Tag Archives: Thriller

Last Night in Soho (2021)

11 Thursday Apr 2024

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(For Day 11 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a monostich, or one-line poem, which often relies on its title for full context. I figured this laconic form could lend itself to some creepiness.)

Ignorance Is Bliss

I try not to think that, wherever I am, somebody has died there.

_________________________

MPA rating:  R (for language, sex, and bloody violence, more of a medium-level R)

I consider myself picky when it comes to the horror genre, and the hackneyed slashers or gorefests have little interest for me. But every now and then a scary movie stands out by breaking the mold with its superior quality. Last Night in Soho may have been a disappointment at the box office, thanks mainly to COVID, but Edgar Wright’s psychological timebender has a special blend of cast and craft that deserved far better.

Aspiring fashion designer and lover of 1960s culture Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) moves from her grandmother’s rural home to the bustling metropolis of London, and, after having enough of college dorm life, she opts to rent a room near campus. While sleeping, Ellie finds herself seemingly transported back to the ‘60s and living the glamorous life of Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), a singer who is wooed by her would-be manager Jack (Matt Smith). It’s literally a dream come true, yet the more Ellie delves into this vicarious other life, the more she becomes haunted by frightening visions from the past.

First off, Last Night in Soho looks fantastic, conjuring the neon-lit enchantment of 1966, and as with Wright’s previous film Baby Driver, his butter-smooth camerawork is a joy to watch. The soundtrack is likewise perfectly chosen, replete with the best of Cilla Black, James Ray, and the Kinks, immersing Ellie and the audience further into the Swinging Sixties. It’s a crying shame that the film got zero Oscar attention when its cinematography, sound, and production design could easily have stood with the best that year.

As for the story, the film is a masterclass in gradual genre shifting, as it starts out as a fantasy with wide-eyed Eloise marveling at her chance to see a decade that has fascinated her with its fashion and music. McKenzie is a perfect ingenue, further proving her talent after Leave No Trace and Jojo Rabbit, while Taylor-Joy excels as her yesteryear counterpart, also proving her singing chops by contributing to the soundtrack. The way mirrors were employed to juxtapose the two was fascinating, and I loved a dance sequence where they seamlessly trade places. Eventually, though, the scares kick in as the dream falls apart. While some of them could be trimmed, Wright nails those disturbing moments as well, putting a nightmarish filter on misogyny and abuse. And though some consider the end to fall apart, I thought it made for a unique subversion of expectation, forcing the audience to question their own sympathies.

Last Night in Soho has its brutal and uncomfortable moments, but it’s a cut above the typical scarefest, boasting more visual flair and originality than any number of slasher sequels. With its rising-star actresses and confidently elegant direction from Wright, it’s the kind of film that I hope will only grow in reputation with time.

Best line: (Ellie) “Has a woman ever died in my room?”   (Ms. Collins) “This is London. Someone has died in every room in every building and on every street corner in the city.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2024 S.G. Liput
792 Followers and Counting

Leave the World Behind (2023)

06 Saturday Apr 2024

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(For Day 6 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem based on some “weird wisdom” given to you, so I opted for the advice of preppers, who may be onto something.)

You’ll need a sturdy bunker
With a strong hermetic seal
And a good amount of space
In case you’ll be in there a while.
I’d choose a generator
Over wind or water wheel,
But in that case, I’d stock up
On the solar panel aisle.

Buy more shelves, then fill with food
That’s good for twenty years,
And if you don’t know how to can,
You definitely should.
Learn how to sew and shoot a bow
And maybe fashion spears,
And how to navigate by stars
And tell what shrooms are good.

Do you have gold? Don’t answer that,
But buy what’s in your budget,
And cigarettes and booze to trade
Once currency is bust.
Hoard herbs and spices for the taste.
How much? I’ll let you judge it.
If you have pets, then be prepared
To eat them if you must.

