REVIEW: “Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin” (2021)

November 9, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Confession time: I have no real attachment to the “Paranormal Activity” franchise. I haven’t seen any of the films past the first two. I couldn’t tell you anything about the timeline or how any of the six movies connect (if they connect). Even more, the entire found-footage phenomenon ran its course for me years ago. It was cool for a movie or two, but like many I grew tired of it pretty quick.

So what on earth would entice me to watch “Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin”, the seventh installment in the supernatural horror franchise? First, producer Jason Blum announced that the film would be a reboot of the series rather than a direct sequel. So no attachments needed. Next, I was intrigued by the premise and the setting, both of which actually fit well with the whole found-footage thing.

“Next of Kin” sees the PA franchise remodeling itself, using some of the series’ usual techniques but telling a new kind of story. It begins at a Denny’s in Scottsdale, Arizona where a young woman named Margot (Emily Bader) is about to meet her “first biological relative”, a young man named Samuel (Henry Ayres-Brown). He’s around Margo’s same age and recently left the Amish community where her family originated. Adopted as a baby, Margot is anxious to find out where she came from and more specifically what happened to her mother who disappeared years earlier. Videoing the occasion is her friend Chris (Roland Buck III), who is collecting footage for a “prestige documentary” she’s making about her experience.

Samuel agrees to take Margot, Chris, and their goofball (because there always has to be a goofball) sound guy Dale (Dan Lippert) to the snowy secluded Baylor Farm. Once there the crew is greeted by the community’s cautious elder Jacob (Tom Nowicki) who reluctantly allows them to stay and shoot for a couple days. The aggressively private farm folk are leery of the outsiders but slowly warm up to them.

At first Margot and her friends are drawn to the group’s simple way of life. But to absolutely no one’s surprise, she and her crew begins noticing some eerie happenings around the farm – sinister red lights glowing in the night, strange animal howls, and what’s with that creepy old church in the woods. They all lead to a messy final third that really leans into the movie’s cool blood-curdling setting. Unfortunately it also features a handful of missteps, most notably the mind-boggling decision-making from the characters that turns curiosity and investigative into glaring stupidity.

To director William Eubank’s credit, “Next of Kin” makes for a nice change of atmosphere. I say that fully realizing that franchise faithfuls may see it differently. It shares some of the same tricks as its predecessors, but the welcomed new environment is part of what made it appealing. I also liked that (thankfully) it’s not entirely found-footage. Mostly for sure, but there are a handful of welcomed breaks that also help the look of the film. And this is a nice looking film. From the warm orange glow of kerosene lamps in the interior shots to the icy harshness of the outdoors, the visuals prove to be a real strength.

There are a few other interesting touches (such as the early references to COVID-19 that forever ties the movie to our current day). But there are too many elements of film that never quite land, specifically the mystery of Margot’s mom. You get a feeling for what’s going on pretty early so it comes down to waiting for it to finally be revealed. In the meantime, the characters do one dumb thing after nothing. It’s something you find baked into too many horror movies, and it doesn’t really help Eubank and company here. “Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin” is streaming now on Paramount+.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Bergman Island” (2021)

November 8, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Fårö sits just off Sweden’s mainland and is probably best known as the home of the late Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. The acclaimed auteur lived on the idyllic Baltic island from 1965 until his death in 2007. His affection for Fårö led him to make a total of six features there including “Through a Glass Darkly”, “Persona”, and “Shame”. It’s also where he shot “Scenes From a Marriage”, a television mini-series that was recently remade by HBO and starred Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.

Fårö practically has a mythology all its own and over the years it has become a popular tourist spot for Bergman faithfuls. The island is a key player in the new film fittingly titled “Bergman Island”. Written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, this thoughtful yet scattered drama poses as a love letter to the cinema legend. But at its core, “Bergman Island” is much more interested in fractured relationships and the creative process. Its effort to fuse those two themes together is admirable, even if the results are a little mixed.

Hansen-Løve’s early focus is on Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), a filmmaking couple who travel to Fårö for a screenwriters conference. Tony is an established director who is comfortable with his achievements but not so much the attention that comes with it. Chris is less renowned and even less confident; successful but seemingly stuck under her husband’s shadow.

The program’s organizers put them up in one of Ingmar Bergman’s homey cottages that sits in a quiet grassy field next to a picturesque old windmill (at one point it’s noted that they’re actually staying in the same house where “Scenes From a Marriage” was filmed – yikes). Both are whittling away on new screenplays and create for themselves separate writing spaces to work in between nostalgic 35 mm film screenings, lectures, and Bergman bus tours.

