“Master” was one of a handful of movies I regretfully missed during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The tense and at times perplexing thriller was quickly snatched up prior to Sundance by Amazon and is now available on their Prime streaming platform. The film is written and directed by first-time filmmaker Mariama Diallo who pulls from reflections on her own feelings and experiences to craft a movie with a strong premise but that can’t quite get out of its own way.

“Master” can best be described as a social horror thriller with a lot to say about race, class, gender and academia. But while its themes are potent, its messy execution ends up undercutting its effectiveness. We’re left with a movie that has a captivating vision but that never seems sure of how to bring that vision to life. Its social commentary is hampered by the film’s borderline hokey characterizations and its sledgehammer-like subtlety. Meanwhile the tacked-on horror elements are underserved and get in the way of the movie’s deeper aims.

The movie (written and directed by Diallo) follows the experiences of three black women at the esteemed (and predominantly white) Ancaster University. The always wonderful Regina Hall plays faculty member Gail Bishop, Ancaster’s new and first black house master. At first Gail is proud of her hard-earned new status and takes pride in creating a welcoming environment for the students under her care.

Yet despite her best efforts, Gail struggles to fully gel with her all-white colleagues who proudly flaunt their self-defined wokeness amid an array of far-from-subtle microaggressions which range from disturbing to downright corny. These scenes are a weird mix – opening up some of the movie’s most essential topics then undercutting them with over-the-top portrayals that almost feel satirical but clearly aren’t meant that way.

Then there’s Jasmine Moore (played by the delightful Zoe Renee), a wide-eyed freshman who arrives at Ancaster in a denim jacket, khaki pants, blue converse, and a big infectious smile. Smart and outgoing, Jasmine has big dreams and works hard to fit in. But she is often met with condescension by her white dorm-mates and even gets mean looks from the black cafeteria workers. In one of the stranger turns, Jasmine is inexplicably assigned the exact dorm room where the college’s first black undergraduate died back in the 1950s.

The third woman is Liv Beckman (Amber Gray), an English professor applying for tenure at the University. Though friends with Gail, Liv is the far more spirited of the two both in style and personality. It’s one reason the university is hesitant to grant her tenure. Another reason is a recently filed dispute accusing Liv of targeting Jasmine by giving her a bad grade. Liv’s story plays more prominently in the second half but sadly goes from mysterious to absurd.

As the movie weaves the three women and their stories together, the themes really come to the surface. Sometimes they’re effectively chilling and uncomfortable. Other times they can be needlessly heavy-handed. And then there’s the entire horror element that tosses in everything but the kitchen sink to try to make things creepy – a maggot infestation, a creepy Mennonite community, a maggot infestation, some silliness about a witch who picks out one freshman each year to possess (or something like that).

In the end, none of the horror stuff is the slightest bit unsettling and it feels tacked on in a vain attempt to fit genre expectations. The moments of true horror comes in the discomfort of watching these three women be swallowed up by an oppressive social structure. But it’s too often curtailed by the glaring on-the-nose dialogue and characterizations. For that reason “Master” never quite reaches the potential it teases, despite the best efforts of a fine cast. “Master” is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

I still haven’t fully figured out how Sony’s Spider-Man Universe connects with the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some parts seem more connected than others while other parts don’t seem connected at all. Oh well. To be honest, I’ve lost interest in trying to figure it all out. In a nutshell both universes are (somehow) related and “Morbius” and the most recent installment.

Unfortunately, it’s not a particularly good installment. It’s not terrible either. Certainly not as bad as Sony’s last effort (“Venom: Let There Be Carnage”). But it’s hardly a movie you’ll be rushing out to see again.

“Morbius” always seemed like an unusual and risky choice. And from the very start, it never felt like the studio was all that certain on how to approach the movie and on when to release it. Granted, COVID-19 played a big part in some of its delays. Still, there was a hesitancy from Sony that was hard to miss especially in their promotion of the film. And even the earliest trailers seem desperate, name-dropping Venom and revealing Michael Keaton’s Vulture just to grab the attention of the lucrative superhero genre’s fan base.

It feels like “Morbius” has been about to come out for years. One of the great blessings about its release is that I’ll no longer have to sit through its trailers which found their way in front of every single movie I would see at the theater (I could almost recite them word for word). And while my interest in the movie had waned, I still held out hope regardless of the lashing it took during early screenings (much of it from the Marvel Studios faithful).

“Morbius” is directed by Daniel Espinosa and despite the mixed reactions, I enjoyed his last three movies (“Safe House”, “Child 44”, and “Life”). This is a much different venture for Espinosa and it shows. At times his movie plays great and sports its own unique style which really comes out in some of the action scenes. But there are just as many moments that feel disjointed, rushed, or uninspired. The result is a mixed bag.

Jared Leto is a nice fit playing Dr. Michael Morbius who suffers from a rare debilitating blood disease he has had since birth. Gifted since childhood, Michael gained notoriety in the medical science world for developing a life-saving synthetic blood. Since then he has used his talents to try and find a cure for his disease. Helping him is his scientist partner and (potential) love interest Dr. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona). And funding his work is his wealthy friend and surrogate brother Milo (Matt Smith) who happens to share the same illness.

Strangely, Michael’s serum seemingly comes out of the blue. All we really know is that it involves vampire bats from Costa Rica and the mixing of bat DNA with human DNA. As Michael explains to Milo, it’s “highly experimental, morally questionable and very expensive”. When a sickly and desperate Michael injects himself with the serum, he does indeed cure his disease. But he also gains superhero strength, sonar-like sensitivity, and a rather disturbing appetite for human blood.

In one sense it’s tempting to praise the movie for cutting through the scientific mumbo-jumbo associated with Michael’s work. There are a couple of scenes where he’s recording medical logs explaining his symptoms. But for the most part Espinosa and screenwriters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless mercifully skip past that stuff. On the other hand, it’s such a weird and wild approach to medicine yet we get nothing to form the basis of his experiments. A guy turns himself into a living vampire and we’re just supposed to go with it.

Of course every superhero story needs a villain and here it comes in the form of Milo. Frightened by what he has become, Michael tries to protect Milo by refusing to give him the serum. But Milo gets his hand on a vial and injects himself. While Michael sees his vampire condition as a curse, Milo fully embraces it which pits the close friends against each other. Like most of the characters, Milo lacks some needed depth. Matt Smith’s performance is solid even though the script pulls him in some weird directions. Sadly, the bond between Milo and Michael (which should have added emotional weight to their conflict) barely gets beyond surface level, leaving Smith and Leto with little to explore.

Visually there are some cool stylish touches that I liked quite a bit. They’re unlike anything we’ve seen before in the crowded superhero movie space. But the drab and murky color palette doesn’t always help. And there are times where the CGI heavy action can be hard to decipher. Take the final 15 minutes which can be really hard to make out, right up to the film’s jarringly abrupt ending. Meanwhile Arjona offers a good supporting presence even if she isn’t given much to do. And there’s Tyrese Gibson in the thankless role of a generic FBI Agent trying to track Michael down after bodies drained of blood begin showing up across the Big Apple. Gibson is more of a plot device than an authentic character.

Of course there are also two obligatory post credits scenes that confused me more than excited me. Sure, they tease interesting things to come. But they also reminded me of how convoluted this Sony/MCU collaboration has been. “Morbius” does little to change that. Leto is certainly up for the role, and I can see where he could have done something special with a better script and more focused direction. As it is, “Morbius” is a ‘middle of the road’ Marvel movie. One that ultimately teases more than it’s able to deliver. “Morbius” opens in theaters tomorrow.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

(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

If I were to take a survey asking people to choose two stars they think would be perfect for an on-screen romance, I doubt many of you would say Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. Yet guess who stars in the new romantic comedy “Marry Me”, a movie built around an preposterous premise but that manages to work because of the sheer star wattage and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) chemistry of its two leads.

