MOVIE REVIEW: Holidays (2016)

Holidays (2016)

Horror Anthology

When it comes to the horror genre, a short film can be just as effective as a full length feature. This is why the genre has lent itself so well to the anthology style of filmmaking, in which you segment the film into a collection of short films connected by a common theme. In recent years horror anthology fans have been spoiled with these films and the newest of the bunch, a film called Holidays, keeps that ball rolling. Bringing together nine talented genre filmmakers this movies tells eight different tales set on eight different holidays, each capturing the spirit of their set day of the year. 

The film moves in chronological order so it opens with a tale of true love on Valentine's day, but this isn't your typical love story. Written and directed by Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer, Valentine's Day gives "Organ donor" a whole new meaning and is a confident and strong start to the anthology. From there we move into every drunks favorite holiday, St. Patrick's Day and although I found this to be the weakest segment of the bunch Gary Shore still manages to find some cool themes to center in on and shed some new light on the Irish holiday.

Nicolas McCarthy had the task of bringing horror to Easter and to do so he decided to focus on one of children's biggest questions surrounding the holiday, What is the Easter bunny and why does it exist? His story blends the mythology of the easter bunny with the faith based beliefs to create a creepy, clever take on an otherwise bright and shiny holiday. The film moves from there into Mother's Day, written & directed by Sarah Adina Smith this offers a new take on the "spawn of satan" as we follow a young girl who gets pregnant every time she has intercourse. 

The back half of Holidays is where the film really flourishes with Father's Day and Halloween, the next two, being the strongest of them all. Starting with the former, written and directed by Anthony Scott Burns, Father's Day is the short that will stick with you the longest after the film has ended. He tells you everything while showing nothing and when it's over you will find your mind racing to put the pieces together and figure out what exactly you just saw. You won't have much time though as the follow up Halloween story takes a drastic change in tone and story as it is written and directed by none other than Kevin Smith. Putting in some of his best work of recent memory he creates a totally original revenge thriller that is modern and relevant to the times. 

The film ends as each year does, by celebrating Christmas and New years and neither leave you disappointed. Scott Stewart's Christmas celebration asks a question many of us have been pondering with the technology looming, What would Virtual-reality mean for us? When a young father makes a difficult life decision to procure this technology for his son we get a small glimpse into what that could look like. While that story may leave you slightly bummed out the finale will send you off with a sinister grin on your face. Directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer and written by Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer this short sets you up for a by-the-books kidnap and torture story until a small plot twist sends this into a blood filled battle that will be sure to leave you satisfied in the end.

As far as horror anthologies go, Holidays is about as strong of one as you can get. With just about every short hitting its mark and leaving the viewer satisfied you cant ask for much more from short form horror. As an added bonus it is also a horror film that fits the season for just about every holiday, and as any horror fan knows there is nothing better than seasonal horror. My only question is what the hell does this genre have against Thanksgiving? 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

MOVIE REVIEW: 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) 

Mystery, Sci-FI, Thriller

Directed By: Dan Trachtenberg

Considering the current landscape for the film industry it is rather remarkable that up until two months ago none of us even knew this film existed, let alone that it was being released in the beginning of March. In a world so filled with spoilers JJ Abrams Bad Robot did the impossible by hiding this movie from public eye, and for good reason too. Despite the name, this is not a direct sequel to Matt reeves 2008 film but rather an extension of that universe, so don't go in with expectations of shaky cam and giant monsters. Instead, prepare yourself for a slow-burn, highly intense, science-fiction thriller that will have you mentally exhausted by the time the credits roll.

10 Cloverfield Lane operates as a small scale thriller, with the majority of the film focusing on just three people. The film opens with our main character Michelle (Mary Elizabeth-Winstead) packing up her things in an attempt to outrun her problems. On the road out of town she is struck by another traveler, leaving her unconscious in a car wreck. She awakens to find herself trapped inside a mysterious bunker with another man named Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) and the man who claims to have saved their lives, Howard (John Goodman). That's all you need to know prior to seeing the film, why they are down there and why Howard thinks he has saved their lives are questions only to be answered on screen. 

First time director Dan Trachtenberg has come out of the gate with as strong of a performance as you can have, crafting a film that is both a throwback to our favorite classics while at the same time feeling entirely fresh and original. The film is fantastically paced, building the tension at all the right moments and delivering plenty of twists and turns when you least expect it. Every time you think you have the movie or its characters figured out it throws something at you that you never saw coming. 

What really elevates this movie higher than your typical science-fiction movie is the performances Trachtenberg was able to pull from his core actors. With the film focusing almost entirely on just three people what those actors put on screen is what makes the movie what it is. John Gallagher Jr. is fantastic as the optimistic Emmett but it is John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth-Winstead that shape this movie into a stellar thriller. 

Winstead has shown time and time again that she has got what it takes to be the new "Sigourney Weaver" and if her performance here doesn't solidify her status as this generation's genre film bad-ass then I don't know what will. Then there is John Goodman who we all know he is a masterful character actor but what he brings to life in this film is something far more than we have seen from him in a while. What he does as Howard is chillingly real and easily the best performance we have seen so far this year.

