Tuesday usually brings some new films to streaming and this week was no exception. One of the new films available on Vudu today was the horror/comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies, directed by Halina Reijn, her English language directorial debut.

A group of friends got together to have a “hurricane party.” Everyone involved were well off and seemed to be full of privilege. When the storm hit, the group was inside the stately manor and decided to play a party game called Bodies Bodies Bodies, where one of them pretended to be a killer and tried to “kill” all the rest.

The game led to bad feelings among the group but things took a drastic turn when one of them turned up with a throat slashed. Suddenly the game took a turn out of the realm of fantasy and into reality.

Bodies Bodies Bodies was a clever film with a central mystery that was well developed and kept you unsure of who the real killer was. I will say, I had considered what turned out to be the answer to the mystery, but I was just not sure about a significant piece of the puzzle. Because of that I dismissed the possibility that tuned out to be the truth.

The cast did a solid job. The cast included Pete Davison, Lee Pace, Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott and Connor O’Malley. This young cast worked well together and brought some great intensity.

Of course, the characters involved in this movie are all just horrible people and not anyone who you would want to root for. Stenberg and Bakalova were the presumptive protagonists as a loving couple, but, even these two were questionable. I found myself hoping for the best for Maria Bakalova.

I did not find it as funny as they wanted, but I thought it was very dark and enjoyable. Bodies Bodies Bodies took the slasher genre and smashed the whodunnit genre together into a good time.

3.7 stars

I had heard a lot of positive word of mouth from people I know about Where the Crawdads Sing. So I was surprised to see that the Rotten Tomatoes score was in 33%, which is really low. I had no idea what to think about this film heading in as I rented it on Vudu.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a murder mystery/romance film that was based on a novel by author Delia Owens. It tells the story of a young girl Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) whose father was an abusive man, and it was so bad that he drove her mother and all her siblings away, leaving Kya alone to deal with him until he too leaves her.

As a seven year old living alone in the North Carolina marsh, Kya survived selling mussels at Barkley Cove local store. The people of the town began to refer to Kya as the “Marsh Girl.”

Kya met a boy Tate (Taylor John Smith) who helped teach her to read and with whim she fell in love. When he went off to college, he promised to return to her, but he did not.

Kya then met another young man named Chase (Harris Dickinson). Chase pursued Kya but, despite stringing her along, he was at a higher class level and was going to marry someone else. Still, Chase wanted to keep Kya on the side. Kya told Chase that everything was over and he needed to leave her alone, but Chase did not take this well, striking her.

When Chase is found dead in the marsh, Kya becomes the prime suspect.

There was a lot about this that was really good. I enjoyed the story, overall. There were several issues with it which I wonder is from the adaptation of the book. I did like the section in court when Kya was being defended by Tom Milton (David Strathairn). There was a ton of material building the relationship between Kya and Chase, as well as Kya and Tate. Some of this could have been trimmed down a touch.

The performances were solid, despite the cast being filled with mostly unfamiliar faces for me. Edgar-Jones had a real presence about her and carried herself like a star. You were easily supportive of Kya when you saw the horrible life that she had to endure to become what she did.

I wonder if the negative review backlash has to do with the critics expectations of the adaptation of the novel. I’ve seen films that are trounced by critics because it does not reach the level of a previous content. That was not going to be an issue for me because I had not read the original book so I had no pre-existing expectations of the film. For my opinion, the film was solid, if perhaps a little over long. There were excellent performances, especially from the lead actress and a beautifully shot film with a remarkable visual setting. It is not the best film I have seen, but I enjoyed watching it.

3.8 stars

This weekend saw the debut of an unlikely action hero on Netflix in Lou, played by the wonderful Allison Janney. Janney is not the first thought of an actor in a lead role of an action movie, and yet she works extremely well.

According to IMDB, “A massive storm rages. A young girl is kidnapped. Her mother, with no other option, teams up with the mysterious older woman next door to pursue the kidnapper a journey into the wilderness that will test their limits and expose dark and shocking secrets from their pasts.”