And get a first-aid kit (or ten);
You’ll thank me when you need it.
And candle tapers, pens and paper,
Books, and one machete.
Oh yes, invest in fertile land
And seeds with which to seed it.
You ask when will you need all this?
Who knows, but you’ll be ready.
______________________

MPA rating:  R

Releasing late last year, based on a popular novel, and featuring A-list stars and a timely message, Leave the World Behind seemed like it was poised for potential Oscars contention. Yet its flash-in-the-pan interest yielded to a mixed reception from Netflix viewers, and it was odd seeing at least half of the people online lambasting a critically well-received film as frustrating and pointless. Evidently, it was not what some people want from a typical disaster movie, but it offered something scarier and (mostly) more realistic.

After an opening monologue showing the misanthropic outlook of mother Amanda (Julia Roberts), she and her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) take their two kids (Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans) outside the city for a little vacation, renting a fancy house near the seashore. Strange things begin happening, like a Wi-Fi outage and an oil tanker running aground near them, and they are further perturbed when a well-dressed black man named G.H. (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) show up, claiming to be the owners of the house and asking to stay the night. While there is some initial racial tension between the families, it soon becomes evident that larger problems are happening in the world, threatening their very survival.

Whatever people thought of Leave the World Behind, it should be said that it is quite well-made, with some excellent cinematography, clever details, and strong performances, from Ali and Hawke especially. Although the film got some people talking due to the implicit racism exhibited by Amanda toward the visitors and echoed even more by Ruth toward white people in general, that is hardly the point of the film. With the divisions in the world today, it’s understandable that mistrust would manifest like that, and, as the film illustrates, mistrust runs rampant when nobody has any answers.

Indeed, the film never actually gives a clear explanation for what is happening to cause the EMP-like power outages, the strange high-pitched noise that causes health problems, or the unusual behavior in animals. Many found this made the film an irksome waste of time, but the movie is far more interested in the effect of these phenomena than their cause. There are indicators of various bad actors to blame – flyers in Arabic pointing to jihadists, rumors of North Korean attacks – and with no Internet, no news channel, blocked roads, and low supplies, I doubt the average person would respond any better than the characters do. At one point, Clay begs a man far more prepared (Kevin Bacon) for assistance and gives voice to the helplessness that would spread like wildfire if all of our modern advantages were stripped away from us.

Considering the admittedly abrasive characters and inexplicably weird use of CGI animals, I can’t say Leave the World Behind is a perfect film or even an Oscar-worthy one. But it does feel like an important warning, one that seems to have been missed by all those complaining about wasted time and an unsatisfying ending. And I liked the ending quite a bit since it demonstrates how small pleasures can be a source of comfort amid the chaos. This is not a disaster movie with heroic rescues or easy solutions, but it brings to light just how close civilization can be to collapse, which is more unnerving.

Best line: (G.H.) “A conspiracy theory about a shadowy group of people running the world is far too lazy of an explanation, especially when the truth is much scarier.”
(Amanda) “What is the truth?”
(G.H.) “No one is in control. No one is pulling the strings.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2024 S.G. Liput
791 Followers and Counting

The Invisible Man (2020)

20 Monday Nov 2023

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Do you feel a chill that warns “Beware”?
Are you not alone when no one’s there?
To be a human is to err,
So surely I am wrong.

Do things just move all on their own?
Is every creak a new doubt sown?
It’s obvious that I’m alone,
So surely I am wrong.

Are muscles tightened like a spring?
Do you detect some unseen thing?
But no one else is noticing,
So surely I am wrong.

But there it is again, you hear?
The subtle sound of someone near.
I’m waiting like a staring deer
For someone, something to appear.
The eye will lie, but trust the ear;
It knows it when the coast’s not clear.
Am I unstable if I fear
What no one else confirms is here?
Am I to trust the ones who jeer
And say that I’m a fool to fear?
I’m not a fool! I know it’s near,
So what if you are wrong?!
___________________________

MPA rating:  R (for language and violence)

I’m a little disgusted with myself for having four different scary movies lined up for October and then not getting to review any of them before Halloween. But “better late than never” has become the new mantra for this blog. I had heard good things about The Invisible Man, a February 2020 release that managed to make a decent splash before COVID shut down Hollywood releases. The concept of invisibility has never had quite the punch of monsters like vampires and werewolves, but this film proves how nightmarish it can be in the wrong hands.

