It’s Thanksgiving here in States, a time where we get together to celebrate all that we’re thankful for. For many of us it’s a fun-filled day of family, food, and football (and for me a movie or two – after all awards season is quickly approaching). So for those celebrating the holiday, I want to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. And for EVERYONE, thank you for all the time you’ve spent reading, following, liking, and commenting on this goofy little site. I can’t express how thankful I am for you.
Again, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a joyful holiday season!
We get yet another takedown of the rich and privileged in Emerald Fennell’s proudly smutty satire “Saltburn”. Excoriating the wealthy on the big screen has almost become old hat. But that hasn’t stopped filmmakers from beating that familiar drum, often to their own tunes. In “Saltburn” Fennell’s tune is more of an obnoxious drone – a persistent clamor of shallow, uninspired revelry and shock value hiding behind a beautifully shot veneer.
Fennell’s 2020 feature film debut “Promising Young Woman” was a sassy and sharp-edged thriller that had something to say. It was gutsy, provocative, and timely, taking on warped views of masculinity with its fists clenched and a twinkle in its eye. “Saltburn” is quite the opposite. It’s a mostly rhythmless confection that’s obsessed with its own coolness and edginess. Its intentions are rarely a mystery and its salacious swings at provocation offer little more than smug and hollow commentary at best.
Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Fennell certainly has the star power starting with her Oscar-nominated lead, Barry Keoghan. He plays Oliver Quick, a studious outcast in his first year at Oxford University. It doesn’t take long for the quiet and unassuming Oliver to earn our sympathies, especially after we hear that he’s an only child and is estranged from his parents due to their mental health and addiction issues. But we feel for him even more after he becomes enamored with the hunky, popular, and extremely wealthy Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi).
The two meet after Oliver helps Felix out of a jam. Oliver desperately wants into Felix’s upper-class social circle. Felix seems sympathetic, especially after Oliver gets word that his father has died. The two form a friendship although the depth of it is never really clear (well, maybe in the final 15 minutes). As finals approach Felix makes a rather spontaneous gesture. He invites Oliver to spend the summer with him and his family at their lavish estate called Saltburn.
Things are going pretty good up to this point. But from the moment Felix introduces Oliver to his family at Saltburn, Fennell begins losing her grip. Her story turns out to be pretty barebones and basic but surprisingly ends up woefully underserved. That’s because Fennell loses her creative self within this glaringly phony world of debauchery and opulence. As a result, things like narrative structure, story progression, and character development get tossed aside for warped and edgier grasps for attention.
Among the casualties of Fennell’s overcooked hankering to push the envelope are the characters themselves. Take Felix’s aristocratic family: his wild-haired father Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), his oblivious mother Lady Elsbeth (Rosamund Pike), his indolent sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), and his freeloading cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe). In a way each of them serve their purpose. But they’re little more than disposable playthings for Fennell to toy around with and disregard. And none of them ever grow beyond what we initially learn of them. Felix – spoiled beyond his own comprehension but with a heart of gold – is easily the most compelling.
Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
As for Keoghan, he certainly commits to Fennell’s twisted vision. The Irish actor is no stranger to playing off-center characters who sheepishly skulk around on the periphery. But here the material is so lacking that his eventual transformation from meek and nebbish into something more devious and depraved is a hard sell. This is especially true in the final act where Fennell rushes to bring Oliver’s story to some kind of credible conclusion. But it’s so lazy and outlandish. Even worse, Fennell spoon-feeds us every single answer, leaving nothing for the imagination.
The movie ends with an eye-rolling, self-indulgent final sequence that’s a perfect encapsulation of everything wrong with “Saltburn”. It’s a doltish and pointless finish that reveals a filmmaker more infatuated with kinky excesses than satisfying storytelling. And that’s a shame because we get teases of a better movie. And Fennell’s shrewdness with the camera is undeniable. But that’s nowhere near enough to save this narcissistic poster child for style over substance. “Saltburn” is now showing in select theaters.
Action movies are plentiful and they exist in all shapes and sizes. So many of them come and go without ever leaving a mark. But there’s something to be said for those that create and embrace their own corner of the genre. You could make a good case that Aditya Chopra and Yash Raj Films has done that with their gleefully stylish, unashamedly over-the-top, and immensely fun YRF Spy Universe.
The latest installment in the lucrative and ever-growing shared universe is “Tiger 3”, the fifth feature in this series of spy action films chronicling the adventures of various fictional RAW agents. Directed by Maneesh Sharma, “Tiger 3” is a sequel to 2017’s “Tiger Zinda Hai” and follows the events of 2019’s “War” and this year’s “Pathaan”. It sees the return of the effortlessly charismatic Salman Khan as RAW agent Avinash “Tiger” Singh Rathore and Katrina Kaif as his wife and ISI agent Zoya.
“Tiger 3” delivers everything fans love about the Spy Universe’s high-octane brand of action but on an even bigger scale. The signature style, the self-aware swagger, the rousing music, and most of all the huge electrifying set pieces – it’s all here in spades. As for the story, it works under a pretty basic premise. But it’s a premise that does what it needs to – set the table for the action while throwing in a few surprises along the way.
Image Courtesy of Yash Raj Films
Written for the screen by Shridhar Raghavan from a story by Chopra, “Tiger 3” incorporates a number of frequently used spy movie angles. And while it may not stray from the Spy Universe’s distinct formula, it remains an absolute blast, fueled by some of the best action sequences you’ll see this year and driven by Khan and Kaif’s attention-grabbing presences.
Well-versed Spy Universe fans will be quite familiar with the movie’s narrative framework. There are twists, turns, and betrayals. There is globetrotting, espionage, and political power grabs. Of course there are also fierce shout-outs, kinetically choreographed fight scenes, and moments of jaw-dropping action that simply defies explanation in such a small space. And how can I forget another power-mad villain, this time with deep personal connections to our two protagonists.
While none of those things feel particularly new, Sharma and Raghavan weave a good story around their two characters who many of us have grown to love. The story begins with a prologue that introduces us to Aatish Rehman (a terrific Emraan Hashmi), an ex-ISI agent and Zoya’s former mentor. When Rehman goes rogue Zoya is forced to expose him, ending in his imprisonment for treason.
Image Courtesy of Yash Raj Films
Jump to the present day where Tiger, Zoya, and their tween son Junior (Sartaaj Kakkar) live a cozy life in Austria. But when a friend and fellow agent is killed and questions of Zoya’s loyalties arise, Tiger is forced to investigate. The trail he follows leads to a shocking discovery – Aatish is free and has kidnapped and drugged Junior. He uses their son to force Tiger and Zoya to pull off a daring heist in exchange for an antidote. They succeed, but in the process unknowingly hand over nuclear launch codes to Aatish and his extremists. In the meantime Aatish frames them and soon they are wanted by both the Indian and Pakistani governments.
In addition to India, Pakistan, and Austria, the movie jets us to other exciting locations including St. Petersburg, Russia and Istanbul, Turkey. And as Tiger and Zoya attempt to clear their names they also fight to figure out and thwart Aatish’s plan. To do so requires the help of a few old friends. And it all builds up to an epic-sized showdown that plays out just as we expect but is still loads of fun nonetheless.
“Tiger 3” is a thrilling new installment in a cinematic universe that has no illusions about what it is. The film is pure action spectacle but with enough story (predictable as it may be) to keep you engaged. Khan still has the coolness and physicality to carry the movie, but he doesn’t do it alone. Kaif matches him line for line and scene for scene. In fact, there are times when she’s easily the most compelling and exciting person on screne. What matters most is that they’re great together, and I’ll go wherever their next adventure takes them. “Tiger 3” is in theaters now.
Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has given 2022’s “A Christmas Story Christmas” a home video release. This warmhearted legacy sequel to the 1983 perennial holiday classic “A Christmas Story” first released exclusively on the streaming platform HBO Max. Now it’s available to own on DVD (hopefully a Blu-ray version will follow). The film sees many of the original cast returning in what turned out to be a worthwhile follow-up to the beloved original film. Read my review of the movie HERE.
About the Film:
Year: 2022
Runtime: 98 Minutes
Director: Clay Kaytis
Screenwriter: Nick Schenk and Clay Kaytis
Story By: Nick Schenk and Peter Billingsley
Cast: Peter Billingsley, Erinn Hayes, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Zack Ward, Julie Hagerty, Ian Petrella, River Drosche, Julianna Layne, David Gillespie
Ralphie is all grown up in this sequel to the annual holiday favorite in which he must deal with Christmas and all that comes with it, this time as a dad. Peter Billingsley returns to the role that has made kids of all ages anticipate Christmas morning like no other.
In “The Holdovers” Paul Giamatti once again reminds us of how great he can be when given a good character and good material. He gives an awards-worthy performance in director Alexander Payne’s latest. This is Payne’s first feature film since 2017’s so-so “Downsizing”. Call it a return to form or whatever you want. I’ll just enthusiastically say that even with its few minor issues, “The Holdovers” is one of Payne’s best films to date.
The story, written by David Hemingson, is set in 1970 around the Christmas holiday. At the New England boarding school of Barton Academy Paul Hunham (Giamatti) is a classical antiquities teacher who is widely hated by his students and is an outcast among the faculty. He’s a sad and lonely sort although he keeps his misery hidden, at times even from himself.
Image Courtesy of Focus Features
With its two-week Christmas break looming, students and teachers begin packing to head home for the holidays. But every year there remains a small group of kids with nowhere to go. They’re called holdovers and this year Paul gets the duty of staying on campus and looking after them. It’s not that he minds. After all he has no place to go himself. Among this year’s batch of five boys is Angus Tulley (Dominic Sessa), a smart but frustrated student who is left at school after his selfish mother and her new husband decide to take their belated honeymoon over the holidays.
A rather convenient something happens that gives the four other boys a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. That leaves Angus and Paul, two seemingly polar opposites whose disdain for each other quickly festers. But “The Holdovers” is a movie about looking beyond what you think you know about someone. It’s about the empathy that comes from seeing and understanding the real person underneath their hardened exterior. So Angus and Paul slowly begin letting down their guards, and as a result they begin learning more about each other and themselves.
