Monday, June 19, 2023

***NEW REVIEW*** THE BOOGEYMAN



THE BOOGEYMAN 🌟🌟½
(Review by Bryan Macklowe)

Sisters Sadie (Sophie Thatcher, "Yellowjackets") and Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair, "Bird Box") are grieving their mother's recent death when a strange creature begins haunting their home. Their psychologist father (Chris Messina, "The Mindy Project") is not fully engaged, so he doesn't listen to their pleas for help. They decide to fight the evil themselves before the creature destroys them all.

Based on a short story by Stephen King, this modest chiller keeps audience interest by offering solid work by the actors. They ground the film in a quiet reality that gives us a reason to be invested in what happens. The downside to this is that much of what happens in this movie feels like we've seen it all before: the withdrawn teen who gets bullied by her fellow students, having to protect the cute little sister who just wants to play her video games and be left alone. The dad who's too distraught to pay attention to what's going on around him, while going through the motions of his job -- which is to listen to people. The familiar creature who hides in the shadows and must be defeated by the light. Even the warnings from the estranged couple who everyone thinks is crazy but 'knows the truth.' 

These overly used tropes kind of dilute the overall impact. Yet I did appreciate that the director Rob Savage ("Host") and his writers (Scott Beck, Bryan Woods and Mark Heyman) avoided the easy way out with cheap gore effects, opting instead to build a sense of suspense and atmosphere. Without giving too much away, the film does leave the door open for a sequel. It's to the film's credit that I didn't cringe at the thought of one happening.

Friday, February 11, 2022

Criddic's Picks 2021

 Criddic's Picks

BEST PICTURE

Belfast
Dune
The Power of the Dog
Tick, Tick...Boom!
West Side Story



BEST DIRECTOR

Kenneth Branagh, 
Belfast
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Julia Decournau, Titane
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tick, Tick...Boom!
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

This is Branagh's second nod for directing, after winning for Hamlet (1996). Campion was nominated for The Piano (1993). Decournau and Miranda are new. Spielberg, on his 15th directing nomination, wins his 7th Criddic award in this category!

BEST ACTOR


Nicolas Cage, 
Pig
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick...Boom!
Will Smith, King Richard
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Cage finally makes it onto the ballot after years of close misses. Cumberbatch has been nominated previously for The Imitation Game (2014).
Smith is on his third nomination, having won for The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and been up for Concussion (2015). Washington is on his 8th acting nomination, winning thrice: in support for Glory (1989) and lead for Courage Under Fire and Fences (2016). Garfield wins for a revelatory dramatic and musical performance. He had been nominated in lead for Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and won support for his role in The Social Network (2010).

BEST ACTRESS


Olivia Colman, 
The Lost Daughter
Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Emilia Jones, CODA
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Tessa Thompson, Passing

Colman won last year for her supporting role in The Father and was nominated previously in support for The Favourite (2018).
Cruz has been here before for another Almodovar film, Volver (2006). Kidman has been listed in lead for The Others (2001) and support for Boy Erased (2018). Thompson is on her first. Jones, also on her first, is our winner.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR


Mike Faist, 
West Side Story
Jason Isaacs, Mass
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

In a bit of unusual schedule shuffling, last year's Oscar-winner Kaluuya is the only acting beneficiary of the Covid-inspired eligibility listing. Criddic did not change the calendar acceptance arrangement and did not coincide with Oscar patterns. He was the recipient of the lead actor award for Get Out (2017). Everyone else is new to Criddic, with Kotsur edging out his competition.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS


Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Ann Dowd, Mass
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Ruth Negga, Passing

Dowd was mentioned here for Compliance (2012). Dunst makes a long-anticipated return after her breakout win for Interview with the Vampire (1994), nearly two decades ago. Ellis and Negga are new to BKM. Newcomer DeBose takes the prize.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Belfast
C'mon, C'mon
Don't Look Up
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mass


Mills is on his first. McKay was nommed in adapted for The Big Short (2015). Berson, King and Lucas are new. So is Kranz.
Branagh won the adapted screenplay award, somewhat controversially for Hamlet (1996) and takes the original category for a deeply personal work.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CODA
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog
Tick, Tick... Boom!
West Side Story


Everyone is new here, except Kuschner and Campion. Kushner was nominated for Lincoln. Campion lost both of her previous bids for The Piano (1993) and Bright Star (2009), but third time's the charm.

BEST ANIMATED FILM


Encanto

Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Ron's Gone Wrong


BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

Flee
Pray Away
The Rescue
Summer of Soul
Val


BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Drive My Car (Japan)
Flee (Denmark)
Parallel Mothers (Spain)
Petite Maman (France)
Titane (Belgium)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN


The French Dispatch

Last Night in Soho
Nightmare Alley
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story






BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Dune
The Green Knight
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story


BEST COSTUME DESIGN


Coming 2 America
Cruella
The Green Knight
The Harder They Fall
West Side Story





BEST FILM EDITING


Belfast
The Harder They Fall
No Time to Die
Spider-Man: No Way Home
West Side Story



BEST MAKEUP


Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
No Time to Die


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Annette
Dune
Encanto
The Green Knight
The Power of the Dog


BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"So May We Start" from Annette
"Down to Joy" fromBelfast
"Beyond the Shore" from CODA
"Guns Go Bang" from The Harder They Fall
"No Time to Die" from No Time to Die

BEST SOUND EDITING

Black Widow
Dune
The Green Knight
No Time to Die
A Quiet Place, Part II


BEST SOUND MIXING

Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
Tock, Tick... Boom!
West Side Story



BEST VISUAL EFFECTS


Dune

Free Guy
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Godzilla vs. Kong
Spider-Man: No Way Home



Tuesday, October 19, 2021

 NEW REVIEW:  

HALLOWEEN KILLS ½


Having firmly established a new mythology for continuing the franchise, by ignoring all previous sequels and focusing on the aftermath of events from the original 1978 film, the 2018 "Halloween" gave us a worthy return to Haddonfield. As that film closed Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) were battle-bruised but content that they had rid the world of Michael Myers. Or so they thought.

In particularly brutal fashion, Myers escapes his flame-blazing hell-journey by knifing his way through a firefighting rescue team. In response the neighborhood of Haddonfield is led into a frenzied revolt by none other than Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall, "The Breakfast Club"), one of the kids babysat by Laurie on that fateful 1978 night. As this is going on, bed-ridden Laurie shares a hospital room with a recovering Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton, "Copycat"), who was attacked by crazed Dr. Sartain in the previous film. Both desperately want to help fight against Michael, once they realize that he's not dead, but are rendered virtually useless due to their injuries. This makes Laurie even more frustrated, as her family tries to compensate by finding their own ways to confront the danger.

"Halloween Kills" isn't as organized as the 2018 film was. The ensuing chaos on screen is at times almost as confusing to us as it is to the characters, which breaks up the tension from time to time. But there is some suspense and plenty of gore attacks for fans of the genre. The story does gain forward motion as we reach the dramatic climax that sets up the final chapter, next year's "Halloween Ends." It is a sufficiently executed and well-acted continuation that we do want to know how the saga will conclude. On that level, the movie works even if it's just a notch below the surprisingly effective previous entry.


 FLASHBACK REVIEW:

HALLOWEEN (2018)
  


John Carpenter's "Halloween" was a milestone moment in independent film making, grossing $70 million worldwide on a budget of $300,000 partly on the strength of good reviews and word of mouth. It also introduced audiences to two iconic horror genre characters, babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and evil incarnate Michael Myers (Nick Castle). Over the next few decades, numerous sequels attempted to flesh out the story of Myers and his hunt for living family members to kill while destroying anyone else in his path. There was even a remake that diluted much of the character's effect by expounding on what made him into a killer in the first place.

The 1998 anniversary of the series presented a chance to go back to the basics, devoid of druid cults or psychic connections in what became the franchise's most successful sequel "H20," in which Ms. Curtis returned to face Michael (we thought) one last time. The producers had other ideas, particularly the late Moustapha Akkad who had a clause put into the contracts that Michael could never really be killed off. This upset Curtis, who agreed to "H20" on the condition that her character would believe he was gone for good. Then came the nadir of the franchise, "Resurrection" (2002). Now enter director David Gordon Green and Danny McBride with a vision to again wipe the slate clean back to the original concept, ignoring all the entries after the original.

Forty years after the events of the 1978 film, Michael is in an institution where he is visited in the opening moments by a pair of true crime podcasters intent on reopening the old case while taunting him with his mask. The next day, while being transferred to another facility he escapes and makes his way back to Haddonfield, where Laurie has been waiting all this time.

In the prior decades, Laurie has tried to prepare her daughter and granddaughter for the eventuality of Michael's homecoming which has estranged her from them. Her perceived overzealousness and paranoia has made her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) resentful and she refuses to entertain her mother's warnings that danger is on the way. Thus sets up this latest chapter in the storied franchise.

This sequel works surprisingly well as a direct continuation of the first movie. It is smartly written and acted, contains solid suspense and enough kills to please gore fans. Creator John Carpenter has even returned with a good, spooky score. Jamie Lee Curtis infuses Laurie with the same determination she had before, now mixed with a certain bitterness for all the lost years caused by her encounter with Michael Myers years ago. Fans should celebrate this return to Haddonfield.