Finch (2021)

Finch has adapted to post-apocalypse reality pretty well: he's got a UV suit to protect him from the unhampered-by-ozone sunlight, a map to help him keep tabs on buildings yet to clear, and a Wall-E type robot helping him scavenge. Back at "home" there's a dog waiting for him as well as a pretty decent laboratory to keep him innovating. His latest project is a humanoid robot to take care of the dog when Finch isn't there to do it himself.

It's not terrible, but it is terribly derivative. This is pretty much a dystopian Cast Away if Wilson were a whiny bitch.

C

False Positive (2021)

After trying to get pregnant for a couple of years, Lucy and doctor husband Adrian decide to reach out to Dr. Hindle, a mentor of his who has had great success in the fertility field. Lucy is almost immediately pregnant with triplets and faced with a "selective reduction" choice to ensure success: either terminate the female or the two boys (who share a sac). Though it's against the doctor's recommendation, the couple decides to move forward with the female.

And then things get silly. It felt like a dumb Rosemary's Baby -- everyone, including Adrian, has an agenda to which Lucy isn't privy. She joins a mommy group and makes a friend (or does she?), gets obsessed with a magical negro midwife (or does she?), gets passed over to run a project she landed at work, finds proof that she's under surveillance (or is she?) and imagines that her husband and Hindle are having a torrid affair (eh... probably not). There's a weirdly Stepfordish nurse who is both the chipper "You've got this" support for Lucy as well as a menacing presence who isn't above coming to Lucy's workplace. Is it "mommy brain" as is suggested on repeat or something more nefarious?

Felt like a waste of time. This has all been handled better in other films. And the "payoff" here is both a letdown and a huge dose of wtf.

D+

Saint Maud (2021)

Maud feels certain that God has big plans for her and is having trouble seeing his hand in her current situation. She's starting a position as a live-in palliative care nurse for Amanda, a former dancer, and slowly comes to believe that this woman might be her mission. Amanda herself seems open to Maud's message, going so far as to refer to Maud as her "saviour." 

I was so impressed with the suffocating tone here. A few times, Maud's eyes or mouth would open just a little wider than should be possible, but the moment was so fleeting that I could never be sure if I was imposing my own dread onto the image. I was put in mind of Rosemary's Baby and Servant -- is this madness or divine? Wonderfully scary.

B+

Val (2021)

I'm sure I wasn't alone in seeking out this documentary in the weeks after Kilmer's death. He tells some interesting anecdotes, backed up with footage (since he was, seemingly, always shooting), but I found it to lack any throughline. It winds up coming off as one of those dashed-off celebrity memoirs, but in video form.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he seemed to be a rather good father. His adult children clearly adore him and he visibly brightened whenever he was with them. May his memory be a blessing.

C+

Closed for Storm (2021)

In 2000, New Orleans opened the amusement park Jazzland. In 2002 -- after bankruptcy for the previous operators -- Six Flags took it over. In 2005, Katrina hit the city and killed the park. Since then, despite many grand plans, it's remained abandoned and an eyesore. 

There's no need to watch this as I pretty much told you everything above. If you're interested in abandoned buildings/parks in general, you'll still be jonesing after watching this since we get almost nothing. Instead of haunting shots of quiet/moss-strewn rides, we enter the administrative offices and visit several rooms just so that our narrators can exclaim over yet another water-lined wall and act surprised that the calendars they see are from 2005. I got the feeling they didn't have permission to film there, otherwise I can't make sense of the weird choices they made.

This felt like a high school report rather than a focused documentary with a point to make.

D+

The Guilty (2021)

Joe is an L.A. cop stuck on 9-1-1 duty pending his hearing for shooting a teen. He gets sucked into the drama of a caller: she's been abducted by her ex, her children are now at home alone, and she's scared. Joe goes into overdrive trying to force everyone to make this their number one priority, making a lot of assumptions and breaking a lot of rules and generally demonstrating why being a 9-1-1 operator is not an "anyone can do it" role.

Even if the script were decent, it would've been a challenge to care since all of the drama (except Joe's fits of pique) are off-camera. Since the script is threadbare, this winds up just being boring and ridiculous.

D

The Novice (2021)

College freshman pushes herself to the brink in order to excel. Though physics is her worst subject, she's decided to major in it -- seemingly because it's so difficult.

Despite having no experience in the sport, she joins the rowing team and throws herself into that training with the same heedless drive she applies to her studies. The toll her new obsession takes on her both mentally and physically seem like a drug to her: she just can't get enough of it and she's determined to rise to the top. Though her commitment is admirable, the "attack it relentlessly" technique that works for her in the classroom just doesn't apply here. Her fevered work ethic makes her alien to the rest of the rowers, which means that she can't be easily absorbed into their team. 

The struggle plays out almost like a thriller: I was scared both for her and those around her. My only complaint is that the final sequence is so frenetic that I didn't quite understand what occurred -- and my confusion was only amplified by the fact that her results were deliberately obscured.

B

Tollbooth (2021)

Turns out that the guy who's been operating the toll booth on the least busy stretch of road in Wales for the last 29 years isn't quite what he appears to be. When a blast from his past pulls up, he's got to call in a few favors to make it through. Of course this occurs on the same day that a lot of other stuff is happening as well.

The quirk is in full force here. While it's definitely got some charm, the "character" count was off the charts. Triplet hooligans trying to make a name for themselves on instagram, a female Elvis impersonator, a mumbling sidekick who's only clear when he's spontaneously shouting "WOOO," a cop who rides around with her dead father's ashes, a blind card player, a young hood who dresses like he's the lead in the revival of Grease... it's just too much.

C+

Come From Away (2021)

A filmed Broadway performance of the musical that tells the unique story of those airline passengers diverted to Newfoundland on 9/11 and the residents who welcomed and cared for them until they could get back in the air to go home.

I didn't have high hopes for this -- I'd seen a number performed on one of the late night shows and it seemed too specific to resonate -- but I was proven wrong. With a bare-bones set (think Our Town) and performers handling several roles each, this felt crammed with life. To be fair, some of the songs are very specific, but they flesh out the characters wonderfully and remind us that no adult American was spared fallout from 9/11.

A-

C'mon C'mon (2021)

Though they haven't been close in years, a woman allows her brother Johnny to take her son Jesse (age 10?) home to New York with him while she deals with a personal crisis. And... not much happens. It truly feels like we're watching footage of an actual uncle and nephew getting to know each other. The kid does annoying kid things like throwing a fit about which toothbrush to buy and dangerous kid things like wandering off on a crowded city street. He also gets homesick and winds up dealing with complex emotions about his parents.

It's flawlessly acted and philosophically deep. I loved the scenes with the mom (Gaby Hoffman) and also when we saw journalist Johnny recording interviews with kids around the country. Mostly, however, I was simply annoyed at how bratty Jesse was and it made me so thankful that my kids are grown. I realize that I may be required to spend time with children again should my sons ever have kids -- but this made me think "maybe it's OK if they don't."

C+

Luz: The Flower of Evil (2021)

"El Senor," his adult daughter, and two other women live together. As the spiritual leader of a small mountain community, he has proclaimed several different boys to be Jesus. Each child in the string of Messiahs has been shackled in an outdoor pen, where he proceeded to die from exposure. But there's a new Jesus in the pen... certainly El Senor's gotten it right this time?

I have to admit that it sounds like a cool and scary premise, but it's just a mess. Other than the color-saturated hyper-real cinematography (absolutely beautiful), there's no worth to this ugly and nonsensical story.

D

Red Notice (2021)

Everyone's after the bejeweled eggs that belonged to Cleopatra. Two renowned thieves are vying to get to them first and an FBI profiler is hot on their trail. Eventually the profiler and one of the thieves team up after bonding in prison and nothing's as it seems & doublecrosses & blah blah blah.

Ryan Reynolds basically plays Deadpool without a mask -- dropping sardonic quips at every opportunity -- Gal Gadot does her blank sexy acrobatic fighting thing and Dwayne Johnson also stays in his lane with his earnest good-guy action hero shtick.

It was fine.

C

Queenpins (2021)

Connie is a lonely suburban housewife whose only satisfaction comes from her extreme couponing habit. When she realizes that people will pay her for "free item" coupons, she (along with a friend) figures out how to procure them in bulk to sell online. The fun really starts when a righteous loss-prevention agent realizes that something's not right and eventually gets the post office involved.

I was really entertained by this. It's interesting and well-paced and really succeeds in the couplings on both sides of the law. Kristen Bell & Kirby are believable "opposites attract" buddies who have complementary skills to pull of this scam. But the real fun is in the team of Vince Vaughn and Paul Walter Hauser as the postal inspector and loss-prevention agent. Though Hauser's role could've been over-the-top, he made me really root for this weird little guy.

B

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)

I was eager to watch this, so I can't fault the filmmakers from wanting to make it. That said, the winning equation is Jackson + Reynolds = Fun. Changing the expression to (Jackson + Hayek) + Reynolds does not, unfortunately, increase (or even equal) the previous result. She's just not funny enough to be used in anything but small doses.

C

The Mauritanian (2021)

Based on a true story concerning Mohamedou Ould Slahi, one of the suspected recruiters for the men who carried out the hijackings on 9/11. He's taken from home, eventually winds up in Guantanamo, and stays there for about 14 years. After a couple of years, a lawyer learns of the case and wants to take it on as an interesting fight for rights, regardless of whether he's guilty. We also see the struggle of the prosecutor assigned to the case as he tries to navigate the opacity of Gitmo.

So, it's an interesting story about a disgusting chapter in our history (a chapter that's still being written since Guantanamo remains in use), but the film is fairly standard. Despite the fact that Cumberbatch clearly believes that all Americans speak in the long drawl of a southern gentleman, all of the actors do a solid job. The impact, however, was similar to that of a well-researched news story.

B-

Candyman (2021)

Anthony, an artist looking for inspiration, hears the legend of the Candy Man and goes digging for information. After getting stung by a bee and listening to a local talk about CM, he winds up creating an art piece called "Say My Name" that looks like a mirrored medicine cabinet. He's helpfully distributed fliers explaining you have to say Candyman 5 times to a mirror to summon the killer. Because people are dumb and looking for excitement, a bunch of them die. Meanwhile, Anthony's bee sting is turning his hand and arm into a decaying mess but he's getting famous.

Though there's an interesting story spun about how Candyman is not just one person but many, and that they are born from black trauma, it's just a sidenote to a bunch of crazy nonsense. The culmination of the film has Anthony morphing into the latest iteration of Candyman and it's all kinds of stupid. There's not a moment of scary in this whole thing. The only reason it's not an "F" is because of the very cool paper puppets utilized in some of the storytelling.

D

Malignant (2021)

During a home invasion, Madison's husband is killed and she suffers a head injury and a miscarriage. Soon after, she begins having visions of murders being committed and it's discovered that she has a connection to the victims.

Interesting concept with a truly frightening monster, but it just seems to go on way too long. Once we understand what's happening, it's time to wrap it up.

C

To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021)

There's a lot of change in the air this time around: Kitty's got a boyfriend, Dad's getting married again, and Lara Jean is a high-school senior. Since Peter's secured a scholarship to Stanford, they're banking on LJ getting in there too but best-laid plans often go awry -- both for reasons out of one's control and due to factors not previously considered.

This is the best of the trio, in my opinion. LJ and Peter are still teens so it's difficult for them to see beyond the "now," but I really appreciate the acknowledgement that things might end. Lara Jean and Peter both make decisions that are best for them and that's about the healthiest thing a romantic teen can see.

B

Vacation Friends (2021)

Marcus and Emily are a strait-laced couple who travel to Mexico for a rare vacation. When their room is ruined due to water damage, a YOLO-type couple invites them to share their suite. They have a wild time together for a week and, when it's time to part, Marcus & Emily are ready to say goodbye forever. But that's not how their new friends roll.

This had the potential to be an "I can't breathe I'm laughing so hard" movie, but it never got there. I think the direction was the most likely culprit. We were just sitting there bored with expectant half-smiles on our faces that never became actual grins.

C 

The Duke (2021)

Kempton Bunton is unafraid of going up against the powers that be. His crusade of choice is opposition to the license that is required for anyone with a television. His stance is that veterans and pensioners should not have to bear this cost since TV helps to keep people plugged into society. So, Bunton's a good guy but a constant source of exasperation for his wife as his reluctance to keep his head down loses him job after job. The story here involves an expensive Goya painting acquired by the National Gallery and then stolen from it. And, of course, Kempton's involved.

It's not a bad story, but it's more suited to a novella or long-form magazine article than a movie. It's just not big or deep or funny or nail-biting enough to fill the screen. I enjoyed the characters more than I enjoyed the telling.

B-