I've reviewed films for more than 35 years. Current movie reviews of new theatrical releases and streaming films are added weekly to the Silver Screen Capture movie news site. Many capsule critiques originally appeared in expanded form in my syndicated Lights Camera Reaction column.
We were thrilled when Silver Screen Capture was invited to be part of a new pilot podcast video called “Seeing is Believing.” The topic? A look at the year’s biggest cinematic phenomenon of #Barbenheimer and the singular ways the surprising summer movie double bill of subversive satire Barbie and bendy biopic Oppenheimer continues to stir the souls of unsuspecting viewers! Click below to join Christopher Wagnon, José Alejandro Acosta and me for a conversation about faith, fear and loving and what lies under the surface of this critically and commercially successful duo of films.
The blunt force trauma of being a modern teenager receives its horror film embodiment in Danny and Michael Philippou’s story of friends who thrill to a psychic portal unleashed by a disembodied hand that foists dread into their heads in the often thrilling Talk To Me (B). This nifty A-24 Australian import featuring the eerie embalmed handshake sure to bring all the boys and girls to the yard starts strong and builds decent momentum, with resultant head-trips both expansive and concussive. The co-directors are particularly adept at drawing their audience magnetically into the throes of outlandish juvenile antics, a veritable arm wrestle with the supernatural, and they rarely give up their grip. Among the cunning conjurers, Sophie Wilde as our bedeviled heroine and Joe Bird as a wide-eyed innocent are standouts. Both dexterous young actors could varsity letter in possession. Other characters barely registered but were engaging enough to sometimes buttress the blow of the body counts. Creepy practical effects, shocking jump scares, startling sound design and a few surprising peccadillos keep the slight but mighty proceedings fresh amidst the digital dimensions and massive head wounds. Serendipitously, the most bonkers sequence in the hands-first haunting involves a rogue foot. For most of its brisk running time, this head-banging handmade tale definitely has legs.
Writer/director Greta Gerwig isn’t done with plumbing the psychology of little women, setting the sly subject of her brilliantly subversive new work as a personified plaything who’s awakening into the reality of contemporary life. The witty auteur has crafted a loving tribute to those who create, those who play and those who simply grind into the trials of daily life in the eccentric, existential and exuberant Barbie (A). Packing everything she can about the highs, lows, choices and challenges of womanhood into an efficient fish out of water comedy, Gerwig fashions a droll and dreamy doll’s house, a mythology in miniature and a cultural touchpoint that’s so much more than its pristine plastic surface might promise. Much credit goes to graceful physical comedienne Margot Robbie as the title protagonist, discovering empowerment and empathy with support from a mighty female ecosystem. America Ferrera and Rhea Perlman are formidable standouts in the cast who instill wonder and wisdom along Barbie’s journey of self-actualization. As comic relief and a character gaining an agency of his own kind, Ryan Gosling is a hoot as Ken; he’s certainly the source of some of the greatest belly laughs evoked from a character with washboard abs. The production design, costumes and music are exquisite in this candy-colored universe made even more bountiful by the words of Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s observational and deeply meta screenplay. It’s a testament to Gerwig’s love of her subject that she can get away with in-jokes at the expense of her Mattel producers and evoke both nostalgia and a forward-looking vision all at once. The emotional undercurrent of the protagonist’s growing awareness about how the world works is something few will see coming; the sentiment is real and earned. This brainy modern classic is more than meets the eyes and will be studied for years to come.
Watch the “Seeing is Believing” podcast for Silver Screen Capture video review and discussion of a faith-based hot take on the #Barbenheimer phenomenon:
Like Oliver Stone’s JFK more than three decades ago, Christopher Nolan’s epic of the so-called “father of the atomic bomb” Oppenheimer (A) examines the public life and significant trials of a misunderstood man from history buoyed by clever cross-cutting and prestigious panache. It’s perhaps Nolan’s most conventional movie to date, and yet every beat of the film is wholly original and affecting. As the title character, Cillian Murphy is mesmerizing: he’s an iconoclast, to be sure, who is equally ill at ease contemplating the morality of inventing a volatile creation and negotiating fraught relationships with the men and women in his professional and private circles. Murphy’s murky portrayal is absorbing and sometimes a little funny for a character under the gun to apply his scientific know-how to a morally dubious cause. The shades of gray factor quite literally into the director’s use of shadows and film stock as the period detail of early 20th century colors transitions to monochrome from sequence to sequence. Nolan masterfully fills in the contours and mysteries of his antihero’s dilemma and wastes few shots in advancing the story forward while zig-zagging through time. The film is packed with strong supporting performances including brittle and boisterous characters played by Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, who each get to chew considerable scenery in the final act. The film examines the toll of nuclear and psychological annihilation on the individuals bearing an unmistakable and historic burden. For a film as talky as it is, it moves briskly with deepening impact through its ample running time. It’s a blistering portrait and tough subject with high-stakes dramatic choices made throughout. It’s that rare biopic that sucks viewers in from the first frame and transports its audience into the many layers of its story. The score by Ludwig Göransson is also a stunner. This is a modern classic showcasing Nolan and his team at the top of their game. See this impressive, immersive and entertaining work on the biggest screen possible.
Watch the “Seeing is Believing” podcast for Silver Screen Capture video review and discussion of a faith-based hot take on the #Barbenheimer phenomenon:
Adapted by Adrian Tomine from his own graphic novel and directed by first-time filmmaker Randall Park, the Sundance comedy-drama Shortcomings (B+) is an enjoyable contemporary take on being a young Asian-American male in American society. The story’s moody protagonist, an underemployed movie theatre manager and lousy boyfriend, is winningly played by Justin H. Min. His lesbian best friend portrayed by Sherry Cola is an absolute hoot and always knows just what to say. Ally Maki is also memorable as the hero’s polar opposite; the whole ensemble enjoys time in the spotlight. The cross-country, cross-cultural story transports viewers from Berkeley to New York City with wryly observant misadventures. Park plumbs heritage and hot takes for a film that feels like it’s not trying all that hard and yet still it says so much about its subjects. It’s genuinely funny and also moving at times. Expect this one to be a cult hit, a kind of Reality Bites for modern times.
A B movie with an A message, Alejandro Monteverde’s Sound of Freedom chronicles an unconventional mission by real-life hero Tim Ballard, a U.S. government agent turned mercenary played by Jim Caviezel, who courageously endeavors to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia. The writing and acting could have used substantial polishing as much of the film feels like a prolonged PSA (down to a barcode at the end to pay it forward). But as an eye-opening expose of a major societal issue, it’s insightful and at times riveting. Sometimes this undercover thriller feels like it wants to attain the gravitas of a Donnie Brasco or The Departed but often gets sidelined with the craft of a late-season 21 Jump Street episode. There are genuine pacing issues especially in the final reel, after one of the most ingenious acts of entrapment has already taken place and somewhat bursts the momentum. The kid actors are almost roundly better than the adults as the movie relies a little too heavily on obvious tropes, overly sensationalized sentimentality and a moment or two of Rambo meets Taken ham-fisted histrionics. A pencil-mustached pedophile and a supportive wife character played by Mira Sorvino with fewer than three lines didn’t help add to the nuance. However, the film’s message is both faith-based and universal, that God’s children are not for sale. The power of storytelling is crystallized in a meta message from the lead actor in that much-ballyhooed mid-credits narrative and could have been streamlined throughout with judicious edits. But the cause to celebrate is that this movie is inspiring action to tackle a truly dark topic and promoting a global conversation. The director handles sensitive issues delicately and motivates viewers to action.
There’s a nearly thirty minute series of cutaways in his overlong new stunt spectacular in which Tom Cruise is seen winding through mountains on a motorcycle towards his inevitable jump from a mountain onto a train; if only that level of coordination had been reserved for story and script! Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One (B) is a sturdy entry in the cat and mouse action series with exciting sequences and set pieces, the addition of an intriguing new character in the form of actress Hayley Atwell and a timely menace – an artificial intelligence platform. Clunky exposition doesn’t get any better when the dialogue is shared like a hot potato among everyone gathered in a scene, but a viewer would get drunk if imbibing a shot every time the mansplaining by committee motif gets trotted out by the screenwriters. The whole enterprise feels like warmed-over James Bond without many flashes of romantic intrigue or humor, but the practical effects are rendered with grit and grace. It’s the speeding locomotive finale (not just the prolonged jump onto it) that cinches the deal this is a stunt show best seen on a big screen. Simon Pegg is consistently amusing, and Pom Klementieff is an enjoyable physical threat in this packed ensemble. Esai Morales isn’t given much to do as the big bad, but the story’s overall series of threats feel real throughout. This is part one of a two-part story and works admirably as a standalone film as well.
This is the Never Say Never Again of the Indy franchise with a curious sense not everything is up to peak creativity, and perhaps the filmmakers should have heeded the final three words of that creed. James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (C), chronicling the raiders of a steampunk timepiece with rumored time travel powers, showcases the famed professor/archaeologist with both a murky de-aged CGI uncanny valley of the kings effect as well as an unflattering portrait of the character’s creaky old age circa 1969. At no point is Harrison Ford’s performance credible: the young version is imbued with an old voice and recycled dead-eyed Polar expressions, and what’s on the senior menu doesn’t look capable of throwing those frequent punches at aging Nazis. The filmmakers are constantly futzing with their own rattly dials, as episodic spurts of action are often punctuated with sequences of insipid boredom, even in exotic ports of call ranging from Morocco to Sicily. Three prominent women are featured in the cast, and as Indy’s greedy goddaughter Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the one of those whose character doesn’t connect much at all; in fact, she makes “Willie Scott” look better and better in retrospect. Mads Mikkelsen doesn’t get to vamp much as the villain either. It takes well into the mid point of the film to establish some of the emotional resonance and playfulness needed to propel any interest. Some final reel wild swings (thankfully not with monkeys this time around) actually worked because at least it felt like something novel was finally happening. Some of the practical effects including chases through twisty African marketplaces and advancing through tomb passageways are better than expected; the cinematography and production design sometimes hit their marks. Mangold does well enough to crack that whip Steven Spielberg brandished for four previous installments in an uphill battle to credibly close the series. It’s far from an embarrassment but doesn’t fully fire on all cylinders, and the elegiac elements involved in themes of recapturing youthful glory feel almost accidental. The humor and high adventure of the series’ first three films is simply not matched here, making it ever so clear it’s time to hang up that hat.
The brazen style and balls-out swagger of Emma Seligman’s Bottoms (C) earns the surreal comedy about marginalized young people some nifty novelty points, but the freshness of this brisk tale of two high school lesbians (Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri) who set up a fight club as a guise to hook up with the popular cheerleaders wears off lickety-split. The compelling central duo at the film’s center certainly wins some deserved laughs with droll, deadpan and raunchy dialogue as well as heartfelt empathy, milking all they can from the outrageous premise and their characters’ plights. Havana Rose Liu and Kaia Gerber also bring spirit to the enterprise as would-be paramours, as do Nicholas Galitzine as an absurdist jock archetype and Marshawn Lynch as an aloof teacher who becomes an unwitting club sponsor. The rules of the film’s arch universe are loosely defined and keep viewers at bay from fully immersing. Although billed as a satire, the send-up doesn’t necessarily hit its targets with consistency, which is disappointing with as many topical issues to plumb. This one-note dark comedy wants to be Heathers or even But I’m a Cheerleader and doesn’t quite get there.
What global trek features exclusive curated experiences such as sunsets and river cruises right out of the movies, a parade of magical moments at iconic locations and “fast pass” style close-up access to some of the most treasured places in the collective imagination? It’s the Adventures by Disney packaged vacation to Egypt; and even in the blazing hot off-season for the part African, part Asian nation, the Disney-enhanced destination was a peak experience.
Egypt has not only been a worldwide travel destination because of its rich history and wonderful people, but its mystique has been a constant subject through the lens of cinema in classics such as The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra and Death on the Nile and in modern adventures such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jumper and The Mummy. Now, a company equally famous for its movies and television – including the recent streaming hit series Moon Knight – and for its renowned brand of hospitality is rolling out the red carpet for Egyptian adventures curated by Disney.
On a nearly 10-day journey, my fellow tour guests and I bore witness to the cradle of civilization via hieroglyphics ranging from watermarked textures in the formerly submerged Temple of Isis to full vibrant color in the unearthed Valley of the Kings, all with the gracious and reflective accompaniment of Egyptologist Amal Elfar.
The first days in Cairo alone constituted a trip of a lifetime as our intrepid Adventures by Disney guides sweet and sentimental Kareem Elsaid from Cairo and crafty and cunning Kevin Collinge from Arizona took our group of 37 travelers (mostly adults and a few thoughtful teens) to the Egyptian Museum, the Giza Complex – home of the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Citadel of Salah ad-Din and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali (incidentally one of the sites in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X).
I thought the trip might reach its high point too early when we were granted access to climb on both the outside of and inside the tombs within a mighty Pyramid and to mingle at the paws of the Sphinx, both zones not available for access to the general touring public. But the treasured memories of the desert certainly didn’t stop there, and Kareem and Kev kept spirits high with a combination of wisdom and wit rivaling Disney’s Blue Genie in the “friend like me” department.
This trip was all about awakening the senses, including accommodations in the well-appointed Ritz-Carlton Nile adjacent to a museum of the nation’s most exquisite antiquities. Our trio of curators helped our group get comfortable bartering with local merchants at the colorful Khan El Khalili market, where we bought authentic garb as well as “white elephant” gifts for an end-of-voyage exchange. Fanciful candies, camel plushes and regal mementos from the labyrinthine bazaars filled our totes as our guides helped us separate gift from grift. We alternately feasted on exotic pigeon dishes and pistachio pastries along with more traditional meat kabobs and rice, and we even got to try our hand at frying up our own falafel during a cooking demonstration.
