My View: Kraven the Hunter (2024) R Kraven the Hunter tells the story of Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a descendant of Russian nobility who has a complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Kraven has made himself into the world’s greatest hunter, but he is also one of its most feared. I stopped reading comics a long time ago, so I had no clue who Kraven was. However, after doing some research, I found out he is a ‘supervillain.” Then why the heck would Sony/Marvel make a movie where this character is a hero throughout the film? I mean, maybe he turns bad at the end, but I have no clue other than he gets a new outfit at the end. Russell Crowe tries as hard as he can to lift up this mess of a film, but he is at the mercy of making the film center on one of the worst villains to ever appear in a superhero film, The Rhino. Alessandro Nivola plays Aleksei, a wannabe mobster who finds a doctor who gives him the ability to turn into a man/rhino. Then, he devises a plan to take down Kraven’s dad, Nikolai. Aleksei delivers some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard in a superhero movie, and I have seen Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (RIP Christopher Reeve). I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson could have done something with this role, but we never see Kraven as the great hunter he is supposed to be. I knew I was in trouble when, near the start of the film, a character is talking to a young girl and, in the span of two sentences, says her name twice. I get it. I’m supposed to remember her name, Calypso. The ending of this film is laughable, predictable, and just plain stupid. What was Marvel/Sony's plan for this character? Was he going to do a ‘heel turn,’ where you see a good guy turn bad all of a sudden like you see in WWE? We will never know since this is the end of this character, as he won’t be part of the next version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And no, thank goodness, you don’t have to stay during the credits because this film’s runtime is two hours and seven very-long-minutes. At least the film has that going for it. My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again Kraven the Hunter Website Now playing in theaters.
My View: The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim (2024) PG-13 The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim tells the story of the legendary King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. The King and his family must defend their kingdom against an army of Dunledings led by the clever and ruthless Wulf. I am guessing that fans of The Lord of the Rings film series will be disappointed (though there are a few nods to it) mostly because it brings nothing new to the story. I was underwhelmed by the animation, which didn’t give me the splendor of Middle-Earth that we are used to. The animation felt very flat, and too many times, it felt like the film went cheap on the action. I liked that the hero of the story was the King’s daughter, Princess Hera (voiced by Gaia Wise), but the plot of the film feels like it was constructed on a whiteboard, knocking off plot points and characters like they were bit players and not a story worthy of The Lord of the Rings lore. I wanted to be dazzled by the animation and the story. Instead, I got a tale that could have easily been told in less than an hour, not the two-hour-plus run time. My Rating: Bargain Matinee The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim Website Now playing in theaters.
Indiefest: Oh, Canada (2024) Oh, Canada tells the story of Leonard Fife Richard Gere), a terminally ill writer and filmmaker who has agreed to tell his story. Leonard was one of sixty thousand draft evaders and deserters who fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. Remembering the past can be a challenging experience. Oh, Canada revolves around a man telling his tale to a documentary crew. It’s a story full of decisions, betrayals, and people he left behind to run away and reinvent himself. Unfortunately for the documentary crew, Leonard is in the final stage of his cancer fight and his memory is clouded. We see this in flashbacks, sometimes showing Leonard being played by Jacob Elordi, as what Leonard looked like when he was a young man. At other times, we see Leonard in the flashbacks, played by Richard Gere, as the storytelling gets confused. Oh, Canada is aided by a strong supporting cast, including Uma Thurman as Leonard’s present wife and Michael Imperioli and Victoria Hill as the husband/wife team of documentary filmmakers who share a past with Leonard. I never felt close to any character in the film, feeling like there was more to this story than what we were being told. Oh, Canada ends up as a frustrating look at a man we never get to know, and while that maybe filmmaker Paul Schrader’s point, I didn’t enjoy the experience. My Rating: Bargain Matinee Oh, Canada Website Now playing in theaters.
My View: Carry On (2024) PG-13 In Carry On, it’s Christmas Eve, and the airport is incredibly busy. Ethan (Taron Egerton) is a TSA agent who, while at work, gets a call from a mysterious traveler who tells Ethan, let a carry-on bag go through, or your girlfriend dies. They picked the wrong agent. It must be tough to write thrillers that are set in airports. Gone are the days when John McClane could run all over the Dulles International Airport without a care, saying a quip or two, while saving the day. This film tries hard to follow the rules, and for a while, it does. However, during the last third of the film, when our hero Ethan, with the help of a plucky, determined LA cop (Danielle Deadwyler), tries to stop the terrorist plot, things like common sense go out the window. The film’s first half is a fun cat-and-mouse film of Ethan trying to figure out a way to alert someone about the package while our bad guy stays one step ahead of him. Once the package gets through, the film goes downhill with ideas like a cop in an unmarked car being able to get from the highway to the drop-off point of LAX in minutes. Our hero does have some John McClane in him, as he gets beat up and shot a bunch of times, which he seems to forget about because he was a track star in high school. Carry On isn’t a terrible film, I just wish the second half had been as interesting as the first. Much like McClane, Ethan is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. My Rating: Bargain Matinee Carry On Website Now playing on the Netflix platform.
Forgotten Film: Rhapsody in August (1991) PG An elderly woman (Sachiko Murase) living in Nagasaki, Japan, welcomes her four grandchildren to her home for their summer vacation. She attempts to teach them about the atomic bomb that was dropped on her city in WWII and how it killed their grandfather. She learns of her brother’s death and reaches out to his son, an American (Richard Gere), who comes to visit and learn from the woman about her life and city. Rhapsody in August is directed by one of my all-time favorite directors, Akira Kurosawa, whose Seven Samurai is a masterpiece of storytelling. This beautiful, moving film about a woman who wants the past never to repeat itself will bring you to tears. It’s also a love letter to a city that rose from the ashes but never forgot what happened to its people. While not one of his best, it’s still a powerful, exquisite-looking film that will touch you. My Rating: Full Price Rhapsody in August Info The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon.
Weird Credits: From the credits of Kraven the Hunter: Fashion Consultant
Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Brutalist (2024) The Brutalist begins in the aftermath of WWII when visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) and his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) flee post-war Europe to restart their lives. When László begins working for a wealthy client, Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), he little realizes how much his life will change. Many film critics feel this role could bring another Academy Award for Adrien Brody. The film was shot in the VistaVision format, a widescreen camera system that hasn’t been used in an American shot movie in over 60 years. The Brutalist Website The film will first be released in IMAX in January 2025 and then to a wide release on Friday, January 23, 2025.
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