Reviews – Page 103 – tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends

Night School Movie Review

September 28, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

‘Night School’ is Kevin Hart writing for himself to offer you, Kevin Hart. If you like his previous movies, you’ll like this one, too. Some of the juvenile pranks and jokes do fall a little flat, but it doesn’t kill the film overall. Hart knows comedy. If he’s your brand, don’t miss this. That said, allow me to remind you that he does add a little something extra special to this movie that he also produced… Tiffany Haddish. Their chemistry is simply off the charts. Malcolm D. Lee worked with Haddish in ‘Girls Trip’ so he knew these two would gel perfectly. A Kevin Hart comedy, in my humble opinion, is always worth a watch but a Hart/Haddish twosome filled with frenzied back-and-forth verbal sparring, and a little sparring in the Octagon, as well?! Sign me up. I adore these two and one thing’s for certain… they have to work together again soon, though I wouldn’t mind seeing Haddish take the lead next time.

During his high school years, Teddy (Hart), not being the most gifted of students, a fact his sister likes to remind him of, decides he doesn’t want to continue his high school education. He wants to skip this part of life and move straight into working. He plans on being wealthy without working for ‘the man’ and believes his decision will help him get a jump on everyone else. While in school Teddy made a few enemies. One of them was Stewart (Killam) who later becomes the principal of that very school.

Teddy eventually procures almost everything he wants. He has a nice car, a smart, gorgeous, wealthy girlfriend named Lisa (Echikunwoke) who loves him. The career? Well, that hasn’t gone quite as he had hoped. He does do well enough to get by but only as a salesman at a store that sells barbecues. He gets by because he’s such a good salesman but it’s not where he ultimately wants to be in life. However, he soon finds out he’ll get the store when the owner retires which will finally give him a chance to be the man he always knew he could be.

That’s all before the ‘accident’ where he causes the store to blow up. Up to this point, Teddy has been lying to Lisa about the money he makes. In fact, he’s on a strict allowance and is having trouble staying afloat. Now with the accident obviously causing the store to close, his hopes come crashing down. He needs to get something soon or, he fears, he’ll lose everything that matters to him. Ben Schwartz plays a financial adviser, and Teddy’s best friend, who can get him a position at his firm and clear up any of Teddy’s worries. He also informs Teddy that his hands are tied about one matter. Teddy can’t work there until he gets his GED. He has no choice but to go to night school and as fate would have it at the very school he stopped attending years earlier.

When he goes to his night school classes, something he’s doing behind Lisa’s back, Teddy meets his teacher, Carrie (Haddish), who he has already had quite a hilarity filled and memorable run-in with. They instantly don’t like one another but both want the class to succeed. They eventually have to form an alliance and work together, against the principal, to protect the integrity of the system and get Teddy moving forward in life.

With a great cast of character actors playing his fellow students, including Rob Riggle and Romany Malco, Hart manages to get himself out of what could have been a disaster. With so many writers involved with writing the script, it’s easy to picture a scenario where story concepts and jokes were getting thrown out that shouldn’t have and others hitting that shouldn’t have. I say this because at times the plot could be weak, rather sophomoric and unoriginal. It seems maybe something was lost in the shuffle. But as I’ve previously mentioned, the cast alone makes it worth your trouble. Might I suggest seeing a matinee if you decide to head to the theatre?

Smallfoot Movie Review

September 28, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

You may be surprised to hear this but when you get to the root of the message within this film, it gets rather philosophical. I wasn’t quite expecting for characters in an animated feature to attempt to heighten my awareness. ‘Smallfoot’ insists I always question things that I’ve been told, by using cute, Yeti characters who warn that ignoring your gut instinct is the proper thing to do. The way to get their complex message through to the audience, writer/director, Karey Kirkpatrick and a team of six other writers, have an elder exclaiming to his tribe to ‘push it down’ if anyone wants to examine things closer and to never believe what they see and hear with their own eyes and ears. Sound familiar? Anyway, written on stone is ancient text that tells them how to live. ‘Always be true to the stone!’ says the elder or ‘Stonekeeper’ (Common). If they do not, they will be banished. This is where we meet our protagonist, Migo (Tatum).