A key reason their stubborn hearts begin to soften is a school cafeteria worker named Mary. She’s played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph whose Oscar-caliber performance is full of heart and pathos. Mary is no stranger to tragedy which is one reason she too stayed at school through the holiday break. She’s a wise but straight-shooting woman who offers eye-opening perspectives that (at different times) both Paul and Angus desperately need to hear.
Image Courtesy of Focus Features
Payne clearly loves this unusual trio and he puts plenty of attention towards growing each character. He takes his time unpacking their individual stories which Hemingson lays out in deep personal detail. Both writer and director do a great job defining these distinctly different yet beautifully complimentary personalities. There’s also plenty of lighthearted moments such as Mary introducing Paul to The Newlywed Game or Paul’s choice of Christmas gifts for his newfound ‘family’ of sorts.
“The Holdovers” is bound together by Payne’s keen direction, Hemingson’s compassionate script, and some stellar performances particularly from Giamatti and Randolph who should be on every voter’s shortlist (the way Giamatti spouts things like “you hormonal vulgarian” without cracking a smile is awards-worthy in itself). It’s a little longer than it needs to be due to a slow starting first half. But once it hits its emotional stride, the film really connects. And anyone with a beating heart is sure to be moved by this unexpected delight. “The Holdovers” is out now in select theaters.
Eli Roth gleefully mixes excessive gore with some good laughs in “Thanksgiving”, his new film based on the American holiday that (these days) is more about turkeys, football, and Christmas shopping than any notion of actual thankfulness. Roth’s unapologetically silly slasher-comedy spends as much time taking shots at what the holiday has become as it does gruesomely offing its hapless gaggle of victims, often in various Thanksgiving themed ways.
Written by Jeff Rendell, the story is fittingly set in Plymouth, Massachusetts where in the opening 15 minutes we witness a tragic yet undeniably hilarious Black Friday incident. A feral crowd of shoppers storm a local RightMart store as they open for their Black Friday sale. With too little security, the store quickly loses control. Chaos and violence erupts and three people are killed. Overall it’s a situation that’s clearly intended to be preposterous. But at the same time, Roth shoots it dead-seriously which only makes it funnier.
Image Courtesy of TriStar Pictures
One year later, Plymouth has mostly put the Black Friday tragedy behind them. But with Thanksgiving fast approaching, the community learns that someone is not quite ready to forget. A sadistic serial killer known as (wait for it…..) “John Carver” soon begins living up to his name – slicing, stuffing, and basting the terrified local townsfolk in preparation for his own macabre Thanksgiving Day feast.
The film stars the recently crowned Sexiest Man Alive (according to People magazine), Patrick Dempsey. He plays Sheriff Eric Newlon who was at RightMart on that fateful Black Friday. Now he’s tasked with finding who’s killing his citizens in an assortment of gruesome ways. Of course the movie introduces us to a host of locals, providing many of them with ample motives to be put on our suspect list. Among them is the owner of RightMart, Thomas Wright (Rick Hoffman), his avaricious wife Kathleen (Karen Cliche), a grieving father (Ty Olsson), just to name a few.
And as is the norm for slashers, we get a group of shallow teens who make you fear for the future of our world the longer you’re around them. Of course several of them end up as fodder for the killer. But as usual there is the lone tolerable one who has some sense and earns a little sympathy. Here it’s Jessica (Nell Verlaque) who almost immediately gives off ‘Final Girl’ vibes. Then again, Roth throws enough at us to where we’re never quite certain who to suspect and who to trust.
As you might expect, the kills are aplenty. Not only are they garishly gory, but in many cases they’re quite original. Roth spares no creative expense (or bodily organ) in slaughtering his mostly disposable victims. Unfortunately that same attention isn’t given to the script which only exists to usher us from one bloody murder to the next. To his credit, Roth moves us along pretty quick and doesn’t allow us much time to think about things. But it eventually catches up to him, especially in the big reveal that doesn’t make a lot sense and has some pretty hard-to-miss logistical problems.
Image Courtesy of TriStar Pictures
That’s not the only place where the writing lets the movie down. Rendell’s dialogue can be as grating as it is exhausting. Characters sling f-bombs like they’re on a counter yet rarely (if ever) get lines that might offer actual depth. And while the movie teases a satirical bite early on, it ends up having no teeth whatsoever and any satire all but vanishes in the second half which goes into straight B-movie genre mode.
Those may sound like petty gripes, especially for a movie with a clear ‘back to slasher basics’ approach. But they’re what make “Thanksgiving” an amusing time-passer rather than a new slasher-comedy classic. The pieces are all there – a great setting, delightfully grisly kills, and a good self-awareness (the hysterical tagline “There will be no leftovers” still cracks me up”). But Roth is so focused on some parts that he shortchanges others. Then again, are we supposed to care about such things in a movie like this or just get onboard for the ride? You decide. “Thanksgiving” is in theaters now.
Keith & the Movies 