The Babysitter: Killer Queen: The Babysitter was a trashy fun horror comedy that ended up being one of the titles responsible for kickstarting Netflix's commitment to producing old school B-movies. Killer Queen-the sequel that probably no one involved with the production ever expected to happen- keeps the schlocky good times rolling. The second unfortunate series of events that leads to a bumbling teenager (Judah Lewis) facing off against a murderous Satanic cult (Robbie Amell, Andrew Bachelor, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Throne) features punchlines that often end in spectacularly gory deaths, plot twists that are varying degrees of stupid and a couple of sweet moments that add a very small emotional core to an otherwise proudly vulgar product. Comic splatter titles like this are pretty much unicorns in the current film landscape and if director McG and this game cast-which also includes Emily Alyn Lind, Ken Marino, Leslie Bibb and series newcomer Jenna Ortega-are able to keep that jokingly nasty spirt in tact, this could turn into a nice little lowish budget franchise a la Saw or Paranormal Activity.
Grade: B
The Devil All the Time: As uneven as it is, The Devil All the Time can't be accused of not striving for excellence. Antonio Campos tries his damnedest to paint a dense portrait of despair, corruption and how religion can be weaponized to commit or justify evil acts in two small, poverty-stricken towns on both sides of the Ohio/West Virginia border over the course of 15 years (1950-1965), but the substance that the film is seeking to convey just never quite materializes as it uses its non-linear storytelling approach to zip through character and plotline introductions in an effort to race towards the finish line when all of its moving parts finally converge.
On the other hand, the execution of everything else is pretty much stellar across the board. Campos creates an Southern Gothic-inspired atmosphere that really showcases the ever present grimness of the world these characters occupy, the acting ensemble anchored by a gruff yet subtly heartbreaking Tom Holland as a young man whose entire entire existence has been defined by unfathomable loss and a sickeningly sinister Robert Pattinson as a preacher whose not as righteous as he appears to be shows up in a big way and the few scenes where things stray into pure thriller territory are remarkably intense. While the strength of what it gets right makes it easy to get frustrated about the missteps that prevent it from reaching the greatness that's so clearly in sight throughout the film, it's still an admirable, ambitious attempt to tell a complex story that has more positives than negatives.
Grade: B
Unpregnant: As the United States is very likely heading down a path where the future of legal abortion access is in danger with the impending appointment of pro-life justice Amy Kony Barrett to the Supreme Court, the timing of Unpregnant's release ended up being downright chilling. Although it's largely a breezy, sometimes overtly comedic movie about two former friends (Haley Lu Richardson, Barbie Ferreira-who pass the buddy movie chemistry/likeability test with flying colors) reconnecting as they embark on a road trip from Missouri to New Mexico that just happens to feature a place where Richardson's character can receive the abortion she wants as a final destination, it does an excellent job of highlighting the infuriating and downright sickening obstacles women have to go through to get this procedure done.
The entire reason the plot of the film is put into motion is because Missouri doesn't allow women who are under 18 to receive abortions with parental consent, which inspires the 17-year old protagonist that hails from a religious family who wouldn't sign off on getting it done to embark on a 20+ hour drive to a place where she could. While Unpregnant isn't directly based off a true story, things like this happen all over the United States with alarming frequency and are likely only going to get worse if red states get the green light to further restrict abortion access with the prospective overturning of Roe v. Wade in a right-leaning Supreme Court. Unpregnant may drop the ball with some tacky, contrived melodramatic scenes that are unrelated to the abortion plot and its occasionally overly absurd road movie hijinks that take away from its otherwise grounded nature, but the importance of seeing a film tackle this topic in a lighthearted, easily relatable way and reinforce why this country needs to make abortion more readily accessible at a moment in time where a woman's right to choose is in peril can not be understated.
Grade: B
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