From 48 Hrs. to Wolfs
March 2025 at the Movies
A very late entry into my monthly reviews, please still enjoy March at the movies…
48 Hrs.
The action comedy classic that made Eddie Murphy a movie star, 48 Hrs. follows hard hitting cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) as he is forced to team with convict Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) in an attempt to track down some dangerous escaped criminals. The antagonism between Jack and Reggie begins to wane as they spend time together and develop a mutual respect for each other while never fully following into a friendship. They banter, bicker, and outright fight, all while chasing down a couple of murderers (James Remar & Sonny Landham) who will destroy anyone who stands in their way.
A mostly fine cop comedy that is heightened by Murphy working hard to prove himself in his first big role, 48 Hrs. may not be a classic but it’s still well worth seeing. Nolte and Murphy play off each other well and their relationship develops naturally. The stand out scene of the film, by a wide margin, is a country bar scene in which Murphy, under the guise of a police officer, interrogates, threatens, and humiliates the patrons of a racist country-western establishment. It’s a declaration, a signal to Hollywood, that Eddie Murphy has arrived and he’s about to raise some hell. For that scene alone 48 Hrs. deserves it’s reputation.
Before Sunrise
One of the films viewed during my trip to Chicago for Filmspotting Fest (along with Columbus and Brick), all these were featured in my last article about the entire festival.
Black Bag
The latest film from prolific director Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag is a tense and sexy return to form following his artistically innovative but emotionally dull Presence from earlier this year. Following British intelligence officer George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) as he is tasked with finding a mole in their ranks. He is given five prospects for the inside man, and discovers one of them is his wife, Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett). A taut game of cat-and-mouse ensues, with George trying to decipher who the traitor is amongst his colleagues while also debating with himself what he would do if the woman he loved had betrayed his country. Add in fantastic supporting performances from Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, and Rege-Jean Page to name a few, and we have a fun, sexy thriller that is so far one of the best of the year.
This is not the complicated, twist filled film the description may imply. Soderbergh and writer David Koepp are able to keep the tension throughout the entire film without relying on constant twists or convoluted reveals. Every mystery is solved, every question has a reasonable conclusion, yet the audience is still guessing until the very end. The lead performances from Fassbender and Blanchett are fantastic, each of them giving very exacting moments that show their characters are thoroughly lived in, and their chemistry is out of this world. Soderbergh builds the lives of these characters subtly and efficiently, and we know each of them so well so quickly that it makes detecting the fraud an incredibly fun process. A fantastic time at the movies.
Casablanca
Genuinely asking: what can I say about Casablanca that has not already been said? Considered (with good reason) to be one of the greatest films of all time, Casablanca has been spoken of at length by everyone with even a passing knowledge of film and film history. The story of a duplicitous and spurned bar owner in Vichy-controlled Casablanca, forced to chose between his love for a woman who left him and helping her husband in his stand against the Nazis, the film contains everything that classic cinema is built on. Morally grey characters who are forced to confront their hearts, femme fatales and corrupt officers, and an unending longing that is the basis for one of the most iconic endings in film history.
Featuring unbelievable performances from stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca is just as effective now as it was when it was released, a testament to the timelessness of it’s characters and story. Director Michael Curtiz and cinematographer Arthur Edeson keep the film alive with their staging, allowing the shadows to tell the story as much as the characters. Everything about this film has become entrenched in the pop culture landscape for a reason: everything in this movie works well, if not completely perfectly. Iconic and undeniable.
The Girl Who Invented Kissing
A silly, saccharine romantic-drama that was featured in Absolutely Obscure, our full review is available on Spotify and Youtube. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="
title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Gossamer Folds
A coming-of-age tale about a young boy who’s transexual neighbor opens his world, this was another film discussed on Absolutely Obscure. Our review is available on Spotify and Youtube. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="
title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Finding Neverland
Biopics that follow the birth of a creative and cultural juggernaut are always going to be treacly in their efforts. It’s hard to make a film about an underdog when you know that their success is not just guaranteed, but that their work will surpass the creator in every way. Such is the problem with Finding Neverland, the 2004 film from director Marc Forster. The film tells the story of J. M. Barrie (Johnny Depp), the Scottish playwright. Stuck in a loveless marriage, Barrie becomes acquainted with the Davies family, consisting of the widowed mother Sylvia (Kate Winslet) and her four rambunctious sons. Barrie’s friendship with the family leads him to create his masterpiece, Peter Pan.
