SCREENRANT: Candyman 2021 Is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes
Richard’s review for “Candyman” is quoted in an article from Screenrant.
Read it HERE!
Archive for August, 2021
TRNTO: RICHARD ON The best movies to watch at TIFF this year!
From TRNTO.com: “For the second year in a row, TIFF, the world’s largest public film festival will be a little less public than it was pre-pandemic. The Toronto International Film Festival, which runs from Sept. 9 to 18, continues with the hybrid model — a mix of in-person and online screenings — adopted last year in response to COVID-19. This year’s slate includes more than 100 of the best features and documentaries the world has to offer…” Read the whole thing HERE!
CANDYMAN: 4 STARS. “There is nothing sweet about the Candyman.”
There is nothing sweet about the Candyman.
The supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, first played by Tony Todd in the movie of the same name 1992, returns in “Candyman,” now playing in theatres, reframed by co-producer and co-writer Jordan Peele for a new generation.
In this “spiritual sequel,” “Watchmen’s” Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays artist Anthony McCoy, a visual artist who grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood. Almost three decades ago, Candyman, a vengeful spirit with a hook for a hand, summoned by anyone brave enough to repeat his name five times into a mirror, terrorized the area.
The towers Anthony and his family lived in are gone, torn down in the name of gentrification. Anthony and his partner, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), take their place among the trendy millennials who now live in Cabrini-Green’s luxury lofts.
Anthony’s painting career isn’t going great guns, so when a long-time area resident William Burke (Colman Domingo) tells him of the urban myth (or is it true?) of Candyman.
“Candyman ain’t a he,” says William. “Candyman’s the whole damn hive. Samuel Evans, run down during the white housing riots of the ’50s. William Bell, lynched in the ’20s. But the first one, where it all began, the story of Daniel Robitaille. He made a good living touring the country making portraits for wealthy families. Mostly white. And they loved it. But you know how it goes. They love what we make, but not us. They beat him, tortured him. They cut off his arm and jammed a meat hook in the stump. But a story like that. Pain like that. Lasts forever. That’s Candyman. Candyman is how we deal with the fact that these things happen. That they’re still happening.”
Anthony finds inspiration in the story but as he delves into Candyman’s macabre world, he unwittingly opens a passage to supernatural terror and violence that transforms his body, mind and exposes his own personal connection to the legend.
“Candyman” is a horror film, but it’s interested in more than making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Most great horror isn’t simply about the scares. “Frankenstein,” for example, is enriched by ideas of science and technology run amok, “The Wolf Man” examines the polarities of good and evil in all of us and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has compelling things to say about mass hysteria. “Candyman” is a scary, timely reinterpretation of a classic horror movie character that brings the story into ripped-from-the-headlines context.
A study of trauma in the Black community, “Candyman” expands the scope of the original to suggest that the Candyman isn’t singular. In the new film William says, “Candyman’s the whole damn hive,” representing all Black men who have been lost to race-based violence.
The theme is front and center but director (and co-writer) Nia DaCosta doesn’t shy away from the body horror—Anthony’s transformation includes some memorable fingernail horror and more—or the Candyman’s violence. The kills are suitably bloody, often shot in interesting ways, like through the mirror of a make-up compact dropped on the floor. It’s brutally elegant and never forgets to add a helping of horror with its story.
“Candyman” is a movie that succeeds on two levels, as a comment on the echoes of historical racism that can be heard today and as a horror film that’ll scare the pants off of you.
VACATION FRIENDS: 3 ½ STARS. “much-needed getaway from real life.”
“Vacation Friends,” a new rude and raunchy comedy now streaming in Disney+, is a riff on the old saying, ‘Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” But instead of Vegas, the setting is Mexico, and instead of leaving bad behavior behind, Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Nancy (Anna Maria Horsford) would like to leave their new “friends” Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner) behind.
Strait-laced construction boss Marcus wants to surprise his girlfriend Nancy with a marriage proposal at a fancy Mexican resort. To set the scene he books a beautiful hotel room, iced champagne and rose pedals strewn around the bedroom. Unfortunately, the big surprise is something he didn’t plan, a flood. The jacuzzi upstairs in the Presidential Suite overflowed, turning Marcus and Nancy’s dream vacation room into a soggy wasteland.
With no other rooms available, the pair accept an offer to bunk with perfect strangers Ron and Kyla, the party animals in the Presidential Suite. The two couples are polar opposites. Marcus and Nancy are kinda conservative vs. the thrill-seeking Ron and Nancy who rim their Margueritas with cocaine. They are thrown together by circumstance but a few gallons of tequila later they’re all “vacation friends,” and the Mexican adventure culminates with a wild, blackout night.
“You guys are in our lives now,” Ron says as they part ways at the airport. “Nothing can change that. I’ll remember this week forever.”
Marcus and Nancy, however, aren’t feeling the bond. “They we’re kind of fun on vacation,” Marcus says, “But not in the real world.”
The real world includes the high-end wedding Marcus and Nancy are throwing with the financial aid of Nancy’s tightly-wound parents. Ron and Kyla aren’t on the guest list… but that doesn’t stop them from bringing their own brand of chaos to Marcus and Nancy’s big day.
“Vacation Friends” is a sweet-natured film about friendship but is far racier than the usual Disney+ fare. Drugs and drinking are the bedrock of the Ron and Kyla’s vacation lifestyle so this one isn’t for the kids, even if it’s on Mickey’s channel.
Adults, though, should get a mild kick out of the odd couple buddy comedy. Howery and Horsford are the movie’s bedrock, Cena and Hagner, the wild cards. Together, the ensemble play-off one another, creating fun, situational comedy that takes advantage of Cena’s manchild persona and Howery’s tightly wound Marcus. Hagner draws some of the biggest laughs with Kyla’s disregard for the niceties of polite society.
“Vacation Friends” is lightweight but sweet and should provide a much-needed getaway from real life.
TILL DEATH: 3 ½ STARS. “worth a look for fans of survival horror.”
“Till Death,” the new thriller from Megan Fox, now on VOD, sees an unhappily married woman wake up one morning, handcuffed to her soon-to-be-dead husband Mark (Eoin Macken). Like an unholy mix of “Sleeping with the Enemy,” “Weekend at Bernie’s” and “Saw,” it’s a study in the toll emotional abuse takes, and the resilience required to rise above it.
Before the handcuffs and the literal interpretation of the “Till death do us part,” wedding vow, Emma (Fox) feels trapped by a loveless marriage. But as her eleventh wedding anniversary looms, she calls off the relationship she’s been having behind her lawyer husband’s back with his associate Tom (Aml Ameen) and accepts Mark’s invitation for a weekend away to work on their relationship. “Things have been bad between us,” he says, “and I’m sorry.”
At first the weekend seems to be heading toward healing the scars that mar their marriage. But things take a dark twist when Emma wakes up, hungover and handcuffed to Mark as he then shoots himself in the head. Connected to his corpse, Emma finds herself a pawn in a dangerous game of survival. “I have been chained to this nightmare all day!”
“Till Death,” just one of the five films Fox has scheduled for release in the 2021/22 season, begins like a hundred other thrillers. A bad marriage, a vague sense of unease and a remote location. And so what if Fox appears to be on autopilot in the film’s opening minutes? There’s a hint of some neo-noir action in the air.
It takes about twenty-five minutes, but by the time Mark blows his head off, filling the air with a bloody mist, the movie finally distinguishes itself as the nasty piece of work it is. It also gives Fox the opportunity to branch out from disinterested to engaged as director S.K. Dale allows her to shed the story’s dead weight (literally) and shine. She hands in a fun performance that is more subtle than the movie’s main metaphor of a late, toxic husband as a literal anchor or ball-and-chain.
“Till Death” is a simple movie of survival. When two abusers (Callan Mulvey and Jack Roth) from Emma’s past arrive as part of Mark’s master scheme to terrorize her, she must muster all the courage she has from years of pent-up frustration to stay alive. There aren’t many twists and turns you won’t see coming, but slick direction, a tense score, a self-depreciating tone and Fox’s study in resilience should earn the movie a look from fans of survival horror.
THEY WHO SURROUND US: 3 STARS. “low-key look at intergenerational trauma.”
“They Who Surround Us,” now playing in theatres and starring Troy Ruptash, who also stars as the main character Roman, is a melancholy story of intergenerational trauma.
The film opens in 1943 as German soldiers invade seven-year-old Roman’s Ukrainian village, murdering everyone. With his mother and baby brother at his side, the terrified Roman flees into the woods, soldiers in pursuit. When they reach a river, Roman is told to hide, the baby is placed in the river to float away while the mother meets her fate.
Cut to 1987. Roman has built a life as a farmer with wife Kalyna (Vera Graziadei) and eight-year-old son Mykola (Daniel Mazepa). Tragedy reenters his life when Kalyna is killed in a farm accident, leaving him the grief-stricken single father with a business to run.
