False Positive

Lucy (Ilanda Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) are a couple needed a little help conceiving a baby and get more help than they expected from Dr. Hindle (Pierce Brosnan) in this straight to HULU release directed by John Lee (Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday). After trying several times with no luck, Lucy and Adrian visit his old professor from medical school, Dr. Hindle, who operates a very prestigious women’s click. After a little invitro help, Lucy becomes pregnant with twin boys and single girl having to make the decision to sacrifice either the boys or the girls that decision leads Lucy into a decent into paranoia surrounding the doctor and her husband, or is there more realism to her paranoia than others lead her to believe. Described by director, John Lee as a Psychological Satire and as many have pointed out parallels to Rosemary’s Baby, there is quite the suspense build up as we as an audience know just a little more than Lucy does causing the back and forth on is she crazy or not. The acting is on par for what you would expect for a film that is getting a straight from streaming release, I know they were pushing for a theatrical run though I think this lives just fine for the streaming medium, where it comes apart for me is towards the end it goes into some full on body horror gore to drive home the social commentary it is striving for. I did not trust doctors before this movie and watching this I will definiely be questioning with concern what is going on. ***

The World to Come

The setting, New York in 1856; The story is one of a forbidden romance between two women from different houses separated by the land and navigating around their husbands. Very early on, from hearing talk of this film, I wanted to see it for whatever reason. I missed the tiny theatrical run it had here, and just now seeing it was fully worth the weight. The story of a forbidden romance has been around since Shakespeare wrote about two star-crossed lovers; having the two lovers as females is not new either. We have already had Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Ammonite to name a couple of the more known ones. There is a simplisticness to it elevated with a poeticness that contrasts with the score, adding a subtle eerieness to balance things. It is not as sharp and crisp visually as, say, Portrait of a Lady on Fire though it delivers the feeling and emotional heft I wanted from Ammonite. Performances all around deliver from the cast, Casey Affleck you get your standard Casey Affleck, Christopher Abbott replaced Jesse Plemons, who dropped out of the movie, which I think worked to the advantage of the movie, Catherine Waterson we get to see her range and Vanessa Kirby after this and Pieces of a Woman is a name to keep on the radar. You enjoyed the others films I mentioned; you should check this one out. It a slow burn that, for me, was worth it in the end.

The Hitman's Bodyguard Films

 To get ready for the sequel, I went back and rewatched The Hitman's Bodyguard. I said it back when I saw it in theaters and will still say this movie had no right to be as good as it is; the story is basic and cliched ridden it is on the backs of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson that the movie is carried through without becoming dull and sluggish. A rapid recap for those needing one before seeing the sequel and not wanting to rewatch the first, do not have the time, or just never cared to watch it. Reynolds is a highly rated bodyguard who loses his status when one of the people in his protective custody is killed by a sniper bullet. Gary Oldman is on trial for doing bad things, and Jackson is on his way to testify against Oldman when the convoy is blown up; Elodie Young was in charge of the transport and calls in Reynolds for help to get Jackson to the hearing on time. Thus the meat of the movie begins with Reynolds and Jackson playing opposites and having terrific on-screen chemistry together that elevates the scenes and the dialogue to entertaining levels. This is a prime example of a great popcorn flick; it is entertaining, you do not need to think too much, and when it is over, you feel like you just got off a fun carnival ride with a smile on your face. 

Flash forward from 2017 to 2021, and we get the follow-up film The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard. Did we need a sequel to the first one? No, we did not, and after seeing the sequel, it is a definite nope. Patrick Hughes returns to direct following the expected format of an action sequel, go bigger and louder. We are back with Ryan Reynold's; after the first movie's events, he has lost his bodyguard license and finds himself in therapy because of it. To try and put his mind at ease takes a vacation in Italy where things, of course, go wrong, and he finds himself with Salma Hayek, who needs his help to find her kidnapped husband, Samuel L. Jackson. Because someone decided to remember how Salma Hayek had those couple scenes in the last movie where she screamed a lot and stole those scenes, we need to make her a primary character and have her do that throughout the entire movie, most of the movie seems just a setup to determine if she can out Motherf***** Jackson and how many references to her boobs they can get away with. The plot, wow this was taken out of the '90s straight to DVD action flick, Antonio Banderas is a Greek who wants to destroy Europe by using a diamond-covered drill under the ocean to sever the data cables for the continent, during a demonstration in the movie this also causes electrical things to explode for some reason. It is the most convoluted and uninteresting plot with new characters that are just bland. The tone of the movie is all over the place, where the first movie was a simple story heightened by the performances, this one there is so much trying to go on, car chases and explosions constantly that it overpowers the actors who just do not seem to have that chemistry from the original which made it so bad but so good at the same time. This is a fully recommended pass for me, the first movie you love it or hate it; this one just has no reason to exist and is a waste of a talented cast that will also waste 99 minutes of your life.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

If you are not familiar with The Conjuring franchise, it revolves around Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga respectively) who are based on real people and their case files that investigated the paranormal and possessions. This case revolves around a real case that occurred in 1981 when Arne Johnson (Played by Ruairi O’Connor) murders an individual and the Warrens are brought in to prove that he was under demonic possession during the murder. The movie starts prior earlier in the year when Arne’s little brother is the one possessed and the Warren’s trying to exorcise the demon out of the boy until Arne sacrifices himself to take the possession from his brother which will catch up with him shortly after. I have never been a fan of The Conjuring universe as they now call it, though the legal aspect to me sets the tone different to where I was a little more invested than just the jump-scared-filled paranormal encounters. Wilson and Farmiga as with the other films have wonderful chemistry and the scenes where they are together discussing the case are the ones that keep me connected to the movie, as much as I do no like this franchise, I could just watch these two walk around all day together bouncing stories off each other. Fans of the franchise might be thrown a little by the shake-up in formula having this one grounded as a legal thriller. I did find this one also incredibly predictable, partly because as the audience we know more than the Warren’s do and while I did not know all the details I had heard of “The Devil Made Me Do It” case growing up in the ’80s, I knew the outcome for the kid just not how the events to that judgment played out. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is one that I am okay with it coming out on HBO Max day and date as the theatrical release, I do not feel I missed anything by watching this in theaters and to me was the weaker of the recent Conjuring and its’ spin-offs. ***

Barb & Star go to Vista Del Mar

 When I first saw the teaser and posters for Barb & Star go to Vista Del Mar there was absolute zero interest in seeing the movie, I thought that looked like the stupidest worse thing ever. Well now I watched the movie and cannot believe it took me this long to finally rent it from Amazon Video. I absolutely loved how the director, brought the world to life and makes it apparent early on this is not in reality as we know it that this is a surreal world that Barb and Star live in. Also I felt that everyone in the cast and crew knew what movie they were making and committed to the concept. Will this movie be for everyone probably now, but I challenge someone to watch this and not at least crack a little smirk at a joke or gag at some point. Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) are two middle age women living the mid-west who live in their own little world that only the two of them get until the are laid off from their job and question what they are doing with themselves which leads them to go on a vacation to Vista Del Mar, Florida. This is the Florida that I wish I lived in, bright colors and when you walk into a hotel they burst into song and dance until the bubble is burst that it’s the wrong hotel your checking into. Yup, things don’t go 100% right for the two women when they arrive, that does not stop them from finding the good in things, these two are like little kids that go through a day living in their own world and finding the positive in every negative. Barb and Star also bump into Jamie Edgar Paget (Jamie Dornan) who is in town to plant a microchip that will guide killer mosquitos to the town and kill all the residents because his villainous boss whom he also loves, Sharon Gordon Fisherman also played by Kristen Wigg, was humiliated when she was younger and wants her revenge. Yup, it is absolutely bonkers story line and I cannot go to much into what happens without giving away too much. I listened to a podcast with director, Josh Greenbaum and said Kristen Wiig descried the movie to him as Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion  meets Airplane and he added in Top Secret and that is absolutely the best way to describe this movie. This was Josh Greenbaum's first feature directorial film and I cannot wait to see what else he can bring to the table, this feels like that spoof/campy film along the lines of The Naked Gun that we have seen tried to be done lately, but fall flat because the jokes and gags don’t land or its horribly edited, this to me is one of those films that the stars aligned right for every piece of the puzzle to fall into place perfectly. 

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