The film does attempt to break from the traditional biopic structure. With Foster and writer David Magee inserting fantasy elements that fold into the everyday lives of the characters. Depp does will in the lead, and the performance by Freddie Highmore as Peter Davies is a star making discovery. But much of the power of this film is simply because the story of Peter Pan is powerful and timeless, and many moments in the film rely on the tension of whether or not the now classic will be accepted and appreciated. The film simply reinforces how great the story of Neverland is, without identifying why it’s own story is worth telling. That said, because Peter Pan is undeniable, so are many of the moments the film relies on it. We’re left with a film that just makes you want to watch a good rendition of the story within the story.
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter
It’s remarkable how, four films into the Friday the 13th franchise, they still have not figured out what it is that keeps people coming back for more. In The Final Chapter, new director Joseph Zito decides for the tried and true method of tits and ass. Zito injects the film with a new group of braindead teens, horny and hopeless as the bandy through the woods surrounding Crystal Lake. Slasher hero Jason Vorhees has his pick of the litter, from the teens renting a party house for the summer (including a young Crispin Glover), to the neighboring house of a woman and her two children (including Corey Feldman), anyone and everyone can fall into the clutches of the masked killer.
A slash-and-dash sequel that doesn’t have much if anything to add to the lore of Friday the 13th, this is the quintessential “more of the same” slasher sequel. There are more characters to get confused with each other, more kills that can be creative but never really rise above casual slaughter fair, and (as stated) more tits and ass. Zito has no shame in showing off the bodies of his young cast, to the point of gratuitousness. A film made only for completionist considerations.
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
Possibly the lowest the Friday the 13th franchise ever sunk (though that is a low, low bar) Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning follows a surviving Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd) who arrives at a boarding house for troubled teens years after he had killed Jason Vorhees. Upon his arrival, a new string of deaths begins to plague the other boarders and surrounding community. Has Jason returned? Or has Tommy cracked, becoming the killer himself? Will this be compelling in any way, or were the filmmakers desperately grasping at straws? It’s the last one.
Uninspired and incredibly dull in all regards, A New Beginning is not more of the same. More of the same is palatable. More of the same has some redeeming qualities, maybe a character are a line reading or a moment that makes you laugh (actual frights are few and far between in the series). More of the same would be worth your time. A New Beginning wishes it was more of the same. It’s not. It’s much more dull than that.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
What are the odds that, six films into a franchise, the filmmakers end up making the only undeniably good one? Such is the case with Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Fully embracing the campy comedy elements of the films that until now have been unintentional, Jason Lives jumps the shark and hits heights unseen before. When Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews) accidently revives the corpse of Jason Vorhees using a lightening strike, he must stop the zombified killer before he claims more victims. Before he can stop Jason, Tommy becomes suspect number one for Sheriff Garris (David Kagen), and Tommy must team up with Garris’ daughter Megan (Jennifer Cooke) before it’s too late.
Director Tom McLoughlin becomes the first director to realize something incredibly basic: these movies should be fun! After abandoning Jason in the previous film (to dire results) he returns here as the main character of the series he was always meant to be. Slasher films are the playground for the villains, not the heroes, and that is evident here. Directed with much more humor and playfulness than any of the previous installments (plus with a desperately needed budget injection), Jason Lives lives up to it’s name by completely reviving this stagnant franchise. A delightfully cheesy slasher romp.
Frontiers
A film made in the burgeoning French extremist movement of the mid-2000’s, Frontiers is a bleak, gory film from director Xavier Gens. During political riots in Paris, a group of Arab youths use the unrest to stage a bank robbery. While some stay in the city to attend to an injured member of their party, others flee with the money, settling at a tiny countryside in as a place to lay low. Things begin to go array when it’s revealed the owners of the inn are sadistic Neo-Nazis, and our youths must battle for their lives in increasingly grotesque situations.
A horror film that screams “I was made in the mid-2000s!”. Frontiers is exactly the type of film it’s marketed as. Sepia tones, intense gore, disgusting villains, scene chewing overacting, everything you’d expect from the era of torture porn is here. Gens is unable to bring the political messaging that is central to the opening moments of the film into any of the action in a meaningful way. Lazy in much of the scripting, the film is only interested in shock and awe. While this can be a good method, and horror films don’t necessarily need to be “good” to be good (see above Friday the 13th review) this film is far too miserable for it’s own good. A dour gore flick that’s easily forgotten.
Lethal Weapon
As I sit here thinking about the legacy of the original Lethal Weapon, I find myself asking: is this considered a classic? I know at one point it was held in fairly high esteem. Writer Shane Black often was often brought up in conversations about great action writing, and director Richard Donner has some other certified classics under his belt. Mel Gibson, arguably, built a large faction of his career off the persona of his Lethal Weapon character. There was even a semi-recent network TV show that turned the bickering duos adventures into a case of the week procedural. But upon watching it I felt much the same as I did with 48 Hrs., in that this is a well done if not entirely memorable experience.
Following loose cannon Detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) as he is paired up with straight laced, nearing retirement Detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), the two trounce across Los Angeles after an old buddy of Murtaugh’s asks him to look into his daughter’s death. Unravelling a plot involving ex-CIA and the worldwide drug trade, the two delve into the mystery with bullets, blood, and a slew of one-liners. The film is fine at everything it’s doing, never rising above a down the middle solid dad flick, and never dipping into schlock. Had it been released at any other point since the 80s it would be a forgotten one off instead of the four film franchise it became, and part of me wishes that had been the case. A fine film for a Sunday afternoon, but not a stalwart of the genre.
Mary Reilly
In the 90s, there was suddenly a need for everyone to make classic horror monsters extremely horny. We got horny Frankenstein, horny Dracula, horny werewolf. Naturally it was decided to make horny the classic tale of the duality of man Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. How could you hornify this tale? Easily: Dr. Jekyl? You’re now a cuck. Mr. Hyde? You’re boning everything and everyone. Also you’re played by John Malkovich, and we’re making the central character you’re new maid, a 18 year old named Mary Reilly played by an almost 30 year old Julia Roberts. Let the horny monsters reign!
Unfortunately, director Stephen Frears isn’t renowned for the sexual chemistry in his films. Mary Reilly is the dullest film of 1996, possibly the entire decade, a lethargic snoozefest that wanders aimlessly through the streets of London. Whether we’re focusing of Roberts’ laughable accent, or the bizarre make-up work to Hyde-ify Malkovich, this is a complete failure in all regards. Do you know, generally, the story of Jekyll and Hyde? What if we told that story from the perspective of someone who, at truly no point, knows what is happening? A complete and utter failure of a film.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
A coming-of-age movie that became a Sundance hit in 2015, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl follows Gregg Gaines (Thomas Mann) who befriends Rachel Kushner (Olivia Cooke) after she is diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. While the friendship first starts due to obligation, with Gregg’s mother making him go to cheer the other teenager up, it quickly begins to develop a genuine relationship. Along with Rachel, Gregg has his best friend Earl (RJ Cyler) whom he makes parody films with. Moments from these films are interjected by director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon in an attempt at which, much like almost every moment of this film, they fail to hit the mark.
This film is unbearable, unbelievable, unlikable twee garbage. Not only is our lead character at best a complete cypher, at worst a complete prick, there is truly zero chemistry between him and any other characters. The story is cliched and predictable, with not a single moment of surprise or interest. There is no insight here, there is no fun, there is nothing here that hasn’t been done better everywhere else. Derivative and unengaging.
