REVIEW: “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2022)

February 18, 2022 by Keith Garlington

(CLICK HERE for my full review in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

None of the countless attempts at remaking, rebooting, or following the original “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” have been able to hold a candle to the original. I say that because I hold Hooper’s ‘74 film in such high regard. It’s a horror movie that I still vividly remember seeing for the first time. It would have been in the mid-1980s on a VHS tape rented from one of my hometown video rental shops. I remember being unnerved from the very start as a young John Laroquette, with the tension-soaked seriousness of an investigative reporter, warns us about the events we are about to see. I remember the queasy whine of a photographer’s flashbulbs as he or she shoots a gruesome crime scene. Within seconds Hooper had me in his clutches and kept me there all the way through. I can’t say the same for the other “Chainsaw” movies.

Directed by David Blue Garcia and written for the screen by Chris Thomas Devlin, this new “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” caught my attention by framing itself as a direct sequel to Hooper’s original. The problem is it doesn’t resemble the original in any way – not in style, not in tone, and certainly not in story. In fact there’s practically no connecting tissue whatsoever other than a madman with a chainsaw who wears a mask of human flesh and the pointless inclusion of Sally Hardesty, the lone survivor of the first film (she was originally played by the late Marilyn Burns but here by Olwen Fouéré).

Set nearly 50 years after the events of the first film, “Chainsaw” 2022 follows a group of four twentysomethings who we’re supposed to believe are fledgling entrepreneurs. A wacky business venture takes them to the dried-up Texas town of Harlow (which looks more like a studio lot than an actual place). If I understand it correctly (because the movie isn’t much for details), the bank reclaimed all of Harlow’s properties. Melody (Sarah Yarkin) and Dante (Jacob Latimore) acquired the properties and are scheduled to host a group of investors to come tour the place. They’ll then auction off parts of the town to the highest bidders who will then bring in businesses and rebuild Harlow in their own idealistic image.

While waiting on the tour bus full of investors to arrive, Melody, her troubled sister Lila (Elsie Fisher), Dante, and his girlfriend Ruth (Nell Hudson) begin exploring the deserted town. While checking out an old orphanage, they’re surprised to learn that not all of the townsfolk have left. More specifically, a sickly old lady and her hulking son who for some reason wears a butcher’s apron and always has his face conveniently obscured by shadows.

As you can probably guess, the woman’s son is indeed the brutally terrifying Leatherface and things quickly turn nasty. But don’t expect anything in terms of backstory. Garcia and Devlin don’t tell us anything about who this woman is, how she and Leatherface came together, or what they’re doing in Harlow. They’re just there. This wouldn’t be much of an issue if this was just another tired reboot. But when you tout your movie as a direct sequel, questions like this are inevitable. Yet they’re all but ignored by a film that’s far more interested in showering its audience in blood and guts.

Full disclosure: I’m not a crusader against gore, especially in slasher movies where it’s more of a celebrated trope rather than something taken seriously. This new “Chainsaw” goes full-on slasher and is loaded with enough grisly carnage to make gorehounds giddy. And if I were to praise one element of the movie as a legitimate strength, it would be the wickedly creative ways they devise for Leatherface to kill his faceless rabble of victims.

Here’s the problem, Hooper’s original was raw and harrowing, but it wasn’t a slasher film. Yes, it thrusts the viewer into a macabre world marked by its unsettling indifference to human suffering. But it relied on building discomfort and a persistent sense of dread rather than graphic bloodshed. It’s a much different story with this “sequel”. Creative carnage is all it has which is yet another way it feels at odds with the 1974 film it claims to follow.

Other than a handful of cool Easter eggs, there’s not much else worth mentioning. I can’t praise the story which is too shallow to be a standalone horror movie much less a sequel to a revered classic. I certainly can’t praise the bland and flavorless characters, none worse than Sally Hardesty who’s shamelessly thrown into a couple of scenes just so they can call this a sequel. But in reality this iteration is nothing more than a hollow forgettable disappointment. One that borrows the name “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, but has no real resemblance to the movie that made that title famous. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

First Glance: “Elvis”

February 17, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Baz Luhrmann is a filmmaker with a style all his own. Over the years it’s a style that has earned him as much criticism as praise. Personally, Luhrmann’s handful of films have been a struggle for me which is why I wasn’t sure about him doing a movie on Elvis Presley. Yet here we are with the trailer for a film first announced in 2014, officially green-lit in 2019, started shooting in 2020, and wrapped up in 2021. This first detailed look gives us a lot to chew on. And I have to admit, it has me more interested in this movie than I was before.

