Summer Movie Picks - theHumm July 2021

By Matt Roche

Summer is upon us, and this is the time for blockbusters and money-makers, for a quick escape into the dark cool movie theaters, supplying crisp air and buttery popcorn, for movie lovers to gather and… oh yeah, that’s right. Covid. Well, maybe not the theatre, then. On the bright side, we can still see these movies at home, or on whatever device may be your weapon of choice. Whether you miss the social exchanges or prefer the intimacy of your living room, we still got the movies! And there has been quite a slew of releases lately. Majority of them, if I’m being honest, I am thrilled I did not have to pay admission to (I’m looking at you, Cruella). It is comforting, in a strange way, to see continuously see unoriginal, misguided, monotonous schlock oozes out of the Hollywood pipeline. Consistent if nothing else. What these films provide, aside from time wasted, is an appreciation for those films that are brave and unwavering in their fearlessness and determination. Anyways…

Starting off on a positive note, the action blockbusters have not disappointed for the most part, and the horror films are all slightly above par, which is a relief. Nobody came as a surprise. I knew Bob Odenkirk could do pretty much anything, but an action hero was not what I expected, and Odenkirk really delivers. He uses his dry sarcasm to great effect and looks pretty damn good beating the crap out of some Russian punks. I expect Nobody 2 in a couple years. Boss Level is another unexpected action flick that seemed to have eluded my radar. I have been a fan of director Joe Carnahan ever since Narc (2002), and he has proved himself a talented filmmaker and storyteller with flair (Smokin’ Aces in 2006, The Grey in 2011) but also can be excruciatingly self-indulgent (The A-Team, 2010; Stretch, 2014). With Boss Level, Carnahan returns to his focused, testosterone-infused best. And he’s found a perfect actor to carry out his plans in Frank Grillo. Grillo commands every frame of the film with a strong physical presence and good sense of humor. The film is basically Groundhog Day on steroids. And it’s a heck of a lot of fun. Welcome back, Joe. Oh, and Mel Gibson’s in it, too, in a solid villainous role.

Chaos Walking (by Doug Liman and starring the surprisingly versatile Tom Holland) is a film that really shouldn’t have worked. It’s more interesting and less aggravating that it has any right to be. All this is helped by Mads Mikkelson in yet another great performance. You could just have him stand there and say nothing and he’d be compelling. Oh yeah, he already did that in Valhalla Rising. Mads is the man. For a sci-fi action flick, it doesn’t get bogged down by any fancy rhetoric or over-your-head terms. It is all very grounded and human. The only real problem in the film is Daisy Ridley, who seems to be capable of only a handful of facial expressions and lacks any sort of charisma. Had there been a more capable actress in the role, this may have become an underrated classic. But for now, it seems like it’s another good creative effort for Doug Liman.

Zack Snyder released two epic films this year as well — his long-awaited version of Justice League and a return to zombies (and hopefully, a return to form) with Army of the Dead. While Snyder’s Justice League is an immeasurably better film than Joss Whedon’s horrible handling of the material four years ago, the film still seems overly indulgent and a good 30 minutes could have been cut out. I mean, I know Snyder loves his slow-motion shots, but I can only watch Jason Momoa get hit by waves before he jumps into the ocean for so long. Still, everything was improved upon. I actually understand what Steppenwolf was doing and felt a little empathy for him. And all the big characters in the League have fleshed out stories and, well, everything makes sense now. It goes to show taking your time and caring about your material can go a long way (Mr. Whedon…).

On the other hand, we have Army of the Dead. When I heard Zack Snyder was releasing this movie on Netflix I got very excited. I was introduced to Snyder through his beautiful gorefest Dawn of the Dead (2004). Since then, he has proved he is capable of creating visual masterpieces like 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), but is also capable of creating distended, derivative crap like Man of Steel (2013) or Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). And it pains me to say that Army of the Dead falls sadly into the latter category. The film has so much going for it but is focused too heavily on style over substance. When it did try to add substance and humanity, it became laughable and dull. And most of the scenes that were supposed to be funny weren’t. I didn’t care about any of the characters and the writing was atrocious. Yes, it had a neat kind of twist on the zombie genre. Yes, there was a really cool zombie tiger. And yes, it has some of the best zombie kills I’ve been since the first few seasons of The Walking Dead. But that’s not nearly enough to save it. Plus, it was just way too long. Call me crazy, but I feel that a good zombie flick should be a tight hour-forty-five. Army of the Dead is two-and-a-half hours. 45 minutes could have been cut out and nothing of value would have been lost.

