Month: January 2022

Scream

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Scream

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Written by: James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick

Characters Created by: Kevin Williamson

Produced by: Paul Neinstein, William Sherak, James Vanderbilt

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jenna Orgtega, Melissa Barrera, Marley Shelton, Dylan Minnette, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ammar, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding, Kyle Gallner and Reggie Conquest.

‘What’s your favourite move?’

The phone rings and I think to myself, who has a landline?

But Scream 2022 is all about bringing back the audience to the same opening as Scream 1996, the original.

Tara (Jenna Orgtega) answers.  She’s home alone and about to get stabbed.

Welcome back to Woodsboro.

Scream the return, doesn’t shy away from its slasher genre.  The film gets very stabby, Ghostface relentless as the knife penetrates cheeks and stomachs, people straddled with two handed plunges.  It gets bloody.  As expected with the Scream franchise.

The difference with this instalment is the invitation to the audience to be part of ‘the game’.

Watching the characters walking around the house just waiting for Ghostface to suddenly appear behind a door.  It’s a tease and light-hearted (if a slasher can be light-hearted) because the audience knows what’s going to happen.  We’ve seen it all before and know:

Don’t go off on your own.

If you know the why of the killing, you’ll know who’s the next target.

The killer is always part of the tight-knit group of friends being targeted, here your somewhat typical high school buddies, hyper vigilant Wes (Dylan Minnette), twins Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), girlfriend of Chad, Liv (Sonia Ammar) and best buddy of Tara, Amber (Mikey Madison).

The film uses the assumption the audience knows what’s coming and the characters know what’s coming next because they’ve all seen the slasher franchise, ‘Stab’.  Which is basically the Scream franchise so the characters analyse their situation based on the Stab movies.  While being in a Scream movie.  Scream the return, or ‘requel’ as described by Mindy is not just a slasher, but also self-reflecting that makes for some funny, tongue-in-cheek humour.

Another rule in making a sequel (requel) is bringing back some legends, enter the return of Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), Gale Riley (Courteney Cox) and of course, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).

So there’s the current storyline of Tara and her sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) with boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid) coming back to Woodsboro to help solve this new phase of Ghostface killings.

And there’s the legends brought back to help figure out who Ghostface is because they’ve been in the same situation many times before.

All the while inviting the audience to see the characters reflect on their story while comparing the killings to the Stab movies while we the audience watch them.

Is it better than the original?  No.  The first one was shocking and unforgettable.  But it’s just as good in other ways because it’s something different and challenging.

This instalment is not your typical slasher and the risky re-visit to the original idea of, Scream, is surprisingly successful.  It’s like a re-make in a re-make that leads to all sorts of layers and humour while still having the scary moments.

Recommend going back and watching at least the first Scream movie to get some of those aside jokes.

 

The 355

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.2/5)The 355

Rated: M

Directed by: Simon Kinberg

Written by: Theresa Rebeck, Simon Kinberg

Produced by: Jessica Chastain, Kelly Carmichael, Simon Kinberg

Executive Producer: Richard Hewitt

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Bingbing Fan, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, Sebastian Stan, Edgar Ramírez.

‘They get this?  They start WWIII,’ says ex MI6 agent Khadija (Lupita Nyong’o).

And by ‘this’, she means the bad people out there getting hold of an intricate set of algorithms designed to unlock any system, in other words: a totally untraceable Master Key.

The CIA wants it, the BND (German intelligence service) wants it.  And roped into the desperate search for this potential world changing weapon are former MI6 agent, Khadija (Lupita Nyong’o) and Colombian psychologist Graciela (Penélope Cruz).

The chase crosses the globe from Paris to Morocco to Shanghai as the agents fight against each other to then be forced to work together because as Khadija says, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’

The 355 is more action than espionage as each side fights for the prize.

There’re some jumps and very near misses that ramp up the tension with visceral moments like hearing that small crack as a rib gets broken.

The storyline dabbles in the drama of these strong female leads: CIA agent, Mason Brown (Jessica Chastain) AKA Mace a loner, Graciela the out-of-her-depth psychologist wanting to get back to her family, Khadija making a go of a normal life, Chinese agent Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan) and German agent Marie (Diane Kruger) the ultimate badass and designated by the team as the one that’s the most messed up.

Director and writer Simon Kinberg (along with fellow writer Theresa Rebeck) skirts the line of working with the all-female cast without getting too girly.

Mace likens herself to James Bond but is reminded he always ends up alone.  So, the characters are given some depth in between all the hand-to-hand combat.

But there’re no real surprises here.

Yes, there’s some twists in the plot but the suspense fizzed when all the characters came into play, so the focus was more about the interaction than the tension of the story.

And I didn’t quite believe in this Master Key.

There’s still plenty of knife fights and shoot-ups and bombs exploding but the mystery fell away.  The rawness that had me in the beginning faded making The 355 an average action flick worth a watch without getting too excited about it.

Sing 2

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.7/5)

Rated: PGSing 2

Directed by: Garth Jennings

Written by: Garth Jennings

Produced by: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Letitia Wright, Eric Andre, Chelsea Peretti and Bono.

‘Guts, determination and faith.’

With all the goings-on at the moment, I felt like I needed some escapism.  But when Sing 2 opened to bright flowers and vegetables singing, it was all VERY bright.  Too bright.

