Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

As a film franchise Dungeons & Dragons has always be C-list at best so the latest attempt to bring it to the big screen wrestles with how to make it more mainstream and blockbuster by jettisoning taking itself seriously in anyway and leaning into the camp elements with a lot of wink wink going on. Overall it works taking what is a rather standard story with rather standard production values and focusing on the fun. 

A lot of this falls on the cast. Pine plays Pine but in a fantasy comedy, being a smart aleck central character with just enough of a back story to make us care about his as he leads his rather rote cast of characters on their rather rote adventure. He is funny and charming and despite a complete lack of chemistry with the next in line for lead character, Rodriquez, he makes it work. Smith brings some charm to the table as well playing, well the exact character he's become known to play and Grant is all smarm and scenery chewing in his lovable villain role that, also feels like it was written based on every character Grant has ever played. 

But in the end it doesn't matter cause Honor Among Thieves is quite fun no matter how predictable or expected it all ends up being. There are fun references to D&D lore such as a gelatinous cube and even a shout out to the 80s animated series. I just wish they had found a way to get them to roll some dice somewhere along the way. Despite it all feeling very cookie cutter I found myself invested in this silly band of misfits and hope this won't be the last we see of this group. 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Starring: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez,  Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Daisy Head, Chloe Coleman, Hugh Grant, Bradley Cooper

Directors: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley

Writers: Michael Gilio, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley

 

Riceboy Sleeps (2023)

Shim's semi-autobiographical film is a tender and lyrical reflection on the immigrant experience from the separate but connected points of view of the immigrant parent and the first generation child navigating the new world culture that both wants them and doesn't completely find a place for them. One of the film's strengths is the way it balances the two main characters' separate experiences and points of view and still connects those experiences intrinsically. He even adds peripheral experiences such as So-Young's fellow coworkers or her eager boyfriend who, adopted as a child, grew up in a white family completely immersed in the Canadian way of viewing the world. Riceboy Sleeps is powerful and illuminating at capturing this very common story. 

Shim films his story through mostly long, slowly moving shots which creates a comforting and almost dreamlike way of following his story. Riceboy Sleeps is a quiet movie, punctuated by impactful moments, but mostly capturing a very honest feeling narrative that explores what it feels like for the parties to make their lives here. 

The film also beautifully touches on the bond between mother and son. About halfway through So-Young tells a Korean folk story about a mother which then is reflected back in the film's final moments, but in a way that cements their connection so beautifully. Shim has crafted a truly lovely movie that is just a heartbreaking joy to watch. 

Riceboy Sleeps

Starring: Choi Seung-yoon, Ethan Hwang, Hunter Dillon

Writer/Director: Anthony Shim

 

John Wick Chapter 4 (2023)

I felt Chapter 3 jumped the shark and the entire series was providing diminishing returns. I appreciated the simplicity of the first John Wick film and it's commitment to what it was doing. The natural inclination of sequels to stack more and more on top of each other produced two passable sequels which just felt a bit like pale comparisons to the first. But all that turned around for me with Chapter 4, which arguable might be the best film in the series. 

It's not that Chapter 4 returns to the series' roots. No, with a runtime of 169 minutes (compared to the original film's tight 101 minutes) and a sky's the limit budget, Chapter 4 is the biggest of all the Wick films, in every way. It's more about how it manages that size and power. The closest comparison I could think of was The Raid 2, a film which succeeded its predecessor with exquisite world building, rich and pulpy character development, and an obvious love of its genre tropes. While (for me) 2 & 3 felt rather corporately constructed, run of the mill sequel fodder, 4 felt like it was crafted with a different purpose in mind. 

