Maestro

 

★★★★★

Ambitious is the first word that comes to mind when describing Maestro. For only his second feature film, Bradley Cooper has taken on a larger-than-life figure in composer Leonard Bernstein, & made something as grandiose as the man himself. But does it succeed in capturing him?

The film follows Bernstein (Bradley Cooper), a young assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic in the early 1940s. One morning, he is awoken to hear that the regular conductor has become sick & that he must take the stage. He does so to rousing success.

Flash-forward a few years, & Leonard finds himself at a party playing piano. It is there he locks eyes with young Felicia Montealegre Cohn (Carey Mulligan), an aspiring actress. Flash-forward a few more, & the two are married, with three children: Jamie (Maya Hawke), Alexander (Sam Nivola), & Nina (Alexa Swinton).

All during this time, Leonard has made a huge name for himself. He has conducted major works such as On the Town, Candide, & West Side Story, succeeding both on the Broadway stage & the Philharmonic Orchestra. Felicia succeeds during this time as well, booking roles on both Broadway & on the small screen.

But as his sister Shirley (Sarah Silverman) says to Felicia, "There's a price for being in my brother's orbit." Leonard has multiple affairs, many of them with other men like musician David Oppenheim (Matt Bomer). Can the marriage between Leonard & Felicia survive? Or will it crumble under pressure from infidelity & ego?

Bradley Cooper is not just portraying Leonard Bernstein; he becomes him. There is a ferocity in his performance that is nearly unparalleled in recent memory. From the biggest emotions to the most minute details, & all the many flaws of the man in between, Cooper transforms into the performance.

Carey Mulligan is phenomenal. It is just as much her film as it is Cooper's (she even receives top billing over Cooper in the film's credits). She is no simple wife who suffers under her husband's ego. She is fully-fledged & ferocious. Her chemistry with Cooper is sublime.

Cooper's ambitious direction is filled to the brim with style & substance. It's both bombastic & intimate; the rapturous performances of Bernstein's conducting contrast perfectly with the Cassavetian depiction of married life & all the love & anger there within. And there is a real emotional core here, with Cooper letting the story drive the emotion instead of going the easy way of tactless emotional manipulation.

The screenplay by Cooper & Josh Singer manages to stuff so much into the film's two-hour-plus runtime while giving ample time to breathe. The storyline's focus on character over plot is perfect for such an imposing figure, while also making all those standard biopic cliches feel fresh again.

Matthew Libatique's gorgeous cinematography shifts between color & black-&-white, between Academy ratio & classic widescreen. The use of color is especially gorgeous, with the entire palette being used, but the use of reds & browns sticking out most.

Michelle Tesoro's editing is a masterclass in transitions. The use of match cuts is just spectacular.

The sound design impeccably depicts the beautiful music on display. One scene in particular that uses Mahler's Resurrection Symphony is something to behold.

And the makeup & hairstyling is nothing short of transformational. Not only does it make the actors unrecognizable from how we see them, but even the subtlest of changes help establish the characters.

The emotion, the ambition, & the talent on display make this one of the best films of the year. It's so rare that a biopic like this comes along & truly captures its subject, warts & all, with such aplomb & care at the same time.

Maestro is in theaters now & on Netflix December 20. Its runtime is 129 minutes, & it is rated R for some language & drug use.

Dream Scenario

 

★★★

Fame is fleeting, as they say. But when the fame is in season, what can you control with your own fame? Or do you have any control, for that matter? All of these are questions with potentially unknowable answers.

Dream Scenario tries to answer these questions, & does so with intermittent success. The film follows Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage), a mild-mannered college professor. Loved by his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) & two daughters, Sophie (Lily Bird) & Hannah (Jessica Clement) at home, but passed aside by colleagues & acquaintances like Richard (Dylan Baker) for dinner parties & such, Paul never manages to stick out.

That is, until one night, after Paul & Janet leave a play, where Paul is told by an old flame that he has appeared in her dreams. Then Richard calls & tells him that he has appeared in the dreams of a colleague who has never met him. Then more & more people start recognizing him in their dreams, from his students to others who have never interacted with him in real life. The dreams vary, but there is one constant: Paul is in them doing absolutely nothing.

With this, Paul becomes an overnight sensation. Suddenly, everyone wants to be around him, including marketing firms like one led by Trent (Michael Cera), who wants to get Paul with the Obamas & on cans of Sprite. Paul is skeptical of the fame at first, but eventually lets it get the better of him. But as the dreams start to take an active turn for the worse, Paul tries to figure out just how much, if any, of his fame is in his hands.

The cast is great. Nicolas Cage, as always, is tuned in. Cage is always a standout, no matter what the quality of the film, but when he's got something good going, it's a sight to see. The supporting cast, especially Julianne Nicholson & Michael Cera do some great work, but it's Cage's show through & through.

Kristoffer Borgli's direction is very good. Borgli sometimes bites off more than he can chew by handling all the themes, but he manages to have a original vision throughout.

His screenplay is solid, but not as strong as his direction. By the third act, the film takes a turn into the idea of cancel culture, & as a result, some of the satire falls flat. However, the characters are, for the most part, fully realized, & the dialogue is often very funny.

And his editing is terrific. Borgli uses a number of jump cuts to excellent effect, & his use of elliptical editing to drive the story forward is a fresh style in a world of stale editing that just exists.

While some of the themes, like that of cancel culture, don't quite hit, others about the sudden onset of fame, ultimately do. Dream Scenario owes a lot to the films of Spike Jonze & Charlie Kaufman, especially Being John Malkovich & Adaptation (also starring Nicolas Cage). But although the film is ultimately recommended, I wanted the real thing much more.

Dream Scenario is in theaters now. Its runtime is 102 minutes, & it is rated R for language, violence, & some sexual content.

May December

 

★★★★★

There is always the story of a perfect American family that has something sinister & dark beneath the surface. Keeping up the appearance of a perfect family is a struggle for those with shady pasts, & the question is: how long before the veil is tossed & everything is shown for what it is? And who, or what, will be the undoing?

May December is ultimately a story of appearances, both what we keep up in order to stave off the past, & what we use to become other people. Set in 2015, the film follows Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), a noted television actress. Elizabeth, who considers herself a method actress, has chosen a particularly meaty role for her next film, a true crime drama where she portrays Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore), a former pet shop clerk, who in 1992, was arrested at the age of 36 for having a sexual relationship with 13-year-old Joe Yoo (Charles Melton), a classmate of her son Georgie (Cory Michael Smith). Gracie ultimately served time in prison for her crime, but after her sentence, has married Joe & settled down with him on bucolic Tybee Island in Georgia, with three kids in tow: Honor (Piper Curda), conceived during the initial relationship; & twins Charlie (Gabriel Chung) & Mary (Elizabeth Yu), who are about to graduate high school. Since her release, Gracie & Joe have ultimately made an idyllic life for themselves & their children, or as idyllic as one can be when boxes of fecal matter are intermittently sent to their house.

So off to Tybee Island goes Elizabeth to meet the Atherton-Yoo family & shadow them for her role. Gracie & Joe are moderately excited to have her come along, while the children range from being starstruck to questioning the idea of Elizabeth's decision to shadow in the first place. 

Elizabeth toils through the tabloids & the people surrounding the case to get towards the truth needed for her best performance. But her arrival threatens to tear apart the life that Gracie & Joe have made, as pressure causes long-held feelings to arise.

The performances are exemplary. Natalie Portman gives a performance rivaling her Oscar-winning turn in Black Swan. Julianne Moore, as always, is phenomenal, as a woman in denial. But it's Charles Melton who ultimately runs away with the film. Melton perfectly portrays a heavy role with a sense of arrested development, never growing from the moment he was first abused, & coming to terms with the horror of it all.

Todd Haynes' direction walks a fine tightrope. It's hard to make a film about such a sensitive topic funny in some parts. And yet, when it calls for humor, it works. Haynes has always been a man obsessed with camp & melodrama, evidenced especially in his 2002 ode to Douglas Sirk, Far From Heaven. And here, it's also especially evident, evoking the filmography of not only Douglas Sirk, but also that of his contemporary, Pedro Almodóvar. But Haynes also infuses the film with an overwhelmingly uncomfortable aura of dread, as the audience slowly reads past the tabloid-infused narratives & looks deeper into the human cost.

Samy Burch's brilliant screenplay is at once both a deeply affecting look at the haunting aftereffects of grooming & a darkly funny satire of method acting & how pointless it is. Burch, in her first published screenplay, further adds to the melodramatic camp atmosphere that Haynes has set up with a quasi-soap opera approach containing witty dialogue, yet never fails to move past how damaging the abuse is. The film is obviously inspired by the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, who abused her student Vili Fualaau & then married him, & it critiques many of the sick tabloid narratives that came about in that case.

This film about appearances & how they can be deceiving is one of the best of the year. It's a testament to Todd Haynes' ability as an auteur, Samy Burch's ability to tackle such a thorny subject in her first screenplay, & the cast's ability to take on such complex roles in such a multifaceted manner that this all works.

May December is now showing on Netflix. Its runtime is 117 minutes, & it is rated R for some sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, & language.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Love him, hate him, or have mixed feelings about him, you can't deny that Quentin Tarantino has made an indelible impact on modern American cinema. From his blistering debut, 1992's Reservoir Dogs; his breakout hit, 1994's Pulp Fiction; & my personal favorite work of his, 1997's Jackie Brown, to his revenge double feature, 2003's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2004's Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (yes, they are two films, & if they are truly one film, then Quentin Tarantino owes me $8. But I digress...); his half of a grindhouse double feature, 2007's Death Proof; his WW2 revisionist thriller, 2009's Inglourious Basterds; his slavery Spaghetti Western (or "Southern"), 2012's Django Unchained; & his 70mm roadshow, 2015's The Hateful Eight, Tarantino has enraptured many with his colorful dialogue, nonlinear storylines, & wondrous originality, but he also alienated many with his cartoonish violence, extensive use of the N-word, & his unapologetic foot fetish. Nevertheless, I consider Tarantino to be one of my favorite filmmakers. However, as a person, he just really irritates me.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is, by far, Tarantino's best film this decade. Set in 1969 Los Angeles, the film follows Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), an aging actor in Hollywood. Once the star of the Western TV series Bounty Law, Dalton's career has faltered due to a floundering film career, & has now been reserved for playing the bad guy of the week on TV shows. As a result, he mostly spends his time with his best friend & stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), a war veteran who drives Dalton around Los Angeles, & has also suffered from lack of work, due to rumors about him & his wife.

After a meeting with agent Marvin Schwarzs (Al Pacino), Dalton comes to the conclusion that he is a has-been, as his roles as the bad guy of the week are dragging his star power down, & the only work he can find as a lead is in Spaghetti Westerns in Italy, which Dalton detests due to their low quality. However, Rick finds some hope in the fact that actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) & her husband, director Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha), have moved in next door to his house on Cielo Drive, as befriending them could be the rebound he needs for his career. That night, Tate & Polanski attend a party at the Playboy Mansion, where Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis) tells a story about how Tate left hairdresser Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch) for Polanski, but Sebring is, more or less, a third wheel that Tate will go to if the relationship between her & Polanski sours.

The next day, Dalton goes to work on the set of Lancer, the new Western TV series starring James Stacy (Timothy Olyphant) & Wayne Maunder (Luke Perry). The pilot episode Dalton is appearing in is being directed by American expatriate Sam Wanamaker (Nicholas Hammond). Booth tries to see if he can work on set, but Dalton tells him he can't, since Randy (Kurt Russell), a stuntman, is on the set as well, & he deeply despises Booth, not only for the rumors which his wife Janet (Zoë Bell) believes, but also due to Booth's destructive fight with Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) on the set of The Green Hornet. On set, Dalton strikes up a conversation with Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters), a young method actress.

After fixing Dalton's TV antenna, Booth drives around. He eventually picks up a hitchhiker named Pussycat (Margaret Qualley), & drives her to Spahn's Movie Ranch, a ranch used for filming Westerns some years prior. He does this since he knew the owner, George Spahn (Bruce Dern), who has let Pussycat & some other people live on his ranch, including Charles Manson (Damon Herriman), Charles "Tex" Watson (Austin Butler), Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (Dakota Fanning), & Gypsy (Lena Dunham).

Meanwhile, as Dalton works on Lancer, & Booth runs into the Manson Family, Tate goes to see herself in the film The Wrecking Crew. All of these storylines will eventually coalesce on one night in August.

The cast is terrific. Leonardo DiCaprio gives one of his three best performances. He is commanding, sincere, & hilarious all at once. Brad Pitt is at his most humorous in years, further showing that he is as terrific in comedic roles as he is on dramatic roles. Margot Robbie is absolutely phenomenal as Sharon Tate, bringing her back to life & embodying everything we loved about her.

From the supporting cast, Margaret Qualley, Mike Moh & Julia Butters are the standouts. Qualley gives a very mystical touch to her performance, covering her character in mystery. Mike Moh brings Bruce Lee back to life. And Julia Butters is wonderful as a precocious child actress, & I hope she gets more roles after her performance here. The rest of the supporting cast, especially Austin Butler, Luke Perry, & Al Pacino, give great performances.

Quentin Tarantino's direction is phenomenal. Tarantino's sense of world-building is turned up to 100, as he makes us feel like we're back in 1969, when the streets of Los Angeles were draped in neon & the counterculture ruled society. He also brings back his trademark visual style, where the visuals are visceral & bursting with energy. And, surprisingly for him, the atmosphere has no sense of nihilism or bleakness, but is instead filled with nothing but pure warmth & sincerity for the people, the time, & the place.

Quentin Tarantino's screenplay is brilliant. The plot is always ready to keep us on the edge of our seats & subvert our expectations. The characters are wonderfully realized, & also lovingly idiosyncratic. And the dialogue is, as always for a Tarantino film, perfect.

Robert Richardson's cinematography is gorgeous. Richardson colorfully paints 1969 Los Angeles in neon colors & bright sunshine, always giving us a huge burst of nostalgia for the time period. And when it couldn't get better, it does; its projection on film gives it more of a timeless quality, perfectly fitting that wondrous era. If you get the chance, please see it on 35mm film (or, if you're lucky, 70mm film).

Fred Raskin's editing is excellent. For a film that runs over 2.5 hours, the film races by so quick. Also, it is so perfectly cut, using fast cutting the way it should be used.

Arianne Phillips' costume design is beautiful. The costumes are so colorful, period-accurate, & just so lovely to look at.

Barbara Ling's production design is spectacular. The set completely immerses us in 1969, with all the colorful architectural styles & studio backlots perfectly matching the era.

The makeup & hairstyling is superb. The makeup is colorful, & the hairstyling is completely period-accurate & lovingly realized.

The sound design is impeccable. The sounds are perfectly edited & mixed, especially when it comes to the sounds of Tarantino's trademark violence.

And the soundtrack is incredible. The music of the era becomes a character in & of itself. With songs such as Deep Purple's Hush, Neil Diamond's Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show, The Buchanan Brothers' Son of a Lovin' Man, Los Bravos' Bring a Little Lovin', The Mamas & the Papas' Twelve Thirty (Young Girls are Coming to the Canyon), Vanilla Fudge's You Keep Me Hangin' On, & The Rolling Stones' Out of Time, the soundtrack is a mix of major hits, one-hit wonders, & lesser-known singles that perfectly serves as a backdrop to the characters & the setting.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is one of Tarantino's three best works, along with Jackie Brown & Inglourious Basterds. It is Tarantino at his most laid-back, sincere, & hilarious, but above all, it is a gorgeous love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Thursday, July 25, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere, & it is showing on 35mm film at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, MI. Its runtime is 161 minutes, & it is rated R for language throughout, some strong graphic violence, drug use, & sexual references.

The Art of Self-Defense

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Dark comedy is my absolute favorite type of comedy. I love laughing at things that would usually be considered taboo. However, naturally, there are things that shouldn't be joked about. But for the most part, if you find the right thing to poke fun at, it will work out incredibly well, & will make me burst out in laughter.

The Art of Self-Defense does just that, & is one of the funniest films of this decade. The film follows Casey Davies (Jesse Eisenberg), a 35-year-old mild-mannered accountant. Casey lives alone with his dog, & feels incredibly out of place at work. Ultimately, Casey mostly stays inside his own little shell.

One night, Casey goes to purchase dog food. On the way back, Casey is approached by 3 people on motorcycles, & after being asked if he has a gun, is robbed & savagely beaten. While given time off work, Casey becomes insecure in his masculinity, & considers purchasing a gun for protection. However, Casey does find an outlet for his issues in a karate dojo, led by Sensei (Alessandro Nivola). Casey tries a free class & likes it, eventually starting to take day classes, earning his white belt, the first belt in line.

While in karate, Casey meets Anna (Imogen Poots), a brown belt student who also teaches the children's classes, & Henry (David Zellner), a blue belt student who befriends Casey. Eventually, Casey catches the eye of Sensei & the other students, eventually being promoted to a yellow belt, while Anna & Henry are snubbed for promotions, Anna's snubbing being for her womanhood, according to Sensei.

Eventually, Casey gets himself invited to the prestigious night classes, as Sensei sees himself in Casey. But the more involved Casey gets in karate, the more he wonders about what is actually going on at the dojo.

The cast is terrific. Jesse Eisenberg is perfect in the role he was born to play: a seemingly meek person struggling with masculinity issues. Alessandro Nivola is devilishly mysterious & bitingly funny. And Imogen Poots is superb.

Riley Stearns' direction is excellent. Stearns always keeps on the edge of our seat by always staying one step ahead of the audience when it comes to where we think the film is headed.

And Riley Stearns' screenplay is brilliant. The plot deals with many relevant themes, such as toxic masculinity & gun culture, all to incredible effect. The characters are wonderfully offbeat. And the dialogue is gut-bustingly hilarious.

This is one of the best dark comedies I've ever seen. It deals with so many timely themes in such a hilarious manner, & establishes Riley Stearns as a great up-&-coming director in American independent cinema.

The Art of Self-Defense was seen by me at the Landmark Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, MI on Friday, July 19, 2019. It is currently showing in 10 theaters in the Detroit area, including the Landmark Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, MI; the AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI; the AMC Star Great Lakes 25 in Auburn Hills, MI; & the Emagine Canton in Canton, MI. Its runtime is 104 minutes, & it is rated R for violence, sexual content, graphic nudity & language.

The Lion King

★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

The Lion King (1994) is, by far, the greatest animated film ever made. The opening sequence is still emotionally powerful after 25 years, & the animation is timeless. And as someone who has only watched it for the first time recently, I can say that I feel connected to it as much as someone who has seen it many times since they were a toddler.

However, The Lion King (2019) is nowhere near the original in terms of quality, & is ultimately a soulless live-action remake. The film follows Simba (Donald Glover as an adult, JD McCrary as a child), a lion in the Pride Lands of Africa. His father Mufasa (James Earl Jones) is the king of the Pride Lands, assisted by the hornbill Zazu (John Oliver) & the mandrill Rafiki (John Kani), & with his queen Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) by his side. However, Simba's uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is secretly planning to usurp the throne from Mufasa with the help of Shenzi (Florence Kasumba), Kamari (Keegan-Michael Key), & Azizi (Eric Andre), three hyenas. Nevertheless, Simba yearns to be king one day, & he is betrothed to Nala (Beyoncé as an adult, Shahadi Wright Joseph as a child), his best friend.

One day, Scar sets a trap for Simba & Mufasa as a large herd of wildebeest stampede by Pride Rock. Simba is lured into the stampede, leading Mufasa to come & save him; however, although he saves Simba, Mufasa is unable to get back up off the ledge. Mufasa asks Scar for help, but Scar lets him fall off the ledge, & is killed in the stampede. Scar blames Simba for his father's death, & tells him to run away & never return. Scar sends the hyenas after Simba in a plan to kill him, but they fail in their quest.

Simba runs all the way to a desert, where he collapses. He is rescued by Timon (Billy Eichner) & Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), a meerkat & a warthog, respectively, who are best friends. They take Simba in & introduce him to their philosophy of "hakuna matata," which means "no worries." Simba grows up under this philosophy, & finds himself to be content with his carefree life. But a chance encounter with Nala will lead Simba to reconsider his future & possibly return to the Pride Lands to take back his kingship.

The cast is great. Donald Glover, Beyoncé, James Earl Jones, & Alfre Woodard are all great. Billy Eichner & Seth Rogen steal the show. However, Chiwetel Ejiofor is not a great fit, never fully capturing the essence that made Jeremy Irons so imposing in the original film.

Jon Favreau's direction is underwhelming. While he does show a keen visual eye, Favreau is never able to get near as much natural emotion from the audience as Rob Minkoff did with the original film.

Jeff Nathanson's screenplay is mediocre. The plot is exactly the same as the original, & while that's not inherently bad, there is nothing new given to the characters, ultimately making the film feel soulless.

The visual effects are polarizing. For the most part, the animals are incredibly well-realized. However, the lions have no emotion whatsoever, making them feel very unrealistic.

And the music is terrific. The score by Hans Zimmer still has a timeless quality, & the songs feel as fresh as ever.

This is a huge disappointment. Although there are things to like about it, it's basically a glorified Disney Nature documentary, & that's definitely not a compliment.

The Lion King was seen by me at the AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI on Thursday, July 18, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 118 minutes, & it is rated PG for sequences of violence & peril, & some thematic elements.

Stuber

★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Cop comedies have been around in cinema for ages: some good (21 Jump Street & 22 Jump Street), some bad (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot). Although they aren't as successful as they once were, they're still enjoyable from time to time.

Stuber isn't anywhere near perfect, but it's definitely hilarious & enjoyable. The film follows Stu (Kumail Nanjiani), a mild-mannered Uber driver in Los Angeles. Stu also works at a sporting goods facility, where he has to deal with co-workers like Richie Sandusky (Jimmy Tatro). However, he is planning on leaving his job at the sporting goods facility to start up a women's spin biking gym with his best friend/crush Becca (Betty Gilpin).

One day, Stu picks up Det. Vic Manning (Dave Bautista), a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. Vic is after Oka Teijo (Iko Uwais), a notorious drug lord who killed Vic's partner Det. Sara Morris (Karen Gillan) six months earlier. As a result of her death, Vic has been adamant in finding him, although Capt. Angie McHenry (Mira Sorvino) has told him to take a break from the case. Vic would do the task himself, but as a result of LASIK surgery earlier that day, he cannot drive, so he forces Stu to drive him around looking for Teijo in the Uber that his daughter Nicole (Natalie Morales) called for him for her art gallery that night.

While driving through Los Angeles, Stu & Vic constantly bicker: Stu berates Vic for his toxic masculinity & neglect towards his daughter, while Vic berates Stu for not being a real man. But they must put aside their differences if they have any chance at finding Teijo.

The cast is amazing. Kumail Nanjiani continues to show that he is one of the funniest actors in Hollywood right now. Dave Bautista also shows off the great comedic timing that made him such a standout in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The rest of the cast is also hilarious, but it's Nanjiani, Bautista, & their chemistry that truly shine.

Michael Dowse's direction is great. Although his handling of the action sequences isn't the best, he definitely continues to show a great eye for comedy.

And Tripper Clancy's screenplay is very good. The plot is definitely formulaic, & some characters aren't fully realized, but the dialogue is often very humorous.

This is a solid action-comedy. Although it is nowhere near a 5-star ride, it has just enough for me to give a positive rating.

Stuber was seen by me at an advance screening at the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI on Wednesday, July 10, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 93 minutes, & it is rated R for violence & language throughout, some sexual references & brief graphic nudity.

Wild Rose

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

I've said it before, & I'll say it again: I HATE COUNTRY MUSIC. All of them sound the exact same: men drinking a cold beer in their pickup trucks singing about their woman & how much they love rural America. The only country singers I've ever liked are Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, & Kacey Musgraves. Other than that, I don't like it.

But Wild Rose has done something rare: it made me not only like country music, but love it. And other than that, it's an absolute wonder of a film. The film follows Rose-Lynn Harlan (Jessie Buckley), a young woman in Glasgow. Rose-Lynn has just been released from prison for a drug charge, & returns to her home, where her mother Marion (Julie Walters) has taken care of Rose-Lynn's 2 children, Wynonna (Daisy Littlefield) & Lyle (Adam Mitchell). When not in prison, Rose-Lynn is an avid country fan, & yearns to be a famous country singer in Nashville. However, her tendency for debauchery gets in her way.

Rose-Lynn gets a job as a housekeeper for the family of Susannah (Sophie Okonedo). While housekeeping, Rose-Lynn sings multiple country songs, & her voice surprises Susannah, who believes that Rose-Lynn has a great future in country music. Susannah decides to help Rose-Lynn get out there & follow her dreams. After this, Rose-Lynn is steadfastly working towards her goal. But the fear that she might do this while risking whatever semblance of a relationship with her children lulls over her.

The cast is phenomenal. Jessie Buckley is electrifying. She puts 200% into her performance, & also has the voice of an angel. Julie Walters gives one of her best performances. And Sophie Okonedo is at her best in years.

Tom Harper's direction is excellent. Harper gives a more realistic look into the familar rise-to-stardom story, & also keeps the atmosphere warm throughout.

Nicole Taylor's screenplay is amazing. For such a familiar premise, the plot feels incredibly fresh. The characters are well-realized, & the dialogue is incredibly realistic.

And the music is phenomenal. The songs are all incredibly well-written, & they are used to their full extent through Jessie Buckley's soul-shattering voice.

This is one of the best films of the year so far. It's an incredibly fresh look at a rags-to-riches story, led by a star-making performance by Jessie Buckley.

Wild Rose was seen by me at The Maple Theater in Bloomfield Township, MI on Sunday, July 7, 2019. It is currently in 2 theaters in the Detroit area: the AMC Livonia 20 in Livonia, MI; & the State Theatre in Ann Arbor, MI. Its runtime is 101 minutes, & it is rated R for language throughout, some sexuality & brief drug material.

Midsommar

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

There are two distinct types of horror films today. The first is your more traditional style of horror, which mostly relies on jump scares & has a varying degree of atmospheric horror. This style can range from great (It) to awful (The Curse of La Llorona). The second is more classic, but has been demonstrated less & less recently in favor of the first style. This style has always been done very well, at the least, to masterful at the best.

Midsommar is the best use of that classic horror style I've ever seen. The film follows Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh), a college student. Although she has been in a relationship with fellow college student Christian Hughes (Jack Reynor) for 4 years, their relationship has become more emotionally distant, with Christian's friends Josh (William Jackson Harper) & Mark (Will Poulter) wanting him to break up with her due to her supposed neediness.

However, during the winter, a traumatic event in Dani's family occurs, & this brings Dani & Christian closer together as the year starts. That summer, Christian, Josh & Mark are invited by their friend & classmate Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) to come with him to the Swedish province of Hälsingland, specifically his commune of the Hårga, for the midsummer festival, which only occurs every 90 years. Dani is upset that Christian didn't tell her he was going, so as an apology, Christian invites her along, much to the chagrin of Mark.

When they arrive at the Hårga, they meet Simon (Archie Madekwe) & Connie (Ellora Torchia), a British couple who was brought there by Pelle's brother Ingemar (Hampus Hallberg). They all take psychedelic drugs, which give them varying trips. However, they find the festival to be a pleasant experience at first. But the festival is not as it seems, & that, along with tensions inside the group, threaten to make this a festival from hell.

The cast is terrific. Florence Pugh gives one of the best horror performances I've ever seen. She is a lethal mix of grief & terror. Jack Reynor is superb. William Jackson Harper is wonderful. Vilhelm Blomgren is delightfully mysterious. And Will Poulter is devilishly funny.

Ari Aster's direction is excellent. With Hereditary & now Midsommar, Aster has proven himself to be one of the best horror directors of this era. Aster is at his most visually striking, psychologically disturbing, &, surprisingly, his most hilarious.

Ari Aster's screenplay is brilliant. Aster never shows his hand with this script, only letting us slowly realize what's going on here. Also, the characters are terrifically well-written, & the dialogue is perfect & often very humorous.

Pawel Pogorzelski's cinematography is wondrous. The sun-draped Swedish landscape is beautifully captured, luring us into a false sense of security.

Lucian Johnston's editing is wonderful. Johnston drenches us with a slow pace that perfectly fits the film, making you feel as if you're in a nightmare from which you can't escape.

The sound design is impeccable. The sounds that are uttered in the film are horrifying to hear, & they are amplified to their biggest extent.

And Bobby Krlic's score is phenomenal. Krlic mixes between low-tone ambient sounds & striking violins, always giving us a sense of uneasiness.

This is the best horror film I've ever seen. It is incredibly well-acted, visually disturbing, & horrifying long after those credits roll.

Midsommar was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Thursday, July 4, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 147 minutes, & it is rated R for disturbing ritualistic violence & grisly images, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use & language.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Since I was a kid, Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero, mostly because he was younger, which made him more easy to relate to me. (I wasn't much of a comic person, however). As for the films, Tobey Maguire was a good Peter Parker, but a not-so-good Spider-Man; Andrew Garfield was a not-so-good Peter Parker, but a good Spider-Man; & Tom Holland is great at both. Also, the Miles Morales version Spider-Man was portrayed terrifically by Shameik Moore in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is a terrific epilogue for the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film follows Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who is trying to adjust not only to the world after The Blip, the resurrection of everyone lost in The Snap, but also the death of his mentor, Tony Stark/Iron Man. In order to accommodate the students who returned in The Blip, the Midtown School of Science & Technology has restarted the entire school year. The school is also organizing a 2-week trip to Europe, supervised by teachers Roger Harrington (Martin Starr) & Julius Dell (J.B. Smoove), where Peter plans to take a vacation from heroism & finally express his romantic feelings to Michelle "MJ" Jones (Zendaya). Romantic feelings are also being expressed by others in Peter's life, including by his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) towards Betsy Brant (Angourie Rice), & also by Harold "Happy" Hogan (Jon Favreau) towards Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), much to Peter's chagrin.

The group arrives in Venice as a water creature wreaks havoc on the city. However, it is stopped by Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), a man from another Earth. The water creature was the Water Elemental, one of the four Elementals. The Air, Water, & Earth Elementals have all been destroyed, but the Fire Elemental is still out there. They already destroyed Beck's Earth & killed his family. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) & Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) have taken Beck on as a member of the team, & decide to have Peter join him in the fight. However, Peter still wants to relax & enjoy Europe. As a result, Fury pulls some strings that have the group go to Prague, where the Fire Elemental will show. Over time, Peter & Beck bond. But there is a mystery (pun intended) to Beck, one that will throw Peter's Europe trip even more out of the loop.

The cast is terrific. Tom Holland further proves that he is the best Spider-Man. Samuel L. Jackson is still Samuel L. Jacksoning perfectly. Zendaya further shows that she has a lot of acting talent. And Jake Gyllenhaal is spectacular.

Jon Watts' direction is excellent. Watts continues to show a great eye for the quieter scenes that are more coming-of-age in style, & improves on his handling of action sequences.

The screenplay by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers is amazing. The plot is thrillingly intriguing, the characters are well-written, & the dialogue is superb & humorous.

And the visual effects are incredible. The CGI has no flaws whatsoever with the explosions & the creatures, & the practical effects are terrific as well.

This is the best Spider-Man film yet. It has a Spider-Man that is the best ever portrayed on-screen, a great villain, & it sets up a third Spider-Man film that I can't wait to see.

Spider-Man: Far From Home was seen by me at the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI on Wednesday, July 3, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 129 minutes, & it is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some language & brief suggestive comments.

Annabelle Comes Home

★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

The Conjuring Universe has been a mixed bag: The Conjuring & The Conjuring 2 were both great, while The Nun was mediocre, & The Curse of La Llorona was a disaster. I have not yet seen Annabelle or Annabelle: Creation.

Annabelle Comes Home, while not the best in the franchise, is a vast improvement over the previous 2 films. Set in 1972, the film follows Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), a teenager in high school. Mary Ellen has been hired by famed demonologists Ed (Patrick Wilson) & Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren to babysit their tween daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace) while they investigate a case. Judy's birthday is coming up soon, but many people are not going to her party due to the revelation in the local newspaper about what Ed & Lorraine do for a living.

One Friday, after school, Mary Ellen & Judy are surprised by Daniela Rios (Katie Sarife), a friend of Mary Ellen's who has come uninvited. Daniela's father passed away, & she is curious about speaking to the dead. As a present for Judy, Daniela gives her a pair of roller-skates. While Mary Ellen & Judy go out to try them out, Daniela sneaks around looking for keys to the forbidden room where the Warrens keep the possessed items. She finds them, & despite being told not to enter the room, she does so anyway. She touches several possessed items, & opens the case containing Annabelle, a possessed doll which is the most harmful of all of the items in the room. Daniela accidentally leaves it unlocked.

Not long after, Annabelle is unleashed, bringing in several other spirits with her. Mary Ellen, Judy & Daniela must defeat the spirits & put Annabelle back in the case & lock her up before even more bad things occur.

The cast is terrific. Madison Iseman shows a lot of talent here, & I think she will have a solid career. Mckenna Grace shows once again that she is one of our best child actresses. Katie Sarife is great. And although Vera Farmiga & Patrick Wilson aren't in the film for long, their chemistry definitely shines through.

Gary Dauberman's direction is great. There are some flaws that show that this is his directorial debut when it comes to atmosphere, & he does overuse jump scares, but he ultimately does bring a lot of terror & fun to the table.

And the screenplay by Gary Dauberman & James Wan is very good. Although the plot is definitely formulaic, & the characters aren't very well-developed, the dialogue is very well-written.

This is a solid horror film. Although it isn't as scary as it should be, it has just enough frights & fun to make it worthwhile.

Annabelle Comes Home was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, June 28, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 106 minutes, & it is rated R for horror violence & terror.

Yesterday

★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

The Beatles are the most influential rock band of all time. Although they aren't my favorite or the best (those titles both belong to Led Zeppelin), they are definitely one of the best, & their sounds are incredibly lovely to this day.

Yesterday doesn't always hit the high notes, but it's a solid tribute to The Fab Four. The film follows Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a struggling singer-songwriter in the British seaside city of Lowestoft. Despite encouragement from his manager & childhood friend Ellie Appleton (Lily James) to continue on with his career, Jack finds himself disillusioned with the lack of support, & strongly considers leaving his music career behind.

One night, Jack goes on a bike ride. While on his bike ride, the electricity goes out. A few seconds later, Jack is hit by a bus. A few seconds after that, the electricity goes back on. When Jack wakes up & is released from the hospital, he notices that something is different, as many of his Beatles references are lost by everyone. It eventually dawns on Jack that no one else on Earth remembers The Beatles. After the momentary shock, Jack comes up with an idea: perform the entire discography of The Beatles & claim it as his own work.

When Jack performs one of The Beatles' songs on local television, he meteorically rises to superstardom, eventually becoming the opening act of Ed Sheeran (Ed Sheeran), further thrusting him into the spotlight. He is eventually signed by Sheeran's agent, Debra Hammer (Kate McKinnon). But the more popular Jack becomes, the more he must think about his relationship with Ellie, who has been right by his side the whole time.

The cast is amazing. Himesh Patel gives a superb breakout performance. Lily James continues to show that she is one of the best young British actresses today. Ed Sheeran shows that he can be likable for once. And Kate McKinnon is very funny.

Danny Boyle's direction is great. Although Boyle never fully explores the intriguing premise that drives the film, Boyle overcomes that with a warm tone throughout & a steady hand during the musical sequences.

And the screenplay by Richard Curtis & Jack Barth is very good. Although the characters need more development & the dialogue is a bit too on-the-nose at some points, the plot is immensely intriguing.

This is a solid fantasy rom-com. Although it doesn't get anywhere near where it could've been, it gets by with a little help from some friends.

Yesterday was seen by me at an advance screening at the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 116 minutes, & it is rated PG-13 for suggestive content & language.

Toy Story 4

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

The Toy Story films are not only some of the best Pixar films ever made, but they are some of the greatest animated films of all time. Each of the films were incredibly groundbreaking in animation, spectacular scope, & packed with emotion.

When I heard that Toy Story 4 was coming out, I had mixed feelings: on one hand, I knew that it would be good, as Pixar has only made one bad film (Cars 2). But on the other hand, it felt unnecessary; Toy Story 3 was the perfect conclusion to the franchise, as everything was tied together, & it went out with an emotion-filled bang.

