REVIEW: “#Alive” (2020)

March 26, 2021 by Keith Garlington

It may be tempting to write “#Alive” off as just another zombie movie. In a way that’s what it is. This South Korean survival thriller from director and co-writer Cho Il-hyung doesn’t bring anything particularly new and it certainly doesn’t reinvent the horror sub-genre. At the same time, it’s hard not to enjoy its nimble pacing, stylish verve, and its tightly focused story that keeps things simple, concise, and always moving forward. Toss in just the right amount of dark humor and a good handling of its characters.

The film wastes no time throwing us into the zombie mayhem. Oh Jun-U (Yoo Ah-in) is a gamer still living with his parents. The opening moments give us a good idea of his everyday routine. He wakes up, splashes some water on his face, grabs a drink, and than immediately logs into his computer where he spends his day playing video games and live streaming them for his online followers. As he cranks up a game of PUBG (or at least something resembling it) he’s told by a follower to check his TV. There he learns that the zombie apocalypse has begun.

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

“#Alive” doesn’t get bogged down in the hows and whys. Newscasts tell us it’s a highly contagious virus. They let us know it’s happening all over the city. Cho Il-hyung smartly assumes we know all the rules (don’t get bit, shoot them in the head, etc.). This allows him to get right into telling his particular story. The first half is more or less a survival drama. It focuses on Oh Jun-U alone and barricaded in his family’s apartment, the building flooded with hungry undead and his resources slowly running out. It’s an intriguing angle that hones in on both the physical and psychological toll once food and water are gone and you have no contact with your family or any other person for that matter.

Oh Jun-U reaches his breaking point but is saved by a mysterious red laser shining through his window. He traces it to the apartment building across the zombie infested courtyard where a young woman named Kim Yu-Bin (Park Shin-hye) is also holed up – same floor, same situation. And just like that Oh Jun-U realizes he’s not alone. Concluding their chances of survival are better together, the two form a plan to come together. But they quickly learn these zombies have keener senses than your run-of-the-mill movie undead. They’re fast, ferocious, and we get the sense they have the ability to adapt. It adds a slightly fresh layer of danger to the story.

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

The rest of the movie advances at a feverish pace and highlights Cho Il-hyung knack for building tension. Adding to it is cinematographer Won-ho Son who shoots the zombie action with a ferocious style. You may never get the sense that you’re seeing something new, but fans of the genre will appreciate how well-crafted and choreographed these scenes are. The movie also has fun with current day technology. Social media, virtual reality drones and smartphones are just some of the things that have a part in the story.

I am surprised by how much fun I had with “#Alive”. It won’t win over anyone who already dislikes zombie movies, but it does do some cool and interesting things within the zombie genre which makes this more then some B-movie hack job. The characters have enough meat on their bones (absurdly bad pun intended) for us to care about them, there are some nice touches of humor, and the zombie horror action delivers exactly what you expect. It turns out to be well worth a weekend watch. “#Alive” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

First Glance: “Stowaway”

March 25, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Last year Netflix visited deep space with the underappreciated “The Midnight Sky”. They’re doing it again in the not-to-distant future with “Stowaway”, a science-fiction thriller co-written and directed by Joe Penna. As a lover of cerebral sci-fi this movie is automatically right up my alley. But an even bigger draw in Penna. This is the follow-up to his terrific feature film debut “Arctic” which starred Mads Mikkelsen. Much like his first movie, survival looks to play a big part in “Stowaway” which only sweetens the pot.

In the film’s first trailer we’re introduced to the small crew of a spaceship that just set out on a two-year mission to Mars. An intriguing cast fills the roles – Toni Collette is the ship’s commanding officer, Anna Kendrick is the team doctor, and Daniel Dae Kim is the mission’s biologist. Only twelve hours into their journey the crew finds a shocked and frantic stowaway (Shamier Anderson). Unable to turn back the crew begins training their new member but soon their survival is threatened by catastrophic life support system failure. With only enough oxygen for three, the crew is forced to make some hard decisions to see who survives. I love the look and sound of this.

