We’re fast approaching the Fall Festival season, which is often an overload of newly released and unreleased films as well as a plethora of late Oscar contenders. To pave the way for my return to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) later this year, I decided to take a break for my blindspot watches and catch up with a few newly released films. Major flops, surprise unnecessary prequels, and a drug fueled Irish rap music biopic are all part of my current movie binge. Most of these films are currently playing in theaters or available on VOD, so there won’t be any streaming services listed. Let’s review some recent films we watched recently!
“Horizon: An American Saga Part 1“
Wild swings and passion projects are typically met with a lot of trepidation, which is often why it’s done by artists who have ostensibly reached the height of their powers. It’s been a surging trend among the greats, from Spielberg with “The Fabelmans” to Francis Ford Copolla’s audatious and overly ambitious “Megalopolis” to name a few. All of these are met with varying degrees of success, and I’m sad to report that Kevin Costner’s entry with “Horizon: An American Saga Part 1” leans more on the insufferable vanity project than a working auteur executing a personal vision. “Horizon” is exhaustingly dull, saved only by its strong cinematography and ocassionally well crafted action set pieces. None of these highlights are enough to overshadow an incomprehensible plot, plodding pacing, and the stench of self aggradizing from Costner. “Horizon” feels more like a man trying to reclaim his glory days that have long since past than it has anything to say for itself. Soulless and distant, “Horizon” feels parceled from westerns without any understanding as to what westerns actually are.
Every 10 minutes, “Horizon” introduces a new character; a sprawling narrative that feels perfect for episodic television crudely crafted to fit into a film format. Which is strange to say, since Costner left his wildly successful western TV show “Yellowstone” to make this overly long, unnecessary 4 part saga. “Horizon” is the pinnacle of “We have Yellowstone at home” and shows that for all his success both in front of and behind the camera, Costner has lost his way. “Horizon” feels its part 1 restrictions at every turn, literally ending with a 4 minute trailer for Part 2. Yes, really. It is one of the most baffling and embarrassing endings to a film I’ve seen in a while, and left me hollow with next to no interest in seeing what comes next. I don’t fault any of the star studded performers here. They all seem to be doing the best with what the have. But what is given is barely enough to classify itself as a film, and leaves everyone wandering in the west hoping that something interesting happens eventually. “Horizon” is 3 hours of hero worship manifest destiny and championed colonialism in the worst of ways, and when it concluded I wanted that time back.
Rating: 1.5 Stars out 5
“A Quiet Place: Day One“
If “Horizon” filled me with regret, “A Quiet Place: Day One” renewed my spirit. A prequel no one asked for in a franchise that never needed to be, “Day One” somehow manages to work far more than it fails. Prequels are always tricky; characters and events are predetermined by the future with which it tied, and rarely does an exposition heavy explanation for said events actually succeed. You’d be right to roll your eyes every time you see this trailer, making it feel as if it’s adhering to that “go big or go home” philosophy that often plagues second and third entries. “Day One” avoids these pitfalls by keeping intact the small scale stories amidst the larger apocalypse. Questions about the aliens – why they’re here and what they want – are ultimately secondary to those left to survive in a forever changed world. Director Michael Sarnoski understands this, and manages to inject emotional weight and genuine terror throughout. The question is always, why should we care if we already know what happens? And the answer in “Day One” is Lupita Nyong’o.
The absolute crux of all emotionality and investment rests on Nyong’o’s shoulders, and “Day One” is a testament to how incredible of a performer she is. Nyong’o elevates every ounce of the film, commanding the screen and instantly gaining your investment. Sure, we can walk away with questions about geography, the deeper lore, and how we can have a cat that might be the smartest, most well behaved pet to ever walk the earth. But again, all of that is secondary, and “Day One” smartly keeps the cast small, their worlds personal, and the aliens in the shadows as much as he can. The trailer would have you believe that we just CGI’d all of new year and riddled it with creatures every chance we get, but Sarnoski injects a tremendous amount of claustrophobia despite being in a big, open, quiet city. “Day One” is gripping at times, and delivers some incredibly tense moments that are captured beautifully. This was a genuine surprise for me, but I’m so glad I gave it a shot. If you’re on the fence, I highly recommend giving this one a watch. For FRODO!
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
“Kneecap“
If you know me, you know that music biopics are at the bottom of my list of films I enjoy. They just do nothing for me, and it is impossible from me not to see the near perfect parody “Walk Hard” in every single one because, let’s face it, the genre has yet to move past its own satire. Beat for beat, shot for shot – music biopics are all the same and rarely capture the artist or shed light on any of their work in meaningful ways. They’re essentially jukebox greatest hits musicals, so you can see how surprised I was to have enjoyed “Kneecap,” an unorthodox approach a to a tired genre. Sure, it has a lot of the formulaic tropes you would expect from this kind of film; troubled youngsters, terrible first performance, magically creating their greatest hits overnight, etc. But “Kneecap” smartly puts all of those cliches in the background to highlight the chaotic, drug fueled, party lifestyles of the young men as a part of their identity instead of the classic rock bottom, come to Jesus Oscar bait moment.
