Movie Review Out of Darkness

Out of Darkness (2024) 

Directed by Andrew Cumming 

Written by Ruth Greenberg

Starring Safia Oakley-Green, Kit Young 

Release Date February 9th, 2024 

Published February 9th, 2024 

Out of Darkness follows a small tribe of people in the Paleolithic era as they flee from fighting and oppression. The leader of the tribe is Adem (Choku Modu), a hard man who leads with fierce, muscular pride. With Adem is his pregnant wife, Ave (Iola Evans), and his beloved son, Heron (Luna Mwezi). Adem's younger brother Geirr (Kit Young), is green and still learning to hunt while also having to carry a leadership role under his brother. 

Not all of the tribe are family however. Odal (Arno Leudig) is an older man, valued more for his experience and wisdom than for contributing to the small tribe as a hunter. But the true outcast, outsider, of the group is Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green). Beyah is quite young but also quite headstrong and tough. She knows that she has to protect herself as Adem makes clear, he will protect his family first while Beyah and Odal fend for themselves.

Find my full length review at Horror.Media, linked here. 

Classic Movie Review I'll Do Anything

I'll Do Anything (1994)

Directed by James L. Brooks

Written by James L. Brooks

Starring Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner, Whittni Wright, Joely Richardson 

Release Date February 4th, 1994

Published February 7th, 1994 

On the surface, I'll Do Anything looks like a norm-core, slightly meta, Hollywood pastiche. It's about a struggling actor named Matt Hobbs (Nick Nolte) who unexpectedly gets custody of his 8 year old daughter, Jeannie (Whittni Wright). While she will start a Hollywood career of her own, Matt struggles to find work and remain relevant in a careless, thoughtless, Hollywood where even having a long ago Emmy nomination is not enough to help you find gainful employment in movies or TV. 

In its subplots, that normie, been there, done that quality remains as we follow Albert Brooks as a hack movie producer in the Joel Silver-Jerry Bruckheimer vein. Brooks' Burke Adler is obsessed with audience scores and the kind of math that somehow only makes sense to Hollywood executives. Burke's function is to provide a minor villain character but Brooks is far too appealing, even as a bit of a scumbag, for his villain qualities to take hold.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Ricky Stanicky

Ricky Stanicky (2024) 

Directed by Peter Farrelly 

Written by Jeff Bushell, Peter Farrelly, Pete Jones, Mike Cerrone, Brian Jarvis, James Lee Freeman 

Starring John Cena, Zac Efron, Jermaine Fowler, Andrew Santino, William H. Macy

Release Date March 7th, 2024 

Published March 8th, 2024 

I am ashamed at how many times I laughed during Ricky Stanicky. I feel, because I am a high-minded professional film critic, that my palette should be more... sophisticated. Comedy should have the air of sophistication, the notion of being intelligent. It should have deeper meaning and larger goals beyond just getting a laugh. And yet, there are movies like Ricky Stanicky that wear their stupid on their sleeve and remain mildly irresistible. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't love Ricky Stanicky. It's not always a winner. The film is deeply low brow and the plot mechanics are iffy at best. What works however are the performances of the main cast which work very hard, sweatily trying to make you laugh. That's certainly the case for star John Cena, the former pro wrestling champion who kicks his dignity to the wind and throws himself into a deeply meme-able performance, for better and for worse.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Drift

Drift (2024) 

Directed by Anthony Chen

Written by Susannah Farrell, Alexander Maksik 

Starring Cynthia Erivo, Alia Shawkat 

Release Date February 9th, 2024 

Published February 12th, 2024 

Drift stars Cynthia Erivo as Jacqueline, an African woman struggling to get by on the streets of Greece. We meet Jacqueline as she's struggling to find a place to stay and stay safe for a night. She has a small bag and the clothes on her back. She has no money and only finds a brief refuge as she sleeps for a night in a cave on the beach. Washing her clothes in the ocean, she's a mystery, we don't know why she's here or where she intended to be. 

Struggling for money or food, Jacqueline takes to offering foot massages to tourists on the beach. This gets her a couple of bucks to get a sandwich that may be her only meal for a day or so. Meanwhile, an African man keeps popping up, calling her sister, and claiming he wants to help her. Is he for real? Is he trouble? We will never know as Jacqueline manages to escape him twice before we can see what his motives are.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Arthur the King

Arthur the King (2024) 

Directed by Simon Cellan Jones 

Written by Michael Brandt

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Juliet Rylance 

Release Date March 15th, 2024 

Published March 15th, 2o24 

There is nothing remotely surprising or unique about Arthur the King, aside from that strange title. Forgive me a moment of being pedantic, but, in context, I have no idea what led to this title or the name of this dog. In the scene where Mark Wahlberg, as Adventure Racer Michael Light gives the dog the name Arthur, The King, he says the dog is acting like a King because he wasn't begging for food, he was patiently waiting to be offered food? And this is, I guess, a reference to King Arthur? Was King Arthur known for patiently waiting to be offered food before he ate? 

It feels like a reach and the movie gives us no context for why Michael Light made this logical leap to 'he's a King because he doesn't beg and waits patiently,' you know, like Kings do. I'm sure that the real life Michael Light had a more reasonable explanation than this in arriving at this moniker for his new dog friend. The movie just makes it feel awkward and bizarre because it's in a rush to keep this overly familiar, sports crossed with dog movie moving. Title aside, Arthur the King delivers exactly what is promised, a charismatic pooch, a rugged athletic hero, and an underdog story that lives up to the word, underdog, in more ways than one.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here

Movie Review Road House

Road House (2024) 

Directed Doug Liman 

Written by Charles Mondry, Anthony Bagarozzi 

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor MacGregor 

Release Date March 21st, 2024

Published March 25th, 2024

Imagine if someone tried to remake The Room without Tommy Wiseau. Imagine if they tried to take Wiseau's premise and treat it with seriousness and make it into a serious drama? Would it even still be The Room? No, the magic would be gone. It would be a boring soap opera. No, the magic of The Room is the unique alchemy that emerges from when Tommy Wiseau's outsized ambition crashes headlong into his complete lack of talent and a movie is forged in the fire of his self-delusion. You cannot remake that. You cannot recapture that kind of magic. 

Roadhouse is like The Room. The magic of Roadhouse comes from the unique alchemy of director Rowdy Herrington's love of sleazy bars with sticky, beer soaked floors, holes in the walls from errant fists, and from Patrick Swayze's unmatched ability to be bizarrely emotionally detached and fully physically present in every scene. His Zen bouncer is a miscalculation in theory but in practice, it is cheeseball comic gold. He's funny but only because he has no idea that he's funny. The joy of Roadhouse is in how deeply dedicated Swayze and everyone else is to this sleazy, cheeseball nonsense.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here. 

Movie Review Ghostbusters Frozen Empire

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) 

Directed by Gil Kenan 

Written by Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan

Starring McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Bill Murray

Release Date March 22nd, 2024 

Published March 22nd, 2024 

Recently, I worked out my concerns over the trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in an article that worried that there were too many stories, too many characters, and a generally overstuffed quality to the movie. My concerns were not entirely unfounded. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is stuffed to the gills with plot and characters. But, to the credit of director Gil Kenan and co-screenwriter Jason Reitman, do bring all of these characters together well enough. It's not a great movie, but Frozen Empire is better than my worst fears for it. Good enough that I can recommend it, with some minor reservations. 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire picks up the story of the Spengler Family, Egon's daughter, Callie (Carrie Coon) and her two kids, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), the oldest, and Phoebe (McKenna Grace), the genius, as they take on ghosts in New York City. Oh, and Gary (Paul Rudd), is also there. They are the Ghostbusters and we join them as they are chasing what looks like a flying electric eel. Property damage and other such mayhem ensues and it leads to Phoebe getting kicked off the team, at least until she's 18.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.