But my doubts were all for nothing, as Toy Story 4 is a terrific extension (& possible ending) to the franchise. The film continues the story of Woody (Tom Hanks), the leader of a group of toys once owned by Andy (John Morris & Jack McGraw), & now owned by Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw). Woody, along with Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Slinky Dog (Blake Clark), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), & Mrs. Potato Head (Estelle Harris), along with Dolly (Bonnie Hunt), Trixie (Kristen Schaal), Buttercup (Jeff Garlin), & Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), are happy with their lives as Bonnie's toys. Bonnie is scared about entering kindergarten, so Woody sneaks into her backpack for orientation to keep an eye on her. When Bonnie gets upset, Woody sneakily brings art supplies that were thrown into the trash, along with a spork, to Bonnie. Bonnie uses the spork & the supplies to create a new toy she calls Forky (Tony Hale).

When Bonnie returns home, Woody finds that Forky has come to life in Bonnie's backpack. Woody introduces Forky to the toys, but Forky is convinced that he is trash & not a toy, & proceeds to continually throw himself into the trash. As Forky becomes Bonnie's favorite toy, Woody takes it upon himself to stop Forky from throwing himself into the trash.

Before the school year starts, Bonnie's mom (Lori Alan) & dad (Jay Hernandez) take Bonnie on a road trip. During the trip, Forky throws himself out the window & Woody jumps out to find him & bring him back. On their journey to the RV park where Bonnie & her parents are at, Woody helps Forky finally realize that he is a toy & not trash.

Before they arrive at the park, however, Woody is distracted by a lamp in a store: the lamp of Bo Peep (Annie Potts), a former toy friend of Woody's who was sold 9 years earlier, along with her sheep, Billy, Goat, & Gruff (Emily Davis). They enter the store, but are seen by Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks). Gabby Gabby offers to take them to Bo, but she has ulterior motives for it, & in the process, Forky is captured by Gabby Gabby while Woody escapes. Meanwhile, Buzz looks for Woody & Forky, & meets Ducky (Keegan-Michael Key) & Bunny (Jordan Peele), 2 carnival toys.

Woody finally finds Bo, who is now a lost toy. After some persuading, Bo agrees to help Woody find Forky & return to Bonnie, along with the help of pocket toy cop Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki), & Canadian toy stuntman Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves). But the journey will trigger a yearning for a fresh start in Woody.

The cast is superb. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen & Annie Potts bring so much to their voice roles, & although we can't physically see them, we still empathize with their performances & their emotions. Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele provide some of the funniest lines. And Keanu Reeves is awesome, as always.

Josh Cooley's direction is excellent. Cooley provides a warm-hearted atmosphere throughout, along with a great visual animated style.

The screenplay by Stephany Folsom, Andrew Stanton, John Lasseter, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Josh Cooley, Valerie LaPointe & Martin Hynes is amazing. The plot is intriguing, the characters are incredibly well-developed, & the dialogue is very humorous.

And the animation is wondrous. The animation here is some of the most realistic ever, & that's especially remarkable, as Pixar has always had an incredibly realistic style of animation. It's so incredibly detailed & colorfully illustrated, especially in one scene where the animation feels like life itself.

This is an incredible animated film, & definitely one of the best animated films of the decade. It may have seemed unnecessary, but unnecessary it is not. It is the logical conclusion for the franchise, & it is an emotional one for sure.

Toy Story 4 was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, June 21, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 100 minutes, & it is rated G.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Detroit. Boston. San Francisco. Atlanta. Philadelphia. New York. Washington D.C. All of these cities, along with hundreds more in the United States, have been plagued by gentrification. Sure, gentrification may sound nice, with the promise of updating the decaying neighborhoods, but what else do you really get out of it besides that & middle-class white people moving in? You not only lose the predominantly marginalized communities that made it so great, but you lose the culture that made it home while it wasn't at its best.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco is an incredibly powerful look at gentrification, but it is mainly a powerful look at a friendship & how it endures outside change. The film follows Jimmie Fails (Jimmie Fails), a young African-American man in San Francisco. Jimmie works as a nurse at a nursing home, & currently lives with his best friend Montgomery "Mont" Allen (Jonathan Majors), an aspiring playwright, & Mont's grandfather (Danny Glover), who is blind & relies on Mont to explain to him the visuals of films & TV shows. Together, Jimmie & Mont encounter various people throughout the day, including Wanda (Tichina Arnold), Jimmie's aunt; Bobby (Mike Epps), an old friend of theirs; Clayton (Finn Wittrock), a sly real estate agent; & Becca (Thora Birch), a woman who has grown to hate the city. But what they truly cherish is the old Victorian house in the Fillmore District that Jimmie & his father James Sr. (Rob Morgan) once lived in before they were forced out of it in the 1990s, the house that Jimmie's grandfather built in 1946 as "the first black man in San Francisco." Jimmie helps take care of the outside while Mont keeps an eye out for the tenants, who are more or less apprehensive of Jimmie's care.

One day, Jimmie & Mont discover that the tenants are forced to move out due to the death of the owner, which has caused infighting between the tenants & one of their sisters. Jimmie sees this as an opportunity to finally get back his house, which has been priced at $4 million. Jimmie & Mont move in to squat in it, finally getting a sanctuary for themselves in a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco. But this is more than just a house or a sanctuary for Jimmie: it's the last tie he has to San Francisco. It's the last tie he has to his home & his land, as he considers himself to be "the last black man in San Francisco."

The cast is exemplary. Jimmie Fails not only gives the best debut performance of this year, but easily the best debut performance of this decade. The fact that this is a debut performance & that he is an unknown talent heightens the film's realism, allowing us to further relate to the performances, & his remorseful yet optimistic attitude is so perfectly portrayed.

Jonathan Majors gives the best supporting male performance of the year so far. Like Fails' performance, Majors' performance is also remorseful yet optimistic, but he is more theatrical in his persona, & it shows in one of the most powerful scenes of the film. His chemistry with Fails is also impeccable, as they truly feel like life-long friends, almost like brothers they never had.

Tichina Arnold has a small amount of screen time, but what she does with that screen time is wondrous. As Jimmie's aunt who has left San Francisco behind, she understands what Jimmie is going through, trying to keep his connection with the city he loves so dearly, but knows that San Francisco is tough, & it's not his fault if he leaves. Arnold portrays that mindset so perfectly, & she is so warm & engaging in her performance.

The rest of the cast, especially Danny Glover & Rob Morgan, give terrific supporting performances, filling in the rest of the colorful characters that populate the setting.

Joe Talbot's direction is stellar. Talbot, in his directorial debut, shows the empathy of John Cassavetes, the visual poetry of Barry Jenkins, & the sociopolitical eye of Spike Lee, which all come together to create a style that makes you surprised that it did not come from a seasoned veteran director. I definitely cannot wait for what Talbot does after this film.

The screenplay by Joe Talbot, Rob Richert & Jimmie Fails is wonderful. The plot is entirely fresh & original, never once feeling stale. The characters are incredibly well-written, feeling like random people you would encounter on the street. And the dialogue is so richly human, powerfully written, & incredibly poetic.

Adam Newport-Berra's cinematography is gorgeous. Newport-Berra's camerawork is so vibrant, glorious, & nothing short of visual poetry, as he lingers on the beauty of the faces of the characters & the places that populate the setting, & glides along through the town like a San Franciscan on a cable car.

David Marks' editing is terrific. Marks cuts the film with such immense style, but lets us linger in the moment, keeping us calm as we slowly engage ourselves with the characters. And that is what editing should do.

And Emile Mosseri's score is beautiful. The score is populated by trombones, trumpets, clarinets, flutes, saxophones, violins, & percussion, & all those combine for music that is lamentful for the past, yet hopeful for the future.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco is something that wholeheartedly deserves to be acclaimed, & it certainly has been acclaimed. It is something so wholly original, so powerfully emotional, & so visually poetic, that it is nothing short of a true masterpiece. It is something that everyone should go & see if it is showing by you.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco was seen by me at the Landmark Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, MI on Thursday, June 20, 2019. It is currently in 4 theaters in the Detroit area: the Landmark Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, MI; the Birmingham 8 in Birmingham, MI; the Cinema Detroit in Detroit, MI; & the State Theatre in Ann Arbor, MI. Its runtime is 121 minutes, & it is rated R for language, brief nudity & drug use.

The Dead Don't Die

★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

I'm not interested in zombies. I've just found them to be boring. When I have liked zombies, it's been in a more comedic fashion. The only zombie films I've liked were 28 Days Later, which is one of the best horror films ever made, 28 Weeks Later, Dead Alive, Zombieland, & Shaun of the Dead. Other than that, I'm not a fan.

The Dead Don't Die is a bit aimless & didactic at times, but it's a solid zom-com. The film follows Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray), the police chief of Centerville, Pennsylvania. Cliff & Officer Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver) have just investigated a complaint by cartoonishly racist farmer Frank Miller (Steve Buscemi) that Hermit Bob (Tom Waits) stole a chicken from him. On their way back, they notice that it is still light out at 8pm, & Ronnie's watch & cellphone die. They go to a diner where they meet with Hank Thompson (Danny Glover), the owner of the local hardware store, who hears of a radio report about polar fracking. Waitress Fern (Eszter Balint) also remarks about it still being light out. After this, Cliff & Ronnie return to the police station, where Officer Mindy Morrison (Chlöe Sevigny) is at. Cliff stays at the station with the corpse of town drunk Mallory O'Brien (Carol Kane).

Elsewhere in town, at the Centerville Juvenile Detention Center, Geronimo (Jahi Winston) tells fellow inmates Olivia (Taliyah Whitaker) & Stella (Maya Delmont) that the polar fracking has changed the Earth's rotation. Dean (RZA), a deliveryman for WU-PS, delivers rare magazines to Bobby Wiggins (Caleb Landry Jones), the owner of the gas station & memorabilia store. Hank, Fern, & cleaner Lily (Rosal Colon) talk about Mallory. Cleveland hipsters Zoe (Selena Gomez), Jack (Austin Butler) & Zach (Luka Sabbat) travel to Centerville, enter Bobby's gas station, purchase a CD of Sturgill Simpson's The Dead Don't Die, & check in at Danny's Moonlight Motel, owned by Danny Perkins (Larry Fessenden). News reporter Posie Juarez (Rosie Perez) reports about pets behaving strangely. New undertaker Zelda Winston (Tilda Swinton) practices her samurai skills.

As night falls on Centerville, two coffee-obsessed zombies (Sara Driver & Iggy Pop) reanimate, go to the diner, & kill Fern & Lily. Hank finds them the next morning, & calls Cliff, Ronnie, & Mindy. Ronnie believes that zombies did it, & also remarks that this won't end well. It is now up to Cliff, Ronnie, Mindy, & Zelda to stop the zombie apocalypse.

The cast is terrific. Bill Murray is super deadpan & hilarious. Adam Driver is also super deadpan & hilarious. Tilda Swinton is glorious as usual. And the rest of the cast is superb.

Jim Jarmusch's direction is great. While the film somewhat loses sight in the third act, it is overcome by his exemplary minimalist shot style & his affinity for deadpan visual comedy.

And Jim Jarmusch's screenplay is very good. While the themes become didactic in the third act, & the plot is a bit too aimless, but his characters are lovingly idiosyncratic, & the deadpan dialogue is often hilarious.

This is a solid deadpan look at the current state of affairs in the world. Although it is a polarizing film for sure, & definitely not a perfect one, it has enough in it to keep it away from becoming a dead end.

The Dead Don't Die was seen by me at the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI on Saturday, June 15, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 104 minutes, & it is rated R for zombie violence/gore, & for language.

Late Night

★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

At the age of 17, I'm probably the youngest person in America that watches late-night talk shows. Here's how I feel about them: the only ones I like are Stephen Colbert (although he was better on Comedy Central as his alter ego) & Seth Meyers. Jimmy Fallon is ok, but I wish he would actually let his guests talk for more than 30 seconds without being interrupted by one of his annoying forced laughs. Jimmy Kimmel is not that funny, & James Corden is not only unfunny, but also has no likable persona.

Late Night, while rocky at points, is a solid look at the late-night talk show industry. The film follows Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), the host of Tonight with Katherine Newbury, the longest-running late-night talk show hosted by a woman. Katherine is married to Walter (John Lithgow), a former NYU professor with Parkinson's disease. Once a ratings hit, the show has now furiously dropped in ratings, as Katherine has refused to modernize, both in front of & behind the camera; Katherine refuses to engage in the antics that have made other late-night talk show hosts popular, & she has also come to be criticized for the lack of diversity on her writing staff, which is all-male, including Charlie Fain (Hugh Dancy); Tom Campbell (Reid Scott); Burditt (Max Casella); Reynolds (John Early); & Mancuso (Paul Walter Hauser). In order to fix this, Katherine sends her assistant Brad (Denis O'Hare) to find a woman to put on the staff, which he finds in Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), an efficiency expert at a chemical plant in Pennsylvania who is a fan of the show & a budding comedienne.

One day, Katherine is informed by network head Caroline Morton (Amy Ryan) that this season will be her last, & that she will be replaced by Daniel Tennant (Ike Barinholtz), a younger, cruder comedian. In order to keep her job, Katherine demands that the writing staff makes her funny & relevant again. Molly finds this to be her chance to make her mark on the staff & prove that she isn't just a diversity hire. She does this by having Katherine completely change her persona by becoming more open about her thoughts & feelings. This could either end up going really well or really awful, but this might end up working.

The cast is terrific. Emma Thompson gives one of the best performances of her illustrious career. Mindy Kaling is also superb & charming. The rest of the cast gives great performances, but it's the chemistry between Thompson & Kaling that truly shines.

Nisha Ganatra's direction is great. Ganatra has some trouble with pacing, but she makes sure that the actors give their best performances & that the atmosphere stays warm throughout.

And Mindy Kaling's screenplay is very good. The plot does get too formulaic at times, & the characters outside of Thompson & Kaling's characters could use more development, but the dialogue is sharply written.

This is a solid dramedy. Although there are some moments that could've been better handled with a better writer & a better director, it's a nice little film.

Late Night was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, June 14, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 102 minutes, & it is rated R for language throughout & some sexual references.

The Souvenir

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

How do we look at moments in our past that were not good? Do we look at them for what they truly are? Or do we think of them differently, tell ourselves that they were good moments, in order to spare ourselves from the pain & anguish we've kept hidden away for years? I don't know how exactly I've looked back at mine.

The Souvenir is an incredibly well-made look at one of those moments. Set in 1980s London, the film follows Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), a young film student. Julie wants to write & direct films about stories that take place outside of her privileged, upper-class life, like in the docks in the north of England. Her mother Rosalind (Tilda Swinton) is concerned about Julie, but Julie brushes off her concerns.

At a party, Julie meets Anthony (Tom Burke), an older man who works for the Foreign Office. Anthony is much like Julie, as he is also very privileged & upper-class, & is the epitome of an Oxbridge man. He introduces her to new ideas, films, artworks, & many other things, eventually becoming a major part of her life, eventually moving in with her, as the romance blooms like a lovely flower.

But there are things that start to show with Anthony, things that are not so attractive. He is definitely cold & brash towards Julie. But then these things get worse & worse, & more undesirable traits arise, making Julie wonder about the state of her life & the state of her relationship with Anthony, which is nothing short of toxic.

The cast is terrific. Honor Swinton Byrne gives the most captivating breakout performance I've seen in years. She embraces Julie's vulnerability, self-doubt, ambition, & devotion at every moment, & it is the best dramatic performance of the year so far. Tom Burke is superb, & gives the most realistic portrayal of a toxic person in a toxic relationship that I've ever seen. And Tilda Swinton shows & says so much with little screen time.

Joanna Hogg's direction is phenomenal. As this is based on her experiences in the early 1980s, this is a very personal work for Hogg. And it shows, as she helms the film with such intimate care & framing.

Joanna Hogg's screenplay is incredible. The plot perfectly weaves back & forth like a series of fragmented memories, the characters are so impeccably well-developed, & the dialogue is so wonderfully realistic.

And David Raedeker's cinematography is gorgeous. The camerawork consists of several static long-takes, spectacularly framing the quietly tense matters at hand.

The Souvenir is one of the best films of the year, & quite possibly of this decade. It's a heart-wrenching look at a toxic relationship & how we look back on them, whether it be for what they were or what we think they were, which are almost always 2 completely different things.

The Souvenir was seen by me at the Landmark Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, MI on Sunday, June 9, 2019. It is currently in 1 theater in the Detroit area: the State Theatre in Ann Arbor, MI. Its runtime is 120 minutes, & it is rated R for some sexuality, graphic nudity, drug material & language.

Dark Phoenix

½★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

As the Fox X-Men Universe comes to a close as they have been purchased by the Mighty Mouse, we must look back on how it has been. The first two films were very good to great, then a major bump in the road with the next two films, then it regained its footing a bit once the prequels came in, & hit its peak with Deadpool, Logan & Deadpool 2, but has also shown some signs of regression with Apocalypse.

Dark Phoenix is a brutal end to the Fox X-Men Universe. A brutal, drawn-out, meaningless, tedious end to the Fox X-Men Universe. Set in 1992, the film follows the X-Men: Charles Xavier/Professor X (James McAvoy); Raven Darkhölme/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence); Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult); Jean Grey (Sophie Turner); Ororo Munroe/Storm (Alexandra Shipp); Scott Summers/Cyclops (Tye Sheridan); Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee); & Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver (Evan Peters). When Space Shuttle Endeavour is hit by a solar flare, the X-Men go to save the astronauts; however, in the process, Jean is struck by the energy from the flare & absorbs it, enhancing her psychic powers.

At first, Jean feels fine, & there is nothing that would show otherwise. However, it soon shows that the solar flare definitely affected her, as she suddenly starts attacking when pressured, & some more maniacal things arise to the surface. She eventually flies away from the X-Men, & is met by Vuk (Jessica Chastain), a member of the D'Bari, a shape-shifting alien race obsessed with the power she received from the solar flare, which wasn't a solar flare. She also meets up with Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender), who has gone to a mutant island, to seek help. But her enhanced powers threaten to tear the X-Men apart.

The cast is mediocre. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender & Jennifer Lawrence all do serviceable jobs, but they completely feel bored throughout the film. Sophie Turner is substandard. Jessica Chastain is incredibly wasted. And Alexandra Shipp is absolutely awful, as her accent is nothing short of horrendous.

Simon Kinberg's direction is terrible. In his directorial debut, Kinberg shows that he as incompetent at directing as he is at writing, with no ability to liven things up at all, no sense of visual style, & no sense of getting good performances out of his actors.

Simon Kinberg's screenplay is horrific. For a film that has been made once before to middling results, it wouldn't seem that hard to do better the second time around. However, this is not the case. The storyline feels incredibly rushed, the characters are not well-written, & the dialogue is some of the worst in recent memory.

And the visual effects are dreadful. For a superhero film with a budget of $200 million, you would expect that the CGI would be well done. You would be wrong. No amount of money nor reshoots would be able to fix the rushed & inconsistent CGI.

There's been many terrible superhero films before Dark Phoenix (most of which I haven't seen yet), & there will probably be more after Dark Phoenix. But I know for sure that as of right now, Dark Phoenix is the worst superhero film I've ever seen. This is the way a franchise ends: not with a bang, but with a sad, monotonous whimper.

Dark Phoenix was seen by me at the MJR Partridge Creek Digital Cinema 14 in Clinton Township, MI on Thursday, June 6, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 113 minutes, & it is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence & action including some gunplay, disturbing images, & brief strong language.

Rocketman

★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Elton John is one of the greatest artists of all time. He's had 7 consecutive #1 albums in the US, 58 top 40 singles, 27 top 10 singles, 4 #2 singles & 9 #1 singles, including the best-selling single of all time, Candle in the Wind 1997. He has left an indelible impression on music.

While Rocketman doesn't completely reach the heights of Elton John's career, it's a solid biopic. The film follows Reginald Dwight (Taron Egerton as an adult, Kit Connor & Matthew Illesley as a child), a young boy in Pinner, Middlesex, England. Raised by his mother Sheila (Bryce Dallas Howard) & grandmother Ivy (Gemma Jones) while his father Stanley (Steven Mackintosh) is absent due to his service in the Royal Air Force, Reginald shows that he has the musical talent of an absolute wunderkind. He eventually starts studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He then becomes influenced by rock artists, & joins a band called Bluesology.

Bluesology ends up backing up for an American jazz band, where Reginald realizes that he must change his name, form a new persona, & write some songs if he wants to be famous. He then changes his name to Elton John. Elton finds success under Dick James' publishing company & Ray Williams' management, & meets Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), an aspiring songwriter. They quickly form a friendship, with Elton's musical talent & Bernie's songwriting talent quickly merging together. Also, Elton starts to realize that he is gay, which Bernie accepts.

When Elton & Bernie create Your Song, they earn a performance at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, where they are met with absolute acclaim. At an afterparty at Mama Cass' house, Elton meets John Reid (Richard Madden), a music manager who also has romantic feelings toward Elton. But Reid has a toxic influence over Elton, & this will lead to a severe downward spiral for Elton.

The cast is terrific. Taron Egerton doesn't portray Elton John; he IS Elton John. His performance never once feels like an imitation (unlike Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody), & it has all the charm & talent we've all come to expect from Elton John. Jamie Bell is also superb as Bernie Taupin, & the chemistry between him & Egerton feels like a genuine life-long friendship. And the rest of the cast, especially Madden & Howard, provide great supporting performances.

Dexter Fletcher's direction is great. Although there are some moments where some standard biopic cliches come in, Fletcher overcomes this with so much ambition & visual style.

Lee Hall's screenplay is very good. Although the storyline does have too many of the standard biopic cliches, & some of the characters aren't well-developed, the dialogue is extremely well-written, & it isn't afraid to embrace its protagonist's sexual orientation (unlike Bohemian Rhapsody).

Julian Day's costume design is spectacular. The costumes are period-accurate, well-designed, & just like Elton John himself, wonderfully extravagant.

And the soundtrack is wonderful. So many of Elton John's brightest & best songs are on full display here, & they definitely drive the film forward.

Rocketman isn't perfect. It is somewhat afflicted by certain aspects that affect many biopics today, mainly music biopics. But it has ambition & competent filmmaking, something that many of them (like Bohemian Rhapsody) don't have. And that's a welcome surprise.

Rocketman was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Sunday, June 2, 2019. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 121 minutes, & it is rated R for language throughout, some drug use & sexual content.