To add to the "old-school" feel of this movie Bear McCreary brings a stellar score that only makes this feel more like your favorite classic science-fiction movie. It helps to build tension in some of the most intense scenes while also alleviating a lot of the stress in the calmer moments of the film. Added together with superb performances and a solid directorial debut from Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane sets the bar high for all other sci-fi movies to come this year. 

Much like Ex-Machina last spring, this film is sure to surprise most people and be talked about plenty in the future. Go into this movie with as little knowledge of what is going to happen as possible and you are sure to be rewarded. For the fans of the original this has plenty to keep you speculating on how they connect, if at all. If you haven't seen the first movie, don't worry, you can easily enjoy this film without it (though I recommend checking it out, I adore it). After seeing this I am quite intrigued to see what Bad Robot does with the "Cloverfield" name next, I think it has an exciting future ahead of it. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

MOVIE REVIEW: Zootopia (2016)

Zootopia (2016)

Animation, Action, Adventure

Directed By: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, & Jared Bush

After revamping the studio in the past half decade, Disney Animation has made itself quite clear; they are no longer to be considered second tier to Pixar. After allowing the digital animation studio to dominate the game for over a decade Disney has finally found itself back in the forefront of the business that made them famous in the first place. Starting with Wreck-it-Ralph back in 2012 and then following up with Frozen and Big Hero 6 the following years they quickly regained their notoriety in the animation world. They are keeping that train rolling this year with the release of their newest film Zootopia, a quirky buddy-cop comedy that takes place in a fictional world inhabited by intelligent animals.  It seems they are taking a few pages from Pixar's book too, as this movie takes a turn into some more mature themes than we are used to with Disney.

Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a small bunny with big aspirations, despite the fact that there has never been a "bunny cop" she has made it her life goal to be the very first one. She succeeds, but not without her share of naysayers and when she gets assigned to Zootopia, the biggest city in their world, she has no choice but to prove she belongs there. She is thrown on traffic duty immediately upon arrival but determination soons leads her into the biggest case plaguing the city. She is given 48 hours to solve the case or turn in her badge, lucky for her she has a solid lead. The only problem is he is a fox (Jason Bateman) and her family, as well as society, have trained her to believe a fox can never be trusted. She must try to outwit the sly fox into helping her solve the case, or lose everything she has worked her entire life for. 

On the surface the film works brilliantly as a buddy-cop movie, Hopps and Nick start the movie as seemingly polar-opposites and slowly realize they are actually a solid team. What helps make this into something a little more substantial than your average Disney flick is the clear racial undertones. Creating a fictional world inhabited by all different kinds of animals is clearly going to raise racial issues and the film, to its credit, doesn't shy away from addressing them. They reflect the current state of our society and how many people get treated because of generalizations and stereotypes. It doesn't get much deeper than that but when you consider it a kids film this seems like an appropriate lesson to teach.

Much like any great film, Zootopia creates a highly interesting world populated with characters you only want to know more about. The city is divided into different types of ecosystems allowing the animals to live comfortably in their natural state while also creating some fun locations for the movie to go to. The movie tries to realize a whole slew of different ideas, some landing and some not but what really matters is that this world feels real, you believe that if this place existed this is exactly how it would be. 

I typically am against celebrity voice casting, as it is usually for audience draw rather than being best for the part, but Disney seems to have a handle on their voice actors as this film features a lineup of great talent. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman are fantastic as the two leads and familiar names like Idris Elba, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Jenny Slate, and Alan Tudyk populate the background and all do wonderful jobs voice acting. They each lend a hand in making this world feel authentic, creating the personalities that makeup the population of Zootopia.

While they could have gone a little deeper into the racial undertones the film is still another solid outing for Disney Animation. The film is sure to be loved by kids all over the world and there are more than enough "adult themed" jokes to keep anyone else entertained throughout. It's a cute movie with a good message that any sensible parent would be happy to teach their child. If you are looking for something fun to see before the onslaught of summer blockbusters comes than check this one out before it leaves theaters. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

MOVIE REVIEW: Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool (2016)

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Directed By: Tim Miller

Before we get into it, let's take a moment to praise the actions of the individual that leaked the Deadpool test footage online a few years back. Without that video and the enormous rallying support from the fandom after seeing it, this movie never see's the light of day, at least not this version of it. Thanks to that support they were able to make a comic book movie unlike everything we have seen before, and I'm not just talking about that hard 'R' rating. Using fourth wall breaking, ultra violence, and unfiltered humor they have created a film that is quite simply, a good time.

If you are unfamiliar with the character of Deadpool don't worry, he is an easy one to follow. Wade Wilson (Ryan reynolds) is ex special forces, making him a highly trained killer. When he is diagnosed with inoperable cancer and offered a way to fix it, even if it is from some shady people, he sees no other option if he wants to live to see his would be wife again. His "golden opportunity" isn't as shiny as he'd hoped though as he is left horribly disfigured by the procedure, but there is a kicker. The experiment also made him practically invincible, his new mutations allowing his cells to regenerate at a rapid pace (much like Wolverine). With a chip on his shoulder he decides to use his new powers to enact his revenge on the people who destroyed his insanely good looks. 

The simplicity of the story allows them to play with the format and have fun with the characters. From the opening credits down to the final scene what you see is completely absurd and out of line, just as it should be. Reynolds finally gets to play the super "hero" he was born to be, the "merc with a mouth" couldn't have been brought to life any better than what we are given here. He is witty, crass, childish, goofy, and totally offensive and his back forths with T.J. Miller throughout the film are some of the best off-the-cuff comedy I have seen in a long time. 

For those unaware, Deadpool is a part of the X-Men universe and being a Fox property this meant they had access to a few, lesser, X-Men. Using Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Angel Dust (Gina Carano), and our main villain AJAX (Ed Skrein) they are able to quietly set this movie in a familiar world. This also furthers the notion that Fox has really gotten a handle on the X-Men universe, they understand a story doesn't necessarily need to connect and continue on from the last one. They get that if you just make a good movie, with a good story, and good characters then audiences will embrace it. 

This is hardly your average X-Men movie however as Deadpool spends the majority of the film skewering his enemies into nothing more than a bloody pile of flesh and bone. This is a large part of why the 'R' rating was necessary for this project, without the ultra violence, adult language, and humor this is just another average comic book movie. These unique qualities are what allow this character to stand on its own and actually be something we remember. We saw what happens when you water Wade Wilson down for the average PG-13 audience in Wolverine: Origins and it was a train wreck. So much so that it is openly made fun of throughout this film. 

In a year where the phrase "superhero fatigue" is bound to be thrown around often and loosely it is quite refreshing to see the first one of 2016 be so unique and absurdly entertaining. Furthermore this opens up countless new opportunities for studios and other adult comic book properties as this film finally proves that an 'R' rating is a deathwish for a film as long as it has it's audiences and is made well. After seeing one of the greatest marketing campaigns in movie history is comforting to know that it was hardly the best thing to come out of this property. If you are looking for the first huge movie of 2016 it is already here, check out Deadpool this weekend on the big screen and show studios that they can make more movies like this. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

MOVIE REVIEW: The Boy (2016)

The Boy (2016)

Horror, Thriller

Directed By: William Brent Bell

As most horror fans know, January and February is typically a dumping ground for disappointing movies. It is the time of year that audiences are at their lowest numbers and studios usually use the time to dish out their least worthy properties. So when I first started seeing previews for The Boy, the latest film from William Brent Bell, it came off as another in a long line of mid winter duds that we see every year. This is hardly the case and thanks to some decent word of mouth and the opportunity to see what Lauren Cohan (The Walking Dead) could do on the big screen I made sure to check this flick out before it had finished its run in theaters. 

Like many other genre films, The Boy keeps the plot simple. Greta (Lauren Cohan) is looking to get away from her past life which leads her to England, where she takes a job as a nanny for an aging couple. Upon her arrival she is shocked to learn that the "boy" she will be taking care of is actually a porcelain doll that represents the couples lost child. She has her reservations but the money is too good to pass up and even though she feels she is taking advantage of this elderly couple it all seems harmless enough. When her new employer's leave and strange things begin to happen around the house she starts to believe that this doll isn't just a doll and that maybe not all of their son was lost all those years ago.

Based on synopsis alone, this film hardly seems like anything we haven't seen before. Girl shows up at a house with a creepy doll, creepy doll then begins to torture her and make her question her sanity, and for the first two acts this is mostly the case.  It is in the final act that this film separates itself from all others like it and falls completely down the rabbit hole. Not to say that this is the most original genre film either, because it isn't, what it does is take cliches and tropes the audience knows so well and twists them in a way we haven't necessarily seen before, all while paying homage to classic films like The People Under the Stairs. 

Going into this I still had the bad taste in my mouth from 2014's Anabelle, a film that had a ton of promise and even an R rating but couldn't deliver on a single punch. So going into this, a film with a PG-13 rating (something genre fans are finally starting to realize isn't always a bad thing), I doubted how this film could actually scare or impress me. Now most of the film isn't "jump out of your seat" scary but it manages to get under your skin and make you feel quite uncomfortable at times and with a wickedly clever finale this film managed to do more than I thought possible. 

It is nice to see Lauren Cohan making her transition to the big screen, we have seen plenty of big TV starts try and make the change recently and fail (just look at half of the Game of Thrones cast) so I enjoyed seeing her thrive in this film. She is as good, if not better than she has ever been on TWD and without her this film doesn't get passed the first act. I am happy to see some quality back in a studio horror film, especially one that came out in January, and I'd like to see many more like this going forward. 2016 is looking to be another solid year for genre fans and The Boy is wonderful way to get it all started, if you have been holding back on this one take the leap and check it out before it leaves theaters. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!