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Thursday, October 5, 2023
Review: "THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF" is Crazy (Literally), Sexy, Cool
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Review: "American Graffiti" is Still Crusin' to Rock 'n' Roll 50 Years On
Friday, May 19, 2023
Review: "FAST X" is Too Fast, Too Furious For One Movie
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Review: "PUSS IN BOOTS: The Last Wish" is a Delightful Surprise
Saturday, April 1, 2023
Review: "THE BAD GUYS" is A.C.E. (Average, Cute & Entertaining)
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Review: Terrific and Amazing "ARMAGEDDON TIME" Doesn't Have Time for Sentimentality
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Comics Review: "Kolchak: The Night Stalker – 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel" is a Great Tribute, Great Read
Friday, February 3, 2023
Review: "KNOCK AT THE CABIN" is Not Worth the Ticket Price; Stream It
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Review: "HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL." is Both Funny and Ruthless
Friday, October 28, 2022
Review: Idris Elba and the Lion Be Beastin' in "BEAST"
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 65 of 2022 (No. 1877) by Leroy Douresseaux
Beast (2022)
Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPA – R for violent content, bloody images and some language
DIRECTOR: Baltasar Kormakur
WRITERS: Ryan Engle; from a story by Jaime Primak Sullivan
PRODUCERS: Baltasar Kormaku, James Lopez, and Will Packer
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Philippe Rousselot and Baltasar Breki (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jay Rabinowitz
COMPOSER: Steven Price
THRILLER
Starring: Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Sharlto Copley
Beast is a 2022 wildlife thriller film from director Baltasar Kormakur. The film focuses on a widowed father and his two teenage daughters who must fight for survival after they are attacked and stalked by a rogue lion.
Beast opens in South Africa. Recently widowed Dr. Nathaniel “Nate” Samuels (Idris Elba) and his teenage daughters, Meredith “Mare” Samuels (Iyana Halley) and Norah Samuels (Leah Sava Jeffries), travel to South Africa for a vacation. They arrive at the Mopani Reserve where Nate reunites with his old friend and dear family friend, Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), a biologist and manager of the Mopani Reserve.
Nate was recently widowed when his wife, Amahle, died of cancer, and he is somewhat estranged from his daughters. Mare is argumentative and rebellious, and Norah is sensitive. Both girls are bitter about the separation of their father and late mother prior to the latter's death. Nate hopes that this trip will help him to reconnect with his daughters.
On the second day of the trip, Martin takes the Samuels to the reserve's restricted areas. Along the way, they encounter an injured man that has apparently been mauled by a lion. That same lion attacks again, and suddenly, Nate and his daughters are trapped in their vehicle. Stranded in a remote area inside a damaged vehicle, Nate must find a way to save himself and his daughters from a bloodthirsty rogue lion that does not stop stalking its prey until it they are dead.
First, I wish that I'd seen Beast on a movie theater screen. Secondly, the mini-melodrama between Nate and his daughters did not interest me. I found Mare and Norah to be often irritating, and more than once, they made their plight against the lion worse. Beside that subplot, the film is well written. There are certainly enough death-defying moments to keep the viewer's attention on the film.
Still, Beast is very well directed and edited. As soon as Martin, Nate, Mare and Norah leave Martin's home, director Baltasar Kormakur begins turning up the heat. Before Beast becomes a full-on survival thriller, Kormakur makes it a riveting suspense thriller as the story moves about the reserve, visiting a local pride and moving on to a small village. That's where the movie explodes, and the rest of the way, Beast is a gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Honestly, I feel like the film mesmerized me, and I certainly didn't think that I would end up liking it as much as I did … and still do. I can see myself watching it again.
In addition to having a great monster – the rogue lion, Beast also has a great actor and true movie star, Idris Elba, as its lead. Elba has that kind of big screen magic that can make the viewer want to vicariously experience a movie through him. I certainly found myself following his every step, living through the obstacles and threats to Nate Samuels' very life. Elba also convincingly plays a medical doctor and a loving and patient father, especially to two stubborn daughters. So Beast has a lion of an actor and movie star to go along with its killer super-lion. Both will make you feel as if you need to catch your breath, dear readers.
