Three Kings review

Everyone’s a critic - send us your rants and raves but keep it short, please! Submit 150 words or less to givemoviesachance@gmail.com to see your rant/rave/ rebuttal featured here! the film’s runtime. Shockingly, at no point

Hubie Halloween

For an Adam Sandler film set during Halloween, perhaps the scariest thing about it is the fact that I actually found it amusimg.

BLACKPINK: Light up the Sky

After watching this, I love and admire BLACKPINK more than I ever have before. Insightful in terms of both their success and K-Pop as a whole; if you’re a fan of them, you’ll most likely enjoy this.

The Shining

of supernatural and psychological horror

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Deliberately, depressingly timely in a way I find sanctimonious and not entirely productive but also extremely engrossing and with all the prestigious craft you’d expect.

Enola Holmes

Enola Holmes is much better than it good fluff to make for an entertaining watch. I think I would’ve eaten this up a few years back and completely fell in love with it, but even now I had quite some fun with it, even though it doesn’t have the most inventive plot. There’s definitely some potential for more adventures and I would gladly watch them as well.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

A thrilling small-town serial killer monster murder mystery that, instead of pulling back from the story, leans in harder to focus on the character trying desperately to stay afloat at the center of it all. The only true way to know any human’s innermost essence is by their reactions.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Every single line of dialogue in this movie is entirely deliberate, a piece of an exceedingly intricate puzzle that you slowly start to piece together over the course of does it become tedious, repetitive or boring. It’s a genuine thrill to see how even the most mundane conversation can be warped into something far more important and meaningful over time.

Arguably the most aesthetic, artistic, and technically accomplished of all horror films, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is another masterwork of precision craftmanship that presents the gifted filmmaker in top form as he smoothly blends the elements should be. It has the right amount of feel-

into one methodically structured and meticulously layered story.

Scream

One of the best and most intense opening scenes in a horror film ever. I love that the meta horror jokes and humor make it hilarious, but there are still many terrifying parts. The score and music worked beautifully together. The cast is phenomenal.

Halloween

Arguably the most influential of all slasher films, John Carpenter’s Halloween is the reason why this particular subgenre of horror even exists in the first place. Although it wasn’t the first of its kind, it certainly was the game-changer since almost every other slasher flick that followed this low-budget indie horror only ended up imitating the formula this this classic originated.

Written by Brittany Mulligan

In an empty London theatre with nothing but cameramen and a virtual audience, Andrew Scott made another remarkable performance.

On Sept. 5, I journeyed from my living room to The Old Vic in London to watch Scott’s monologue “Three Kings” written by Stephen Beresford. Following the maturation of an Irishman named “Patrick” and his relationship with his absent father over the years, Scott delivers a raw and emotional performance that feels totally believable.

“Three Kings” refers to a puzzle Patrick’s father taught him at the age of 8 during a brief meeting after his parents separated. Patrick’s father promises to return once Patrick completes the puzzle, a lie Patrick swallows that leaves a bitter memory.

In each act, we learn a bit more about Patrick’s father and the brutal impact his leaving left on his children. As Patrick interacts with people who were connected with his father over the years, the abandonment he felt becomes more evident.

The play was supposed to debut in early August but with Scott undergoing an unexpected minor surgery the day before, the three performances were postponed.

Well, I can tell you it was worth the wait. I’d never watched a live performance via Zoom before, and I was nervous. What if my internet connection has a hiccup (it did- I lost my connection five minutes before the start of the play and I anxiously restarted my computer, inwardly cursing our provider/area we live in). Maybe two or three times Scott froze before me for a few seconds but I somehow never

missed a moment of his monologue. And as for visuals, wow. I was impressed with how clear the video feed was - like Scott was in my living room delivering his performance to me personally (I wish!).

One advantage of watching a play online rather in person is that the camera is a tool that can further the emotions of an actor. Throughout the hour, as the camera zoomed in on Scott’s face, the intimacy grew unlike what you could experience in person.

I liked how the play was directed, and on screen, split screens showed audiences which act Scott was moving into. For act two, the screen was split in two with an up close view of Scott’s head that highlighted his emotions, while the second screen featured more of his body to further demonstrate how body language could tell his story; Act three featured the screen split in three and it was interesting how we could see Scott perform from different camera angles.

While this may not be the ideal method for actors who prefer the stage to screen, in addition to performing alone, it’s one way that can continue to support the arts in a time when Covid-19 is changing the way we live.

(Left to right:) Nightmare Before Christmas, Let the Right One In (Swedish version), The VVitch

Brittany Mulligan

Oisín Ó’Ruacháinn

1. As Above, So Below 2. The Thing 3. Insidious 4. Dracula 5. Rocky Horror Picture Show 6. Let the Right One In 7. Shaun of the Dead 8. Silence of the Lambs 9. Prometheus 10. Alien: Covenant 11. Hellboy 12. Poltergeist 13. E.T. 14. Veronica

16. The Mummy 17. Hocus Pocus 18. The VVitch 19. Sleepy Hollow 20. The Ninth Gate 21. Halloween 22. Hereditary 23. The Conjuring

Cynthia Hall

25. The Harry Potter series 26. Nightmare Before Christmas 27. Practical Magic 28. The Shining 29. What We Do in the Shadows 30. Eve’s Bayou 31. A Quiet Place

The New

New releases

Mutants

Written by Brittany Mulligan

Blu Hunt, Maisie Williams, Anya TaylorJoy, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Alice Braga Directed by Josh Boone

Rating: C+

Agroup of young teenagers with extraordinary powers are kept in a facility for their own good.