On paper, nothing about “Marry Me” should work. And before you get too carried away, you should know it does come unglued during its corny and cloying final 15 minutes or so. But for a stretch “Marry Me” actually clicks. And I mean it really clicks in sweet, smart, and genuinely funny ways. Director Kat Coiro, along with the writing trio of John Rogers, Tami Sagher and Harper Dill, give space for the film’s central relationship to develop and grow. The committed and charismatic couple of Lopez and Wilson handle the rest. That is until the movie eventually caves to the more mawkish and conventional.

Lopez plays Kat Valdez, a pop superstar adored by millions of fans around the globe. Her highly publicized romance with fellow Latin sensation Bastian (Maluma) makes headlines and routinely sets social media ablaze. Their agents come up with a publicity stunt for the ages – have a concert/wedding where the recently engaged super-couple take their vows on stage in front of a live New York City crowd and with 20 million people watching worldwide.

Wilson plays the blandly named average-Joe Charlie Gilbert (apologies to all the Charlie Gilberts out there). He’s a buttoned-up and slightly neurotic junior high math teacher – kinda like a domesticated Gil Pender. But rather than being infatuated with Paris, its equations and formulas that butter Charlie’s biscuit. And sponsoring the school’s math club (hilariously called the “Pi-thons”) is as close as he comes to an actual social life.

Charlie is perfectly content with his dull and boring existence, but he’s having a hard time connecting with his 12-year-old daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman). In an effort to convince Lou that he’s “fun”, Charlie heeds the advice of his friend and colleague Parker (Sarah Silverman) and takes Lou to Kat and Bastian’s big show. But as Kat takes the stage to get married in front of the world, a video goes viral showing Bastian cheating on Kat with her assistant.

A hurt and humiliated Kat sees Charlie in the crowd holding his daughter’s “Marry Me” sign (it’s the name of Kat and Bastian’s new hit single). On a whim, she calls Charlie to the stage and agrees to marry him on the spot. A stunned but sympathetic Charlie goes along with it and is immediately thrust into the spotlight. Kat’s handlers, specifically Collin (John Bradley) urge her to end the charade. But she refuses to let the world or Bastian see her heartbreak. So she and Charlie go on a whirlwind publicity tour, and (of course) grow closer in the process.

From there it’s not too hard to see where things are going. You have two vastly different people from wildly different worlds which leads to the quintessential (and inevitable) ‘opposites attract’ romance. But it works because of the two stars. Wilson has a disarming sincerity and an infectious charm that’s impossible to resist. He’s very much playing an Owen Wilson character, and (once again) he does it to perfection. Meanwhile, Lopez leans into her glamorous persona while also bringing sensitivity and compassion to her larger-the-life character.

But eventually (and most unfortunately) the filmmakers pull out the old Hallmark blueprint. You know, where things look great for our bubbly couple until that one conflict (in this case a ridiculously shallow one) pulls them apart and threatens to end their fairytale romance. Of course we know how things are going to turn out which is another reason I’m tired of this stale rom-com formula. And it’s not helped by the ending – a predictable and super-syrupy finish that’s too scripted and phony to convey the sweetness it’s going for.

But let’s get back to the stars. Lopez and Wilson may not be the most obvious on-screen couple. But both deserve a ton of credit for what they manage to do in “Marry Me”. They take this utterly ridiculous concept from a mostly formulaic and predictable movie and actually make us care. They make us care about their characters and their prospect of a future together. And it’s all because of that unexpected chemistry. They can’t make the trite suddenly original or the schmaltz more truthful. But they do make the film not only watchable, but surprisingly enjoyable. “Marry Me” opens tomorrow (February 11th) in theaters and streaming on Peacock.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

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

Roland Emmerich and the phrase “global cinematic destruction” go together like peanut butter and jelly. A quick gander at his Wikipedia page will give you a good idea of the 66-year-old German-born filmmaker’s penchant for blowing up our world. He’s done it with aliens (twice), a giant lizard, extreme weather, and whatever the heck was happening in his 2009 flick “2012”. In fairness, Emmerich has done more than just disaster movies, but they are what clearly whets his appetite.

New to theaters this weekend is “Moonfall”, Emmerich’s latest exercise in computer-generated decimation of our planet. As the film’s title makes glaringly clear, this time it isn’t extraterrestrial armies or the next Ice Age that’s threatening us. Nope, this time it’s our moon which has been knocked out of its orbit and is barreling towards earth. Absurd you say? Well rest assured, “Moonfall” is every bit as ridiculous as it sounds, and that’s part of what makes it such a surprisingly fun ride.

Sometimes movies hit you at just the right time. Such is the case with “Moonfall”. After over two months of cramming awards season features followed by a jam-packed week covering the Sundance Film Festival, I was ready for a light and breezy popcorn flick. “Moonfall” certainly fits the bill. It’s the kind of movie that you go into knowing exactly what you’re going to get. If you’re hoping for more, you’ll probably be disappointed.

In 2011, astronauts and close friends Jocinda “Jo” Fowler (Halle Berry) and Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) are on a routine satellite repair mission above Earth. While working on a relay and debating the lyrics of Toto’s 1982 pop hit “Africa”, they are suddenly walloped by a mysterious swarm-like force that destroys the satellite and kills the third member of their team. The mysterious entity (later defined as a “technological space anomaly”) heads to our moon and begins boring a hole in its surface.

Jump ahead ten years where Jo and Brian are no longer on speaking terms. A decade earlier he tried to tell the world that the incident was the result of an attack by something never seen before. She stuck with the “officially statement” from NASA, that it was the result of a solar flare. Jo was able to keep her job with the space program. Brian lost everything and now spends his days working on his old sports car and dodging eviction notices.

But then self-described megastructuralist and astronaut wannabe K. C. Houseman (John Bradley) makes an alarming discovery – the moon is out of its orbit and heading towards Earth. NASA won’t return his calls and Brian brushes him off. So he takes it to the media. In the meantime, Jo and her team make the same discovery. They send up a lunar recon mission which ends disastrously after it’s confronted by the same swarm-like entity Brian warned them about.

So for those keeping tabs, you have the moon hurtling towards Earth, an unidentified but clearly aggressive “technological space anomaly”, and roughly three weeks for our leaders to come up with a plan to save humanity. And as you can probably guess, it’ll all come down to our three unlikely heroes: a disgraced astronaut, the former friend/colleague who sold him out, and a conspiracy theorist who a week earlier was working the window at a burger joint. Normally that wouldn’t leave much cause for hope. But in the movies…

Eventually the film boils down to the events unfolding on two fronts. You have what’s happening in space as Brian, Jo, and K.C. launch into orbit to meet the moon head-on. Then you have what’s happening on Earth where Brian’s estranged son, Sonny (Charlie Plummer) and several other underdeveloped side characters try to survive amid the tidal waves, crashing moon debris, and the occasional shotgun-toting rednecks. Both allow Emmerich ample opportunities to shower his audience with eye-popping spectacle.

“Moonfall” almost plays like two genre films wrapped in one. The cornier and less interesting stuff on Earth is your standard-issue disaster material – dazzling large-scale digital destruction and characters in constant peril. The much better space stuff is full-blown science fiction. It’s surprisingly dense and well conceived and is inspired by everything from the Dyson sphere theory to Larry Niven’s “Ringworld”. Better yet, it goes further down the rabbit hole than I was ever expecting (and that’s a compliment).