7 of 10
A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars
Friday, October 28, 2022
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Friday, September 23, 2022
Review: Steven Spielberg's "JAWS" is Still Hungry For Your Ass (Countdown to "The Fabelmans")
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 54 of 2022 (No. 1866) by Leroy Douresseaux
Jaws (1975)
Running time: 124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)
Rated – PG by the Classification and Ratings Administration
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
WRITERS: Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb (based on the novel by Peter Benchley)
PRODUCERS: David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Butler (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Verna Fields
COMPOSER: John Williams
Academy Award winner
DRAMA/THRILLER/ADVENTURE
Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey Kramer, Chris Rebello, Jay Mello, Lee Fierro, Jeffrey Voorhees, Robert Nevin, and Susan Backlinie
Jaws is a 1974 adventure drama and thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the 1974 novel, Jaws, by author Peter Benchley, who also wrote (with Carl Gottlieb) the screenplay adapting his novel. Jaws the film is set in and around a beach community that is dealing with a killer shark and focuses on the police chief who leads a team to hunt down and kill the creature.
Jaws opens in the New England beach town of Amity Island. During a nighttime beach party, a young woman, Christine “Chrissie” Watkins (Susan Backlinie), goes skinny dipping in the ocean. While treading water, something unseen attacks Chrissie and pulls her under the water, The next day, local police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) and Deputy Hendricks (Jeffrey Kramer) find the partial remains of Chrissie's body on the shore of the beach.
The medical examiner concludes that Chrissie died due to a shark attack. Still, Amity's Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) is more concerned with the town's summer economy, which is wholly reliant on tourism, and does not want the beaches closed. Then, the fact that a shark, specifically a “great white shark,” is hunting the waters off the island becomes reality when the shark attacks and kills a boy named Alex Kintner (Jeffrey Voorhees).
After another attack, Chief Brody takes matters into his own hands. He joins Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), a marine biologist who specializes in shark, and Quint (Robert Shaw), a crusty old shark fisherman, on a seafaring mission to hunt and kill the shark. But that mission proves more difficult than any of the many realized.
I have seen Jaws so many times that I have lost count. Still, the movie seems eternally fresh to me, in a semi-sepia tone kind of way. Jaws fascinates me because it seems to me, at least, to be like three short films merged into one film. The first section introduces the shark attacks and Chief Brody's misgivings and investigations. The second section pits Brody against the town fathers, led by money grubber, Mayor Vaughn, who want the beaches open at all cost. The film's final section focuses on the boys' adventure of Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint going shark-hunting and ending up being the hunted. As much as I enjoy the film's final act, I find the first section of the film to be the most intriguing because of its sense of mystery. What is really beneath the waves, coming up to chomp on young folks?
Jaws is essentially the prototypical summer blockbuster, a kind of film that is designed to get as many people into movie theaters and chomping on popcorn and guzzling soda. The blockbuster, especially the summer kind, is the cinema of the sensations: thrills and chills to make the viewer's body tingle and get the heart racing. The bracing action scenes keep the viewer on the edge of his or her seat. Steven Spielberg turned out to be the perfect director of summer blockbusters – at least for awhile. He could press all our emotional buttons and ensnare our imaginations so that all we thought about was what he wanted us to think about – for two or so hours.
Still, Spielberg's prodigious skills as a filmmaker are evident. He is a superb film artist and a consummate cinematic entertainer. He gets the best out of his cast and crew and creatives – from composer John Williams' iconic and ominous shark-presence theme to Bill Butler's expansive cinematography that turns this movie into a vista of natural wonders. Plus, Spielberg allows his talented cast to really show their dramatic chops, especially Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper and Richard Shaw as Quint. Even Lorraine Gary gets to make the most of her moments as Ellen Brody.
If I am honest, however, Spielberg has a co-captain on this ship. Roy Scheider (1932-2008) brings the film together and at times, holds it together. Steady as a rock, Chief Brody epitomizes the small town law man who has to save the town not only from the bad guy – a shark in this instance – but also from themselves. I think serious movie lovers and film fans recognize both the breath and depth of Scheider's talent and that he was a mesmerizing film presence. If Jaws is the film that shot Spielberg's career into the stratosphere like a rocket, Scheider can certainly be described as the rocket booster.