Is the film filled with a few coincidences? Sure. Is the story a little convoluted? Yes. And yet there is a definite appeal to it and there is enough tension that should keep the viewers engaged, and everything does make sense at the end.

The standout is, of course, Allison Janney. The Oscar and multiple time Emmy winner never gives a bad performance and is one of those performers who can take a so so script and make it better just by her work. As Lou, Janney is very stoic, but you can tell that she is not one to be messed with. While some of the beats of the story felt a touch forced, Janney made them all work.

The young mother, Hannah, is played by Jurnee Smollett with passion and energy. She brings a nice counter-balance to Lou that works here as well. I accept that she is a desperate mother trying to find her kidnapped daughter Vee (Ridley Asha Bateman). Bateman has a screen presence as well as she does a fine job opposite some powerful actors.

Lou is a solid Netflix film that is a decent watch and moves quickly. Strong performances and some tense moments make Lou an enjoyable time.

3.75 stars

The second animated movie that I am catching up on tonight is the sequel to the hit film Minions, which was named Minions: The Rise of Gru. The Rise of Gru was a big hit from earlier this year, but I just did not want to watch this in the theater. I did not mind the Despicable Me films, but I hated the first Minions movie and that feeling just did not inspire me to head out to see it. I knew it would show up on streaming sooner or later before the year ended and I would watch it there. I still avoided renting it because of the price. I knew it was going to drop the price eventually. Then, this weekend, the movie showed up for free on Peacock and that was the price I wanted. So I watched Minions: The Rise of Gru tonight.

Who would have guessed it? I kind of liked this.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “In the heart of the 1970s, amid a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (Oscar® nominee Steve Carell) is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making backup from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto–a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please–deploy their skills as they and Gru build their first lair, experiment with their first weapons and pull off their first missions. When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Oscar® winner Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn’t go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles himself, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends“

The introduction of the Vicious 6 in the cold open caught my attention and these characters were intriguing. With the inclusion of young Gru (Steve Carell), this gave the Minions a chance to not necessarily the lead characters, which was not something that worked with them. This allowed the use of the Minions, even hen they were front and center, to be kept at a minimum, making them much more enjoyable than when they had to be the entire focus of the movie.

There is a great voice cast here in The Rise of Gru including Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Alan Arkin, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, and Pierre Coffin as the voice of Kevin, Stu and Bob.

I went into this movie with every expectation that I was going to hate this, but it was surprisingly entertaining and it turned out considerably better than I thought it would. Who knew?

3.6 stars

One of the animated movies that I missed in the theaters this year is available to rent on Vudu at a decent price so I rented Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.

After watching it, I am not unhappy that I missed this one in the theater.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “A down-on-his-luck hound finds himself in a town full of cats who need a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain’s evil plot to wipe their village off the map. With help from a reluctant trainer, the underdog must assume the role of fearsome samurai and team up with the felines to save the day. The only problem is — they all hate dogs.”

While the animation was fine, the story is a basic rehash of Kung Fu Panda with a dog and simplistic characterization. It is colorful and quick-moving, but lacks any real depth. My guess is this would be something that a young child would enjoy, but it did not appeal to me at all.

The voice cast was strong with Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, Aasif Mandvi, George Takei, Michelle Yeoh, Djimon Hounsou, Gabriel Iglesias, and Kylie Kuioka.

The film used almost a breaking of the fourth wall technique in the early part, but it never seemed to work well. The dialogue between the characters was forced and lacked any real humor. What little humor there was in the movie was of the lowest form, farts, pee and bodily function jokes.

I’ve seen worse, but I did not enjoy Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank very much. I suppose I was not the target audience for this, but this is a far way from an intelligent and awesome film.

2.3 stars

There have not been enough comedically tinged murder mysteries as big screen movies. Films such as Clue, Knives Out, Confess Fletch, and Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang are a lot of fun to watch, not just for the comedy, but also for the mystery.

