By:Dominic La-Viola

Ruben Fleischer takes the mantle of this third installment to the “Ocean’s 11” meets “Fast and Furious” franchise, which started off  as an “Ocean’s 11” Houdini spin-off, that worked for what it was, while never quite being as witty as “Ocean’s 11” nor as mind-blowing as “The Usual Suspects”. 

This third installment does what we’ve been seeing a lot in the horror genre as of late. Making a sequel. That isn’t quite a real reboot, but is more than a simple sequel. 

The film opens with an introduction to the next generation of magicians. Which, who then of course collide with legacy characters, who come back for one last mission. 

We are not only introduced to new characters, the next gen of magicians, but also one who joined the team, during the time lapse between this film and the second. Whom also had a falling out, after being recruited during the absence of one of the original members leaving. 

Enough time has passed that the sequel does work in this capacity, yet as they say in the movies. Come in closer, for the closer you look, the less you really see. 

Which, sadly is the problem with this film, it pulls us in too close and we see more than what we really need to pull off this trick. 

While the tricks are more on the revolutionary and innovative side. The storyline is damn near a complete face lift of the first film. Taking what was fun and on the cusp of being a notable sequel, to simply fall to the waste side of mediocrity. 

However, with that being said, as flat and uninteresting the storyline is. The tricks, jokes, and gags are refreshing and innovative enough to  stand out and carry the film. For what matters most really does stand out. The performances.

Both the magic performances and even the performances of the actors portraying the magicians are on point. Containing just enough flair and flamboyance to make it pop. 

The film lacks any real stakes or feeling of authenticity. Making it feel like the entire thing is one big illusion. Lacking any real power or emotional drive. 

Making the team go up against drug lords and those who helped relocate Nazi war criminals makes the overall film come off as chewy and illogical. 

Bank heists and robberies would and do work for this style of film. For the odds of death are far slimmer when the opposing team is forced to follow both laws and ethical codes due to self-righteousness and legal obligation. Drug lords, those who work for them, and anyone who deals with actual WW2 Nazis have no bars or ethics that make them play by any set of rules.

 

Overall, the film is fun and enjoyable enough to pay the price of a discounted admission. Half-off ticket Tuesdays is my recommendation. 

The film not only sets up the fourth installment but also is trying to follow in the footsteps of the “Fast and Furious” franchise. Making small thieves into world-binding super spies. 

Overall Rating: 3/5 Stars. 

By: Dominic La-Viola

Welcome to “The Running Man”, one of Edgar Wright’s best films yet. Easily one of the top Stephen King adaptations to date, and possibly one of the most exhilarating movies of the year. 

Coleman Domingo, who plays Booker, the show’s host. Steal the show in every scene he’s in, so charismatic and energetic he makes a cameo role stand out like I’ve never seen. 

It’s an Edgar Wright film, so of course there is going to be a killer soundtrack, one that sets the tone and plays as the countdown to what is about to be a spellbinding journey into the deadly game known as “The Running Man” . 

The film plays as both a popcorn blockbuster and a social commentary simultaneously. Which is something a lot of films don’t try to pull off, because it’s hard to do and doesn’t usually work. 

Films like “Don’t Look Up” and “After the Hunt” both try to make entertaining films while being a beacon of social commentary. Yet neither captures the popcorn feel or the essential meaning of what a social commentary film looks like. 

This is not to say that the film is one of politics or of  a political agenda, that tries to push its political views down your throat. Although, I think most will be oblivious to the subtext  because we are too close to the references and reflections in which the movie points out. Similar to “Fight Club”  in 15-20 years, I believe people are going to be analyzing the film’s subtext and undertone, and the reflection it had to society at the time. 

Yet “The Running Man” works wonders as simply being an action blockbuster, where we get to root for our protagonist to take down the bad guys, serve justice, and be the hero that is needed. 

Which in that aspect the film works fantastically. The dialogue is witty, punchy, energetic, and entertaining.  With a comedic undertone played throughout the movie, breaking up the more dramatic and serious aspects of the film. Ones in which, given a different director, could come off tone-deaf and off kilter. 