Being told they do not exist, Migo comes across a smallfoot, a human. With his own eyes, he watches a plane crash and sees a man get out. He runs to tell his clan that people really do exist and wants to show everyone his proof. Nothing seems to ever really work out for the poor guy which is part of the delightful aspects of the storyline that endears you to his character. He is a big goober who never does anything right but now he has something that will get him much desired acclaim and attention… or so he thinks. What it gets him is banished. The Stonekeeper isn’t interested in the truth coming out but hiding it no matter the cost.

On his own, Migo meets up with the SES, Smallfoot Evidentiary Society, led by Meechee (Zendaya). Together, they form a team to show proof of other beings by using science-based theories. Migo agrees to be lowered into the clouds where they believe a new world awaits discovery. Once he actually falls below, something you know will happen based on what has already occurred to our hapless hero, he sees a town and wanders toward it. Here, we meet up with Percy, a YouTube-type star looking for ratings for his wildlife show. He wants to capture video of and show the world that the Yeti is real and asks his assistant Brenda (Shahidi) to dress like one, for which she promptly refuses. Percy and Migo eventually stumble upon one another. What occurs next is hysterical, adorable and at times very moving. It’s deliberate on the part of the writers and the animators to ensure children see how important it is that we all listen as well as communicate properly to secure the very survival of our own kind. At points, the film is almost chilling but never once is it not impressive.

Well done Warner Brothers for bringing us something that entertains as well as educates the children without them realizing what’s hitting them. I love the idea that little nuggets of wisdom are dropped into young minds without their fully realizing it. Here, we touch on a great many subjects, those I’ve mentioned plus many others such as the environment. See ‘Smallfoot’ with the family this weekend to not only be amused and charmed but to be thoroughly engaged and enlightened.

The Children Act Movie Review

September 28, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

In ‘The Children Act’ I believe I can safely say that Emma Thompson’s portrayal of a Judge named Fiona Maye, who’s going through the turmoil of making a life and death decision on a landmark case while at the same time her own life is going to hell, was the best part of the film. She very much makes ‘The Children Act’ worth seeing. Thompson was remarkable in this but then, when isn’t she?

The film opens on a different case involving whether or not to separate conjoined twins. The stronger infant would be saved if the procedure were to be done but the weaker of the two would die. Fiona has studied hard and tells the parents, who don’t want to risk losing one child over the other, as only God has the right to decide on life, that the court is a court of law, not of morals, and grants the hospital the right to perform the separation. This was a profoundly dramatic opening and totally captures your imagination with regards to her personality and how far she’s going to be willing to go to fight for, as the title suggests, a child.

In the meantime, we see that her husband Jack (Tucci) has been neglected. So much so that he informs her that he would like to have an affair. Since they live only her life, schedule things around when she can do them, give pecks on the cheek in passing if they pass one another, they’ll never get around to be the more adventurous couple they once were. This argument in movies against women working usually gets to me because it has never bothered men when they were the ones constantly working while the woman at home, but times have changed so if done correctly, it makes for a satisfying addition to the storyline and here it does the story justice. She stays stoic as she takes in what he’s doing and, though she doesn’t condone or accept his view of their marriage now as being ‘open,’ won’t show him exactly how much he has hurt her and how deeply she wishes she could stop him. In essence, make her judgment and stop him from ripping her heart out. Marriage doesn’t work that way.

She has plenty to keep her mind occupied, however. Her next case is to save a teenager named Adam (Fionn Whitehead) who’s just shy of his eighteenth birthday. He’s a Jehovah’s Witness who has Leukemia. Once again, a hospital can try and would most likely save his life if they could be allowed to give him a blood transfusion, something his parents strongly oppose. The doctor explains to Fiona that Adam’s red and white cell counts are dropping, that he’s fighting to breathe, could suffer blindness and brain damage because his body is no longer producing its own blood. Most likely, he’ll die an extremely horrible death. This weighs heavy on her as she listens to Adam’s father, Kevin (Chaplin) advocate not on behalf of his son’s life but on the will of the church. Yes, Adam wants to do what the church has told him is good for him but at his terribly young age, is dying good for Adam? Fiona makes the decision to go and meet with him because she wants to be sure he understands what’s at stake and will make her decision afterward. This is where the story goes off on a bit of a tangent. Not her decision on the case but, honestly, the rest of the film. For me, it gets chaotic and somewhat ridiculous, straying from the captivating story about this magnificent judge’s world crumbling to the ground to the tale of a love-sick teenager. Had it not strayed, this would have been a contender for awards, but the ending simply doesn’t hold water. The idea that she’s now responsible for his life, doesn’t get by me but at the same time, reverses the narrative about the fact that, though a flawed human being, she is a damn good judge! I would suggest seeing it. The performances are worth it but maybe wait for cable.

The Sisters Brothers Movie Review

September 28, 2018 (updated September 28, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Sisters Brothers” concerns two brothers, brothers who have the odd last name of Sisters. But because they live in the West during the Gold Rush era, they have an odd job. They work for a shady power broker in Oregon who known as Commodore. The Sisters brothers are sent on special missions. They go out to hunt and kill people who have crossed the Commodore in some way. People who have cheated, people who have stolen goods, and maybe even people who have looked at him cross-eyed. The brothers do not care why the hit has been put out. As long as the Commodore pays, the brothers travel the West to do his bidding.

Eli Sisters (John C. Reilly) is the older brother and Charlie Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix) is younger. They have deadly aim and never seem to miss. The stakes are high for the Commodore (Rutger Hauer – barely seen in this movie). There is a new job, and it is to work with a private detective named John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal). Morris is on the trail of a meek chemist called Hermann Warm (Riz Ahmed). Warm has crossed the Commodore, and now he must pay. Being a chemist, he developed some type of method to find deposits of gold in a river bank. Warm decided that this new science trick could give him the means to create a Utopia, and locate it in Dallas. Morris finds and befriends Warm, and he decides to switch sides and protect the scientist from the murderous Commodore.

The Sisters brothers are also getting close to the goal, only to find Morris is now working against them and helping Warm. The brothers encounter many obstacles in the journey to San Francisco. They have run-ins with a bear, and spiders and strange town called Mayfield. They are delayed but not deterred. They arrive in San Francisco to continue the search. Charlie is ready to get on the trail again, even with no clues. Eli wants to take this down time to reflect of the major achievements in the world; such as street lamps, toothbrushes, indoor plumbing and even flush toilets. Charlie is having none of it, because all he wants to do is get out there are kill somebody. Eli is much more sensitive, and he deeply cares for animals. But he thinks his brother might be one…

The Sisters brothers keep searching and they find the pair they are looking for. Morris and Warm and working near a river to prospect for gold, but using Warm’s special formula – it makes it very easy. A group of thugs from Mayfield have followed them, hoping to get the reward for Warm. But Eli and Charlie team up with Morris and Warm to defeat them. They all work together to get a new deposit of gold from the river. The formula is very caustic and dangerous to use. Charlie is greedy and tries to find even more gold. But there is a major incident with the formula, and everything goes very wrong. There are big problems ahead for the Sisters brothers, mostly because Charlie could not control himself.

It is interesting to see a Frenchman co-write and direct a movie about the American West. There is not the typical flavor of a ‘Classic Western’. There are horses and six-shooters and gunfights and brothels and gold prospecting and such. These are used only as backdrops to examine the lives of Charlie and Eli. It brings a gritty realistic view of what it must have been like to be in that era. There is a difficult edge of violence that the brothers must dance up to the rim, but not fall off into oblivion.

However, the slow and meandering story line sometimes gets stuck in the lowest gears. There are shifting motivations for all the characters, and it is hard to believe that most of them would change on a dime. The acting is great all around. Plus special accolades to Jake Gyllenhaal for creating a unique accent and dialect. It sounds like upper-crust East Coast, with a touch of an aristocratic Englishman.

“The Sisters Brothers” is a retelling of the Western frontier experience. But it moves slowly and without much passion. The lead performers are well-suited in those roles. It would be nice if “The Sisters Brothers” had a little more to offer. In the end, it feels like kissing your Sisters…

#TheSistersBrothers

TheSistersBrothers.movie – http://thesistersbrothers.movie/

Instagram: @SistersBrosFilm – https://www.instagram.com/sistersbrosfilm/

Twitter: @SistersBrosFilm – https://twitter.com/SistersBrosFilm

Facebook: /SistersBrosFilm – https://www.facebook.com/SistersBrosFilm/

Colette Movie Review

September 28, 2018 (updated September 28, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Colette” is a lovingly constructed look back at the female French author known as Colette. She was quite a liberated lady for a country girl who had married a famous author who had taken her to the City of Lights. Her much-older husband was quite a bounder and a cad, who always spent more than he took in. Be he saw great talent in Colette and eventually brought out the artist within her. At the turn of the prior century, Colette and her exploits kept the Paris scandal sheets full of juicy gossip. Her husband took credit for all of Colette’s writing, and it took everything in her power to get that changed.

Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) was a curious school-girl at a small country village in France when she first met Henry Gauthier-Villars (Dominic West). He became very famous using his pen name Willy, and has a large group of writers creating content and publishing in his name. Willy marries the much younger Colette, and they move to his place in Paris. Colette is astonished by the hubbub of activity and constant noise of the city. She attends the lavish parties that Willy brings her to, and she is entranced by some of the talented people. But just as many are non-talented gossip-mongers. Colette has no time for them.

Willy finally sees that Colette has a flair for writing, and he encourges her to produce a short book. It is published, of course under the byline of ‘Willy’. Colette’s story of a country schoolgirl named Claudine is an overnight success, but it is very scandalous for that time. Suddenly, Willy is again the talk of the town. Colette knows that the real brains behind ‘Claudine’ is not Willy.

But she also knows that the 1890’s society would frown upon a female author getting a huge book released under her own name. Willy and Colette are soon invited into the upper-crust of the Paris culture. They meet an American heiress living in Paris named Georgie Raoul-Duval (Eleanor Tomlinson). Colette finds herself drawn into a forbidden love affair with Georgie, but soon she finds that Willy is also secretly dipping in that same inkwell…

Soon more ‘Claudine’ books are published and the book sales break records, and Willy becomes an even more pompous ass. Colette sees that her relationship with Willy is fading, and she finds a new love. The new ‘man’ in her life is Mathilde de Morny, of noble birth and lineage. Known as Missy (Denise Gough) is a manish-looking woman who is more at home in trousers and a crisp men’s shirt and vest. She would be frowned upon and shunned by the Paris society, except for the fact of her royal blood and wealth. Colette and Missy become inseparable, and Willy is upset that Colette has no interest in writing. Instead Colette and Missy study acting and then try out the new art of pantomime. Willy has entered the world of stage, also. He has a play created from the ‘Claudine’ books and it is a big hit. He backs a new production at the Moulin Rouge for Colette and Missy, but it backfires on them.

Colette becomes more involved with acting and with stagecraft. She and Missy travel all over Europe. Willy fades from her view and he tries to prevent her from claiming her rightful status as the creator of ‘Claudine’. After a long period of performing, Colette takes down all of her thoughts as a book about being a ‘Vagabond’ on the road. She gets it published under her own name and becomes a major author in her own right. She eventually receives the rights for all of her work done on the ‘Claudine’ books, also. She lives a rich and full life, and is remembered now as a writer and as a performer. She even later wrote the book that became the basis of the movie ‘Gigi’…

Keira Knightley is wonderfully cast as the precocious and peppy Colette. She and Dominic West work well as the married ‘power couple’ in the high society of France. She steals the show with her performance, and her bold moves that transition her character are very fascinating. Starting out as a young country girl who turns into a fully liberated woman who is the talk of the town, she makes the character of Colette her very own. Living in that time period, Colette was far advanced in her thoughts and her work. Not to mention her sexual partners…

Opens exclusively at the Harkins Scottsdale Camelview

Lizzie Movie Review

September 21, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

There’s a nursery rhyme, for lack of a better term, that you probably heard while you were growing up that goes as follows, ‘Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother forty whacks; When she saw what she had done she gave her father forty-one.’ This was based on Lizzie Borden and the murder of her parents and the movie does a great job of getting down to ‘IF’ Lizzie was guilty, why did she do it? The very thought of it is horrible and you immediately think her a monster but was she guilty? If she were, was she pushed too far? Was she in her right mind? At trial, a jury of all men deliberated for ninety minutes and returned a not guilty verdict because they, ‘refused to believe a woman of her social standing could commit such a heinous crime.’

During the film, we learn that Lizzie’s (Sevigny) father, Andrew (Sheridan) and his icy cold second wife Abby (Shaw) are very wealthy. Andrew requires an undeserved amount of respect from everyone, from those he employs to work around the house and from his daughters and their stepmother. All are to do as he says and to submit. He takes advantage of those in his charge and when the movie picks up, in the year 1892, we learn that everyone does do as they’re told… everyone except for Lizzie. She’s very strong willed and refuses to be ruled over. Lizzie has seizures, something he sees as an embarrassment to his name. He doesn’t even want her going to the theatre in case she has a ‘spell’ that others may see.