The film also anchors itself to the political turmoil of language in Ireland at the time, the very roots that birthed the band to begin with. Furthermore, “Kneecap” stars all three members of the band as themselves, and while they aren’t necessarily the best actors, they are born performers who are given the opportunity to tell their own story (fiction or fact doesn’t really matter) through their own voices. That is a rarity in the music biopic genre, and “Kneecap” paints a clear picture of the band and their significance without ever leaning too far into self parody. It’s a little too sporadic at times, with the members themselves bordering on intolerable as protagonists despite framing them as would be champion of independence and language revolutionaries. But even with that criticism, it ends up being part of the charm of “Kneecap.” These are flawed men who use their brash, loud, and sometimes dangerous lifestyle as a part of who they have always been instead of a sugar coated Hollywoodizing of what we think artists should be.
“Kneecap” is a different kind of biopic, one that is consistently entertaining, outlandish, and a bold new message of the power of language as an identity. It champions the voice for change, even if those voices come from individuals high as balls on ketamine, throwing out baggies of free drugs to their audience, or doing giant lines of coke off the stage during a live performance. Whether that happened or not, it is funny and fun as hell to watch, and I never say that about music biopics, so you know “Kneecap” is worth checking out.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
“Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In“
I’m not gonna bury the lede here: “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” is about as good as action cinema can get. At a time where American action cinema has become $200 million green screens and digital backgrounds, “Walled In” reminds us that no one does fantasy action like Hong Kong. A lovingly nostalgic thriller, this film has everything you could want in an action movie. Colorful characters, practical sets, high flying martial arts, weapons, comedy, blood, broken bones, and yes, spirit powers. Based on the graphic novel “City of Darkness” by Yuyi and the very real, densely populated city of Kowloon in the 80s and 90s, “Walled In” brings the comic book styling to life without ever sacrificing visuals or story. “Walled In” is a film designed to please, working overtime to be as entertaining as possible. And I can confirm that it does not disappoint anywhere.
“Walled In” hides its would be criminal underworld melodrama beneath a strong, character driven story that works hard through both performances and pacing to make you genuinely care about each protagonist. It knows you came for the action, but it wants you to stay for the story it’s trying to tell about a lost piece of history in China. Every action set piece hits harder because we are wholly invested in everyone. Sure, “Walled In” can feel a little soap opera-y with its twisty display of crime noir characters, and sometimes feels more like a video game than a film adaption. But when that video game is more “Like a Dragon” than say, “Borderlands” you know you’re in for a treat. “Walled In” holds nothing back, ramping everything up to 11 as is patiently moves towards its 3rd act. If for nothing else, the film will remind you that we really can have it all, and make you nostalgic for Hong Kong cinema of old – the kind where you were pretty sure the stuntman died in this take and you just witnessed a death you can’t unsee. Yes, “Walled In” is that visually arresting, perfectly blending practical choreography and stuntwork with fantastical, high flying wire work and fantasy fighting.
We need more action cinema like “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.” Between this and India’s “Kill,” American action is left in the dust, especially when The Rock starring in “Red Something Again” on Netflix is all we have to offer. “Walled In” is already one of the most successful films in Hong Kong, and we are treated to be able to experience it here in the States. Don’t miss your chance to see this gem.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
“Dìdi“
Every generation needs a coming of age film that truly captures the spirit of what growing up was like in a specific time in our lives. For the late 2000s, this means trying to bottle the essence of those that grew up online, seeing it through its early stages as it was right on the cusp of becoming our entire identities. Enter “Dìdi,” an absolute knockout of a film that is both laugh out loud funny and deeply poignant. Very few films can bring to life an era so seamlessly, and writer/director Sean Wang confidently does so with this deeply personal story. Paramore, Hello Goodbye, skateboarding, AOL Messenger, miniature golf, and yes, Myspace all fill the world of “Dìdi,” beautifully crafting its surroundings with near perfect detail and longing nostalgia that constantly unlocks core memories for those of us that lived it. But that’s just the surface, because underneath Wang has a lot to say about growing up during this time. “Dìdi” isn’t just about the things we remember, but about also about the things we wish we could forget; growing up sucks, and it’s the hardest at some of the worst, most confusing points in our lives.
“Dìdi” also reminds us of how lonely those times could be, how hard it was to understand ourselves and who we are suppose to be as we hurdle towards young adulthood. Our identities are supposed to take shape before we even have the mental capacity to comprehend them, leaving us in a constant state of longing for acceptance with very little belonging. The film brilliantly displays all of those rollercoaster experiences, while also injecting the immigrant experience and familial relationships in ways that rip the heart out and shatter it into a million pieces. But when it does this, Wang is aware enough to put it all back together. At 13 years old growing up online, everything felt like the end of the world; our changing in friendships, our failures, our lost crushes and horrible flirting techniques, trying to find our interests, what makes us happy, and the balance of independence and dependence on our parents. It shows us all of this in visceral detail, but also reminds us that it wasn’t in fact, the end of the world. That’s just growing up.
Izaac Wang as Dìdi is a relative newcomer but really shines here as the titular character. But it’s Joan Chen as his mother that shines the brightest. She is the emotional crux, even when most of the emotions are brought on to him from external circumstance. Chen is an absolute knockout, and I would like to start the campaign for either Best or Best Supporting Actress now. This is one of the best films of the year, an emotionally arresting, delightful and sometimes cringe on purpose coming of age story that will have dusting off those burned CDs and trying to remember your old AOL handles. But it will also leave you with the hope of knowing that this too, shall pass, and we all made it out alive in the end. Also, hug your mom.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
So there you have it, a few new releases we’ve seen and recommend. Well, at least some of them I recommend. You can definitely save yourself 3 hours. What are some of your favorites you’ve seen this year?
