REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE

3.5/5

Sinister Things.

103 Mins. Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone & Ethan Hawke. Director: Scott Derrickson. 

Stranger things are happening on 'The Black Phone'. Dialled in to the amazing aesthetic of its seventies setting like 'Halloween' carpentry. For this haunting, rocky Denver small Nevadan Town (actually the equally as such Wilmington, North Carolina for you with heels of tar) and its brooding bungalows with much more that lies beneath the basement. Nuanced and nostalgic like the Netflix billionaire streaming show starring another Hawke making her Robin rounds, that's second volume of the penultimate season rocks and rolls this weekend too. But screw Vecna, who is this 'Hellfire Club' member rolling around in shady clown paint like Joker make-up and a slash hat? Looking like a Guns and Roses roadie spray-painted the Mystery Machine. Meddling with some kids and no snack signs of a cartoon dog. Like zoinks, Scoob, at least he's wearing a mask in this day and age. But what a horrendous Halloween one looking like it belongs in the halfway house closet of ancient lore and the devil's hell itself. Oh, and what's with all those balloons? Is he telling kids they'll float too like Pennywise? 'IT's' been done before (we see the yellow slicker reference down the drain), but it's still so haunting here. And those bifocals just scream "don't take this stranger's candy" and offender like Stanley Tucci in 'The (Not So) Lovely Bones'. When it comes to this black sabbath, even ET would want to use someone else's phone. 

Calling up classic tropes, but adding his own twist. 'Deliver Us From Evil' and 'The Exorcism Of Emily Rose' director Scott Derrickson takes Joe Hill's supernatural short-story of the same name and turns it into the madness of a movie. Right after the 'Doctor Strange' director departed 'The Multiverse Of Madness' and handed it to 'The Evil Dead' of original 'Spider-Man' director Sam Rami, with fans hoping for Tobey. Using the EMERGENCY of seventies shock news footage, especially in the jarring title-sequence to haunt some realism into the parts of this genre that fetches far or strays in cliché. You'll jump with the scares too, reaching for the hand of your nearest and dearest. There's a prowler about called 'The Grabber' and in this world waking up to the fact that you should respect someone's personal space and "handsy" is to flimsy a name for someone whose palms belong in firm cuffs, this violater shows how close to the bone it really is today. A shock story and cautionary tale to how we really need to take neighbourhood watch and account to just how safe our children really are these days. Evoking the human horrors that turn from the pages of Stephen King novels. The lost boys in this movie stacking up like milk cartons as they all posthumously communicate with the latest kidnapped victim like a 2Pac album. 

Thespian Ethan Hawke still to some may be know as the rookie from 'Training Day'. But the grey in the hair and his magnificent 'Magnificent 7' reunion with Denzel Washington beats to the notion that it has been long tour since that first day on the job. Cinephiles know him as the Richard Linklater experimental actor who starred in the 'Before' trilogy through the day and years of a relationship. Not to forget the decades made 'Boyhood'. Those may have been surprised (and a little disappointed (no sir, not me)) to see the 'Dead Poets Society' and 'Gattaca' actor in a Marvel movie like series this year. But they weren't when they saw just how meaningful this time in the M.C.U. was, just like his monologue, walking on glass villain of legend. This like 'The Purge' is the 'Daybreakers' and 'Predestination' mainstream and indie versatile actors first scary movie since 'Sinister', which was so shocking for this film fan who didn't fall in love with the horror genre until he was 30 (hey, it took me to 25 to do so with The Beatles. Some of us just need a push) I cancelled seeing Jack White in concert...SIX MONTHS LATER! Here, getting axe-murder bloody like 'The Northman', he's firmly back in the genre (although 'Moon Knight' haunted under a pale one) like he belongs (and he does). Bringing cruel cunning to the voice of his compelling charm. But hey, like Pink Floyd, leave those kids alone. Because they're more than alright (there's even one who spray-can hair-metal looks like dear Billy), led by Mason Thames, down a river of future stardom as his character rises out the basement like a phoenix. And the dreams of Madeleine McGraw. The sweet sister ready to hit you with a brick if you try and mess with her sibling. Then there's the 'Helter Skelter' of 'Dogville' actor Jeremy Davies (mullet looking nothing like his classic character in 'Saving Private Ryan'...and what an actor for it), showing more shades of those King human horrors that haunt even those with their heart somewhat and somewhere in the right place. Aaaand speaking of Stephen, 'IT Chapter Two's' very own James Ransone. As hilarious here as he was when country music played over oily puke. There's no angel to be sent here, but more than the devil will care for this spirited film that steals you away. 'The Black Phone' is a mirror to all we miss today whilst we stare at our smart ones. And it's a warning to a watching world to be more engaged. Don't hang up! TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Sinister', 'Stranger Things', 'Moon Knight'. 

REVIEW: LICORICE PIZZA

4/5

Punch-Drunk Pizza.