Lizzie is very kind to animals and staff, paying particular notice to the new maid, Bridget (Stewart) who starts teaching to read. The film then leads to Lizzie and Bridget having a lesbian affair. This is handled quite beautifully with one woman offering love to someone who had never been allowed to experience it before. Before this, we see Andrew at his worst after he discovers that Lizzie had pawned some of her mother’s jewelry. He does something appalling and Lizzie lets him know that she’ll not be victimized by his fear tactics. Soon after she finds out that her father is changing his will. This is when it’s suggested that a plan has already been in place for her to murder her father for his misdeeds and his mistreatment of her, her sister and of Bridget.

The blows to the head come next, which are no surprise, of course, but it’s gripping to find out how it actually happens and what happens directly after. Since all we ever really knew of were the whacks themselves, if it were Lizzie, we, at this point, could certainly find a reason to empathize. Even though they were beyond brutal to sit through and watch. So brutal it hardly leaves room for doubt who would have delivered to these people such savagery but someone who was greatly pained by them. The film’s pacing can be slow at times but the sets, the acting and the history of it all are fascinating. Stewart and Sevigny are fantastic, and I have to strongly suggest you see this for the performances if nothing else.

In Phoenix, it’s playing at the following theatres:

AMC Desert Ridge 18

Camelview at Fashion Square

Tempe Marketplace 16

Arizona Mills 24

Harkins Arrowhead Fountains 18

Fahrenheit 11/9 Movie Review

September 21, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

This is a frightening but very important film to see. As impactful as it is, it’s arguably Michael Moore’s best. As hard as the issues are Moore manages, in his own unique and masterful way, to make you laugh even when you’re aghast. The man who goes all out to uncover corruption for all to see has this time gone after the highest office in all the land. He brings with him not only experience but also brings to light the anxiety of the American people. True worry about losing the rights we all have but wouldn’t think in a million years we’d have to voice our fear of losing. We’re promised their well taken care of by The Constitution, right? We have faith and certainly hope that when a president takes his oath of office, he’ll fight for those rights and oppose all enemies both foreign and domestic. This film exposes the problems with having faith and hope and the issues that stem from not paying close attention to politics. As stated, what goes on in Washington concerns us all and since our elected officials speak for us, we should keep close tabs on what’s going on. Unfortunately, far too many of us haven’t.

If you have been watching politics before and since Trump got into the White House, which is hard to avoid since every news station covers it continually, and you aren’t happy with it, you’ll pretty well know a lot about what the film covers. However, you’ll also be astonished and to put it bluntly, sickened, viewing how Moore has packaged it all together for you. No matter what side of the aisle your political views lean, he manages to reveal what both sides have done and where they need to improve if the nation is ever going to be able to come together and heal. No one wants to hear that they’re wrong but it’s time we’re open to. Watching this could help people agree to do just that. For our children’s sake, we need to meet in the middle somewhere, agree to disagree and settle our differences. Want it or not, with Trump in office, we could lose our Democracy. This is a point that Moore makes very clear by splicing what’s going on in America today in relation to what Germany went through when Hitler took power in Germany. America is headed toward an Authoritarian regime and I don’t think anyone wants that but they’re not paying attention. With voiceover and historic information about Germany at the time the Nazi party took over, Moore exposes that Trump’s, like Hitler’s, best interests lie not with the people but with himself. It’s scary to see what America fell for.

I won’t go down the list of everything Moore brought up but instead say that, whether you like Trump or not, you should give this your time. Maybe you, as many are, will see that it’s time to get involved to try and change your country so nothing like this will ever happen again. You’ll be outraged but to get mad at the man who’s exposing it all for you isn’t where to direct your frustrations. That anger needs to be turned toward the subjects of the film.

