Poetic "Dreams" evoke best of Terrence Mallick's early works

 

Based on a novella by Denis Johnson, "Train Dreams" is an almost meditative simple tale of a lumberer, Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), who spent most of his eighty years cutting down trees in the Pacific Northwest. At one point he meets a woman (Felicity Jones), falls in love, and fathers a little girl. He witnesses his co-workers die from heavy fallen branches, and others get hunted by avenging cowboys looking to slay those who've wronged their family.

The movie, gorgeously filmed during the brief magic hour (sunrise/sunset) span evokes Terrence Mallick's "Days of Heaven." The ravishing cinematography and the wise narration magnificently morph image and sound to full effect. Those looking for complex, intense storytelling will be disappointed. But true cinephiles who value poetic, meditative cinema will discover a rare film that doesn't waste a single frame. 

☆☆☆☆

Contemporary American political climate in this "Anniversary" are used only half-effectively

 

On their 25th (titular) anniversary, middle aged couple Ellen and Paul Taylor (Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler) meet their failed writer son's (Dylan O'Brien) girlfriend, Ellen (Phoebe Dynevor). Ellen, who's a professor, recognizes Ellen as a former student, one with radical ideology that is a threat to American democracy.

General storyline of "Anniversary" is not unlike Alex Garland's "Civil War," but with far less gunfire and combat. The movie's locations are limited, more or less, to the Taylor property, where we hear about what's going on across the country, without ever seeing the damage that Ellen's controversial book, The Change, ultimately brings about. Some of the characters, including Cynthia Taylor (Zoey Deutch), are plain old insufferable, in agreement with only the worst ideas and principles.

The film's ending is sudden, and rather unexpected. Its gloominess will linger in the viewer's mind extensively, wondering what exactly the theme was, but especially what Ellen's smirk while staring at the Taylor's family photo is supposed to signify. A mixed bag of a somewhat relevant scenario that fails to fully achieve what I imagine director Jan Komasa and writer Lori Rosene-Gambino were shooting for. 

☆☆

DiCaprio & Penn "Battle" ideologies, (unknowingly) share romantic partners in Anderson's epic

 

Is Paul Thomas Anderson the best pure American filmmaker living today? Looking at his filmography one will catch an array of films. Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love and There will be Blood, to name just a few, are Kubrick-esque in their stylistic and thematic diversity. A once upon a time Hollywood wunderkind when in his mid-20s, Anderson's legacy has expanded since his initial arrival in the late 1990s. It will undoubtedly grow still - fingers crossed.

In "One Battle After Another," Leonardo DiCaprio's Bob Ferguson fathers a child with another revolutionary, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). Only problem: around the time when their new romance is underway, Perfidia also slept with Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (a terrific Sean Penn). It's anyone's guess, then, whose the child, Willa (Chase Infiniti) that Perfidia brings into the world, really is. Most interested in the circulating rumors, however, is the Illuminati-like group of wealthy white men, consisting of the (seemingly ageless) Tony Goldwyn at the helm. They welcome Lockjaw into their lair, only to reconsider once whispers of his interracial romance reaches their ears.

OBAA is a kinetic, passionate portrayal of modern day American rebels/revolutionaries and their military adversaries in the federal government. Mix in dashes of parental responsibility and devotion, along with tensions and violence that result from a perpetual racial bias of the American elite, and you've got a powerful drama by a master director who hasn't lost a step. 

I will be shocked if the movie doesn't receive a handful of Oscar nominations, acting and otherwise, and if it doesn't gradually morph into an everlasting American classic.

☆☆☆1/2

Rose Byrne dominates every frame of these kicking "Legs"

 

Seldom has a breakdown of woman's psyche been presented with such intense internal torment as Rose Byrne brings to her Linda character in "If I had legs I'd kick you." In nearly every scene, her world seemingly crashes, and her mind (understandably) along with it. If it's not her ailing daughter, then it's her patient, or her absent husband, or even the concierge at the local hotel, where she stays while her flooded apartment awaits repairs that keep getting postponed indefinitely. The fact that she never obtains and pistol and shoots everyone says that she's more patient than I would've been in her shoes.

To speak of the movie's plot is futile, because it doesn't exactly possess one. Instead, it presents us with a series of small catastrophes that suggest an incoming neurosis that is moments away from imploding. Writer/director Mary Bronstein has constructed a complex drama where an adult female's psychological decay is front and center, much like John Cassavetes used to do five decades ago. 

"If I had legs I'd kick you" is not an easy watch. Those with a weak stomach, who will likely prefer more cheerful fare, will deprive themselves one of the best performances of the year. If Byrne isn't nominated for an Oscar next year, it will be a great shame indeed.

