Film Review: Old School Godzilla

December 20, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Godzilla Minus One is the latest film to feature the most popular giant lizard stomping his way through Japan. The fact that it is made with Japanese cast and crew sort of gives it a sense of authenticity. It’s like the big, mean lizard goers back to his roots. Takashi Yamazaki is the writer and director of this one. The cast includes Ryonesuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, and Yuki Yamada.

The film starts off toward the end of World War II where the audience meets a kamikaze pilot who basically chickened out. Kamiki plays the lead role quite convincingly. His wartime experiences and an unexpected with a giant lizard that killed nearly everyone on a Japanese base where the young pilot had landed to avoid his duty under the pretense of having a malfunction repaired. He returns home to find that his parents perished in an air raid. As he starts to rebuild what is left of his family’s property, he is joined by a young woman who rescued an orphaned baby. When he starts to find hope and a desire to live in spite of his acute survivor’s guilt, Godzilla returns to smash his way through his country and remind him of some unfinished business.

I was pleasantly surprised that most of this works pretty well. There was actually a pretty compelling human drama in the midst of the chaotic rampage perpetrated by Godzilla. The cast was quite good, and I was drawn into the emotional plight of the characters as well as the visual spectacle of Godzilla’s carnage. The film does feel a little too long at times, and my attention did wander sometimes. The special effects were pretty good, but some of them were reminiscent of the 1950’s films. This iteration of Godzilla had some of the familiar lumbering moments of those early films. Some of the more recent versions had a sleeker and more agile appearance.

Yamazaki created a new story but displayed an affection for the original concept. He also did well with presenting characters that were believable in spite of the fantastical root. I actually didn’t mind the gaps in which Godzilla wasn’t onscreen because the lead characters were compelling.

Yamazaki was also smart to not tie his film to the recent productions started in 2014 by Legendary Pictures. I am by means a dedicated follower of Godzilla, but it felt right to have a strictly Japanese setting and cast. It also gave some interesting insight as to the consequences of World War II from the Japanese perspective.

It feels like a long time since I was enthusiastic about recommending a film to anyone who reads this blog, and I have no regret about taking the time for this one. I will predict that few would disagree.

Film Review: These Ladies Don’t Look Right

December 17, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Lady Ballers is a comedy film that is produced by The Daily Wire and is directed by Jeremy Boreing, who also co-wrote the script alongside Brain Hoffman and Nick Sheehan. Much of the cast and cameos consist of Daily Wire personalities such as Boreing himself, the guys from Crain & Company, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Brett Cooper. Other cast members include Tyler Fischer, Daniel Consadine, Billie Rae Brandt, and Lexie Contursi.

Boering is in the lead as a hapless basketball coach who was once quite successful and finds himself missing the days when he could have a reliably winning team. Coach Rob is fired for being too coaching his latest high school team too aggressively and has been unable to navigate some of the new inclusive expectations mandated by the school system. In other words, Coach Rob just isn’t “woke” enough. Rob ends up accidentally employed at a drag bar where he encounters a former star player, played by Consadine. Since the athletic administrations have broadened the qualifications for competing in women’s sports, Coach Rob convinces the perpetually puzzled Alex to proclaim himself to be transgender and compete in women’s track events. An unscrupulous reported named Gwen convinces Coach Rob to take this further, which leads to the reunion of his star basketball team from fifteen years prior. Then, the absurdity kicks into overdrive when the team members branch into other local women’s sports leagues while being lauded for their bravery as they stop their way through victory after victory.

So, the point of this film is to highlight and mock the absurdity of men competing in women’s sports, which at times gets a little too obvious. That means not all of the jokes land with pointed precision. That’s not the say that I never laughed out loud. The overall film is a little uneven at times, but The Daily Wire is still pretty new at this type of content, and I am in agreement with the intended message, so I am willing to view this with a little more forgiveness in my admittedly cold, biased heart.

In spite of some elements not quite working as smoothly as I would have wanted, some of the performances were surprisingly effective because much of the cast had no acting experience. Jake Crain, Blain Crain, and David Cone are The Daily Wire sports commentators in real life and have an onscreen chemistry that translated pretty effectively in this endeavor. The Crain brothers got a little too hammy at times, but that is probably to be expected considering the genre of this film. Matt Walsh, who played the very affectionate boyfriend of Coach Rob’s wife, actually was a little better than I expected. Now some of the praise he has received from colleagues and other viewers may be overselling it a little, but her did threaten to steal the scene a few times. Also, it almost never fails to have someone play a character who is well-known to be the polar opposite of tbe performer’s real persona. In short, Walsh pulls it off here.

Ben Shapiro as a very ambivalent and short-tempered referee was also pretty amusing. There quite a few inside Daily Wire jokes, but they knew this would not have a typical mass release, so most of those worked.

There were times when the film falls into the same trap as others trying to promote an obvious political or social agenda as in coming across as a little too heavy-handed at times. Also, the writers took some swipes at other social concerns The Daily Wire often comments on, and not all of those efforts fit easily into the film. They did sneak in an advertisement for a new line of women’s products from Jeremy’s Razors that was pretty funny.

Comedy is one of the most unreliably subjective things in human existence. There has to be an acceptance that any effort in this space is not going to appeal to everyone in spite of someone’s overall popularity. In a film, it can work almost all of the way through, have a few high notes, or just faceplant hard. In my not so humble opinion, Lady Ballers doesn’t work perfectly, but it also doesn’t fail miserably. In spite of some fairly glaring missteps, I did find some enjoyment in this film and applaud The Daily Wire for taking the risk in broaching this subject and giving the proponents of having men compete in women’s sports the mockery they so profoundly deserve.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Never A Box Of Delights For The Doctor

December 12, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Box of Terrors is a Doctor Who audio novel released by Big Finish Productions. Lizzie Hopley is the writer while Jon Culshaw steps up to the mic to perform this eight-hour behemoth of a story. It’s a really a behemoth by Doctor Who standard. Culshaw is a well-known impressionist in the UK and does quite an uncanny impersonation of both Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee.

The Doctor’s third and fourth incarnation unite against a threat that could release several powerful and malevolent forces into the cosmos. Also, the Doctor’s companion, Sarah Jane Smith, has the rather unique experience of encountering herself. The Master and Omega are at the heart of the chaos as well. They turn out to not be the only dangerous Time Lords to cause an intergalactic mess for the two iterations of the Doctor to unravel. Hopley throws quite a bit, including a metaphorical kitchen sink, into this story.

The release has some pretty fun elements to it. Culshaw is a fantastic narrator as well even when he isn’t slipping into the vocal impressions of the two Doctors featured in this story. His enthusiasm for the franchise and Big Finish is infectious and really helps out when listening to even the more average of stories. Big Finish always does well with the sound effects, and this one is no exception.

Hopley is a competent writer, and she had some interesting ideas, however the story here sometimes felt bloated with so many villains and different versions of the same characters running around. The basic idea is intriguing to fans sometimes, but this felt a little too busy at times and bit too challenging to keep everyone straight. Some of the descriptions and events were a little hard to picture in the mind’s eye, which was distracting at times. Fortunately, Culshaw’s performance really makes the experience worth the time.

To be fair, I am not a Doctor Who fan who just relishes multi-Doctor episodes. Big Finish usually handles these stories better than the television producers for the BBC, and this contribution is still better than what we would have gotten onscreen, more than likely. Fans now have an experience with these two particular Doctors, and that’s fine. I just wish I had found a bit more enjoyment out of it.

Book Review: James Bond Is Back On Familiar And Dangerous Russian Ground

December 6, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

With a Mind to Kill is the latest James Bond novel from Anthony Horowitz and completes a trilogy he started a few years ago. Horowitz takes Bond and his readers back to the Cold War and to Ian Fleming’s initial canon. The story begins not long after Fleming’s The Man with the Golden Gun, in which a brain-washed Bond attempted to kill M, the head of the British Secret Service. M has a plan in which he presents a scenario where Bond had succeeded in his assassination assignment and entices Russia to claim 007 to place him in a position to use his deadly talents against their greatest enemies.

This apparently takes place toward the end of Bond’s career where he is considering if he could lead a different life. Bond has to pretend he is still under the control of Russian spies. Of course, there is a pretty girl who was involved in his initial programming. Bond endures physical and mental torture in order to complete his mission for his government and to settle a few scores.

Horowitz probably comes the closest to emulating Ian Fleming’s writing style while still keeping Bond kind of fresh. He has an interesting story to tell, and Bond just thrives in his familiar territory as an agent in the midst of the Cold War. This book feels like something Fleming would have written if it were not for his untimely death.

Horowitz also doesn’t equip Bond with the peculiar yet familiar gadgets which forces him to rely on his instincts and experience while in the chilly embrace of Moscow.

This recent addition to the James Bond franchise will certainly be a welcome contribution to the fans of the character as originally conceived by Ian Fleming. There is no heavy usage of double entendres, and Bond is back to seducing initially hostile women. He is also back to ruthlessly killing rival spies without regret. This is a James Bond for the purists, and I want more of that.

Next up, I will be reading Faye Kellerman’s Street Dreams.

Film Review: An Unlikely Friendship, A Very Strange Family

December 2, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Saltburn is a black comedy thriller written and directed by Emerald Fennell. The cast includes Barry Keoghan, Jacob, Elordi, Rosamund Pike, and Richard E. Grant.

This peculiar little story starts off in Oxford in the year 2006. Keoghan plays a student named Oliver Quick who is apparently on scholarship sop he does not quite fit in with his wealthier peers. He befriends one of the popular young chaps named Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordi. As their relationship progresses, Oliver is invited to spend some time at Felix’s ancestral estate known as Saltburn where the aristocratic, eccentric Catton family welcomes the new visitor. Another intriguing addition the cast is Archie Madekwe’s Farliegh Start, an American cousin who has been staying there was also at Oxford. Oliver may not be quite as inept and awkward as he first appears. and long, windy deception begins that leads to murder and grief.

First of all, the story itself has a very intriguing atmosphere. The cast is quite convincing in their performances. Many of the cast members were pretty new to me. I have seen Pike and Grant who play the wealthy parents many times. The younger ones clearly were talented. The set design for the estate was quite striking. The film has some moments of real beauty in the look. The problem here is that Fennell felt the need to include some pretty graphic, sexually perverse behaviors that would have worked better as merely being implied. As far as this being considered a black comedy, well, much of the so-called comedy did not really come through. Fennell seemed to overindulge in the efforts to be shocking. Instead of being shocked or appalled, I found much of the gratuitous sex to be distracting and weird. There is a whole thing at a graveside that is just completely unnecessary and too disgusting for even me to get into, and I have a pretty strong stomach when it comes to the macabre.

The disappointment I had in this film is even more acute because there seemed to be a real effort at some creativity, but some decisions were made that undermined the strengths and turned it into not much more than smut. Also, some of the revelations left a few unanswered questions that could be answered in a sequel I hope is never made.

It’s just a shame I didn’t enjoy this more. I should have researched this one a little better before I saw it, but I was too intrigued by a film could have been more uniquely creative than what we have been getting out of Hollywood lately. The story and the talent were there, but this could have been so much better if Fennell had used a little self-restraint and not tried to gross out her audience.

Film Review: Napoleon Just Wants It All

November 26, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Ridley Scott has directed the biographical film entitled Napoleon with Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. David Scarpa is the screenwriter. The cast includes Vanessa Kirby as Empress Josephine, the emperor’s first wife, Tahar Rahim, Rupert Everett, Ian McNeice, and Paul Rhys.

The film chronicles the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte to ruling France in the eighteenth century and his downfall after a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. In the midst of his conquests, he marries and tries to conceive an heir with his first wife. As most great men of history, Napoleon is revealed to be a rather strange and temperamental fellow. He also is quite dangerous, which is effectively depicted in this film.

The film is better than many of the recent offerings I have seen, however there are also some disappointments. A lot of scenes often felt cut too early. It was too hard keeping some of the other figures straight and determining who was significant outside of Napoleon. I often felt there were some events that could have used a little further exploration and context. It seems strange to say this since I am often complaining about movies dragging, however this particular one seems to have a way of tearing through the story at too much of a breakneck pace at times.

The battle sequences were extraordinary though. The scenery and period costumes were stunning. It did have a great look most of the time. Scott didn’t shy away from the gruesome consequences of having a horse struck in the chest with a cannonball, for example. I can appreciate the attempt to highlight the stark and gory realities of war, but it was a little tough to watch some of those battles.

Joaquin Phoenix is a talented performer, but I think he was undercut a bit by the frantic shift in scenes at times. His ability to command a movie like this is diminished only by the editing choices. Vanessa Kirby does fine as well, but it was hard to sense any real spark of chemistry between the two of them together. Once again, I think that was handicapped by the abruptness in a lot of the scenes.

Also, Napoleon isn’t the most sympathetic of historical figures. Phoenix endowed his performances with some strange mannerisms. I am not sure of the accuracy of the portrayal since I by no means an expert historian concerning this period or Napoleon. I suspect it plausible that Phoenix was pretty close to the target in his performance.

Overall, the film does have some bright spots, but I have to confess some surprising disappointment and frustration with Ridley Scott’s latest offering. The film felt like it only scratched the surface of the complexities of the period and Napoleon’s psyche. There was little revelation as to his background and motivations. This film felt replete with missed opportunities to make it more compelling. Napoleon is one of the most recognizable names in history, yet Scott’s film falls short on making him seem more fascinating. Napoleon just seemed a little weird and unpleasant at times, and I was just hoping for something a little deeper than that.

Film Review: Not Much To Marvel At

November 11, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Marvels is the latest offering from Marvel Studios and is directed by Nia DaCosta, who also co-wrote the script alongside Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik. Brie Larson suits up again as Captain Marvel. She is joined by Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani as Captain Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan, respectively. Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury. Zawe Ashton plays the main villain known as Dar-Benn, a cosmic revolutionary rather angry at Captain Marvel who inadvertently destroyed her planet’s sun. Other cast members include Gary Lewis, Park Seo-Joon, and Zenobia Shroff.

Carol Danvers is the real identity of Captain Marvel and begins this adventure working in deep space checking out anomalies or something. Monica Rambeau is working on another project while Kamala is indulging her interest in superheroes and trying to make it through high school. Fury is on a space station trying to work out a peace treaty with a couple of alien civilizations. Anyway, there are alien artifacts, one of which Kamala possesses. The arrival of the anomalies causes the three super-powered women to be linked by something called a quantum entanglement. When their powers are used at the same time, the women switch places with each other throughout the cosmos. Captain Marvel, Monica, and Kamala have to come together to separate their powers, however they have to learn to work together in order to accomplish that. There is some family drama between Danvers and Monica that make their teamwork a little awkward. Kamala is just a kid who calls herself Ms. Marvel after her favorite hero. Then, Dar-Benn is hellbent on tearing the universe apart if she can save her own people.

The main storyline is a bit of a problem. It is confusing and wanders all over the place. I can’t even explain it that well in this blog. The performances are pretty good. There are some humorous moments that land rather effectively. I noticed that Iman Vellani is a bit of a scene stealer. She’s a bit of a diamond in pretty rough ground. Vellani manages to portray an annoying, overeager teen-ager quite charmingly. Really, the three lead women were quite good, but they were dealing with a poorly written concept.

There were a few charming moments. I liked the moment when the trio was sort of practicing how to coordinate their superpowers and make their sudden switches work in their favor. The film has a few charming moments, that usually showcase Vellani’s comedic timing.

Overall, the film was a little better than I had already heard, so I was relieved that I didn’t consider a complete waste of time. It still has some major flaws, but the performances and a few moments of charm and wit help considerably. It becomes precariously close to being too silly at times, but it is a comic book movie, so one must extend a little grace there. This one is by far not the best movie in the franchise, but it holds its own in some ways. It’s a bit of a roller coaster ride when it comes to the overall quality. The film is adequate entertainment, but it’s a far cry from a marvel.

Film Review: Another Really Big Shark Rides The Waves

November 5, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Black Demon is another shark attack movie and is directed by Adrian Grunberg. Boise Esquerra is the mediocre screenwriter who inflicted another mediocre scary shark script upon whoever was just curious enough to try it out. Josh Lucas is in the lead role as an inspector for an oil company who decides to bring his family along with him to visit an oil rig just off the shores of Mexico. Fernanda Urrejola and Julio Cesar Cedillo are included in the cast.

Lucas plays a pleasant enough family man named Paul Sturges, who brings his family to Mexico so he can enjoy a vacation at the same time he checks on a company oil rig. He is alarmed to find the town he stops in to be somewhat deserted and the people rather subdued. He of a local legend concerning a demon that has been roused by the drilling, which he dismisses. He finds it a little harder to ignore when he finds the rig in shambles, and he and his family end up trapped by the circling presence of megalodon shark that has been on a killing spree for some time before Paul’s arrival. Apparently, this film is based on some lore of a demon shark in Mexico. It just ends up delivering another not-so-subtle message about ecological irresponsibility.

Josh Lucas is a reasonably talented actor and does what he can with a script that just feels a little phoned in. The cast put in an admirable effort to make this mildly convincing. The visual effects were pretty good, and there are a couple of moments of real suspense. I sort of favor films that take place in some isolated structure with a terrifying whatever picking people off. Oil rigs are pretty good settings for this genre. I have no real issue with the performances and some of the technical efforts in this one, but the story was just a bit too familiar, and the characters sometimes had trouble getting to their point when sharing some discovered secrets.

I find that I am getting a repetitive reaction to the movies I have seen lately. Yet again, this is not really that terrible of a film, but the formula is little too familiar. The cast is just compelling enough to make this watchable at least. Also, really big sharks chomping on boats and people does tend to get the blood going in a somewhat enjoyable way as long as it’s just a movie. It’s another film that has some minor moments of nearly being entertaining and interesting, but it just doesn’t quite make it.

Film Review: An Ocean Of Troubles

October 28, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Nowhere is a Spanish film directed by Albert Pinto. It took five screenwriters to come up with this one. The authors of this little adventure are Ernest Riera, Miguel Ruiz, Indiana Lista, Seanne Winslow, and Teresa Rosendoy. Anna Castillo and Tamar Novas star as a young married couple fleeing a tyrannical government in Spain. Castillo’s Mia is quite pregnant, so they are even more motivated to hoof it out of what is becoming a warzone. Their escape involves being smuggled to Ireland in a shipping container. Mia is separated from her husband, and her fellow escapees are slaughtered. She manages to stay hidden, however a storm causes the shipping container to be dumped in the ocean. As predicted, there are some supplies that make survival possible. Also, her baby decides that this would be a good time to emerge into the world, so Mia has someone else to keep alive.

I am not sure why there needed to be five writers on this. The film turned out to be suspenseful, but Mia has some unbelievable luck in the midst of her unexpected sea disaster. It’s not explained how she knew how to rig some of contraptions she concocted throughout the saga. She demonstrated some skills that would make MacGyver envious. Of course, MacGyver was pretty hard to buy into at times too.

Castillo does put in a pretty impressive performance in spite of some dodgy plot turns. She is a good actress, and I was rooting for Mia to make it.

The visual effects were nicely executed. There was an encounter with a whale that was quite compelling. The film was quite stunning visually.

There were one or two moments I couldn’t quite predict, so that makes this a little better than many other movies with a similar scenario. The movie still has a few shortcomings in the writing. Castillo’s performance did help me forgive some of those flaws but not all of them.

Nowhere is not a terrible movie, but it still fails to make a lasting impression. Even Castillo’s performance doesn’t hit this out of the park for me.

Film Review: A Belgian In Venice

September 17, 2023September 18, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Kenneth Branagh brings back Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot back to the big screen for the third time with A Haunting In Venice. He takes on the lead and serves as director for this script written by Michael Green. It is loosely based on the novel by Agatha Christie entitled Hallowe’en Party, and they really mean loosely this time. Joining Branagh is a cast that includes Tina Fey, Kyle Allen, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Yeoh, and Jamie Dornan. Anyway, this might as well be considered an entirely original story featuring Poirot, which is fine with me.

Hercule Poirot has retired to Venice and has obtained the services of a bodyguard to help make sure he is not roped into any new cases. That seems to work fine until an old friend, Ariadne Oliver, shows up to invite him to a seance. A wealthy, grieving mother has hired a mysterious medium to reach out to her dead daughter, who had apparently committed suicide. Poirot arrives as a Halloween party is winding down, and the medium, played by Michelle Yeoh, turns up to get the supernatural ball rolling. Of course, Poirot exposes the hoax but ends up staying for the murder he has to solve. He locks everyone in the house as a storm rages through the night and begins his investigation, however he is having his own visions and is not sure how much he can trust his own sense of reality.

First of all, the film editing can use some reconsideration because the quick cutaways and close-ups were rather overused. Also, Branagh has chosen to present a more morose and pondering version of Poirot than most of the other portrayals. Poirot wasn’t really like that in the original novels. Branagh does manage to bring out many of Poirot’s more recognizable traits. Poirot is still rather egocentric and fastidious, which was a relief to see. He still enjoys an audience when exposing a killer. Branagh still does a decent job as director and lead, but the movie has quite a few missteps for the most part.

Tina Fey does pretty well as Ariadne Oliver, who is a recurring character in Christie’s works. Ariadne Oliver is a mystery writer who occasionally assisted Poirot in an investigation or two. I thought it was kind of cool that she was included in this latest entry.

The house where this was taking place seemed a little outlandish, but maybe that is how they look in Venice. The first murder itself was a bit weird as well. This movie does require quite a leap to buy into the plot.

There are quite a few lapses in judgment in the making of this film, but all is not lost. Branagh stays pretty faithful to the spirit of Christie’s works. The cast was pretty good, and there are a couple of unnerving moments that causes a bit of a chill.

Branagh may do better just sticking closer to the book if he continues to bring his version of Poirot to the 21st century. It may be that I just don’t have it in me to bash a new Poirot completely, but I still managed to enjoy this one. It is still good enough to provide an entertaining diversion. Branagh has a different interpretation of Poirot that I would prefer sometimes, but he leaves enough for me to hope for another stab at bringing Agatha Christie to this modern audience.