FOLLOW MICHAEL MOORE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

fb.com/mmflint

twitter.com/MMFlint

instagram.com/michaelfmoore

The House with a Clock in its Walls Movie Review

September 21, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Eli Roth, known for making horror films that leave nightmares in their wake, this time tries his hand at something for the younger crowd with, ‘The House With a Clock in its Walls,’ based on the novel by John Bellairs. While this is a family movie, it does have a touch of darkness I wasn’t quite expecting to see. With its creepy puppets and dolls, the frightening CG creatures, some nice some not so nice, and the house itself which appears to be alive and often crabby, the film just might not be right for someone under the age of eight. This would especially be the case if a child has never been exposed to anything similar to Goosebumps. Magic swirls around the story and the world a young boy, Lewis (Vaccaro), who finds himself forced to live with his kooky uncle in Michigan after the death of his parents from a car accident.

Lewis is still upset about his loss but immediately warms to the idea of living with his eccentric uncle Jonathan (Black) after getting to know him more. He’s helped by getting to know his uncle’s friend and neighbor, Florence (Blanchett), and he begins to see that through them he might eventually be part of a family once more. Jonathan and Florence’s relationship is much like that of a married couple. They bicker and argue but also care about one another and seem to have Lewis’ best interest in mind as they introduce him to the life of witches and warlocks. They give him some books and he quickly learns spells of his own. At school, he’s told by his friend, Tarby (Suljic), that his uncles’ house is haunted. Lewis believes it at first due to the strange noises and loud ticking clocks but is shown that the rumor is far from the truth. Wanting to impress his friend, Lewis gets himself into trouble when he decides to prove to Tarby that he’s wrong by showing him some of the magic he’s learned. Not easily able to impress the boy, Lewis goes further. He opens a forbidden cabinet and offers a blood oath to a book on necromancy that he finds which raises from the dead the previous owner of the house, Isaac Izzard (MacLachlan). Isaac has been waiting for someone to bring him back to life so he could wipe all people from existence.

‘The House With a Clock in its Walls’ is solid entertainment. The CGI is well done, Blanchett is dramatic and comical, Jack Black’s crazy warlock is impressive and the barking chair that seems to be his pet will leave smiles on the faces of the young and old alike. In fact, this might be a good introduction for kids to watching something heavier. Again, this will appeal to the older kids in the family, but you might want to leave the much younger ones at home. I don’t think you want this film to be how they learn about death which is a subject well breached here. It can be scary but its intentions of teaching a boy about his spirit and about being adventurous are not missed. I can see where the studio might be able to take this trip a little further if they were so inclined.

Assassination Nation Movie Review

September 21, 2018 (updated September 20, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Assassination Nation” takes the idea of social media, privacy and a reactive social mob mentality, and throws it all in your face. And it hits with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to your nether regions. It is slick, over-the-top and in the end, very silly. In a small town called Salem (get it? Witch Hunts?), the four young high school teenaged girls become the focal point of the town’s seething rage. There have been data breeches and leaks posted on the Internet, and now everyone’s sordid secrets have been exposed. The main suspect is one of the girls, and now the place is armed to the teeth for revenge. Out-of-control social media meets mob violence and social upheaval – call it “Insta-Purge”.

Lily Colson (Odessa Young) is a high school senior, with a lot of emotional baggage and internal pain. She hangs out with her gal pals; Sarah (Suki Waterhouse), Bex (Hari Nef) and Em (Abra). They talk and act and behave like any character created by a middle-aged male writer/director focusing on his own fantasies. That is to say, none of the dialog or action is very realistic at all. They talk about the awfulness of being objectified and oversexualized. This is while the movie objectifies and oversexualizes each girl. But one day a massive data dump of the private hidden details of the Mayor’s secret sex life are laid bare to the Internet world. Everyone is outraged, and then the Mayor commits suicide.

The next subject of a privacy leak is the high school Principal Turrell (Colman Domingo). He tries to downplay the details, and he will not resign, but he is hated from that point on. The next one to be outed is Nick (Joel McHale). Lily has been friends with Nick for years, and she has sent numerous sexy pictures, but nothing way too racy. She enjoys Nick’s playful text messages, which are a bit naughty. But she has never done anything with him. But Lily’s boyfriend Mark (Bill Skarsgård) starts to realize that Lily is going ga-ga over Nick. Nick’s wife leaves with their child, and he goes into isolation. The cops force an innocent computer hacker to cough up a name. And he gives them a name: Lily Colson.