This latest incarnation of The Invisible Man makes some clever changes to the typical H.G. Wells story of a mad scientist creating an invisibility serum, instead focusing on one of his victims before he ever acquired such a power. Elizabeth Moss gives an outstanding and honestly Oscar-worthy performance as Cecilia Cass, the battered girlfriend of possessive optics genius Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). When she flees his clutches and goes into hiding, Cecilia is startled to learn of his apparent death, only to then be haunted by an increasingly violent invisible force that makes everyone around her question her sanity.

The voyeuristic nature of invisibility has precedents, such as in 2000’s Hollow Man, but this film puts Cecilia’s relationship trauma and the stalker-ish behavior of a vengeful lover front and center. The concept of gaslighting has become more prominent (and misused) in our Internet age of misinformation and manipulation, but its use here mirrors the origin of the word, the 1944 film Gaslight where a cruel husband psychologically torments his wife to make her go insane. Luckily, Elizabeth Moss is an expert at acting crazy and more than delivers in her arc from battered victim to helpless prey to empowered avenger. Aldis Hodge as Cecilia’s supportive friend and Michael Dorman as Adrian’s smarmy brother fill their roles well, but this is Moss’s film through and through. To match her, the villain is brilliantly depicted as a faceless aggressor before his “death,” only for that faceless aggression to take a new unseen form that threatens to make its presence known through violence at any moment. Not knowing where he is remains key to the film’s ever-present tension, making the moments when we do know stand out even more.

Between expert performances and Leigh Whannell’s stylish direction, The Invisible Man is an instant horror classic and possibly the best use of invisibility in the genre. That said, the villain’s choices start to break down near the end, and it does get a bit overlong, continuing beyond the expected climax to try gaslighting Cecilia, as well as the audience, even more. The actual ending still works, just taking a more uncomfortably personal turn than an action scuffle and leaving open a window for theorizing and sequel potential. In contrast to the gorefests I try to avoid (though this film does have its brutal moments), I subscribe to the horror principle that what you don’t see is often scarier than what you do, and The Invisible Man uses that rule to its advantage while applying it to an all-too-realistic scenario.

Best line: (recurring) “Surprise.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
782 Followers and Counting

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

04 Monday Sep 2023

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Franchises and ruins share at least one thing in common,
And no, it’s not that both attest to how the best declined.
Whether we discuss the MCU or Tutankhamen,
It’s that they both give hope to those in search of more to find.

For ardent archaeologists, they know there’s always more,
Beneath the dirt, untapped, covert, and waiting to be found.
Likewise, the nerds of fandom herds will pray as they explore,
That patience be rewarded if they simply stick around.

While one digs in the future and the other in the past,
They live for tiny victories, discoveries to tout.
They can’t all be an ancient tomb or Endgame unsurpassed;
Sometimes it’s just a broken bust they can’t do much about.
________________________

MPA rating: PG-13

I realize my output has slowed of late, but, despite struggling with my writing schedule, I have not forgotten this blog. Besides, it’s not like I’m taking fifteen-year breaks between entries like a certain Harrison Ford series. Anyway, as my past reviews and rankings might indicate, I am pretty forgiving when it comes to franchise films that others lambaste. I still like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull more than anyone I know, and I can find plenty to enjoy from the supposed worst of Star Wars and the MCU. So I welcomed one final installment in the Indiana Jones franchise; Crystal Skull did have its issues, so perhaps one last adventure could end Indy’s cinematic journey on a high note. But though Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has some bright spots, it was more of a letdown than even I was expecting.