The New Mutants is like an introductory course to the X-Men franchise but with coarser language and less boundaries. Dani (Hunt) is a new mutant who doesn’t know what her power is yet and struggles to fit in with the others already locked up. She befriends Rain (Williams), a “good influence” who keeps an eye out for her as Dani is pushed and provoked by another teen.

Not much is given away about how this

facility came to be or who the superiors are, but that can be forgiven if a sequel were to be made. Not that after watching this I would really want one, but it was entertaining. I liked the diversity of the actors, bringing in a range of characters who played Cherokee, Russian, Irish, South American, and North American roles. It’s a very limited cast, which might bore some audiences but at least it doesn’t overwhelm the story with any unnecessary plot lines.

For a movie that has been teased for the past few years (New Mutants was originally anticipated to release in 2018), I was a little underwhelmed. There were some spooky aspects that brought something fun to the movie and it had potential to be even scarier but that’s probably not what the director had in mind.

A solid C+ because it may be worth watching once but not really a second time.

New releases TENET

Written by Brittany Mulligan

John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh, Elizabeth Debicki

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Rating: A-

After a prolonged wait for the theatrical release of Tenet, Christopher Nolan brings us an exciting new story that bends time. Similar to Inception, Tenet breaks the rules of how we see the world to bring us an impending doom from the future that must be stopped.

The Protagonist (washington) is on a mission to discover a strange device that has an abnormal effect on the world around him before an enemy force can use it. Teaming up with a skillful ‘middleman’ named Neil (Robertson) to accomplish tasks hard to do solo, the Protagonist finds himself facing new challenges across the globe.

Tenet is a lengthy, action-packed adventure that, if you just go with it, can be an enjoyable ride. Time certainly doesn’t stand still for this movie, but for audiences who weren’t a fan of the mind-bending Inception, they may want to pass on this one or go in with low expectations. The Protagonist kind of has a James Bond feel as he works with damsels in distress and to dismantle a threat that could change the world. Some of the biggest complaints I’ve heard other reviewers mention is 1) volume, 2) lack of emotions and 3) not a fan of the lady in distress theme.

In regard to volume, it certainly can get loud at times, drowning out some dialogue. Personally, I had a bit of a hard time with accents but it didn’t make me feel like I lost any important part of the film. As to the second complaint, what more

emotions did you want? This wasn’t a romantic film, and neither did the main character get pulled into any romantic trysts (which was refreshing in my opinion). As to the third complaint, although Kat (Debicki) was portrayed as a stereotypical woman in distress, what’s wrong with that trope? She may not be the strong lead we’ve come to see in modern movies, but her character still contributed to furthering the plot.

I did see Tenet twice, and gained some more insight upon my second watch, as well as clearing up some confusion I had toward the end of the film. On both occasions, I left the theater satisfied. It’s not as confusing as the trailers make it seem, and loose ends are resolved for a nice and tidy ending. This will definitely be a movie I’ll be excited to add to my collection, and I think if you can have an open mind, it may be one you enjoy too.

Enola Holmes

Written by James Davidson for FilmFodderBlog.com

“Enola Holmes” is a new mystery/adventure film that debuted on September 23rd, 2020 on the streaming service Netflix. It’s a retelling of the classic Sherlock Holmes story, but instead of focusing on Sherlock, this story features Enola, Sherlock’s teenage sister. It showcases an all-star cast, led by Millie Bobby Brown as “Enola”, and Henry Cavill as “Sherlock”.

The story follows Enola as she searches for her mother, who has disappeared. As Enola comes into her own as a super sleuth, she attempts to outsmart her famous brother as she discovers a dangerous conspiracy surrounding the young Lord Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether. Enola must follow clues to not only find her mother, but find out who is out to get the young Lord Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether, as well as stay one step ahead of her brother.

I thought that this film looked like a fun, fresh take on a classic story and I was excited to see how it would turn out. I was hoping for a complex mystery with some powerful acting, For the most part, I was impressed with the results.

The plot was intriguing, with many unexpected twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. It had just the right amount of humour injected into the story to keep the mood of the film light and fun. I really enjoyed how Enola would break the fourth wall and talk to the audience and narrate her own story. I thought that it was a fun way to keep the audience informed and create an interior narrative for the character.

I enjoyed the fact that Enola was the main protagonist. While Sherlock is in the story, he is a secondary character that takes a back seat to the young Enola. I thought this brought a new, interesting spin on the classic tale. It would have been easy for Sherlock to steal the show, especially since he was played by a big star like Henry Cavill. However, Millie Bobby Brown did an incredible job portraying the young Enola and stole the show in her own right. Cavill

did a great job at portraying Sherlock, and letting Brown take the lead and showcase her talents. The one caveat to this movie is that there are many intertwining storylines and it’s easy to lose track of what is going on. I think that the writers did a great job at tying all of the plotlines up, but I felt at times they focused too much on one plot point while others took a backseat. There were also a few questions that were left unanswered, such as why Enola’s mother went missing in the first place. I would have liked to have seen a little more explanation for a few of the plot points that were left open-ended.

This movie is rated PG-13 for some violence, but there is nothing too offensive in the film, and I think it makes a great movie for a family movie night. There are a few fight scenes, but not a lot of gore or unnecessary violence, and not too much offensive language at all.

“Enola Holmes” is a fun, fresh take on a classic story, with many unexpected plot twists that will keep the entire family guessing until the very end. It has some incredible acting by some powerhouse actors and is a great choice for any family movie night. It earns 3.5 out of 5 stars.