Brief thoughts on Cold War 1994 (2026) NYAFF 2026

First of two prequels  to the COLD WAR films from 2012 and 2017. The film is told in flashback as a case from 1994 is echoing in a current case.

Another complicated tale with lots of characters, played by great actors, trying to get to the bottom of a case involving a kidnap ring.  Its a film that fits perfectly with the previous two films. And as with the previous films I think the best thing in the film is the action sequences. There are some incredible fights here. This doesn't mean there is a problem with the rest,  rather it's simply that the plot is needlessly complicated.

I like this film a great deal. 

This is definitely one to see on the big screen if you can.

Brief thoughts on Undertaker 2 (2025)

When a grandmother is struck by lightning, dies and then returns from the dead,  it forces everyone is a small town to ponder existence.

This film did not work for me. Yes, I know this and the previous films were mega hits, but this film didn't do anything for me.  I was told that I didn't need to have seen the first film to have this make sense but at the same time I kept feeling I was missing something.

Yes the meditation on life and death and everything in between is interesting but there was something about the tone of the film that never clicked so I never fully pondered what the film was trying to say.

No, it isn't bad, but it never grabbed me.

Toy Story 5 (2026)

The toys life is turned upside down when the insecure little girl who owns them gets a Lillypad tech toy in the hope of becoming popular.

I need to say something up front, Woody is barely in this film and while Buzz is, he is a supporting character, even if there are a lot of him. This is a film where Jessie is the focus. That it is not a criticism, more a result of hearing a couple of people comment that they thought Woody would have been in this more. 

I also need to say that if the film fails they are going to blame it on the fact that it's focused on female characters and not the quality of the film. That isn't fair and it will be the result of Hollywood and Disny's insistance that female films are bad, which is what I keep hering about why TURNING RED didn't do well.

As it stands now TOY STORY 5 isn't bad. It's a film that isn't purely the crash grab I thought it was going to be. Yes it has problems, largely owing to the fact the film has zero to offer in terms of themes and plot that we see in the trailer. It never goes deep, but it does tell an interesting story.

For a series thatI never much cared for past the first film, this is actually is a film that had two genuine and well earned emotional moments, one involving Jessie and a revelation about a previous owner, and the other a kiss that just is perfectly placed.

Honestly this maybe my favorite film that isn't the original.

Worth a look.

OPERATION HADAL (2025) hits VOD tomorrow

A foreign power is making going to use a new super secret submarine to attack Chinese cities, the Chinese special forces and navy spring into action

Almost 18 months after it was released in China, this sequel to OPERATION RED SEA (itself a sequel to OPERATION MEKONG) is being released to home video in the US. The film is a pure action film... which is both a blessing and a curse.

The reason this film took so long to come to the US is that the film is a pure action film. This film never stops moving. It makes for some killer action sequences but the truth is that's all there is, action. Its great to watch but there isn't anything else.

The problem here is that the film has no real characters. Yea, there are characters,but there are so many of them that you never get a handle on any of them. Granted the fact that everyone is in uniforms, but normally a film like this can make it work. Actually the script is so basic it never really sets anything up so there isn't anything approaching a plot unless you count cliches.

Adding to the disconnect is the fact that on a technical level this isn't very good. The CGI is just bad and unreal. Things could have been done Hanna Barberra and looked just as real. Any suspense in the film, especially in the actiion sequences done via the editting and the overly intrusive score.

I really liked the previous two entries in the series. I enjoyed the hell out of watching them in packed theaters in Times Square. There was something special about the the mix of characters and motion that made you willing to go along with what was essentially recruiting films for the Chinese Military.

At this point I should mention that if you are going to watch the film be prepared for heavy doses of Chinese propaganda and anti American sentiment. Sure the bad guys are not specifically American, but the truth is that's who the baddies are. I have nothing against it as such, but it's so over the top as to be silly.

To be fair this isn't  a bad film. The action does carry the film, but where the first two films are ones that grab me from the start and drag me to the end every time I see them, OPERATION HADAL was a film I stopped repeatedly and came back hours or days later. I didn't watch it in one go.

I wanted more.