With this nice little segue into the horror genre, some pretty decent horror films got released over these last couple months. The Saw franchise continues its bloody traditions. In hopes of rejuvenating the series, they’ve cast Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson and have made a crooked police department the focus of Jigsaw’s always-insightful wrath. It’s called Spiral: From the Book of Saw. I can report with pleasure that it delivers a lot of what you expect. Dark and creative. But I can say with dissatisfaction that it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Chris Rock here is the best I’ve seen him. He’s fine at what he does. But when you see him beside Sam Jackson, you can’t help but notice the difference. Spiral is one of the better entries in the series… but it’s still just another entry in the series.

If I had to pick the best film I’ve seen in 2021, I would have to nominate, without hesitation, Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man. Here is a film that took me by surprise. For me, his creative and brilliantly innovative style is endlessly fascinating. I figured Wrath of Man to be no different, but what I was presented with was a tightly wound story — one story, with a focus I have not seen in a Ritchie film before. He took his time with the actors, he focused on the characters. It wasn’t flashy and kinetic. Sure, it had Ritchie’s trademark tough guy talk and manly man banter, but even that seemed to have a deeper purpose. Is this perhaps because the film is a remake of the 2004 French thriller Le Convoyeur (Cash Truck), and he didn’t want to offend the original filmmakers by butchering it with his particular style? Or maybe he saw a simple, compelling story that he wanted to tell himself, and perhaps even expand on it a little. And boy, did he. Here is a story of a stranger (we only know him as H.) who gets a job at a cash truck company and fits right into the job. Almost too well. We soon find out why. And it’s glorious. When it all comes together at the end, there is such a sense of exhilaration. Elation. That nagging feeling you get between your shoulder blades that creeps down your spine, sending signals of sizzling anticipation. With a precise, powerful and unblemished ending. This is also one of Guy Ritchie’s finest, most mature films. What I’m saying is, when you get a chance, watch Wrath of Man.

Good movies aside, I can’t resist talking about the blunders, the missteps, the turkeys — the ones that met every one of my cynical expectations. But I really just want to talk about one. I mean, the Mark Wahlberg vehicle Infinite is an incoherent mess and The Woman in the Window is painfully predictable and an absolute waste of talent, but it’s Disney’s Cruella that I want to give special mention to. Here is a film that didn’t really need to be made. You could say it’s the epitome of a money-grab or a gamble that didn’t pan out. You could say it’s the rich and visually arresting origin story of Cruella DeVil, the villain of Disney’s 101 Dalmatians (1961), who, I remind you, wanted to kill those dogs so she could make coats out of their fur… but I digress. Or you could say it’s a garish, uneven steam-punk daydream origin story gone wrong. Cruella doesn’t have a single relatable character, no grand victory for our protagonist (and I use the word protagonist lightly), nothing gained, nothing lost. Any semblance of a plot was destroyed in a shower of costumes and dresses. I’m not sure who the target audience for this film is exactly, but if you’re an angsty tween who’s into fashion and punk rock, this is probably gonna be your favourite film of the year. The only redeeming factor come in the shape of the ever-reliable Emma Thompson. Here she shines at her bitchy best. Still not enough to save this massacre. Why Disney greenlit this will forever boggle the mind. Avoid the anguish by avoiding this film.

All that being said, happy movie watching!

Danielle Barabé-Bussières: Nature/Wildlife Photographer - theHumm July 2021

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

“Nature is the place to be,” according to nature and wildlife photographer Danielle Barabé-Bussières. Danielle celebrates her love of the natural world by capturing stunning images and transforming them into works of art. She has a gift for composition, a talent for exploiting the extensive capabilities of current post-processing software, and the dedication and patience needed to create an extraordinary photographic work of art from an excellent photograph.

Take a ......

Summer Movie Picks - theHumm July 2021