Category Archives: movies

REVIEW: Keeping Company with Sondheim

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Patti LuPone and Katrina-Lenk in Broadway’s “Company.” (Courtesy of Matthew Murphy/PBS.)

Nominated for nine Tony Awards, Marianne Elliott’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical, Company, is the talk of the town. Elliott’s production reimagines the show’s main character, Bobby, as a 35-year-old woman (Bobbie, played by Katrina Lenk), bringing an entirely new dynamic to this beloved show. And PBS’s new documentary, Keeping Company with Sondheim, takes viewers behind the scenes of this innovative revival. Featuring loads of footage from various productions of the musical and a host of interviews with the cast and creative team of the current revival, Keeping Company with Sondheim delivers an intriguing glimpse at the creation of this production as well as an emotional love letter to the late, great Stephen Sondheim. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll be wowed by all the talent on display.

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My Sundance Festival 2022 Recap

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(Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)

This year, I covered the 2022 Sundance Film Festival for Geek Vibes Nation. As part of my coverage, I had the opportunity to watch a total of eighteen films – some of which I reviewed in full, others of which I only briefly shared. The movies ranged in genres, tones, and enjoyment. But the experience, as a whole, was unlike anything else. So, without further ado, here is my personal recap of all the films I watched at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

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REVIEW: “The Matrix Resurrections”

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I can’t believe The Matrix Resurrections exists. And I mean that in the best way possible. I mean, how often do we see blockbusters that are in direct conversation with themselves about whether or not they should even exist? Sure, you’ve got the Deadpools of the world that make snide, ironic comments about the derivative nature of Hollywood. But it’s exceedingly rare to see a multi-hundred-million-dollar film directly questions its very existence. Yet that’s exactly what Lana Wachowski does with The Matrix Resurrections. At times, it feels less like a sequel to The Matrix and more like a criticism about the need for sequels at all. And it’s fascinating to see the way that Wachowski weaves this idea alongside a film that, for all intents and purposes, acts exactly like most reboots/sequels do. It’s a dichotomy that shouldn’t work at all. And yet it does work. Brilliantly, in fact. (4.5 out of 5 wands.) 

NOTE: Mild spoilers for The Matrix Resurrections follow.

The Matrix Resurrections
Directed by Lana Wachowski
Written by Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, and Aleksandar Hemon
To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. And if Thomas…Neo…has learned anything, it’s that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of—or into—the Matrix. Of course, Neo already knows what he has to do. But what he doesn’t yet know is the Matrix is stronger, more secure and more dangerous than ever before. Déjà vu.

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QUICKIE REVIEW: “Dune” (2021)

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For years, Frank Herbert’s Dune has been considered unfilmable. And having seen Denis Villeneuve’s new adaptation, maybe the problem with all of the other Dune adaptations really is the source material itself. Dune: Part One, as the movie repeatedly calls itself, adapts roughly the first half of Herbert’s novel. And it shows. For most of its runtime, Dune feels less like a movie and more like a two-and-a-half-hour trailer for a different movie. And instead of reaching any kind of climax, the film just ends. Like it’s an episode of an ongoing serialized TV show, coming to a sudden cliffhanger to entice you to tune in the following week.

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QUICKIE REVIEW: “Halloween Kills”

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Halloween is one of those franchises that just keeps on going and going, reboot after reboot. The 2018 reboot (also called Halloween, to confuse the innocent) was a direct sequel to the original 1978 Halloween and ended up being a solid examination of intergenerational trauma mixed with a more traditional slasher film. But what about its sequel, 2021’s Halloween Kills? Well, it sets out with lofty goals but doesn’t execute them anywhere near as well as Halloween 2018 did. Watching Halloween Kills feels like reading the Wikipedia summary of a fairly compelling movie. All of the pieces are there, but there’s just not enough time to properly explore everything with any real depth.

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REVIEW: Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog

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The moment I heard Warner Bros. was releasing a Scooby-Doo/Courage the Cowardly Dog crossover movie, I knew I had to watch it. I’ve loved Scooby-Doo for as long as I can remember. And watching Courage the Cowardly Dog was a foundational part of my early media exposure. So, the idea of combining these two franchises immediately grabbed my attention. And, honestly, it’s ludicrous that a crossover hadn’t been done already. Because Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog is an utterly delightful film. Sure, there’s not enough plot to fill out the runtime, and the mystery isn’t the most captivating. But the movie so openly embraces the absurdity of both franchises that it’s very easy to just go along with it and enjoy the ride. (4 out of 5 wands.)

