The Beekeeper
The film's biggest highlight is the actor as an unlikely hero: a beekeeper-turned-assassin.
Bees, scammers, and a hive of lies. Jason Statham’s latest record-breaking feature The Beekeeper is honey-soaked, with wisdom that leaves the viewer wanting more and learning to be wary of scammers, stop elder abuse, and save the bees. As he aggressively fights to save the bees (and society) from total destruction, Statham serves up the same kind of grizzled Brit-buster vibes he's given us through decades of punch-em-up action. But this one's something special, a caper that leans into the meme of both Statham's curious star power and his apian brethren.
Directed by David Ayer, The Beekeeper tells the story of Adam Clay (Jason Statham), a beekeeper and retired member of the crime-fighting organization of the same name. But when his elderly neighbor Mrs. Parker (Phylicia Rashad) is subject to scammers and loses everything, Adam goes on a mission to find the scammers and kill their operation to “protect the hive.” His journey leads him all the way to the White House, even involving the FBI and CIA. Continue Reading →
Snow
SimilarA Christmas Carol (1938), Apocalypse Now (1979), Batman Returns (1992), Ben-Hur (1959), Billy Elliot (2000), Brazil (1985), Contact (1997), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Finding Forrester (2000), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016), Metropolis (1927), Sahara (2005), Scrooge (1951), Shooter (2007), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Talk to Her (2002), The Apartment (1960), The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), The Holiday (2006), The Last Emperor (1987), The Party 2 (1982), The Tin Drum (1979), Wonder Boys (2000),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Interstellar (2014), Leave the World Behind (2023), Napoleon (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Poor Things (2023), Saltburn (2023),
J.A. Bayona directs a heartbreaking adaptation of a true-life tale of tragedy & miracles.
Though we joke about the smallest inconveniences rendering us helpless, in truth the human will to survive cannot be underestimated. When confronted with imminent death, we can and will resort to extreme means to escape it, sometimes in ways that might shock and horrify those who weren’t there. One such story was Aron Ralston, a hiker who was forced to break and cut his own arm off after he was trapped by a fallen boulder, as depicted in 2010’s 127 Hours. Another was a 1972 plane crash in the Andes mountains, after which the survivors, faced with subzero temperatures, no food, and no plant life or animals to be found, eventually resorted to cannibalism to avoid starvation.
The Andes plane crash story was adapted for film a number of times, including the trashy, exploitative Survive!, and 1993’s competently made but whitewashed Alive, in which Ethan Hawke was cast as a character named Nando Parrado. Now J.A. Bayona, whose 2012 film The Impossible was also a harrowing tale of survival, takes a turn with Society of the Snow, a gripping, heart-wrenching look at the emotional toll such an unthinkable event takes on those who somehow came out of it alive, if not exactly well. Continue Reading →
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
SimilarBack to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Batman Begins (2005), Batman Forever (1995), Batman Returns (1992), Ben-Hur (1959), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Blown Away (1994), Catwoman (2004), Code of Silence (1985), Constantine (2005), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000), Die Hard 2 (1990), Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), Face/Off (1997), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard (1967), Hitman (2007), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Just Cause (1995), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Léon: The Professional (1994), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Oldboy (2003),
Shaft (2000) Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), The Fifth Element (1997), The Legend of Zorro (2005), Zatoichi (2003),
Watch afterNapoleon (2023), Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), The Marvels (2023), Wonka (2023),
StarringTemuera Morrison,
A decade's worth of superhero movies goes out with a big, stupid grin on its face.
One would hope that a film franchise with as much money poured into it as the DC Cinematic Universe would rage, rage against the dying of the light. Yet here we are, limping towards the end of a slate of superhero flicks marred by terrible reviews (Shazam! 2), controversy (The Flash), or sheer too-little-too-late-ness (Blue Beetle). As the superhero genre continues to flag in a year of duds, DC's set for a reinvention, a clean slate courtesy of former Marvel it-boy James Gunn and co-head Peter Safran. Before they can wipe the board and start all over with the label's slate of classic capes, though, there's a few rounds left in the last guy's chamber to fire off. That's what Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom feels like, easily the least objectionable of the DC films to come out in 2023. Problem is, that's not saying much.
A sequel to Aquaman should have been a slam dunk: Director James Wan's 2018 take on the King of Atlantis was a welcome breath of neon-soaked pop art in a franchise studded with Snyderesque dourness, leaning into the innate silliness of an underwater take on Flash Gordon. Jason Momoa is as effortless a casting as you could imagine for DC's hardest-to-pin-down superhero, brimming with giddy frat-boy energy. At its best moments, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom leans into its star's goofiness and even lets it infect some of the rest of the cast. But there's no escaping the feeling of weariness, both for a cast and crew who are just repeating the novel beats of the first and an audience that's just plain starved for something new. Continue Reading →
Napoleon
SimilarA Beautiful Mind (2001), A Real Young Girl (1976), Almost Famous (2000), Apollo 13 (1995),
Boys Don't Cry (1999) Brubaker (1980), Copying Beethoven (2006), Dances with Wolves (1990), Erin Brockovich (2000), Freedom Writers (2007), Gandhi (1982), GoodFellas (1990), Gridiron Gang (2006), Manhattan (1979), Mississippi Burning (1988), Monster (2003), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Paris Can Wait (2016), Raging Bull (1980), Schindler's List (1993), Sissi (1955), The Elephant Man (1980), The Last Emperor (1987), The Pianist (2002), The Straight Story (1999), Titanic (1997),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023),
Barbie (2023) Killers of the Flower Moon (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) Society of the Snow (2023), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), The Killer (2023), The Marvels (2023), Wonka (2023),
StudioApple Studios,
Ridley Scott’s surprisingly hollow biopic of the French military commander falters as a character piece and comes shy of victory as an epic.
For a film with as many contradictions as Napoleon, it’s odd for it to be so straightforward. It covers 28 years, but it never feels like a lot of changes. It’s over two and a half hours, which, while not a herculean runtime, never entirely slows down. Perhaps it’s because it never really gets started. Ridley Scott’s latest opens with a public decapitation of Marie Antoinette (Catherine Walker), giving way to the 1793 Siege of Toulon. The violence is often unsparingly graphic, so why, then, does it feel so cosmetic? Shouldn’t a live horse eviscerated by a cannonball to the chest do something to the viewer?
Maybe not when there’s such little context. If Napoleon is one thing, it’s episodic—ahistorical, even. David Scarpa’s script begins in the trenches and is content on staying there. Everyone and everything are simply window dressing. That includes Napoleon Bonaparte himself (Joaquin Phoenix), whom the film oversimplifies from intrinsically flawed leader to wholly externalized man-child. After the Siege, he wins the affections of Joséphine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby). The two soon marry. Continue Reading →
Wish
SimilarAladdin (1992), Catwoman (2004), Constantine (2005), Dances with Wolves (1990), Dr. No (1962), Enchanted (2007), Fantasia (1940), From Russia with Love (1963), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Hellboy (2004),
Live and Let Die (1973) Mary Poppins (1964), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Princess Mononoke (1997), Shrek (2001), The Big Blue (1988), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), You Only Live Twice (1967),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Five Nights at Freddy's (2023), Leave the World Behind (2023), Meg 2: The Trench (2023), Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), Napoleon (2023), Parasite (2019), Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023), Society of the Snow (2023), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), The Marvels (2023), Wonka (2023),
StudioWalt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Productions,
Kids deserve better than yet another dull, going-through-the-motions misfire.
The animation world was recently startled by Warner Bros.' announcement that they planned to shelve their recently completed feature Coyote vs Acme for a quick tax write-off, rather than spend money to release it. Not to be outdone, Disney Studios offers up Wish, an animated feature that is the kind of artistic misfire that deserves to be hidden away and never spoken about again. This is a creation so alternately bewildering and banal that it's implausible that at no point during the entire creative process did anyone point out the seemingly obvious fact that virtually none of it works on even the most basic levels.
Wish takes place in the kingdom of Rosas, which was founded and is currently ruled by Magnifico (Chris Pine), a seemingly benevolent sorcerer who offers peace and protection for all those who live there. The catch is that they must surrender their deepest wish to Magnifico, who stores them in the lab in his castle in bubbles and once in a great while returns one to the person who made it. Inexplicably, the people of Rosas think this is a good deal, none more so than Asha (Ariana DeBose), a teenager who is all in on both Rosas and Magnifico and is hoping that the latter will present her beloved grandfather (Victor Argo) with his wish to commemorate his upcoming 100th birthday. Continue Reading →
The Marvels
Similar2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Aladdin (1992), Aliens (1986), Armageddon (1998), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Batman Begins (2005), Batman Forever (1995), Batman Returns (1992), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Catwoman (2004), Constantine (2005), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard (1967), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Hellboy (2004), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Ice Age (2002), Jaws: The Revenge (1987), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004),
Live and Let Die (1973) Mars Attacks! (1996), Men in Black II (2002), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Sin City (2005), Snakes on a Plane (2006), Solaris (1972), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Superman Returns (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Fifth Element (1997), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), The Road (2009),
Watch afterAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Five Nights at Freddy's (2023), Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), Napoleon (2023),
Oppenheimer (2023) The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), The Killer (2023), Wonka (2023),
StarringSamuel L. Jackson,
Most films don’t come with homework. The same cannot be said of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new movie, The Marvels. Unless you’re a devoted MCU fan with an encyclopedic knowledge of both the movies and the Disney+ TV originals, it’s difficult to understand the mechanics of this disastrously convoluted entry in the floundering franchise. It feels like being dropped headfirst into a crossover episode based on three shows you’ve never seen -- mostly because it is. The Marvels kicks off with a bit of genuine visual interest (that never appears again) in the form of hand-drawn comics created by teenage superhero-slash-Captain Marvel fangirl Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), aka Ms. Marvel. Vellani, who previously appeared as Kamala on the little-seen Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, is a spunky, hilarious teenage heroine whose impressive comedic timing buoys the leaden, disjointed script. She so thoroughly steals the show that it’s disappointing this movie wasn’t just about her; instead, it's a confused mix of storylines involving Kamala, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and astronaut Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris, Candyman). It feels like the powers that be made a huge mistake in consigning her story to a poorly publicized streaming original, instead of letting her headline a film on her own. Continue Reading →
Sayen: La cazadora
At the risk of making a "getting a lot of Sorcerer vibes from this" guy out of myself, The Hunted—William Friedkin's 2003 old-master-hunts-rogue-student thriller really does make for a fascinating counterpart to his earlier men-on-a-desperate-mission masterwork. Both delve into the lives of damaged, forlorn, isolated men on perilous quests for deliverance. And both of those quests lead deep into madness. Both pointedly contrast man-made, flame-choked hellscapes (Sorcerer's exploding oil well, The Hunted's secret mission amidst the Kosovo War) with the vast, amoral green of the deep forest (Columbia and Oregon, respectively). Both turn on setpieces that thrill while maintaining a grounded (if not necessarily "realistic") feel and weave surreality in with care. Continue Reading →