“Stowaway” premieres April 22nd on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox” (2013)

March 24, 2021 by Keith Garlington

The DC Animated Movie Universe kicked of with “Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox”, a precursor of sorts to the sixteen-film shared world series that ran from 2013 to 2020. The movie is an adaptation of the 2011 comic book crossover event “Flashpoint” from writer Geoff Johns and artist Andy Kubert. “Flashpoint” dramatically altered the DC Comics landscape leading to an aggressive reboot of the entire DC Universe. This film (directed by Jay Oliva) doesn’t feel as weighty as Johns and Kubert’s work, but it is faithful to the source material which is both a strength and a weakness.

“Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox” is refreshing in the sense that it isn’t another Superman or Batman story. Don’t get me wrong, I love those superheroes and both have roles to play in this film (more so with Batman). But as the title suggests, Barry Allen aka The Flash (voiced by Justin Chambers) takes center stage. I’ve always liked The flash and I remember how much I enjoyed reading the 2011 “Flashpoint” event with him as the central character. Similarly it’s nice see Barry Allen leading a DC animated film, especially one this ambitious.

Image Courtesy of Warner Home Video

“The Flashpoint Paradox” opens with a fairly inconsequential prologue. Barry Allen is at the Central City Cemetery visiting his mother’s grave when he is alerted to a break-in at the Flash Museum. He arrives to find a host of familiar rogues led by none other than his archenemy Eobard Thawne aka Professor Zoom aka Reverse-Flash (he’s voiced by C. Thomas Howell). With the help of his fellow Justice Leaguers, Flash intervenes and thwarts their plan to blow up the city.

The next day Barry wakes up at his work desk to find the entire world has been turned upside down. It starts with the discovery that his mother is alive and his wife is married to someone else. There is no Justice League and a bloody feud between the Atlanteans led by Aquaman (Cary Elwes) and the Amazons led by Wonder Woman (Vanessa Marshall) has the world teetering on the brink of war. To find out what has happened Barry seeks out Batman. But in this world young Bruce Wayne died in Crime Alley and a boozing grief-stricken Thomas Wayne (Kevin McKidd) dons the cape and the cowl.

Image Courtesy of Warner Home Video

“Flashpoint Paradox” is filled with these types of character variations – Cyborg (voiced by Michael B. Jordan) is a government liaison working directly with the president of the United States, Lois Lane is an embedded reporter turned resistance fighter deep behind the New Themyscira border, and so on. In keeping with the comic series Oliva and writer Jim Krieg pour on the characters, but in the movie’s cramped 80-minute running time there are simply too many to adequately cover. Several amount to nothing more than cameos while others only seem to be there to be killed off in some shocking fashion. Those familiar with the source material know this isn’t the filmmaker’s intent, yet it’s an unfortunate result of the movie’s hurried effort to cover all its ground.

It’s a little unfair to compare “The Flashpoint Paradox” to the comic series considering they’re two completely different forms of media with their owns sets of strengths and limitations. But it’s hard to avoid doing so when the movie sticks this close to its inspiration. The animation is solid and the voice acting is even better. And as someone who read and followed “Flashpoint”, I can’t help but appreciate the film’s loyalty. It’s the kind of thing that will certainly win over ardent DC fans, but as a standalone movie it feels rushed and it can’t quite capture the significance and importance that made the 2011 event such a game-changer.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

REVIEW: “Quo Vadis, Aida?” (2020)

March 23, 2021 by Keith Garlington

The harrowing war drama “Quo Vadis, Aida?” uses a carefully fictionalized story to set our feet in the Bosnian war and more specifically an atrocity known as the Srebrenica massacre. This weighty material is presented through the clear-eyed, unvarnished lens of writer, director, and producer Jasmila Žbanić. Her film has received worldwide acclaim topped off by a recent Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Hopefully that will lead to more exposure and more people seeking out this gripping eye-opener.

Set during the tumultuous July of 1995, “Quo Vadis, Aida?” takes place in and around the small mountain town of Srebrenica. Tensions were high between Bosnian Serbs and the Muslim Bosniaks with civilians (as they often are) caught in the middle. As war brewed, Srebrenica had been declared a UN safe area by the United Nations. But that didn’t stop Serb forces under the command of General Ratko Mladić (Boris Isaković) from marching in and taking over the town. It resulted in a flood of Srebrenica refugees fleeing their homes and seeking refuge at a nearby UN base camp.

Image Courtesy of Super LTD

Undermanned, undersupplied and overwhelmed, the UN base was ill-equipped to handle the tens of thousands of people at their gate. A couple thousand were allowed in while the rest were left outside the gate under the hot sun with no food, water or toilets. Much worse, the small Dutch unit who manned the base where there to protect the local civilians in the ‘safe area’ yet they were never given the authority to use force and calls for airstrikes to drive back Serb forces went unanswered. This led to their utter inability to defend against the atrocities that would soon take place right under their noses.

Žbanić pulls us into this shattering real-life story through the fictional character Aida (played with such passion and emotional intensity by Jasna Đuričić). She was a school teacher before the Bosnian Wars, now she works as an interpreter for the UN. She’s the backbone of her family and a large part of the story followers her as she tries to ensure the safety of her timid but loving husband Nihad (Izudin Bajrović) and their two sons Hamdija (Boris Ler) and Sejo (Dino Bajrović). We see everything through Aida’s eyes – the Serb army’s march on Srebrenica, the UN camp crisis, and the horrors that come once General Mladić and his troops arrive to “relocate” the refugees.

Both Žbanić’s direction and Christine A. Maier’s cinematography organically creates a nail-biting tension and a truly ominous sense of dread. Aside from history informing us, we know things are heading in a grim direction. We experience Aida’s increasing desperation as she scrambles around the base using her UN badge and any shred of privilege to get her family inside the gates. Then when that illusion of safety begins to crumble both her survival and maternal instincts kick into another gear as she searches for a way to get her family out of the base before Mladić’s murderous soldiers arrive. Đuričić empties herself into this emotionally and physically demanding role and the camera keeps us by her side most of the way as pressure mounts and her hard-to-hide terror sets in.

Image Courtesy of Super LTD

The Srebrenica massacre resulted in the slaughter of over 8,000 men and boys. They were separated from the women and loaded onto buses by Mladić’s soldiers at the UN base as the Dutch unit watched helplessly. They were then transported to other towns and savagely executed. It’s here that Žbanić holds back, never showing the slaughter but leaving no doubt in our minds of their fate. Interestingly there are elements to the atrocities that Žbanić chooses to stay away from. Namely the numerous testimonies of violent abuse the women faced – countless rapes, the slaughter of children in front of their mothers, and so on. It’s stomach-churning material for sure, but it would put an extra emphasis on what these women were subjected to. The restraint is admirable, but this is a part of the account that needed stressing.

From the very first frame “Quo Vadis, Aida?” comes across as a deeply personal film. It has a lot it wants to say and more it wants to expose. In one sense it is a stinging indictment of the UN’s mishandling of conflicts and of international apathy which often allows these kinds of atrocities to take place. But it’s also meant to honor the survivors and pay tribute to those lost. In terms of cinema, its a well-made and utterly distressing movie chronicling an unspeakable series of events that are still freshly etched into many minds. The Oscar-nominated “Quo Vadis, Aida?” is now streaming on VOD.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “Nobody” (2021)

March 22, 2021 by Keith Garlington

Hutch Mansell is a mild-mannered everyday average Joe. His days are an endless cycle of monotony – get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, go to bed. The only real highlights of his week are his morning cups of coffee and missing the trash truck every Tuesday. Even his family seems lulled by his ordinariness. But as the press notes for the upcoming film “Nobody” strategically warns, “Sometimes the man you don’t notice is the most dangerous of all.”

The aptly named “Nobody” is a gritty action thriller with a heavy dose of black comedy. It comes from director Ilya Naishuller and screenwriter Derek Kolstad who penned the three “John Wick” movies and is currently attached to the MCU streaming series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”. In “Nobody” Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk plays the aforementioned Hutch, an overlooked and altogether unremarkable fellow stuck in a rut. I’ll be honest, Odenkirk together with the the writer of the “John Wick” movies didn’t sound like the most convincing pairing. But the 58-year-old “Better Call Saul” star proved me wrong, especially in the film’s wacky and corpse-filled second half.