The action pulls no punches, and we get to see explosions, shootouts, and intense car chases. There are also the more sporting kill scenes, where we get to see a revolutionary Michael Cera.  Who somehow, who somehow still has this hipster vibe to him, even in a dystopian future. Playing a rebel, who takes a little too much pleasure in killing the goons. Yet we root for him anyway. 

He brought such a unique and delightful experience to the character. Whose background, whose background and brief origin story were traumatic, heartbreaking, and the perfect origin for a rebel fighter. 

For a film clocking a little over two hours, it’s the leanest, most entertaining, quickest two hours plus of your life. At no point does the film drag or even slow down for the turns. 

“The Running Man” is some of the most fun I’ve had at the movies all year. This is without question a film that I would go pay to see again in theaters. It’s everything a good blockbuster should be and more. 

Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars. 

By: Dominic La-Viola

One of the most interesting, yet insane, dystopian-like films that takes the high-concept art film form to mainstream audiences. Giving us something that I believe the masses will chalk up to a garage. Leaving the theater irritated, confused, and feeling underwhelmed and bamboozled. 

The film cast, two actors who have had their fair share of blockbuster success. Both having mainstream tentpole franchises. So if they’re teaming up for a drama. It must be a classic Hollywood tale. 

No. Not even close. The film opens with a deliberate, unconventional 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which is also known as 4:3. This ratio was a deliberate choice by the filmmakers to make the audience feel “boxed in” and to create a sense of emotional confinement.

Not to mention, this is not the only time director Lynne Ramsay made a deliberate decision to go against the grain of traditional filmmaking. Instead of telling a coherent narrative and using standard techniques to tell the story. 

From the opening scene, with the overly sexual, unusual  mating scene, accompanied by a heavy metal, rock-style score. That cuts to the next scene with a bang. You know you’re in for something different. You’re just not sure what that is exactly. 

Even after seeing the film, I am not a hundred percent sure of all what the film was trying to convey or say. However, after my first viewing, there were a few subject matters that I not only understood but really related to. 

Being a new parent. Coming off the high of that liberation of it being just you and your partner and then a third, tiny human comes into play. One that not only depends on you completely for survival but also takes a huge part of your love and devotion. 

The film plays on that angle very well and very deeply. The hardships of first-time parenting. More so though, on postpartum depression that many women go through after giving birth.

Something that I can’t personally relate to, for I never actually birthed a child, only fathered them. But being married to the mother of my children, I have seen firsthand the toll that the birthing process has, and with having gone through that with her, not only twice , but twice in the past two years. 

I feel like I had a better understanding of the film, the characters, and what they were going through, on some level. Something that I would have shrugged off and thought to be over the top. Pretentious, rather bland, and unrealistically played up, in order to save a story that has no real bone structure.

It’s one of those times that I feel like younger audiences will not understand or appreciate the film for what it truly offers. It’s a film in which age and life really play into the experience. Even if the experience isn’t anywhere near as extreme or intense.

Of course, there is so much more to the film than just postpartum depression. There is also the added physiological effect of moving into a secluded house in the middle of nowhere . Going from big city life, surrounded by people and endless life. To being stuck alone in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention the added factor of relationship struggle and the enviable change a baby takes on the relationship. The lack of love, lust, sex, and connection. 

The characters are anything but what you would expect from two parents to be. Their overall character traits are messy, unpredictable, strange, and very much childish in the sense of being quote-on-quote ready. They’re anything but your typical young couple starting a family. 

We have these characters without any real backstory. Other than a mere few sentences that make us aware of the fact that he’s an inspiring drummer and she’s an inspiring writer. Giving us the insight that they are both unemployed, not to mention the fact that the house in which they are living is a rundown house that was left to them from his uncle who passed. 

The use of the score, cinematography, and overall color grading really adds to the unsettling and at times confusing sense of being. Allow us to know that the story itself isn’t being told from a reliable narrative. That some things are not actually what they seem. Not completely. 

Overall, the film is completely erratic, telling the viewer only what can be seen as an once coherent story twisted and distorted through a lens of hyper realism, drenched in emotion, despair, toppled with mental health issues. 

Jennifer Lawrence gives one of the best, most raw performances of her career, and without question one of the best of the year. Robert Patterson holds his own in this film. Yet never really has the opportunity to shine as brightly, given the way the character was written.

Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars.