TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews: Mystery

Showing posts with label Mystery. Show all posts

Saturday, November 8, 2025

Review: "WEAPONS" is a Brilliant, Crazy-Ass Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2025 (No. 2045) by Leroy Douresseaux

Weapons (2025)

Running time: 128 minutes (2 hour, 8 minutes)

Rating: MPA – R for strong bloody violence and grisly images, language throughout, some sexual content and drug use

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Zach Cregger

PRODUCERS: Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, J.D. Lifshitz, Raphael Margules, and Miri Yoon

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Larkin Seiple (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Joe Murphy

COMPOSERS: Zach Cregger and Hays Holladay & Ray Holladay

HORROR/THRILLER/MYSTERY

Starring: Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Austin Abrams, Amy Madigan, Whitmer Thomas, Callie Schuttera, June Diane Raphael, Toby Huss, Justin Long, and Scarlett Sher (narrator)

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

Weapons is one of the best horror movies I have ever seen. Thrilling and chilling, it actually gets scarier and crazier the deeper we get into the story

It features a number of strong performances, led by Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Josh Brolin, and Amy Madigan, which an unusual film story needs

Weapons has an exhilarating, cathartic ending for the ages. I get that some people did not like the ending, but I can't stop thinking about it or most of the rest of this film.

Weapons is a 2025 American horror thriller and mystery film from writer-director Zach Cregger. The film focuses on a community mystery in which every child except one from the same elementary school class disappears on the same night at the same time.

Weapons is set in fictional McCarren County, which is the location of a terrible mystery centered at Maybrook Elementary School. Seventeen of the 18 children in the fifth grade class of Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) all disappeared one Wednesday morning at 2:17 am. All 17 children ran from their homes into the darkness of the early morning.

One month later, not one of the children has been found. The community and the parents – led Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), one of the parents of the missing children – are blaming Justine for the disappearances. Justine believes that Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), the child from her class who did not disappear, may know something. The key to unraveling the mystery of the disappearances is something people don't discover. It's something they stumble onto... if they don't end up dead first.

Like writer-director Zach Cregger's second feature film and breakthrough movie, Barbarian (2022), Weapons is presented as a nonlinear narrative. What Cregger's screenplays for Barbarian and Weapons do well is to give each major character his or her own chapter within the films. Both films are like anthologies or short story collections that eventually reunite the surviving characters for a hellified final act, and Weapons' final act is a helluva thing. For me, Weapons may the most cathartic ending since Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019).

As much as I want to praise Cregger, I also have to throw it up to his film editor, Joe Murphy, for his contributions to the wicked flow of this film's narrative. This review would be remiss if I did not shout out Cregger's cinematographer, Larkin Seiple, for this film's haunting atmosphere and for the way Seiple makes the night in Weapons seem like another character in the film.

Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Austin Abrams, and Amy Madigan give stellar performances. Julia Garner brings steadiness to the craziness and weirdness of Weapons, continuing her stellar 2025 after performances in Wolf Man (2025) and in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).

By now, many people know the secrets and lies of Weapons, but still, I am loathe to spoil things. I think Weapons is one of the greatest horror films that I have ever seen, and it has given me Weapons-themed nightmares. It is a crazy-ass work of film-storytelling brilliance. I could not believe what I was seeing in this film's last act, but Weapons has me laughing and cheering, even as it is chilling me.

10 of 10

Saturday, November 8, 2025

---------------------------

----------------------------

Friday, October 3, 2025

Review: In "THE GRUDGE," That Ghost Bitch is Really Mad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 216 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Road to Halloween 2025

The Grudge (2004)

Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality

DIRECTOR: Takashi Shimizu

WRITER: Stephen Susco (based upon the Japanese film Ju-On: The Grudge, written and directed by Takashi Shimizu)

PRODUCERS: Taka Ichise, Sam Raimi, and Robert G. Tapert

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hideo Yamamoto (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Jeff Betancourt

COMPOSER: Christopher Young

HORROR with elements of thriller and mystery

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, William Mapother, Clea DuVall, KaDee Strickland, Grace Zabriskie, Bill Pullman, Rosa Blasi, Ted Raimi, Ryo Ishibashi, Yoko Maki, Yuya Ozeki, Takako Fuji, and Takashi Matsunaga

The Grudge is a 2004 American supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu. The film is a remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film Ju-On: The Grudge, and it is the first installment in The Grudge film series. The Grudge focuses on an American nurse living and working in Tokyo who is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse.

When a person dies in the grip of a powerful rage, a curse is born. If that person dies in his house, then, the curse stays in the house like a stain making the house death itself. Any person who goes into the house is touched by death and will be killed by the curse, usually in the form of an angry spirit. So goes The Grudge, the latest American remake of a Japanese horror film, but unlike 2002’s The Ring, the writer/director of the original Japanese film, Ju-On: The Grudge, Takashi Shimizu helms the remake. Does that make a difference? Very likely, it does.

The Ring and its forefather, Ringu, were similar, but The Ring clearly showed American sensibilities, as well as being set in the U.S. The Grudge, like the original, is set in Japan, and Shimizu apparently treats the film as a sequel rather than as a remake. And The Grudge certainly comes across as a kooky, as weird, and as very, very creepy horror movie, fitting right in with other Japanese horror films.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is Kare Davis, an American exchange student who somewhat reluctantly moved to Japan with her boyfriend Doug (Jason Behr), also a student. When a fellow student who is working as a nurse doesn’t show up for work, Kare gets the fill-in assignment of going to a home in a Tokyo suburb to care for an invalid older woman. What she doesn’t know, nor apparently does anyone else, is that the house has a horrible curse on it due to a double murder and suicide committed within its walls. The curse touches anyone who enters the house, and Kare unwittingly unleashes a diabolical supernatural killing machine.

The Grudge is one of the scariest pure horror films that I’ve seen in awhile. It’s unabashedly about the evil dead, wicked spirits, and mysterious supernatural curses that come and go with no explanation. Some audiences may be put off by the fact that the curse doesn’t really follow the rules. That’s because humans are explaining something they only halfway understand; like explaining the unknown and unknowable in human terms. The may not be steadfast rules to how the curse in The Grudge works, and Japanese filmmakers seem to understand that capricious nature of the supernatural, or at least they aren’t always trying to order it like Western filmmakers.

There’s almost zero characterization in this film, and the fact that the audience doesn’t really get to know the characters keeps this from being a great horror movie. Ms. Gellar, however, is now without a doubt, a great screen star of horror and thriller genres. She centers this film and keeps the kookiness from getting out of hand.

The Grudge is certainly peculiar. As frightening as I found it, I can easily see where some people might find the concept of the curse and the film itself farcical and utterly hilarious. Be warned; it could be your cup of tea or have you rolling your eyes in disgust.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

RE-EDITED: Thursday, October 2, 2025

------------------

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Review: "FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES" is a Deathly Frightener

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 37 of 2025 (No. 2043) by Leroy Douresseaux

Final Destination Bloodlines (2025)

Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)

Rating: MPA – R for strong violent/grisly accidents, and language

DIRECTORS: Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein

WRITERS: Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor; from a story by Jon Watts and Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor (based on characters created by Jeffrey Reddick)

PRODUCERS: Craig Perry, Toby Emmerich, Dianne McGunigle, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, and Jon Watts

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Christian Sebaldt

EDITOR: Sabrina Pitre

COMPOSER: Tim Wynn

HORROR/THRILLER/MYSTERY

Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Alex Zahara, April Amber Telek, Tinpo Lee, Gabriel Rose, Brec Bassinger, Max Lloyd-Jones, and Tony Todd

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

-- “Final Destination Bloodlines” is the best “Final Destination” film in over 20 years. It has a great opening, a 19-minute prologue, and the rest of film takes on a race against time as Death stalks a bloodline.

-- The film gets two solid scream queen performances from Kaitlyn Santa Juana and Brec Bassinger, good enough to make us feel sad about their ultimate fates...

Final Destination Bloodlines is a 2025 supernatural horror film from directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B Stein. It is the sixth entry in the Final Destination film series. Bloodlines follows a young woman whose recurring nightmares are warnings of the horrific fate that awaits her family.

Final Destination Bloodline introduces college student Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana). Recently, she has been plagued by recurring nightmares about a disaster from some time in the past. It involves her maternal grandmother, Iris Campbell (Brec Bassinger), and her then-boyfriend and later husband, Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones). Almost six decades ago, Iris and Paul attended the grand opening of the Sky View Tower (which is similar to the real-life “Space Needle” in Seattle Washington).

Stefani's nightmares usually end in tragedy with Iris, Paul, and the others at the opening dying horrible deaths. However, Iris and Paul did attend the grand opening of the Sky View Tower and lived. Now, Stefani wants to find Iris, her grandmother, whom she has never met, but her father, Marty Reyes (Tinpo Lee), is resistant to the idea. He barely even wants to speak about Stefani and her brother, Charlie's (Teo Briones), estranged mother, Darlene Campbell (Rya Kihlstedt), who is both Iris' daughter and Marty's wife; Darlene abandoned the family long ago. Dysfunctional family aside, Stefani knows that she must find the now elderly Iris (Gabrielle Rose) if she is going to discover the cause of her nightmares. Stefani will have to hurry, as Death is already stalking her family.

Final Destination Bloodlines is set about a decade and a half after the events depicted in the series' fourth film, The Final Destination (2009). The fifth film, Final Destination 5 (2011), actually takes place around the same time as the events depicted in the original film, Final Destination (2000).

I did not realize how long it had been between the fifth film and the arrival of Final Destination Bloodlines. The Final Destination franchise is one of the few horror film franchises that have been consistently good, with only 2006's Final Destination 3 being a slight misstep. The first 19 minutes of Final Destination Bloodlines had me mesmerized, and I can call this prologue (of sorts) heart-pounding because it certainly had my aging ticker pounding in my chest.

The rest of the film does not have the same edge-of-your-seat thrills, but its focus on death stalking one particular family and bloodline makes the entire film seem crazy, surreal, and creepy. The entire film is braced by two pitch perfect horror film performances. Brec Bassinger as young Iris Campbell in the first 19 minutes and Kaitlyn Santa Juana as the heroine in the film's present day turn in tight and riveting “scream queen” performances.

As a side note, Final Destination Bloodlines is dedicated to the late actor, Tony Todd (1954-2024). Although best known for playing the lead role the 1992 horror film, Candyman, and its two sequels, Todd is also known for playing the recurring role of “William Bludworth” in the Final Destination franchise. Todd died of stomach cancer in 2024, but he was able to film all his scenes for Bloodlines before his passing. He appears gaunt in this film, likely due to the ravages of his cancer, but I was happy to see him. Todd got a good send off for his character. Also, as movie fans, we have been gifted one of the series' best entries in Final Destination Bloodlines.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, August 24, 2025

There is a six-film Blu-ray and DVD collection of the six "FINAL DESTINATION" films available at Amazon.

--------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Review: "ULTRAVIOLET" is Mostly Misspent Potential

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 164 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Ultraviolet (2006)

Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of violent action throughout, partial nudity, and language

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Kurt Wimmer

PRODUCERS: John Badecchi and Lucas Foster

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Arthur Wong Ngok Tai and Jimmy Wong

EDITOR: William Yeh

COMPOSER: Klaus Badelt

SCI-FI/ACTION and MARTIAL ARTS/MYSTERY

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Cameron Bright, Nick Chinlund, Sebastien Andrieu, Ida Martin, and William Fichtner

Ultraviolet is a 2006 American science fiction action film from writer-director Kurt Wimmer. The film focuses on a woman infected with a virus that gives her superhuman and vampire-like powers who has to protect a boy thought to carry antigens that would destroy others like her.

Ultraviolet opens in the late 21st century. The Hemoglophagic Virus has infected the human population – a disease causing symptoms that many associate with vampires. Those afflicted gain enhanced intelligence, fantastic stamina, and lightning-fast speed (like the vampires in Blade). The world is divided into those who don’t have it (normal humans), and those who do (called “hemophages”).

The government, led by the powerful scientist, Vicecardinum Ferdinand Daxus (Nick Chinlund), hunts hemophages in hopes of wiping them out. One woman, a highly-skilled hemophage warrior named Violet Song jat Shariff (Milla Jovovich), infiltrates a governmental research station. Violet steals a case containing a secret weapon that will reportedly wipe out the infected. However, Violet finds herself on the run and protecting a mysterious child, called “Six” (Cameron Bright), who may or may not be infected with a virus dangerous to hemophages. Now, Daxus and his entire military force is out to get her and the child.

From writer/director Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium), Ultraviolet is non-interactive entertainment (a movie) trying to act like interactive entertainment (a videogame). Awash in bright colors (computer-generated neon), the film looks like a comic book, especially when Milla Jovovich poses – standing still and trying to look badass before she begins a fight sequence. It’s the only time her performance can be said to be anything near good. Most of the time, she is so dreadful that it’s impossible to believe that she’s been acting for nearly two decades.

Ultraviolet has a lot of potential, but ultimately it’s just a poorly developed and disastrously executed movie that a computer made all gooey with color and the filmmakers filled with an electronics expo full of fancy gadgets.

3 of 10

C-

★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Edited: Monday, March 24, 2025

-----------------

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Review: "BLINK TWICE" is Incredible; 2024's Best Film, Thus Far...

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2024 (No. 1983) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blink Twice (2024)

Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)

MPA – R for strong violent content, sexual assault, drug use and language throughout, and some sexual references.

