Movie Review I.S.S

I.S.S (2024) 

Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite 

Written by Nick Shafir 

Starring Ariana Debose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin 

Release Date January 19th, 20024

Published 

I.S.S is a terrific and timely thriller. Set aboard the International Space Station, the story follows a rookie astronaut, played by Ariana Debose, as she joins her first space mission. She's supposed to spend the next six months studying lab rats and seeking cures or treatments for disease. What she gets however is a day or so of acclimating to her strange new home before something on the ground, an international incident involving the United States and Russia, throws her mission into chaos and threatens the lives of everyone on board the I.S.S 

Dr. Kira Foster (Ariana Debose) has worked her whole career toward going to space. When we meet her, her dream is coming true. Foster and Dr. Christian (John Gallagher Jr.) are aboard the Soyuz Space Capsule on their way to the I.S.S. On the space station, they are welcomed by fellow American, Gordon Barrett and the three person Russian crew, Alexey (Pilou Asbaek), Nika (Maria Mashkova), and Nicolai (Costa Ronin). The atmosphere is mostly congenial, though issues of workspace do cause a bit of tension between Kira and Alexey who must work in close quarters. 

The plot kicks in when communication from the station to the ground gets cut off. The internet is down and, as the crew is observing the Earth, they see what appear to be large scale explosions. When communication is restored between the station and Earth, the Americans and the Russians are each advised to take control of the space station, by any means necessary. This leads to a series of ever escalating encounters as each side tries to decide whether they are getting accurate information from the ground and whether or not they are capable of attacking people they have considered their friends and colleagues until now. 

I.S.S is a thrill ride. Directed by documentarian turned feature director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the film keeps amping up the tension in scene after scene all while creating a surprisingly realistic recreation of the famed International Space Station on a relatively modest budget. Cowperthwaite's direction is assured and confident with a masterful control of the tension and suspense. The cinematography by Nick Remy Matthews is superb and the camerawork underlines the growing tension of the plot perfectly. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Short Term 12

Short Term 12 (2013) 

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton 

Written by Destin Daniel Cretton 

Starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr, Lakeith Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, Melora Waters 

Release Date August 23rd, 2013 

With the release of The Glass Castle on August 12, director Destin Daniel Cretton is stepping into his first major Hollywood feature. Will he be ready for the pressure that comes with bigger budgets, bigger stars, studio involvement, and the inherent issues that come from attempting to adapt a vaunted best-selling memoir to the big screen? That question will only be answered in a review of The Glass Castle. What we do know is, if The Glass Castle is half the movie that Cretton’s breakthrough feature Short Term 12 is it will be worth the price of a ticket.

Short Term 12 tells the story of counselors working at a short-term home for troubled kids. Grace, played by Brie Larson, is the lead counselor at the home who feels as if she’s seen it all from the children in her care. Naturally, she’s in for a surprise with the arrival of Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) who reflects so much of Grace’s own troubled childhood back at her that it throws the normally well put together Grace into a minor tailspin.

The key to the storytelling in Short Term 12 is intimacy. Director Cretton’s style is up close and personal with tight two person shots that enhance the moments of incredible, realistic intimacy as confessions are made, moments are had, and especially when tragedy strikes. Cretton does a wonderful job of capturing extraordinary moments while also remaining aware of the bigger picture story he’s telling.

The director is aided by a standout cast led by Larson whose big, beautiful beating heart comes through in every scene. Grace may have troubles of her own, but she never loses track of her empathy. Empathy is both Grace’s greatest strength and her biggest weakness as having too much to give leaves one vulnerable, and Grace’s vulnerabilities are a big part of the story being told in Short Term 12.

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review The Belko Experiment

The Belko Experiment (2017) 

Directed by Greg McLean 

Written by James Gunn

Starring John Gallagher Jr, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley 

Release Date March 17th 

Published March 17th 

If you like mindless splatter and especially if you like exploding heads, “The Belko Experiment” is the movie for you, if not the movie for me. Though pretending toward a satire of life in a mundane office turned upside down by the absolute most violent of downsizing, “The Belko Experiment” is far too shallow for satire and far too pointless for me to care about.

John Gallagher Jr, last seen opposite crazy John Goodman in “10 Cloverfield Lane” is Mike, the office nice guy at a seemingly typical American office. Except, this office isn’t in America. Despite being populated by an assortment of run of the mill office types, this office is in Bogota, Columbia, of all places and though nondescript, the setting creates unease right off the bat.

Why are a bunch of workaday American office drones working in one of the most dangerous cities in the world, is a question that lends some early suspense to “The Belko Experiment.” It’s a clever bit of shorthand that, if you had not seen the trailer and weren’t aware of the premise of the film, you would certainly take note of the setting.

Mike’s day is mostly ordinary; he flirts with his secret office romance, Leandra (Emerald City’s Adria Arjona), he confronts the office creep, Wendell (John C. McGinley) and shares an awkward moment with the bigwig COO Barry (Tony Goldwyn) who catches him in a moment with Leandra. Everything is mundane until a heretofore unheard of public address speaker screeches to life and informs everyone that this will not be just another day at the office.

The voice on the PA instructs that the office workers must kill their co-workers or the voice will do it for them in the form of a bomb in everyone’s neck. An indication that The Belko Corporation had this bloody endgame in mind all along is that they convinced their employees to get trackers in their necks to aid them in case they get kidnapped in Bogota. The implants are now revealed to be bombs and a gruesome end is ensured for just about everyone.

“The Belko Experiment” is a spiritual cousin to the “Saw” franchise. Both films center on God-like figures setting other people up to kill or be killed in a bizarre social experiment murder spree. The difference between the “Belko” and “Saw” however is the point and purpose, “Saw” has a point and purpose and “Belko” doesn’t.

As gruesome as “Saw” unquestionably is, Jigsaw is a strangely benevolent figure. Each of Jigsaw’s victims has the chance to survive if they put aside their self-centeredness and work as a team with their fellow captives. The only reason Jigsaw victims die is because they are out for themselves and make selfish choices. There is no such equivalent in “The Belko Experiment.” This film is ONLY an exploitation splatter flick with modest, mostly unrealized pretensions toward social satire.

Is “The Belko Experiment” a good exploitation-splatter flick? Yeah, if you like that sort of thing it’s fair to say this is on the higher end of that low-end genre. The film is clever at building and sustaining tension throughout and the gore is believably visceral but it’s far too pointless for my taste. None of the blood and guts matter. The characters are far too shallow for them to matter beyond how well their heads explode.

If well rendered exploding heads is enough for you, then by all means, enjoy “The Belko Experiment.”