One of the queens of the murder mystery is Agatha Christie and she was involved in one of the biggest successes on the stage in Mouse Trap, a play based on Christie’s work. The ending of which has been a closely guarded secret for years, In fact, the movie rights have been held up for years because there was a contract where a clause said that a movie could not be done until the play ended its theatrical run, and it has been going strong since.

That is one of the key points behind the latest murder mystery See How They Run, starring Sam Rockwell as Inspector Stoppard, who comes in to the theater to investigate after one of the key people involved in the movie adaptation is murdered. Stoppard is joined by inexperienced and gung-ho Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), who is as much of a hinderance for Stoppard as an aid.

The cast is great. Along with Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan, there are plenty of talented actors including David Oyelowo, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Charlie Cooper, Harris Dickinson, Reece Shearsmith, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Sian Clifford, Maggie McCarthy, Ania Marson, Shirley Henderson and Tim Key.

Rockwell and Ronan are great together and both actors have a deft comic timing that really work in some of the more over-the-top moments of the film. They bring a sufficient energy to help carry a script that is okay, but not as clever as it thinks it is.

The beginning of the film is a little slow and does not truly take advantage of the comic situation that has been presented. However, when a second murder occurs, the film picks things up quite a bit, including a funny misunderstanding that pushes some characters in different directions.

I enjoyed this movie, but I have seen better murder mystery comedies than this one. The story could have been tighter and expand that initial murder more. The cast is top notch and elevates the material above where it would be without them. There is a meta-ness about the movie that I appreciated, since it is based around Mouse Trap and the real issues that went on with it. It is a quick and easy watch that is entertaining enough.

3.6 stars

Goodnight Mommy debuted on Prime Video this weekend as a new thriller/horror film. It was a remake of a 2014 Austrian film of the same name. I saw several reviews of the new film saying that it did not live up to the original and that it watered down the suspense and the tension of the first version.

But here’s the thing. I have not seen the original version, so I was not affected by the apparently lesser version. I watched Goodnight Mommy with fresh eyes, and I have to say that I liked most of what I saw.

Twin brothers Elias (Cameron Crovetti) and Lukas (Nicholas Crovetti) are dropped off at their mother’s isolated house by their father. Their mother had just had plastic surgery and was still recovering from it, wrapping her face with bandages.

However, as time passes and the boys see some strange behavior from their mother (Naomi Watts), they start to fear that something terrible has happened and that the woman was not truly their mother.

In the first part of the movie, they plant several pieces of evidence to make you feel as if the mother was doing something sinister and her interactions with the children was clearly off in some manner. The mystery of what was going on really started off strong and I wanted to know what the answer was.

The biggest problem I had was a certain CGI heavy scene about half way through the movie that was meant to give an answer in one specific manner, but turned out to be a huge red herring. I did not like the scene when it first was shown because I thought to took away the mystery and then later when I learned the truth, I liked it even less because it was meant to be such a manipulative scene that made no sense in the overall narrative and was not refenced again.

I will say though, the film delivered a twist at the end that I was not expecting and that I found very interesting. Sadly, the conclusion never really built on the psychological aspects of the reveal and it felt as if they missed an opportunity to really create a tension-filled scare.

The three lead actors in this version were really solid. Naomi Watts is always an excellent actor no matter what she is in and the twin brothers, Cameron (who plays Ryan in Amazon’s series, The Boys) and Nicholas Crovetti match her in intensity and effort. These performances make the flaws within the script lesser as they elevate the material.

There are some strange decisions in this film that are meant to manipulate, but I do think that I enjoyed the strong parts of Goodnight Mommy more than I was distracted by the weaker parts. Perhaps if I had seen the original, my opinion would have been more colored, but since I have not, I found this to be an interesting and flawed watch.

3 stars

What are my thoughts about House of Darkness?

Just not sure.

I like Justin Long. He has done some interesting work over the years. Of course, he was not playing a character here that is meant to be likeable. Unfortunately, Justin Long is very likeable, which played against the character’s type.

