TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT review

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...and for those eloquently worded reasons, I feel pretty confident in saying that...
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT gets a NO! out of TEN
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... but, seriously, don't waste your money on this.

Home Video Catch Up: A CURE FOR WELLNESS

Full disclosure: I first saw A Cure For Wellness a few weeks ago; however, I put off reviewing it until now because I didn't have much to say about it at that point. Now that some time has passed, I now feel comfortable giving it the Matinee Everyday treatment. On with the show!

A Cure For Wellness might be the first movie I've reviewed and liked on this blog that I'm not sure if I can recommend. It's one of the few recent movies that's been described as divisive or polarizing and actually earns that description. Those who love it tend to defend it with a fiery passion. Those who hate it loathe it as if the film came alive, murdered their pets, burned their houses down and salted the earth underneath the land they were built in. As for my thoughts, I'm leaning rather positively on this flick.

Make no mistake: this isn't to say I'm guaranteeing you'll like this movie (there's a 50/50 chance you'll despise this thing). That being the case, I would recommend anyone who's even remotely curious about this movie to go give it a try. Why? Because, quite frankly, I have my doubts that there's going anything like this in theaters any time soon (especially on such a mainstream level).

Discussion of the plot for A Cure For Wellness is a pointless undertaking both because it would spoil some of the film's sickest, most twisted twists and story isn't director Gore Verbinski's primary focal point here. What Verbinski sets out to do here is create what is essentially a extended visual moodpiece and it works for the most part. The imagery on display here is undoubtedly striking and it'd be outright criminal to deny this film a Best Production Design nomination.

You're probably asking why I'm being so skiddish about giving this film a pass or fail. Well, the answer is quite simple: A Cure For Wellness is... absolutely disgusting. While the film looks gorgeous, it sinks to the lowest low possible and somehow manages to find even deeper levels of depravity to sink to. If you don't come out of this movie feeling even remotely ill, you deserve a medal. Again, describing some of said disturbing details would make up for a great deal of spoilers; but, I'll say this: its unlikely you're going to look at eels the same way again after sitting through this flick. Even most of what I like about this film comes from the visuals and the atmosphere, the acting's also pretty solid. Dane DeHaan manages to keep his head above water amidst the vile madness and Jason Isaacs turns in some spectacularly creepy work. Also, Benjamin Wallfisch brings a brilliantly haunting yet dreamlike score to complement the insane events that play out over the film's gaudy 146 minutes.



Ultimately, while it's certainly excessive in some respects (both in content and especially the runtime), I was satisfied with what I got here. As both a work of gothic horror and auteur filmmaking, it certainly delivers some new things for those areas. It just isn't everyone's cup of tea (which is just fine by me).

A CURE FOR WELLNESS gets a modest rating of...
HEY, THAT'S PRETTY GOOD out of TEN

ADAM WEST 1928-2017

2017 has claimed yet another legend of the screen, both small and silver. Last night, Adam West passed away at the age of 88. While not without other , West is most famous for his extended stint as Batman way back in the 1960s. His portrayal of the Caped Crusader is undoubtedly one of the most iconic depictions of that character, regardless of the unjust scorn aimed at it throughout the years for sucking the seriousness out of the darkest mainstream superhero ever. I'd even argue that the 60s show is one of the most important parts of Batman's history/mythos.


Overall, rest in peace, old chum.

WONDER WOMAN Review

After much anticipation and scrutiny (both at the depressingly less-than-stellar status of the DCEU and the even worse reputation for female-led superhero flicks), Wonder Woman has finally hit cinemas. Thankfully, it's absolutely wonderful, pun very much intended.

Gal Gadot is an absolute gem as Diana. Those who were skeptical about her range/talent as an actress can put their potential qualms to rest. Like in her brief part in Batman v Superman, Gadot brings an equal level of ferocity and old fashioned humanity (the latter of the two I haven't seen in a cinematic superhero portrayal since Christopher Reeve donned red & blue tights way back in '78). If her smile doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, I'm not sure if you're a real human being. Chris Pine should also get some special recognition as Steve Trevor. Pine's performance often results in some of the film's funniest moments as well as some of its most emotional. Those are obviously the two big standouts acting-wise; but, everyone else is still rather good (even if one or two roles feel a little underdeveloped).

While the tone significantly unlike Man of Steel, Wonder Woman does share two major things in common with that near masterpiece: action setpieces that set the gold standard for the entire genre and a score that improves each individual scene with its prescence. The "No Man's Land" sequence is exactly as awesome as you've heard and the final battle is an utter thing to behold. Marvel Studios may have the better track record in terms of general quality from film to film, I doubt that there's much of an argument to be made that there are some things DC does that makes them look rather inferior in comparison (mainly striking visuals and memorable music*). The score is also fantastic. Composer Rupert Gregson-Williams delivers some impressive work of his own here and his inclusion of the titular heroine's theme from BvS is as electrifying and rousing as it was in that film.

Ultimately, one of the biggest compliments I can give this film is that it understands that empowerment is a truly universal feeling that isn't restricted to race or gender (an idea that I wish the teams behind that cringeworthy Ghostbusters reboot and the almost as cringeworthy Supergirl show on the CW). Director Patty Jenkins mainly focuses on delivering an awesome superhero movie over a preposterously overblown political statement packaged as run-of-the-mill pop culture tripe. From my perspective, this doesn't "save" the DCEU (given how I don't think it needs saving); but, I hope garners some well-deserved goodwill for this franchise.

WONDER WOMAN gets a...

BADA$$ out of TEN

*I was originally going to mention the stunning action sequences there; but alas, that's an area where both companies seem to be evenly matched.