“Go with God,” his local priest tells him. “God is always with you.”
“Where was God two weeks ago?” he asks.
As old memories flood his head, Roman falls apart. He hits the bottle, and has visions of German soldiers shouting “Find the boy.” He hears gunshots in the distance and pictures his mother in the woods. As his behavior escalates, becoming more and more erratic, Mykola is place in the care of his Aunt Natalia, played by Ali Liebert. With the aid of his family and church, Roman’s fog of grief slowly lifts and he is able to find a new way to live his life. “They will beat us and try to destroy us,” Roman remembers his long-lost Uncle Stefan (Michael Sech) telling him. “Some of us will die but we will rebuild our lives.”
“They Who Surround Us” is a low-key examination of the effects of intergenerational trauma. But just as it examines the life altering effects great personal tragedy it also underscores the healing power of community. Roman discovers he is not an island, that the very people he tried to push away would become his salvation. It’s an uplifting message, perhaps underplayed, that caps off a movie that slowly and carefully details Roman’s pain.
“They Who Surround Us” is a deliberate film, in its slow pace and considered performances that may move too slowly for some viewers, but offers subtle rewards to those who take the ride.
TORONTO STAR: ‘Car condos’ are becoming social clubs for collectors
Richard writes about the social aspect of car collecting in today’s Toronto Star.
“There is one thing car fanatics like more than their prized vehicles, and that’s talking about them. The social aspect of car culture, like owners trading stories about their rides, can be found wherever gearheads gather — from service station and mall parking lots to car shows and most recently in vehicle storage facilities…” Read the whole thing HERE!
BOOZE AND REVIEWS: THE PERFECT COCKTAIL TO ENJOY WITH “The Protégé”
Richard makes a special cocktail to enjoy while I watch “The Protégé,” a new action thriller, starring Maggie Q, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson. Join me as he has a drink and a think about the movie!
Watch the whole thing HERE!
THE PROTÉGÉ: 3 STARS. “a thriller that aspires to be something bigger.”
For the second time in as many months Samuel L. Jackson plays a hitman whose family values are as strong, if not stronger, than his instinct to kill. In “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” he found his logical, not biological family. In “The Protégé,” now in theatres, he’s a mentor and father figure to a killer played by Maggie Q.
Q is Anna, one of the world’s most highly trained assassins. She was brought into the life of international intrigue by Moody (Jackson), a blues-guitar playing contract killer. “I’m the big bad wolf who comes to get you,” he says, “when someone on earth decides your time is up.” He rescued her in Vietnam in 1991 after her parents were killed by communist soldiers. “He didn’t save my life,” she says, “he gave me a life.”
When Moody is brutally murdered, Anna loses the one person in her life she can trust. Vowing revenge, she uses her special set of skills to find out who blew away her mentor and father figure. “I’m going to find out who killed my friend,” she says, “and I’m going to end their life and the lives of anyone who stands in my way.”
One of those people standing in her way is Rembrandt (Michael Keaton), a rival assassin who works for some very bad but well-connected people. As the plot thickens, so does the connection between Anna and Rembrandt as her investigation leads her back to where her story began, Vietnam.
“The Protégé” is a glossy revenge flick that covers well-travelled ground. There are exotic locations, elaborate action sequences, complicated alliances and a dark backstory. Richard Wenk’s screenplay hits on a greatest hits of international assassin tropes and director Martin Campbell, best known for directing the 007 comeback film “Casino Royale,” knows how to take advantage of those story elements.
So why does “The Protégé” feel like less than the sum of those parts? Perhaps it’s because the characters don’t elevate the material.
Q is a credible action star, ably handling the kinetic stunts. Jackson brings his brand of effortless cool and Keaton is quirky and mysterious and somewhat cavalier about his chosen profession. “I could put two in the back of your head,” he says after making love to Anna, “and then go make a sandwich.”
Each brings something to the movie, and while Q and Jackson have an easy way about their relationship, the chemistry between Keaton and Q feels forced. An attempt at a fight scene that leads to the bedroom, set to “That Loving Feeling” by Isaac Hayes, falls flat despite the talent on screen.
“The Protégé” aspires to be something bigger than it is. The morality of the business of killing is discussed, generational trauma is hinted at and there is a complicated (and not terribly interesting) conspiracy at play but the movie is at its best when it puts aside its notions of gravitas and concentrates on the primal aspect of the story, Anna’s quest for revenge.