Justin Long played Hap, a guy who was out at the bar and met a lovely woman named Mina (Kate Bosworth) and offered to give her a ride to her secluded home. When arriving, they went inside for a drink and to see where the evening would go. Strange things began to happen as the night moved along and Hap learned that they were not alone and that everything might not be exactly what he expected.

I was both interested and bored at this movie. The first two-thirds of the film was spent talking and exchanging dialogue among the characters. Some of it was decent, but much of it felt repetitive and lacked any true cohesiveness.

Things picked up a bit when Mina’s sister Lucy (Gia Crovatin) showed up. Her monologue involving a story was probably the most intense part of the evening. Lucy Walters joined in as sister number three later.

I’m not sure who the film wanted me to root for. I was with Hap, even though he was a little slimy. He certainly was not as bad as he could have been.

The movie felt too long for what happened. It felt like this could have been done in 30-40 minutes and not lose much of what was here. It did a pretty decent job of setting a tone as Hap grew more and more uncomfortable with his situation.

House of Darkness was a movie that took a big chance and tried something different, which I liked, but it did not hit the mark enough to really love it. There are positive things, but they get lost in the slow burn of a tale.

2.75 stars

I had not heard about this reboot until very recently. I was never much of a fan of the original Fletch series. I just recently (during the DailyView, in fact) watched the original Chevy Chase Fletch for the first time. I did like it, but I did not think it was anything that would create such a cult following as it has.

So, I was intrigued when I heard Jon Hamm was cast as the new lead in a new Fletch movie. Jon Hamm has always had a pretty good comedic binge to him and I like him much more than Chevy Chase.

Based on a 1976 novel of the same name, Fletch comes to Boston to investigate his girlfriend Angela’s (Lorenza Izzo) missing father and stolen paintings. Once he arrived, he discovered a dead body in the townhouse where he was staying and, unfortunately for Fletch, he became the lead suspect.

I really enjoyed this movie. I found the murder mystery to be very entertaining and well done. The tone of this revisited the old murder mysteries that had a hero sneaking around trying to solve the case while the police were trying to catch him. There is a Beverly Hills Cop vibe to this though Fletch was nowhere near as cool as Axel Foley.

Roy Wood Jr. played Detective “Slo-Mo” Monroe and he brought a lot to the role. He had a strong comedic presence while being a competent character. Wood Jr and Hamm had some solid chemitry with each other as antagonistic forces to each other. Kyle MacLachlan, who I have always loved since his time on Twin Peaks, added to the cast as well.

The laid back nature of Jon Hamm really worked well in this film. He fit the shyster type well and I was easily bought into the movie in the early set up.

I would actually love to see another film with Jon Hamm in this role. Confess, Fletch was a lot of fun and very funny.

4.1 stars

George Miller’s latest film is a romantic fantasy featuring a djinn revealing his life story to the most recent person to take possession of his bottle.

The Djinn (Idris Elba) and the scholar Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) find one another after Alithea purchases an antique bottle and discovers that it contained a djinn who had been alive for many years. However, Alithea was not intending for things to go awry as she tells the djinn that in every story about wishes being granted, it turns into a cautionary tale. Because of that, and because of not wanting for anything, Alithea refuses to make any wishes.

To try and convince her to make the wishes, the Djinn tells her three stories of his life and how he came to be trapped within the bottle that she had purchased.

Three Thousand Years of Longing is a beautifully shot and wonderfully looking film, but the center of the film, the relationship between Alithea and the Djinn, lacks a little oomph for me.

The three different stories, as narrated by Idris Elba, are fine and they are interesting, but I did not find them necessarily engaging enough to sway the mind of Alithea into making the wishes that she eventually makes. Because of this, the sacrifice made at the end of the movie ends up to be fairly lacking in emotional power.

Elba and Swinton are their usually excellent selves here as both do everything they can to make the lacking script work and they nearly pull it off.