Set mostly in 1969, this truly final adventure for Indiana Jones involves the crotchety archaeologist being pulled into another race for a potentially magical Macguffin, pursued by a former Nazi scientist (the ever reliably villainous Mads Mikkelsen) and his CIA accomplices, as well as Indy’s goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) with unscrupulous motives of her own. The titular Dial of Destiny is the Antikythera mechanism, an actual ancient Greek artifact with gears that could predict astronomical events, though here it’s a simpler device with two halves that are believed to map time instead.

Say what you will about Crystal Skull but it did at least give Indy a happy ending with a son and marriage, and I do take issue with sequels like this that justify their existence by doing away with all that to make the main character miserable at the start. Nevertheless, director James Mangold proves to be a surprisingly effective stand-in for Spielberg, bringing a great sense of fun and adventure to the film’s opening sequence. It’s an extended chase back in 1944 with a perfectly de-aged Indy back in his Nazi-thwarting prime alongside his timid friend Basil (Toby Jones), Helena’s father. If the whole film had been as good as the opening, it would be a hit recalling the franchise at its best. It’s just not the same once we jump to older Indy at his glum retirement party.

I will give credit to the fast pacing that never lets too much time go by without a chase or a tense stand-off. One extended pursuit is a hoot as Indy, Helena, her young sidekick Teddy (Ethann Isidore), the bad guys, and vengeful mobsters all chase each other through the narrow streets of Tangier. I also appreciated some welcome cameos, including John Rhys-Davies returning as Sallah and Antonio Banderas as another old friend who helps with a Mediterranean dive. With all the action, it does take some suspension of disbelief to accept the now-octogenarian Ford’s ability to keep up. He doesn’t engage in the old-fashioned fisticuffs as much, but he still jumps from vehicles, climbs cliffs, endures injury, and falls out of planes with the best of them (or at least his body double does).

Despite the caveats above, I was still enjoying Dial of Destiny for the most part and was prepared to defend it against naysayers up until the ending. Obviously, I won’t spoil it, but it takes a supernatural turn that was hard to accept, with an unsatisfying villain defeat due to their own dumb decisions and a climax of historical passion that I just didn’t buy. It’s not the worst thing ever, but it felt like the first draft of a finale rather than the finished product, a neat idea that should have gone back to the drawing board. I was sort of hoping the time travel element might wrap back around to the opening sequence a la Back to the Future Part II, but I suppose that would be too supernatural. I was also underwhelmed by Helena’s character; Waller-Bridge has a winking charisma that’s easily likable, but her ideals are in direct opposition with Indy’s (complete with a smug barb about capitalism). Though they bond a bit, it’s not clear how much moral growth, if any, she’s had by the end.

I so wanted to like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but this is a case where I can agree with the disgruntled crowd. I would still watch it again for its good moments proving the effort that went into making this a worthy sequel and the simple fact that I love Ford in the lead role. It didn’t deserve to be the massive financial bomb it was, but sadly it’s a prime example of ending a franchise with a whimper rather than a bang.

Best line: (Indiana Jones) “I don’t believe in magic, but a few times in my life, I’ve seen things. Things I can’t explain. And I’ve come to believe it’s not so much about what you believe; it’s how hard you believe it.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
783 Followers and Counting

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

28 Friday Apr 2023

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(For Day 27 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for an emulative poem with a fancy simile and such, but I went off-prompt today. Subverting expectations, you might say.)

See what you want to see, it will be there.
Call it a masterpiece, people will stare.
Fancy it rotten and treat with disgust,
And what was a winner will soon be a bust.

Label it stable, and it shall be so.
Flag it as flaky, and look out below.
Brand it as brilliant, and all will believe,
While those who do not have some grievance to grieve.

