Movie Review Unwelcome

Unwelcome (2023)

Directed by Jon Wright

Written by Mark Stay 

Starring Hannah John-Kamen, Douglas Booth, Colm Meaney 

Release Date March 8th, 2023, Digital Release March 14th, 2023 

Published March 6th, 2023 

Unwelcome is the bizarre combination of Straw Dogs meets Goblins that you did not know you needed in your life. This bizarre 'folk horror' film from Ireland is terrifically fun and effective horror storytelling. There are creatures in Unwelcome but the real horror at play is other people. The outside world seems to have it out for a pair of young lovers with a new baby on the way. The anxiety of starting a new family, beginning a new life, and finding a safe place to raise a child become externalized in the form of bitter weirdos with a penchant for destroying the sanctity of family in Unwelcome. 

Unwelcome kicks off on a frightening note. In an epilogue, we meet our lovely protagonists. Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) and Jamie (Douglas Booth), have been struggling for some time to get pregnant. There is a distinct anxiety over Maya's latest pregnancy test with Jamie trying to be ambivalent but his sadness but his disappointment and nerves coming through in his manner, especially when he's out of sight of Maya. Each wants to let the other know that they will be okay if they can't have a child but it's clearly an attempt at comforting each other. When the pregnancy test comes back positive, the relief and catharsis is quite evident. 

Sadly, this is when the plot intervenes to move things along. While Maya calls her mother, Jamie leaves to go to a convenience store for some champagne. On his way, he's accosted by some bullies who seem to have nothing better to do than harass him. He manages to get away from them and avoid an encounter but when he insults their leader, he finds them following him back to his apartment. A home invasion commences and both Jamie and Maya are assaulted with pleas about Maya's newfound pregnancy ignored. Maya gets kicked in the gut and the terror of this scene takes hold just as we fade to credits. 

Find my full length review at Horror.Media 

What Makes a Movie Good or Bad?

I saw the above meme-tweet posted on Tumblr and it kind of blew my mind. It honestly did not occur to me that someone could watch a movie and not know whether the movie was good or bad. How do you not know if you've enjoyed something or not? It really is as simple as, if you enjoyed the movie, the movie is good, to you. If you didn't enjoy the movie, the movie isn't good, to you. It's a completely subjective distinction. I can't tell you if you are going to like a movie or not, I can only recommend or not recommend a movie based on my subjective opinion. 

The only difference between you and a film critic is a willingness to confidently state an opinion and support that opinion with rhetoric. That's it. There are complexities, shades of gray, and other things that separate a professional film critic from an average moviegoer, but it really does just boil down to a willingness that people like me have to state our opinion with confidence, plant a flag on a particular opinion, and withstand the scrutiny of our position. 

I think one of the reasons people don't want to take a stand on whether a movie is good or bad is the idea of having to defend their opinion. Most people have a strong desire to not be considered wrong. There is a deep seated anxiety over the idea that confidently stating an opinion could render someone an outsider. People have a strong desire to belong, a strong desire to relate to others and a good way to go along and get along is to keep your strong opinions to yourself. 

Going along to get along is a default position for many, many people. Being different can bring unwanted attention and having an opinion about something is a quick way of making yourself different from the crowd. Think of it like this, if you have a group of friends that loves Marvel movies, are you willing to say you don't like Marvel movies? Or are you more likely to just nod your head and listen to them talk? Most people, I would argue, prefer that second position. 

Read the full length article at Geeks.media 

Movie Review Operation Fortune Ruse de Guerre

Operation Fortune Ruse de Guerre (2023) 

Directed by Guy Ritchie 

Written by Ivan Atkinson, Marn Davies, Guy Ritchie 

Starring Jason Statham, Cary Elwes, Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant 

Release Date March 3rd, 2023 

Published March 5th, 2023 

Operation Fortune Ruse de Guerre is not unlike every other super-team of spies movie you've seen before. The mission is the same as any Mission Impossible and the silly traps and pitfalls are very similar to a Fast and Furious flick. So, that being said, why am I still recommending it? Because it's so much fun, of course. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre takes the familiar tropes of Spy movies and gives them a kick in the pants courtesy of an unbelievably fantastic cast, clever incident, and fast paced direction from a master of the genre action flick. 

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre begins by creating a MacGuffin, the Hitchcock term for that thing that everyone in the movie wants. It doesn't matter what it is, it only matters that EVERYONE wants it and everyone has a reason to want it. In this case, the people who want it are an independent paramilitary outfit, the world's most charismatic arms dealer, and a British Government who knows what is at stake if either of the baddies vying for the prize manage to get their hands on the MacGuffin. 

The British Government has a specific plan in place for when things like this happen: They call Oscar Fortune (Jason Statham). Oscar Fortune is the world's greatest spy, and its most expensive and demanding. Via his handler, Jasmine (Cary Elwes), Fortune has a team and a series of demands that must be met before he will go into action mode. Fortune requires a large private plane, he's claustrophobic, he needs wine from very specifically expensive years and brands, and he needs his team. Once this price is met, he will take on a mission. 

This time around, not all of Oscar's demands are being met. It seems that his usual tech sidekick has sold out to the highest bidder and thus is not available for this job. Oscar is forced to settle for American newcomer, Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza). She's a good fit, despite constantly taking the piss out of Oscar's cool guy spy persona. On the bright side for Oscar, he does have his usual muscle, J.J (Bugsy Malone). J.J is a smooth, soulful, rather brilliant man who happens to be a hulking mass of a man who is incredible with weapons of any kind. 

Read the full length review at Geeks.Media 

Classic Movie Review The Crying Game

The Crying Game (1992) 

Directed by Neil Jordan 

Written by Neil Jordan 

Starring Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forrest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson

Release Date November 27th, 1992, February 1993 (Oscar Release) 

Published February 20th, 2023 

What stands out about Neil Jordan's The Crying Game 30 years later is how remarkably sensitive the film is. While the film's lasting legacy in popular culture centers on actor Jaye Davidson's penis, the actual film, The Crying Game centers on sensitivity, intimacy and tenderness while also providing elements of a thriller and a spy movie. Neil Jordan brings forward a gay love story in The Crying Game in a way that had arguably never been explored before in this way. Using a traditional thriller narrative about warring spies, guns, and murder, Jordan tells a love story about people who are struggling to find who they really are. 

Stephen Rea stars in The Crying Game as Fergus, a member of the Irish Republican Army. History, as told by the British, would call the IRA terrorists. I truly have no idea what the actual legacy of the IRA is and I don't see a necessity to unpack the IRA here. The IRA is basically the vehicle that brings Fergus into contact with Jody (Forrest Whitaker), a young British soldier who is captured in Ireland and held for ransom. If the British will release a member of the IRA they are holding prisoner, then Fergus and is his fellow IRA members will release Jody. 

Of course, Jody, and possibly Fergus, knows that Jody is going to die. The British do not negotiate with the IRA, they work to eliminate the IRA. Jody's only glimmer of hope comes in trying to convince Fergus to let him go. Thus begins a lengthy and intimate series of conversation over a three day period from Jody's kidnapping to the day the IRA plans to execute him. In this time, Jody and Fergus bond and writer-director Neil Jordan willfully layers in visual indicators that perhaps there is more than just friendly banter going on between these two seemingly very different men. 

Knowing that his dire fate is approaching, Jody gives Fergus his wallet and with it, a photo of the woman Jody loves. Her name is Dil (Jaye Davidson) and she's a hairdresser back in Jody's home town. Jody begs Fergus to go and look in on Dil if, indeed Jody dies. What happens next will lead Fergus to Dil and the start of another complicated, deeply fraught, but genuine love story. Of course, history tells us what complicates this romance but the movie itself, is far more than that one pop culture footnote. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Classic Movie Review The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep (1946) 

Directed by Howard Hawks 

Written by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone 

Release Date August 31st, 1946 

Published February 21st, 2023 

Who is Phillip Marlowe? He's a detective, of course, but beyond that. Who is he? He's a cynic, a loner, a veteran. He's seen just about everything. He's seen enough to know when he's being lied to. He's tired. As conceived by Howard Hawks and Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sick, he's weary, bone tired, and yet noble. He may no longer have time for joy in his life but he has purpose... and cigarettes... and booze. But Marlowe's true hallmark is weariness. He just seems as if the weight of the planet is pulling him into the ground and he's not all that interested in preventing this from happening. 

Marlowe doesn't have a lot to lose and hasn't had a lot to lose in a long while. This bone deep weariness has settled in after years of providing witness to the ugly side of everyday. Cheating spouses, murder, missing people, and the betrayal of friends, Marlowe's livelihood revolves around misery. It's natural that such a vocation would weigh on a man. In Humphrey Bogart, that weariness, that sense of being so incredibly worn down by life, has a physical form. The lines on Bogart's face seem to have been formed by the sheer force of emotional, physical, and intellectual experience. 

It's odd to think, but in many ways, a man like Phillip Marlowe exists as a proxy for the pain of others. He's a trauma shield, a way to experience trauma through the filter of someone else. As a private detective, he's the one who will see the husband or the wife cheating or find that friend that has been stealing from you. He can then slightly soften the blow by providing the tools you need for the confrontation that must ensue and be resolved so life can go on. Strangely, I'm reminded of John Coffey from The Green Mile who sucks out the illness of others, into himself, and releases it to the world in a strange form of healing. 

The main difference is that Marlowe does what he does for a significant price, and daily expense payments. For his latest effort, Marlowe finds himself in admiration of an elderly former General living out the last days of his life. General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) has called upon Marlowe because he is being blackmailed by some unknown person. A proxy for this unknown blackmailer has given the General gambling receipts indicating an unpaid debt that they claim belongs.  to Sternwood's youngest daughter, the coquettish Carmen Sternwood. Payment is demanded of General Sternwood or something will happen to Carmen. 

For her part, Carmen appears unfazed by whatever is happening, perhaps even unaware. Not innocent, not by a longshot, but nevertheless unbothered by potential dangers. After meeting Marlowe, and immediately flirting with him in clumsy, heavy handed fashion, the next time we see her, Carmen is extremely drunk and sharing space with a recently dead man. Marlowe, having followed Carmen, assuming she would lead to the blackmailer, finds Carmen and the dead man and sets about getting her home safely while avoiding the obvious frame job. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Spoiler Alert: Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania What is Kang's Future in the MCU?

Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania (2023) 

Directed by Peyton Reed 

Written by Jeff Loveless

Starring Jonathan Majors, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton

Release Date February 17th, 2023 

Published February 20th, 2023 

This article carries with it spoilers for Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania, a decidedly mixed but not bad entry in the Marvel Canon. If you'd like to avoid spoilers, I suggest seeing the movie before coming back and reading this article. We are going to dig into the ending, specifically the mid and post credits sequences which set the table for the the latest reboot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe known as Phase 5. Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania is the kickoff for this new era of Marvel movies and you will want to see it before you read this thorough spoiler post. 

For those sticking around, welcome, let's talk about what should have been called Kang the Conqueror Quantumania because this was a Jonathan Majors movie far more than it was starring anyone else. Kang the Conqueror looms large over every aspect of Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania. He's the new Thanos and the movie does well to put over the idea of just how volatile and dangerous Kang truly is. Jonathan Majors does much of the heavy dramatic lifting in the movie and, for the most part, he's successful in establishing the next big bad of the Marvel Universe. 

Context: Ant-Man and the Wasp comes to a close with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) seemingly sacrificing themselves to a life trapped in the Quantum Realm just so they can prevent Kang the Conqueror from escaping his Quantum Realm exile. Having shrank Kang even smaller than even they've gone, hurtling him into a seeming oblivion, Scott and Hope are then immediately rescued by Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), in an all too rushed and pat conclusion to what could have been a slightly more dramatic ending. 

Back home, Scott resumes his mundane, day to day existence as a pseudo-celebrity, walking down the streets of San Francisco smiling and waving like he was about to run for Mayor. This happy-go-lucky stroll is interrupted by a thought that nags at the back of Scott's mind. It's something that Kang said before he was sent into oblivion, that only he, Kang, could stop what is coming. Kang being a man who could control time would definitely know if something big, perhaps world-altering were coming down the pike. Did Scott just create this world-altering event by eliminating the one man who might be able to prevent it? 

And cut to credits. It's not a bad ending, but there are some things that could have improved it. That said, the intriguing question of what's next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is established with this victory but at what cost ending. Kang the Conqueror may have been vanquished but Kang is not done trying to conquer the multiverse. For you see, dear reader, because of the Multiverse, there are millions of Kangs. Three of them seem to have risen to the top of the Kang Army but there are an unending number of variations and they've all just been given the greenlight to unleash multiversal chaos. 

Find my full length Spoiler Alert at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine (1981) 

Directed by George Mihalka 

Written by John Beaird

Starring Neil Affleck, Paul Kelman, Laurie Hallier, Don Francis, Cynthia Dale 

Release Date February 11th, 1981

Published February 14th, 2023 

My Bloody Valentine 1981 is a low budget horror success story. The film was made for about 5 bucks and a 6 pack of beer, and it went on to become a beloved cult classic. Does that make it a good movie? Not really, but, from a business standpoint, it's undeniably successful. Year after year, on Valentine's Day, My Bloody Valentine grabs a sizable chunk of the streaming market and makes this little horror movie that could into one of the greatest low budget success stories of the 1980s. Again, that doesn't make it an actual good movie, but it is impressive.

In the town of Valentine Bluff, somewhere in Cananda, a mine accident killed left four men dead and one man, Harry Warden, alive after he resorted to murdering his fellow miners and eating their flesh to survive. Harry winds up in a coma until a year later when he wakes up and murders the men responsible for the accident. As we join the story, we are 20 years removed from Harry Warden's rampage. It's established that this is the first Valentine's Day celebration since the murders 20 years ago. 

Valentine's Day was outlawed in the town because the men who were responsible for the mining accident, the men subsequently murdered by Harry Warden, caused the accident by leaving the mine to attend the town Valentine's Day Dance. Now, the next generation of miners in Valentine Bluff have petitioned to bring back the celebration. This sets off Harry Warden who returns having been triggered by the celebration of Valentine's Day. Warden is supposed to have been locked away in a mental institution but now, the sheriff can't confirm if he's alive or dead. 

Meanwhile, in a romantic subplot, a rivalry has arisen between T.J (Paul Kelman) and Axel (Neil Affleck). T.J is the son of the mine owner and has recently returned to town to work at the mine. T.J's ex, Sarah (Lori Hallier), has moved on with Axel and T.J is quite jealous. This rivalry will come to a head when the miners are told that their Valentine's celebration has been canceled by the mayor (Larry Reynolds), and the Sheriff (Don Francks). They've discovered a pair of bodies, possibly the work of Harry Warden and they are moving to cancel Valentine's Day as quickly as possible. 

Thus, the miners have invited themselves to a trap when they move their Valentine's Day celebration to the mine shaft. There they will line up to be Harry's next victims by enacting classic slasher movie tropes such as trying to have sex or going places they aren't supposed to go and running the wrong direction to escape the killer. The question then becomes, is this really Harry Warden or is this a copycat with a completely different motive? 

That should be the question. The reality, however, is that My Bloody Valentine is far too lazy to concern itself with details that make sense. Instead, director George Mihalka settles for revealing the killer's origins in the final minutes of the movie, as a twist. It renders much of the rest of the movie rather dubious and superfluous. None of the characters introduced really matter to the plot, they suddenly exist as cannon fodder as we find out who the killer is. 

Find my full length review at Horror.Media