The Fall of the House of Usher

9/10

In Mike Flanagan's third limited Netflix horror series based on a popular house-based work of fiction (and probably his last since he has signed a deal with Amazon), we get an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Fall of the House of Usher as well as several other of the author's other works. After suffering a great tragedy, CEO of the powerful pharmaceuticals company Fortunato Roderick Usher (played by Thirteen Days' Bruce Greenwood) invites his nemesis district attorney Auguste Dupin (Alias' Carl Lumbly), who's been trying to get him charged for various criminal activities for decades, for a confession. In it, Usher recounts what befell him and his family and why.

This is an interesting departure from the last two house shows. Whereas those were more typical haunting shows with low body counts, this one's rather different. Body count's high here and the show is far more violent. (Perhaps this is Flanagan's reaction to criticisms about his previous show The Haunting of Bly Manor which is more psychological and the least with straight scares.) There is one kill in particular that is EXTREME and not for everyone.

Whereas the previous shows were about basically good people in bad situations, the Usher family, which are obvious parallels for the Sackler family, the ones responsible for the opioid epidemic, are mostly the opposite. This is one of those morality tales where bad people have things happen to them that are equivalent to their trespasses. Flanagan has always been big on characterization, and he does a solid job of making ourselves understand how the Ushers turned out the way they are. The two major strengths to FotH are getting to know the rich, diverse cast of characters and predicting how the next over-the-top death will happen.  One may argue that it's a bit lazy of Flanagan to focus most of the episodes around specific Poe stories, but he does a superb job of updating them to modern times.

Most of the dialogue works in this. However, there are a few speeches given by characters where it does not feel natural and is just Flanagan trying to too hard to get a message across.

As with most Flanagan productions, we get a great cast, including many of the the director's regulars. Originally, Frank Langella was cast to play the Usher Patriarch but got fired for repeated inappropriate comments. I won't lie that I would've liked to see what could've been with Langella's trademark bold voice and performance. (Not to defend him. He was warned to stop, and he still kept on.) However, Greenwood is a veteran actor and he does an awards-worthy performance as a complex, nuanced character. The man's expressions can say so much with so little effort. One of the best parts of this show is the framing device of Greenwood's conversation with Lumbly: two talented men working off of each.

Best performance probably goes to Carla Gugino as the mysterious woman involved with the Ushers' misfortunes. She utilizes multiple disguises in this and its impressive how the actress slips into various personalities.

A surprise casting for this was Mark Hamill as the Ushers' lawyer/fixer Arthur Pym. The actor has been popping up in live-action more often these days, but it still feels like the movie/TV world often still doesn't know how to properly utilize the guy. I think this will be considered alongside The Big Red as one of his best works outside Star Wars. He plays the guy who knows where the bodies are buried; the one employee the spoiled Usher children know you don't mess with. Hamill brings to life a no-nonsense, smart character but who also has a bit of humor and personality to when he is faced with the unexpected. There's a discussion in this that is arguably one of the best performances he has ever given.

Highly recommended. I'd say this is the second best of the trilogy. Hill House has the better scares but the difference between the quality of these two is not by much.

Once Upon a Studio

8.5/10

In this short Disney special, the characters lining the animation cells on the walls of the Disney Studio come to life and come together for a photo.  

Now this is how you do an anniversary special! OUaS really covers all of Disney history. Not just the popular characters but the ones from EVERY single Disney movie. 'Course some get more spotlight than others but directors/writers Dan Abraham and Tent Correy make the effort to give the less famous guys lines and have them mingle with others.

The nice thing about animation projects with short run times is that more effort can go into the animation as the budget isn't spread around as much. It also all looks standard big budget Disney. What is so impressive is that all the characters feel like they were scooped out of their respective time periods as their animation and design are all tailored to their original periods.

Recommended. I mean it's light entertainment that's basically "remember this," and I guess it's not required viewing. However, it is an enjoyable 9 minutes and a big treat for animation fans.

Scavengers Reign- Season 1- Episode 1

6.5/10

In the first episode of this adult animated show on Max, the crew of a damaged spaceship become marooned on a planet full of strange animals and plants.

First off, I've got to give Max credit for giving this a shot. There are so few adult animated shows and films out there that aren't comedy. Scavengers Reign shows the value of telling serious stories through animation. You'd never be able to depict such a visually ambitious alien world with a live-action budget.

The best thing about this is the animation and sheer creativity to the planet. The creator or creators have hatched such a unique environment featuring ideas I'd never think of. What I saw in the first episode isn't leaving my brain any time soon. Designs are colorful but definitely alien. I don't think I've ever seen an alien world depicted on screen that is just so different from our own. As beautiful as the planet can be, it can also be unsettling or straight up macabre. The whole show feels like a European comic.

Credit should be given to Max for taking the risk on telling such a weird and unarguably adult and sometimes dark tale. Going back to comparing this to a comic, this felt like one of those stories that would've been toned down in order to make them more audience friendly if they had been adapted to screen, but no, the show is allowed to be as weird and adult as it likes.

Thing is that I'm not planning on continuing to watch this. I know I spent several paragraphs saying I admire the gutsiness of the project, but that's just it. I admire the endeavor but not the final project. The whole affair was just too slow-paced for my tastes, and I don't think I could push myself through eleven more episodes.

The alien world is creative but just a little too off-beat for my taste. Also, the dialogue felt a little stale/unnatural. 

There is some fine voice acting in this including from Loki/Lovecraft Country's Mosaku as crew member Azi and Arrested Development/Search Party's Alia Shawkat as her robot companion Levi. However, some delivery feels stilted including from Bob Stephenson as crew member Sam. (In fairness to Stephenson, it may not be his fault. His audio felt off when compared to the others, like they recorded his audio remotely because he couldn't make it to the studio and the quality wasn't up to par.)

Kinda recommended. Some people will be put off by the pacing and general content, while I see others being really into this. Though I'm not returning, I don't regret giving this a shot.

The Burial

7.5/10

In this Amazon Prime film inspired by real events (I admire how the film is straight up honest in its embellishment) that takes place in the '90's, Jeremiah "Jerry" O'Keefe (played by Tommy Lee Jones), the owner of several Mississippi funeral homes, is suffering from money problems. He makes a deal with Ray Loewen (Bill Camp), the owner of a Canadian funeral home company to sell a few of O'Keefe's businesses. However, Loewen stalls for months on signing the contract so he can just wait out on O'Keefe not being able to afford insurance so he can sweep in and take over O'Keefe's entire turf. The Mississippian decides to sue and since the trial takes place in a predominantly black district, he decides to hire black personal injury lawyer Willie Gary (Jamie Fox), who has never lost a case but does not have contract law experience.  

The Burial is your typical feel-good historical drama that involves disparate people working together. The movie's biggest weakness is that it's too blatant in certain parts of dialogue in its attempts to emotionally tug on the audience's sympathies. However, it is a well orchestrated film of its type. The cast and script are solid and make for an enjoyable two hours and six minutes that blow by.

Needless to say that the best part of a movie starring Fox and James is Fox and James. Fox owns the role of the fast-talking, showman type of lawyer, and Jones easily has mastery over the role of a salt of the earth, family man. Camp doesn't get much screen time, but he succeeds in the time he has as a guy who is slime, but intelligent and knows the game. Ferris Bueller/Succession's Alan Ruck and Elemental's Mamoudou Athie also do well as O'Keefe's long term contract lawyer and the lawyer who introduces O'Keefe to Gary.  

Recommended. It's just a well told story that works. 

Monster High 2

6/10

In this made-for-TV Nickelodeon sequel, Draculaura's future practicing witchcraft is threatened when witches attack Monster High. Plus, Clawdeen's attempts to make the monster world more progressive is threatened by returning student Toralei Stripes (played by Salena Qureshi).

First film was stronger. I miss a bit of the humor from that one. The main villain pales in terms of personality and motivation in comparison to the last movie's one. MH2 is all about the three main leads trying to stop the war between vampires and witches. They talk a lot about the reasons why to be sympathetic with witches, but we don't get to see enough benevolent witches, so it's hard to see how peace can be achieved when the understanding is one-sided.

That all having been said, I do credit the writers for putting effort into the plot. This could've been complete fluff and general Nickelodeon hijinks but the movie has a clear message about getting along and diversity. Thought was given into the whole history of the witch/vampire war and the whole affair does feel like a genuine threat to monster kind.

Songs, except for one that pits Clawdeen Wolf (Mila Harris) against Torali, aren't very memorable, but I wouldn't say any are bad either.

Sorta recommended. Not the greatest children's movie ever made but decent, and kids will probably like it.

The Continental: From the world of John Wick

8.5/10

In three movie-length episodes, this Peacock television spin-off/prequel of the John Wick movies (couldn't tell if it is supposed to be a season 1 or just a mini-series) is about how Winston Scott (played here by Colin Woodell) became the manager of The Continental, the hotel for assassins and other criminals, as a young man back in the 1970's. The movie starts with businessman Winston being forced by crime boss and current Continental manager McCormac O'Connor (Mel Gibson) to find his brother Frankie (Animal Kingdom's Ben Robson) who has stolen a valuable item.

What works about this is that the show doesn't feel like a cookie cutter plot of the traditional JW formula. Don't get it wrong, there is plenty of action (more about that later), but there's a lot more focus on characters and plot. This is doing a strong job of being a 70's crime story and the battles/cooperation between various characters make things interesting.

The action isn't the pure gun-fu from JW, but the show is action-packed. Some may be disappointed that the second episode doesn't have that much fighting, but they're saving it all for the finale. Rarely have I seen the final episode of a season so rewarding. Almost the entirety of it is a pure violence and choreography lover's dream.

The protagonists are decent. I wouldn't say they're all stand-outs, but they all work well. A particularly strong performance is Ayomede Adugin as the young version of Winston's right hand Charon (Ayomide Adegun), who's currently Cormac's right hand at this point. The actor perfectly captures Lance Reddick's charm and professionalism. At first, Cormac doesn't seem that interesting as he feels like a basic mobster. However as  his situation becomes more and more desperate (he's got superiors who don't want failure) the character becomes more and more intriguingly disturbed. 

The villains who really stand out here are the silent assassin twins Hansel (actor and stuntman Mark Musachi) and Gretel (Marina Mazepi, who's specialized in playing monsters in the past). Yeah, the whole silent twins thing has been done before but what make this different is that these two psychos aren't identical in their mannerisms or fighting styles. They make for ideal real threats and are fascinatingly weird. They might actually be my favorite antagonists in the whole JohWicki-iverse.

If you're a fan of the films, you might be disappointed with how the rules of the world are handled. The characters in the movies take the rules of the criminal underground very seriously with major repercussions if you cross them. However, there is a lot of rule breaking or bending in this show and not as much enforcement. In fairness, since this takes place in the past the answer could simply be that the organization played more fast and loose back then. Maybe the rules became more strictly enforced as time went on. If that is true, they didn't make it clear, though.

If you liked that the JW films had plenty of stylish deaths but no civilian deaths, so you don't feel guilty or bummed out, The Continental doesn't follow this format. In the 70's it's dangerous to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Recommended, this was a surprisingly entertaining crime show.

Totally Killer

7.5/10

In this new film on Amazon Prime, the masked Sweet Sixteen Killer resurfaces after 35 years and attacks teenager Jamie Hughes (played by The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's Kiernan Shipka). She seeks safety in the time machine photo booth her friend invented and is sent back to the late eighties. There she tries to save the lives of her mother's three friends and figure out who the killer is. 

This is a slasher horror comedy similar to Happy Death Day and Final Girls. Much like how HDD is a "what if Groundhog's Day was a horror film," this is "what if Back to the Future was a horror movie." What ensues is a solidly written and fairly funny work with a solid story that makes you guess what'll happen next. (Plus, we get a final fight that's never been done before.)

The high point is having a modern girl in the 80's. I've never seen a movie so accurately nail the difference between today's culture and the non-PC culture of the eighties. Seeing Jamie amazed with how different things were back then never gets old. 

This movie is about Jamie learning to understand and get along with her mother Pam (played in the present by Modern Family's Julie Bowen and in the past by Cloak & Dagger's Olivia Holt). Time travel helping someone relate to their parent has been done before and there's nothing new here, but the movie does it well.

Jamie immediately knows what's going on. We don't have to go through the whole obvious character-takes-time-to figure out she's in the past bits. She's immediately on her mission.

It can be frustrating how dense and self-destructive the teens are when there's a murderer on the loose. Yeah they're teens, but I still feel they're played a little too cartooney.

If you're more into comedy than horror, and you're wondering how violent this is then this might not be for you. When the kills happen, director Nahnatchka Khan doesn't pull any punches, and they are bloody.

Also, understand that this is entertaining and clever, but I wouldn't say this is the funniest film of the year. I enjoyed myself but never laughed out loud.

Recommended. Just a generally good time, especially if you like jokes about generational differences.