DIRECTORS: Zöe Kravitz

WRITERS: Zöe Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum

PRODUCERS: Zöe Kravitz, Bruce Cohen, Garret Levitz, Tiffany Persons, and Channing Tatum

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Adam Newport-Berra (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Kathryn J. Schubert

COMPOSER: Chanda Dancy

MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Liz Caribel, Levon Hawke, Trew Mullen, Geena Davis, and Kyle MacLachlan

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Blink Twice is a both an incredible psychological thriller and mesmerizing mystery thriller and is sort of a spiritual sibling of Jordan Peele's “Get Out”

Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum gives stellar performances that really sell this film's frequent weirdness

This is a stunning directorial debut on the part of Zöe Kravitz, and thus far, it is the best film released in 2024

Blink Twice is a 2024 psychological thriller and mystery film from director Zöe Kravitz. The film focuses on a cocktail waitress who accepts a tech billionaire's offer to vacation on his private island, after which, she begins to question her reality of the situation.

Blink Twice introduces Frida (Naomi Ackie), a cocktail waitress. She is working an exclusive event with her roommate and best friend and roommate, Jess (Alia Shawkat). The event's V.I.P. is billionaire tech mogul, Slater King (Channing Tatum), who recently stepped down as CEO of King Tech amid a public apology for some bad behavior on his part in the past. Frida and Slater quickly strike up a friendship, and he invites her and Jess to join him and his friends to holiday at his private island.

Arriving at the island, Slater's assistant, Stacy (Geena Davis), confiscates the everyone's phone. Also on the island for some fun are Slater's friends and business partners: Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), and Lucas (Levon Hawke). In addition to Frida and Jess, there are three female guests: Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camilla (Liz Caribel), and Heather (Trew Mullen). The women are treated to lavish rooms, gift bags with perfume, gourmet meals, and a luxurious, carefree holiday experience.

But something is wrong. Frida has a hard time keeping track of time, and she begins to question her perception of reality. Also, there is a strange maid who is saying something to her that she can't quite make out. When one of the women disappears, Frida is forced to confront this luxurious holiday, the kind she always wanted... as troubling as this dream vacay has turned out to be.

After director Steven Soderbergh made his feature film debut with sex, lies, and videotape (1989), some may have wondered if his rousing success with it (winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes 1989 and earning a “Best Original Screenplay” nomination) was “beginner's luck” or perhaps, a fluke. For several years, the film did seem like a fluke, but by the time Soderbergh won a “Best Director” Oscar 12 years later, one could say that sex, lies, and videotape was not a fluke, but was a calling card.

I'd like to believe that Blink Twice will also be a calling card for its young first-time director Zoe Kravitz. Right now, it is the best new film to debut in 2024, and I wouldn't be surprised if I am calling it the “Best Picture of the Year 2024” deep into the 2024-25 movie awards season. Blink Twice is an astounding debut, a mystery thriller and psychological terror that recalls Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. And no, I would not be embarrassed to reference Lynch's legendary Blue Velvet (1986), of which I am not a big fan, when discussing Blink Twice. I am also calling Blink Twice a spiritual sibling of Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017) and a distant relative of Alex Garland's Men (2022). Blink Twice even has a element similar to one found in the underrated horror thriller, You're Next (2011).

Kathryn J. Schubert's film editing for Blink Twice is superb, and I think that should be mentioned. Of course, I think Schubert has superb material with which to work. Kravitz has an eye for storytelling which finds pleasure in accepting that altered states of reality are a norm for many of us, especially when we obtain something we always wanted in a way that seems to be too good to be true. Dressing her film in Biblical themes, “Me Too” politics, gender dynamics, and sexual gamesmanship, Kravitz takes the screenplay she wrote with E.T. Feigenbaum and grapples with the modern battle of the sexes.

Behind the pulpy entertainment and popcorn horror thrills of this psychological thriller is a movie that does a deep dive into the modern psyche. Kravitz isn't afraid to examine the social hierarchies and assumed and presumed privileges. It is refreshing that Kravitz so boldly answers any questions her film asks with a resounding, “Because he can.”

Actress Naomi Ackie is the perfect choice to be this film's lead. Her face, with its wide mouth and big expressive eyes, is an artist's canvas. Whatever her director needs in terms of emotion and action, Ackie can deliver. Also, I must say that Channing Tatum shocks me in Blink Twice. I never thought that he was really a good actor. However, he gives Slater King so many layers that there are moments when I feel sympathy for him. Tatum makes King innocent, childish, childlike, and monstrous, and he can do all of that in the span of a minute.

Wow. I'm still stunned. I've wanted to see Blink Twice since it was first announced last year under the title, “Pussy Island,” but I never thought I'd get this nearly perfect film, a film so good that its flaws seem like artistic choices rather than mistakes. I heartily recommend this to movie fans looking for great films in a time when the various movie factories seem determined to only deliver entertainment that dare not make a statement lest “middle America” take offense. Blink Twice is both – tremendous cinematic art and delightfully good entertainment.

10 of 10

Saturday, August 24, 2024

------------------------------

-------------------------------

Monday, July 15, 2024

Review: "THEY CLONED TYRONE" Digs in the Past to Raise Hell Today

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 of 2024 (No. 1974) by Leroy Douresseaux

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)

MPA – R for pervasive language, violence, some sexual material and drug use

DIRECTOR: Juel Taylor

WRITERS: Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor

PRODUCERS: Jamie Foxx, Charles D. King, Stephen “Dr.” Love, Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor, and Datari Turner

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ken Seng (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Saira Haider

COMPOSERS: Pierre Charles and Desmond Murray

SCI-FI/COMEDY/DRAMA and MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, David Alan Grier, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Tamberla Perry, Eric B. Robinson Jr., Trayce Malachi, Leon Lamar, Joshua Mikel, and Keifer Sutherland and Jamie Foxx

They Cloned Tyrone is a 2023 American science fiction comedy-drama and mystery-thriller from director Juel Taylor. After receiving a limited theatrical release, the film began streaming on Netflix on July 21, 2023 as a “Netflix Original.” The film focuses on a drug dealer, a pimp, and sex worker, who must uncover a bizarre mystery that seems to originate from an underground facility beneath their predominantly Black neighborhood.

They Cloned Tyrone focuses on Fontaine (John Boyega), a drug dealer living and slanging in the predominantly African-American, poverty-stricken, and crime ridden suburban neighborhood called “the Glen.” One night, Fontaine arrives at the hotel hideaway of the pimp, Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), to get money owed to him. Slick freaks out when he sees Fontaine, who apparently had visited him the previous night just before being gunned down by Isaac (Eric B. Robinson Jr.), a rival drug dealer.