What you intend will determine the end,
Or at least govern what you recommend.
See what you want to see, hoarding or growth,
Genius or charlatan, neither or both.
___________________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

Considering I already included Glass Onion on my end-of-2022 favorites list, my feelings for it should not be a surprise. Also unsurprising for writer-director Rian Johnson, the reception for this follow-up to 2019’s Knives Out became rather polarized online, with disagreement on just how clever this latest mystery was, or was trying to be. But hey, I really enjoyed The Last Jedi, so I’m clearly not on board the Rian Johnson hate train. With no connection to Knives Out beyond its central detective Benoit Blanc (the ever-classy Daniel Craig), Glass Onion can easily be appraised on its own merits, and even if it doesn’t quite hit the highs of its predecessor, it’s still a deliriously well-crafted film full of twists, cameos, and an all-star ensemble.

Via a complex puzzle box, eccentric tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites his diverse group of “disruptor” friends to a murder mystery weekend on his private Greek island. Among them are an up-and-coming governor (Kathryn Hahn), a scientist working for Miles’ company (Leslie Odom Jr.), a gun-toting streamer (Dave Bautista), a controversy-magnet supermodel (Kate Hudson), and Miles’ own ex-business partner with a chip on her shoulder (Janelle Monáe). And also unexpectedly invited is Benoit Blanc, ready to jump into action if the fake murder mystery should take an actually deadly turn.

Johnson excels at subverting expectations, which is especially advantageous in the mystery genre. Even if you think you can guess the culprit from the start (and you may well be right), the story does its utmost to cast doubt on every character. As the investigation progresses, Blanc learns of every character having a reason to want Miles dead, yet not much later, reasons come to light for every character to want to keep him alive. And while there’s no connection to Knives Out, Glass Onion shares its structure, taking an abrupt shift at the halfway point to look at the plot from an entirely new perspective, practically guaranteeing a second watch to verify what might have been missed. A good mystery is about the journey, the clues, the twists, just as much as the big reveal, which might be disappointing to some but has a timely message about how much faith we put into reputations.

The cast is certainly game as well, especially Norton as the ingratiatingly extravagant host and Monáe as the wronged Andi Brand, showing more range than her stoic first appearance might indicate. The rest of the cast have their moments to chew the scenery as well, with Bautista and Hudson particularly satirizing the more toxic elements of celebrity. The scene of all of the partygoers arriving at a dock is alone a great showcase of subtle characterization, based just on how they wear their masks in the midst of the pandemic. (It was interesting and a bit odd that the film actually referenced the COVID pandemic, yet promptly side-stepped social distancing with a fake “cure.” Only in the movies….) And, of course, Craig is a perfect gentleman, offering the same perceptive Southern charm as his first appearance and effectively making me forget that he’s James Bond for two hours.

Admittedly, there are things that don’t work quite as well, like the explosive climax that tries to be a moment of empowering rebellion with a clever callback but also borders on cringeworthy and unrealistic. Plus, certain characters get more attention than others, with Odom Jr. sadly being little more than an extra. And while I liked the circuitous reveal, Johnson should take care in his next outing to avoid a potential pattern in his culprits, so as to not be predictable. Despite some self-indulgence, Glass Onion is as entertaining a mystery as any, boasting both layers of genius and a disarming simplicity to match its name. To be honest, I didn’t even know “Glass Onion” was the name of a Beatles song, so kudos on incorporating that as well. I’m definitely looking forward to the next Benoit Blanc adventure.

Best line: (Birdie Jay, the politically incorrect model) “Like Miles said, I’m a truth teller. Some people can’t handle it.”   (Blanc) “It’s a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought for speaking the truth. Don’t you think?”

Rank: List-Worthy (joining Knives Out)

© 2023 S.G. Liput
785 Followers and Counting

Beast (2022)

19 Wednesday Apr 2023

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(For Day 19 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was to write about a childhood scare, like a monster. While a lion is not a personal boogeyman for me, this creature feature seemed to fit the bill.)

