2000), Elektra (2005), and Fantastic Four (2005) to be of most use, although Deadpool & Wolverine also references other films and television series based on Marvel Comics characters.

Deadpool & Wolverine is very much an R-rated comedy like the earlier Deadpool films, but there is more harshly explicit language and profanity galore.  There seems to be more gross sexual language in Deadpool & Wolverine than there has been in any other film ever distributed by the Walt Disney Company.  At times, it is a bit too much, but only a bit.

As he does in the other Deadpool films, Ryan Reynolds makes the comedy in Deadpool & Wolverine work, via his schtick.  Still, one must say that Reynolds' repertoire of clowning, buffoonery, and jestering have become a refined work of comic performance art.  I can honestly say that I never feel as if I have had too much of Reynolds as Deadpool.

On the other hand, in Deadpool & Wolverine, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is the dramatic balance to Ryan as Deadpool.  Without spoiling anything, Jackman has some deep, emotional moments that require tears in his eyes.  Jackman also gets to be powerful, dark, edgy, and grieving as Wolverine without treading on the mournful Logan/Wolverine he gave us in the film, Logan.

There are some excellent supporting performances in Deadpool & Wolverine.  Emma Corrin is maniacally, gleefully wicked and evil as Cassandra Nova, and Matthew Macfayden is perfectly sleazy as the sinfully ambitious TVA functionary, Mr. Paradox.  The actors that comprise the quartet which assists Deadpool and Wolverine in their crucial assault on Nova's base are a delight, and one of them proves that his is the defining version of the superhero for whom he is most famous.  Many of us want to see him again, Disney.

Deadpool & Wolverine is Marvel Studios' funniest “Multiverse Saga” entry.  It is not without its faults, and it isn't the best Marvel multiverse film because that belongs to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).  However, Marvel does with Deadpool & Wolverine what it should have done with some of its post-pandemic films:  have more substantial guest appearances from classic MCU characters and stars.  Most of the heroic things that Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman do in Deadpool & Wolverine are done better with friends. 

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, July 26, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "DEADPOOL 2" is Funnier and Friendlier Than the Original

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 of 2024 (No. 1977) by Leroy Douresseaux

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Running time:  119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual references and brief drug material

DIRECTOR:  David Leitch

WRITERS:  Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds (based on Marvel Comics characters)

PRODUCERS:  Ryan Reynolds, Simon Kinberg, and Lauren Shuler Donner

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jonathan Sela (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Craig Alpert, Elisabet Ronaldsdottir, and Dirk Westervelt

COMPOSER:  Tyler Bates

SUPERHERO/COMEDY/ACTION

Starring:  Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Julian Dennison, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Eddie Marsan, Shioli Kutsuna, Jack Kesy, Michasha Armstrong, and Stefan Kapicic (voice) with Rob Delaney, Lewis Tan, Bill Skarsgard, Terry Crews, Brad Pitt, Alan Tudyk, Matt Damon, Nicholas Hoult, James McAvoy, Evan Peters, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Robert Wellman

Deadpool 2 is a 2018 American superhero film and action-comedy from director David Leitch.  It is a spin-off film in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men film series and is the eleventh film overall in the series.  It is a direct sequel to Deadpool (2016) and is also the second entry in the Deadpool movie franchise.  The film is based on the Marvel Comics character, Deadpool, that was created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, and first appeared in New Mutants #98 (cover dated: December 1990).  Deadpool 2 finds the wisecracking Deadpool trying to protect a fiery young mutant from a time-traveling cyborg.

Deadpool 2 finds Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), the smart-mouthed mutant mercenary, doing what he likes to do – brutally slaughter bad guys.  However, his violent activities catch up with him at home, and tragedy befalls his beloved Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin).  Deep in grief and depression, Deadpool tries to kill himself, but is rescued by Colossus (voice of Stefan Kapicic), the giant mutant who has a body of organic steel.  Colossus still wants Deadpool to changes his ways and also wants him to join the X-Men – as a trainee.

On his first mission as a trainee, Deadpool and the X-Men, which includes Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and her girlfriend, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna), travel to the “Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation.”  There, they find one angry teenager, Russell Collins (Julian Dennison), in crisis.  He is a young mutant with pyrokinetic power, and he has given himself the unfortunate code name of “Fire Fist.”  Deadpool's attempt to save the young man has disastrous results, and now, Deadpool has to save Russell from Cable (Josh Brolin), a time-traveling cyborg who has arrived in the present determined to kill the teen.  So Deadpool forms his own X-team, called “X-Force,” with tragically hilarious and hilariously tragic results.

We are nearing the release of the latest Disney/Marvel Studios blockbuster movie, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).  I decided to watch and review the previous X-Men films:  Deadpool, Logan (2017), and Deadpool 2, that lead up to the new film.

Deadpool is humorous and silly, but it was primarily an action movie with drama and humor.  It heavily leans into brutally strong violence, frequent profane language, and explicit sexual references.  Deadpool 2 also has brutally strong violence, constant profane language, and some explicit sexual references.  However, Deadpool is a comedy, and everything serves the comedy, including the drama, superhero action, and even much of the killing.

As he does for Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds makes Deadpool, a film that could not exist without his schtick.  He is the spine of this film's comedy and is the reason so much of it works when it would be disastrous for other performers.  The supporting cast is good, but not great.  Josh Brolin has his moments as Cable, but the Cable is more of a prop than a persona.  Zazie Beetz creates moments for Domino to shine which otherwise wouldn't be there.  Julian Dennison is mostly convincing as the angry young mutant, Russell Collins, especially in the second half of the film.

I find Deadpool 2 a definite, delightful surprise. I never expected much of it because I really did not care for what I had previously seen.  Now, a full and patient viewing makes me think that Deadpool 2 is an occasion when the sequel surpasses the original.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "LOGAN" is Mournful, Violent, and Hopeful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2024 (No. 1976) by Leroy Douresseaux

Logan (2017)

Running time:  137 minutes (2 hours, 17 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for strong brutal violence and language throughout, and for brief nudity

DIRECTOR:  James Mangold

WRITERS:  James Mangold & Scott Frank and Michael Green; from a story by James Mangold (based on the characters and stories appearing in Marvel Comics)

PRODUCERS:  Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker, and Lauren Shuler Donner

CINEMATOGRAHER: John Mathieson (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Michael McCusker and Dirk Westervelt

COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami

Academy Award nominee

SUPERHERO/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring:  Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Richard E. Grant, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, Quincy Fouse, Jason Genao, and Bryant Tardy

Logan is a 2017 American drama, action film and superhero movie from director James Mangold.  Starring Hugh Jackman in the title role, it is the tenth film in 20th Century Fox's X-Men movie franchise and is also the third entry in the Wolverine film series.  Logan is based on the Marvel Comics character, Logan/Wolverine, that was created by writer Len Wein and artists John Romita and Herb Trimpe and first fully appeared in the comic book, The Incredible Hulk #181 (cover dated: November 1974).  Logan the movie focuses on a legendary mutant trying to save a mutant child from the evil people determined to capture her.

Logan opens in the year 2029.  Mutants are nearly extinct, and no new mutants have been born in 24 years.  The aging and ailing Logan (Hugh Jackman) works as a limousine driver in El Paso, Texas.  Once upon a time, he was known as “Wolverine,” and he was a member of the legendary band of mutants, the “X-Men.”  Now, he and the elderly founder of the X-Men, Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), live in hiding. Xavier suffers from a degenerative brain condition, and he sometimes has telepathic seizures that render anyone in the vicinity virtually helpless.  A mutant known as “Caliban” (Stephen Merchant) helps Logan care for Charles.

Logan has plans for escape, but a complication arrives in the form of a small girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), also known as test subject “X23.”  She is a mutant and her abilities are remarkably similar to those of Wolverine's.  However, she is being hunted by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his band of killers, the “Reavers.”  They are in service of the research institute, Alkali Transigen, and the scientists there want her back no matter what it costs in terms of lives.  Will Logan become the hero Wolverine, again, and help Laura get to a place called “Eden?”  Or will he run away from his fate, again?

Having seen the first two Wolverine films, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and The Wolverine (2013), I did not go to the theater to see Logan when it was originally released in 2017.  [In my defense, I was knee deep in catastrophic family drama at the time.]  With the impending release of the upcoming Marvel Studios film, Deadpool & Wolverine, I decided it was time.

My was I missing an excellent film.  Logan is by far the best of the Wolverine films, and at the time of its release, it was the best X-Men since 2011's X-Men: First Class.  Truthfully, Logan would end up being the last really good X-Men film produced by 20th Century Fox.

Logan, which was rated “R” by the MPAA, is one of the most violent superhero films that I've ever seen.  Logan, Laura, and a surprise character called “X24” disembowel, dismember, behead, eviscerate, stab, and chop up what seems like a small town's worth of deserving men of various stripes.  Although I can sometimes be a prude about what I see as gratuitous violence in cinema, I love the brutal violence of Logan.  In fact, all the action scenes in Logan are brilliant, from the standoffs to the fights and car chases.

However, director James Mangold, a filmmaker with a hugely diverse filmography, makes Logan turn on dramatic storytelling and performances.  It is obvious that Hugh Jackman as Logan and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier would give fine performances.  Still, actor and comedian, Stephen Merchant, is simply wonderful in the important supporting role of Caliban, bringing pathos and depth to a role that could have ended up being an extraneous freak character.

Boyd Holbrook also brings range and a variety of moods to Donald Pierce, another character that could have been a generic mercenary type.  Dafne Keen matches the rage and range of Jackman as Logan.  Laura could have been lost in the hurricane that is Logan/Wolverine's story in this film, but Keen makes Laura a force of her own.  Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Eriq La Salle makes the most of his short time on screen as Will Munson.

Logan is a mournful film.  It really is not a sequel to the earlier Wolverine films so much as it is the completion of Logan/Wolverine's tragic, but heroic story arc that buttressed the earlier films.  Logan is both an ending and a beginning, and I wish that the care and effort put into this film had been put into some of the other X-Men films.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Sunday, July 21, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Adapted Screenplay” (Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green)

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Netflix's "BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F" is a Delightful Surprise

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 of 2024 (No. 1973) by Leroy Douresseaux

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)

Running time:  118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)

MPA – R for language throughout, violence and brief drug use

DIRECTOR: Mark Molloy

WRITERS:  Will Beall and Tom Gormican & Kevin Etten; from a story by Will Beall (based on characters created by Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Danilo Bach)

PRODUCERS:  Jerry Bruckheimer, Eddie Murphy, and Chad Oman

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Eduard Grau (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Dan Lebental

COMPOSER:  Lorne Balfe

COMEDY/ACTION/CRIME

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot, Damien Diaz, Kyle S. More, Luiz Guzman, and Kevin Bacon

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

--Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is probably the closest in spirit and tone to the 1984 original film.  It is one of Eddie Murphy's better recent efforts.

--The members of the original cast that manage a return in this new film work quite well and don't seem to be hear for nostalgic purposes.

--The new characters are quite good and are worthy of returning

--Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is surprisingly really good and certainly worth a original fan's time and viewers new to franchise may end up wanting to go back and discover the original after this film.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a 2024 American buddy-cop film and action-comedy directed by Mark Molloy and starring Eddie Murphy.  It is the fourth entry in the Beverly Hills Cop film franchise, and it began streaming July 3, 2024 on Netflix as a “Netflix Original.”  Axel F finds Axel Foley returning to Beverly Hills after his estranged daughter's life is threatened.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F opens in Detroit, Michigan.  After more than four decades on the job, Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) of the Detroit Police Department is still wrecking cars and tearing up the city via his maniacal car chases in his bid to capture criminals.  He has managed to remain on the job under the supervision of his friend, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser).  Axel's latest antics, however, leads to Jeffrey's retirement.

As Axel contemplates this situation, he gets a call from his old friend, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), former Beverly Hills Police Department detective turned private investigator.  Axel has a daughter, Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige), from whom he is estranged.  She has taken on the case of a young drug dealer, Samuel Enriquez (Damien Diaz), who has been accused of murdering an undercover cop.  Billy informs Axel that Jane is in grave danger

Axel flies to Beverly Hills, but he quickly discovers that Jane doesn't want to have anything to do with him.  He also learns that the young policeman, Detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), investigating the Enriquez case, also has a complicated relationship with Jane.  Although Axel's other old BHPD buddy, former detective and now, Chief John Taggart (John Ashton), is happy to see him, Taggart is reluctant to take on the Enriquez case.  He seems to have deferred most of it to Captain Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon), a well-dressed cop who acts mighty suspiciously.  It will take a mix of old pals and new friends to help Axel Foley unravel a dangerous conspiracy, but will Axel do more harm than good?

This year (2024) is the 40th anniversary of the original theatrical release of Beverly Hills Cop (1984), which I recently watched for the first time in over thirty years.  Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F succeeds where the other sequels came up short, but it successfully replicates the best moments from the original film.  There are four spectacular car chases that hold the viewer's attention and don't at all seem contrived or desperate to capture the spirit of what came before it.  Plus, the “Axel F” theme (composed by Harold Faltermeyer) dominates the film's soundtrack in so many different ways that I could not help but think of the original film, which usually makes me feel good.

Director Mark Molloy gets the best out of the supporting cast, even the old guys, who look really old forty years after their debut in the original film.  Still, the script gives the classic characters much to do so that they don't seem extraneous.  Kevin Bacon is Kevin Bacon, and that usually means something quite good, as it does here.  The new characters – Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Bobby Abbott and Taylour Paige's Jane Saunders – are good enough to carry a fifth film – if that becomes a necessity.

Of course, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is about Axel Foley, and that means Eddie Murphy, who doesn't need a director to tell him how to be him.  Still, I think Mark Molly helps.  Eddie was Eddie in the Coming to America (1988) sequel, 2021's Coming 2 America (which originally streamed on Amazon Prime Video), and that time, Eddie being Eddie yielded tepid comedic results.  So I'm giving credit to the director and the screenwriters, Will Beall, Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten, for making Axel F something more than just another nostalgic sequel.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is surprisingly entertaining and delightful.  It is way better than I thought it would be, and I must say that I won't wait thirty years to watch it again.  I have never attempted to watch Beverly Hills Cop III (1984), of which I've heard bad things, but Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F makes this third shot at a sequel a charm.

B+

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, July 7, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "DESPICABLE ME 2" Will Make Kids Happy, Happy, Happy...

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 of 2024 (No. 1971) by Leroy Douresseaux

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

Running time:  98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)

MPAA – PG for rude humor and mild action

DIRECTORS:  Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud

WRITERS:  Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul

PRODUCERS:  Janet Healy and Chris Meledandri

EDITOR:  Gregory Perler

COMPOSERS:  Heitor Pereira (score) and Pharrell Williams (songs)

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY and ACTION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voice) Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher Russell Brand, Benjamin Bratt, Moises Arias, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan, Pierre Coffin, and Chris Renaud

Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 computer-animated action-fantasy and comedy film directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud.  The film is produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is a direct sequel to the 2010 film, Despicable Me.  Despicable Me 2 finds bad guy-tuned-dad guy, Gru, recruited by a secret organization to discover who stole a deadly chemical.

Despicable Me 2 finds Gru (Steve Carell), formerly the world’s number one super-villain, settled into his role as the adopted father of the three orphan girls:  Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher).  All is not well at home, however.  Gru is trying to get his “jams and jellies” business to succeed, while one of his female neighbors tries to set him up on a blind date.  Also, Gru's longtime gadget man, Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), quits so that he can take a job that will allow him to be a bad guy again.

But Gru's old life comes calling when the Anti-Villain League (AVL) demands that he help them discover who stole the dangerous transmutation serum, “PX-41.”  They appoint AVL agent, Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), as his partner.  The two set up in a fake business, a bakery named “Bake My Day,” in Paradise Mall, a shopping mall near Gru's home.  As for the thief of the serum, Gru has a suspect in mind, a former super-villain who supposedly died in a volcano, but AVL doesn't believe him.  Meanwhile, someone is stealing some of Gru's little helpers, the Minions.

I really liked the original Despicable Me, but when Despicable Me 2 arrived back in 2013, I decided not to see it because... well, because the first was enough.  I'd gotten all the cuteness of  Margo, Edith, and Agnes that I needed, and I had gotten the best of Gru's character arc and transformation from villain to father.

However, I was shocked to find that I really liked the first full-length trailer for the upcoming Despicable 4 (2024).  So I decided to watch Despicable Me 2 for the first time, and I was right the first time.  The first film was really enough for me.  The girls are still cute, but there is less of them so that there can be more screen time for Gru's burgeoning relationship with Lucy Wilde.  I'm only kinda interested in that.  Gru's character arc in this film isn't as engaging as it was in the first film.  Clearly, the Minions needed more screen time than they got here, although they do play a pivotal part in the villain's wacky plot.  In fact, two years after the release of this film, the Minions got their own movie, 2015's Minions.

Despicable Me 2 isn't bad, but the film's storytellers play it safe rather than advance the elements that made the first film a surprise hit.  It earned two Oscar nominations, one for Pharrell Williams' song, “Happy,” which was practically ubiquitous from July 2013 to well into 2014.  I'm just not sure how invested I can be in this franchise, although the fourth film has sort of captured my interest.  It is really in the last twenty minutes of the film before the end credits that Despicable Me 2 really comes to life.  That's okay for me, but I'm sure family audiences will find it more than okay.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

NOTES:

2014 Academy Awards, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Christopher Meledandri) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Pharrell Williams-music and lyrics for the song, “Happy”)

2013 BAFTA Children's Awards:  1 win: “BAFTA Kids Vote – Feature Film”

2014 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Animated Film” (Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin)

2013 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film”

2014 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Outstanding Song” (Pharrell Williams-Performer & Writer for the song “Happy”)

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "GODZILLA MINUS ONE" Recalls the Original Spirit of Godzilla

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2024 (No. 1970) by Leroy Douresseaux

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan; Language: Japanese

Running time: 124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for creature violence and action

DIRECTOR:  Takashi Yamazaki

WRITER:  Takashi Yamazaki (based on characters owned by Toho Co., Ltd.)

PRODUCERS:  Gô Abe, Kazuaki Kishida, Keiichiro Moriya, and Kenji Yamada

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Kôzô Shibasaki

EDITOR:  Ryûji Miyajima

COMPOSER:  Naoki Satô

Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/DRAMA and HISTORICAL/WAR

Starring:  Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Sakura Ando, Munetaka Aoki, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Yuya Endo, and Sae Nagatani

Gojira Mainasu Wan is a 2023 Japanese historical war drama and science fiction film written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki and produced by Toho Studios.  It is Toho's 33rd Godzilla film and 37th entry in the Godzilla film franchise.  The film's English-language title is Godzilla Minus One, the title by which I will refer to it in this review.

Godzilla Minus One won the Oscar for “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” at the 96th Academy Awards earlier this year (March 10, 2024).  The director, Takashi Yamazaki, was one of the four men who each received an Oscar statuette for the win.  In Godzilla Minus One, a former kamikaze pilot is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder when the giant monster of his nightmares returns to attack post-war Japan.

Godzilla Minus One opens in 1945, near the end of World War II.  Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki)  lands his Mitsubishi A6M Zero at the Japanese base on Odo Island for repairs.  Shikishima is a kamikaze pilot (the military units that flew suicide missions for Japan during WWII).  The base's lead mechanic, Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), deduces that Shikishima had fled from his suicidal duty by pretending his plane had technical issues.  Later that night, Godzilla, a large dinosaur-like creature, attacks the island garrison, and only Shikishima and Tachibana survive.

Shikishima returns home to find his parents were killed in the bombing of Tokyo.  Plagued by survivor's guilt, he begins supporting a woman, Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), whose parents also died in the bombing.  With an orphaned baby girl, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), left in Noriko's custody, Shikishima forms a kind of family unit.  He even finds employment aboard a minesweeper tasked with disposing of naval mines from World War II.  Still, Shikishima can't leave the war behind and is reluctant to ask Noriko to marry him.

Meanwhile, the United States' nuclear tests at the Bikini Atoll leaves Godzilla mutated and empowered.  Baptized within the horrific power of the atomic bomb, Godzilla now re-emerges, more powerful, and begins to battle Japan on land and sea.  Can Shikishima emerge from his guilt and help save Japan from a monster that can unleash the power of a nuclear weapon?

North American audiences are familiar with the modern, rebooted version of Godzilla that stumps around the Legendary Entertainment's “MonsterVerse” an American multimedia franchise that includes a suite of movies that began with 2014's Godzilla and includes the most recent hit, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024).  In Japan, Godzilla also received a modern reboot, known as the “Reiwa era,” and that began with the 2016 film, Shin Godzilla.  Godzilla Minus One is the fifth film from this era.

Godzilla mainly appears in three major sequences in this film, and they are absolutely awesome.  The initial one, the attack on Odo Island, is as good any dinosaur attack depicted in Jurassic Park (1993) and its sequels or Jurassic World (2015) and its sequels.  The second sequence, when Godzilla attacks Ginza, a district in Tokyo, took my breath away.  I believe that the Ginza attack probably earned Godzilla Minus One the votes it needed to win its special effects Oscar.  This film's Godzilla is the old-fashioned one that looks like the man-in-a-suit original from the early Godzilla films, beginning in the mid-1950s.  However, modern special effects takes the classic and gives him more character, making him more a force a nature than a mere monster.

Godzilla Minus One is as much an ensemble wartime drama as it is a monster movie.  It is not perfect, because it does drag quite a bit in places between Godzilla's appearances.  The cast, led by Ryunosuke Kamiki as Koichi Shikishima, personifies the lives of people living and struggling through the aftermath of a defeated Japan.  In a sense, Japan's imperial ambitions and overreach brought that suffering on the people.  However, dropping two atomic bombs dropped on Japan (on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945) was some other country's decision.  Nor is Japan at fault for the monster that Godzilla becomes as a result of the United States' atomic testing in the Pacific.

Godzilla Minus One is a depiction of Japan's post-WWII efforts to save itself from its own actions and the actions of others.  I found myself rooting for them in that epic final battle much in the way I root for the U.S. of A in American war cinema.  However, Godzilla Minus One is not so much about nationalism as it is about national survival, and it is quite well-made and entertaining, also.

A

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, June 29, 2024

NOTES:

2024 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masanori Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima)

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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