Fontaine does not remember the previous night's events, so Slick takes him to one of his ho's, Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), in order to confirm his claims of Fontaine's death. Yo-Yo does just that, but later, a series of eerie events thrusts the three onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. But can a drug dealer, a pimp, and a ho really solve a mind-bending mystery that threatens not only their own neighborhood, but Black neighborhoods everywhere?

They Cloned Tyrone got lost in the glare of two of 2023's mega-box office hits, the movies Barbie and Oppenheimer. This month – specifically July 14th – is the one year anniversary of its limited theatrical release. I had been putting off seeing They Cloned Tyrone, so I thought now was a good time to do so.

In They Cloned Tyrone, co-writer-director Juel Taylor and co-writer Tony Rettenmaier make many references to American popular storytelling via the characters dialogue. However, the film's plot and narrative reference numerous previous Black speculative and genre films. They Cloned Tyrone's conspiracy around consumer products recalls the blaxploitation homage and spoof films, Undercover Brother (2002) and Black Dynamite (2009). Director Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) are spectral presences in They Cloned Tyrone's narrative, and I also see a passing resemblance to elements from Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You (2018). The essences of two landmark 1971 films, A Clockwork Orange and Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song, as well as that of the 1988 cult classic, They Live, are in pungent evidence here.

Still, They Cloned Tyrone is an original. It is a gleeful comedy and satire of America. It also manages to be a bolder and more imaginative science fiction film than the pew-pew-pew, space opera epics that pass for modern sci-fi cinematic storytelling. Taylor and Rettenmaier are correct. The Founding Father's of the United States of America came up with some high ideals, but then, died and left us with the messy reality of a fractured disunited state of affairs. These two writers are among the few to plainly state via metaphor and allegory that for too long, Black people have carried the weight of fixing that mess and trying to make the experiment called America an actual thing.

The film has great production values all around, from cinematography and editing to art direction, costume design, and score. You might, dear readers, miss that because They Cloned Tyrone is such an engaging, crazy, lovable story driven by powerhouse performances. John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris give killer performances, and if they were nepo babies, at least one of them (likely Foxx) would have received Oscar nominations for his or her performance here. Parris clearly has leading lady chops, which she wields in this film to make herself a co-lead rather than a supporting player. Foxx balances pathos and absurdity in making Slick Charles a wonderfully engaging and exceedingly likable character.

But John Boyega: let's be honest. His career in America has not exploded like that of his Star Wars sequel trilogy co-star, Adam Driver... and we know why. Boyega is every bit as good as everything that passes for the young Hollywood's A-list. Boyega disappears inside Fontaine and makes him not so much a tragic figure or even criminal for that matter. Fontaine's is the hero's journey even if he is not fair of hair and skin. Boyega has moments here that are most poignant and dramatic and that only an actor both talented and skilled can pull off.

Boyega makes They Cloned Tyrone more than satire, blaxploitation, horror, science fiction, and absurdist comedy. Boyega gives the film dramatic heft and weight. They Cloned Tyrone is memorable and is also one of 2023's very best films because John Boyega is one of a kind.

10 of 10

Monday, July 15, 2024

NOTES:

2024 NAACP Image Awards: 9 nominations: “Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (John Boyega), “Outstanding Breakthrough Creative-Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor), “Cinematography in a Motion Picture” (Ken Seng), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Jamie Foxx), “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture” (Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier), and “Outstanding Stunt Ensemble-Television or Film”

2024 Black Reel Awards: 8 nominations: “Outstanding Lead Performance” (John Boyega), “Outstanding Supporting Performance” (Jamie Foxx), “Outstanding Screenplay” (Tony Rettenmaier and Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Ensemble” (Kim Coleman), “Outstanding Emerging Director” (Juel Taylor), “Outstanding Score” (Desmond Murray and Pierre Charles), “Outstanding Costume Design” (Francine Jamison-Tanchuck), and “Outstanding Editing” (Saira Haider)

------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

Friday, March 22, 2024

Review: "GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE" is Lukewarm

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 of 2024 (No. 1960) by Leroy Douresseaux

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for supernatural action/violence, language and suggestive references

DIRECTOR: Gil Kenan

WRITERS: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman (based on the film, Ghost Busters, written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and directed by Ivan Reitman)

PRODUCERS: Jason Reitman, Jason Blumenfeld, and Ivan Reitman

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Eric Steelberg

EDITORS: Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid

COMPOSER: Dario Marianelli

FANTASY/COMEDY/ACTION/MYSTERY

Starring: Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Ernie Hudson, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Emily Alyn Lind, James Acaster, Dan Ackroyd, Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Bill Murray

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a 2024 supernatural comedy, action and mystery film from director Gil Kenan. It is the fifth entry in the Ghostbusters film franchise, and it is the third sequel to the original film, 1984's Ghost Busters (now known as “Ghostbusters”). In Frozen Empire, the old and new Ghostbusters must take on an evil force unleashed from an ancient artifact.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opens in New York City in 1904 where a group of fireman enters a hotel suite and finds an entire party frozen solid in the middle of an extremely hot summer. In the present day, Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon) and her two children, son, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), and daughter, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), have moved from Summerville, Oklahoma to New York City, with Phoebe's former summer school teacher, Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), in tow. The four live in the old Ghostbusters' NYC firehouse that had been maintained by original Ghostbuster, Dr. Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).

Now, Phoebe, Trevor, Callie, and Gary are the active Ghostbusters, but a particular Ghostbusting case leads to significant damage in the city. That brings them to the attention of the mayor and leads to Phoebe being forced out of the Ghostbusters because she is underage at 15-years-old. But the world of the supernatural does not stop because of the human world's concerns.

Original Ghostbuster, Dr. Raymond “Ray” Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), has come into possession of a peculiar artifact, which he turns over to Winston Zeddemore's top-secret research lab. Meanwhile, Phoebe, sidelined as a Ghostbuster, is trying to find her place in the world of the Ghostbusters. Then, Garraka, an ancient god, is freed. He wants to gather all the ghosts ever captured by the Ghostbusters and turn them into his personal army as he brings about a new ice age. Despite her troubles, Phoebe will have to figure out how to stop the ancient evil that is Garraka before it's too late.

I was a huge fan of the original Ghostbusters films, Ghostbusters (1984) and its sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989). I enjoyed Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), and I thought that film's teen characters, siblings Phoebe and Trevor, and their friends, Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky Domingo (Celeste O'Connor), made a great foundation for the new Ghostbusters.