134 Mins. Starring: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Benny Safdie, Danielle Haim, Este Haim, George DiCaprio, Maya Rudolph & Bradley Cooper. Director: Paul Thomas Anderson. 

There will be pepperoni...or at least, I hope. I should be packing for London right now. Or at least thinking about it. But corona, crippling flight prices and all that. Wishing I was getting ready to see Haim's long-delayed 'Women In Music Pt. III' album world tour with my best like Este. Pushed back due to COVID-19 more times than hair from sunglasses on that 2019 Summer's day when the sisterhood made their iconic Lou Reed wild side walk, 'Summer Girl' classic video. One of many filmed with cult legendary director Paul Thomas Anderson ('Now I'm In It', 'Hallelujah', 'Man From The Magazine') for the best album of our worst year of 2020 (thank the heavens for HAIM and the home made 'I Know Alone' video and dance tutorial). A family friend who first got together with the Haim's for a 'Valentine' ode like no other and recently even offered more of his one-of-a-kind, incredible and inspired visuals to a 'Lost Track'. The director who gave us 'Magnolia', 'Boogie Nights'. The early dramatic Hollywood hustle of Adam Sandler and his 'Punch-Drunk Love'. 'The Master' and 'Inherent Vice' with Joaquin Phoenix. Aaaaand 'Phantom Thread' and 'There Will Be Blood' with Daniel Day-Lewis. Now how's that for some reach for your milkshake? Not to mention Radiohead's amazing 'Anima' movie and all those other Haim's. PSA, PTA is one of the best and most versatile directors working today with verve. And The Academy and a 'Licorice' all-sorts assortment of Oscar nominations can serve that up to you by the slice. 

Summer girl finally meets boy, but why the delay? Here in Japan it has taken more than six months to make it over here. All for the first of the very month I should be flying home to see them in the Big Smoke for a Haim Birthday. Well, once upon a time in Hollywood maybe an ill-advised Japanese accent with no push-back, akin to Quentin Tarantino's treatment of Bruce Lee in his movie can be blamed for any boycott or pushed back date. Yet, despite these screens that you really shouldn't laugh at, even if you bite your tongue, 'Licorice Pizza' really is one of the best pictures of the (last) year and Anderson at his most amazingly acclaimed. A love story with comedy (but no rom-com). Mesmerizing as it moves through the days of Californian malaise. Where everything and nothing happens at the same time. As irreverent as it is relevant. There's an age gap as big as the one between teeth (forget May to December, this is 'The Graduate' to last semester), but this young love is still a dream in the land of silver screen ones. This is a gem. Just like the introduction of two of the hottest new stars in Hollywood(land) that like the 1973 San Fernando Valley setting of this movie feel like a throwback. Well, anyone that knows the best band in the world right now, knows Alana Haim. The owner of many an iconic look served in Anderson's cinematic Haim videos and now this extended one. We already knew she had the comedy chops with the various Instagram sister skits like the 'One More Haim' green suit, what the fudge. When she was first announced for this movie starring some of the biggest names in the industry, we knew she would be good. But we didn't realize back then that she was going to be the star of the show. But boy is she. Second to none. Except maybe the equal-billing of our leading man. A born actor like the high-school kid he plays with more credits to his name. Why does he look so familiar? That's what they asked. But we know why now. Not only is he Cooper Hoffman. Son to the late, great Phillip Seymour. But in his DNA (no nepotism) he's just someone who seems like he's always been here. The very first moment you see him on screen. Just like when he with 100% assurity in his belief, tells his friend he's just met the woman he's going to marry. Without a hint of romantic Hollywood cliché. 

