Abandoned Cottage

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Nine Days

THE GIST: An auditor has nine days to conduct a series of interviews with different candidate souls for a chance to be born into the world.

Nine Days is a drama with a flair of fantasy that doesn't involve any magic or time travel or anything like that. It's all actually very down-to-earth (no pun intended).

Winston Duke gives a very contained performance, flanked by a lovely Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale, David Rysdahl, Arianna Ortiz, and Bill Skarsgård.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A very well-structured film that showcases some excellent talent. Definitely recommended.

Grade: 8

Stillwater

THE GIST: Bill's daughter, Allison, is jailed in France for the alleged murder of her partner, for which she claims innocence. When her lawyer declines to pursue new information that could exonerate her, Bill decides to take matters into his own hands.

Stillwater is a mystery and family-drama vehicle that expertly leverages the talents of Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin to serve up a tense, well-developed film.

Camille Cottin is also excellent in a fairly large supporting role.

The story clearly recalls a true-life murder investigation of an American exchange student in Italy. She was released on appeal after having spent a good amount of time in prison.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Definitely a good movie, well written, and with a great cast. Plenty of action keeps the engine humming along, so don't be scared by the runtime.

Grade: 8

The Long Way Ahead

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Mayhem

THE GIST: An airborne virus that attacks the nervous system and removes all inhibitions spreads through an office building, which is then quarantined by the police. Those inside have no protection from the virus and no way to resist their worst and most basic urges and impulses, leading to acts of sex, violence, and revenge that had, up to now, been contained.

Mayhem is a dark comedy that deals with a topic we're all too familiar with right now: the emergence of a new virus against which we're initially defenseless. Certainly the virus in the movie is way more dangerous than the coronavirus we're dealing with . . .

The movie, in my opinion, is not fully successful, in spite of it clearly being tongue-in-cheek, because it feels somewhat cheaply and summarily made.

Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving are pretty good, but overall all the actors seem to play exaggerated caricatures, and that kind of downgraded the whole thing for me. It's almost like they didn't take themselves too seriously—whether directed to or not—and therefore I couldn't either.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Not a bad movie, just not fully successful. Still, it's okay for a night of escapism.

Grade: 5.5

T2: Trainspotting

THE GIST: After 20 years living abroad, Mark Renton ventures back to Scotland and reunites with the friends he left behind—and in a lurch—when he stiffed them of their loot. Things don't go exactly smoothly for him.

I remember watching Trainspotting many years ago and being blown away by its originality and rawness. The fact that Danny Boyle was able to get the original cast back together for T2: Trainspotting after so long speaks volumes of the love the fans have for the story and the fun the actors clearly had working together back then and once again now.

I actually think I enjoyed the sequel even more than the original, because it feels more bittersweet, thanks to the aging of the characters (and the actors themselves).

Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, and Jonny Lee Miller are all fantastic. Robert Carlyle is both scary and scarily good.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Definitely recommended, although make sure you have access to subtitles; I would have been lost without them. Naturally, it would be advisable to watch the first chapter and then this one.

Grade: 8

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

THE GIST: Charlie is about to start high-school without friends and with some deep emotional scars. By chance, he strikes up a friendship with a couple of seniors, who take him under their wings and show him the ropes.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a very well-written coming-of-age story that packs a wallop with its final reveal about Charlie's past.

Logan Lerman pretty much carries the movie on his young shoulders and is excellent. You just want to give him a hug and be his friend.

Ezra Miller and Emma Watson are both ebullient, and the rest of the cast showcases some great supporting players.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A really good, sweet, and heartwarming drama about young people discovering themselves and gradually becoming adults. Highly recommended.

Grade: 8.5

Anthropomorphic Sunflower

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Big Boat, Little Boat

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On the River

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Swallow

THE GIST: Hunter loves her husband Richie, even though he's quite controlling and demanding. His parents are worse still, and her new pregnancy only increases her feelings of isolation and powerlessness. One day, a sudden urge compels her to swallow a small object, in spite of the dangers. Soon, she finds herself unable—and unwilling—to stop.

Swallow is a mystery that unfolds quietly around its protagonist, whose actions become more and more disturbing and hard to look at. Still, you can't look away.

Haley Bennett (whose resemblance to Jennifer Lawrence is unsettling) carries the movie on her shoulders and does an excellent job. Her face-off against the great Denis O'Hare is simply fantastic—and thoroughly suspenseful.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A really good drama that might be a bit hard to swallow (no pun intended) for some viewers. Definitely recommended, especially since the condition really does exist. I can't imagine having such urges that put your very life at constant risk.

Grade: 7.5

Rocking It

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The Final Wish

THE GIST: Aaron heads back home after the sudden death of his father to help his grief-stricken mother, knowing full well he's in for a rough time, given the way he left town. His father was an antiques dealer, and going through his things Aaron finds a mysterious artifact. Soon, odd and violent events start occurring.

I love horror movies and I've seen enough to know that good ones are not very easy to find. The Final Wish ended up on my radar only because of the casting of the brilliant Lin Shaye, whom I discovered via the Insidious franchise.

As expected, Shaye is great to watch, even though her part is quite small. As feared, her performance is also the only salvageable thing, aside from her being the only actor who's able to shine in spite of the threadbare script.

The sad thing is that the original idea isn't bad (albeit hardly original), but it's very poorly executed on paper, speeding through occurrences or jumping around sequences of events that take for granted the capacity of the audience to be forgiving. After a while, it's game over.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I never really stop watching a movie once I start it, so I stuck around till the end, and it never gets any better. Skip this one.

Grade: 4

Ancient Species

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Tucked

THE GIST: A drag queen in her 70s is asked to show the ropes to a teenage queen who's just starting out in the business. Peeved at first, the two actually become really close while confronting their individual issues with gender identity and mortality.

Movies about drag queens can quickly flounder by either veering sharply into camp or treating the characters as simple stereotypes. Tucked treats the subject matter and the characters, both old and young, with total respect and deftness, making it one to watch.

Derren Nesbitt and Jordan Stephens are excellent as the two drag queens.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A warts-and-all tale about friendship blossoming even in the unlikeliest of circumstances. Definitely recommended.

Grade: 7.5

Marjorie Prime

THE GIST: Her mother Marjorie's memory beginning to falter, Tess gets her a holographic recreation of her late husband, powered by an AI capable of learning and resembling the original, to help her feel less lonely.

Marjorie Prime is a very slow-building film about the possibilities an actual Artificial Intelligence could provide humanity with, especially for lessening loneliness or mild forms of depression and social anxiety.

Like I said, it's fairly slow, but its cerebral nature sort of requires it, and the movie is by no means boring.

The excellent cast features Jon Hamm, Tim Robbins, Geena Davis, and the lovely Lois Smith, and they all do a great job.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Very good acting and a deeply reflective screenplay about aging in the 21st century. Quite interesting.

Grade: 7.5

Old Mill

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Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

THE GIST: Her Hollywood-leading-lady days long gone, Gloria Grahame still finds work in the theater, currently in England. It's there that she meets Peter Turner, a young actor struggling to find work, and soon they're inseparable, in spite of their age difference.

Much more than a simple romance movie, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool is carried equally by its two stars, Annette Bening and Jamie Bell, with a great Julie Walters in a supporting role.

I was surprised to find out that Bening's character is based on a real person; surprised mostly because I've watched plenty of old Hollywood movies and had never heard of Gloria Grahame, who even won an Oscar!

THE BOTTOM LINE: An interesting story about a turbulent love affair that will keep you engaged throughout, thanks to the excellent acting.

Grade: 8

Catching the Last Light

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Mimic

THE GIST: The emergence in New York City of a virus that attacks and quickly kills children forces a scientist to genetically modify and release an insect in order to destroy the virus carrier, the common cockroach. Three years later, the newly created insect is not only unexpectedly still alive, but it has evolved and mutated into its own dangerous threat to humanity.

Creature films are probably among the hardest to pull off. The creature has to be scary and powerful—and oftentimes the less you show of it the better—but it also has to have a weak spot.

Mimic's creature is certainly scary and powerful, and we see enough of it to feel that, but the movie as a whole doesn't feel solid enough, primarily because of the many instances of happenstance and the dumb choices several characters make.

This goes back to the screenplay, of course, which I found to be lacking.

Nevertheless, the cast, led by Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam, does a pretty good job, and F. Murray Abraham has a pretty cool cameo, unlike Giancarlo Giannini, whose role makes very little sense.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A barely palatable horror that clearly shows its age. Up to you.

Grade: 5

Old Fort

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Extra Ordinary

THE GIST: Rose, a sweet and lonely driving instructor, is constantly hounded by people in need of her supernatural talents, which she steadfastly refuses to use since a bad accident years prior. Reluctantly, she agrees to help a man whose wife's spirit still hangs around in their house. There's also a washed-up pop-star who dabbles in dark magic to restart his career.

Extra Ordinary looked like an interesting comedy, so I decided to give it a try. It's not extraordinary . . . but it's certainly funny.

The best part is Maeve Higgins, who plays Rose, who is equal parts adorable and hysterical. What a great actress. And her partner-in-crime, Barry Ward, is just as good!

Will Forte, almost unrecognizable behind that ridiculous makeup, is pretty good as well.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Dry and witty English humor abounds, and I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're into it, give this one a whirl!

Grade: 6.5

She Saw Me

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Baby Driver

THE GIST: Baby is a highly skilled driver who's being coerced by a crime boss into being the getaway driver for the heists he plans until he has finished paying off a debt. The robbers he meets are varying degrees of dangerous, but Baby just dreams of being free of his debt and driving off into the sunset.

Baby Driver is a very well written, high-speed heist movie with a set of fully developed characters at its center, and a couple side-stories that make it whole.

Ansel Elgort is excellent at playing the laser-focused, talented young driver. Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, and Jamie Foxx are fantastic as well. Lily James is simply adorable and sparks fly whenever she and Elgort are together.

Kevin Spacey is very good and easily the best actor in the cast. This was one of the last movies he made before being ensnared by the sexual-harassment scandal that torpedoed his career. He's trying to restart it now, but only time will tell if he'll succeed. It certainly is hard to get the knowledge out of one's mind while watching him onscreen, which is too bad.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A very entertaining movie that never let's you down. Highly recommended.

Grade: 8

Yellow Bloom

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Wonder Wheel

THE GIST: A lifeguard on 1950s Coney Island recounts the eventful summer of a carousel operator, his jaded wife, and an unexpected visitor, who brings a hefty dose of turmoil into their lives.

Written and directed by Woody Allen, Wonder Wheel is unlike most of his earlier films in that Allen did not cast himself in any role. Still, his imprint is unmistakable, and not entirely in a good way.

I generally like Allen's works, which I find funny, witty, and artsy in equal parts, and always carefully crafted. There isn't really another auteur who can match the breadth and depth of his oeuvre.

Unfortunately, it looks like while Allen didn't see a role for himself in this movie—possibly because of his advanced age—he simply directed Justin Timberlake to be his replacement and act like he would have—neurotic tics and quirks included—which occasionally feels strident.

I've had the pleasure of observing Timberlake in other movies, so I know he can act; it's too bad that he wasn't let loose here and allowed to create his own character—or at least that's how it felt from my couch.

Regardless, two things make this movie worth your time if you like Allen's work: one, Kate Winslet is phenomenal, chewing the scenery out of every scene she's in; two, Vittorio Storaro's cinematography is spellbinding, quickly becoming a character in its own right.

Alas, there's one thing that ultimately dragged my rating down: the overly-theatrical acting makes this feel more like a play than a movie, which to me was not a positive quality.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Still recommendable if you like Allen's work, this wasn't one of his best for me. Still, Winslet is so good she reminded me of an early Bette Davis, dominating scenes and keeping the audience captive.

Grade: 5.5

Cujo

THE GIST: After being bit by a bat, Cujo, a lovely St. Bernard, contracts rabies, which turns him into a scary huge beast out for blood. He'll get his fill in his little town.

I'm a big fan of Stephen King, whose book this movie is based on, so I tend to watch any adaptation, hoping for a good one. This one isn't impressive.

I should point out that I haven't read the book, so I can't speak to the accurateness of the screenplay, but I just didn't find the movie as a whole to be that scary.

I mean, sure, a rabid dog is not something I would ever want to face, but there's a very simple explanation behind the scary dog, nothing supernatural or mystical about it, so I was unfazed.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I'm sure one day I'll read the book and perhaps reconsider this movie, but for now Cujo left me indifferent.

Grade: 5

Soulful Gaze

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White Bridge

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Smiling Young Woman

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They Remain

THE GIST: A wooded area has been cordoned off after being used as home ground by a violent cult. Two scientists are sent in to investigate odd animal behavior and figure out if there's any relation to the cult. They soon find out they aren't the first ones to have been sent there.

They Remain is a mystery movie that dabbles in horror territory but without any gore. It kind of bets all its chips on the suspense it works hard to create, but only partially succeeds.

I've actually caught several movies like this of late, so maybe it's a new trend, but generating and sustaining suspense is not very easy without also slowing the pace and at the same time keeping the audience's attention.

The two actors are both good, even though their characters are fairly stereotypical and not fully fledged out.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I don't really feel like recommending this movie. It's trying too hard to be better than it is and the end result is just weak.

Grade: 5

Artificial Wave

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Jungle Cruise

THE GIST: A British scientist wants to find a legendary tree with healing powers to benefit humanity at large, so she hires a down-on-his-luck cruise tour guide to help her navigate through the jungle. Unfortunately, she's not the only one looking for the fabled tree.

Jungle Cruise tells a fairly simple story, but it's structured pretty well, with plenty of action scenes interpolated with useful backstory explanations.

The best part about it is obviously Emily Blunt, a favorite of mine, who can brighten any film with a simple smile. Dwayne Johnson found another movie to showcase his action-star and comedic talents, and the two of them have plenty of chemistry together.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Nice visuals, good acting, and a solid enough script make for a fun couple of hours, safe for the whole family.

Grade: 6.5

Into the Forest

THE GIST: An unknown event causes a massive, countrywide power outage that seems to have no end in sight. Two sisters and their father happen to be in their remote mountain house, which is probably a safer place to be, given the circumstances, since they'll have to learn to survive off the land and what nature provides.

Into the Forest has a very interesting end-of-the-world premise, and is surely suspenseful and thoroughly watchable, but the script seems to stubbornly want to present these two young women as both very smart and utterly naïve.

One is studying for her SATs and the other one wants to be a dancer, but when the power goes out, rather than acknowledge the gravity of the situation and try to adapt to their new reality, they continue studying and practicing dance routines as if such an outage was something of little consequence.

And they go on like this for quite a long time. Not even a serious accident seems enough to shake them out of their privileged existences, which kind of makes you wonder how smart they really are.

Either way, both Elliot Page and Evan Rachel Wood do a good job, professionally handling the material at hand.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I would recommend this movie only as a curiosity really, because the girls' actions and decisions can become pretty frustrating after a while. You just wanna slap some sense into them!

Grade: 6.5

Sunflowers Field

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Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

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The Green Knight

THE GIST: Eager to become a Knight and prove his mettle to his uncle King Arthur and the other Knights, Sir Gawain goes on a quest to find and confront the fearsome Green Knight.

The Green Knight wasn't a movie I had on my radar at first, but after seeing how well it was received by almost all critics, I figured I'd check it out—after all, being on AMC's A-List program, I get 3 tickets per week, use them or lose them, and right now there aren't that many movies out there to begin with, so why not?

What a big mistake! The movie is too long, too slow, and it's littered with scenes that don't go anywhere! I mean, there's literally characters that do stuff and it's never explained why, nor is there a connection to later scenes.

I understand and can appreciate that it's an adaptation of a medieval poem or a short story, but to work in motion picture format it still needs to be adapted to the medium, not the other way around.

Sure, the costumes, props, makeup, and sets are wonderful, and the acting is really good, especially Dev Patel's, who pretty much carries the whole movie on his shoulders. But there's too much lack of cohesiveness and clarity of execution in both screenplay and direction to consider this as anything other than a pretentious mess.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I watch a wide variety of movies of any genre, and appreciate films that run the gamut from art-house favorites to big-budget summer tentpoles, so believe me when I tell you that this movie is an overblown turd. Stay away at all costs.

Grade: 2.5

A Reflection in Central Park

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Pig

THE GIST: A recluse truffle hunter lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness, his only company that of his foraging pig. When she's kidnapped, he must leave his seclusion behind and face the ghosts of his past life in order to be reunited with her.

I decided to go see Pig because critics were quite enthusiastic about the movie per se and Nicolas Cage's performance in particular.

The latter is certainly of note, especially considering that Cage is prone to histrionics that sometimes feel over the top, while here he seems almost self-chastised. His character has been wronged and is trying to take back what was his; he often seems on the verge of letting his anger have the better of him, but always pushes it back down. Impressive performance no doubt.

As far as the movie though, it's not bad, nor flawed, but it's also not particularly memorable.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Check this out if you're looking for a nice diversion from the usual flare.

Grade: 6

Woman in Black Corset

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French Exit

THE GIST: An aging, widowed, Manhattan socialite has been living for years beyond her means. Facing insolvency, she flees to Paris with her codependent son, a cat, and a bag of cash.

French Exit feels like a throwback to an earlier era, when Hollywood studios regularly produced fare for a more adult and discerning audience.

The script takes us through the events in the life of this woman at a good pace, alternating between dark comedy and slight tragedy.

Michelle Pfeiffer is magnificent, and Lucas Hedges is at his best. Two great actors playing in perfect synchronicity. Valerie Mahaffey is memorable in a smaller role.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Definitely recommended if you think of cinema as an art form. 

Grade: 7.5

Moldy Hallway

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Old

THE GIST: A family vacationing in an exclusive tropical resort finds itself spending the day on a secluded beach with a few strangers. Shortly after getting there, a ghastly discovery sets in motion a series of nightmarish and alarming situations.

Old is M. Night Shyamalan's latest mystery and while not one of his best, it certainly showcases the director's typical penchant for one or more well-timed twists.

The story is definitely interesting, even though I found the screenplay a bit uneven in its development.

The biggest issue I had with the film, however, was with the acting. The cast certainly features talented actors (Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, and Thomasin McKenzie primarily), but they come across a bit stiff, and the only one I can find blame with here is the director, who this time gave himself a bit more than the usual cameo, perhaps unwisely.

THE BOTTOM LINE: If you, like me, enjoy Shyamalan's work then this movie should be enjoyable enough. The final reveal is quite jaw dropping.

Grade: 7