Action directors don't get the kind of appreciation they often deserve and here Stahelski crafts his movie like a master. It is a gorgeous film to watch and its narrative structure is superb. There might be some time jumps that make it seem like Wick can teleport around the globe, and people do seem to take far too many hits before they are beat, but generally Stahelski's craftsmanship is impeccable. Yes, not surprisingly, the real mastery is in the staging and framing of the set pieces, but each one feels organic and essential to the story. This is a long movie and there are times, especially near the end, where it feels like "could there really be another crowd of assassins for Wick to fight his way through"? And yes there is and yes you want it! One of the things that make this series so good is just how committed the film makers are to the story, the characters, and the genre and this commitment delivers to its audience. 

While the first film was hyper focused on John Wick with some well fleshed out but background remaining characters, Chapter 4 introduces some of the best new characters of the series and develops the established ones even more. Winston and the Bowery King are even more interesting than they've been in the past, while Sawayama, Anderson, Sanada, and especially Yen all craft truly captivating additions to the story. Chapter 4 feels the most like an ensemble of the whole series, something I tend to appreciate, and this fills the runtime with compelling arcs and development.

But to discuss what I truly loved about Chapter 4 I will have to spoil it a bit so be warned *spoiler warning*

I loved that Chapter 4 had the balls to end the story and did so in a way I appreciated. Sure there is an argument that John isn't really dead. The foreshadowing (throughout the series) that John can only find peace through death lead us here and whether that death peace is literal or metaphorical, Chapter 4 ends with John attaining what he's been looking for the whole series. 

I also love that some of John's redemptive arc includes him saving a dog...

My preference would be for stories to continue here around the other characters, Mr. Nobody, Akira, the Ballerina, etc. Whether John is alive in hiding somewhere or buried next to his wife, I like the idea that he can have peace. Why drag him back into it? At least not for a while.

John Wick Chapter 4

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Ian McShane, Clancy Brown

Director: Chad Stahelski

Writers: Shay Hatten, Michael Finch 

 

Brother (2023)

Clement Virgo's electrifying film Brother hits harder than I thought it might. He employs a powerful framing sequences, jumps us back and forth in his timeline, but throughout narrates such a lovely and complicated story of two brothers, their connection, and their disconnection, as well as their interrelation with others, their community, and their family. 

Virgo saturates his film is bright colours, each frame like a painting with detailed brush strokes and emotional resonance. He takes us through his story layering piece onto piece so that we are impacted by the story beats in the most powerful way. He adapts Chariandy's novel into a gorgeous film with a language all its own. 

Brother feels like the sort of film that we have seen before, that we know how it will play out and for me much of the power of the movie was how it upended my expectations and delivered something quite unexpected. The strong cast is simply magnetic to watch and lose themselves in their performances. Brother is remarkable. 

Brother

Starring: Aaron Pierre, Lamar Johnson, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Kiana Madeira, Lovell Adams-Gray

Writer/Director: Clement Virgo 

 

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

The Shazam! films hold a special place in my heart as their focus on chosen family always hits me right in the feels. Fury of the Gods has the overarching family plot line, but it is a subtle thread running through between Billy and his adoptive mother that just wrecked me. So many movies fuck up adoption narratives and it touches me the way the Shazam! films get it oh so right. 

This sequel leans even more into the silly than the first one did, focusing on the strengths of its cast especially Levi and Grazer (but also Mirren TBH) but often the film felt like it was dipping into self-parody a bit. Also the story itself is rather rote. In many ways Fury of the Gods feels like a tribute to 80s/90s family adventure B-movies and looking at it that way I could appreciate the campier elements. Overall though my tastes lean to a more serious aesthetic. 

But I kept coming back to how much I like the way the film unabashedly embraces its exploration of family. I will admit I was teary eyed through multiple parts. 

Finally I appreciated that one of the few cameos was not simply fan service but actually served the plot. The ending felt a bit over the top for me but the connection brought in by the guest appearance actually made it work more for me that it might have otherwise. 

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, Grace Caroline Currey, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Adam Brody, Michael Gray, Gal Gadot, Mark Strong, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee 

Director: David F Sandberg

Writers: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan

 

Joyland (2023)

Sadiq's celebrated and ground breaking film is a gorgeously filmed melodrama featuring remarkable performances. Like much queer cinema, Joyland is tragic and melancholy, but upends this expectation a bit while also remains inspiringly hopeful. 