Thus, I was surprised to see Phoebe and Trevor playing Ghostbusters with the adults, their mother, Callie, and their quasi-stepfather, Gary. Honestly, I find Carrie Coon's Callie and Paul Rudd's Gary to be extraneous here. I have no interest in their characters beyond what they did in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. In fact, this film has too many characters. Bill Murray's Dr. Peter Venkman, Annie Potts' Janine Melnitz, and William Atherton's Mayor Walter Peck are also mostly irrelevant. Pretty much everything these characters do could have been passed off to other characters or deleted because it wasn't important enough to clutter up the narrative.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire spends much of its first half meandering around assorted relationship dysfunction, including one involving a ghost. Then, the film rushes to a forced satisfactory conclusion that wastes a truly scary monster in Garraka. I am glad that Ernie Hudson's Winston Zeddemore has a substantial part in this film, especially because Hudson spent the first two films fighting off Columbia Pictures' executives and Ghostbusters cast mates who were determined to sideline his character.

As a franchise, Ghostbusters needs to move on from its past or just die. The young characters: Phoebe and Trevor Spengler, Podcast, and Lucky Domingo are the franchise's present and true future. When this Ghostbusters film focuses on them, it feels alive and is fun. When it doesn't, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is frozen and freezer-burned.

[This film has one mid-credits scene.]

5 out of 10

C+

★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, March 22, 2024

----------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Review: Phoenix is the Man in Woody Allen's "IRRATIONAL MAN"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 51 of 2023 (No. 1940) by Leroy Douresseaux

Irrational Man (2015)

Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)

MPAA – R for some language and sexual content

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Woody Allen

PRODUCERS: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Edward Walson

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Darius Khondji

EDITOR: Alisa Lepselter

COMEDY/DRAMA/MYSTERY/ROMANCE

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Joe Stapleton, Nancy Carroll, Betsy Aidem, Ethan Phillips, Jamie Blackley, Nancy Giles, and Tom Kemp

Irrational Man is a 2015 comedy-drama, romance, and mystery film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film focuses on a college professor who finds the will to live after committing the act of murder and the young student who falls deeply in love with him.

Philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) arrives in Newport, Rhode Island with some acclaim. He joins the faculty of (fictional) Braylin College where he will teach “ethical strategies.” Abe is depressed, is experiencing an existential crisis, and sees no meaning in his life. He drinks excessively and considers suicide.

Despite his tormented state, Abe catches the attention of two women. The first is chemistry professor, Rita Richards (Parker Posey), and the second is Jill Pollard (Emma Stone), one of his students. Each is crazy about him in her own way. Abe's relationship with the two really goes nowhere … at first.

Abe hatches the idea of murdering Judge Thomas Augustus Spangler (Tom Kemp), an unethical family court judge who is plotting to take the custody of her children away from a woman. Plotting and committing murder has given Abe's life a sense of purpose that he has not felt in ages. For various reasons, however, both Rita and Jill suspect Abe of Judge Spangler's murder.

Coup de chance, the film Woody Allen says will likely be his final directorial effort, was released in France in September (2023). Because of the controversies surrounding Allen the last few decades, especially the last five years, the film may not get a U.S. theatrical release. In anticipation of seeing Coup de chance, I have decided to watch the recent Woody Allen films that I missed, beginning with the most recent that I had not seen, Irrational Man.

Some of Woody Allen's films have previously focused on a lead character who is involved in murder or commits murder. Examples include Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Match Point (2005). Having murder as subplot gives Allen's films an edge they don't normally have. Irrational Man seems to drift with no purpose until Abe Lucas actually commits murder, and suddenly this film seems like a totally different movie from what it was during its first half. Frankly, Irrational Man seems to be asleep for at least half its runtime.

I find myself entirely sympathetic with Phoenix's Abe Lucas. Of course, I would feel differently if this were a real murder victim that was friends or family to me. As it is, I find myself really liking the post-crime Abe Lucas, and I found his later, darker turn to be a bit alluring.

Phoenix gives life to a character that Allen does not develop very well. As the narrative moves towards its conclusion, Phoenix makes Abe feel richer, and the character might have improved even more with a longer runtime, more because of what Phoenix would do rather than what Allen would not. Emma Stone is whiny and unlikable as Jill Pollard, but Parker Posey makes the best of horny Rita Richards. I wish Rita had more screen time.

Irrational Man is strictly for Woody Allen fans, although Phoenix is the one who saves this film and uplifts it. So Joaquin Phoenix fans may find something in Irrational Man to like, also.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

--------------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Review: "SCOOBY-DOO and the Witch's Ghost" is Kind of Witchy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 of 2023 (No. 1937) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999) – Video

Running time: 66 minutes (1 hour, 6 minutes)

Unrated

DIRECTOR: Jim Stenstrum

WRITERS: Rick Copp, David A. Goodman, Davis Doi, and Glenn Leopold

PRODUCER: Cos Anzilotti

EDITOR: Rob DeSales

COMPOSER: Louis Febre

ANIMATION STUDIO: Mook Animation

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY and ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring: (voices) Frank Welker, Scott Innes, Mary Kay Bergman, B.J. Ward, Tim Curry, Kimberly Brooks, Jennifer Hale, Jane Wiedlin, Bob Joles, Tress MacNeille, Peter Reneday, and Neil Ross

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is a 1999 straight-to-video, animated horror-comedy film that was directed by Jim Stenstrum and produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. It was the second film in the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video film series that began with 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. It was released on VHS on October 5, 1999, then on DVD on March 6, 2001. In the film, Scooby and the company get involved with a famous horror novelist and his ancestor who was rumored to be a witch.

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost opens with Mystery Incorporated: Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Mary Kay Bergman), Velma Dinkley (B.J. Ward), Shaggy Rogers (Scott Innes), and Scooby-Doo (Scott Innes) solving a case at a San Francisco museum. There, they meet the famous horror novelist, Ben Ravencroft (Tim Curry). Velma Dinkley is a huge fan of Ravencroft, so he invites her and the rest of the gang to his hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts.

Upon arrival, Ravencroft and Mystery Inc. discover that the town's Mayor Corey (Neil Ross) has transformed Oakhaven into a tourist trap. The town is even putting on a concert featuring an all-female gothic rock band, the Hex Girls: Thorn (Jennifer Hale), Dusk (Jane Wiedlin), and Luna (Kimberly Brooks).

Oakhaven is like an amusement park with a theme based on the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft (Tress MacNeille), who is an ancestor of Ben Ravencroft. Ben describes Sara as a “wiccan” who used herbal remedies to heal the poor and less fortunate. In 1657, the townspeople of Oakhaven believed that Sarah was a witch, and they persecuted and executed her. Ben has spent years searching for Sarah's medical journal, which he believes will help him prove her innocence.

But now, the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft is really back, and she wants revenge. Scooby, Shaggy, and the gang are about to discover that this mystery turns out to have plenty of twists and turns.

Like a number of the early straight-to-video Scooby-Doo movies, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost has a tone that is darker than the franchise's usual fare. In this film, the supernatural elements are “real” as compared to the usual fake supernatural shenanigans committed by the adversaries in Mystery Inc.'s cases. Still, I was surprised that the film takes such a benevolent attitude about the modern pagan, earth-centered religion, “Wicca.” The film's story goes to some lengths to separate Wicca from “witchcraft,” which is generally seen as the use of magic for nefarious purposes.