It’s lurking where you cannot see,
Blocking where you cannot flee,
Looming in the liminal of known and too afraid to know.
Do not breathe and do not stir.
That’s a growl and not a purr,
Growing louder by the second, growing sick of lying low.
Save your scream; it knows you’re there,
Not a dream and no nightmare.
Something hungry this way comes, and you have nowhere else to go.
____________________________

MPA rating: R (nothing overly gruesome that I recall)

Idris Elba is good in just about anything. Whether he’s playing an immortal djinn in a bathrobe or an Asgardian gatekeeper, his natural gravitas just enhances every role he takes on. That goes for the more pedestrian efforts as well. Beast can be summed up pretty easily: man vs. lion. Elba plays Dr. Nate Samuels, who takes his daughters on a South Africa safari to reconnect after the death of their mother but is forced to defend them against a rogue lion on a killing spree.

As a survival thriller, Beast is a solid entry, elevated by Elba’s lead performance and Baltasar Kormákur’s rather artsy direction, such as some outstanding tracking shots that I love so much. Yet the occasionally dumb plot is cookie-cutter standard for the genre and unlikely to surprise anyone. The plot armor of the climax even becomes a little laughable when Elba fights the beast barehanded and lasts far longer than other characters it killed within seconds. Beast is all too familiar, doing for lions what Jaws did for sharks, but its African setting and intimidating feline make it unique enough to be worth a casual watch.

Rank: Honorable Mention

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

13 Thursday Apr 2023

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(For Day 13 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a short poem “that follows the beats of a classic joke,” though mine is less of a joke and more of a taunt in need of countering.)

It used to be
If men were meant to fly,
They would have been born with wings.

It used to be
If women were meant to fly,
They wouldn’t need men for things.

Maybe let them try
Before saying who can fly.
_______________________

MPA rating:  R (for frequent language and some bloody violence)

What do you get when you cross Memphis Belle, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” and a gonzo female empowerment fantasy? You get Shadow in the Cloud, a high-flying action-horror-drama starring Chloe Grace Moretz as RAF Officer Maude Garrett, who boards a plane flying out of New Zealand in the midst of World War II. Insisting on the safety of a mysterious package she carries, Maude bristles at the sexist comments of the all-male flight crew and spends the first half of the film stowed in the gun turret on the plane’s underside. Yet a dangerous gremlin-like creature threatens the plane and her package, spurring her to prove just how tenacious a “hysterical” woman can be.

Shadow in the Cloud is an over-the-top treat in many regards. After an opening scene in which Maude briefly meets the surly airmen of the Fool’s Errand, the first half of the movie has a clever claustrophobia to it, trapping her in the cramped gunner’s bubble with no easy escape. Everything is from her perspective, with the personalities of the rest of the crew conveyed solely by dialogue over the radio, from racist horndogs to stubborn pilots. It’s unfortunate that, with one exception, every male character is a condescending, foul-mouthed jerk to varying degrees, but I suppose such grating scorn must have been common enough in real life to be considered such a stereotype. Here, of course, it’s the kind of extreme disrespect engineered for movie heroines to prove wrong.

Beyond the human conflict, rife with mistrust as Maude herself becomes a source of suspicion, the film takes a hard turn into creature feature action and doesn’t let up. The feats Maude pulls off in the second half, facing off against a bat-like gremlin that taunts her as it sabotages the plane, are absurd yet thrilling, and a whole dogfight sequence was ridiculous movie adrenaline in the best way. Moretz is a lovely and talented actress, and she perfectly balances the intense emotions at play. Plus, the music is right up my alley, with a synth-heavy score that ranges from ominous to frenetic and ending with Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” (a worthy addition to the End Credits Song Hall of Fame). Highly entertaining and bombastic even as it teeters into B-movie camp, Shadow in the Cloud strikes a strange balance between well-acted gender conflict and intense monster revenge action, while also giving a nod to the real-life women who served in the air forces during World War II. It’s an odd mix but one worth the ride.

Best line: (Maude, after asking for permission to fire at an enemy aircraft) “I was being polite!” [fires at will]

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

See How They Run (2022)

05 Wednesday Apr 2023

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(For Day 5 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem concerning laughter at an inappropriate moment, so laughing at death immediately came to mind.)

The man is dead there on the floor.
I should be shocked and horrified.
And yet I cannot quite get past
The way he died.