Image Courtesy of Universal Studios

Hutch is someone you would barely even notice; a guy who would walk by and never catch your eye. Even at home his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) seems to have lost interest in him. Then you have his teen son Blake (Gage Munroe) who looks at his humdrum father with indifference and poorly-hidden shame. The only warmth Hutch feels is from the idolizing glow of his adorable young daughter Abby (Paisley Cadorath). When she looks at her daddy she sees safety and security. She sees her hero.

Things at home get worse after two robbers break into their suburban house in the middle of the night. Hutch passes on the chance to club the thug holding a gun on Blake leading to his son getting punched in the face and the robbers fleeing. This strains their relationship even more and pushes Hutch closer to the brink. But not in the Michael Douglas “Falling Down” sense. Hutch isn’t having a mental breakdown and he’s certainly not insane. He simply has a “dormant” side that’s suddenly itching to come out.

I won’t spoil things but let’s just say we are introduced to that “dormant” side during a ferocious bus sequence that should instantly be front-runner for fight scene of the year. And just like that we’re thrust into an underworld where titles like “the Barber” and “Auditor” are the norm. We’re introduced to the film’s antagonist, a Russian drug kingpin named Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksei Serebryakov), “a connected and funded sociopath” and babysitter for the “Obschak”. In gangland terms he manages and guards the Russian mob’s 401(k). And of course he has a slew of disposable henchmen, all dressed in black and armed to the teeth.

Image Courtesy of Universal Studios

If you’re thinking all of that sounds pretty familiar you wouldn’t be wrong. We’ve seen variations of this story before. But several things make “Nobody” stand out. Tops on the list is Odenkirk who nails every shift and turn in his character (and there are several of them). He’s convincingly physical, funny, and even feral when things intensify. The movie also shows off a deliciously wicked and frankly wacky sense of humor. Whether it’s a perfectly timed line of dialogue, the hysterically over-the-top nature of some of the action, or the hilariously on-the-nose music choices from Louis Armstrong, Andy Williams, and the like. And then you have the great supporting cast. Connie Nielsen is always good so it’s no surprise she is here too. We also get a small but wildly entertaining role for Christopher Lloyd playing Hutch’s elderly father Harry. There’s even Michael Ironside, a face (and great voice) that I haven’t seen around in a while.

As “Nobody” propels forward the violence gets crazier and the body count mounts. Yet the movie never loses its self-awareness. Naishuller has a field day playing around with action genre norms and together with DP Pawel Pogorzelski puts together a number of thrilling sequences that are stylish and visually coherent (an often underestimated plus). And while it certainly has it’s fun, there is a nastiness to “Nobody” that might catch some folks off-guard. But that’s another part of what makes it such a rip-roaring ride. “Nobody” opens in theaters March 26th.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

First Glance: “Four Good Days”

March 19, 2021 by Keith Garlington

There have been several good movies lately that have either directly or indirectly dealt with the subject of addiction. The upcoming drama “Four Good Days” from director and co-writer Rodrigo Garcia takes a deep look at the crippling effects prolonged substance abuse has on both individuals and families. The film is based on an 2016 article by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Eli Saslow and had its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

The movie stars Glenn Close and Mila Kunis as an estranged mother and daughter working through the younger’s recovery from drug addiction. The daughter Molly (Kunis) has been in and out of rehab 14 times and this latest attempt at getting clean drives her to the doorstep of her mother (Close). By the look of the trailer it won’t be an easy journey as the two struggle with Molly’s withdrawal and with past tensions that quickly boil to the surface. Movies like this are by necessity heavy and they can end up going either way. Kunis and Close look extremely committed and if the material is good I can see this being a tough but worthwhile watch.

“Four Good Days” is set for a limited theatrical release April 30th followed by its VOD premiere May 21st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.