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog
(written by Michael Ryan, directed by Cecilia Aranovich)
An original animated feature so exciting it’s scratching at the door! Comedy is unleashed when Scooby-Doo, your favorite mystery-solving mutt, teams up for the first time with Courage the Cowardly Dog. The canine colleagues sniff out a strange object in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, the backwoods hometown of Courage and his owners, Eustace and Muriel Bagge. Soon, the mysterious discovery puts them on the trail of a giant cicada monster and her wacky winged warriors. Fred, Velma, Daphne and Shaggy know that this job is too big for a flyswatter. They’ll need the help of the doggy duo to piece together the puzzle. Can Scooby and Courage overcome their jitters and defeat the insect army before the whole world bugs out?

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REVIEW: “Cult of Chucky”

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And now, we reach the end of the Chucky franchise—until this fall’s TV continuation, of course. If 2013’s Curse of Chucky was a soft reboot, then 2017’s Cult of Chucky is a celebration of the franchise. Combining elements from all three eras of the Chucky franchise, Cult of Chucky takes the best parts of the series and turns them into something new. Acting as less of a finale and more of a prelude to future stories, Cult of Chucky is a promising look into the future of the Chucky franchise. Once again led by a captivating performance from Fiona Dourif, a bonkers-yet-entertaining storyline, an atmosphere to die for, and many creative kills, Cult of Chucky is a deeply enjoyable watch. (4 out of 5 wands.)

NOTE: This review contains spoilers.

Cult of Chucky
(written and directed by Don Mancini)
Chucky returns to terrorize his human victim, Nica, who is confined to an asylum for the criminally insane. Meanwhile, the killer doll has some scores to settle with his old enemies, with the help of his former wife.

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QUICKIE REVIEW: “The Suicide Squad” (2021)

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James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad delivers exactly what it promises: an enjoyably over-the-top, bloody, and funny adventure. It’s exactly what you’d expect to get when you give a former Troma director a bunch of money and free reign to make whatever he wants. And, in that regard, the film is very successful. Though, if you’re not a fan of films that push the boundaries of what’s tasteful as far as possible, this might not be for you. Like, I’m dead serious. A lot of this movie pushes the boundaries on what’s funny and what’s in good taste. Intentionally, I might add. It feels like Gunn is purposely aiming for that borderline offensive territory. Mostly, however, I think the movie works pretty well. But there are definitely some super questionable moments. Particularly with a fair amount of the film’s humor and some of the plot/character beats.

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REVIEW: “Curse of Chucky”

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At this point, I think the Chucky franchise’s greatest strength is its ability to reinvent itself any time its formula gets too stale. The first three films were pretty standard 1980s slashers. But Bride of Chucky successfully reinvented the franchise as more of a horror-comedy—a trend that was continued with more mixed results in Seed of Chucky. And 2013’s Curse of Chucky successfully reinvents the franchise once again, this time as a return to the realm of scarier horror films—now with a bit of a gothic flare. Curse of Chucky is a compulsively watchable film, led by a thrilling performance from Fiona Dourif, a solid story, some super fun kills, and a surprising amount of restraint. (4 out of 5 wands.)

NOTE: This review contains spoilers.

Curse of Chucky
Written and directed by Don Mancini
Out for revenge, Chucky (Brad Dourif) the killer doll infiltrates the family of a woman, her sister and her young niece.

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QUICKIE REVIEW: “Seed of Chucky”

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Look, Seed of Chucky isn’t my least favorite Chucky movie. (That honor is still held by Child’s Play 3.) But it is an absolute mess of a film. Half of it works as a sort of horror/comedy satire of early 2000s Hollywood. But the other half feels like a mixture of misguided ideas and extremely questionable jokes that straddle the line between good and bad taste. For the first time in the franchise, the dolls—Chucky (Brad Dourif), Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), and their child, Glen/Glenda (Billy Boyd)—are my least favorite characters. And that’s a bad sign for a franchise about killer dolls. (2.5 out of 5 wands.)

Seed of Chucky
Written and Directed by Don Mancini
Gentle Glen (Billy Boyd) is a ventriloquist’s dummy, the offspring of evil doll Chucky (Brad Dourif) and his doll bride (Jennifer Tilly), both of whom are now deceased. When the orphaned Glen hears that a film is being made about his parents, he goes to Hollywood and resurrects them in an attempt to get to know them better. He is horrified when Chucky and his lover embark on a new killing spree, and Chucky is equally horrified that his son has no taste for evil.

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