Of course all of it is undeniably preposterous and there is no shortage of unintentional laughs (My favorite may be our dimwitted government whose plan is to nuke the moon. You heard me right – they literally think nuking our moon is a viable option. Fifth grade science anyone?). But if I’m honest, that kind of nuttiness is half the fun with a movie like this. It may prove too much for some, but for me “Moonfall” hit at just the right time. And I would be lying if I didn’t admit to being entertained. “Moonfall” opens today exclusively in theaters.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

Tilda Swinton is haunted by a mysterious sound in the otherwise quiet and meditative “Memoria”, the evocative new drama from director, writer, and producer Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This is Weerasethakul’s first movie made outside his native Thailand, but those familiar with his work will almost instantly notice his distinct style of storytelling.

I was fortunate enough to see “Memoria” thanks to NEON’s awards season screener bundle. Otherwise it’s going to be a tough movie to catch. From what I understand, Weerasethakul has no plan for a physical home release or even a conventional theater run. Instead he’s taking his film on the road for a long run of week-long engagements at different stops across the country. It’s an unusual release strategy and one that’s certain to cost him some viewers. But at the same time, “Memoria” isn’t the kind of movie aimed at large crowds.

“Memoria” is a movie that defies definition. You could consider it a sensory journey that isn’t interested in plot as much as experience. Weerasethakul wants his audience to feel. But to do so will require viewers to get on his unique and unconventional wavelength. Admittedly, at first I found that to be a challenge. But once I was in tune with his patient and observant rhythm, “Memoria” turned into something I wasn’t expecting. Soon I found myself swept up by feelings of fascination, bewilderment, curiosity and full-on admiration.

You could also consider it slow cinema. Some will be quick to assert that often “nothing happens”, a perspective that Weerasethakul’s style partially contributes to. In many cases his scenes aren’t simply long takes, but they extend to well after the scene’s action has finished. Rather than cutting, Weerasethakul keeps his camera locked in place, allowing his audience time to soak up every detail of the frame. And as we do, not only are he pulled deeper into the film’s beguiling mystery, but Weerasethakul slyly put us into a similar headspace as the film’s central character, Jessica (Tilda Swinton).

I’m not sure any actress could be more fitting for this role than Swinton. She is perfectly tuned into Weerasethakul’s enigmatic frequency and she effectively channels the very apprehension and incertitude that we the audience also feel. Interestingly, everything about her character Jessica feels out of place. First, she’s a Scottish botanist living in Medellín, Columbia (the movie’s most overt sign of displacement). But she comes across as more than a foreigner in a new country. She conveys this perpetual sense of lostness, like someone trying to get a hold of the world she’s in.

The movie opens with Jessica shaken from her sleep by a jolting boom in the middle of the night. It’s a mysterious sound that she later describes as “a big ball of concrete that falls into a metal wall which is surrounded by seawater“. She travels to Bogotá to visit her sister Karen (Agnes Brekke) who is hospitalized with a sudden illness. While there she hears the sound again and realizes that only she can hear it. Later Jessica is shaken again by the sound as she sits in an otherwise quiet park at night.

Not only do the mystifying whomps startle Jessica, but they jar us as well thanks to the film’s exquisite sound design. Soon the film’s gaunt, soft-spoken, and curious protagonist sets out (with us in tow) to determine the source of the assaultive sound in her head. A music professor friend connects her with Hernán (Juan Pablo Urrego), a sound engineer who tries to recreate the sound for Jessica. He succeeds but it doesn’t get us any closer to the sound’s source. “I think I’m going crazy,” she tells a friend.

As Jessica continues her search we’re fed very little in the form of answers. That’ll come as no surprise to those familiar with Weerasethakul’s work. But that doesn’t mean Jessica’s journey is empty or meaningless. Quite the opposite. It gets back to what I mentioned above – this is more about experiencing. There is an answer to the big question in the final few shots (an answer that I’m still chewing on days after seeing the film). But ultimately it’s about getting to that point. It’s about joining Jessica on her lonely melancholy peregrination. But to do so you have to still your mind, watch and listen. That’s where the real joy of Weerasethakul’s entrancing film is to be found.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS