The Lost City (2022)

The Lost City is Romancing the Stone, updated, and built upon the sizeable charisma of its leads. Sure there is nothing original about it, nothing that isn't predictable. But Bullock and Tatum are just so damn adorable they carry the movie and make it all work. The supporting cast is strong too, a group of funny people having a good time in a film with enough of a story that it doesn't drag. This is what they mean when they say "popcorn flick" and it was yummy. 

And kudos to Bullock for proving she is as much a marketable comedy action star as the boys, opening a big movie and being cast against the younger man. This is a film that pretty much exists because of her star power and it highlights many of her talents, her excellent comedic timing, her likability, and her screen prescence. We all know she is a strong actor (Gravity) and while this film doesn't require that much of her chops she still doesn't phone it in. 

Tatum, who has been missing in action for a little comes back with a role that seems tailor made for him and his strengths too. Also a strong comedian with a likeable charm, he plays off Bullock well. The two make a great pair. Throw in Radcliff clearly having fun playing an eccentric villain (I'm so glad he appears to be turning into a great character actor) and the rest of the supporting cast and The Lost City is just so much fun to watch. 

And that's generally what The Lost City is, funny jokes, enjoyable scenario, and a light fun time. The film avoids condescending about its setting and sticks within its rather predictable lane but doesn't try to be anything more than it is. 

The Lost City

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliff, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Brad Pitt, Patti Harrison, Oscar Nuñez, Bowen Yang

Directors: Adam Nee, Aaron Nee

Writers: Oren Uziel, Dana Fox, Adam Nee, Aaron Nee

 

The Outfit (2022)

I admit I love a good one-room talky movie. You know the kind, it feels like a play, all set on one set, the characters "trapped" there for whatever reason, having to talk their way through the story's dilemma. The Outfit is exactly that, a delicious cat and mouse that doesn't go quite as you would think and features a classy cast that is a joy to watch. 

By now we all know Rylance has incredible screen charisma and he uses it as an understated tailor who gets messed up in mob business in 1950s Chicago. The ins and out and backs and forths are fun mind games, a puzzle for us to solve as we watch it all unfold. Imitation Game writer turned director Moore does a great job of building tension, telling us exactly who everyone is, and then twisting that on us just enough to be on the lookout. It's great fun. 

I don't want to say too much except go see it and sit back and enjoy yourself. It's satisfying and while it might go just a little too close to the edge by the end it doesn't quite cross the line. 

The Outfit

Starring: Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn, Dylan O'Brien, Simon Russell Beale, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Alan Mehdizadeh

Director: Graham Moore

Writers: Jonathan McClain, Graham Moore

 

My Son (2022)

My Son felt like two films in one. On the one hand it started out as a fascinating rumination on an absentee father's grief and guilt after his son disappears. The film seemed to be going in an interesting direction exploring his feelings and responsibilities. However the film then morphed rather abruptly into a Liam Neeson style rescue film which was not nearly as engaging and dropped nearly all context related to the former. 

McAvoy and Foy had a fascinating dynamic going on as the film played with the difficult emotions around separated parents' struggling with a missing child. I was all set for a hard hitting drama about loss, about sacrifice, about the way we abdicate our responsibilities and our guilt over that. But the film only got so far down the road.

Spoiler: McAvoy's character discovers the child has been kidnapped by a child sex trafficking ring and goes on a quest to rescue him, which Foy eventually joins him on. The film does a decent job of making this rather unrealistic action saga emerge from the first drama, and uses the beginning as dad's motivation for his pursuit at all costs approach to rescuing his son. But it just becomes something else and looses a lot of what made it interesting for me before this point. 

To be fair the film handles its unrealistic plot (by unrealistic I mean the parents being the action hero saviours, not child trafficking which is unfortunately real) as well as can be expected but it still falls into a different category of film than the first half. I was way more interested in the first. But I didn't not enjoy the second. It ended up being a satisfying and tense thriller. 

The problem for me is the incongruity. The second requires a more distanced, suspension of disbelief approach to watching the film while the first requires a strap-yourself-in-this-will-be-emotionally-wrecking kind of approach. It was just jarring to go between them. I think i would have enjoyed both movies separately for different reasons. Together they feel like a mismatch.   

My Son

Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Gary Lewis

Director: Christian Carion

Writers: Laurie Irmann, Christian Carion

 

Windfall (2022)

Windfall is self-consciously old school thriller. From the opening, shot as loving homage to Hitchcockian thrillers, to the score done intentionally in the style of a 60s style noir, director McDowell apes the feel and emotion of an old fashioned movie and for me his approach captured the fun feel of the classics I remember watching on TV as a kid.

The film sticks tightly to its story. Rich couple come to their vacation home to find a man robbing it and we watch as they negotiate with each other the terms of him leaving. The script is witty and funny, exposing through their interactions who each character is and giving us a good picture of their back stories. It may fall a little into some predictable character elements but generally remains engaging enough to keep our attention. McDowell is economic in his telling which worked well, keeping the story entertaining and not dragging out what could have gone off the rails. 

The cast is good with Segel mostly playing against type, his usual likeable comic guy, is more desperate and pathetic than you would expect. Plemons stands out as the tech billionaire who is both unlikeable all the reasons you would expect but transcends this with some fascinating characterization as well. Collins as the rational yet frustrated wife is strong as well, creating a darker character that one would assume. The characters might be somewhat familiar but not so much that it felt too obvious.

Windfall is a talky movie, it's basically three people stuck in a situation and talking their way through it. I like talky movies, character studies, and Windfall lived up to what I would want from such a film. The film stumbles a little in the third act with a regrettable addition of a fourth character that ends up being problematic in his disposability. But the ending offers just enough twist (without too much) to make the payoff of the film satisfying. 

Windfall was a bit of a surprise. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. While perhaps it could have been more complex, the film is structured well and delivers on its potential. 

Windfall

Starring: Jason Segel, Lily Collins, Jesse Plemons, Omar Leyva

Director: Charlie McDowell

Writers: Justin Lader, Andrew Kevin Walker

 

Scarborough (2022)

Where does one begin to talk about Scarborough? Perhaps with the way film makers Nakhai and Willamson capture the "lived in" moments of their subjects' lives in ways that make them feel so incredibly honest? Perhaps with the ways it tackles the issues it raises so succinctly and organically that you never once feel like you are being lectured to? Perhaps with the stunning performances of its three young leads and the supporting adults. Scarborough is a breathtaking film that will break your heart while perhaps inspiring a bit of hope. 

Scarborough isn't nihilist despite how unflinchingly it looks at the ways poverty kills people. This is the story of three young children who find each other while in a community literacy program, the only place their parents can get them fed and provide them with some socialization and learning. Scarborough shows the way little things have an impact while also critiquing the larger systems that perpetuate the crime of poverty. But in all this there are moments of great love that is life saving. Don't get me wrong, the film never tries to sell us the "love will save the day" message, but it shows us the ways just how meaningful these connections are for everyone. 

The cast is amazing. The young actors took my breath away, each embodying their characters so fully, playing complex and difficult roles, yet exhibiting the kind of honesty and authenticity that we rarely see in professionals. The supporting roles are filled with wonderful actors as well from the quiet strength that Blood and Nakhai bring to their characters to the resistance that Kanani embodies in hers. 

But I was most impressed with the way the film wasn't afraid to tackle how whiteness plays into poverty and violence. The film lays breadcrumbs throughout, never slamming us over the head, but quietly and effectively holding a mirror up to Canadian society in a way that we have to see. The power of this story telling was incredible. 

But as I said Scarborough isn't bleak. Yes it will make you cry. But perhaps it will also make you see the small reasons to hope. Beautiful and captivating all the way through Scarborough is deserving of all the praise it is getting. 

Scarborough

Starring: Liam Diaz, Essence Fox, Anna Claire Beitel, Aliya Kanani, Cherish Violet Blood, Ellie Posadas

Directors: Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson

Writer: Catherine Hernandez

 

Deep Water (2022)

Director Lyne's films often focus on the ramifications of adultery. He's drawn to stories about circumstances spiralling out of control after his characters get caught up in extramarital passion, often to extreme lengths. His stories play out like little morality plays, suturing us into understanding how and why his subjects get swept up in the passion that will lead them into purgatory, but also having us revelling in their punishment. His films often end with a safe ending with our heroes learning their lesson but coming out okay in the end, no matter how questionable their journey was. 

In many ways this makes him seem like a perfect fit for an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's tale of a husband's passion, retribution, and murder. Her story mirrors that sort of morality play concept. But Lyne takes it in a bit of a different direction with mixed success at best. 

Lyne has once again made a beautiful film. His style remains lush and soft focused making watching his film a treat. He knows how to film his actors in a way that compels us towards them, even when they are unlikable in other ways. He pulls us into their drama, and caring for them even when we might not like them. Lyne has filmed some of the most erotic simulated movie sex I've seen on screen, often able to touch on the emotions and not just the physicality of the act. Here he films Affleck and de Armas in a way that is extremely erotic but, in keeping with his characterizations of them, soulless and often heartless as well. 

Lyne makes the choice to make his characters completely unlikeable. the film starts off with a promise of a loving couple that is open and there is a generosity in that openness. But it soon becomes apparent this is a loveless marriage where the couple use their sexualities as weapons against each other. It is a relationship of control and ownership despite the way Affleck's character spouts egalitarian ideology. In that way the film is quite clever. We watch as the two take jabs at each other, often through collateral damage. And this plays out fascinatingly in the way they parent as well, and how their daughter picks up on the dynamics of this family. 

But for me where Lyne goes wrong is in the thriller aspect. He, like the book, chooses not to make the crimes committed a mystery, so the film becomes more of a cat-and-mouse will he get away with it sort of film that ends up falling into a lot of 90s style erotic thriller cliches. This lost a lot of the fascination for me. I wanted more of the palpable relationship drama between the two damaged people and less of the covering up a murder hi-jinx. I know that's not far off from the novel but it was just the least interesting part. Vic is no Tom Ripley and just doesn't inspire in the audience the compassion to endure his struggle. 

But then Lyne's choice to change the ending was fascinating too. With everything that leads up to it it feels a bit tagged on. And for me, the if the film had spent more time building the complications of their relationship throughout the ending could have felt more impactful. But instead it just feels a little flat. I guess it just reminded me of what it could have been. 

I was excited to see Lyne back behind the camera after 20 years. His last film, Unfaithful, is I think my favourite of his work. But Deep Water feels like a step back. Hopefully this isn't the last film he'll make. 

Deep Water

Starring: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Lil Rel Howery, Tracey Letts, Dash Mihok, Jacob Elordi, Finn Wittrock, Kristen Connolly 

Director: Adrian Lyne

Writers: Zach Helm, Sam Levinson

 

Jockey (2022)

On paper, Jockey, with its standard plot and simplified characterizations should feel familiar. An aging "fill in the blank" (in this case a jockey) has to come to terms with his skill set slipping only to meet a younger (in this case a jockey) who he mentors. Yes we've seen it all before. So as I watched Jockey I was shocked at just how engaged and fascinated I was despite knowing exactly how it was going to play out and being surprised at absolutely nothing that happens. 

Really it comes down to two things: the incredible cast and remarkable first time director Clint Bentley. Clifton Collins Jr., one of those character actors who you recognize from so many things but can't quite put your finger on, knocks it out of the park as the title character. He brings such an amazing yet subtle power to his character in a roll, like I said, which should be rather cliche and rote. He makes it anything but. His charisma on screen is powerful but he never over plays it, always keeping his character reigned in to make it all the more powerful. Supported by the wonderful Molly Parker and up and comer Moisés Arias, Jockey's cast are a perfect team that sell this story. 

But a lot of the credit has to go to director Bentley. He has made a film that is gorgeous to look at, finding absolute beauty in the simplest of things. He tells his story economically filling each moment with a richness of pathos that is outstanding. As I said there isn't much here but he, and his talented cast, make Jockey honest and rich and completely rewarding. 

Jockey

Starring: Clifton Collins Jr., Molly Parker, Moisés Arias

Director: Clint Bentley

Writers: Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley

 

X (2022)

The state of horror cinema is such that it really doesn't take much to be praised as amongst the best. The wave of love for X, Ti West's first film in 6 years is a rather entertaining if disappointingly average slasher film that feels like it doesn't offer much new to cannon. It achieves not being insultingly bad and remains generally entertaining. Still from the buzz around it I expected it to be breathtaking and it never quite achieved that. 

X is homage to all sorts of things. The references abound, most notably to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film that is imitated more than almost any other, but the film indulges us in allusions to The Shining, Psycho and other films. It does a great job of recreating the look and feel of a 70s exploitation film. Its porn hook, which isn't just there for titillation but actually moves the plot forward, adds to the "underground" feel. I put that word in quotations because it's all pastiche, it's not actually under anything, just evoking a feeling. So as the well worn plot moves on the film rises above its predictability to be entertaining throughout. It judiciously uses humour and perhaps less judiciously uses jump scares, to keep us engaged as the characters are slaughtered one by one, pretty much as we would expect. 

But here is the thing. The film is just going through the typical motions of the tropes. Does the film use its sex-positive characters to undermine or question the sexist morality of the slasher genre and the legacy of Chainsaw? Not really. Does the film lean a little too heavily into the ew-gross-old-people-being-sexual heebie-jeebies? Yes, far too heavily. Does the film ever surprise us? No, not at all. 

Perhaps the most interesting wrinkle is the way Goth plays two characters and the way the film explores this duality, juxtaposing their experiences, their eras, their pursuits. I felt the film wasn't always brave enough to truly go there, often flirting with certain ideas but not quite following through and then leaning into a giggle moment instead of what could have been more powerful and upsetting. 

So while X remains run of the mill, it is, at least, a good time. The film doesn't overdo the sex or violence and capitalizes on its humour in effective ways. I'm just not sure it offers much to ruminate on after the credits roll. 

X

Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure

Writer/Director: Ti West

 

Turning Red (2022)

I want to go on a rant about how large swaths of audiences have had to spend most of their lives watching films centring straight white males and we all learned to find some small piece we could relate to and get on board with. When films are about someone who doesn't fit into that category they are labelled niche and we're made to think there is only a limited audience for them. Most of us know what it is like to go to the movies and root for someone who doesn't look like us or share our experiences. But there is still a large group who feel like if the main character's arc isn't something they personally can aspire to then it's not for them. Screw that! Go see more movie about people who are different from you. 

Rant over. 

Sometimes it is in telling a very specific narrative that we are able to tap into a more universal shared experience. Turning Red is very much that. Writer/director Domee Shi's smart and truly engaging film is both a very personal film and one that can be appreciated and related to by anyone. It is very specific in its details (tween girl discovering her sexuality, the urban Canadian lifestyle, an immigrant community's relationship to its North American wider culture) so much so that it almost fetishizes its particularities. Yet within that is a very relatable story about self-discovery that emerges from Shi's own unique take. It is in baring her truth that any audience can connect to it. She doesn't make her tale palatable for any audience, she makes it authentic for her, and in doing so invites us all in to find something we can experience and relate to. 

As is the Pixar tradition, Turning Red is a purely delightful film that goes well beneath the surface to hit us deep in the feels. From the opening moments Turning Red grabs you, never once drags, and makes you laugh along the way. The story is compelling throughout and I wasn't always sure I new how it would turn out. I watched it with a big smile on my face. But it also touched me in ways I wasn't suspecting. The human relationships are so well drawn it was impossible not to get drawn in. From the thoughtful and clever script to the heartfelt performances, Turning Red just worked so well. 

And sorry but I loved how authentically Canadian it felt. Sure Red's Toronto is a pastel wonderland, but from the way characters talk (they even say touque!) to the subtleties of their interactions, it felt so truly Canuck. I did appreciate how Shi decided not to set it in winter and found a way to make it Canadian without having to litter each scene with snow. 

Turning Red reminded me of Inside Out, Wall-E, The Incredibles, Soul, purely magical films that are like nothing else out there. It is another triumph for Pixar. 

Turning Red

Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wei Ching Ho, James Hong, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Tristan Allerick, Finneas O'Connell, Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi

Director: Domee Shi

Writers: Julia Cho, Domee Shi

 

The Adam Project (2022)

The Adam Project is an old fashioned family sci-fi adventure film that harkens back to the days of The Last Starfighter, ET, or Tron. It combines a fun adventure story with classic emotional beats and a big dose of (well integrated) humour to make the whole package, the kinds of movie I remember watching as a kid on VHS. 

The film is very well done even if there are typical time travel plotting details so we won't go into that. The third act has some (rather standard for the genre) issues, you know the kinds of problems that films that posit children as the action heroes? But the point is about making that emotional connection even if the story has a few holes and The Adam Project connects the dots. 

Young star Scobell has great screen presence and he channels Reynolds perfectly to the point where we can imagine this was what Reynolds was like as a kid. Because Reynolds is playing Reynolds. He's very much in a rut playing the same character over and over again in all his movies and The Adam Project leans into it giving fans the Reynolds they buy the tickets for. The film mostly overcomes the predictable nature of Reynolds schtick with its charming story and strong cast, especially Scobell. 

The Adam Project will win you over. I mean look at that poster. It is everything 80s kids wanted in their Saturday morning matinees. Adam is a winner and the sort of film that can just be enjoyed by everybody. So go enjoy it. 

The Adam Project

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldana, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Catherine Keener, Alex Mallari Jr. 

Director: Shawn Levi

Writers: Jonathan Tropper, TS Nowlin, Jennifer Fleckett, Mark Levin 

 

After Yang (2022)

I'll admit it took me a while to find myself emotionally connected to this story of a man trying to fix his daughter's robot companion (I know, an oversimplification) but the story slowly crept up on me until I was immersed and it had a hold on me. Film maker Kogonada has crafted a visually stunning film that explores the discovery of common humanity and when it hits it hits hard. 

After Yang is a quiet little film. People generally talk in hushed tones and the mood remains rather subdued. The sole exception is the lively young Tjandrawidjaja who breaks the solace with her energy. But otherwise there is a palpable ennui that builds into a true sense of tragedy that is, well, beautiful and cathartic. Stunning really. 

Kononada uses little moments, from the lives of our subjects to the recordings of the central AI that are played an replayed so we can experience them again, reflect on them. He asks us to contemplate some big questions and lets us sit with those struggles a little. But he also holds our hands a bit as we wonder, allowing us some comfort in the journey. 

Composer Aska Matsumiya's score is as lovely and gorgeous as the film she is illustrating. I was haunted, and again comforted, by the music playing throughout. The tune kept sitting with me after I left the cinema, playing in my head as a refrain. 

After Yang is a lovely moment of cinema. It doesn't tidy up its mess, instead just letting us experience it and do with it as we will. You will need to sit with it all for a while and revisit. 

After Yang

Starring: Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Haley Lu Richardson, Clifton Collins Jr., Sarita Choudhury

Writer/Director: Kogonada

 

Fresh (2022)

Analogy horror has to walk a fine line between hitting us too hard over the head with its message. Fresh, a story that explores how awful dating is for women, takes it pretty close, but the deft hands of writer Kahn and director Cave make it work in surprising ways. It is about exploitation and the literal consumption of women in a culture that commodifies female people. Sometimes it goes right up to the line "come on give me a smile" but it always manages to tell its story with a cleverness that makes it an intense experience. 

Fresh keeps most of its gore off screen, the hint of what's going on being far more disturbing than seeing it. Being successful where films like the Saw franchise fail, Fresh keeps it all in our heads and that makes it even more intense. Fresh intentionally subverts the horror tropes, every now and then falling into them a little (why don't they just make sure he's dead the first time they get a chance?) but mostly successfully play with them in ways that show us they know what they are doing. There are moments when a black man coming to the rescue backs out, because he knows how these things play out for characters like him. 

Fresh is billed as a horror comedy and it lives up to this, keeping the comedy subtle and not absurd but finding some real moments of humour. The balance of this is handled very well. The film will make you laugh but almost in spite of yourself. 

Stan truly stands out, not playing his character as a monster (which he is) but as the idealized every man that the monsters of the world are. His non-Marvel roles have been fascinating as if he's trying to do whatever is farthest from his best known character. He nails it. The entire cast is strong, including Edgar-Jones in a break out performance. 

Fresh will make you uncomfortable, it will also make you laugh, and it will chill you. It is a smart and upsetting film. 

Fresh

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jonita T. Gibbs

Director: Mimi Cave

Writer: Lauryn Kahn

The Batman (2022)

You know what I don't care about at all? Discussions about which Batman is the "best" or ranking the Batman films in any sort of order. Like the best pop culture characters Batman can be interpreted in many different ways, with each take offering interesting aspects that others do not. For me each Batman that has come and gone offers us something different and that may be more or less interesting to certain audiences but one thing is true, there is NO definitive Batman product out there. Even the comics have varied the character many times over his long publishing history. So I go into each new Batman movie with an openness to what they are going to show me instead of my pre-conceived ideas of what it's supposed to be. 

 

You're going to hear a lot of catch phrases related to Matt Reeve's take on The Batman like "dark" or "grounded" or "gritty." I think a lot of that is hyperbole. A lot of impossible things still happen in this film even if there aren't characters with superpowers running around. The film is PG-13 meaning while it does have a slight horror pastiche, the film remains safe for almost all audiences. There is a lot of talk about the "detective" aspect of this film but I'm not sure Batman does much more detective work than we've seen him do in other films. I get that when things are shiny and new we react to them as a new toy. But one of the things that surprised me is how much of a traditional Batman film it was. 

In The Batman, Batman works in close contact with the police. Sure some officers are less enthusiastic about his presence than others and some throw around the word "vigilante" (not inaccurate) but no one stops him. He isn't hunted by the cops like in the Burton films or BvS, there isn't an uneasy truce-like relationship between him and Gordon like in the Dark Knight films. He's almost like part of the team, closer to the Batman '66 TV show. This is highlighted by the fact we see the bust of Shakespeare in a scene with Alfred which famously hid the button to the Batcave in that series. Another way it's traditional is how the film focuses on Bruce as hero. There aren't a lot of shades of grey in who he is. The story keeps coming back to his righteousness. Again, that has almost always been Batman. He's not an anti-hero. Even when The Dark Knight was trying to paint him as a criminal in the eyes of the public we as the audience knew he was doing it for the greater good. 

What I really liked about The Batman was that it was just a Batman story. It doesn't try to revolutionize the character, it doesn't try to be comic accurate (despite so much being borrowed from The Long Halloween), it doesn't try to give an origin story (it hints at it which is all we need in ongoing future Batman movies), it doesn't try to define him. It just starts telling a Batman story and tells it through to the end. Does it drag on a bit? Yeah... but not much. It tells a gripping tale, develops characters, and entertains. I wonder about rewatchability but that will be bourn out in time. When a character has this many films under their belt, I don't want to see them tread old ground (I almost hope they don't ever follow up on that tease near the end... cause come on...). I just want to get a new story. There are endless possibilities for stories involving Batman so let's watch 'em.

 

What Reeves has done it told a noir tale, complete with the moral ambiguity (in the world around Batman), the femme fetal, the endless rain, the torchy score. The Batman was one of the best scores I've heard in the long time, with character themes (something I love). Much of The Batman is in how beautiful it is. What isn't in shadow is hauntingly red and it is magnificent. A film like this can work both on the big screen to take advantage of its visual beauty and on a home screen due to the intimate nature of most shots. 

My favourite part? Easy. Selina Kyle. I can't remember if she is referred to by "Catwoman" anywhere in the film. She does call herself "The Cat" at one point. Kravitz is amazing and steals all scenes. Her plot is also the most interesting. Also, in the way the film upholds traditional Batman morals, she is there to be a wilder card than him and he has to reign her in. Personally I'm not sure we are to agree with Bruce's assessments of right and wrong here as Selina makes some very good points. I like the film left that ambiguity I referred to, just not in Bruce. Bruce still grounds us in the public morals like movie heroes are designed to do. Characters like Kyle get to push us to question what we think of as right and wrong. 

All the cast is great. Besides Kravitz' scene stealing turn, which she plays quite a bit under the surface, Dano gets to go full psychopath in a way that is quite terrifying, Wright is almost the centre of the film just trying to survive through everything going on and do the right thing, Farrell plays his character as a big C "character" but doesn't loose the authenticity in that role, and Serkis pulls at our heart strings even though he's barely in the film. Pattinson holds his own. There isn't a lot for him to do, as with a lot of Batman films, but he works both as Bruce and as Batman, although this film's interpretation doesn't separate them very much which is a different sort of take than we see in other films. 

His costume looks great and feels about as real world as a Batman costume can. But Selina's cat burglar outfit is even better. This movie is visually so stunning all the tech people should win awards from costumes to set design to you name it. The Batman is a beautiful film. 

I enjoyed The Batman quite a bit. I'm not going to rank it against other Batman films cause that makes little to no sense to me. It is what it is and what it is is a very good movie that works both for the blockbuster crowd, the more discerning "cinema" style crowd, and almost any audience except for maybe really young kids. Some of the film is on the "scary" side. I can add another title to the Batman catalogue that I can enjoy for years to come. 

The Batman

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravits, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Andy Serkis, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard

Director: Matt Reeves

Writers: Peter Craig, Matt Reeves

Malignant (2021)

Malignant leans far into the camp side of the horror genre. The opening scene appears to be paying homage to D-List movies by being corny without creating any sense of realism. Director Wan runs fill tilt into it and finds a beautiful cinematic language to tell his little tale with. He is a talent at making beautiful movies. Malignant asks you to sign on to silliness in a way that you'll either buy into or you won't. For those that buy in it will be a fun ride or violence and "twists" but for those who want it's a whole lot of eye rolling and not a lot of scares. 

The performances are all played heightened, like in a high school play or something. The cues to who the characters are is overly simplistic and telegraphed. Wan is playing into a certain kind of film. It's not bad, just a certain style that has to be appreciated to get it. His story needs it, as the film's plot gets more and more bonkers as it goes. To get us to his ending he needs us to throw all reason out the door. 

This is the sort of horror that is for laughing. It makes us jump and provides the adrenaline rush that is soothing. It provides catharsis through making things we are afraid of silly so we can dismiss them. There is a long tradition of this and Wan is theatrical in his handling of this. This a grand tradition and again, in itself, isn't a bad thing at all. For what it is doing it works. It's just not the sort of thing that pushes my buttons and gives me much satisfaction. 

I tend to be drawn to contemplative horror which explores our fears in more upsetting ways, perhaps not giving us the out of being able to laugh at it all. I like it when the fear bubbles closer to the realism and day to day life. That's scarier for me. But that's me. And it's not a perfect rule. Films break this for me all the time. Malignant didn't for me. For me it dragged. For me it's forgettable. For me it is rather benign. None of that means it can't be fun for the right audience. 

Malignant

Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Mckenna Grace, George Young, Zoe Bell, Ray Chase

Director: James Wan

Writer: Akela Cooper