Next up for our group was a plane flight to the beautiful city of Aswan for a luxury cruise excursion aboard the M/S Tulip and satellite felucca boats (think Disney’s Jungle Cruise!) which led us to destinations such as splendid sunset dining at the imperial Old Cataract Hotel where Agatha Christie penned exotic mysteries such as Death on the Nile (now made into a movie twice) and the city of Luxor, home to the temple complexes at Karnak where pharaohs once reigned at the height of their power. Guests instantly see why this area is characterized as the world’s largest open-air museum, and VIP nighttime access to illuminated temples was among the trip’s most dazzling experiences.
The twin temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari at Abu Simbel were a highlight, with grand sculptures carved into mountains. Another spectacular site was the Valley of the Kings, with its choose-your-own-adventure of resplendent illustrated vaults, included a chance to view King Tut in his resting place among additional exhumed history. The Disney guides helped us beat the heat and crowds by arriving just a smidge early and providing us with multicolored parasols.
The final days of the trip included a restful wind-down at the all-inclusive Coral Sea Imperial Sensatori Resort in Sharm El-Sheik, located between the desert of the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea. There we enjoyed buffet meals, swimming, soccer and water polo, spa treatments, beach time, a coral reef snorkeling excursion and a Bedouin style beach party to recap and reflect on the trip.
In addition to the academic learnings throughout our journey, there was a true sense of camaraderie, with adventure guides staging fun pictures and snapping photos and footage on our phones any time we wished. There were frequent restroom breaks, with Disney picking up all the tabs for local tips in Egyptian pounds; and government officials ensured we were perpetually safe with an armed guard protecting our party throughout our stay.
If you opt to go on this marvelous trip, pack hats and sunscreen, long pants for one mosque visit and generally comfortable shirts and shorts for all other times. The Disney crew kept us constantly refreshed with bottled water and electrolytes.
Tie-ins to Disney iconography were subtle on the trip, with the live-action middle east-setAladdinplayed in the background during an orientation session and low-key instrumental tunes from the studio’s film catalogue piped in on the charter bus in Cairo. There were also collectible pins (like in the theme parks!) marking each day of the journey. Mostly, though, the curators of the itinerary allowed the wonders of the Egyptian world to simply speak for themselves.
There you have it: the country made famous in motion pictures now brought to life in vibrant Technicolor by the company known for making magical and memorable moments come to life. The complexity and specificity of the trip made Adventures by Disney the best option to see this majestic country.
To book Adventures by Disney to Egypt or other exotic locales, contact my spectacular neighbor in the Town at Trilith, Alston Causey, who has inside access to adventures on the horizon. You can reach Alston via his website here:
This movie was staid when it should have slayed. An intriguing premise devolves into just a bunch of running scared in Tim Story’s horror satire The Blackening (D). The film follows a group of Black friends on a Juneteenth holiday weekend who encounter masked murderers while staying at a cabin in the woods. At the film’s core is a mysterious board game that turns players against one another in a type of racial roulette, but most of the plot is just actors running from room to room screaming. Grace Byers and Melvin Gregg are among the accomplished standouts in the ensemble. Among those who stand out for all the wrong reasons, Jermaine Fowler gives a stupendously misguided performance, jawdropping in its caricature. Story shows scant skill in helming this type of horror movie, with no cleverness to the kills or pacing for the scares. There’s more mystery and suspense in any given Scooby-Doo episode. What could have been a sly play on tropes or an intellectual dissection of the role race plays in these kinds of movies is largely squandered. In terms of dignity of daring, nobody gets out of this one alive.
Existential and terrestrial, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (C-) also proves a quite inert affair within its lovely and meticulous menagerie of production design and between its fussy and overcomplicated bookends. It’s fitting there’s a subplot about aliens, as most actors in Anderson’s ensemble appear to only mimic the way earthly humans actually act and speak. The best thing about the film is its stylized use of whimsical color and imaginative set pieces amidst a widescreen panorama; there’s no mistaking in every genus and species and frame of the picture that it’s an Anderson film. Framed with an obtuse artifice of putting on a theatrical play, the central act of cinema revolves around denizens gathered in a remote desert town for an astronomy and invention convention circa 1955. The characters engage in conversations and quirks, but there’s little narrative thrust or storytelling propulsion governing the work. Vintage Altman it’s not. Much of this mawkish enterprise feels like Anderson bringing a Pinterest mood board to life. Someone must have vociferously complimented him in kindergarten show and tell, as adult Anderson shows great relish cataloguing collections of items and actors. No performer stands out much in this deadpan diorama; Jason Schwartzman as a dad and war photographer is the closest thing to a protagonist, and even his character goes largely undeveloped. The kid actors get a few funny bits, and many of Anderson’s regulars – from Jeffrey Wright to Tilda Swinton – get some droll moments in the spotlight. It’s all pretty stargazing but doesn’t add up to much.