9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars
Friday, September 23, 2022
NOTES:
1976 Academy Awards, USA: 3 wins: “Best Sound” (Robert L. Hoyt, Roger Heman Jr., Earl Madery, and John R. Carter), “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields), and “Best Music, Original Dramatic Score” (John Williams); 1 nomination: “Best Picture” (Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown)
1976 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (John Williams for Jaws and also The Towering Inferno); 6 nominations: “Best Actor”(Richard Dreyfuss), “Best Direction” (Steven Spielberg), “Best Film,” “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields), “Best Screenplay” (Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb), and “Best Sound Track” (John R. Carter and Robert L. Hoyt)
1976 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (John Williams); 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” (Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb), and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Steven Spielberg)
2001 National Film Preservation Board, USA: 1 win: “National Film Registry”
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Sunday, September 11, 2022
Review: In "THE BLACK PHONE," the Children Answer the Call
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 52 of 2022 (No. 1864) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Black Phone (2022)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPA – R for violence, bloody images, language and some drug use
DIRECTOR: Scott Derrickson
WRITERS: Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill (based on the short story “The Black Phone” by Joe Hill)
PRODUCERS: Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Brett Jutkiewicz (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Frédéric Thoraval
COMPOSER: Mark Korven
HORROR/CRIME/MYSTERY/THRILLER
Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, E. Roger Mitchell, Troy Rudeseal, James Ransone, Miguel Cazarez Mora, Rebecca Clarke, Tristan Pravong, Brady Hepner, Jacob Moran, Banks Repeta, and Ethan Hawke
The Black Phone is a 2022 supernatural horror, mystery,and crime thriller from director Scott Derrickson. The film is based on the short story, “The Black Phone,” from author Joe Hill. The story was first published in the The 3rd Alternative No. 39, the Autumn 2004 issue of the former British horror magazine. The Black Phone the movie focuses on a teen boy who is abducted by a child killer and imprisoned in a basement where he starts receiving phone calls from a disconnected phone.
The Black Phone opens in North Denver, 1978. A presumed serial killer, nicknamed “The Grabber” (Ethan Hawke), has been prowling the streets of a particular Denver suburb and abducting teenage boys. Shortly after the film begins, a boy named Bruce Yamada (Tristan Pravong) disappears and is presumed a victim of The Grabber.
Teen Finney Blake (Mason Thames) lives in this North Denver suburb with his younger sister, Gwen Blake (Madeleine McGraw), and their abusive, alcoholic, widowed father, Terrence Blake (Jeremy Davies). At school, Finney is frequently bullied and harassed, but he has struck up a friendship with a classmate, Robin Arellano ( Miguel Cazarez Mora), who fends off the bullies. Then, the Grabber gets Robin.
Meanwhile, Gwen, who has psychic dreams like her late mother, dreams of a masked man who drives a van and kidnaps Bruce, leaving black balloons in his wake. Then, Finney has a violent encounter with the Grabber. Finney awakens in a soundproofed basement where the Grabber has imprisoned him. On the rear wall is a black rotary phone that the Grabber says does not work. The black phone is supposedly disconnected, but later, the phone rings. When Finney answers it, he here's a familiar voice – a voice of one of the Grabber's victims. Now, Finney must rely on the instructions of ghosts, his own shaky bravery, and (unknown to him) the dreams of Gwen if he is going to survive the murderous plans of a maniac.
I have not read the short story, author Joe Hill's “The Black Phone,” upon which this film is based. [I have read Hill's 2013 novel, NOS4A2, and his 2019 short story and novelettes collection, Full Throttle.] Not reading the short story did not stop me from enjoying The Black Phone the movie, for the most part.
It takes a bit to really get into the nonsensical scenario: a guy drives around in a pitch black van, snatching kids in the middle of the day, practically right out in the street, and no one sees a thing. However, co-writer/director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill thrive on generating scares out of ridiculous scenarios, such as in their 2012 creepy horror film, Sinister. Truthfully, horror films should not necessarily make sense; whether the film is driven by a killer, demonic possession, or haunting, horror films are a fantastic scenario. Scary movies should not be logical or perhaps, be somewhat illogical. Still, until the Grabber grabs Finney, I was not invested in the film, although I was already feeling some fear.
That said, the children are the stars of this film, especially the siblings, Finney and Gwen Blake. Finney tries to find answers in the mysterious phone calls he receives on the disconnected black phone. Gwen battles her own doubts even as she deals with an abusive father who is afraid of what will become of her and her abilities, to say nothing of the two police detectives who must come around to believing her visions.
The Black Phone is one of those times when both a boy and a girl come of age and undergo the heroic journey at the same time in the same movie. That makes the struggle and victory all the more satisfying. Mason Thames as Finney and Madeleine McGraw as Gwen are convincing as both the heroes and as the sensible ones. They make The Black Phone's last act visceral and invigorating, and dear readers, you will vicariously fear for your life, which makes the resolution so, so satisfying. It is rare that I cheer the end of a horror movie, but I did it for The Black Phone.
7 of 10
A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars
Saturday, September 10, 2022
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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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).