Chimney Town : Frozen in Time (2026) Berlin 2026

Fluff and Lubicchi

Before I start really talking about the film itself, I want to say that while you do not need to see POUPELLE OF CHIMNEY TOWN in order to enjoy this sequel, doing so will make this sequel hit harder. The film gives us the back story of Lubicchi and it informs his mental state. While you will get enough to understand and you will feel some emotion, you will get kicked in the heart by what happens if you see the first film.

In this film Lubicchi is still mourning the loss of his friend Poupllellle (a robot of sorts made of garbage).Despite his efforts to bring him back, nothing has worked. When a mouse steals Poupelle's braclet bracelet, Lubicchi gives chase. He ends up falling into a fountain and ends up another world where the clocks of everyone’s lives are maintained. While the world deals with clocks, the clock that runs that world has stopped. Lubicchi is tasked with getting the clock restarted, something he must do if he wants to get home. Teamed with a surly cat he names Fluff, he sets out to find a way to restart the great clock.

CHIMNEY TOWN FROZEN IN TIME does everything that a great sequel should do. It expands the world and the characters of the first film, while marking out its own territory. This film expands our understanding by giving us one the great romances I’ve ever seen the one between Gus and Nagi. It doesn’t quite seem that way at first, but once the film finishes ordering all its ducks we find everything is so much greater. It’s a staggering achievement that film series rarely, if ever do, build a stronger series by giving us great new characters.

This film moved me to some where beyond tears. I felt deeply for all the characters all through the film and I was openly crying at the beauty of the images, the construction of the story and most importantly by the arc of the characters. These are real people doing real things, namely dealing with love and loss. It’s a magnificent examination of how we mourn the loss of those we love.  Its an examination the likes of which I’ve never seen in cinema before.

I was truly rocked.

I want to talk about everything here but I’m going to keep it down to just  a couple of things.

CHIMNEY TOWN‘s worlds are glorious. They are drawn in styule that frequently makes them look like they were created using pen and ink.While the various places and characters may look familiar there is something unique to them There is a real world heft to them. The characters are perfectly rendered. They are not animated characters but ones that mirror our friends and families.

The score is magnificent. It’s one of the best ones I’ve heard in years. And  the song that Nagi sings and haunts much of the film is simply the best film song that I’ve run across in at least a decade.

This film is just perfect or as close to it as to make nit picking moot. It is the height of what animation can do to the human soul.

One of the best films of 2026, CHIMNEY TOWN:FROZEN IN TIME is going to live in my heart forever.

Nobody 2 (2025)

Timo Tjahjanto picks up the story of Bob Odenkirk's Hutch Mansell, the killer working for powerful people. Forced to bust his ass to pay for all the Russian mob money he burned in the first film, Hutch is himself burning out. He is working so much that he needs to go on vacation to reconnect to his family.  With his father in tow, the family Mansell goes to the one place they went to when he was kid, Plummerville, the home of a grand amusement park. However, when Hutch's sone gets into a fight Hutch finishes it and ends up colliding with an evil crime family headed by a psychotic Sharon Stone.

Running a breezy 89 minutes NOBODY 2 moves like the wind.  Violence and humor mix as Hutch tries to stay clear of things but it all goes banana shaped and results in bodies dropping. While not as tight narratively as the first film, this one goes for big set pieces that carry the day. The violence is so extremely well done that you probably won't mind that you can feel that it feels like they removed about 15 minutes.

I had a blast, and I like everyone around me laughed and cheered repeatedly.

If I was to quibble it would be with villain Sharon Stone who is either a really mannered terrifying psycho or giving one of the worst performances of the year, I'm not sure which.

Highly recommended, NOBODY 2 is a popcorn must see.

PANOR (2025) NYAFF 2025

 PANOR is a stand alone prequel to the Art of the Devil Series.  It’s a film full of icky goings on that both horrify and amuse.

I was not a fan of the series. To me it was like many series where the whole point is the ghoulish goings on and not the story. The lack of a meaningful story is why I tired of the Friday the 13^th, Elm Street, Saw, and Final Destination series. Yea the set pieces are great- but that’s just a small part of the film.

While PANOR has a plot, about a young girl trying to sort out the curse that leads events in the Art of The Devil Films, this film is still primarily about the gross outs. Sure what happens is gross but the over use of CGI keeps this from fully being as effective as it could have been.