Mickey 17
Bong Joon Ho’s long anticipated follow-up to his 2019 hit Parasite, Mickey 17 is a bizarre entry in the bizarre filmography from the South Korean auteur. Set in a near feature where human cloning has been invented and outlawed on Earth, we follow perpetual fuck-up Mickey 17. After taking a dangerous job on a interplanetary colony mission, Mickey (Robert Patterson) is sent on any and all dangerous missions for the colonists, as after he dies he can simply be reprinted with all the memories of his previous body. When Mickey 17 (the 17th printed body) is accidentally assumed dead, Mickey 18 is printed, leading to a hilarious adventure as the clones attempt to not be discovered. All this is occurring while the leader of the expedition, the pompous billionaire Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) is looking to engage in war with the local creatures of the new planet.
Much more light-hearted than Parasite, Mickey 17 is an incredibly fun film that is possibly overstuffed with the political inflictions Joon Ho often has in his films. Patterson is hilarious in the lead, easily marking one of his more delightful roles on screen. He’s joined by Steven Yeun and Naomi Ackie also having lots of fun playing with the ideas in the script. On the other hand, Ruffalo and Toni Collette (playing his wife Ylfa) seem weighed down by the import of the satirical elements of their roles. They are both playing broad, obvious characters, and in a world where we are bombarded with the reality of these people in real life every day, they quickly became tiring to watch. That goes for most of the political messaging of the film, all of which is good an insightful, but ultimately seem simply to late to help us in our current predicament. A good, fun film, but not the important film it wanted to be.
Miss and the Doctors
A French drama from director Axelle Ropert, Miss and the Doctors is a quiet, gentle film that explores the relationship between brothers when a beautiful women enters their life. Dimitri and Boris (Laurent Stocker and Cedric Kahn) are doctors in a small city in France. They do everything together, from running their practice, to treating patients, to doing house calls, and end each night waving to each other from their apartments across the street from each other. But when the beautiful single mother Judith (Louise Bourgoin) begins seeking their advice for her diabetic daughter, the brothers each fall in love with her unbeknownst to each other. What follows is a slow collision, as the Judith pulls at each brother and each brother pull at each other, testing all the relationships involved.
Gentle without ever being obtuse, Miss and the Doctors plays out mostly in the eyes of our trio of leads. Ropert is almost allergic to grand moments, instead treating us to a film about quiet endings. Bourgoin is stunning as the enigmatic Judith, a woman who wants everything and nothing all at once, who wants the freedom of being a single woman and the comfort of a warm bed waiting for her. Both Kahn and Stocker are great as well, with Stocker playing the more demure brother and Kahn playing the gruff one, their relationship being lived in and honest. And while the ending did end up being far more conventional than the majority of the film, there was plenty here to enjoy with a cup of tea and an attentive attitude.
Munich
Possibly the darkest film Steven Spielberg ever made, Munich follows Mossad agent Avbner (Eric Bana) as he is recruited to track down and eliminate the men responsible for the 1972 Munich Massacre. Avner, along with his spy ring (including Daniel Craig and Ciaran Hinds) are given carte blanche by the Israeli government to pursue their targets across Europe, and use whatever methods they wish to eliminate the terrorist threats. Operating under the guidance of the government, while being officially disavowed by that government, Avner slowly becomes disillusioned with his role, and questions the guilt of the men he’s pursued. As his tenure as a government spook comes to an end, paranoia and anger begin to take over Avner’s every moment.
A remarkably dark chapter in international history, Spielberg balances the ideas of retribution and disillusion fantastically. Avner as constantly at odds with the work he is made to do, convincing himself he is simply completing a job, that the men he is killing would do the same to him. But as he loses his allies along the way, and as his targets become less certain and the picture of their guilt less clear, he can’t shake what he’s done. Spielberg often cross cuts the actions of Avner with the actions of Black September, the perpetrators of the Munich Massacre, at first as something to bolster Avner’s actions, and then later to condemn him. Spielberg highlights the similarities between the groups, that murder is murder no matter what, and that an eye for an eye only leads to a world filled with the blind. A powerful and well told story.