Sadiq masterfully frames his shots and fills them with gorgeous colour that pops out of the darkness of both the story and the background. Joyland is lush and astonishingly decadent yet never feeling overwrought. He demonstrates a real power to his story telling both in how he sets his characters against such incredible surroundings but also in how he gives us little moments which say so much. 

His cast is strong too but for me the standout was Farooq whose character is denied all that she desires and struggles to fit into the world he has been set into. She lashes out but with a restraint that is electric to watch. Kahn's character gets to in many ways be even more assertive in her own identity, refusing to take on the roles all those around her expect and insisting on boundaries that support who she is. Finally, at the centre of the film is Junejo's Haider, who quietly tries to find joy around him and succumbs to never being what the women in his life need from him. 

There is a real power to how all of Joyland comes together, with small moments highlighting the larger story structure, and the small amount of hope we are left with as the film reaches its conclusion, and not the conclusion once expects. Queer cinema is often a history of queer characters marginalized or worse, but here the queer and trans characters assert themselves and choose their own destinies while it is the straight characters who face the fates that more often happen to the queer ones. In this way Joyland is quite remarkable and wonderfully unexpected. 

Joyland

Starring: Ali Junejo, Alina Kahn, Rasti Farooq

Director: Saim Sadiq

Writers: Maggie Briggs, Saim Sadiq

 

Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)

I was uninitiated going into The Fallen Sun, never having watched the Luther series. I had heard a few things but I'm not sure I was prepared for just how over the top it really is. I had to adjust from what I thought I was going to watch, fairly intense prestige crime drama, and embrace the camp, almost exploitative nature of this in your face, realism need not apply, style of storytelling. Once I did I could get into it and enjoy this talented cast have fun with a nasty yet rather cathartic tale about moral ambiguity. 

The film makers know how to tell an intense story. While I had to suspend a lot of disbelief as most of the set pieces would take a remarkable amount of coordination, coincidence, and luck, they are amazingly gripping while they are happening. The Piccadilly Circus scene in the middle will have you on the edge of your seat.

Serkis is perfect as the (almost super) villain in this piece. He has the perfect mix to be able to pull this off without coming off too silly and remaining rather terrifying. It would be hard to imagine much of this working without him. 

I think fans of the series will be happy with this film and those still coming in fresh like me can enjoy it if you let yourself get into it and not get bogged down with it's moral inconsistencies and narrative extravagancies. 

Luther: The Fallen Sun

Starring: Idris Elba, Cinthya Erivo, Andy Serkis, Dermot Crowly

Director: Jamie Payne

Writer: Neil Cross

65 (2023)

Boy this was a disappointment. A promising premise, a charismatic star, and dinosaurs! How do you mess that up? 65 is rather dismal most of the time and hardly sets up enough tension to keep its audience entertained. It's not terrible. It's just so not interesting most of the time. 

65

Starring: Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika King

Writers/Directors: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

 

Champions (2023)

I am of two minds about Champions. On the one hand it is the sort of predictable feel-good comedy that doesn't have any really funny moments that aren't in the trailer and follows an easily predictable story with no real surprises anywhere. On the other it does allow its characters to be real characters, not just noble stereotypes, and even consciously wrestles with the way the narrative of disabled adults serving the character arc of an able-bodied man is exploitative. 

I get frustrated with movies that use cognitively disabled people as a plot device for the development of average characters. Champions seems to be keenly aware of this and even though it's sort of doing it, it is also critiquing itself for it. Yet it doesn't stop itself from doing it. I kept going back and forth on this. In the end Champions does its team of "friends" justice in rather robust portrayals, and while it is still all in service of Harrelson's character.

And as movie generally it is feel-good for sure, predictable as all hell, and only mildly funny. So generally quite average outside of its other issues. 