I don’t dislike the film, more I’m disappointed that this wasn’t better.

Worth a look for gore fans. All others need not apply

ICE ROAD VENGEANCE (2025)

Liam Neeson's Mike McCann returns to action in a film that is essentially unrelated to the first film. And  while it is basically another film in the Liam Neeson kicks ass series, the truth is it has enough twists that if you are forgiving, it's a really entertaining film.

In the film Mike is mourning his brother who wais killed in combat. The brother had hoped one day to climb Mount Everest, but died before that could happen.  When mike finds out that his brother wanted his ashes sprinkled on the summit, he books a flight and goes. Unfortunately while on the bus to the mountain he ends up in the middle of a battle involving bunch of bad guys who want to strong arm the locals in a small town to sell out so they can build a dam. This sets in motion a long protracted battle.

Okay, let me be up front, this film has a large number of problems. The effects are uneven, the action is uneven, the basic plot is well worn, there are some clunky turns and the pacing is a tad draggy at times. I know this. I am well aware of all the film's issues. 

And you know what? I enjoyed the hell out of this film.

I did, I really did.

This is the sort of film you stumble on and end up watching on a rainy Saturday night on the couch.  It is also the sort of film that I would have driven all over Long Island in order to see.

There are a couple of reasons that the film works. First we like the characters. We actually like the good guys and we hate the bad guys. 

The fact that we have likable characters adds to the second reason the film works, which is no one is safe. Everyone  gets hurt, shot, stabbed, punched. There is a  cost for eveything that happens. No one is superman, neither good huys or bad guys. Additionally Liam Neeson plays this as an older guy.  He is wearing down. There is a moment toward the end where it's directly referenced.

The film also works because its setting gives us a place to set the action we haven't seen hundreds of time before. How many Katmandu action films are there? Not many. 

I also love that once the film gets going things don't play out exactly precisely as we think they will. Yes there are turns that we suspect will go a certain way, but at the same time, they don't. The ending, for example is not exactly precisely what most Hollywood studios would have insisted to have happen. The ending is not a definite, but a maybe. (No I am not going to tell you)

And while there are problems some of the action, the truth is the action sequences are not the same old same old, in part because the setting, and in part because everyone ends up hurt.

I had a great deal of fun with this.

High art? Oh hell no- but one I will rewatch when I run across it.

Worth your time.

The Accountant 2 (2025)

 

When ex-Fed Ray King (JK Simmons) is killed, he leaves behind a message saying "find the accountant". This sets his replacement at the agency looking for Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck). Soon the pair hooks up with Wolff's brother (Jon Bernthal) and the trio is charging into a dangerous hunt for human traffickers.

Afflleck said he wouldn't do a sequel to THE ACCOUNTANT until he had the right script. Based on my reaction to the film he found the right script.

Yes the action is great and sure the plot is messy, but the characters shine and thats all that matters.

I love the interaction between the brothers. The conversations and evasions and collisions are all things I had with my brothers. The physical interaction and nonverbal bits hit home. I lived a lot of this and I saw the underlying truth. I also related to the awkwardness of Wolff. I relate to his social awkwardness way too much. 

Yea things blew up, but  the humans and the humans and the humanity make the film.

It may not be one of he best films of the year- but the celebration of brothers makes it one of my favorites.

Recommended.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

What was once billed as the last MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film is probably not. Since this film was shot two years ago attitudes have changed and there has been talk about continuing.  If it is, its a great send off.

A brief, and wildly missing details,  explanation of the plot has the IMF team trying to find a way to stop the Enity program, while dealing with the program wanting  Ethan to get it into the Doomsday Vault in South Africa where it will surive the upcoming nuclear holocaust.  As the world's nation spiral to the brink of war, the team tries to do what it has to. The team also has to battle Gabriel, who is on the outs with the Entity and who has plans of taking control of it.

All you need to know that the the film is entertaining as all hell. It is a film that kept a theater full of writers seated and rapt for three hours even though they needed the rest room. The film moves like the wind and the set pieces dazzle. As a thrill machine it's one of the best of the last few years.

The problem with this film, like the last film, is the villain makes no sense. Not just the evil computer program but Gabriel the human who wants to control the evil beast. He makes no sense. He won't kill Ethan for most of the film but then tries to have him fall from the sky and die- despite him having he one thing that can kill the program on his person. This after running away  and leaving Ethan with an atomic bomb. Why? To create false tension. Everything with Gabriel is a false note. He only exists in the films because Ethan can't fight a program. Honestly this film is so incredibly stupid plot wise that if it weren't part of a billion dollar franchise it never would have gotten off the ground. (If it was a race horse it would get shot)

That said the set pieces and the small moments kick ass. If it could have been just the pieces and the characters I would have loved this unconditionally. Ving Rhames is the heart and soul of the film and his words reduced the people around me to tears.  The rest of the cast are great and they create real characters you fear for. All action films should have characters this well written.

And the set pieces are magnificent. The sub and plane sequences maybe among the greatest ever put on film. That isn't to short sell the rest, if sub and planes weren't in this film the others would also be hailed as all time classics.

I had a blast.

This is one to see on a big screen.

Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Head scratcher of a film is glacially paced, has odd musical numbers and rambles around seeming not having a direction. The story follows Arthur Fleck as he goes on trial while hooking up with a woman who becomes his Harley and ... I don't know. 

Points for trying something different but minus  many more for failing to make it interesting. If the original film was a shift away from typical superhero films into something more real and grounded, this is an outright rejection of even that. I may have not liked the first film but I at least knew why it existed, this on the other hand has no point.

That Warners kept this turkey alive when all the other films they recently killed  were cheaper and would have turned a profit together  is a sign of their  derangement at the top (probably thought it was to expensive to kill- or thought it would actually make some money - made about a quarter of its cost not including promotion).  This film is so calculatingly bad  that I'm not even certain it's anything other than a an F-U to the studio 

Nothing here works. The Sylvain Chomet animated opening seems out of place.  The songs are so oddly performed as to make you wonder why they did it this way since they are more distancing then engaging.  Yes the performances are fine but the characters aren't given enough to do to fill the two hours twenty minutes. Its sturm and drang and "where is the remote" or "I can't believe I paid to see this".

While not bad enough to go on my worst of the year list, it would go on my least needed films of the year.

ROUND UP: PUNISHMENT (2024)

Detective Ma Seok-do (Don Lee) returns for the fourth time  in a bruising action film that takes us back to the darker edge of the first two films. It's an awesome film that will have you reacting to the  film out loud.

This time out Seok-do and his team end up chasing after the mad man behind a gambling syndicate. An expert with a knife  he cuts up anyone who stands in the way of  his making a buck. While the deep dive into the world of computers is not Seok-do's strong point, he manages to assemble a team to break heads and get him close to his target.

This film is an absolute blast. It's a film that has some of the best action sequences in the series. The final fight had me wincing. Full of the expected witty lines and great characters the film just delights us from start to finish. What raises it up from ROUND UP: NO WAY OUT is that there is a weight to the proceedings. Seok-do's promise to a mother to avenge the death of her son gives the film a weight the last film doesn't have. Additionally the bad guy here is so brutal in his attacks that he over comes the cartoony final boss  video game nature of his creation.

I know I could say more, but the truth is this film does what it is suppose so well that it doesn't need me to say anything other than "Go See This."

DANCING VILLAGE: THE CURSE BEGINS (2024)

DANCING VILLAGE: THE CURSE BEGINS is a prequel to KKN DI DESA PENARI​. It is also the first film shot specifically in IMAX from South East Asia.

A young woman is instructed by a shaman that she needs to return a bracelet from where it came. Traveling with a cousin and some friends, she ends up in a mysterious village where strange things are happening. It soon becomes clear that she must join the ceremony to find the next guardian who will spend the rest of their life dancing.

Full disclosure, I did not see the previous film so I was viewing this with no knowledge of the earlier film. I say that because you need to know that if you choose to see the film you'll be perfectly okay. Additionally while I know the first film is supposed to be based in part on a "true" story (a Twitter thread), I don't know if this film is entirely fictional or has any basis in the original "true" story.