'Life On Mars' ain't just a song as Lana Del Rey said. It's the stellar soundtrack that scores the terrific trailer of what you just knew was going to be another classic like 'Days Are Gone'. No matter how long you had to wait. Or the gassed up oil crisis, end of the world, monumental moment in this movie of sprinting in the California sun for these maverick like Dallas top guns who run here more than Tom Cruise. All the way into an epic embrace that feels like 'La LA Land', but dances to a completely different tune. In its own steps. Cooper Hoffman is a young, Kingpin suited entrepreneur, from pinballs to the water beds that will float with you on a dream away to nostalgia. Whilst Alana is Alana. In all her amazing agency and defiance to a world that back then was in some ways as ass slap backwards as it still is now, today. But you have to love the hallmark moments to the anti-Hollywood side of Cali that is searching for love and freedom, in equal, but their own measures. Just like you have to love the Haim response to one of her sisters advising that she shouldn't pick fights with everyone all the time. Because yes that's the perfect for the parts, Danielle and Este, or as matter of fact, the whole Haim family doing their friend a solid. In a movie chock full of classic cameos (is that Herman Munst', or Jerry Buss), even Maya Rudolph shows up with nary a word, but what a presence. Big names like Sean Penn and Tom Waits come in to play local legends as big as the acting and music ones they actually are with revved up and introduced golf course gusto. Whilst one half of the brotherhood of best directors working at the moment Benny Safdie (recently a Jedi in Disney +'s 'Obi-Wan Kenobi') campaigns as a charming political figure (real life city councilman Joel Wachs) with something to hide...even though he shouldn't. Even Leo's dad George DiCaprio shows up on this film lovingly dedicated to the gentleman Robert Downey Sr. But it's Bradley Cooper who steals the show once again, despite a recent Chris Pratt like backlash (why to both actors?), even after the Hollywood heartthrob wrote, directed, played and made his own original and outstanding songs to 'A Star Is Born' with a new Hollywood one in pop Queen Lady Gaga. This town is unforgiving, but Cooper is undeniable as Jon Peters. Filmmaker and former hairdresser and boyfriend of Barbara Streisand. Here looking like the Barry Gibb he's been meant to play (must be the coiffure and facial fuzz that make him the bee's knees like the Bee Gees). Cooper on Copper, a moment with Hoffman, trying to teach him how to pronounce his girlfriends name has the same funny feeling like that line flub in the Cohen Brothers' 'Hail Caesar'. But even better than that or a Channing Tatum tap-dance is how Alana (no dame...or damsel in distress) maneuvers a big-wheel out of gas down the Hollywood hills off its own momentum and her moxie. That's her and this movies moment right there. Complete with one perfect shot staring through the rear view.  When it goes from meandering to meaningful in that many left turns. The heartburn of young love in 'Licorice Pizza' stretches the cheese for as long as it will string you along. And goes down just as sweet. Order up! TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Magnolia', 'Boogie Nights', 'Haim-Valentine'. 

REVIEW: THE MAN FROM TORONTO

3.5/5

Toronto Laughter.

112 Mins. Starring: Kevin Hart, Woody Harrelson, Jasmine Mathews & Kaley Cuoco. Director: Patrick Hughes. 

Forget 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' Despite the fact that Guy Ritchie's 2015 adaptation of the MGM TV series starring Henry Cavill and...erm, best cast someone else, deserves a sequel already. Just who is 'The Man From Toronto'? No, not Drake (honestly...never mind). Or any of the current 'Spicy P' Pascal Siakam led Raptors, or Kawhi Leonard, Chris Bosh and Vince Carter legends in The 6. Although Coach Nick Nurse playing 'Purple Rain' on guitar with The Revolution has us gently weeping like the time Prince came out of nowhere for George Harrison, throwing his guitar up into the heavens to him. It's not even Jason Statham. 'The Transporter' and 'Fast and Furious' wheelman who showed his classic comedy chops alongside Melissa McCarthy in 'Spy'. Originally called in for this movie after a big players classic aeroplane cameo in his 'Hobbs and Shaw' fast spin-off (talk about farts here). Is it 'The Hitman's Bodyguard' from director Patrick Hughes, following the wifey sequel in matrimony with 'The Expendables 3' director? Or is it someone who used to masquerade in Massachusetts, tending bar in Boston as a beer mat cover? How about the 'Irresponsible' Kevin Hart? In a new Netflix movie continuing his deal after a big-three, coming out of controversy after 2020. His 'Zero F###'s Given' home-tour during COVID, the fond feeling of his 'Fatherhood' drama and last years 'True Story' mini-series with another 'White Men Can't Jump' star (at least they can try to reach the rim) before it's 30th anniversary, Wesley Snipes. 

Ride along with the Kevin we all still need to talk about (in a good way), and you'll see that under the stetson like 'No Country For Old Men', the man from the 6 is Woody Harrelson. Due South and a little more mountie fitting than Statham, who would more fit the mold of 'The Man From Brixton'. But with all sorts of agents from all sorts of spots on the globe (konnichiwa, man from Tokyo) , how about a sequel, London? The 'Venom' sequel star let's there be carnage. Charged up, riding in on a Mustang with a dome shaved straight closer to the bone than when he constantly gave himself a Ceasar in front of that monkey for the 'War For The Planet Of The Apes'. Here the 'Now You See Me' star is on 'Zombieland' fine Twinky angry from next to the snack-sized Hart place. A moment were he puts the screws on, threatening Kevin and knocking the wind out of him really passes the comedy bar. Even if he was just screwing with him. Hart's been going hard with the serious substance recently, but here he knows how to play it straight funny next to an ass kicking, bald hard-man. Just like he did between The Rock and their perfect partnership 'Jumanji' movies with 'Central Intelligence', which still needs its own sequel like the Ice Cube 'Ride Along' got. Now this Netflix mistaken identity movie putting you on 'Red Notice' could be its very own 'Man From' franchise starter like Dwayne Johnson's streaming service 'Red Notice' with Ryan Reynolds and 'Wonder Woman' Gal Gadot. 

'The Big Bang' of Hart's 'Wedding Ringer' co-star Kaley Cuoco is here in theory. But in reality we feel her star and comedy power was a little underused. No matter how undeniable it always is whenever she's on screen and no matter how much. She heads a nice cast that features some late in the game reveals that therefore we won't spoil. No third-wheel, but it's clear this case of 'Trading Places' is a double-act as Hart goes full Eddie Murphy in Hollywood. Playing an Internet influencer in this age to hilarious opening scene first-person effect. Spanked with the spanx. The set-up is simple, but it's a brilliant bit. Kevin's athletic instructor wants to get views like Drizzy. But his non-contact boxing isn't a hit, even though it tickles our funny bone. Shaking it off he plans a romantic surprise for his wife Lori's (a breakout Jasmine Mathews) birthday in a cabin in the woods. But because of low-toner, he heads to the wrong cabin and things get scarier than that Chris Hemsworth horror movie. Especially as Hart starts waving a knife around that he dropped hilariously. Just wait until he rubs two together like sticks, as he's fire pretending to be a crook and serving them up hotter than an angry Chef Ramsey. You'll be sick with laughs trying to figure out who's "Green". That's when big bads begin to think this is 'The Man From Toronto' and this is when said movie gets really interesting...and funny. From a comedy cargo plane crash, to an outstanding one-shot set-piece...that's also hilarious. Action comedies are the mood right now. With the Shinkansen time Brad Pitt's about to have from Tokyo to Kyoto with a carriage of first class, A-list passengers in 'Bullet Train'. But before all that, be sure to make a stop in Toronto. You'll love it this time of year. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Central Intelligence', 'Red Notice', 'The Hitman's Bodyguard'. 

TV REVIEW: OBI-WAN KENOBI - Season 1

4/5

Higher Ground.

6 Episodes. Starring: Ewan McGregor, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, Vivien Lyra Blair, Sung Kang, Kumail Nanjiani, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Flea, Benny Safdie, Zach Braff, Jimmy Smits, Joel Edgerton, James Earl Jones & Hayden Christensen. Director: Deborah Chow. 

People keep on learnin'. If you keep showing hate to all the characters and communities that make up this galaxy far, far away, then quite frankly like what Ewan McGregor said in his social media post, "you're not 'Star Wars' fans". Looks like 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' really is our only hope...with a little help from his friends. And his new prequel series debuting on Disney + after 'The Mandalorian' seasons one, two and thr...I beg your pardon, 'The Book Of Boba Fett'. Obi-Wan may have turned apprentice Anakin Skywalker into the best kebab'd impression of his son's guardians. All before Vader returned the favour by making him a cloak-room magic trick with one saber strike. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy some footnote story and electric sword fights in-between the chapters with these new, epic episodes. All before 'Ms. Marvel' continues the Wednesday stream for Mickey Mouse. And the final draw in the formidable force of a 'Obi-Wan' finale will take your face-off like Cage and Travolta. But how about a training day flashback with a different empire in vista when Anakin was just a youngling Padawan and not killing? The dichotomy of good and evil and how falling shadow close we are to the dark side is powered and played out so perfectly. What happens when the chosen one becomes a lost son? The ignorance of influence will be illuminated here as beams cross and own paths are forged where the sun doesn't shine. Only fire scorches that earth and even if you refuse to walk that thin line in the name of all that is good in this evil world, you may just be dragged through it. Revenge, a dish beat served smokin' hot like a barbecue. You should probably put some sauce on that, Master. 

Great Scott, we are going back to the future...or something like that with the rematch of the century. The James McAvoy to Patrick Stewart's Alec Guinness...but we aren't talking about Professor Xavier, or the return of the X-Men. More, someone else even more gifted. A former apprentice whose master also had a special set of skills. Taken with Ewan McGregor, it's been recently reported that the actor said that director Terry Gilliam once asked him, "what the f### has he been doing all this time" after the 'Trainspotting' icon impressed him with his take on a character originally meant for Johnny Depp before his legal battle with Amber Heard. Well, those oblivious to what Ewan has been doing over even the last few years need to figure out what the f### THEY are doing. A sobering performance in 'The Shining' sequel of Stephen King's 'Doctor Sleep'. A well deserved Emmy for his outstanding performance as 'Halston' on Netflix, New York fashions answer to Andy Warhol. And even his 'Birds Of Prey' Black Mask villain in the 'Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn' movie that has us excited for the Marvel rumours and hoping for McGregor's own movie doomsday, going forth. Now that would be fantastic. Just like he is here. He's split Darth Maul in two. Reigned over Django Fett in a storm. And even given us a GIF ready saber spin in what we thought was his last stand. But this. This is something else. Weary and wise. A worn warrior with clones of previous battles before him all around. Knowing the war is over. He lost. But still holding out hope a chosen one will come, or be born again.

Blade Runner neon drips through a second episode of serious substance, no longer deserted in the familiar land and faces of Tatooine, through the space-age binoculars. McGregor's raw and real Obi-Wan revival is a knockout like Conor, but there's still more under the Jedi hood. Like Leia herself. Played with moxie and feeling by new child star Vivien Lyra Blair. With respect to the Queen Carrie Fisher (she knows we will always love her) and some batteries not included, but borrowed off Spielberg in the form of her cute, pet droid and your new Christmas list favourite. 'Game Of Thrones' and 'Rome' Star Indira Varma is a great ally on the right side. And even movie favourites Jimmy Smits and Joel Edgerton make brief, but welcome returns to the serious 'Star Wars' star power here. But it really is spot the famous face (or voice in the case of how much Zach Braff scrubs up well in the costume department) here in a long line of big-names lending their hand to the dented tin cans that are the Storm Troopers. Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea (so good at being bad in Edgerton's 'Boy Erased') pops up out the blue and even Ice Cube 'Straight Outta Compton' son come bonafide actor, no nepotism, O'Shea Jackson Jr. is here. Eternally yours Kumail Nanjiani wants to be a Jedi. Whilst the 'Uncut Gem' of Benny Safdie is one. And it's all a good time, no matter how long Deborah Chow's dozen episodes last in all their delight. When it's comes to the villains though, this is where the show sets itself apart. Rupert Friend may look like something out of David Lynch's 'Dune', but he's got his last name in us. Like his first is a beard's yellow checked trousers Whilst 'Fast and the Furious' (really furious here) favourite Sung Kang is unrecognisable but undeniable in his dark designs. But it's 'The Queens Gambit' star Moses Ingram who steals the show, going for her own checkmate. Rising against the Internet hate that some want to claim as fake bait (don't defend what's clearly going on. Racism still alive they just be (trying) to conceal it) and sticking her landing like the moment she first draws her red sword. Talk about a GIF. You have to hand it to her...or her character will probably chop yours off. Besides, it's not like hate hasn't come the dark side's way before. Just ask the real big bad. As Hayden Christensen after all the scorn returns to a heroes welcome as the ultimate villain, Darth Vader. Complete of course with the one and only voice of James Earl Jones for your heavy breathing. Vader hasn't fathered a scene quite like this since he made sure you stayed in your seats for the end of 'Rogue One' and as he casually brings a ship down with one hand, stopping it in its lift off tracks, you just know there is no force to be reckoned with quite like him. Offering deeper and darker drama to his legacy, Jones and Christensen combine for another chapter of a classic character. Now could we find some new ground with more 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' episodes? We can only hope. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'The Mandalorian', 'The Book Of Boba Fett', 'Star Wars-A New Hope'. 

REVIEW: SPIDERHEAD

3.5/5

SpiderThor. 

107 Mins. Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller & Jurnee Smollett. Director: Joseph Kosinski. 

'Spiderhead'. Spiderhead. Gives you anything the FDA won't approve. The clinically cold trials of Netflix's new movie concerning love and other drugs of thunder, reunites blockbuster of the Summer, 'Top Gun: Maverick' director Joseph Kosinski with the Rooster of wingman Miles Teller. Just weeks after they made 36 year history with the sequel to Tom Cruise's first Hollywood flight to the superstar stratosphere. Although in COVID-19 real-world reality, it feels like its almost been as long as over three and a half decades. A fortnight before Hemsworth will have more hammer time with the hotly anticipated, 'Thor: Love and Thunder' and his former Avenging co-star Chris Evans will star in Netflix's own biggest blockbuster of the year in The Russo Brothers directed 'The Gray Man' with Ryan Gosling and one moustache even Superman couldn't outrun. So that's Odinson, Richard Reeds' Mr. Fantastic in another universe of this one stretching with madness and a 'Birds Of Prey' ('And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn') Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett) for your cape fix, down this coal mine of human trials. All for an unsettling, yet compelling science-fiction thriller based on George Saunders' short sci-fi story 'Escape From Spiderhead' published in The New Yorker in 2010. With reflections of 'Black Mirror' and the remote paradise prison of modern cult classic 'Ex Machina'. Complete with some Hemsworth moves that rival the dancing of Oscar Isaac (it's hilarious that fans on social media have been wishing him a Happy Father's Day...and they're not his kids. Who's the daddy?). All to the timeless tune of Roxy Music's 'More Than This' like some Bill Murray 'Lost In Translation' karaoke. 

