Review: The Lost City

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

As far as "Romancing the Stone" knockoffs go, "The Lost City" isn't half bad. An action-comedy featuring bickering male and female leads stranded in an exotic location and running from a cadre of bad guys, the picture is somewhat short on originality, but in terms of execution it's often amusing enough, despite being fairly lightweight.

On the one hand, this is a film in which plot developments, jokes and character arcs can be spotted from a mile away, but the banter between its game leads is often good for a laugh (especially from Channing Tatum's airhead book cover model Alan), and some of the jokes - for example, Alan's suggestion that grouchy, reclusive author Loretta Sage visit "ancient Greece" for a getaway) are good for a chortle.

In the picture, Sage has never fully recovered from the death of her adventurer-type husband, and long ago gave up her more serious studies to write trashy romance novels with exotic locales. Alan has long been the cover model for her novels, which chronicle the adventures of a male (Dash) and female duo who get into Indiana Jones-type adventures, but manage to toss in all manner of sexual innuendos.

Alan has taken to responding to the name "Dash" from adoring female fans, while Loretta doesn't particularly enjoy the book tour element of her career. Patti Harrison plays Loretta's peculiar social media manager, while Da'Vine Joy Randolph gets some laughs as her beleaguered agent. 

Based on the premise of her latest book, which involves a priceless treasure that's believed to exist somewhere in South America, a rich English explorer named Abigail (Daniel Radcliffe) and his cronies kidnap Loretta with the intention of forcing her to locate the treasure's whereabouts. Alan, who Loretta considers to be a joke, believes that this is his moment to prove himself to her, so he enlists the help of his special ops pal/meditation guru, Jack (Brad Pitt, in a small role), for a rescue mission.

Both Tatum and Pitt gamely engage in jokes here that poke fun at the appeal they hold among the opposite sex - Pitt's long, flowing hair is seen flowing in the wind as they run from an explosion, and there are a number of jokes centered around Alan's sex appeal for those who read Loretta's novels, although we learn during the course of the picture that he is sensitive, intuitive and a self-described "feminist."

As I'd mentioned, "The Lost City" doesn't go anywhere you won't expect it to, but it's a standard Hollywood action-comedy that gets by on the appeal of its casting, a handful of good jokes, solid camaraderie between its two leads and a genuinely good-natured approach to the material. In other words, it's nothing you haven't seen before, but perhaps slightly better than the same movie you've seen before.

Review: X

Image courtesy of A24.

Many films made by avid Tobe Hooper aficionados have tried - and mostly failed - to recapture the spirit and sweaty, claustrophobic energy of that director's 1974 horror classic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Hell, there was even an attempt to reboot that series a month ago and the result was, not surprisingly, godawful. 

So, it's exciting to see a film try to make a film in the vein of "Texas Chainsaw" and actually understand what made that film so unique. But rather than simply paying 100 minutes of homage to Hooper's film, Ti West's seriously creepy, often outrageous and pretty gruesome "X" captures the look and style of horror movies of that era, but contains a story that has little to do with Hooper's masterpiece.

The argument has been made in various quarters for some time that pornographic films and horror movies share in common their desire to titillate, albeit in different ways. West seemingly understands this, so it's not surprising that his latest - which is a horror movie about a group of young people in 1979 who venture into a secluded part of Texas to capitalize off the recent success of the porno "Debbie Does Dallas" by making a film, titled "The Farmer's Daughters," of their own - has some interesting cards to play.

The ragtag group includes producer Wayne (Martin Henderson); his girlfriend and the film's star, Maxine; the lead male star, Jackson (rapper Kid Cudi); seasoned porn vet Bobbi-Lynne (Brittany Snow); director RJ (Owen Campbell), who has pretensions for the film to be shot in the style of the French New Wave; and RJ's girlfriend, Lorraine (Jenny Ortega), a so-called "church mouse" and prude who shocks everyone, but mostly RJ, when she announces she wants a role in the film.

From their arrival at the secluded farmhouse where the picture is to be shot, something seems off. The proprietor - a man named Howard (Stephen Ure), who is seemingly old as the hills - points a gun at Wayne before recalling that he'd rented out the farmhouse. He has no qualms about telling the group that he doesn't like them. Then, there's the matter of his wife, Pearl (also Mia Goth), who lurks in windows and off in the distance, often unsettling the actors and crew when they spot her.

When the horror finally kicks in later in the movie - and I wouldn't dare give away why it occurs - suffice it to say that "X" has more on its mind than titillation and gore, although the latter eventually arrives in droves. There are multiple horrors taking place in the film, whether it's being stalked by a sinister presence or realizing that one's youth and beauty have long since gone, never to be found again.