This is a gorgeous looking film that is more creepy than scary. While there are some scares, the film seems more interested in creating an oppressive mood and a feeling of unease that builds through the course of the film rather than scaring us every few minutes. There is nothing wrong with that if you know it going in. I suspect that is the result of the film  having the structure of similar films about trips to isolated villages where weird things happen. As I said that I realized that I need to add that you shouldn't let that keep you away from DANCING VILLAGE simply because where it goes on this trip is what is important. The payoff is worth the trip

If there is any flaw in the film it's the two hour run time. Taking a leisurely pace,  seemingly the better to allow for IMAX images, DANCING VILLAGE can seem a little slow at times. As good as the film is it seems like more than once the film gives itself over to moments for the large screen presentation just because of IMAX. That  said understand I did not see the film in IMAX and it is entirely possible the film play better in that supersized format. (Then again the first film runs just under three hours in it's extended form)

As it stands, DANCING VILLAGE: THE CURSE begins is a solid horror film that works on it's own terms. It's good enough that I've added the original film to my watch list on Prime.

Baby Assassins 2 (2023) hits home video tomorrow

One of my most highly anticipated films of the last two years was Baby Assassins 2. I chased this follow up to 2021’s delightful action comedy from festival to festival, missing it at every turn. Now that the film is hitting home video and I finally caught up with it.

The film this time out tells a dual story. We still are following the ladies from the last film. They are pretty much in the same situation, broke, trying to make enough money to pay the back money they owe, but they are also in trouble for using their skills for stopping a bank robbery outside of work hours.  At the same time the girls are being hunted by two part time assassins who were told that the best way to get into the assassins guild would be to take out two members, guess who they chose?

While BABY ASSASSINS 2 has some great set pieces, it doesn’t live up to the sheer unbridled joy of the first film.  Blame the construction of the script which gives us two unlikable assassins to split time with. Basically the guys are male versions of the ladies but dumber, they are amusing in small doses. While they do produce laughs they are nowhere as charming as the rest of the cast and one wonders how it is that they manage to stay alive in their action sequences.

It doesn’t help that the writing and direction of the rest of the film aren’t as sharp as the last film. There is a sense that this film is a contractual obligation rather a labor of love. While it isn’t bad, it pales in comparison to the first film. I suspect if I saw this first I would have liked it more.

Worth a look, but just be prepared for a film that isn’t as good as what has gone before

DOUNIA: THE GREAT WHITE NORTH (2023) NYICFF 2024

Sequel to DOUNIA & THE PRINCESS OF ALEPPO which played last year’s NYICFF. That film followed Dounia’s flight from Syria to safety in Canada. She and her grandparents made it to safety but her father was still  stuck in the worn torn country.

As the film opens Dounia and her grand parents are trying to assimilate in a town in the frozen north. She has made friends with Rosalie a French-Canadian girl and Miguizou who is a member of the First Nations. We watch as Dounia navigates her life with  her friends and family while her father tries to get to his daughter.

While not as tense  as the first film this film is a nice film that takes us through the next steps of a refugee. It’s a film that has a lot to say about the refugee experience as well some important things about the people of the First Nation.

If you liked the first film and wanted to know what happened next this film is for you.

Non-spoilery thoughts on Dune Part 2 (2024)

As film connected to the first movie, DUNE PART 2 is a great film. It's a film takes the first  and builds it up into a an super epic. If anyone wanted to consider it one of the greatest films ever made I wouldn't have a problem with it.

It also needs to be said that the structure and focus of the film actually requires this to be a differently told sequel. Yes, it is a sequel, but how it's told and what it says is something different than the first film.

Basically that's all you need to know. 

What do I think of the film beyond that?

oh boy.

It's not my reading of the first novel. The themes are there but Denis Villeneuve has chosen to highlight certain aspects over others, particularly the manipulation of the masses by supposed holy/ powerful people. This is a direct reaction to the world we are living in. As a result a lot of things that you may have liked in the book are not in the film. A number of things I would have liked to see aren't there. Additionally Villeneuve's refocusing has resulted in a rewriting of how things play out, who characters are and it also results in the ending left open for a sequel.

There was a certain point in the film where I kind of broke with the film. Yes, I was enjoying the hell out of it, but at the same time I was shaking my head. The reason was that Villeneuve's chasing the themes hobbled the narrative, the flow wasn't smooth. Pieces felt left out. Characters became less human, the masses became more faceless. At times we were given spectacle to make up for lack of narrative fluidity and lack of character.

(No I am not going to explain right now since the film hasn't opened, I'm not spoiling the changes and most of you have not seen it)

Is it bad? Absolutely not. I want to see it again.

That said, this isn't quite the book that has lived in my heart for almost 50 years, its something else entirely. It's a  great film but not the one I would have done (which is absolutely fine)

Definitely worth going to see it on a big screen if you can.

Recommended.

Equalizer 3 (2023)

Denzel Washington's Robert McCall finds a home in Sicily and has to fight the bad men who want to hurt the people he loves.

Not what you expect film is the closing of the cinematic EQUALIZER saga. Not so much an action film but a meditation on life and the place we belong. While things happen in the first half of the film, much of it is happening around McCall instead of to him. Of course there is the point where he has to step up and take action and he clears the table.

I really like this film. I like the change of pace. While I think that the film doesn’t completely work narratively, emotionally the film is absolutely perfect. This is a film about McCalls path to redemption not the men he kills along the way. This was the case with the second film which was ultimately simply McCall coming to terms with the death of his wife and friends. Here he finds a place to come alive and to help the daughter of a friend.  The emotion is so perfect that the final sequence, which was supposed to happen earlier in the film, truly hits home and brings a tear to our eyes.

Highly recommended.

Wonka (2023)

Nostalgia is where creativity goes to die- Hubert Vigilla after seeing WONKA

Let me get this out of the way, WONKA is okay but it’s wildly uneven (I’ll explain in minute).  The cast is great, the songs are mostly awful. Despite what follows I kind of like the film but I’m incredibly pissed at it because it should have been great and it isn’t.

The film begins when Wonka returns to land after seven years at sea. He wants to sell his chocolate in the city. However the big three chocolate makers want to stop him. Ending up an indentured slave to the owner of a flop house after one night, he plots his escape. However despite the help of the other slaves, including a young girl named Noodle, Wonka has to battle to make his way and to fight off an Oompah Loompa who was tasked with getting the cocoa beans he stole.

Hubert’s statement above illustrates what, aside from some really not good songs, is wrong with the film. Leaning into, if not bludgeoning in connections with WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, WONKA is a film that is afraid to be its own thing. Everything must have a call back to the 1970 film. It makes this clear as before even the opening credits start the song Pure Imagination starts. It’s a theme that is repeated all through the film. Most of the references are not needed, nay, don’t belong. After the first one or two produce a smile, it just becomes tiring simply because they are used to get a reaction or as unneeded punctuation. They take you out of the moment  because suddenly we are asked notice the call back. (If you want to know how nostalgic callbacks should be used consider how they are used in the recent GODZILLA MINUS ONE where they largely ignore its use until it can be used for maximum effect, such as when the original music cues hit the soundtrack)

What kills me is that the call backs aren’t needed. The best parts of the film are all the new stuff, the new characters, the new situations,  not to mention Timothy Chalamet’s and Hugh Grant’s new interpretations of the characters make the film soar. If they hadn’t worked so hard to make connections  and just made the film standalone this would have been a classic like the directors PADDINGTON- this is especially since true since many of the connections require changing up the story in the original film ala the Ooompa Loompahs who are not rescued but hunting Wonka.

This film feels like the producers thought the only way this would work was to make connections- but they didn’t have to since you have a few characters and a clean slate- and when the director had a clean slate as in PADDINGTON he created magic. Clearly this is the last gasp of Hollywood creativity since you can see the ship of creativity sinking under the weight of studio executives insisting on manufacturing bullshit nostalgia as a selling point. ( As Hubert said to me “why can’t the studios realize that I have moved on from where I was when I fell in love with Wonka. I’ve grown. If I wanted the original nostalgia I would have watched the original film")

What pisses me off is that every time the film gets traction and begins to soar (and don’t get me wrong there are truly glorious moments in this film) the film plummets as a result of the nostalgia or a weak song.  

Speaking of the songs, and in an effort to be generous the films songs might have worked if the film didn’t keep referencing Pure Imagination. Why keep referencing a classic when you are surrounding it with what is at middle of the road Broadway filler songs. There is only one good new number (whatever the one starts with Wonka as a waiter) and the rest are clunky.  And if they aren’t clunky, their integration is such that they rarely flow into the action but stutter step into it. It always breaks the mood which is why only the waiter song and Pure Imagination work.

My thought is this should have been on Broadway where mediocre songs and fake nostalgia sell.

And lest you think I hate the film I have to say there are great things in it. Chalamet makes Wonka his own. Hugh Grant is hysterical. The sequences with Sally Hawkins are great. I loved the giraffe. The finale  of the film- particularly when Wonka sings Pure Imagination while taking Noodle to the library and visualizing the future factory made me cry. (The nostalgia for the “future” events is where it belonged.)

There is great stuff here, but there is a lot of disappointment.

Should you see it?

If you liked the original film give it a shot. Just expect a bumpy ride.

Clerks 3 (2022) Thanksgiving Turkey

 

CLERKS 3 is terrible.

Cinema at its most point and shoot, it is one of the laziest films I’ve ever seen. Actually it may be the laziest professional project I’ve ever seen. It looks like Kevin Smith simply got his friends together for a weekend and banged out a riff on CLERKS over a couple of afternoons.

The plot of the film has Randall having a heartattack and deciding that he is going to make a movie about being a clerk. We then watch as the various characters stand in front of a seeming green screen and talk to other people in front of a green screen. Occasionally there is a switch to a second camera set up of the same sequence.

What happened to filmmaker Kevin Smith who was going to change cinema with his low tech films full of witty lines and off centered looks at the world?

Where is the guy who made CLERKS, DOGMA, JERSEY GIRL, ZACH AND MIRI, RED STATE and (The scary half of) TUSK?

I have no problem with a guy wanting to make movies for his besties, hell look at Hong Sang-Soo, but Smith’s films over the last few years have been terrible by any standard. Not long after TUSK he decided to annoy the critics by making crappy films just to piss them off and then he disappeared into a bubble by making films for his legion of fans who will give him money to see whatever cinematic turd he craps out. Revisiting the same characters over and over again Smith isn’t really making movies but his own personal ATM cranking out a new film every time his bank account is running low. It’s the same thing over and over again. While Hong Sang Soo does the same thing at least he mixes it up and pretends it’s not the same thing. With CLERKS 3 Smith is at the end of the road with the film being a meta version of the first film. The only place left for him to go is to remake the remake.

What a waste of time.

Honestly I had no plans on seeing the film. I gave up on Smith with JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT but it showed up on cable and I stumbled on the film at the start and became utterly fascinated by how bad the filmmaking was. A professional made this film? Really? Watching it was like going to a cheezy circus where there was no thrills and only a big empty tent with a giant neon sign inside the said SUCKERS on it.

Even allowing that Smith is going no tech, this film is bad. Unforgivably so. I say that not because it’s just a bad film, but a bad film from a director who knows better. I can’t forgive a film this shitty, and lazy, from a filmmaker who has a clue.

What a truly unwatchable film.

My condolences to anyone who actually paid to see this.

The Umbrella Men: Escape from Robben Island, (2023) Toronto 2023

The sequel to one of the joys of 2022  is one of the joys of 2023.

Following up the events of THE UMBRELLA MEN this film follows the events of the first film. However things go side ways and Jerome and Morty end up in prison. The rest of the gang have to take matters into hands and rescue their friends and clear their name.

Beginning with what maybe my favorite opening of the year, it’s a musical number that is just a delight, the film drops us back into the lives of the characters we fell in love with last year. Not needing to set everyone one up, the film just pretty much goes, pulling us along and making us smile along the way. Sure this is a caper film, and we are interested in seeing how it comes out, but for the most part I didn’t really care. I was just having too good a time watching the interaction of all the characters I now call friends. It’s just a lot of fun as everyone cracks wise and plots a prison break.

In some ways I may like this film more than the first film. Part of it is that the film just goes and partly because the film is better. It’s as if the filmmakers took everything they learned from the first film and improved on it. Everything is just better.

If you saw and loved the first film, watch this one. If you haven’t seen the first one see this one anyway. It’s just so much fun. Besides, you’ll pick up everything you need to know along the way.