He just had finished purchasing
A ranch out west, and then he slipped.
His leg flew out and knocked a pail,
And thus he tripped.

A shocked transcriptionist was there,
Recording everything they said.
She quickly called on 911,
But he was dead.

When I arrived to scan the scene,
I was in danger of a gaffe.
Death deserves a tear, yet I
Just had to laugh.

It rose up when I realized
He’d bought the farm (but that’s not it).
He also kicked the bucket too.
My tongue I bit.

It happened when I chanced to check
The transcript of the anecdote.
It ended with his final “Aaahhhh…”
That’s all she wrote.
__________________________

MPA rating: PG-13

Not every good movie has to be a huge blockbuster or an awards contender. With a good script and a talented cast, even small and unassuming films can be a credit to their genre. The whodunit genre is having a bit of a renaissance, thanks largely to Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc films, but See How They Run continues that welcome trend with a much more understated murder mystery than Johnson’s splashier entries. Set around the real-life long-running play The Mousetrap back in 1950s London, the story follows world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and eager-to-please Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) as they investigate the murder of a Hollywood director (Adrien Brody) who was adapting The Mousetrap into a movie. And naturally they have no shortage of suspects, including a prissy screenwriter (David Oyelowo), an adulterous producer (Reece Shearsmith), and actor Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson).

The film boasts an appealing, old-fashioned style that lends itself to moments of dry humor, as when Constable Stalker slips a few groan-worthy puns into her description of the crime scene. And the use of flashbacks and clever camerawork add to the mystery, which is nothing special in retrospect but still kept me guessing until the reveal. Plus, I’ll freely admit to a bit of a celebrity crush on Saoirse Ronan, and this is one more charming and lovable character to her credit. The contrast and banter between her and Rockwell are a joy as he repeatedly has to rein her in from jumping to conclusions in their investigation. See How They Run may not be a favorite whodunit, but it’s a quaint and enjoyable one that I’ll happily revisit.

Best line: (Stalker, telling Stoppard her notes about Oyelowo’s character) “Mervyn Cocker-Norris, overrated playwright.”
(Cocker-Norris) “Celebrated playwright.”
(Stalker) “Oh, I’m so sorry, sir. I can’t read me own handwriting.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

Old (2021)

04 Tuesday Apr 2023

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(For Day 4 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a triolet, an eight-line poem with a particular rhyme scheme and pattern of repeated lines. Honestly, these are my favorite prompts, trying out forms that I don’t normally think of on my own.)

Your age is just a number, friend,
But numbers have been known to kill.
Like currency you have to spend,
Your age is just a number, friend,
A short-term loan you can’t extend,
And everybody foots the bill.
Your age is just a number, friend,
But numbers have been known to kill.
_________________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

M. Night Shyamalan doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to his movies, but every new project deserves a fair chance, regardless of past failures. And even if his films often don’t stand up to scrutiny, they are still typically well-made and excel at conjuring an atmosphere of low-key suspense. Old very much fits that mold. Based on a French-Swiss graphic novel called Sandcastle, the film mainly focuses on the Cappa family, made up of father Guy (Gael García Bernal), mother Prisca (Vicky Krieps), and children Trent and Maddox, whose recuperative vacation takes a dark turn as they and other tourists (Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Abbey Lee, and others) become trapped on a beach which ages them quickly.

As with most Shyamalan productions, the less you know going in, the better. Age itself may not seem like that much of a boogeyman, but the anxiety of watching years waste away in a matter of hours is rather effective, especially as health issues become more pronounced in this accelerated timeframe. (One scene involving bones breaking repeatedly is especially nightmarish.) And the seemingly peaceful beach is a lovely and unsettling locale, like a passive observer of the ordeal playing out on its white sands.

