Author: Caillou Pettis

A typical night for veterans at a VFW post turns into an all-out battle for survival when a desperate teen runs into the bar with a bag of stolen drugs. When a gang of violent punks come looking for her, the vets use every weapon at their disposal to protect the girl and themselves from an unrelenting attack.

I am always one to support independent filmmaking. It is a difficult task for any filmmaker to craft a fully fledged movie, short film or feature length. Even Hollywood directors have to put all their effort and hard work into making their project the best it can possibly be. But independent directors probably have it the hardest. They do not have a gigantic budget at their disposal and they more than likely don’t have a large list of celebrities they can cast in their work, either.

Whenever a new indie film is released, I go out of my way to see it. Especially horror. Anybody that truly knows me knows that horror is my favorite genre in all of fiction. Not just movies. It also applies to television, books, and more.

Jeff Begos’ latest feature VFW is an insanely weird and over-the-top film and it lets you know that right from the opening frames and it carries its craziness all the way until the end. It is an unapollegetically brutual and unforgiving in all the best ways. It’s a stylish bloodbath of fun, even if it has its fair share of issues.

The concept behind this film is one that truly excited me. The whole idea of this crazy drug named “Hype” that basically turns people crazy seemed like it would be a crazy thing to explore and for the most part, it was. Sadly, we never get to learn a whole lot about this fictional drug itself, and it would have been nice to explore that a little bit more.

But with that being said, this is still a relentlessly entertaining movie for the most part. The first act does drag quite a bit, though. The opening credits of the film screamed Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and it seemed somewhat unoriginal. In addition to this, the opening credits here with all of the actors’ names appearing on screen went on for far too long. They had actor names appear on screen for a solid ten minutes, and it did take me out of the movie. Gratefully though, after the initial setup of the plot, VFW becomes a gory thrill-ride.

Production company Fangoria is well known for producing some incredibly bloody horror films that have been appreciated by genre fans, and VFW is no exception. One of the first things we see in the film is somebody’s body explode after falling to the ground, and it sets up what is to come for the rest of the movie.

While all of these sequences are entertaining, the story here was not front and center. It definitely felt like Begos was putting all of his effort towards making these kills as brutal as possible. It is both a positive and a negative. On one hand, it is relentlessly entertaining to watch these over-the-top sequences play out on screen, but on the other hand, the story gets thrown to the side for the most part.

The same thing can be said about the characters and their development, too. For the most part, our lead protagonists do not get a lot of development and their arcs are not too existent, unfortunately.

If you want to watch a movie that contains some extremely well-done, bloody, ridiculously gory and insane action scenes, then this is most definitely going to do the trick. It certainly entertained me. But do not go into this film expecting a gripping and riveting storyline that will move you or anything like that. Watch this knowing it is a fun action/horror film and you will probably like it.

VFW‘s strengths lie in its unforgiving brutality and intense action sequences, but it does lack in its character and story department.

A socially awkward woman named Sarah (Alison Brie) with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses, and supernatural crime shows finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life.

Movies are extremely hard to make. There are so many things you have to do to ensure that you’re making something great. Even movies that are widely considered to be bad have a lot of hard work and dedication put into them, which is why I always respect the filmmaker’s despite the overall result of the film.

But perhaps one of the hardest elements that goes into making a film is the story. Coming up with an original and fresh concept, especially these days, is immensely challenging. There are hundreds of thousands of movies in the world and as a result, there are a lot of concepts out there. A lot of story ideas have already been taken, and if you want to create a wholly original film, you have to ensure that your story is indeed unique and your own.

Jeff Baena’s latest feature Horse Girl truly does have a great concept. It isn’t wholly original, although it did sound incredibly promising. The idea of this woman whose lucid dreams begin to take over her real life is amazing. There is so much potential with that concept, and thus I was quite curious to see what Baena had crafted with this film that was met with a fair amount of praise when it recently had its premiere at the Sundance International Film Festival.

For the most part, this is a movie that succeeds in its story department. A large portion of the story unfolds in a way that is both beautiful and creepy all at the same time. Brie’s character Sarah is one that is easy to follow and we know what she is going through. We get to know her as a person, and she is somebody that you root for. Although the plot was interesting, it took a while for it to get there.

The running time of Horse Girl is just a little over an hour and forty minutes, which is an extremely common running time. That being said, it does feel considerably longer, which is due to its pacing. The first forty five minutes or so set up the last hour. Nothing incredibly exciting or interesting happens until after that forty five minute mark, and so everything leading up to that moment does unfortunately feel rather tame and uneventful. This will also hurt repeat viewings, as the movie does ask for that, but I just cannot help but feel like people won’t want to rewatch it because it just drags for a while.

Gratefully though, the final hour is an amazing and beautifully bizarre thrill-ride that was boosted with great cinematography by Sean McElwee and an eerie score by Josiah Steinbrick, Jeremy Zuckerman, and Tolga Kahraman.

All of the performances are good for the most part as well. The true standout here is Brie, who feels extremely vulnerable in this role. While it does feel like she sort of overacts at times, especially in the first act, after a while her acting improved greatly and she disappeared into her role. Also good here is Molly Shannon as Joan and Debby Ryan as Nikki. However, it would have been nice if their characters were given some more development, as they do largely feel like characters that were pushed to the side for the most part.

But at the end of the day, Horse Girl is most certainly an impressively crafted film that also has something to say. It has to do with mental illness and once you figure out the grand picture of what everything is about and what the story means, it all becomes much more thought-provoking. I just wish that the first forty five minutes were as entertaining and interesting as the final hour was.

Horse Girl takes a while for its story to get going, but once it gets into gear, it excels in its beautifully bizarre and thought-provoking themes.

Tired of living a solitary life in the Pacific Northwest, Mr Link (voice of Zach Galifianakis), who is 8 feet tall and covered in fur, recruits fearless explorer Sir Lionel Frost (voice of Hugh Jackman) to guide him on a journey to find his long-lost relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. Along with adventurer Adelina Fortnight (voice of Zoe Saldana), the trio encounters their fair share of peril as they travel to the far reaches of the world. Through it all, they learn that sometimes one can find a family in the places one least expects.

Ever since I saw LAIKA’s phenomenal 2009 debut feature Coraline, I have been in awe of what this studio has been able to craft throughout the years. Much like the films from Pixar and Disney, I genuinely feel as if all of LAIKA’s films are unique and incredibly well told with fresh stories every single time. My favorite animated feature of all time is LAIKA’s Kubo and the Two Strings, directed by Travis Knight who went on to direct the exceptional hit Bumblebee back in December.

Kubo was a film that had a plethora of mature themes it explored and did so in a way that had never been done before in the animation department. All of their movies have a sense of childlike wonder to them and while watching any one of their films, it will more than likely make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

But to be honest with you, when the first trailer was released online for Missing Link, I was not all that impressed with what I saw. Something about it did not feel right and the way the trailer was edited together felt jarring. Overall, I was trying to be optimistic about it all and have faith in the studio since that had delivered some incredible gems throughout the years.

Now that the film has been released and I have seen it, I can gratefully inform you that Missing Link is yet another win for LAIKA, and while it never quite reaches the heights of Coraline or Kubo, it still manages to tell an exciting, adventurous tale with skill. One of the many reasons why this film impresses is due to its remarkable voice cast with Galifianakis, Jackman, and Saldana being the lead voice actors here. Those names are just scratching the surface of the talent behind this film, and all of the performances here are truly great.

Throughout the picture, we spend quite a bit of time with the characters of Mr. Link and Sir Lionel Frost, and their chemistry and the way they work off of one another is amazing and always creates for truly hilarious moments. Sir Lionel Frost is a man who is quite egotistical and can be a bit snappy at people at times, whereas Mr. Link is an extremely charming and open creature who is a bit lost in the world. The stark contrast between the two creates for some memorable moments and also some heartfelt ones.

A big surprise with Missing Link was the amount of action sequences it had scattered throughout. While LAIKA’s previous works did certainly have fun and exciting moments, there were never too many and instead focused on other elements. It was honestly great to see a stop-motion animation feature with so many exciting sequences, with one scene in a saloon being a true standout.

Unfortunately, the film does falter when it comes to the romance between Adelina Fortnight and Sir Lionel Frost. The first time we see these two flirting with one another on screen, it felt like it was just there for a one time joke and that was it. But then as the plot was moving forward, the romance between the two was still being used for laughs and it sadly just came across forced and cringe-worthy.

It also does not feel as feel as grand or wonderous as the studios’ previous efforts. While this is definitely a good movie, it does at times feel like a simple movie that you can watch and get enjoyment out of, but it never feels like a true spectacle.

Missing Link manages to impress with its gorgeous animation style, terrific voice performances, and exciting action sequences.

Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively) veers down a path of self-destruction after a tragic plane crash kills her family. When Stephanie discovers it wasn’t an accident, she turns to a former CIA operative who can help her find the culprits. But her quest to uncover the truth soon turns into a full-blown quest for revenge as she decides to punish those responsible.

The Rhythm Section is a movie that not a lot of people were all that excited for, and I don’t blame them. The marketing behind it was almost nonexistent. There was only one poster released for the film, and even the poster is just kind of bland and doesn’t do much to sell the movie that the studio was making. Even the trailer feels strange and uneventful, which is more than likely the reason why not a bunch of audiences are flocking to the theatre to see this new Reed Morano-directed feature.

But in defense of the filmmakers, The Rhythm Section is a hard movie to market. It really is. This is a movie in which a woman goes on a path of revenge after a plane crash tragically kills her family and as the film progresses, she learns secrets and has to uncover mysteries.

To be truthful though, this is a movie in which they attempt to set up questions and mysteries and attempt to answer them later, but not only are these supposed “secrets” and “mysteries” not all that interesting, but the answers they give are sloppy and misguided. This is a movie that will leave you feeling drastically unsatisfied and depressed more than anything.

I understand that the subject matter of the film is definitely depressing and sad, it is just that the script barely has a moment in which we feel excitement or enjoyment. It’s a needlessly dour experience that is also extremely boring. Clocking in at one hundred and nine minutes in length, The Rhythm Section is not really all that long of a movie. But what makes it feel longer than it actually is is the script by Mark Burnell, who wrote the novel of the same name that the film is based on.

The script has way too many scenes in which nothing of meat really happens. There isn’t a lot of story progression here, and as a result, a large portion of the movie not only feels wasted, but boring. Don’t get me wrong though, this movie is not all bad. This is nowhere near one of the worst movies I have ever seen or anything like that. There are most certainly some positives here.

One of which being the performances all across the board. Blake Lively is truly great here in the lead role. She gives an emotionally driven performance, and her work here is really strong. That being said however, I did not root for her character nearly as much as I was supposed to. The entire movie is about her trying to get revenge on people responsible for this plane crash that I mentioned earlier. But what is baffling about the film is that her character also ends up killing numerous people along the way. So, this will also cause the family members of these people to want to get revenge on her more than likely in the future too. It’s stuff like that that make this film kind of hard to watch at times.

There are also some incredibly strange music choices throughout, which are strangely upbeat songs. If that was not frustrating enough, the editing is also quite jarring. It is not horrible editing by any means, but there a lot of abrupt cuts that end scenes that feel quite unnatural unfortunately.

But like I said, this movie is not a trainwreck. It is not going to go down in history as one of the worst movies ever made or anything like that. But what it is, is a massively underwhelming film that doesn’t really have a lot to say or do, and there is barely any thrills to be found along the way. Yes, there are a couple of scenes that were fun to watch, but they are so few and far between. Another good element to the film is its cinematography by Sean Bobbitt. It is not miraculous, but it gets the job done well.

The Rhythm Section struggles to tell a cohesive and thrilling story with a weak screenplay, bizarre editing and off-putting stylistic choices.

Thirty-four years after his death, Airman William H. Pitsenbarger, Jr. (Jeremy Irvine) is awarded the nation’s highest military honor, for his actions on the battlefield.

Before I went in to see The Last Full Measure, I was worried that I was going to be getting a painfully dull surface level movie. That synopsis did not sound enticing to me whatsoever, but I was still holding out some hope for this film. Todd Robinson’s latest feature admittedly has a stacked and talented cast, which is probably the aspect that I was most excited for. From the likes of Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Plummer, and Ed Harris, the cast seemed quite promising. Why would all of these A-list actors come together for one movie if it wasn’t going to be good?

Sadly, I find myself asking the same exact question even after seeing The Last Full Measure; a movie with all the best intentions and definitely tells the story of a remarkable man, but it just does not tell it in the most exciting or captivating way.

The screenplay is written in such a way where we are never really shown anything extraordinary or inspiring. This should have been a deeply moving and emotional journey, but it instead just feels like a boring walk in the park. A large portion of the film is just characters talking to one another with nothing exciting going on dialogue-wise. I am completely okay with what they like to call “talking movies”; movies that practically only showcase dialogue with no “exciting” sequences. One of my favorite “talking movies” in recent years is Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. That movie was chalked full of dialogue that was smart, thought-provoking and riveting. This is the opposite, however.

The problem is that the dialogue that we are given here is not anything to get up and excited about. It tells this truthfully remarkable story in such a bland and forgettable way, and it is ultimately a movie that you will forget about incredibly quickly after leaving the theatre.

This is the very definition of a style over substance film. The editing, while admittedly impressive, is done in a way to make the film feel more grand as a whole, but in reality, it just isn’t. It feels heavily pretentious.

But don’t get me wrong. This is by no means a truly awful film or anything like that. It isn’t good, but it does have some good things in it. One of those is by far the acting. Every single one of the cast members delivers a gratefully terrific performance, with perhaps my favorite one coming from none other than Sebastian Stan himself. He feels considerably reserved in the role of Scott Huffman. His performance reminded me that he is genuinely one of the most underappreciated actors working in the industry right now.

It is not just him that is great in this movie either though. Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, and Christopher Plummer all deliver expert performances too. Like I talked about earlier, all of these actors are incredibly talented and have been working in this industry for a long time. Some of them for several decades. I was expecting them to be good here, and they definitely are.

Another positive here is the musical score by Philip Klein. It feels quite, reserved, calm, yet powerful all at the same time. Byron Werner’s cinematography is also something to acknowledge. It is nothing out of this world, but it does the job at selling these locations depicted throughout the film and it was pleasing to look at.

The Last Full Measure fumbles at telling a remarkably powerful story with its bland screenplay that often feels like style over substance.