Good day people, and welcome again to Incorrect Each Time. This week I’ve been writing up a fuckin’ storm; getting forward on bounties, pushing ahead on my novel, and even tossing off an indulgent aspect quest for my DnD occasion (we’re doing The Phantom of the Opera and The Taming of the Shrew concurrently, which is able to completely contain were-shrews). All this appears like a real breakthrough for me, as I’ve historically discovered it extraordinarily onerous to jot down in a number of modes on the similar time – it’s onerous to assume by way of criticism when writing quests, onerous to plot by way of novels when writing songs, etcetera. Now it feels extra like I’ve reached that vaunted place the place work in a single area really evokes work in others; I used to be principally caught at one bar scene in my e-book for weeks, however twiddling with quests appeared to unlodge one thing important for getting momentum again. And sure, the movie screenings have continued, alongside copious munching by the Brennan Lee Mulligan prolonged universe. Let’s break down some films!
First up this week was Atlas, a latest scifi characteristic starring Jennifer Lopez as Atlas Shepherd (maybe probably the most on-the-nose ‘savior of humanity’ identify I’ve ever seen), an AI analyst nonetheless haunted by the robotic rise up that rocked the world twenty-eight years in the past. When she’s given the prospect to seek out the rise up’s chief Harlan (Simu Liu) on a distant planet, she instantly joins the staff. Nonetheless, Harlan’s machinations quickly discover Atlas alone on a hostile planet, with solely the AI identification of her energy go well with to information her.
Given its plot instantly issues each the way forward for synthetic intelligence and humanity’s reckless disregard for the habitability of our planet, I used to be frankly astonished by how little Atlas needed to say about principally something. The movie could be an ideal automobile for ruminations on the character of persona, the ambiguous morality of scientific striving, and even simply the ability of non-public connection, however Atlas’ cowriters apparently simply didn’t have any such ideas in thoughts once they had been composing it. Jennifer Lopez is in an influence go well with on an alien planet, and that’s greater than sufficient substance for them.
Lopez actually tries her greatest with the thinly written materials, and Atlas’ greatest moments all regarding her burgeoning buddy-cop relationship together with her go well with’s AI. The 2 really develop a reasonably charming rapport over the course of the movie, which does a good job of mitigating the movie’s basic aimlessness and considerably underwhelming motion scenes. However in the end, neither Lopez nor her cheerful robotic buddy can overcome the predictability and outright stupidity of the movie’s script, which saps funding by a persistent pummeling of unbelievable reasoning and ill-considered worldbuilding.
Our quest for an appropriately Thanksgiving-themed horror characteristic (past Eli Roth’s surprisingly wonderful Thanksgiving) then led us to Blood Rage, a slasher from the tail finish of the style’s ‘80s reign. The movie facilities on twin brothers Todd and Terry, each performed by Mark Soper. As a baby, Terry brutally killed a person after which framed his brother – ten years on, Todd escapes from a psychological asylum simply as his brother’s latent murderous instincts reawaken, prompting a bloody spectacle at their wooded neighborhood of Shadow Falls.
There’s not an excessive amount of Thanksgiving on this one, I’m sorry to report. We principally simply get the household sitting down for that iconic meal earlier than issues shift in a extra conventional slasher path, with oversexed teenagers partying their little hearts out earlier than being dismembered by Terry. The performances listed below are doubtful on the entire, although I fairly loved small-screen star Louise Lasser hamming it up because the twins’ mom, progressing from guzzling wine to consuming leftovers on the ground to frantically vacuuming because the movie proceeds. Each the brutality of the kills and the artistry of the cinematography are additionally a minimize above right here; director John Grissmer does a wonderful job making a forested labyrinth of Shadow Falls, demonstrating he’s taking as a lot affect from Deep Pink as Promenade Evening. So far as Thanksgiving horror goes, you may do rather a lot worse.
Our subsequent viewing was Ator, the Combating Eagle, one other low-rent Italian sword-and-sorcery characteristic starring Miles O’Keeffe as Ator, a person born with a birthmark prophesying he’ll sooner or later destroy the malevolent Spider Cult. Clearly that is of nice concern to the various devoted spider cultists, and thus Ator is stolen away to a distant village, the place he grows as much as be a easy man who loves his mother and father and is in love along with his sister. The information of his uncommon parentage is thus a supply of pleasure and aid to all concerned, no less than till spider cultists present as much as kill everybody on his wedding ceremony day. Thus Ator heads off on a grand journey, making allies, combating fiends, and finally slaying all who would oppose a union between himself and his stepsister.
I’ll be trustworthy, past the stepsister factor and O’Keeffe’s fabulously coifed hair, there’s principally nothing I can keep in mind about this movie. It slides throughout consciousness like solely probably the most archetypal of B-movie fare can handle, leaving no hint of distinct concepts or memorable moments to mark its passage. I do recall that the spider cult lord was decked out in a handful of actual dwelling tarantulas, and hoping that he bought paid a bit additional for the difficulty. However yeah, in any other case, Ator, the Combating Eagle proves vague even by the exceedingly accommodating requirements of ‘80s sword-and-sorcery castaways.
Final up for the week was Within the Coronary heart of the Sea, a latest Ron Howard manufacturing chronicling the destruction of the Essex by a white whale, the occasion that impressed Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Chris Hemsworth stars as first mate Owen Chase, heading a powerful ensemble together with Cillian Murphy, Benjamin Walker, and Brendan Gleeson. Decided to earn a captainship regardless of his humble farming-family origins, Chase and his captain lead the Essex to the ends of the earth, solely to seek out that there are forces on this world that elude human mastery.
Within the Coronary heart of the Sea is an admirably old style manufacturing, providing the sort of sweeping Hollywood grandeur and grit that we principally by no means see nowadays (save for the equally epic Grasp & Commander, whose present meme standing assures me it’s lastly getting the credit score it deserves). You’ve bought a proficient gallery of top-shelf character actors, an enormous sensible ship for everybody to stomp round on, a suitably formidable job dealing with them, and Gleeson right here on commentary, providing the least convincing Nantucket accent I’ve ever witnessed.
The entire makes for a good-looking assemblage that wishes just for a tighter, extra eloquent script. The movie’s dedication to being the “true story that impressed Moby Dick” may really be one among its weaknesses; actuality affords plentiful pleasures, however coherent dramatic arcs will not be amongst them, and Within the Coronary heart of the Sea suffers from a untimely climax and awkwardly shapeless denouement. Nonetheless, it’s all the time a deal with seeing nice actors sink their enamel into meaty interval items, and whereas it feels grimly acceptable that Within the Coronary heart of the Sea’s field workplace returns had been blown away by the following week’s The Drive Awakens, I retain hope that such movies may sooner or later return to the excessive seas.