Australian postcard perfection is the hallmark to this Hemsworth produced picture. Dystopian nightmares dressed as dreams. Loneliness can be treated with medicine. Love can be prescribed like penicillin. And you'll have such a great f#####g time doing it...no matter who's sitting across from you. Unless you share a room with a stapler that is. And when you watch the reason to that why, everything will come together like two pieces of paper. You'll laugh yourself silly at dad jokes and feel indifference towards the insanity of complex cruelties without the bat of an eye. You'll even begin to numb that personal pain that blunts your brain. Goaded by guilt. And as you do this you'll see a palm tree like view so beautiful outside this Stark-like mansion for Iron Man, forget Thor. Feel the jones for this state-of-the-art facility that peddles researched chemicals with electronic music names like a G6? Or something even more sinister scratched in to with no sign of needing to find a vein. It's all in your back like a battery pack, ready for you to be turned on. But to do this time, you have to do a crime. As the worst-of-the-worst have the best-of-the-best. All in the name of science and a social experiment with the psychological shock shades of Milgram, plugged in. This is the best penitentiary since Leonardo DiCaprio's 'Wolf Of Wall Street' got to ace his tennis love after getting served for back-handing all those who trusted him with their money they loved to make. Sympathetic to their sentence and their struggles. This "hospitable" environment, a halfway house between a psych-ward and an asylum, allows test subjects unsupervised roaming, their own room and sometimes cellphone service. All they have to do is a few chores, oh yeah...and sometimes screw each other. Over and literally. These "volunteers" have an open door policy. But you know the cliché of, "you can leave anytime you want" is too good to be true. Missing the mark like mixed and muddled messages muddying the tropical waters. Following the reviews of critics and confused participants signing up like the streaming service that acknowledges it. 

Bifocal'd with cruel charm between his Netflix 'Extraction' and the wrapped said sequel, coming soon. The hot Hemsworth is as clinically cold as the base of his operations. But steely in his demeanour behind the glass. Suited in a smugness that wants to sheep's clothing itself as best bud, bro sincerity. There's touching moments that press upon the idea that our lead villain here is just deluded by his own grandeur and the God complex that comes with striking discovery oil on a new strain of medicine like this. But really it's all just dressed up, like how he comes to work every day in the comfort of this multimillion dollar home he calls his own. Still Hemsworth navigates this with the humor he imbues his mighty Thor character, always reaching out in the hope that more heart will hammer its way to him in this life. One moment getting high off his own supply with his favourite subject, laughs in the face of the potent pain of our past and our greatest fears. What's scary in satire is that it isn't too far from how we really process things these days, as we filter our forlorn states and bury it all in a feed that hungers for likes when we should all be sharing the love. The negative cycle turning us against each other and the greater selves we've always held inside, but now deny, both within and in what we give out to the whole world for a greater good. Slave to a long black rectangle staring at us like a science fiction monolith. But matching Chris, wit for wit and star power for scene stealing is man of the month Miles Teller. After surviving Oscar 'Whiplash', this young star looked like the next generational great leading man. 2016's 'War Dogs' with Jonah Hill, the brilliant boxing biopic 'Bleed For This' in the same year and not only being once cast in Marvel's first family, but an aerial assault of a sequel almost 40 years in the making confirmed this. But after a 'Fantastic' flop (it wasn't that bad. And he would be our pick in this Multiverse if...well...you know), an Esquire hatchet piece and the holstering of 'Top Gun' stuck on the corona delayed runway, stopped this Maverick in his tracks. But none of this matters now as this Rooseter is waking everyone back up to their Corn Flakes. He even has the last word here with powerful poignancy. Let it sit with you over the pink neon credits. But I think he stole my shaving foam Santa beard idea (ho, ho, ho. I'm just kidding. But this is hilarious). Asking Jurnee Smollett if she's been a good girl this year, as the high flying 'Birds Of Prey' star (she's about to have her own movie after reprising in 'Batgirl' too) gets her talons into this as the clutching hope and heart of a movie fighting cynicism on all fronts. Audiences may have seen this before and critics may say you don't need to again, but this Kosinski movie still has something to say. In a big way, today. Not for tomorrow's world, but the one we've been living in for years. Blissfully unaware as we scroll and others troll. I'll always trust the 'Tron: Legacy', 'Oblivion' and 'Only The Brave' director. Even if the concoction seems a little diluted like most Netflix big name big blockbusters, a victim to today's apathetic cinema crowd staying at home (with good reason) and the streaming service's rotating system (they'll forget this next week for 'The Umbrella Academy'). Remember 'Velvet Buzzsaw'? Well, this thrilling exposé of human horror cuts a little deeper too, as 'Spiderhead' gets in your brain and keeps you in its web. Acknowledge. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Black Mirror', 'Ex Machina', 'Velvet Buzzsaw'. 

TV REVIEW: STRANGER THINGS - Season 4 (Vol. 1)

 

4/5

Strange Things In The Multiverse Of Madness.

7 Episodes. Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Mattarazo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Pria Ferguson, Joseph Quinn, Edurado Franco, Dmitri Antonov, Cara Buono, Rob Morgan, Brett Gelman, Matthew Modine & Paul Reiser. Created By: The Duffer Brothers.

'Running Up That Hill' with Kate Bush and the 'Hounds Of Love'. Away from a red room of foggy foreboding, that will have me burying our grandfather clock in the garden the next time I come home. The fourth and penultimate, before the fifth final season of 'Stranger Things' Volume 1 slaps the Star Lord headphones on you for the greatest soundtrack and nostalgia trip since James Gunn scored with all those 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' volumes for your tape deck. Spinning you right round, baby right round (and upside down) like a record, it's all "very exciting" as the Queen Kate Bush said it best. But make no mistake with this sudden chart resurgence. Kate Bush has always been cool and we could never get sick of her like Caleb McLaughlin says (himself rocking the number 8 in memory of King Kobe with a Hawkins basketball jersey we just have to have, forget the Hellfire Club tee (we have Scoops Ahoy for that, Robin)). Two years back I think I stopped talking to two friend for like two weeks, because they said "who the f### is Kate Bush?!" And best believe I'd do it again. Who the f### are they?! I'll never skip on Bush (yeah, I said it) like the iconic intro of 'Stranger Things' in synth and VT. Why do Netflix always ask? Do they want to lose more subscribers? Well there's no real sign of that as all around the world from the Empire State Building of New York City, USA and the scrambling Shibuya Crossing here of Tokyo, Japan. Turning the whole world upside down, but thankfully not the Hachiko statue into a demi-dog. 

'Dear Billy' I may miss Dacre Montgomery. But that episode of 'Stranger Things' season 4 raises us up like Max by graves (I love that singer). Mad Max, Sadie Sink drains it with the performance of her life next to the love of McLaughlin (so good in Netflix's 'Concrete Cowboy' alongside Idris Elba) who also steps it up this season with a swish. The kids are more than alright. They're all grown up now. And you won't believe your eyes or how old you feel (yet?!) with the flashbacks from just what seemed like a season ago. They're all spread out now, from Hawkins to California and even Mother Russia. With new friends that rock and roll, not to mention "duuude." Joseph Quinn's hair-metal, spawn of Satan being your new favourite, new character, ready for his recurring role like the scene stealing Pria Ferguson, now we have no more Billy. That is when the 'Booksmart' Edurado Franco isn't chong charming his way on hazy screen. But we all know who the real stars of the show are. Millie Bobby Brown dialling it further than her character name. Finn Wolfhard going the second part of his second name. Sink, McLaughlin and the cult favourite kids icon Gaten Mattarazo. Not to mention the sweet soul of Noah Schnapp no longer lost like Doug from 'The Hangover' on a Las Vegas casino roof. And then of course there's the older teens. The long distance love of Natalie Dyer and Charlie Heaton dialling the same. The return of last seasons best Maya Hawke, making Uma and Ethan proud for the record (let her album make you 'Blush') and the best babysitter alive, representing for us with the hair chest (let alone the iconic 'do), Joe Keery's Steve Harrington. Even if we want to hear their ice cream truck and iconic outfits and best Halloween costumes in show, sing again. 

And then there's the big kids. 80's superstar Winona Ryder takes top-billing and she really is the soul of this show with a mother's love. This time partnering up with the great Brett Gelman. His fingers are like arrows. His arms iron. His feet spears. How can we love one man in one show (this) and hate him so much in another (the fantastic 'Fleabag')? You know who we do love though? The 'Weird Science' dream come true of Cara Buono. Or Netflix regular Rob Morgan copping more of a role in Hopper's absence. Yeah, Hopper's absence. It's no spoiler to show that Netflix haven't been harbouring a secret when it comes to everyone's favourite Dad 'bod of David Harbour. But here he is bald and beautiful (showing us it's OK) in a Russian prison with an unlikely, but undeniable ally (the incredible Dmitri Antonov) and one hell of a moving monologue from Agent Orange to Chief of Police. All this and the return of the silver fox with cruel or compelling cunning, Matthew Modine and a big bad monster that looks like something straight out of a Carpenter classic as the chapter titles come straight for you. Just watch this with Max headphones on if you dare, because like the first season in fan service callback, 'Stranger Things' is straight scary again. Breaking your bones and turning you over, as it takes your eyes. This will make more than your nose bleed. The Duffer Brothers have done it again. Despite a Netflix game spoiler and official Twitter accounts, revealing just as much as spoilt fans. Failing to recognise that some fans want to savour each episode and their movie like runtime, in this pressurised microwavable, binge culture and the race to be "first". And as we get ready for July's Volume 2 conclusion to 'Stranger Things 4' like the fourth of July fireworks of the third and best season set in the very month I was born. Who better to raise the stakes than Paul Reiser? We could all do with his motivating monologue in the booth of a classic American roadside diner. Shave your head like those who really should accept going bald (*holds hand up in shame*) and get ready. Going forth didn't kill you. Now it's time to get stranger. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Ozark', 'Squid Game', 'IT'. 

TV REVIEW: GHOST IN THE SHELL: SAC_2045 - Season 2

 

4/5

1Q84.

12 Episodes. Starring: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ōtsuka, Taro Yamaguchi & Yutaka Nakano. Created By: Masamuns Shirow.

New Balance flagship, Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan. Like a Rolling Stone we see the cover of a Major billboard that they passed out in magazine form at Tower Records, Shibuya, like a stream of pamphlets people scramble for. Adorned like all the police warning posters plastered on Koban's across the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. Telling you, if you see something, say something. And call the law, because this really is that. 'Ghost In The Shell: SAC_2045' Season 2 streaming on Netflix at the same time as 'Love, Death + Robots', plus Volume 1 of the fourth and penultimate before the fifth and final season of 'Stranger Things' in a big month, is worth of all the promotional press. Diving into her own upside down, in an iconic shot down the skyscrapers that goes 'Into The Spider Verse' for that classic 'Shell' shock, this Ghost is Major. Directed down by Shu Sasaki and Yuhei Kanabe. Sky swimming between Tokyo metropolitan monoliths of concrete, steel and glass like she can fly. And boy does she, through everything and everywhere, all at once like Michelle Yeoh in this multiverse. All to the tune of not one ('Secret Ceremony'), but two (the closing credits, 'No Time To Anchor') stellar songs from the massive Japanese collective Millennium Parade who also led the march of the first seasons theme (the uplifting 'Fly With Me'). All for a show that has more iconic themes and opening and closing sequences than a 'Tokyo Ghoul' reply. The synth of 'Stranger Things'' 80's horror may have the best theme-tune of all-time (I'm sorry, 90's animated 'X-Men' series), but you'll never click 'Skip Intro' on this Major either. 

Celluar animation may still be king. Just ask Studio Ghibli, who shouldn't have made that computerised change, all the legendary studios that were part of 'Star Wars' Japanese animated visions (and will be again, thankfully in 2023) and the student I teach whose company made the best episode of Volume 3 of 'Love, Death + Robots' ('The Martian' like 'The Very Pulse Of The Machine' with Mackenzie Davis)...but I've already said too much. Still you will now get used to this digital animation that in itself is amazing, even if sometimes it looks like 'The Incredibles'. Sure its soulless in comparison to the cellular crafting, but it's still lovingly rendered and matches the Major military clinical precision of the shows nature in a world gone mobile like a cell phone into cyber and crypto cryptic code. Getting us up to speed with this complex, stand alone series like the 'Sustainable War' movie anthology of Season 1 recently released, 'SAC_2045' may be a shell of the classic 1995 movie and all the super sequels and spin-offs that came after. But there will be some who think at least it's not the 2017 Scarlett Johansson movie. For the record, we loved that film and before its '2049' time thought it even had better digital skyscraping visuals than Villeneuve's 'Blade Runner'. Ghost my be haunted by problems. They could have really used a more sensitive name for their 'Autistic Mode' and why is the one black character called Clown, made to act like one too, in the face of everyone's ridicule? But still like passing jello pudding in a hospital waiting room, this Orwellian story of posthumans and doublethink's heart really is in the right place. Even if by George we do now live in a world where "war is peace and freedom is slavery." 

Haruki Murakami made his magnum-opus '1Q84' on the raised highways above the streets of Sangenjaya (and my work, as I eat Frosties this morning...why? Because, theeeeyre...you know the rest). And these roads lead to all the classic 'Ghost In The Shell' amazing action here. Especially the paved first episode cliffhanger that culminates in a chorus of gunfire for this ghost in the machine and one well worked stand-off sequence for the entirety of the second part. Sure right now it's the wrong time for something like this to be released. Just like the image of a plane flying too low and close to the city is still as unsettling as it is jarring. But these sensational set-pieces still stir the senses, even if it is in different ways than they intended to under the snow of your name, Yuki. All these bright lights, first-person shooter camera visuals and artillery of action amongst this digital graffiti is merely a brutally beautiful backdrop to the true essence of the story that plugs into the fact that we as a hive...excuse me, I mean people, are a slave to the machine in this matrix of a world that has become true. Murakami based 'Q' (the number 9 is bad luck in Japan) on '1984'. But we don't need to be scared of George Orwell's nightmare anymore. Because we're living in it. Oh, brother. It's a good job Major and her right hand man Batou with coins over his eyes like he's ready to pay his way to the afterlife are here. Atsuko Tanaka and Akio Ōtsuka lending their vocal talents again, alongside Taro Yamaguchi and Yutaka Nakano for Masamuns Shirow's concept and creation. The N of this A.I. taking our intelligence and humanity to task in a force of a show that makes us look at what's real and fake in a world that revolves with a scroll. These nuanced notions amongst vivid visuals, still missing the complex cyberpunk of the more artistic anime form still stay with you like a spider on the wall, or a Tachikoma tank. Creeping and crawling as it brings the animal energy of its equivalent. Even if these ghost stories are full of more artillery shell than spirit, you're still plugged into a major part of cult Japanese, science-fiction storytelling (see 'Man's Search For Meaning'). And that's a fact. No puppet without a ghost. In your descent, don't look before you leap. Get on site and jump into this ghost of cyberpunk anime's past. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Love Death + Robots', 'Bubble', 'Spy Family'.