Novocaine
A high concept action-comedy with a charming lead and some very effective gore? If that sounds like a film you’ll enjoy even with a weak script and some lackluster character motivation, than Novocaine is the film you should be rushing out to see. Directing duo Dan Berk and Robert Olsen bring us into the world of Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), a man with the extremely rare disorder called CIPA, meaning that he can sense no pain. While this has lead him to lead an ultra-cautious lifestyle (not eating solid food for fear of biting off his tongue, needing alarms to know when to use the washroom), he begins to break out of his shell after falling head over heels for his coworker Sherry (Amber Midthunder). After Sherry is kidnapped in a bank robbery, Nathan decides it’s up to him to rescue him, using his inability to feel pain as a way to battle the robbers in increasingly gory and delightful ways.
Now, I want to be upfront in my bias here: I have worked with Dan and Robert before on their previous film Stakeland II: The Stakelander. While that was a decade ago, I did greatly enjoy working with both the directors, and am always excited when their next project comes out. With this bias firmly in place I have to say: Novocaine is an absolute blast. Yes there are little things that bother me, such as the two cops trailing the chaos Nathan causes that seem utterly useless to the plot, to the rather weak connection between Nathan and Sherry that would lead him to the extremes he goes to save her. But, honestly, I don’t care! You watch a man reach into boiling oil without flinching because he needs to. You see him upgrade his fist by inserting glass into it. This film is a bloody delight, and Jack Quaid completely sells the loveable goofball character in even the most grotesque of situations. A fun, if flawed, film.
Room 237
Some films just demand a level of intrigue and investigation more than others. Room 237, a documentary from director Rodney Ascher, explores the myriad number of theories and beliefs that surround Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film The Shining. Told exclusively through voiceover from the various contributing members, the themes of Kubrick’s film are discussed at length, as are various conspiracies surrounding the film, the production, and urban legends of the haunting horror classic. While the contributors provide the commentary, Ascher edits together the original film into a patchwork of montage and evidence to support all claims made, no matter how outlandish they may seem.
A film that never fully becomes more than a well produced Youtube essay, Ascher chose the right film to focus his energies on, but never saw the potential of going beyond what was put in front of him. Many of the theories and ideas espoused in Room 237 range from unlikely to outright ludicrous, and yet the film itself never seems to push back against the claims, presenting fact and fiction side-by-side without any investigation. While this is wishing for something the film never intended to be, one can’t help but wonder where the film could have gone had Ascher been more proactive in his investigation of the claims made. Without being anything more than an endless parade and assumptions and intuitive leaps of faith, the documentary becomes an eyerolling exercise in conspiratorial thinking. Ultimately a somewhat thoughtless exercise in overthinking.
United 93
A truly unnerving watching experience, United 93 follows the events aboard the doomed United Airways flight 93 on 9/11. Capturing the events of the day as true as possible, using real phone calls and messages left by those who died that day as a guide, writer-director Paul Greengrass gives is an unflinching portrait of the horror of that day. It’s not solely because of the heightened dread that would surround this film no matter who was making it, Greengrass does incredible work in putting us with these people in their final moments. Greengrass filled the cast with real people who were involved in navigating the bureaucracy of that day, as well as complete unknown actors to fill in for the passengers, immersing us within the moment and not allowing the knowledge we bring into the film to break the verisimilitude.
The film presents the events with as detached a lens as possible, not allowing political agendas or hindsight to guide to messaging of the film. It is simply horrific because that’s what that day was for many people, and it doesn’t distract the filmmaking with navel-gazing attempts at jingoism or looking past the events of that day. It is raw and bitter and deeply sad, a film that captures the brief moment the Western world felt fear like never before. And while we can look back and see the glaring flaws that would come from the overwhelming sense of community and nationalism that was birthed from this tragedy, in this moment, in this film, all there is is that deep resounding sadness that we feel at the bottom of our guts when we think about that day.