And I’m not a fan of musicals.

I took a Panadol and braced myself.

Then Mr. Moon (Matthew McConaughey), owner of the New Moon Theatre goes and gets himself drenched.  Then proceeds to dry his koala fur with a hair dryer so he looks like a fluff ball.

It’s a bit adorable.

Because after being told his show, a local hit, isn’t good enough for the Crystal Tower Theatre in Redshore City, Buster Moon takes his new show to Redshore City anyway.

He believes he’s got a shot with cast: Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), Ash (Scarlett Johansson), Gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton, Meena (Tori Keely) and Gunter (Nick Kroll).

He’ll convince Mr. Crystal (Bobby Cannavale) they’re worth an audience.

Sing 2 is the second instalment of Sing (2016), with director and writer Garth Jennings returning with familiar characters and some new (Bono is in this one as recluse rock legend, Clay Calloway).

Sing 2 is about over coming fear with Rosita given the lead role of the new show only to freak out so her new found responsibility is taken from her and given to Mr. Crystal’s daughter, Porsha (Halsey).

There’s Meena’s terror of the over-confident and hair award winning, Elwood (Eric Andre): how can she act like she’s in love for the show when she has no idea what it feels like?

However, Miss Crawly (Garth Jennings) with the glass eye (my favourite) is fearless.  Until she tries to convince recluse super star, Clay Calloway to come back into the spotlight only to be shot at with paint balls: pew, pew.

Along with some laughs, there’s an almost overwhelming wealth of emotion bursting from the screen, with the songs seamlessly complimenting the storyline; the voices so pure, I literally had tears spring to my eyes.

The music is fantastic as these characters learn to overcome their fear.

I attended a public screening for this one, and kids were literally dancing in front of their seats.

There’s a couple of scary moments (particularly if you’re scared of heights), but this is a sweet and adorable escape for a family viewing that will leave songs playing in your head for hours after the credits roll.

I’m still humming, You’ve got to get yourself together, you got stuck in a moment, and you can’t get out of it…  Touché.

Red Rocket

Rated: MA15+Red Rocket

Directed by: Sean Baker

Screenplay Written by: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch

Produced by: Sean Baker, Shih-Chihg Tsou, Alex Saks

Starring: Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Suzanna Son, Shih-Ching Tsou, Parker Bigham, Brenda Deiss, Ethan Darbone, Brittany Rodriguez, Judy Hill, Marion Lambert.

‘Why are you here?’

Bruised and sleeping on a bus, Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) is back in Texas.

He fronts up at his ex’s mum’s house – ‘What are you doing here?’ asks Lexi (Bree Elrod).  Because she knows Mikey way too well.

But Mikey knows which buttons to press.  He’s a fast talking, ex-porn star who’s ‘been blessed’ with a decent package and good looks.  And no moral compass.

He’ll say and do anything to survive.

He’ll f*#k his ex-wife just to sleep in a bed, deal pot to make money.  And seduce a seventeen-year-old girl because she’s smoke’n hot.

Meet, Strawberry (Suzanna Son).  Sweet and not-so-innocent, she’s a young girl who ‘likes men not boys.’

She doesn’t stand a chance.  Because Mikey has decided he likes her.  He’s going to make her famous.

‘What did the donuts do on their first date?’ Mikey asks Strawberry – she works at a donut shop.

‘They glazed into each other’s eyes,’ he smiles.

I could kinda get behind this guy down-on-his-luck.  But when he starts to charm this young girl, I started to cringe.

There’s a glib lightness to the film but underneath there’s a dark reality.

‘Your mother hates me.’

‘She hated you.  She died,’ says Lonnie (Ethan Darbone).  He’s the nextdoor neighbour.

It’s a sad place, with smoke stacks of oil refineries blowing pollution into the air virtually in the backyard.  The emergency test announcement can be heard in the bedroom.

It’s like this chancer brings light into the lives of these people because they have so little and he’s so nice and polite.  They don’t see what’s happening at first because he lifts them up, shines a light.  Until suddenly they see how much he takes.  When it’s too late.

I didn’t find the film funny or light.  Like Mikey, there’s a dark layer underneath shown in a-day-in-a-life style of filming that’s really about prostitution, drugs, sickness, poverty, betrayal, fake valour, selfishness and complete blindness and lack of empathy.

Not that Red Rocket is a badly made film.  The casting is brilliant.  But it was like it was up to the audience to decide how things were going to work out, depending if you’re an optimist, meaning, Strawberry will be OK.  She’ll be discovered as a musician.  Someone aside from Mikey will see her worth.  Or not, only the worst is to come.  And I lean towards the cynical these days making me see only bad things to then realise how dangerous and blind this character Mikey is as he continues to politely destroy.

It was disconcerting because the film is from the point of view of Mikey.  So I could see what he’s doing is wrong but he can’t see the damage, so I got angry at this douche bag and wanted to yell and kick him in the guts.  He turned up

He turned up with bruises and you get to know why, well pretty much straight away.

I get the layers of the film, but it annoyed me and in the end, I was left feeling angry.

Subscribe to GoMovieReviews
Enter your email address for notification of new reviews - it's free!

 

Subscribe!