“The Thoughtful Stories You Might Be Missing on NETFLIX and HULU”

“The Thoughtful Stories You Might Be Missing on NETFLIX and HULU”

NETFLIX:

LITTLE EVIL

(2017, TV-MA, 95 minutes, BLUEGRASS FILMS/MANDALAY PICTURES)

 

This little tale is about a ‘newly-indoctrinated’ stepfather discovering his stepson may be the antichrist.  Writer/director Eli Craig, a veteran of atypical comedic-horror stories - TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL and ZOMBIELAND, does not let you down with his simple vision.  Adam Scott (of STEP BROTHERS, “Parks and Recreation”, THE AVIATOR) teams up with Evangeline Lilly (of “Lost”, ANT-MAN, THE HOBBIT series) to make the cutest couple and are a perfect pairing.  With other familiar faces to round out the cast, and young, capable actor Owen Atlas as Lucas, the devilish boy in question, keeps you engaged and waiting to see how the mess will end.  Just don’t think too hard on how he married Lilly before getting to know the young child, something I ask even now.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY

(2017, NR, 123 minutes, NEXUS FACTORY/RAFAELLA PRODUCTIONS/SND FILMS)

Dystopian films can be a fun break from your normal viewing pleasures, but do not be hasty with this one.  Noomi Rapace (of PROMETHEUS, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGONN TATTOO) takes on a demanding role, playing septuplets, which I would feel not beyond her talents.  The future is overpopulated and, just like China, there is a one-child per household policy.  Grandfather Willem Dafoe (of SPIDER-MAN, FINDING NEMO, PLATOON) takes the children after his daughter dies giving birth to them and teaches them how to survive under these unfortunate circumstances.  As is always the case, we are given too many subplots that converge on the ultimate demise of the government’s Child Allocation Bureau.  Sometimes I wish writers and studios would be more daring and not always think ‘big picture’.  There is enough drama and conflict with this unique family dynamic without having to go find a way to crumble the entire establishment.

HULU:

DIRK GENTLY’S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY

(2016, TV-14, Season 1 - 8 episodes approx. 30 minutes each, 3 ARTS ENTERTAINMENT)

Yes, I am catching-up on this one.  It was worth the wait to provide my undivided attention, and you should check it out if you haven’t already.  Creator Max Landis (known for writing CHRONICLE, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, MR. RIGHT, and the coming remake of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) brings to life Douglas Adams’ quaint series.  As an Adams’ work, this is a fantastic piece.  The characters are brilliant and the story is unlike anything you would expect.  Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, “Wilfred”, THE LAST WITCH HUNTER) and Samuel Barnett (of “Penny Dreadful”) lead the way in this unpredictable whodunit.  Hannah Marks (THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, THE RUNAWAYS) and the other cast members are all stand-outs, completing this character-driven, Picassoesque presentation. 

 

-- James S. Austin

"SKumm’s Thoughts" - IT

"SKumm’s Thoughts"

IT (2017, R, 135 minutes, WARNER BROTHERS/KATZSMITH PRODUCTIONS)

Stephen King books have not had a great reputation at the box office.  Sure, there were a few gems: SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, MISERY, and THE SHINING (even with its controversial elements) (don’t get me started…).  CREEPSHOW and THE MIST were also well executed.

But when you consider the breadth of the man’s works… somehow, certain elements of the terror he elicits on the page get lost in the translation.  His works are character-driven dives into the depths of personal horror, and it can be difficult to portray that onscreen.

Enter director Andy Muschietti (MAMA).  Working with a screenplay hashed out by three writers, he offers up a visual representation of a book that, if you ask any King fan, is canon in the author’s universe of masterpieces.  And he pulls it off.

For those not familiar with the tale, a group of kids in the town of Derry, Maine, take it upon themselves to rid the town of an evil which has plagued it for generations.  Children are disappearing, and it is up to this mixed bunch of adolescents to save the other youths of the small town from the clutches of evil—that evil most notably represented by a maleficent doppelganger named Pennywise the Dancing Clown.  The entire cast of kids is great, but most effective are “Stranger Things” alum Finn Wolfhard as wise-cracking Richie Tozier, and Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh.  As the comedy relief and the conscience of the story, this would be an entirely different film if those roles had gone to other actors.

That is part of the charm of the film; the cast works well together, and plays off each other just as a group of real-life friends would.  Also notable is the fast-talking Jack Dylan Grazer as the “frail” Eddie Kaspbrak, whose delivery and acting ability solidifies the group in a way the character in the actual book never did.  This is one of the nuances of this interpretation of the source material that secures the film as a marvelously executed compliment to the book.

Notice, though, how I keep using the word “interpretation”?  There is a reason for that.  Anyone going in looking for a visual duplicate of King’s bold and scary tale may be disappointed.  Yes, the house on Neibolt Street is there, and is just as creepy as King created it.  The Barrens are there as well; described in the book as a place where our heroes hang out and play in, it is reduced to a background location here, as are the sewers.  If you take those two elements out of the book, half of the drama and the scares are gone.  But again, this is an interpretation.  It is set in the eighties, whereas the book takes place in the fifties.  The childhood scares have changed a bit, as well—with the changing of times, so changes the fears of generations.

Smart and frankly creative moves on the parts of the screenwriters, and vivid visualizations by Muschietti, make this a shrewd and affective tale.  There are new scares here, and some of them are downright chilling.

And then there is Bill Skarsgård (“Hemlock Grove”) as Pennywise. There are a few moments in the film when he is a very effective antagonist.  But there are other times—frequent ones, unfortunately—when his maliciousness is so overt to almost seem comical.  And the voice… at times it works, but mostly it just sounds like he is having trouble with the English language because his mouth is full of cotton candy and peanuts.  His performance isn’t horrible, but it does nothing to set him apart from typical boogeymen.  Which is why the tone set by Muschietti is so important.  The creepy score by Benjamin Wallfisch (MOON, BATMAN V SUPERMAN) adds to the ambiance, as does Chung-hoon Chung’s (OLDBOY, THE HANDMAIDEN) cinematography, which occasionally pulls you in too close for comfort—an effective tool when it comes to several of the scares.

This is a two-part film; there is no release date for the second, and, if the producers hold true to the way the first half of the book was translated (not to mention the fact that the next film will see the kids all grown up and facing the same terror again), we may see a different director at the helm. But what Muschietti and crew set up with this first chapter is something to be appreciated for what it is: a film a helluva lot better than MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE and the remake of CARRIE ever were.

Grade: B+

-- T.S. Kummelman

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: 

on THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD (2017, 113 minutes, R)

The Quick of It -

Another summer, sleeper ‘hit’ on our hands, boys and girls.

I know, this seems like it would be a no-brainer.  But one always questions a new flick that seems like a film you have seen a hundred times before.  This is, and is not, one of those films.

THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD is not your typical ‘buddy film’.  I would classify this as a sarcastically-driven duel-off between two of the most notably charismatic actors of our generation – Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson.  THB is about a professional bodyguard who lost his prestigious agency and a detained hitman who has info on a Russian politician, the President of Belarus, which he is using as currency to get his wife absolved of her crimes.  After a botched transfer moving Darius Kincaid (Jackson) by the Interpol, Michael Bryce (Reynolds) is called in to get Kincaid to the International Court of Justice, where President Dukhovich (Gary Oldman) is on trial for the ‘usual’ atrocities a film-dictator commits. 

Young director Patrick Hughes (of RED HILL and THE EXPENDABLES 3) and writer Tom O’Connor make a resounding statement behind the talent they command beyond the camera.  If you didn’t know, which you will now, this film was actually not written with Reynolds and Jackson in mind.  The screenplay was completed before 2005 and has sat on the ‘Black List’ (a “most liked” list of screenplays not yet produced) since then.

This film has everything needed to make it entertaining on so many levels.  It has unrelenting comedic moments.  It has heart-pounding action.  And where needed, it has character depth and a sense of twisted moral compass.  But it truly is the banter between our leads that fuels this adrenalin rush.  There is no denying that “mother-%$#@*&” was dropped so many times, and it only made me smile the more.

The leading ladies were not bad, either.  The quieter Elodie Yung (our Elektra from the Netflix series) is the grounding element for Reynolds while Salma Hayek matches the intensity of Jackson, probably eclipsing him with her ‘Spanish fire’.  Hayek is in a Dutch prison for the film, but you wonder who really was the one that controlled the environment.  You must understand… she had her cellmate stand in the corner most of the time, even making her fart from fear.  Yeah, that bad.

So, if you are looking for an evening filled with laughs anytime soon, make your way to the theater… “mother-%$#@*&”!!!

Grade: A-