Although the rationale for the killings in the film are based on a somewhat flimsy premise - in other words, why the crew members are stalked and killed - the scenes in which the villain(s) discuss their own plights make it more interesting than your typical film of this sort. There's obviously some back story to Pearl and Howard - and news recently broke that West shot a prequel film titled "Pearl" that is set even further in the past and is soon set to come out.

The period design is quite impressive, including the camera work that for once actually captures how horror movies of that era looked, from the slightly muddy visuals to shot compositions, and pretty magic hour images caught through open windows.

The film is also quite suspenseful, and its piece-de-resistance is a spectacularly intense overhead shot of a person swimming toward shore with a lurking danger following behind, unbeknownst to them. That shot alone is proof of West's mastery in this genre, and there are plenty of other spookily lit and shot sequences that will likely unsettle those who view them.

West started out as a purveyor of low budget horror movies - his cult film "The Sacrament" is fairly creepy, but his "House of the Devil" does for early 1980s haunted house movies what "X" does for low budget 1970s slasher movies. For about a decade, he has avoided the genre - his most recent movie was the violent western "In the Valley of Violence." His latest picture marks a triumphant return to horror movie-making. "X" is one of the most memorable, scariest and best of its genre in recent memory.

Review: Deep Water

Image courtesy of Hulu.

 
I'm possibly in the minority - based upon some of the other reviews I've seen - but I found Adrian Lyne's "Deep Water," the director's first in about 20 years and based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, to be an amusingly lurid piece of entertainment. It may occasionally border on the ridiculous - and I'm particularly thinking of a deux ex machina that saves the film's anti-hero from a prying enemy near the picture's end - but it's the type of naughty thriller that was once prevalent, but has mostly disappeared.

The film follows the love/hate relationship between Vic (Ben Affleck), a wealthy programmer of drones, and Melinda (Ana de Armas), his promiscuous wife whose love affairs carried out right in front of her husband's face may or may not be some sort of twisted game that the two play. During the course of the picture, this dynamic spirals out of control as Vic begins to get vengeance on Melinda's suitors - and there are many - all the while trying to keep out of the clutches of the police and a nosy true crime author (Tracy Letts) who has landed in Vic's orbit.

Although he started out as the director of the disturbed youth drama "Foxes" before graduating to the smash dance movie "Flashdance," Lyne later became known for being a director of sexy thrillers such as 
"Fatal Attraction," "9 1/2 Weeks" and "Unfaithful," which was his last film before this one. My personal favorite Lyne picture, the hallucinatory "Jacob's Ladder," bore little in common with his other work.

"Deep Water," on the other hand, bears everything in resemblance to his previous films, namely being a sultry thriller about a guy who gets in over his head due to the femme fatale - in this case, his wife - who leads him astray. Is a story like this one, perhaps, a bit dated and out of touch with modern sensibilities? Well, yeah. On the other hand, actually being offensive would require a level of seriousness to which this film is obviously not intending to commit.

If you've ever wanted to see Affleck play a seething husband who bumps off his wife's numerous lovers - who vary from a guy trying to save world hunger to a model-looking piano player - and, in his spare time, tends to a greenhouse full of snails over which he is very protective, then this is the movie for you. There's actually a scene in which suspense is built over whether one of Melinda's lovers will try to cook some of the snails for dinner.

But what keeps the picture from declining in quality is the glossy camerawork, committed performances from its cast (Affleck has rarely been funnier) and its tongue-in-cheek delivery. Rather than smoldering as previous Lyne films have done, this one wears its absurdity like a badge of honor. And it's all the better for it. No, "Deep Water" isn't exactly a return to form for Lyne, but it's entertaining all the same.

Review: Turning Red

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

It has long been posited that Pixar movies are essentially made with children in mind as the target audience, but contain enough to keep adults interested. Often, they sneak themes that are more adult-oriented into their stories, and "Turning Red," the latest Pixar film, is no outlier. This funny, charming and surprisingly weighty film is about nothing less than the horrors of and embarrassments of puberty.

Also, the film is among the best examples of Pixar striving toward better representation - its lead character, Meilin (the voice of Rosalie Chiang), and her family are Chinese, while her best friends include girls who are Indian, Korean and white. Set in Toronto, the story follows Meilin, a straight-A student who is dorky but confident, as she strives to live up to the gargantuan task of pleasing her mother (Sandra Oh), who is overprotective to an embarrassing degree.

Meilin is just starting to go through puberty and, in the tradition of the women in her family, she turns into an adorable, giant red panda - there's a long backstory involving her family's history with the animal - whenever she gets excited. The film relays the message that raging teenage hormones and a change into womanhood aren't something to be ashamed of or hidden away, and that young women should embrace these changes, rather than being led by society to believe that being emotional is unbecoming.

Although her friends love her - and provide her with the support she needs during these changes - Meilin is not one who is known to let loose. In fact, doing something so innocent as doodling a picture of a boy she thinks is cute in her notebook leads to a mortifying situation during which her mother - the ultimate helicopter parent - actually confronts the boy and accuses him of leading her innocent daughter astray.

When Meilin begins changing into the gigantic fluffy panda, her mother, grandmother and aunties believe that she should hide away these changes until the time comes in a month when she is to perform a ritual that will enable her to keep her "panda spirit" locked away in a necklace around her neck for the rest of her life.

However, Meilin finds that her panda self leads to others at school being more receptive toward her. While her friends already cared for her, others - including a boy who taunts her mercilessly and the usual mean girls - poke fun at her dorkiness and overprotective mother. When she becomes the panda, she is enabled to be her more true self. So, it's tempting for Meilin to not want to go through with the ritual to banish this other side of her.

This is a fun movie with a lot of heart, and something meaningful to say about adolescence's rites of passage and the trials and tribulations of puberty. It's refreshing to see a movie - especially a Pixar one, which will likely reach millions of people - tackle the subject matter in a such a way that takes its characters and their problems seriously. 

Just as previous Pixar films have done - I'm thinking of "Up" confronting old age and death, or "Wall-E" making dire predictions about the future of our wasteful society - "Turning Red" takes subject matter that can be difficult to navigate when discussing it with children and makes it user friendly in such an entertaining, often moving and charming manner. I'd imagine that most young people - and adults alike - will find something to love about it.

Review: The Batman

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Matt Reeves' "The Batman" feels like a breath of fresh air, not because it's all that original, but because it borrows from more inspired source material (David Fincher movies) than what you'd typically expect (other comic book movies). Clocking in at nearly three hours, the film is a gloomy - but captivating - detective movie that just happens to feature an anti-hero wearing tights and a cape.

The era in which "The Batman" is set is a bit nebulous - Nirvana's "Something in the Way" keeps reappearing on the soundtrack - but the story takes place in the early days of Batman's vigilanteism. Thankfully, we don't have to suffer through yet another version of his parents being gunned down in an alleyway. 

Instead, the film borrows tone, style and even some plot points from Fincher's films, most notably "Seven" and "Zodiac." Like those films, "The Batman" features the search for a particularly cruel serial killer known as The Riddler (Paul Dano, whose face isn't seen until late in the film) who is targeting some of Gotham City's top officials, threatening to expose their lies and their involvement in a high profile case that was swept under the rug.

Of course, Batman (Robert Pattinson, doing the broody thing well), is on the case along with Lt. Gordon (Jefrey Wright), despite the rest of the police force seemingly being against the partnership. Meanwhile, Batman's path crosses with that of Selena Kyle (Zoe Kravitz), a young woman who works at a seedy club, has a vigilante streak of her own and harbors some secrets as well. She, of course, is Catwoman, and her character occasionally threatens to overshadow Bruce Wayne.

Other villains abound, from underworld figure Carmine Falcone (John Turturro in a frightening performance) or Oz (Collin Farrell), who is also known as The Penguin. Among the central mysteries is how these other villains figure into the mystery surrounding The Riddler, who is creepy but occasionally comes close to venturing into campy "Saw" territory.

One element for which I was thankful while watching "The Batman" is that, unlike so many other comic book movies, it doesn't do too much of the so-called "world-building" that constantly references other comic book movies that are on the assembly line and waiting to be sold for mass consumption. There's only one scene - it's cheesy and probably the worst scene in the movie - late in the picture in which The Riddler has a conversation with another Batman nemesis, but otherwise, "The Batman" is a story that stands on its own.

There have been numerous Batman movies and some of them have been good - I enjoyed Tim Burton's contributions and at least the first two films in Christopher Nolan's trilogy are solid - but rewatching the same story over and over can get a little tedious. So, it's refreshing that "The Batman" takes a different route. Although it leans heavily on the Fincher influence, that's much preferred to the typical comic book movie storylines that get regurgitated about 10 times per year these days. 

The film is incredibly dark for a mainstream Hollywood movie, and unrepentantly grim. The Riddler storyline - and the manner in which he dispatches his victims - often plays like a horror movie. And there's even a subplot toward the film's end involving a new mayor's swearing-in that has relevance regarding our current moment, which is fraught with anti-democratic threats.

Overall, "The Batman" is pretty solid. While Pattinson's character is among the less emotive Bruce Waynes, it seems as if the filmmakers intended it to be this way, rather than it merely being a trait brought to the proceedings by the leading man. The set pieces are good as far as these things go, and for a genre that is known for aiming to give its fans exactly what they want most of the time, it's fairly suspenseful and contains some surprises. Although I wouldn't say we need to rush out yet another Batman movie any time soon, this one gets the job done.