Austin Butler gets the duty of playing Elvis Presley. And while there are moments of resemblance, there are also times where he looks more like John Travolta, Val Kilmer, or Ray Liotta. We get a glimpse of Presley’s childhood, but the film mostly chronicles his monumental rise from struggling act to a rock-and-roll legend. Tom Hanks gets a meaty role playing Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker and Olivia DeJonge plays Priscilla Presley. The film also features Luke Bracey, Yola Quartey, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dacre Montgomery, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, among others. I have no idea how this will turn out. But if Luhrmann’s style can be present but in-check, this could be pretty good.

“Elvis” opens in theaters June 24th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Munich – The Edge of War” (2022)

February 17, 2022 by Keith Garlington

(CLICK HERE to read my full review in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Jeremy Irons plays Neville Chamberlain in Netflix’s new wartime feature “Munich – The Edge of War”. The film offers up a reappraisal of the often maligned British Prime Minister, a man that quickly became synonymous with humiliation, weakness, and appeasement. This film (an adaptation of the Robert Harris bestseller) dares to question the long-held perception of the complicated leader. Not to absolve him of naïveté or poor judgement. But to make a case that Chamberlain’s motivations were rooted in strategic foresight rather than incompetence.

Chamberlain was a firm believer in peace through diplomacy. In September 1938, with Germany preparing to invade Czechoslovakia and with his military in no shape to mount a defensive, Chamberlain arranged a meeting with Adolf Hitler, French Minister Edouard Daladier, and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in Munich. The short-term goal of the conference was to discourage the Führer from invading Czechoslovakia. Long-term it was to avoid the growing possibility of a Second World War.

The meeting ended with Britain and France acquiescing to Hitler’s demands, handing over to him the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain hoped it would quell the Führer’s increasing appetite for territory. It didn’t. Chamberlain returned home, telling an enthusiastic and relieved British public that he had secured “peace with honor“. But just as his harshest critic and eventual successor Winston Churchill predicted, it only took Hitler a few short months to prove Chamberlain wrong. Germany seized what remained of Czechoslovakia and shortly after invaded Poland, setting World War II in motion.

Directed by German filmmaker Christian Schwochow and penned by screenwriter Ben Power, “Munich – The Edge of War” factors in all of the above history to tell the story of the Munich Agreement but from a unique point-of-view. While Irons’ Neville Chamberlain is certainly a key player, the historical account mostly unfolds through the fictional friendship of two Oxford graduates – one British and one German.

British diplomat Hugh Legat (George MacKay) and German foreign ministry aide Paul von Hartmann (Jannis Niewöhner) were best of friends until a dictator’s politics tore them apart. But with war looming on the horizon, both young men find themselves fighting for peace yet from two very different positions. Hugh works closely with the Prime Minister as he prepares to meet with Hitler. Paul is part of a secret opposition group within the German government whose plan to oust the Führer is stymied by the Munich conference.

Schwochow and Power pluck several pieces from history, add in their own twists, and graft them into this gripping story which turns out to be equal part political drama and spy thriller. While the disastrous result of the Munich meeting are well known, the movie’s real drama surrounds secret documents that detail Hitler’s real expansionist plans (seemingly inspired by the real-life Hossbach Memorandum). When they fall into the opposition’s hands, Paul is tasked with smuggling them to Munich where he is to secretly use the documents to dissuade Chamberlain from signing a treaty with Hitler. But to get close to the Prime Minister he’ll need the help of his old friend, Hugh.

The movie also puts its own spin on the Oster Conspiracy, a secret plan proposed by high-ranking German officers in 1938 to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime. In the movie, the German opposition consider a backup plan to kill Hitler in case Paul and Hugh are unable to convince Chamberlain in Munich. Adding yet another dramatic layer, August Diehl (so good in 2019’s “A Hidden Life”) plays a German SS officer who begins to suspect that Paul and Hugh are in cahoots.

The movie is energized by Tim Pannen’s stellar production design. One of the keys was the choice to film in the real locations including the actual Führerbau – the very building in Munich where the Czechs were sold-out by their British “ally”. There’s also a tremendous attention to detail from the period-accurate costumes to the vintage cars that fill the streets to the scarlet Nazi banners adorning buildings, cars, and uniforms. Everything here looks exactly right.

And back to the performances, to no surprise Irons is brilliant, portraying Chamberlain as warm and endearing yet blinded by his own optimism. We also get passionate and textured work from MacKay and Niewöhner. Everyone here clicks and so does this movie – a riveting and entertaining blend of history and fiction that may not convince everyone to reconsider Neville Chamberlain, but it certainly gives us plenty to chew on. “Munich – The Edge of War” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

First Glance: “Father Stu”

February 16, 2022 by Keith Garlington

Easily one of the strangest trailers I’ve seen in awhile came a couple of days ago. It was for “Father Stu”, a nearly impossible to define drama that sees Mark Wahlberg go from a womanizing boxer to an upright Catholic priest. Yep, you heard me right. The film is written and directed by Rosalind Ross and features a supporting cast that’s anchored by Mel Gibson and Jacki Weaver. Clearly it’s set as a redemption story, but the weirdness of Wahlberg playing a priest is tough to get past.

The film tells the real-life story of the late Fr. Stuart Long. As mentioned, it’s a story of redemption that also seeks to inspire. Long‘s journey from fighter to friar begins when he meets and is instantly smitten with a Sunday school teacher Carmen (Teresa Ruiz). A terrible motorcycle accident leaves him worried that he has lost his second chance at life. But he soon realizes that he can still help and inspire others despite his deteriorating health. Obviously there is some good dramatic material here. Hopefully Wahlberg can pull it off.

“Father Stu” hits theaters April 15th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “A Hero” (2021)

February 16, 2022 by Keith Garlington

(CLICK HERE to read my full review in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

For my own personal money, there are only a handful of must-see filmmakers in the business today. I’m talking about consummate storytellers with a cinematic vision and/or voice so profound that I’m compelled to see every movie they put out. When talking about those uniquely gifted few, Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi is unquestionably near the top of my list.

Farhadi’s filmmaking talents are explicit in every movie he makes and the more you watch him the more you see him returning to many of the same themes. His movies often feature layered stories that poke at both social and cultural norms of modern day Iran. They also tend to dig deep into human nature often through the prism of everyday family conflict. And Farhadi has never shied away from using his characters and their situations to pose thought-provoking moral questions. He wraps it all in a slow-simmering down-to-earth suspense.

“A Hero” is yet another mesmerizing Farhadi tale that highlights his strengths both as a screenwriter and a director. In terms of script, the story is dense and dialogue-heavy, resembling a modern day morality play with a touch of mystery. It has a fascinating cyclical structure that repeatedly brings us back to the story’s central conflict while adding more pieces to the puzzle with each visit. As for his direction, Farhadi maintains a tight control of his story, moving it along at an organic pace and often using his camera as much as his pen to capture both emotion and perspective.

The story revolves around a man named Rahim who’s serving jail time due to an unpaid debt. The film opens as Rahim is given a two-day furlough which he hopes to spend mustering up a plan to pay back the money rather than going back to prison. Rahim is played with a disarming gentleness by Amir Jadidi. It’s a shrewdly subtle lead performance that at times feels like it has a baked-in Bressonian influence.

As with most of Farhadi’s characters, there’s more to Rahim than meets the eye. His backstory is untangled through a number of conversations and revelations. We learn he borrowed money from a loan shark to start a business but was double-crossed when his thieving partner ran out on him. So Rahim sought the help of a family friend Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh) who bailed him out with the loan shark under agreement that Rahim would pay him back. When he couldn’t, the surly Bahram filed a complaint and had Rahim put in jail.

That all may sound pretty cut and dry and those unfamiliar with Farhadi’s storytelling cadence may be tempted to make quick judgments on who’s the hapless hero and who’s the unforgiving villain. But there’s much more to unpack as pieces of the story fall in and out of place. And as with everyday life, things are often more complicated than they first appear.

The tricky part comes in the form of a handbag containing 17 gold coins. Rahim’s secret fiancé Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldust) finds the purse at a bus stop and immediately believes she has found a solution to her beau’s problem. The two first try selling the coins hoping to get enough money to pay Bahram so that he’ll withdraw his complaint. But after learning gold prices have tanked, they’re forced to think of something else. They decide to put up fliers around the city hoping the owner will see them and respond. After all , a little good press certainty wouldn’t hurt his plight. And news of a good deed from a man in need just might earn the sympathies of people willing to help his cause.

To talk much more about the story would be doing a disservice because “A Hero” is all about methodically peeling back its layers one by one. I’ll just say things get complicated especially when the bag’s grateful owner answers one of his fliers. There’s also a poignant father/son dynamic between Rahim and his speech-impaired son Siavash (Saleh Karimai). Their relationship not only has a significant role to play, but it features the film’s most moving moments (one especially evocative scene instantly called to mind De Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves”).

Farhadi unwraps it all without ever passing judgement or looking down on his characters. His eye-level storytelling enables us to understand every key player and grasp their points-of-view. He then counts on his audience to be the final judge. Along the way, he has things to say about social media, class, and the justice system while plowing into deeper themes of honor, integrity, and self-respect. It may not pack as big of a punch as some of his past work, but “A Hero” embodies everything I love about an Asghar Farhadi film, from its visually arresting opening to its beautifully understated finish. “A Hero” is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Jackass Forever” (2022)

February 15, 2022 by Keith Garlington

I wasn’t planning on seeing “Jackass Forever”, the fourth film based on the once weirdly popular MTV reality show. The proudly dimwitted franchise’s crude and over-the-top antics earned it a pretty vocal legion of fans. Though admittedly amusing at times, the “Jackass” schtick ran its course with me a long time ago. Yet here sits “Jackass Forever”, a revival of the series that hasn’t been on the big screen since 2010. And that it sits at almost 90% on Rotten Tomatoes is more bewildering than the movie’s existence after over a decade away. That’s why I decided to see it.

Created by Jeff Tremaine, Spike Jonze, and Johnny Knoxville, the “Jackass” television series ran on MTV from 2000 to 2003 before blossoming into its own film franchise. Routinely crossing the bounds of taste and decency became equally if not more important to the showrunners than good comedy. And you could argue that that trend continues in “Jackass Forever” which isn’t as much of a movie as it is a collection of stunts, gags, and pranks pulled between friends.

Some have tried assigning deeper themes to the film (masculinity, the rituals of male bonding, etc.). But “Jackass Forever” is really just more of the same – grown men doing stupid stuff for the camera to shock their audience and test the MPAA’s limits. The big difference here is the guys have gotten older and it seems they can now get away with pretty much anything.

**Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures**

Knoxville and company bring back some of the old stunts from their past shows and add a few new ones in that same vein. Stuff like getting bucked to the moon by a bull. Blowing up portable toilets. Or shooting themselves out of a cannon. The hidden camera pranks have always been my favorite bits. Unfortunately there aren’t many to be found in “Jackass Forever”. That’s because so much time is spent punching each other in the privates, shooting paintballs at each other in the privates, electrocuting their privates, putting honey bees all over their privates, putting costumes on their privates, luring a vulture to peck their privates, and so on.

Maybe I’m expecting a too much from a stunt-based reality television show brought to the big screen. Then again, maybe I’m not. Maybe it’s not a stretch to want a glorified sketch show to go for more than cheap lowbrow material. Yet it keeps going back to it, which will probably satisfy the hardcore fans, but it ultimately becomes an endurance tests for those of us lacking the nostalgic attachment to this nutty franchise.

“Jackass Forever” seems to operate under the banner “the trashier the better”. It seems more interested in pushing the envelope with full frontal male nudity, bodily fluids, and constant butt shots rather than pushing itself to be funnier, crazier, and more spontaneous. Shock and gross-outs take precedent over anything creative or original. It’s just exhausting. I suppose there is something to say for a bunch of long-time friends having fun doing their own thing. I just don’t remember their “thing” being this unbearable. “Jackass Forever” is now showing in theaters.