There is no denying that the film is beautiful to look at and that the film takes some real swings. It is original and does keep the attention of the viewer. The issue I have is that the story does not truly come together. It is a decent watch, but not to the level that one would expect from George Miller.

3.3 stars

I have been looing forward to watching Marcel the Shell With Shoes on for some time now. I missed it while it was in its limited run in theaters and I have been waiting patiently for it to arrive on streaming. It finally arrived on Vudu and, although it was not yet available to rent, I decided to add it to my list as a purchased film.

It was worth the wait.

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On in based on a series of shorts that appeared on the internet in 2010. The film is shot as a mockumentary that followed the life of Marcel (Jenny Slate) an anthropomorphic shell that lived with his grandmother Connie (Isabella Rossellini). They lived alone in an old Airbnb that Dean (Dean Fleischer Camp), the documentarian, moved into after breaking up with his wife. Dean discovered Marcel, the talking shell, and decided to start filming him, putting the shorts on the internet.

The film was extremely sweet and filled with life. It included several very adult themes such as being isolated and alone, the effects of aging, and the power of connection as well as being funny and kid friendly.

Jenny Slate’s voice work is powerful and poignant at the same time. Marcel is surprisingly world weary and yet filled with such a zest for life. Marcel may be a shell with shoes on, but he is absolutely dealing with emotions and feelings that any human being can relate to and provides a connection beyond its stop motion animation.

Marcel the Shell With Shoes avoids becoming too melodramatic or wishy-washy, maintaining a tone that can give us both the sweetness of the character and the potential heart-break that comes from life.

Dean Fleischer Camp was the director o this film, as well as the documentarian who befriends Marcel. This was Camp’s feature film debut and there are some wonderful shots, in particular, when Connie was reading some poetry.

You would not expect a film like this to have the emotional balance that it does and to exceed the trappings of a kids movie, and yet it does. The movie might be stretched a little long, but it was an excellent piece of cinema.

4 stars

I have been a huge fan of Kevin Smith for years, but, for me, most of his movie filmography is hit-and-miss. I love listening to Kevin Smith talk as he is one of the best storytellers around. I love his podcast, but his movies are split. I loved Dogma, Red State, and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. I liked Tusk, but I disliked Yoga Hosers.

As for Clerks, I enjoyed the original film, but I disliked Clerks 2 a great deal, so when I heard Smith was working on a Clerks 3, I was torn.

I caught a showing of Clerks 3 through a Fathom events presentation last night as the film is not opening wide. Instead, Kevin Smith is taking it on tour, as he did with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.

We returned to the Quick Stop to reunite with Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson), who continue to work at the convenience store that they co-own. Randall survived a massive heart attack and the trauma lead him to try and make a change of his life. He decided to make his life into a movie, in a hugely meta way, which looks very much like the first Clerks film.

This first act of the film was really hard for me because I have a tendency toward hypochondria, the scenes with the heart attack and at the emergency room was rough for me. I was extremely uncomfortable during it and I was desperately hoping to get through that section. Thankfully, it moved along soon after that. The film is clearly telling the story of Kevin Smith’s real life survival of the Widowmaker heart attack from a few years ago.

I liked a lot of the humor in this. I found the amount of drug humor, which I have never been a huge fan of, was kept at a reasonable amount here.

And there was a surprising arc throughout with Dante still dealing with the death of his wife Becky (Rosario Dawson) and their unborn daughter from years ago. This was some of my favorite parts of the movie and it showed some real levels of acting from Brian O’Halloran that I do not think we have seen before. The scene with Dante and the spirit of Becky at the graveyard was great and was odd in this film. This was some of the best work done by Kevin Smith.

The third act of this movie was sensational and really changed the tone of the film and it did it in character bits. I will not spoil anything that happened here, but I found it to be an unexpected surprise. As the first part of the movie was funny and enjoyable, but the finale really brought it home in an emotional manner.

Clerks III provided a sufficient and enjoyable way to conclude the Clerks trilogy with an emotional wallop while maintaining the characters from the previous films.

3.6 stars