Hansen-Løve moves Chris and Tony around with a delicate wistful rhythm, but getting a good grasp of their relationship is a challenge. Along the way we see tiny cracks in their marriage and the film hints at (though doesn’t explore) some even bigger issues. Yet Chris and Tony aren’t at each other’s throat and there’s no detectable bitterness or animosity between them. Still, it’s clear they’re missing a spark and have lost their passion. And their poorly veiled detachment echoes a certain longing, but for what?

There’s something equally fascinating and frustrating in trying to solve the puzzle that is Chris and Tony. Amid the sumptuous scenery and persistent Bergman name-checks, the couple’s relationship seems to be dissolving right before our eyes. We see it when Chris skips out of Tony’s lecture to do some flirty site-seeing with an incredibly dry Swedish film student (played with an almost jarring lethargy by Hampus Nordenson). We also see it in Tony’s cold reception to Chris’ attempt at intimacy.

But just as we’re getting a feel for the characters, this meta-drama jaunt suddenly shifts gears. Hansen-Løve’s focus moves to Amy (Mia Wasikowska) and Joseph (Anders Danielsen Lie), two fictional characters from Chris’ screenplay. This ‘movie inside of a movie’ twist sees Tony vanish (never to return) and Chris taking more of a background storyteller role.

Hansen-Løve’s narrative twist might work if Amy and Joseph’s story had the same allure. Instead, this paper-thin romance about a young woman reconnecting with her first love at a mutual friend’s wedding lacks an emotional pull. It too is set on Fårö and it too has an undercurrent of longing. But it mainly features a lot of moping, gazing, and frolicking in various states of undress. And while it’s easy to see what Hansen-Løve is going for, there simply isn’t enough depth to make it interesting. Even it’s internal connections to Chris aren’t pronounced enough to leave an impression.

I was ultimately left wishing I was back with Chris and Tony. Their story, with all of its intricacies and imperfections, gave us something to look deeper into. It also gave us more Vicky Krieps. The Luxembourg born actress was magnetic in 2017’s “Phantom Thread” and she’s had a busy 2021. She was good in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old” although it was mostly an ensemble film. And she had a small but effective role in the underseen John David Washington thriller “Beckett”. But here she reminds us of why she grabbed so much attention opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in Paul Thomas Anderson’s gem. And once her screen time shrinks so does much of the movie’s appeal.

“Bergman’s Island” starts promising, pulling its audience in with its breezy and beguiling charms. But there comes a point where the movie steps away from its strengths and ends up in a place where it’s simply too crafty for its own good. And as it wanders farther and farther away from its appetizing setup, even Bergman (much like Chris and Tony) becomes nothing more than an afterthought.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Eternals” (2021)

November 6, 2021 by Keith Garlington

You can count me among the many Chloé Zhao fans out there. The Beijing-born filmmaker has had a short yet prominent career, making a name for herself in the thriving world of independent cinema. Her renown grew even more last year when her film “Nomadland” dominated awards season, taking home Academy Awards for both Best Picture and Best Director. Needless to say, a lot of people became well acquainted with her name.

You can also count me among the many who were surprised by the announcement that Zhao would be co-writing and directing the next $200 million installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In one sense it was interesting to see how Zhao’s distinct artistic sensibilities would fit with a mammoth MCU blockbuster. On the other hand, it felt so at odds with what she has become known for.

While Zhao unquestionably puts in the effort and gives it her all, “Eternals” is a surprising inert and at times downright dull superhero movie that doesn’t really utilize her strengths. Yes, you can see it working hard to be a departure from the staling Marvel movie norm. Yes, you can see its attempts at humanizing its characters in more intricate ways than past MCU films. But Marvel already has a pretty good track record for digging into the humanity of their heroes. Sadly Zhao and Marvel Studios guru Kevin Feige’s efforts to be something new never goes beyond the optics.

The screenplay comes from the writing team of Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Kaz Firpo, and Ryan Firpo. Their story spans 7000 years, sloppily hopping back-and-forth across their timeline, resulting in an overly long and overstuffed 157-minute running time. To cover all its ground, the story ends up drowning us in exposition, skimming over things that might have been interesting if given enough time. Instead, stuff like Celestial Seeds, the Emergence, a World Forge, etc. means nothing, and goes in one ear and out the other.

One key problem with “Eternals” is that it is overloaded with characters, and Zhao tries to give each of them some semblance of a backstory. Inevitably all end up feeling shortchanged to various degrees. A few get more attention which helps in terms of depth. Others have their lives crammed into small segments. It’s obvious Zhao is interested in her characters, but too much of their stories are left on the side. Mainly because the film also needs to build its superhero mythology which too often consists of large and often tedious information dumps.

Storywise, the Eternals are a group of ten good-looking cosmic beings who were sent to Earth eons ago by Arishem the Judge to defend the planet against a ravenous species known as Deviants. Their centuries long war ends in 1500 when the last of the Deviants are finally killed. The Eternals then go their separate ways, with each immortal settling and assimilating into different locations around Earth, waiting for Arishem to summon them home. 500 years pass and each Eternal has carved out a life for themselves (more or less). But when a particularly nasty new Deviant suddenly appears in London, it’s clear that it’s time to get the team back together.

Marvel Studios brings in a lot of star power to portray the Eternals and much like the characters themselves, some are much more convincing than others. At the top is Gemma Chan who plays Sersi, an eternal with the weird ability to manipulate matter. Sersi is easily the most complete character and Chan gives a terrific performance full of warmth and compassion. Richard Madden plays Ikaris, a poor man’s Superman and one-time love interest of Sersi. Angelina Jolie plays Thena, a powerful Wonder Woman like warrior who wields weapons made of cosmic energy. She’s haunted by past memories that threaten her and the team. Druig (Barry Keoghan) can control minds and Makkari (Lauren Ridloff ) is the Eternals version of The Flash. Both are two of the movies most intriguing characters but both (especially Makkari) get back-burned.

On the downside you have Salma Hayek who plays the team leader Ajak. I love Hayek and there’s nothing wrong with her performance. But she feels woefully out of place in most of the scenes she’s in. The same can be said for Brian Tyree Henry who plays Phastos, a cosmic inventor (for lack of a better description). His story is the most jammed together and almost feels plucked from another movie. And like Hayek he’s not always convincing, especially on the battlefield. Kumail Nanjiani is Kingo, who shoots balls of energy from his fingers and provides tacked on comic relief. But he inexplicably vanishes during the final act. Then you get Don Lee as Gilgamesh (super strength) and Lia McHugh as Sprite (projects illusions) – both are nice presences but both feel like tag-along characters.

As the movie predictably brings the former teammates back together, it tries to tell their individual human stories while also building up its cosmic storyline. Surprisingly that leaves little room for superhero action. We do get a couple of set pieces that look fine and checks most of the boxes, but there’s little there that we haven’t seen done better elsewhere. Even the big CGI blowout finale is missing the energy and style of the better Marvel films. Even worse, it has no stakes. Yes, the world is in danger once again. But frankly, I really didn’t care.

As I sat through “Eternals” I couldn’t help but think of how it would have fared better as a Disney+ streaming series. There’s very little here that screams big screen movie and giving the characters and their stories more room to develop would have helped tremendously. Instead we get a rare MCU misfire – a flat and flavorless superhero film full of bold ambitions. But in its efforts to realize those ambitions it cuts too many corners and forgets a key ingredient in all of these superhero movies – fun.

Yet all that, at least we have the post credits scenes, right? Don’t worry, no spoilers here. I’ll just say even they fall short. I would laugh off the shockingly bad mid-credits scene as a stunt if it wasn’t actually happening. And the end-credits scene (which is actually pretty exciting), is so poorly put together that many will immediately pull out the phones and go online just to understand what happened. But what can I say? It almost feels like fitting end for a movie that aims at something new, but completely misses its target. “Eternals” is now playing in theaters.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

Movie Poster Spotlight: “House of Gucci”

November 5, 2021 by Keith Garlington

There has been a ton of buzz out there for “House of Gucci” and rightly so. Not only is it Ridley Scott’s second movie in as many months, but it packs an all-star cast. Add to that the amazing true story it’s inspired by and you have a movie that could be an awards season surprise. And now we have a new poster that fits this crazy movie perfectly. Check it out.

DIRECTOR – Ridley Scott

WRITER – Becky Johnston, Roberto Bentivegna

STARRING – Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Selma Hayek

RELEASE – November 24, 2021

REVIEW: “Red Notice” (2021)

November 5, 2021 by Keith Garlington

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

With over 50 Academy Award nominations (including five for Best Picture)and a total of 15 Oscar wins, it goes without saying that Netflix has become a major player in the world of movies. But in addition to awards season features, Netflix has also poured millions of dollars into developing their own line of big-budgeted blockbusters. The new poster child for that initiative is “Red Notice”, a $200 million action comedy featuring three of the biggest names in Hollywood entertainment.

Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, “Red Notice” stars Dwayne Johnson, the highest paid actor in Hollywood, Gal Gadot, one of the highest paid women in Hollywood, and Ryan Reynolds, a likable schtick-driven actor with an enthusiastic following of his own. That’s a lot of box office star power and also a sizable investment in itself.

Just based on the talent alone, you have a good idea of what you’re going to get from “Red Notice” – plenty of action scenes, just as many laughs, lots of charisma, and an open door for a sequel if this one proves profitable. In other words your standard blockbuster blueprint. But I don’t mean that as a knock. I’ve always had an affection for popcorn movies when they’re done well. Even when they stick close to the familiar formula.

To the movie’s credit, “Red Notice” knows exactly the kind of movie it wants to be, and it sticks to that vision which proves to be both a strength and weakness. Thurber and company stay with what works and have a great time doing it. And you never have to worry about the movie taking itself seriously. At the same time, the relentless gags and overall silliness can get a little exhausting. And those looking for even the smallest amount of dramatic tension won’t find it here.

This fun smorgasbord of genres goes as heavy into comedy as it does action. But it also throws in some heist thriller elements and a bit of swashbuckling adventure. Johnson gets top billing playing FBI beefcake John Hartley, a seasoned profiler with the Bureau who specializes in art crime. The film opens as Hartley and Inspector Das (Ritu Arya) from Interpol arrive at Rome’s renowned Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo. Inside the museum is one of three bejeweled eggs given to Cleopatra from Mark Antony. The second egg is in a private collection in Spain and the location of the third remains a mystery.

So why is all this egg talk important? An Egyptian billionaire is offering $300 million to whoever delivers him all three eggs by his daughter’s wedding day. Hartley is in Rome after receiving a tip that renowned con artist Nolan Booth (Reynolds) is in town to swipe egg number one. But there’s a third player who factors into the equation – the sphinxlike “most wanted art thief in the world” (Gadot) who watches from afar with a ton of resources at her disposal.

This fast-moving caper launches with a wild chase sequence in Rome where Booth and the egg slips through Hartley’s fingers. There’s a brief stop in Bali where Hartley tracks down and apprehends Booth. Then its back to Rome where Hartley discovers the egg he has retrieved is fake and he has in fact been framed for the theft by a mysterious shadowy character known as Bishop. Hartley and Booth get shipped to a frigid Siberian prison (don’t ask) where they learn the true identity of Bishop (Gadot).

It may sound like I’m spoiling a lot of the plot but I’m really not. All of that is mostly setup for this around-the-world jaunt that also makes stops in London, Egypt, and Argentina among other scenic locales. Along the way, Thurber puts together a number of high-energy set pieces including a crazy prison escape, a gag-filled fight sequence in Valencia, and a wild car chase through a mineshaft. Not every action scene works (there’s an especially dumb sequence inside a Spanish bullring), but most are entertaining and clearly a huge chunk of the budget went into them.

As for the three stars, each deliver exactly what you expect from them. The magnetic Johnson flexes his big biceps and his bigger personality. The playfully seductive Gadot seems to be having a blast. And the quick-witted Reynolds plays straight to type, with a joke-a-second cadence that offers up plenty of laughs while testing your endurance. Together the trio have good chemistry, riffing on a number of well-worn action movie tropes and checking all the boxes most of us look for in our breezy popcorn escapism. “Red Notice” is out today in select theaters and premieres on Netflix November 12th.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

First Glance: “Unwelcome”

November 4, 2021 by Keith Garlington

A few days ago Warner Brothers gave us a look at their new horror thriller “Unwelcome”. It comes from director Jon Wright who penned the screenplay with his frequent collaborator Mark Stay. This strange looking feature has a cool visual style to go along with its fairly well-worn premise. And while I’m not really sure what to expect, there looks to be enough stylish flourish and quirky ‘scares’ to prod my curiously.

Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) and Jamie (Douglas Booth) are a handsome young couple expecting their first child. To get away from the bustle of city life, Maya and Jamie jump at the chance to move into a quiet and cozy country cottage. Sounds nice, but anyone who has seen these kinds of movie knows that they’re is for a rude awakening. In this case it’s bloodthirsty goblins called “Redcaps” who live in and around the house. Horror hijinks ensues.

“Unwelcome” is set for a 2022 release. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.