Beyond that, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is a standard Scooby-Doo film. I find the “ghost of Sarah Ravencroft” to be less impressive than the “fake ghost witches” of earlier Scooby-Doo cartoons, such as “The Witch” in the “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” episode, “Which Witch is Which?” I can say that the film does have a nice twist involving Sarah Ravencroft that does darken the film's tone a bit more.

However, as a Scooby-Doo fan, I consider almost all Scooby-Doo productions to be must-see. And while, it isn't special, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is entertaining. And the Hex Girls are quite nice.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

---------------------------------

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Review: "THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF" is Crazy (Literally), Sexy, Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pacte des loups, Le (2001)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France; Language: French, German, Italian

The Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002) – USA title

Running time: 142 minutes (2 hours, and 22 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence, gore, and sexuality/nudity

DIRECTOR: Christophe Gans

WRITERS: Stephane Cabel and Christophe Gans

PRODUCERS: Richard Grandpierre and Samuel Hadida

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Laustsen

EDITORS: Xavier Loutreuil, Sébastien Prangère, and David Wu

COMPOSER: Joseph LoDuca

DRAMA/HISTORICAL AND HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER with elements of adventure

Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Emilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci, Jérémie Rénier, Mark Dacascos, Jean Yanne, Jean-Francois Stévenin, and Jacques Perrin

Le Pacte des loups is a 2001 French period film, action and horror movie directed by Christophe Gans. The film was released in the United States in early 2002 by Universal Pictures under the title, The Brotherhood of the Wolf (the title by which I will refer to this film in this review). The film's plot is loosely based on the legend of the “beast of Gévaudan” and a real-life series of killings that took place in France in the 18th century. The Brotherhood of the Wolf focuses on a French knight and his Native American companion who are sent to investigate the mysterious slaughter of hundreds of people by an unknown creature in the county of Gévaudan.

At the beginning of The Brotherhood of the Wolf, Old Thomas d'Apcher (Jacques Perrin) recounts a fantastic fable/story of his youth. It is France of 1765, and the King sends two envoys to the Gevaudan province (which no longer exists) to investigate a series of brutal murders of which the locals believe is committed by a mysterious beast. The envoys are the Chevalier Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), a naturalist, and his companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos), a Mohawk Iroquois shaman of New France (Canada). They arrive in Gevandan to find the provincials bigoted and superstitious, even in the midst of the death all around them.

Among the colorful cast of characters include a mysterious and powerful priest, Henri Sardis (Jean-Francois Stevenin), and a sly and dangerous one-armed hunter, Jean Francois de Morangias (Vincent Cassel). The young Thomas d’Apcher (Jeremie Renier) becomes a hunting companion of Fronsac and Mani. Two strong female characters compete for the attentions of the virile and intelligent Fronsac: Marianne de Morangias (Emilie Dequenne), Jean Francois’s beautiful younger sister, and the nubile and hypnotic courtesan Sylvia (Monica Bellucci). As Fronsac and Mani pierce the veil of mystery and terror that covers the province, intrigue and deceit surround them, and the beast continues to kill.

Directed by Christophe Gans, The Brotherhood of the Wolf bends genres as easily as the film’s beast tears through its victims. Horror, thriller, western, martial arts, and mystery, the film is filled with suspense, terror, romance, eroticism, and political intrigue. It is at times intoxicating and mind bending and at other times, languid and thoughtful. It is difficult to categorize, but the movie is largely fantasy and action, but different from most of the movies that both genres recall.

Fronsac is a man of reason who sees a human conspiracy behind the killings that is darker and more insidious than any beast of Hell. Still, this man of science also understands the mystic worldview and belief system of his friend and blood brother, Mani. Fronsac is enlightenment’s soldier against the backward and ignorant peasants and nobles of Gevaudan. The provincials fear the ways of a city like Paris, and Sardis and Jean Francois resent the capital’s intrusion into their world. They disdain the confidence and intelligence of the King’s envoys. The beast is a physical manifestation of the provincials superstitions, isolationism, hatred, and evil that feeds upon the populace, and the creature resists the authority of the government.

The movie’s creature is a computer-generated image (CGI); at its best is fearsome. At its worst, the creature, especially during some daylight scenes, is hokey. However, Gans wisely holds revealing the beast in scenes that go by so quickly that we rarely get a good look at it. Sometimes, just the unseen beast’s roars, growls, and footsteps are enough to set the heart racing.

Le Bihan as Fronsac is strong and strongly confident. He is the romantic lead upon which the audience hitches its wagon. When he and Mani arrive early in the movie, after the film’s opening murder, they appear in a driving rainstorm, masked minutemen with the presence of demigods. Mani’s assault upon the villagers recalls fight scenes from The Matrix, but his are down to earth and more physical, more visceral; the threat of danger to him from the attackers is much greater. Decascos is mostly very good on the screen as Mani, though a few bits of his screen time are a little flat. When Gans unleashes him late in the movie, Decascos is a beautiful force a nature, a small storm in human guise tearing through his antagonists.

Vincent Cassel’s Jean Francois is the serpentine equal to Fronsac. He dominates all of his screen time, except for his scenes with Fronsac, in which both must share the screen. The movie nearly bursts from having to contain both their magnetic presences. They alone are worth the price of admission, but the rest of the cast, both veterans and newcomers, make the most of their roles.

Although a little long, The Brotherhood of the Wolf is wonderful; a dark horse, it is one of the best films of the year 2001. Gans and his screenwriting partner, Stephane Cabel, created a script that melds raw action with social intrigue, and the result is quite an accomplishment. The Brotherhood of the Wolf is plainly good entertainment. Not quite high art, it is eye candy that is very smart and very fun.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Edited: Wednesday, October 4, 2023

-----------------------------

Friday, June 9, 2023

Book Review: "THE WAY OF THE BEAR" Takes the Readers Deep into Greed and Murder

THE WAY OF THE BEAR – (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel #8)

HARPERCOLLINS

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman

ISBN: 978-0-06-290839-1; hardcover (April 25, 2023)

286pp, B&W, $30.00 U.S., $37.50 CAN

The Way of the Bear: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel is a 2023 hardcover original novel from author Anne Hillerman. It is the eighth novel in her “Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito” book series, which began with Spider Woman's Daughter (2013).

This series is a continuation of the “Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Series” written by Hillerman's late father, bestselling author, Tony Hillerman (1925-2008). The father's novels are the basis for “Dark Winds,” a television series from the cable network, AMC, and its streaming service, AMC+. In The Way of the Bear, Chee and Manuelito find themselves caught up in a case that involves fossil harvesting, greed, rejected love, and murder.

The Way of the Bear opens in December. Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito and her husband, Sgt. Jim Chee, have traveled to San Juan County, Utah to the place known as “the Valley of the Gods,” near the Bears Ears National Monument. Chee is on assignment for the Navajo Nation Police Department, and his job is to convince Dr. Chapman “Chap” Dulles, a wealthy fossil hunter and paleontologist., to donate money to a fallen Navajo police officers fund.

Bernie has gone along on the trip and uses the time to visit Bears Ears for relaxation, contemplation, and exploration. This has been a difficult time in her life for both personal and professional reasons. While there, she has a terrifying encounter involving a pickup truck that tries to run her down. One of the truck's passengers even shoots at her. And after that, Bernie helps a young couple deliver their baby in the middle of the night.

However, an unexpected death on a lonely road outside of Bears Ears for raises questions for Bernie and Chee. They didn't plan on being involved in a murder, but they also wonder why a seasoned outdoorsman and well-known paleontologist freezes to death within walking distance of his car? A second death, and apparent murder, brings more turmoil and mystery. Who is the unidentified man killed during a home invasion where nothing much seems to have been taken? Why was he murdered?

The Bears Ears area, at the edge of the Navajo Nation, is celebrated for its abundance of early human habitation sites and for the discovery of unique and revolutionary fossils. Instead of being able to appreciate all this, Bernie and Chee are faced with an unprecedented level of violence that sweeps them both into danger.

THE LOWDOWN: I have been crazy about Anne Hillerman's work since I first read Spider Woman's Daughter. I had read two of her late father, Tony Hillerman's novels a long time ago, so I requested a review copy of Spider Woman's Daughter from HarperCollins when it was offered to reviewers back in 2013. It was a fortuitous decision, as the “Manuelito, Chee & Leaphorn” series became one of my favorite modern literary series.

When I read the previous novel in the series, 2022's The Sacred Bridge, I didn't know if I should call it a turning point in the series, but the story did suggest that big changes were ahead for both Bernie and Chee. Joe Leaphorn did not appear in The Sacred Bridge, nor does he appear in The Way of the Bear, except indirectly, and Hillerman continues to hint at big changes for him.

Like The Sacred Bridge, The Way of the Bear is a solid crime thriller, and at times, a riveting suspense thriller. In this new novel, Bernie and Chee's lives are constantly under threat – sometimes in unexpected ways. There is level of danger, menace, and peril that I don't remember encountering in earlier novels. However, the entries in this series always seem to be moving the characters forward. Nothing is stale, and the lives of Bernie and Chee are ongoing and evolving. Even with the danger this story imposes on them, the narrative also gives us a deeper look into them.

As I have done with the previous books, I am heartily recommending The Way of the Bear. The more I read, the more I learn about Bernie and Chee, and the more attached to them that I become. As always, I am sad about reaching the end of the story, doubly so this time because it was just a year ago that I read The Sacred Bridge. The best recommendation that I can give The Way of the Bear is to tell you, dear readers, that I would like to read another book in the series right now.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Anne Hillerman and of her late father, Tony Hillerman, will want to read The Way of the Bear.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://www.annehillerman.com/

https://twitter.com/harperbooks

https://www.instagram.com/harperbooks/

https://twitter.com/HarperCollins

https://www.harpercollins.com/

------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Review: "THE INVITATION" is the Movie Invite You Don't Want

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 70 of 2022 (No. 1882) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Invitation (2022)

Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for terror, violent content, some strong language, sexual content and partial nudity

DIRECTOR: Jessica M. Thompson

WRITER: Blair Butler

PRODUCER: Emile Gladstone

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Autumn Eakin (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Tom Elkins

COMPOSER: Dara Taylor

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Sean Pertwee, Hugh Skinner, Carol Ann Crawford, Alana Boden, Stephanie Corneliussen, and Courtney Taylor

The Invitation is a 2022 supernatural horror, mystery,and suspense thriller from director Jessica M. Thompson. The film focuses on a young woman who is swept off her feet by the chance of meeting members of her long-lost family, who are mysterious and odd.

The Invitation opens in New York City and introduces struggling artist, Evelyn “Evie” Jackson (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is still dealing with the recent death of her mother. She and her best friend, Grace (Courtney Taylor), make a living freelancing for a catering business. Evie takes a DNA test from an online company called “UnlockYourPast” and discovers that she has relatives in England. She meets one of those alleged distant English cousins, Oliver L. Alexander (Hugh Skinner) of London. Oliver tells Evie that she is related to him via her great-grandmother, Emmaline, who created quite a scandal decades ago. He also invites her to an upcoming family wedding in Whitney, Yorkshire, England.

Evie and Oliver eventually arrive at New Carfax Abbey where several connected families: the De Villes, the Billingtons, the Klopstocks, and the Alexanders, have gathered for the nuptials. Evie meets many family members, including the alluring Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty), who seems to be the focus of everyone's attention. However, Evie does not meet the bride and groom. Before long, Evie discovers that not only is New Carfax a strange place, but also that the gathered family members are both eccentric and full of mystery. It is a mystery that Evie must solve before she falls prey to the four families' darkest secrets.

The Invitation is a vampire movie and not a very good one. The main reason is the vampire characters. The film is inspired by author Bram Stoker's 1987 Gothic novel, Dracula. Film vampires can be alluring and attractive, and they can often be the audience's favorite characters, although they are monsters and are often film villains. The Invitation's vampires are not alluring and are mostly caricatures of the British upper class or assorted versions of Euro-trash.

The Invitation is not a very good horror movie simply because it is not scary. Bumps in the night, shifty shadows, random yelps and screams, etc. are more annoying than chilling. Evie is way too careless and clueless. I understand that there are plenty of people in the real world who are not wary, who don't understand that when things seem too good to be true, they usually are too good to be true. In this movie, the extent of Evie's lack of common sense is simply too much; it's irritating.

Also, I don't think that it is a coincidence that Nathalie Emmanuel, the actress who plays Evie, really resembles American actress Meghan Markle. You know Meghan, right? She married into an old British family that has its share of conspiracies and family members who are snobs, crypto-racists, and monsters.

The last twenty minutes of The Invitation – before the credits – are actually quite good, but by then it is too late. I get why the studio and filmmakers would try to hide the fact that this film involves vampires as deep into the running time as they could. Vampire films generally under perform at the box office, even good ones, which The Invitation is not. Honestly, the last few minutes of this film could be used as the starting point for an even better film. I cannot recommend The Invitation, and I want to discourage you, dear readers, from watching it if you have to pay to do it.

3 of 10

C-

★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, November 16, 2022

--------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Monday, November 14, 2022

Book Review: "THE SACRED BRIDGE" Offers Murder Most Foul x 2

THE SACRED BRIDGE – (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel #7)

HARPERCOLLINS

AUTHOR: Anne Hillerman

ISBN: 978-0-06-290836-0; hardcover (April 12, 2022)

336pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S., $33.50 CAN

The Sacred Bridge: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel is a 2022 hardcover original novel from author Anne Hillerman. It is the seventh novel in her “Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito” book series, which began with Spider Woman's Daughter (2013).

This series is a continuation of the “Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Series” written by Hillerman's late father, bestselling author, Tony Hillerman (1925-2008). The original series is the basis for “Dark Winds,” a television series from the cable network, AMC, and its streaming service, AMC+. In The Sacred Bridge, Chee and Manuelito each investigate an unusual murder.

Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette “Bernie” Manuelito and her husband, Sgt. Jim Chee, are enjoying a vacation, but Bernie leaves early. Jim Chee’s stay in beautiful Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell has a deeper purpose. He is on a quest to unravel a sacred mystery his mentor, the legendary police officer, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, stumbled across decades earlier. Chee's journey takes a dark turn when, after a prayerful visit to the sacred Rainbow Bridge, he spots a body floating in Lake Powell. The dead man is Curtis Walker, a Navajo with a passion for the canyon’s ancient rock art. However, Curtis lived a life filled with many secrets, including an affair with a married woman and double-crossing one or more potential business partners. In his mission to discover why Curtis died and who is responsible, Chee's will put his own life at risk.

Back at their home base of Shiprock, Bernie is driving home when she witnesses a black Mercedes sedan purposely kill a hitchhiker. The search to find the killer leads her into an undercover investigation at KHF – “K'é Happy Farm,” a cannabis farming operation that was supposed to benefit the Navajo Nation. However, the place is surrounded by mystery and rumors and also reports that workers are shooting dogs. Even the guy who is supposed to own the place, Dino Begay Perez, is missing. Bernie discovers a dangerous chain of interconnected revelations involving KHF. It is an evil that jeopardizes both her mother and sister, Darleen, and puts Bernie in the deadliest situation of her law enforcement career.

I don't know if I would call The Sacred Bridge a turning point in the series, but the story does suggest that big changes are ahead for both Bernie and Chee. While Joe Leaphorn does not appear in the novel (although he plays an indirect part in the plot), Hillerman also hints of a big change for him.

Of all the books in this series, The Sacred Bridge is the one that I would most describe as a crime thriller or a suspense thriller. Both mysteries that confront the lead characters are filled with danger, and it seems that their lives are always under threat. It is not a spoiler to say that both come close to being killed, and Chee's case is filled with heartbreak that will vex some of the characters long after the story ends. In Bernie's case, the characters end with hope and reunion.

As I have done with the previous books, I am heartily recommending The Sacred Bridge. As usual, I was sad when I finished the last page. I always want more, and, dear readers, if you give this book a chance, you will want more, also.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Anne Hillerman and of her late father, Tony Hillerman, will want to read The Sacred Bridge.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://www.annehillerman.com/

https://twitter.com/harperbooks

https://www.instagram.com/harperbooks/

https://twitter.com/HarperCollins

https://www.harpercollins.com/

-------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Review: "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" Started a Thing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 61 of 2022 (No. 1873) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) – Video
Running time: 77 minutes (1 hour, 17 minutes)
Rated TV-G
DIRECTOR: Jim Stenstrum
WRITERS: Glenn Leopold; from a story by Glenn Leopold and David Doi (based on the Hanna-Barbera characters)
PRODUCER: Cosmo Anzilotti
EDITOR: Paul Douglas
COMPOSER: Steven Bramson
ANIMATION STUDIO: Mook Animation

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY and ACTION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring: (voices) Frank Welker, Scott Innes, Billy West, Mary Kay Bergman, B.J. Ward, Tara Strong, Cam Clarke, Jim Cummings, Mark Hamill, Jennifer Leigh Warren, and Ed Gilbert

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is a 1998 straight-to-video, animated, comic mystery film. It was the first animated movie in what became the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video series from Warner Bros. Animation. In Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, the Mystery Inc. Gang reunites and visits a remote island with a dark secret.

As Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island opens, the five members of Mystery, Inc.: Fred Jones (Frank Welker); Daphne Blake (Mary Kay Bergman), Velma Dinkley (B.J. Ward); Shaggy Rogers (Billy West), and Scooby-Doo (Scott Innes) have gone their separate ways. They apparently became bored of mystery solving because culprits were never real ghosts, aliens, and monsters, but were practically always people in costumes.

Daphne Blake now has her own television series, “Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake,” in which she investigates claims of supernatural occurrences. Fred Jones is her cameraman and producer. Shaggy and Scooby are security guards, and Velma owns a book shop, “Dinkley's Mystery Book Shoppe,” which is also known as “Mystery Inc. Books.”

Daphne decides that she wants to hunt down a real ghost rather than investigating ghosts that turn out to be fakes. So Fred calls the gang back together, and the reunited Mystery Inc. embarks on a road trip scouting haunted locations across the United States for Daphne's TV show.

That is why they end up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they meet a curious local, Lena Dupree (Tara Strong). She tells them that they can find real ghosts at her place of employment, a mansion and hot pepper plantation on Moonscar Island. Skeptical at first, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby follow Lena to the island hoping to find a real ghost instead of a villain in a costume. What they find is more than they expected in a spooky place that might as well be called “Zombie Island.”

I remember that I first heard about Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island probably about a month or so before it was released in September 1998. It was big news in the world of the American television animation industry and in home entertainment. I bought a copy for the elementary school age son of a close friend of mine, who was a huge Scooby-Doo fan, then. [He is now an adult in his late twenties (as of this writing), and I don't know if he still loves Scooby-Doo.]

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island was billed as the first time that a Scooby-Doo cartoon would find Scooby and Shaggy and company facing real supernatural entities. The advertising for this straight-to-video (VHS) release declared, “This time, the monsters are real.” However, as early as a 1980 episode of the “Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo” animated TV series, the stories featured real aliens and a real vampire.

That aside, it is nice to see Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island pit the characters against real ghosts, real zombies, and other real supernatural creatures. My problem with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is that the writers open the movie with some nice character development, but by the time the characters reach Moonscar Island, the story devolves into Scooby and Shaggy running around and screaming or we get tedious scenes of Scooby chasing one or more of the cats that belong to Moonscar mansion's owner, Simone Lenoir (Adrienne Barbeau).

That animation is average to above average, with the best sequences being those with the zombies. The film's direction presents an inconsistent pace to go with the inconsistent story, so sometimes even a haunted mansion and a zombie island seem like boring places. Still, I am glad that I finally watched Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. I've been putting it off for at least two decades.

I will say that it is an important film because it launched the Scooby-Doo straight-to-video series, of which I am a big fan. So Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is a must see for fans of all things Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc.

6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).