The Blackening: As a comedy, The Blackening works well. The ensemble cast (Grace Byers, Antionette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins-who also co-wrote the script with veteran scribe Tracy Oliver) bounce off each other well-especially once the threat of a masked killer enters the equation, the humor goes far beyond just lampooning the tropes of black characters in horror movies and there are multiple bits scattered throughout the film that had me cackling in the theater. As a horror film however, it stumbles. Tim Story's steady yet style-free direction causes any scene where suspense or menace is suppose to be achieved to fall painfully flat, the dim lighting in the outdoor scenes takes much of the excitement out of the biggest setpiece of the film and despite the novel choice to arm the killer with a crossbow instead of a knife, the kills lack creativity and puzzlingly shy away from the blood/gore freedom that an R-rating allows for (PG-13 slashers like Happy Death Day and M3GAN honestly might be more graphic than this). Even with its missteps on the horror side of things, The Blackening is still funny and clever enough to be a fun watch.
Grade: B
Elemental: Another sweet, sensitive and beautifully-animated entry into the Pixar library that also manages to continue the somewhat dispiriting recent trend of their films failing to match the level of excellence that is synonymous with the brand. Director Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur) and the writing trio of John Hoberg, Brenda Hsueh and Kat Likkel want Elemental to be a lot of things at the same time. The story deals with the sacrifices an immigrant family makes to provide a better life for themselves as well as their children, not feeling welcome in a new country because of your status as a foreigner or your home country because you left, racism on the whole, stigmas around interracial relationships, the difficulties of letting your parents know that you want defer from the life path they've always envisioned for you, trying to find your place in the world and how shitty working retail/municipal jobs is. By attempting to be so many things at once, every single theme becomes diluted and it pretty quickly becomes this big, well-intentioned jumble of ideas that only rarely comes together to become something with true emotionally resonance. While Pixar's commitment to make more original films after putting out so many sequels during the 2010's is great, they're going to need to churn out better efforts than Elemental moving forward if they want to remain the gold standard in American animation at a time where the genre appears to be entering its most inspired period in quite some time.
Grade: B-
Asteroid City: Near the end of Asteroid City, a theater actor (Jason Schwartzman) leaves the stage during a brief period where has no lines to ask the director (Adrien Brody) what their play "Asteroid City" is about. He responds with something to the effect of "It doesn't matter, just follow your heart and you'll find the meaning". An open invitation to ignore what a movie is trying to say is one that I'll gladly accept, but Asteroid City is so unengaging on the whole that it's hard to enjoy as anything other than a 105-minute advertisement for 35 mm film stock, practical set building and using natural light while shooting outdoors.
Asteroid City is actually a pretty groundbreaking failure for Anderson as he finds a way to make something that's both egregiously overstuffed and underwritten that also happens to be the slowest, dryest movie he's ever made. Even at his most indulgent or obnoxious, his movies tend to at least be spirited, which makes Asteroid City's steadfast dedication to leisurely trying to find a reason to get invested in these characters and/or saying something profound about the beauty of artistic expression completely baffling and out of character for a 1-man vibrancy band like Anderson. Some good performances from Scarlett Johansson, Schwartzman, Tom Hanks, Steve Carrell, Maya Hawke and Rupert Friend and a handful of good jokes along with the aforementioned technical prowess provide some much-needed jolts of life, but this vessel is just damn stagnant and aloof to save.
Grade: C-
No Hard Feelings: Not since Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys has a serious actor revealed themselves to to be a secret virtuoso comic performer the way that Jennifer Lawrence does in No Hard Feelings. Whether it's hurling an insult at a drunk teenager, struggling to navigate a set of stairs on roller blades or simply committing to a bit that's deeply stupid, Lawrence is the type of undeniable comedic force that knows exactly what she needs to do to get a laugh and make it look downright effortless in the process. It's the most revelatory performance she's turned in since American Hustle and I really hope it's a skill set that she gets the chance to continue to utilize for the remainder of her career.
Stage actor Andrew Barth Feldman also does outstanding work in his comedy debut as Percy- the awkward 19-year old Lawrence's character Maddie is hired to seduce. His naivety powers some of the funniest interactions of the movie and the pure heart that grew from the sheltered life he's lived gives the film a sense of sweetness that you wouldn't typically expect from an R-rated sex comedy.
The appeal of No Hard Feelings is further heightened by its status as a true, old-school R-rated comedy. This is the 1st time in roughly 4 years that I've been to a theater to see a movie like this that wasn't just consistently funny, but brought out a huge audience that was laughing their asses off the entire time. Getting to have this experience that has long-felt endangered in the theatrical space was incredible and it's a rush that I hope I'll get to re-capture a few more times this summer when Joy Ride, Strays and Bottoms are released. No Hard Feelings is the funniest narrative comedy to be released since Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar and I hope it can do well enough to get studios to continue to invest in R-rated comedies.
Grade: B+
