Halloween: This direct continuation of John Carpenter's beloved 1978 original that gave birth to the slasher subgenre is a well-crafted, thoroughly entertaining ride that is about as good as anything to come out of this iconic horror movement in the past 15-20 years. Co-writer/director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Stronger) does an excellent job of manufacturing tension in the largely claustrophobic setting of the fictional Illinois town of Haddonfield, the death scenes are a good mix of the off-camera subtlety that Carpenter utilized in the original and grisly punctuation marks to appeal to modern gore fiends, and Jamie Lee Curtis' turn as the PTSD-afflicted Laurie Strode is easily her strongest performance in ages. There's a few questionable storytelling choices and hall-of-fame-caliber cases of horror movie characters utilizing poor judgement along the way, but the motley crew (Green, co-writer Danny McBride) that brought this chapter to the big screen still deserves a huge tip of the cap for making a great throwback slasher flick.
Grade: B+
Mid90s: With Mid90s, Jonah Hill joins the increasingly long list of actors (Bradley Cooper, Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig, Macon Blair) who have recently struck gold with their directorial debuts. Using the sophomoric yet tight-knit and diverse Los Angeles skateboarding scene as a backdrop, Hill explores the naivety, priority friendships tend to develop over family and heavy dose of poor, reckless decisionmaking that often define people's formative years without romanticizing questionable behavior or coming across as a judgmental asshole. Telling a slice of life story through such an authentic, unfiltered lens is a testament to Hill's understanding of the mindset of a young person and the subsequent lessons that can be gleaned from making mistakes as a result of immaturity.
Helping Hill's grounded, clear-eyed vision come alive is the impeccable group of young actors (Sunny Suljic, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin) he selected to lead this film. Every one of these kids, who with the exception of Siljac had never acted before, are incredibly natural in their roles and sell the vulgar yet loving camaraderie that exists in teenage male friendships beautifully. Mid90s is a top-tier coming-of-age story with a ton of heart, authenticity and laughs that should end up placing pretty high on my year-end best list.
Grade: A
Apostle: Gareth Evans' first venture away from the action genre is a well-intentioned failure. While there's some suspenseful sequences, pretty good performances by its principal cast (Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Michael Sheen, Mark Lewis Jones) and an intriguing premise centered around a mysterious religious cult operating on a secluded island off the coast of Wales, the comically inept writing squanders all of its potential. Everything from the unprovoked drastic changes in behavior from the trio of cult figureheads in the final 35-40 minutes to the variety pack of different horror genres Evans tries to blend together (folk, sadistic, supernatural, psychological) makes zero sense and helps give way to a flat-out ridiculous conclusion. If Evans is going to continue making more narrative-driven material like this, he's going to have spend a lot of time refining his scripts so they don't end being as disjointed and absurd as this.
Grade: C-
The Night Comes for Us: Were you disappointed that The Raid franchise didn't continue after the second installment? Well, writer/director Timo Tjahanto has answered the bell by gathering up numerous key players from Gareth Evans' cult favorite action films (Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle, Zack Lee) and essentially creating the unofficial third installment with The Night Comes for Us. Tjahanto shares Evans' flare for staging cleanly-shot, unbelievably gory mayhem and the string of nearly non-stop electric fight scenes between some of the world's greatest martial artists makes The Night Comes for Us a jaw-dropping ride from start to finish. As long as you're not bothered by subtitles or non-stop brutal deaths that are among the most graphic ever put on film, this Netflix production is an absolute must-watch for action/martial arts fans.
Grade: A
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