A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
If you’re not already caught up on “awards fare”, the first couple months of the new year can be a prestige buffet. But it can also feel like a dumping ground before the “real” spring season of “actually good” movies picks up. Although it can be a wasteland, surely there are some gems to be found? So as we bid farewell to Dumpuary … a SunBreak Survey: what’s the best thing you saw in the last month?
In an era where artists like Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake engineer their crossover film success with algebraic levels of calculation, there’s something almost endearing about a big rock band farting out a schlocky horror comedy as their first fictional feature. So the scrappy contrarian in me was rooting hard for Studio 666, the debut narrative showcase for arena-alternative rock band Foo Fighters.
Whether you’ve seen Edmond Rostand’s original Cyrano de Bergerac on the boards or not, it’s been told, retold again and again more ways than I’m sure Rostand would ever have imagined. Cyrano’s long-time friend and beloved Roxanne falls instantly in love with Christian, a new soldier in the army, in which Cyrano (Peter Dinklage) is highly regarded and ranked. Roxanne (Haley Bennett) asks her old friend if he will watch over Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and encourage him to romance her through letters.
The film is deeply uninspiring and the attempts at something resembling commentary feel way out of their depth.
Joining a long run of unsuccessful video game adaptations, Uncharted proves there is a new low to be found when bringing a beloved series to the big screen.
Liam Neeson is Travis Block, a special fixer for the FBI that serves at the pleasure of its director, Aidan Quinn. Block’s specialty is getting undercover agents out of tricky situations when their cover is blown. It involves kicking lots of villain ass without breaking much of a sweat. He’s like the Wolf from Pulp Fiction in the body of a middle manager. Most of the time, Neeson looks lost or confused or not really sure why he’s here. Same, my dude, same.
Carried by the charm and comedic timing of its leads, I Want You Back is a rote romantic comedy that you’ve already seen just by watching the trailer.
A film whose release was delayed over both COVID-19 and rape allegations against star Armie Hammer, Death on the Nile should have spared us all by just staying dead.
A movie that throws the entire kitchen sink at the screen, Moonfall is director Roland Emmerich doing his very best to overwhelm us with a spectacle so we ignore the tedious sideshow that is the rest of the story.
The genius (for lack of a better term) of the Jackass extended universe is not that they brought in Francis Ngannou to test whether an athletic supporter can provide adequate protection against his fierce punches, but that it is likely only the fourth-worst way to sustain a groin injury that’s depicted in Jackass Forever.