The Way Way Back
Coming-of-age films have certainly taken a backseat in the modern cinematic landscape, so looking back on 2013 film from writer-director duo Nat Faxon and Jim Rash is somewhat refreshing. Following a wet blanket teen is he made to spend the summer at a beach house with his mother (Toni Collette) and her new, overbearing boyfriend (Steve Carrell). Completely disconnected with his new family dynamic, he finds solace in employment at the local waterpark, ran by perennial slacker Owen (Sam Rockwell) and his misfit bunch of friends. Finding the father figure he needs at exactly the right time, our lead Duncan (Liam James) develops the courage and fortitude to start growing into a man, while still making the mistakes any teen will make.
Balancing the lighthearted comedic elements well with the quiet family drama, Faxon and Rash are able to make the film one worth remembering due to the generally great performances from the supporting cast. The major problem with the film is Duncan as the lead, and James’ performance. Duncan almost completely lacks any personality or reason for us to root for him, and is only the main character because the film dictates it. Every other character and performer outshines him greatly, and we spend almost the entire film wishing anyone else was our central figure. Rockwell is brilliant as the stunted child who is forced to be a leader, and commands every scene he’s in. Carrell is great as the dickish step-dad-to-be, never being outright awful but constantly embodying the phrase “you’re not wrong, you’re just an asshole”. It’s a strange case of, if we had simply extracted the character was based around, this would be an unquestionably great film. As it is? It’s a fine if generic tale.
Wise Blood
A bizarre black comedy from director John Huston, Wise Blood is a film a struggle with greatly. Featuring a rare and fantastic lead performance from Brad Dourif, we follow his character of Hazel Motes as he becomes an anti-preacher on the streets of an unnamed Southern city. Preaching his “Church of Truth Without Christ,” he promises his followers no sin, no Jesus, no God, and no afterlife. In his wanderings in the city he meets eclectic characters, from a preacher who fakes blindness (Harry Dean Stanton), to a dimwitted boy who worships a mummified monkey (Dan Shor), and a young woman who falls in love with Hazel despite his disinterest. The film is adrift in ideas and characters, without much centering on what it’s themes are standpoints are, giving it an unsettling sense of unease. We’re never sure if we are to laugh, or grieve, or what, if anything, we are meant to leave the film beleiving.
Dourif is great as Hazel, the disillusioned yet passionate anti-preacher war veteran. The film is a constant succession of contradictions, and Dourif plays every contradiction wonderfully. The only thing the film seems certain of is that nothing is real and everyone is phony, so the only way to attain true power is to be the only truthful person. Dourif captures this rage and bitterness towards the world well, and Wise Blood would fit in well with the Angry Young Men kitchen-sink melodramas of 1950s London. But it’s religious rantings make it firmly Southern Gothic in it’s depiction, creating a film that truly feels one-of-a-kind. Even though that uniqueness doesn’t quite work, it is still commendable.
Wolfs
An action-comedy that reteams former costars and real life friends Brad Pitt and George Clooney should be a slam dunk for any director. Make that film a slight throwback to the black comedies of the late-nineties and early 2000’s and this should easily be one of the most charming films you’ll see this year. Unfortunately the film Wolfs proves that you do indeed need some cinematic instincts even when handed a winning team, and that director Jon Watts does not have those instincts. Lifeless and direction and mostly incapable of letting it’s jokes play out, Wolfs is a bland, forgettable feature despite the best efforts from Clooney and Pitt.
Following two “cleaners” who are reluctantly forced to work together when they are both hired to dispose of a dead body and all evidence pertaining to it, our nameless leads are both doing their best to imbue the film with the casual and cruel charm they found as criminals in previous works. But the stakes of the film are never fully fleshed out, instead deciding to hold back pertinent information in order to have a end scene reveal that feels completely unearned. The begrudging respect that Clooney and Pitt’s characters develop for each other over the course of the film feels beholden to genre cliches instead of something that would occur. A film completely designed for your father to fall asleep to and nothing more.