Of course Lily is not responsible, and she does not know who is behind it all. But she and her friends think they are safe over at Em’s house. Her mom Nance (Anika Noni Rose) is a little Xanex-ed out, but she wants to help keep the girls safe. But outside, the Salem “Purge” team is forming to bring Lily and her friends to violent justice. Nance is killed and Sarah and Em are taken by the police. Bex escapes, but is caught by a band of vigilantes. Lily escapes and starts to get help from her old friend Nick. That is, until Nick turns into sex fiend and attempts to rape her. All in all, there are few allies that the four girls can find. So, grabbing a large survivalist arsenal they find in Nick’s house, they are about to go out guns a’blazin’…

“Assassination Nation” is a parody of a John Hughes high school movie redone as a Quentin Tarantino splatter fest. It is “Easy-A” crossbred with “The Purge”. There is a mountain of hot garbage to sit though before you can find a molehill of an original idea. There is questionable writing and direction, and it blurs together like a bad death-metal music video. Even with the best actors in the world, it could not give them anything like an actual role to play. The biggest production expense, it seems, was for gallons of fake movie blood.

By all means, if you are pimply-faced angst-filled teen, then perhaps this movie will mean something to you. For most everyone else, grab your passport and check out a different “Nation”.

The Basement Movie Review

September 14, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Before the film starts, there’s an introduction that tells us the third sign of the Zodiac is known as the Gemini… which is also referred to as ‘the twins.’ This is because Gemini’s are known to have a dual nature.

We open on a man we learn is Craig (Long), a popular and wealthy guitarist. He stops at a gas station and is texting who appears to be his wife or girlfriend and who hopes to see him soon. He finishes a message to her and puts his phone away. At that moment, he’s grabbed from behind and stuffed into a van.

Craig awakens, in a dark basement, tied to an old school desk, unable to move. He’s frightened and confused when a clown (Davis) comes out of the darkness and approaches him. The clown refers to Craig as Bill. Craig is abused by the sadistic clown who also oddly admits that he, himself, may be smiling on the outside but is very lost on the inside. He leaves. Soon after, another man comes down. Craig is accused by the man of killing seven people. The drama intensifies and so does the terror as this man makes demands of Craig to reveal something about the murders that he couldn’t possibly know as he, Craig, is not the killer. One after the other, men come and go, and Craig realizes that with each accusation of the murders and slight revelation of themselves, the men are only one man and that this man is Bill, screaming at himself and at those who hurt him at some point in his life. A cop, a prison guard, even a priest all with stories of their own torture and humiliation are Bill. This is who he became from enduring a life of pain.

Craig attempts to break through… to get to one of the personalities but finds that he not only isn’t being successful but they’re getting more and more hostile. They ignore his pleas for help. One cuts off his fingers… his livelihood. Craig, horrified and in pain, begs the ‘doctor’ who performed the removal to get him to the hospital but is only met with calm instruction on how to care for his injury. Bill eventually comes down as a woman; his own mother. Craig plays the role of her son and attempts to save his life. She hands him a nail file and leaves. The Prison Guard explains that Craig is about to be executed and he’s treated to his final meal and a priest who lets him confess his sins. The executioner soon arrives. He has three minutes left to live… I’ll let you discover what happens on your own.

While all of this is going on, we see that Craig’s wife, Kelly (Barton) is frantic, calling everyone looking for her husband. She’s beside herself with worry but luckily for her, her best friend Bianca (Borders) is there to hold her hand through this tough time.

This movie is demented, bloody, gory and twisted! I had a nightmare after watching! It’s hard to get over. The effects could have been a lot better but the twist at the end and the acting, especially by Jackson Davis, is absolutely outstanding. He was completely believable as each personality he came down the stairs as, magnificently keeping his cool, showing slight empathy one moment and then becoming a cold monster a mere second after. Though you could tell it was him, the slight changes Jackson Davis displayed made all the difference in the film and without him, it’s reasonable to consider the movie wouldn’t have been as good. If you’re not a true horror fan but love an incredible performance, you’d do worse than to witness what Davis does here.

*In Phoenix, ‘The Basement’ is playing exclusively at AMC Arizona Center

Category: Reviews

Night School Movie Review

Smallfoot Movie Review

The Children Act Movie Review

The Sisters Brothers Movie Review

Colette Movie Review

Lizzie Movie Review

Fahrenheit 11/9 Movie Review

The House with a Clock in its Walls Movie Review

The Basement Movie Review

Leaderboard 🏆

Recent Reviews

Latest Photos