When done well, a trailer can play a big part in building anticipation for an upcoming movie. It’s equally true that a bad trailer can squash any excitement you may have for the film it’s promoting. Sadly the latter is true for “Red One”, a $250 million Christmas themed action-adventure-comedy that looked significantly cheaper in its trailers. But if anyone could overcome rough first impressions it’s Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and JK Simmons, right?……..right?

Well, not exactly. “Red One” starts off promising and has some original ideas of its own. But most of its potential is quickly smothered out by the overall uninteresting story, uneven dialogue, and an endless parade of unimpressive digital effects that fall well below the quality you would expect from a $250 million movie. Worst of all, “Red One” seems to have an identity crisis. It clearly wants to be a kid-pleaser. But there’s enough profanity and violence to rule out smaller children. And it’s far too silly for adults. So who is it for?

Director Jake Kasdan (whose movies range from “Sex Tape” to the Jumanji sequels) and screenwriter Chris Morgan (the Fast & Furious franchise) incorporate and expand on well-known Christmas mythology. They also create a lot of their own – too much in fact. Kasdan and Morgan may earn points for imagination, but none of their additions help make “Red One” any more memorable. And no matter how hard they try (and they really try), nothing they do is able to generate the Christmas cheer they’re going for.

Johnson plays Callum Drift, the commander of the North Pole’s security force known as E.L.F. (Enforcement Logistics and Fortification). For decades Callum has served as chief protector and close friend of Santa Clause (Simmons). But he’s grown disillusioned with the state of humanity. When news breaks that for the first time in history there are more people on the Naughty List than the Nice List, Callum decides to retire after Santa’s upcoming Christmas Eve run.

But his retirement plans are put on hold after a black ops squad infiltrates the North Pole’s defenses and kidnaps Santa on the day before Christmas Eve. Callum contacts Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu), the director of M.O.R.A (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) whose resources lead them to Jack O’Malley (Evans), a dark web bounty hunter and hacker who also happens to be a “Level 4 Naughty Lister” (*gasp*).

After learning Jack inadvertently led the soldiers to Santa, they recruit him to help track down the mysterious person who hired him. After a numbing battle with giant snowmen on an Aruba beach and a Nick Kroll appearance that quite literally goes nowhere, it’s revealed that the culprit behind it all is Grýla, the Christmas witch (Kiernan Shipka). She’s intent on ridding the world of everyone on the Naughty List by imprisoning them in magic snow globes. And she needs Santa’s magic to do it.

Kasdan and Morgan at least make an effort to inject a heartbeat amid all the big budget dressing. The crude and irresponsible Jack attempts to reconcile with his son. Callum looks to find his Christmas spirit. But none of it comes across as authentic. And that’s the biggest problem with “Red One” as a whole. It all feels like a big studio project plucked right off the assembly line. And no amount of star-power or big screen charisma is able to overcome that.

To be fair, the story does pack a few laughs and there is some decent buddy-movie chemistry between Johnson and Evans. But the film can also wear you down. Look no further than a grueling tavern scene where Callum and Jack duke it out with Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), Santa’s estranged brother and Grýla’s former lover (yep, you read that right). In the end, a lot less of that and more humanity would have made “Red One” a much better movie.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

Cate Blanchett continues her eclectic big screen run with “Rumours”, a movie that can’t possibly be categorized in any single genre. Directed by the filmmaking trio of Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson, “Rumours” is a black comedy and a biting political satire set within a story that subtly mixes end-of-the-world science fiction with classic horror. It’s sometimes surreal, other times absurd, and proudly free of any creative constraints.

While all of that is amazing, “Rumours” is as puzzling as it is entertaining. This is a movie that poses more questions than it cares to answer. It throws in some outlandish twists which (probably) have allegorical purposes but I’ve yet to figure them out. And its melding of the real-world with the fantastical can be more confounding than insightful. At the same time, it’s beguiling in all the right ways and ultimately the cause of the chaos we witness takes a back seat to the bungling response from the seven world leaders we spend our time with.

The story takes place during a G7 summit – an annual gathering where leaders from the world’s wealthiest open democracies (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, England, and the United States) convene to discuss the globe’s biggest issues. For screenwriter Evan Johnson, this was fertile ground to satirize the inefficacy of world leadership especially in times of crisis. And the punchline to his biggest joke comes with the end credits and the realization that these characters haven’t accomplished a thing. And that’s the whole point.

Maddin and the two Johnsons put together a pitch-perfect cast who seem to be having a ball from the opening moments to the final frame. Chief among them is Cate Blanchett who plays German Chancellor Hilda Ortmann. She’s hosting the G7 Summit at a rural castle in Dankerode, Germany where seven stuffy world power-players come together to discuss an unspecified global crisis.

Joining Hilda is the embattled yet laughably stoic Canadian Prime Minister, Maxime Laplace (Roy Dupuis); the intensely focused British Prime Minister, Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka-Bird); the overly pragmatic United States President, Edison Walcott (Charles Dance), the chatterbox French President, Sylvain Broulez (Denis Ménochet), the jittery pacifistic Prime Minister of Italy, Antonio Lamorte (Rolando Ravello), and Japan’s Prime Minister, Tatsuro Iwasaki (Takehiro Hira) who the movie seems to forget about until the final 20 minutes.

After a few goofy photo ops, our seven dignitaries settle around a table in a newly built gazebo. There they begin putting together their provisional statement – an illusion of multilateral accomplishment to be shared with the entire world. But things turn upside down after the group discovers they’ve been abandoned. There are no staff members, no security, no cellphone service. To make matters weirder, they find themselves cut off from the castle by zombie-like “bog men” with muddy gelatinous bodies and some pretty twisted habits.

From there we follow our seven petrified leaders as they reveal how poor they are at world crisis management through how horribly they mismanage their own. It becomes evident that these aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer, and in many ways they are personifications of their individual nations – something Maddin, Johnson, and Johnson have a field day with.

“Rumours” is littered with funny details including Dance’s intact British accent, the seemingly endless supply of cured meat in Antonio’s pocket, the group’s crazy obsession with finishing their provisional statement despite a looming apocalypse, and a hysterical third act bit involving an AI chatbot.

It also has its share of head-scratching inclusions. For instance, the sudden appearance of Alicia Vikander whose scenario never makes sense. And what’s with the pink squishy brain the size of a Volkswagen Beetle plopped in the middle of the forest? But if you’re seeking answers to the zaniness you’re already on the wrong track.

“Rumours” is a mannered slice of absurdism that can understandably frustrate with its slow build towards nothing. But if you can get onboard with its audacious approach, it’s hard not to enjoy the pomposity, platitudes and pantsuits. And with such a stellar all-star cast in on the joke, it makes the movie’s blunt-force message not just timely, but often laugh-out-loud hilarious. “Rumours” is now available on VOD.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

George C. Scott stars and makes his big screen directorial debut in “Rage”, a film inspired by true events known as the Dugway Sheep Incident. In the real-life account which took place in 1968, over six thousand sheep were killed on ranches near the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Dugway was a military facility established in 1942 to test chemical and biological weapons. Many believe a nerve agent escaped Dugway resulting in the sheep deaths. Clear culpability was never established but sweeping changes came in the aftermath.

“Rage” pulls from the true account and creates a gripping thriller built around the growing middle class distrust towards the United States government. It tells a smart, incisive, and cutting story that pulls no punches in its indictment of military and medical collusion and corruption. Meanwhile Scott’s direction is patient yet laser-focused, leaving no doubts about his convictions and keeping us honed in from the movie’s heartfelt start straight through to its violent finish where the film really earns its title.

By 1972 Scott had already established himself as a terrific actor. In fact he was just coming off of back-to-back Academy Award nominations for 1970’s “Patton” and 1971’s “The Hospital” (he won for “Patton” but infamously refused to accept it). “Rage” featured yet another of the grounded and organic performance the commanding Scott was known for. In it he plays Dan Logan, a widowed sheep rancher in rural Wyoming.

One afternoon Dan decides to take his 12-year-old son Chris (Nicolas Beauvy) camping near the edge of his property. While setting up their tents they notice a helicopter flying low to the ground. It’s a bit out of place – enough to grab Dan’s attention but not enough to worry him. After a great evening of father-son bonding the two call it a night. But the next morning, Dan wakes up to find Chris unconscious with a nose bleed. Understandably shaken, Dan picks up his boy and makes a mad run to his truck, passing several dead sheep on the way.

At the hospital Chris is put in quarantine while Dan is admitted for testing despite feeling fine. Their longtime family physician and friend, Dr. Caldwell (Richard Basehart) refers them to a young medical specialist named Dr. Holliford (Martin Sheen) who seems to recognize Chris’ symptoms but doesn’t offer many answers. Over time the doctors go from keeping news of Chris’ worsening condition from Dan to straight-up lying about it altogether.

The movie doesn’t make any effort to hide the truth behind what’s actually happening. In fact an early scene lays everything out. In it we see military leaders at a nearby base secretly discussing what went wrong during their recent test of a new nerve agent. They assess the potential damage done in the neighboring communities and immediately begin planning damage control. At the same time, they shamelessly see Dan and Chris as guinea pigs and their chance to study the nerve agent’s effects on humans.

The film’s third act sees the proverbial pot boil over as the deceit, misinformation, and posturing push Dan over the edge. It’s here that the movie takes a dramatic turn, but Scott (the director and actor) doesn’t overcook the ending. And he manages to retain our sympathies even as his character crosses one line after another. It’s a good punctuation mark for a movie that is essentially a lacerating critique wrapped inside a smart slow-burning thriller.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Through the 1980s and 1990s Jerry Bruckheimer solidified himself as one of Hollywood’s biggest producers. Along with his partner Don Simpson, he produced many box office successes such as “Top Gun”, “Beverly Hills Cop”, “Flashdance”, “Crimson Tide”, and “Bad Boys”. Simpson would pass away in 1996, but Bruckheimer’s success only grew. He went on to produce massive hits like ”Pirates of the Caribbean”, “Armageddon”, “National Treasure”, “Black Hawk Down”, and most recently “Top Gun: Maverick”.

Simpson’s troubling lifestyle led to Bruckheimer ending their partnership. But before going their separate ways, the two agreed to finish their final project together. That project was 1996’s “The Rock”, a pure 90s action extravaganza. It was the sophomore effort from a young director named Michael Bay who had previously worked with Bruckheimer and Simpson on his debut feature, “Bad Boys”. “The Rock” was a hit with critics and with audiences with many still considering it to be Bay’s best film.

“The Rock” is fueled by big action scenes and thrilling set pieces. But it’s true bread-and-butter is found in burgeoning action star Nicolas Cage and the ground-shaking charisma of Sean Connery. Cage plays Special Agent Stanley Goodspeed, a biochemist and chemical weapons specialist for the FBI. Rather than field work, Stanley spends his days in a laboratory. Meanwhile at home, he gets news that his girlfriend Carla (Vanessa Marcil) is pregnant. She wants to get married but he’s got cold feet – a side of the story that never feels as relevant as it should.

Enter Brigadier General Francis Hummel (Ed Harris). Frustrated with the government’s continued mistreatment of soldiers who died under his command, he and a his disillusioned yet loyal squad of Marines break into a military weapons base and steal fifteen rockets armed with warheads carrying VX poison gas. They then take over the notorious island prison of Alcatraz, once the home of America’s worst criminals; now a tourist spot. Hummel and his men take 81 hostages, set up missile launchers around the island, and aim their rockets at nearby San Francisco.

Upon receiving Hummel’s list of demands, the U.S. government and the FBI hatch a plan to stop the rogue general. They will send a Navy SEAL team to infiltrate and retake the island. They call in Stanley to accompany the team in order to deactivate the missiles on site. But how do you secretly infiltrate a prison known as impenetrable and inescapable? For that they’re forced to seek the help of John Mason (a scene-owning Connery), a former British SAS agent and the only person to successfully escape from Alcatraz. He’s been imprisoned for three decades – disavowed by his own government and his identity wiped by the FBI.

His offenses are revealed later, but with a promise of a full pardon, the shrewd and sophisticated Mason agrees to help. So he, a team of highly-trained SEALS, and a nervous, out-of-his-element Stanley set out break into Alcatraz before Hummel carries out his twisted plan. It’s a bonkers premise, yet at the same time it sets up the kind of wildly entertaining action that was a signature of the 1990s and that we (unfortunately) don’t get much of these days.

Aside from Connery, Cage, and Harris, “The Rock” is lined top-to-bottom with fantastic familiar faces. Among them is David Morse, William Forsythe, Michael Biehn, John Spencer, John C. McGinley, Tony Todd, and Bokeem Woodbine among others. They all gel nicely with Bay’s high-energy 1990s bombast. What makes it even better is that it’s a great movie to revisit. It’s still just as fun, wacky, and thrilling as it was in the theater nearly 30 years ago.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

It has taken a while, but the long-awaited new feature from filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier has finally arrived following some lengthy delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the departure of lead actor John Boyega. Relative newcomer Aaron Pierce signed on to replace Boyega and filming picked back up in 2022. Now “Rebel Ridge” is set to premiere on Netflix and it offers up yet another compelling rural-flavored thriller from Saulnier.

“Rebel Ridge” marks Saulnier’s fifth feature film and his first since 2018’s “Hold the Dark”. His latest fits snugly with his earlier movies, all of which show off his numerous creative influences. The Coen brothers, Sam Peckinpah, John Carpenter – those are just some of the names that come to mind when watching a Jeremy Saulnier film. At the same time, he brings a gritty aesthetic that make his movies distinctly his own. “Rebel Ridge” is much the same although to a notably lesser degree.

Saulnier has always liked messy characters and we get plenty of them in “Rebel Ridge”. Pierce plays Terry Richmond, an ex-soldier who finds more than he bargained for in the one-horse rural town of Shelby Springs. Terry has come to town with $36,000 in cash to bail out his cousin Michael (C.J. LeBlanc) who was arrested for a misdemeanor possession charge. Terry hopes to get to town and post bail before Michael is transported to a neighboring prison.

But his plans are turned upside down when he has a run-in with two local cops, Evan Marston (David Denman) and Steve Lann (Emory Cohen). After roughing him up, the officers unlawfully confiscate Terry’s $36,000 under “suspicion” that it’s drug money. Desperate, Terry rides to the Shelby Springs police station seeking help from Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson). But he quickly discovers he and his cousin are victims of a long-running racket extending from the police department to the county court system.

As his story unfolds, Saulnier peels back layer after layer of small town corruption – so much that over time it can be a challenge to follow. There are numerous revelations, misdirections, and plot maneuvers, most coming in the second half. It all works to create a palpable tension that steadily builds towards an inevitable violent showdown. But neither the tension nor the violence is as gritty and raw as in Saulnier’s other films. It’s a tamer movie, yet one that still features his signature style and focus.

As for the performances, Pierce has the physical presence and necessary intensity, but he’s nearly stoic to a fault. Still, he has the sturdiness his character needs. AnnaSophia Robb is equally solid playing Summer, a Shelby Springs court clerk who agrees to help Terry uncover the truth. Robb ends up having a significant role, and while her thick Southern accent is wobbly in places, she’s still convincing and earns our empathy. Then there’s Don Johnson who’s fun to watch in any movie he pops up in.

“Rebel Ridge” is undeniably Jeremy Saulnier’s movie. He directs, writes, co-produces, and edits a film that may surprise you with how deep in goes into developing its story. Those accustomed to Saulnier’s edgier work in films like “Blue Ruin” and “Green Room” may be surprised by how tame this one is by comparison. Yet it doesn’t take a keen eye to recognize and enjoy his signature techniques and thematic interests. And that’s what will always put me in a seat whenever a Jeremy Saulnier movie hits the screen. “Rebel Ridge” premieres on Netflix September 6th.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

C. Thomas Howell gives a career best performance in “Ride”, a rural family drama with a hint of crime thriller thrown in for good measure. Howell plays John Hawkins, a retired bull riding champion struggling to hold his family together in the face of numerous difficulties. John is a grizzled and world-weary soul who we watch do everything in his power to provide for his loved ones only to see it all crumble under economic hardships and past choices that come back to haunt him.

The driving force behind “Ride” is director, co-writer, co-producer, and co-star Jake Allyn. The film marks Allyn’s directorial debut and is the culmination of a deep emotional journey that saw him pouring more and more of himself into the project as it took form. As a result we get a compelling, poignant, and insightful drama with the kind of tough-minded truthfulness that can only come from the heart.

Allyn co-wrote the script with his best friend Josh Plasse who also plays his kid brother in the film. Their story is set in the small Texas town of Stephenville and focuses on the Hawkins family. Allyn and Plasse build an interesting and complex dynamic that revolves around three generations of bull riders and the forces that pull at their relationships.

John is a former rodeo star in desperate need of money. He and his wife Monica (Annabeth Gish), who is the town sheriff, are drowning in medical bills from cancer treatments for their 11-year-old daughter Virginia (Zia Carlock). A potential life-saving treatment is recommended which gives their family some much-needed hope. But John needs a $40,000 first payment before Virginia can even be admitted into the clinic. John attempts to sell assets and tap into his pension which only adds unneeded stress on his already shaky marriage.

Meanwhile John and Monica’s estranged son, Peter (Allyn) arrives back in town after spending four years in prison. He reconnects with his grandfather Al (Forrie J. Smith) who helps him get settled and encourages him to get back to bull riding. But Peter immediately gets in deep with his former cell mate, a local drug dealer named Tyler (Patrick Murney), which thrusts him back into the drug-addled life that put him behind bars.

We learn that Peter’s crimes damaged his relationship with his parents, leading them to never write or visit him while he was in prison. But with Virginia’s life on the line, both sides are forced to work through their own faults and failures if they are going to have any chance to save her. And that’s where the heart of “Ride” lies – in seeing these flawed people navigate through the mistakes they’ve made while at the same time being crushed by various systems that seem to be working against them.

Allyn does a nice job planting our feet in his world by offering an authentic portrayal of rodeo life and filling it with characters who feel firmly rooted in it. They’re brought to life by a solid ensemble led by an emotionally rich and soulful C. Thomas Howell performance. Allyn uses their story to take some healthy sociopolitical swings, specifically at the U.S. healthcare system. Yet he never veers from its deeply human core. And that’s what makes his movie resonate. “Ride” is available on VOD and home video.

VERDICT – 4 STARS