☆☆☆ 

Despite an abundance of logical inaccuracies, "Roofman" is Tatum's showcase

 

Based on a true story, "Roofman" tells the tale of a dumb-criminal-genius, Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a man who robbed fast food restaurants by breaking through their roofs. After he's arrested and tried, he escapes prison, and hides in a Toys R' Us store for an extended period. While holed up, he manages to attend church and even meet a single mother (Kirsten Dunst) by sneaking out late at night and pretending to be a classified government employee.

This is a charming, likeable dramedy, no doubt. Tatum is often charismatic beyond belief, and here he embodies another real-life persona by exhuming goodness even at times when he's holding a gun and robbing people. However, the movie is loaded by logical inaccuracies, such as how does Jeffrey keep sneaking out of the store, unseen by all during normal daylight hours? The protagonist's fateful decision to stop-off somewhere on his way to the airport dooms his destiny - the same way the gangster we loved to hate did in "Heat".

"Roofman" is entertaining for about seventy-five percent of its running time; for the remainder, it is trying too hard, and left me wondering who's really dumber: the audience that'll buy the absurdity of its so called "real" events, or the employees at Toys R'Us, who were too obtuse to look behind a hollow wall on which bicycles were stacked? You tell me.

☆☆1/2

Del Toro's adaptation of Mary Shelley's masterpiece is most complete "Frankenstein" yet

 

As the immortal creation of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the monster played by Jacob Elordi not only portrays all the best that an innocent soul can possess, in moments of unimaginable wrath, he's capable of becoming the most dangerous thing on two legs. Unlike most human-born characters in the story, he's the only one not driven by a single impure desire (his thirst for revenge after he's been immeasurably wronged is another story). That he is also one of the nicest looking monstrosities in all of cinema is also worth noting.

Guillermo Del Toro's "Frankenstein" is an epic drama, evoking the costume-&-wig period during which Mary Shelley's legendary science-fiction-y piece of immortal literature. Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz comprise the rest of the star studded cast, some of which play characters not originally envisioned by the author two hundred years ago. The multiple narrations of the tale's events, told from the frigid North Pole, are spectacularly staged, designed and photographed.

The ultimate message of forgiveness is another nice touch that Del Toro has added here, turning his creature into a most forgivable and compassionate one.

☆☆☆1/2

A father-daughter relationship is at center of melancholy "Fairyland"

When her mother dies in a car accident, little Alysia (Nessa Dougherty) is forced to move to San Francisco with her father, Steve Abbott (Scoot McNairy). They're soon rooming with several people, and the little girl watches, with wondrous eyes, her dad romance several men. When she asks him about it, he simply responds, "because I can never love another woman as much as I loved your mother."

The movie premiered at Sundance Festival nearly three years ago (2023), and shot on a grainy stock, it looks and feels old, as if it was made in the time period it's occupying. The subsequent arrival of the HIV epidemic ultimately affects everyone in Steve's and Alysia's life (especially the former's). It was not, ultimately, difficult to predict what the dramatic finale would consist of.

"Fairyland" is a true passion project by director Andrew Durham, and the real life Alysia Abbott, whose memoir the film is based on. Its message is passionate and wise, and will leave the audience with a bittersweet sensation largely unexplored in American cinema.

☆☆☆

"Fortune" pits guardian angels vs. modern gig economy for ultimate blandness

 

A guardian angel (literally!), Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), watches over careless drivers who text while driving in a traffic heavy Los Angeles. For an unexplainable reason, he focuses on Arj (writer/director/star Aziz Ansari), a gig worker who struggles to make ends meet and still lives in his car. When Gabriel decides to show Arj just how lame his life would be if he was to swap places with a wealthy entrepreneur, Jeff (Seth Rogan), realites are switched, and identities as well.

"Good Fortune" tries hard to be a modern day "It's a Wonderful Life"; in addition, there are also shades of 2000's "Family Man," where a valuable what-if scenario is meant to reshape the protagonist's view of their own life. Yet despite its good intentions, the screenplay never quite ventures into true comedy - or heart-felt drama - in ways that are deeper than a typical network TV dramedy.

Ansari is a funny actor capable of great wit, but as a filmmaker, he struggles to keep the characters memorable; not even the great Kiki Palmer's Elena amounts to more than a one-note woman, whose desire to start a union at the home improvement superstore she works at is met with repeated obstacles. Her plight would've made for a much better movie; if only Ansari had been aware.

☆☆

A somber atmosphere is dwarfed by an absence of pay-off in lackluster "Boy"

 

A man moves into his deceased grandfather's country house, only to have his dog, Indy, repeatedly senses a presence of an evil entity. The concept is simple enough, and several of the shots are framed masterfully, with the dog upstaging the humans in ways not explored before. Think of "Call of the Wild," but with a bleak, eerie tone.

Unfortunately, despite the original premise, Ben Leonberg's movie never concludes with a bang that the collection of creepy scenes preceding it promised. Ivy stares at empty walls, hallways, rooms, and occasionally, a shadowy figure will appear before ultimately vanishing, leaving the dog stupefied. This happened so many times that I was exhausted by the film's "empty" promises.

It's never a good thing when a 73-minute movie feels too long, but that's precisely the case with "Good Boy." It possesses an ambitious idea, but its execution stumbles repeatedly. The villain essence that we eventually see hardly amounts to more than a pile of crap; in fact, it appears to be made of such. How ironic.

☆

Gore, bloodshed and an baffling resurrection crash the call on this "Phone"

It's never a good thing when a sequel opts out for gratuitous carnage in order to overcompensate for the lack of surprises that the first movie gave away. In addition, it escalates the supernatural and the ghostly to a whole other level. Its most unforgivable sin, of course, is to resurrect the murdered psycho, Grabber, into a ghost who can actually harm the living. Here, he plays like a poor man's Freddy Krueger, a demonic entity not aware that his aura is so 1980s - and not in a good way.

The original "The Black Phone" was a well conceived thriller. Despite the somewhat familiar trope of children being abducted and murdered, Scott Derrickson's film (based on a short story by Joe Hill), was original in more ways than one. The violence, for the most part, was kept off-screen. The protagonist, a boy named Finney (Mason Thames), struggled to free himself from the basement of the madman called the Grabber, himself concealed behind a devilish mask. It filled the audience with dread, terror, and an insatiable desire to see Finney get away.

I have said nearly nothing the plot of "Black Phone 2," because it is laughably ridiculous. The movie's nothing more than a gimmick, an unnecessary project forced into existence by studio execs looking to further cash in on the Black Phone trademark. Derivative in all the wrong ways, it is a stain on the legacy of the original.

☆

Only thing smashing in this "Machine" is mediocrity

 

As Mark Kerr, an early UFC and mixed martial arts fighter from the late 1990s, Dwayne Johnson's appearance is strange, featuring a somewhat oddly shaped head, and a bulky torso that nearly dwarves his underdeveloped legs. But he is polite enough, a gentle giant who speaks softly to reporters and the occasional fan. At one point he becomes addicted to opioids, an internal battle that, ironically, turns out to be the main psychological obstacle. Meanwhile, Kerr's girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), is attractive, supportive, but often gets the blunt of his unwarranted frustrations.

"The Smashing Machine" is, ultimately, just an extension of its mundane trailer. Filmed on a gritty, nostalgic 16mm film stock, it features a transformed Johnson, hoping to elevate this most dramatic performance of his career and carry it into the late 2025 awards season. Given the film's lack of emotional depth and its one-dimensional characters, I doubt that anyone involved in it will be rewarded - unfortunately.

Writer/director Benny Safdie has made better movies (Good Time, Uncut Gems), and will undoubtedly make them again. "Machine" is his most ambitious failure yet, a missed opportunity that will be forgotten by the time the year's last leaf falls.

☆1/2

Dystopian authoritarianism and moving short-term friendships illuminate this "Walk"

 

In an alternate 1970s dystopian America, a competitive long walk features lottery winning young men, who can voluntarily trek for hundreds of miles to outlast one another, with the sole winner winning unimaginable riches. The only downside: anyone who slows down below 3 miles/hour or stops for an extended period is immediately shot and killed. In other words, everyone but the champion is sure to die.

Playing out like a fusion of The Hunger Games (its director, Francis Lawrence, helmed the Hunger movies) crossed with Squid Game, "The Long Walk," based on an early Stephen King novel, features Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, among other notable actors. The mostly female-absent movie is at times moving, at times disturbing, but most notably, when it counts the most, surprisingly poignant. 

The ending is refreshingly unexpected, and will likely leave the audiences in an extensive silence. How this story remained unfilmed for nearly fifty years is beyond me, but I sure am glad it finally got the cinematic adaptation worthy of its source material.

☆☆☆1/2

A contemporary couple update "Roses"'s quarrel with modern technology

When Theo Rose escapes a burdensome work meeting in London and, by pure chance, meets Ivy in the restaurant's kitchen, their encounter is 'fuck at first sight' - literally. It's not long before they're relocating to United States and producing two children who will, before long, turn into modern super-athletes. In less time then it takes most movies to establish most protagonist couples, the Roses define themselves as quirky and clever - nearly too clever in their banter-y exchanges.

This update/remake of the 1989 film, The War of the Roses (itself based on Warren Adler's novel of the same name), replaces Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as a couple whose career successes gradually alternate, causing an irreparable rift.  

Featuring a wide-ranging cast that includes SNL alumni like Andy Sandberg and Kate McKinnon, Jay Roach's "The Roses" is sometimes dark, often witty, and less often, very funny. However, I found myself wondering if the couple's disdain for one another is really as bad as they believed it to be. This contempt was presented much more convincingly in the original film. 

As a comedy, this remake works moderately well. As a drama, it is slightly more successful, considering that it wisely bails out of the bleak, inevitable outcome before the final credits.

☆☆1/2