Champions

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Ianucci, Madison Telvin

Director: Bobby Farrelly

Writer: Mark Rizzo

 

Scream VI (2023)

For me, none of the Scream sequels have lived up to the first, not in that nostalgic wasn't-it-so-great way but in a very obvious diminishing returns way. All have found interesting ways to comment on the horror genre (specifically the slasher variety) and add to the conversation, especially as movie franchises evolve, but none have been able to craft so perfectly a loving critique of all things slasher that is also an entertaining and frightening movie on its own. None have the power of truly upending our expectations like the first one did. Each feels like its repeating itself a bit and stretching to make a coherent story while also trying to play bait and switch. And most of the endings feel anticlimactic, with the killers always feeling a bit like a deus ex machina insert at the end. 

It's hard to talk about what I liked and disliked without spoiling it a bit so be warned from here on. I'll try not to spoil too much. 

What I didn't love: Scream VI doesn't have the guts to kill anyone important and it continues the trope of the killers being connected to the last ones but only revealing how in the end. As it unfurled I kind of rolled my eyes thinking "not again". The film makers also seem to think that you can do a whole lot of acrobatics and mixed martial arts while bleeding out after being stabbed in the stomach. One character appears to be slit from her stomach up to her chest, yet not only survives, but is able to run around after? Yes, yes, I know, the movie is a comment on slasher tropes like that but they don't comment on it, they just do it, which I find rather disappointing. 

What I did like: the new setting is completely refreshing as one thing that bored me about the previous sequels was the slavish devotion to the Woodsboro location. I also enjoyed the cast and their banter. They gelled more than they did in the previous film. The script is witty even if I felt the plot lacked originality or cleverness. I found the stalkings effective and fairly scary and I did like how they got back to killing off a rather unrelated character played by a recognizable star in the first moments. Then did it again right away. 

So for me Scream VI felt on par with Scream (V) and Scream 4... you get my drift. Maybe one day they'll find a way to truly surprise us again. But while Scream VI was passable and fun enough to enjoy, it wasn't at all surprising. 

Scream VI

Starring: Melissa Berrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jack Champion, Mason Gooding, Samara Weaving, Hayden Panettiere, Courtney Cox

Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Opin, Tyler Gillett

Writers: James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick

 

Puss in Boots the Last Wish (2022)

Puss in BootsThe Last Wish is a fairly good proxy for the typical American animated blockbuster. It is basically an amalgamation of every other successful American animated film and gives audiences exactly what they would expect. It is reasonably funny without being too ridiculous, it is generally entertaining enough for all four quadrants, and it teaches us the same safe moral to the story that we have seen in these films time and time again. 

I guess the thing that frustrates me the most is just how much this film rips off so many others so shamelessly. First of all it's a sequel to a spinoff of a film that already is a rip off of other materials. Then it copies the animation style of Into the Spiderverse because, well that film was successful, so... Everything about this installment just feels like it is designed to be as palatable as possible. Sigh.

If you are looking for something that will meet all your expectations and deliver nothing unexpected then The Last Wish is for you. It is perfectly passable as such. But if you want your animated films to be genuinely interesting or perhaps even surprisingly original, then skip this. 

Puss in Boots the Last Wish

Starring: Antonio Bandaras, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura, Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Director: Joel Crawford

Writers: Paul Fisher, Tommy Swerdlow

 

Creed III (2023)

Arguably, Creed III is the best of the Creed movies and likely my favouite of the entire series other than the original Rocky. It's not perfect, a lot of the plot is relies on unrealistic coincidences to get it to the places it wants to go, but when it gets there it delivers. It is stunning to watch and like I & II many of its shortcomings are overcome by the power of the performances. It moves along at a pretty significant clip helping to gloss over some of the story's less believable bits. Overall it is a pretty damn good time.

Majors does the most heavy lifting here. His screen presence is amazing and what he does with his rather thinly drawn character is impressive. I really appreciated the way his story forces the character of Adonis Creed to face up to some realities, repositioning him from how we have seen him before in the series. 

Jordan on the other hand shows off that he has talent behind the camera as well as in front of it. He has made a rather impressive looking film and a very entertaining one as well. I really enjoyed a lot of the choices he made, including ensuring that most of the sign language (and there is a lot) is visible and readable on screen, and the way he frames his two characters against each other in ways that highlight what is going on for them. This film, like the previous two films, often explore the way certain kinds of masculinity force men to address and process emotional issues through physicality. He drills deep into this here in interesting ways. There is a scene near the end of the film during their boxing match where Jordan strips everything away, the crowds, the score, the sounds, and just has them have a wordless conversation through their fight that is rather spectacular. 

Perhaps what I appreciated most was the film's exploration of how we get to where we are and what it costs us. All of this is packaged in an energetic and visually exciting film. And I'm excited to see if Jordan is going to direct more films and what he may choose to do next. 

Creed III

Starring: Michael B Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Phylicia Rashad

Director: Michael B Jordan

Writers: Keenan Coogler, Zach Baylin

 

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- To the Swordsmith Village (2023)

Unlike the first Demon Slayer movie, Mugan Train, which was a self contained story with a beginning and end, To the Swordsmith Village picks up in the middle of a story, has it's climax about half way through, and then starts a new story, ending on a cliffhanger. Yes, both are cinematic showings of the ongoing TV series but Mugan Train at least started at the beginning of one story and took it through the end. Swordsmith puts together the final 2 episodes of season 2 and the first episode of season 3, the first two ending one story and the third starting something new, and barely starting it. Also Swordsmith doesn't even pretend it's a movie as much by including the credits for each episode. 

What Swordsmith has going for it is Demon Slayer's gorgeous animation and intense plotting. It truly is breathtaking to see on the big screen. I believe fans of the series will enjoy seeing it in this format. But as a movie on it's own it doesn't work great. The film starts out okay by summing up how we got to this point rather effectively, but it's episodic nature after that takes you out of the story and the final act, the season 3 episode 1 part, is just so anticlimactic that it makes for an awkward viewing experience if you are stepping into it without having followed the entire series up to this point. 

And Mugan Train wasn't like that. I saw it sight unseen and could follow it and enjoy it for exactly what was presented on screen without needing further explanation or even further viewing. But this one just isn't designed to be enjoyed that way. This is solely about offering a big screen experience of the TV show for fans who are already devoted, and teasing the upcoming new season. So unless you really are a fan, or are okay with just watching some beautiful anime without needing to be super invested, I wouldn't recommend Swordsmith on it's own. 

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- To the Swordsmith Village

Director: Haruo Sotozaki

The Swearing Jar (2023)

Romantic films are a struggle for me cause in real life relationships are nothing like the standard romcom plot of meet cute, excitement, some inconvenient barrier/misunderstanding separating the parties, until they end up running towards each other in a climactic moment. But when movies come along that touch on something closer to real, the complicated and expansive and terrifying nature of falling in love, or even better, living into love over time, they can reach into that place for me. Films like Polley's Take This Waltz or Linklater's Before Midnight or Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, movies that touch on passions that are full of difficult emotions get me. Maybe it speaks to how much I love watching the love between Benedict and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. 

The Swearing Jar brought some of this out in me. While not perfect, I truly appreciated without saying what it is about (I don't want to spoil it) I found watching Clemens' portrayal of a woman processing many of the challenges of loving. There were times I was frustrated with her character's extreme mood swings but I enjoyed how the film resolved these things for her.

It was wonderful to see Kathleen Turner again, one of my favourite actors from my childhood. And she's very good in this role which asks her to be as fully rounded as Clemens. This is a film about women, yes the men are present but this is about the women and all that they are living through. It is a romance but not in the ways you would expect. It is about being able to love expansively and not have to let go of love.

The Swearing Jar

Starring: Adelaide Clemens, Patrick J Adams, Douglas Smith, Kathleen Turner

Director: Lindsay MacKay

Writer: Kate Hewlett