But of course, the story, despite its detail-oriented execution, has that Shyamalan fragility, with an explanation for the larger narrative that makes enough sense while watching to earn an “ahhh” but then falls apart when you consider all the logistical issues that apparently never bothered the writer-director. The script also takes some bewildering turns, often doesn’t follow its own logic, and doesn’t develop most of the characters beyond superficial hopes and fears. Old isn’t an outright bad film, but it’s a brittle one and further proof that Shyamalan’s talents could benefit from a good co-writer.

Best line: (Prisca, to her son, offering the theme of the film) “Stop wishing away this moment.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

2022 Blindspot Pick #12: Children of Men (2006)

26 Sunday Feb 2023

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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While most of us were waiting for a whimper or a bang,
The world we knew withdrew instead of ending.
We thought that we would certainly bounce back or boomerang,
And still we watch and wait, uncomprehending.

No more are teens or children even deemed a demographic,
For all are grown with none to take their place.
No crying babies anymore, no more school zone traffic,
And no descendants for a dying race.

It’s funny how the future’s so dependent on the youth
Who’ll live it out and screw it up anew.
Without them, it’s the present that becomes the only truth,
No benefit of retrospect for you.
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MPA rating: R (for violence, language, and a childbirth scene)

At long last, we are here at the end of last year’s Blindspots! It’s been like pulling teeth for some reason getting to these overdue reviews, but hopefully I can pick up the pace with new material for the year. Luckily, I ended this 2022 series with a winner. Based on the P.D. James novel, Children of Men is the scariest kind of dystopia, one that feels all too possible within its speculative what-if scenario. Even aspects that may have seemed less immediate in 2006 have taken on an uncomfortable prescience now, from the chaos of illegal immigration to government-sanctioned self-euthanasia.

Instead of some distant nuclear war or technological breakthrough, this world’s disaster is the slow and quiet death of infertility. Since 2009, women can no longer get pregnant, and now in 2027, children are a thing of the past, with hope being further corroded by England’s brutally suppressed influx of refugees. Bureaucrat Theo Faron (Clive Owen) sees little he can do in the face of the crisis until he is drawn into the effort of his activist ex-wife (Julianne Moore) to get a somehow pregnant refugee named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to safety.

Director Alfonso Cuaron outdid himself in making Children of Men a gripping and visceral experience. I was bordering on bored during the first twenty minutes, as the extreme despair of Theo’s London is presented, a world fumbling through a tunnel with no light at the end. Yet once the main quest of the plot is established, ferrying Kee out of England to a mysterious organization called the Human Project, it becomes a breathless chase as Theo and his allies must outmaneuver insurgents and government obstacles. Even the less bombastic moments have a suspenseful edge to them, like a “car chase” in which a stalling car rolls downhill with runners in close pursuit. (That actually sounds strangely comical written down, but it’s thrilling in context.) While it was nice seeing the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Caine, the performances don’t stand out as much as the technical excellence around them, but they build on the plot’s subtext as a modern Nativity story, with Owen’s everyman helping Ashitey’s Marian figure through dangers on all sides.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m a sucker for long scenes with no (or hidden) cuts, which happen to be Cuaron’s specialty. I was familiar with a scene in which a car is assailed by an armed mob, which required an impressive camera rig to swing around the inside of a car with five people in it, but even more impressive was an over-six-minute shot in which Theo weaves through an urban warzone, into and out of a building under heavy fire. It’s hard for anything to top the feature length of 1917, but the sheer audacity of staging and shooting such a sequence has my immense respect and admiration.

Of course, I would have preferred it without the cursing and two brief scenes of nudity, but Children of Men deserves its critical acclaim. I’m honestly surprised that it wasn’t deemed worthy of Oscar nominations for Best Picture or Best Director (it did get a nod for Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay), but it’s not the first time the Academy snubbed a deserving film. I read that the film’s ending was intentionally left open-ended to allow for hope or despair depending on the viewer, and I’m rather glad that I found it hopeful, if bittersweet. It’s not always easy finding that light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s there.

Best line: (Michael Caine’s Jasper) “Everything is a mythical, cosmic battle between faith and chance.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up (close to List-Worthy)

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting