“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Those words have echoed down the halls of comedy since they were first uttered by Chevy Chase on October 11, 1975. That’s when the immensely popular and long-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (then called NBC’s Saturday Night) made its small screen debut. And as they say, the rest is late-night television history.

With the aptly titled “Saturday Night”, director Jason Reitman attempts to recreate the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to SNL’s 1975 live debut. Reitman puts together a mammoth ensemble and tasks them with portraying an equally mammoth array of SNL cast members, show writers, NBC executives, comedians, musicians, and personalities.

The origin story of Saturday Night Live is a fascinating one. NBC was in the middle of an contract squabble with the king of light-night TV Johnny Carson. Since 1965, the network had been running re-runs of Carson’s mega-popular The Tonight Show on Saturday and Sunday nights. After nearly ten years, Carson requested they be pulled so that he could use them during the week allowing the host more time off. Much to the chagrin of several affiliates, NBC puts a young Lorne Michaels in charge of creating a show to fill the Saturday night time slot.

Reitman (who also co-wrote the script with Gil Kenan) begins his movie 90 minutes before the show is set to go live. On the 17th floor of NBC Studios at Rockefeller Plaza, creator and producer Lorne Michaels (played by Gabriel LaBelle) scrambles to get everyone and everything ready to go. But that’s easier said than done. His rambunctious cast of relatively unknown twenty-somethings are impossible to corral. Scripts for sketches remain unwritten. There are constant technical difficulties. And he still can’t give away enough free tickets to fill a studio audience.

But worst of all, he has network executives breathing down his neck, most notably NBC’s Vice President of Talent Relations David Tebet (played by a terrific Willem Dafoe). Tebet is anxious to pull the plug on Lorne’s show and continue pumping out Carson re-runs. But Lorne has an ally in Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), the Director of Weekend Late Night Programming. Dick works as a middle-man between the network and Lorne, deflecting a lot of the heat and doing what he can to save the show. It’s work that Lorne doesn’t immediately appreciate.

Reitman plunges us headfirst into the moment-to-moment chaos, leaning on a beat-the-clock tension and even incorporating a reoccurring clock to remind us that time is the biggest enemy. Obviously we know how it ultimately ends. And considering that the entire movie is about the mayhem, the film’s big final moment comes together a little too neatly. But Reitman’s crisp dialogue and swift pacing keeps us on our toes and genuinely invested in what’s at stake.

But it’s the wealth of talent behind the supporting cast that gives the movie its energy. With so many involved, no one outside of LaBelle gets a ton of screen time. But that works in the film’s favor. There’s no overexposure and it allows Reitman to bounce back-and-forth across the studio and highlight the overwhelming stress and sheer pandemonium.

The acting is strong throughout and there are some uncanny physical likenesses that only enhance the performances. The SNL cast members are especially good with Cory Michael Smith playing Chevy Chase, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Kim Matula playing Jane Curtin, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, and Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman.

And that’s just a small sample of the people we meet. Rachel Sennott is outstanding as Rosie Shuster. Nicholas Braun is a lot of fun playing both Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman. Tommy Dewey lets loose as Lorne’s pompous and abrasive head writer Michael O’Donoghue. Jon Batiste gets some good scenes playing Billy Preston while also composing the movie’s score. And J. K. Simmons is a blast as Milton Berle.

As “Saturday Night” blitzes forward we’re treated to a number of nostalgic callbacks that SNL enthusiasts will love. And sprinkled throughout are some pretty big laughs, most of which are organically generated by the show’s anarchic spirit. It still only feels like we’re getting a sketch of the behind-the-scenes experience. Reitman conflates and exaggerates while offering practically no buildup to his fairly skimpy plot. But none of that keeps us from being swept up in the creative madness, the revolving door of characters, and the sheer force of will that birthed a revolutionary show that’s still going today. “Saturday Night” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

Artificial Intelligence thrillers are popping up left and right, and with the current A.I. discussions intensifying, there’s no reason to believe they’ll be slowing down anytime soon. Case in point – “Subservience”, the latest film to explore the subject in genre form. Its story is built around a simple and well-worn premise (mankind creates A.I. only for A.I. to turn on mankind). But it’s the fun it has within that premise that makes “Subservience” an entertaining time-passer.

“Subservience” is directed by S.K. Dale and written by the duo of Will Honley and April Maguire. It stars Megan Fox who recently worked with Dale on 2021’s “Till Death”. Here they take on an especially hot topic, throwing in some fairly insightful commentary, while mostly sticking close to a familiar genre formula. But Dale’s crisp pacing and keen execution along with Fox’s shrewdly modulated performance gives the film a chance to become a bonafide cult classic.

Michele Morrone plays Nick, a construction worker, happily married husband, and father of two. His world is turned upside down after his wife Maggie (a very good Madeline Zima) suffers a heart attack. As she remains hospitalized and in need of a transplant, Nick works hard to care for their young daughter Isla (Matilda Firth) and toddler son Max (Jude Allen Greenstein). And all while keeping the house, working a full-time job, and being supportive to his ailing wife. It doesn’t take long before he’s overwhelmed.

Needing help, Nick and the kids visit a showroom belonging to Kobol Tec, a company that manufactures and sells state-of-the-art humanoid robots. Isla picks out a home model they name Alice (Fox) who specializes in cooking, cleaning and childcare while possessing the ability to mimic human emotion. She quickly becomes an asset at home, fixing meals, cleaning, reading bedtime stories to Isla, and even making household repairs.

But things take a turn when the beautiful but creepy Alice begins bypassing certain protocols in her effort to make Nick’s life “easier”. As a result of her newly developed jealousy, Alice takes on a more maternal role with the kids in Maggie’s absence and even tries to fill her place as Nick’s wife. To no surprise this leads to some discomforting tension, especially after Maggie receives her transplant and is finally able to come home.

As Alice goes from concerning to a full-blown menace, the movie’s messaging is pretty clear. But the film throws in a few other nuggets to emphasize its point. We get a storyline involving Nick’s job where his entire crew is replaced by more “cost-effective” sims. Nick is left on as their foreman but it’s a conflict he can’t get past. We also see where sims have taken other human jobs from bartending to licensed surgeons. I wish there was more world-building to potentially enhanced the commentary, but what we get is pretty effective.

I don’t want to make the mistake of overselling it. There is a lot in “Subservience” that we have seen before and its predictability kills any suspense. And much of what we see is pretty silly, nothing more than the ending which evolves into a Terminator knock-off. Yet the movie never loses your attention and remains entertaining throughout. It’s an economic and focused thriller that has just enough of a human pulse mixed in with its genre dressing. And honestly, that was a lot more than I was expecting. “Subservience” is now available on VOD.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

The buzz has been off the charts for “The Substance” following its May world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for Best Screenplay. Since then it has only gained momentum, recently showing at the Toronto Independent Film Festival where it took home one of the People’s Choice awards. Now the film heads towards its full release with many considering it a serious Oscar night contender.

“The Substance” is certainly a movie that inspires conversation. It’s a biting satire turned phantasmagorical fever dream with a heavy reliance on grisly body horror and two all-in performances. The film pours every ounce of itself into being provocative and incendiary – something it succeeds and fails at in equal measure. But it remains as fascinating as it is stomach-churning in large part thanks to and in spite of director, writer, co-producer, and co-editor Coralie Fargeat.

An absorbing Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, an acclaimed actress who now stars in her own popular television aerobics show called “Sparkle Your Life”. On her 50th birthday she is abruptly fired by her slimeball producer, Harvey (a cartoonish yet appropriately detestable Dennis Quaid). The network wants someone “new”, “young” and “hot”, preferably in the 18-30 age bracket. So Harvey sends out a casting call for Elisabeth’s replacement.

The unexpected move leaves Elisabeth dejected and defeated. Adding to her anxiety, she’s involved in a violent car accident but miraculously escapes unscathed. While getting checked out at the hospital, she’s approached by a young nurse who tells her she is a perfect candidate for a revolutionary secret product. He slips her a flash drive containing information on “The Substance”, a serum from an unknown inventor that claims to empower its user to create “a better version of yourself”.

With little hesitation and even less caution, Elisabeth calls the number and follows the address she’s given to a grimy warehouse district where she picks up her starter kit from a drop-off box. Back in her apartment she opens up the kit that’s full of elixirs, syringes, needles, and tubes. There’s hardly any instructions but Elisabeth somehow knows exactly what to do. She strips naked and injects herself with a green “Activator” serum. What follows is a grotesque sequence that sees Elisabeth writhing in pain on her bathroom floor as her back splits open and a twenty-something version of herself pops out.

Here’s the thing, similar to Joe Dante’s “Gremlins”, there are some very important rules that must be followed. The biggest is that only one version of Elisabeth can be conscious at any given time. Each version is given seven days after which they must switch places with the other version. Failure to follow the rules leads to some pretty gnarly side effects which Fargeat puts on full display in the film’s twisted viscera-filled (and undeniably funny) second half.

Elisabeth’s younger “perfect” self (fiercely played by Margaret Qualley) calls herself Sue and wins the audition to be Elisabeth’s new replacement. Her show “Pump It Up with Sue” becomes a big hit leading an opportunistic Harvey to see dollar signs. He wants to push her even further and Sue quickly grows to love the limelight. But Elisabeth finds herself still alone and resenting her much different other self. Over time animosity forms between Elisabeth and Sue leading to rules being broken with horrific consequences.

The messages of “The Substance” are impossible to miss largely because they’re repeatedly hammered home in nearly every facet of the film. The culture’s warped beauty standards and Hollywood’s patriarchal hierarchy are tops among Fargeat’s interests. But you could also say the movie speaks to the lust for fame, the shallowness of celebrity, and the obsessive pursuit of recapturing youth. Just don’t expect anything beyond what you see on the surface.

Moore and Qualley help elevate the material. They both work hard to overcome a lack of character depth and keep the movie engaging. Their performances have been called “bold” and “daring” – descriptions too often associated with a woman’s willingness to take her clothes off (funny how men aren’t held to the same standard). I prefer to call them “committed” and it’s a good thing they are. They hold our attention and make it easier to look past the film’s lack of interest in making sense of its story. Glaring questions never get answers. Who created the serum? Is it free or experimental? Do they monitor the results? How do they keep something so outrageous a secret? Who knows?

Fargeat’s all-caps direction finds ways to both help and hurt her film. While she and her effects team do some gloriously gruesome things with the body horror, it overwhelms the final act which sees the movie’s thematic edge dulled by its descent into B-movie schlock. But worse, Fargeat commits some of the very same sins she seems to be condemning. Despite her themes, she seems as fascinated with the male gaze as repelled by it. While every man in her film is a leering, predatorial deviant, her camera isn’t much better, often crossing the line into objectification. It’s one of several missteps that undermine what “The Substance” is ultimately going for. “The Substance” hits theaters Friday, September 20th.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

I admit to being a little hesitate after hearing that we were getting an American remake of “Speak No Evil” so soon after the release of the Danish original. That superb and unforgettably disturbing feature film came out in 2022 and remains one of the more tension-soaked and brutally unpleasant thrillers in recent years (read my full review of it HERE).

“Speak No Evil” 2024 comes from writer-director James Watkins whose last film was 2016’s “Bastille Day”. His remake has a lot to live up to and to Watkins’ credit he delivers a fittingly tense and unsettling experience. He clearly has reverence for the 2022 film which shows in his faithfulness to the premise (conceived by brothers Christian and Mads Tafdrup). But where the American version falls short is in its re-fashioned finish. It simply doesn’t have the nerve to take things where its predecessor went.

“Speak No Evil” is helped by an extraordinary cast that includes Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Aisling Franciosi, and an absolutely chilling James McAvoy. McNairy and Davis play Ben and Louise, an American couple living in London with their 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). We learn later that their marriage is on the rocks which led them to take a family vacation in scenic Tuscany.

While there, Ben and Louise meet Paddy and Ciara (McAvoy and Franciosi), a British couple who are vacationing with their mute son Ant (Dan Hough). The two families hit it off and hang out together several times in the final days of their trips. They then go their separate ways but not before Paddy and Ciara invite their new friends to come visit them sometimes.

Back in London, Ben and Louise receive a postcard from Paddy asking them to come spend a few days on their family farm. At first they’re hesitant – after all they barely know the couple. But they decide to go, thinking the getaway may do their marriage some good. Soon Ben, Louise, and Agnes have made their way to Paddy and Ciara’s remote rural property. It starts out fine, minus a few “misunderstandings”. But over time things get more uncomfortable as a sinister side to Paddy and his seemingly normal family starts to show.

Among the things that impressed me most about this remake is the patience Watkins shows. Rather than rushing things, he allows the tension to slowly build to a simmer. He lets us know pretty early that something is off. But he never fully tips his hand, allowing things to get more and more uneasy before hitting us with its gnarly finish. McAvoy has a knack for playing depraved characters and he really digs into Paddy. He’s crucial to the intensifying sense of dread while Davis is a great foil, conveying what we the audience often feel.

The film’s ending features several deviations from the 2022 feature which allows it to add some unique twists of its own. At the same time, I wish Watkins didn’t pull his punches in the final 15 minutes. He passes on the darker finish, choosing to go the crowd-pleaser route instead. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it adds some extra suspense. But it doesn’t leave us with the same visceral gut-punch either.

“Speak No Evil” still has plenty of frightening moments that will have you squirming in your seat and some unexpected injections of black comedy to get you laughing. Both help the movie form its own identity. While Watkins shows off a keen understanding of tone management and tension-building, he also has the smarts to know when to step back and let his capable cast do the heavy lifting. Overall, Watkins captures enough of original film’s menacing edge while making it easier for mainstream American audiences to stomach. “Speak No Evil” opens in theaters today.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

I tend to be a sucker for cerebral science fiction as it’s one of the more fascinating slices of the sci-fi genre. It generally comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be a movie as seminal as Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, as epic as Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar”, or as contained as Duncan Jones’ “Moon”. It may be something more metaphysical such as Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris” or more psychological like James Gray’s “Ad Astra”.

Director Mikael Håfström goes the cerebral route with “Slingshot”, a science fiction thriller that’s less about pulse-pounding action and more about the psychology of its main character played by a well-cast Casey Affleck. The story comes from screenwriters R. Scott Adams and Nathan Parker who place us with three astronauts aboard a tight-quartered state-of-the-art ship as it journeys across deep space. It’s their interactions and inevitable tensions that propel the movie. But Adams and Parker pepper their story with flashbacks to add some much needed context.

Affleck plays John, one of three men aboard the Odyssey 1. Their mission has them venturing to Saturn’s largest moon Titan. There they hope to tap into its infinite supply of methane in an effort to create a new clean energy alternative to save a dying Earth. But reaching Titan will be a challenge. It will require a dangerous gravity-assisted slingshot around Jupiter, catapulting them towards Saturn.

Joining John is his commander, Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne) and the team’s engineer, Nash (Tomer Capone). Their long, arduous trip requires 90-day cycles of deep hibernation. In between their three-month sleeps the crew takes time to inspect the ship, confirm their course, get in some exercise, and take psyche evaluations. Then it’s back into their pods for another cycle. But for John, the drugs used to induce hibernation start having side effects. He begins forgetting details from his past. Even more jarring, he occasionally sees visions of Zoe (Emily Beecham), his girlfriend he left behind on Earth.

After yet another cycle, a sudden collision puts a dent in the ship’s hull. The damage sparks a debate on whether to continue the mission or return to Earth. Nash wants to turn around and head home. Franks sees no credible threat to the ship, and with only two more cycles to Jupiter’s orbit, he’s determined to keep going. That leaves John caught in the middle, weighing both positions while masking the psychological toll the mission is taking on him.

Affleck’s performance is tempered to fit a man full of suppressed regret and slowly losing his grip on reality. The 49-year-old has always possessed the ability to keep his feelings bottled up. But he can also convey a quiet intensity that simmers to the point of exploding. Both are key facets and precisely what his character needs. Fishburne is effortlessly rock-solid as usual while Beecham does good with what she’s given, appearing exclusively in flashbacks and giving form to the name and face haunting John.

I’m guessing Håfström worked with a modest budget, but he makes great use of every penny. There are no elaborate set pieces and much like the astronauts, we’re mostly confined to the ship. Yet “Slingshot” is a visually striking movie. Håfström and production designer Barry Chusid conceive a claustrophobic yet believably futuristic ship design with its sterile white interior, bright computer screens, and interesting technology. Meanwhile the flashbacks give us a welcomed reprieve while adding a necessary layer of humanity that comes fully into play during the film’s twist-filled finish. “Slingshot” opens in theaters today.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Hollywood has been serving up the serial killer movies as of late. In the last few weeks we’ve gotten NEON’s extraordinary “Longlegs”, the not nearly as good “Crescent City”, and M. Knight Shyamalan’s “Trap” which falls somewhere in between. Now we can add a new one to the bunch. “Strange Darling” is the sophomore effort from JT Mollner and it too has a serial killer as its centerpiece. But Mollner has his own unique recipe which separates his film from the others.

“Strange Darling” opens with a creepy scroll clearly inspired by Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”. It informs us that the movie chronicles the last known series of murders committed by one of the country’s most prolific serial killers. From there the film is segmented into six chapters and topped off with an exclamation point epilogue. The film is set in rural Hood River County, Oregon and shot entirely on 35mm film by actor-turned-DP Giovanni Ribisi.

While his story may be chaptered, Mollner makes an interesting choice – he begins midway through with chapter 3. It kicks things off with a bang as we see a terrified young woman only known as the Lady (Willa Fitzgerald) speeding down a country road. Close behind is a man in a black pickup truck who the credits call the Demon (Kyle Gallner). Their high speed chase ends after the Demon shoots out her back glass causing her to crash. The Lady is able to crawl out of the wreckage and escape into the forest before the Demon arrives.

From there Mollner hops from one chapter to another, filling in bits of his story along the way. We learn the Lady and the Demon met at a bar and after some heavy drinking got a room together at a nearby motel. But both learn neither is who they seem to be and their twisted one-night-stand leads to the Lady fleeing with the Demon in pursuit. Other players factor in including an old hippie couple, Frederick (Ed Begley Jr.) and Genevieve (Barbara Hershey). They live in farmhouse deep in the forest where they share doomsday conspiracies and try to fend off imaginary sasquatches.

As Mollner darts from chapter to chapter, it’s tempting to view what he’s doing as pretentious and unnecessary. But just as his storytelling method begins to run out of gas, he hits us with a gonzo twist that sheds a new light on everything we have seen. Instantly his approach is seen as more than just a gimmick. Instead it feels like a well-devised stratagem that alters our focus. The approach also gives a new perspective to a number of critical character choices that propel the story towards its inevitably violent conclusion.

By the time the end credits roll it’s hard not to be wowed with what Mollner has crafted. Not only does he impress with his unconventional storytelling, but he also shows off an auteur’s control. His tone management and ability to build tension are crucial. But it’s clear he also possesses a love for genre and that gives ”Strange Darling” it’s gnarly edge. There are a couple of slow patches, but they dissolve once Mollner kicks things back into gear. And you’ll be glued to the screen as his twisted and often gruesome game of cat-and-mouse plays out. “Strange Darling” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 4 STARS