Popcorn Zombies

By Michael Momper   Here we have, I hope, a serious Oscar contender for 2021 Best Picture. Belfast,  Kenneth Branagh’s love letter to his hometown and formative years, paints a striking portrait even in black and white. It’s full of life, vibrant, energetic. It is beautiful and imbued with a boyish sense of wonder, seen through the eyes of marvelous child actor Jude Hill. This movie’s biggest asset is its establishment of  time period  and place. The streets of Belfast are alive with the play of children and the labor of the blue-collar working class. Brick buildings line the streets that are peppered with old cars, wooden  outhouses  and garbage cans. Blanketing this scene is a gray, seemingly damp sky. Somehow, this all looks beautiful. The viewer is sucked into the nostalgic charm that Branagh portrays- everything is so wonderfully lit, with noir shadowplay throughout. You can almost swear that the sunlight pouring in through the windows and cracks in do...

Graham Craycraft Unfortunately Lady Gaga’s and Al Pacino’s performance cannot save this movie.  House of Gucci is Ridley Scott’s 2021 historically based story of the fall of the family run business Gucci. Not to say the business no longer exists, but what once was an empire controlled entirely by the Gucci family is now void of anyone named Gucci. There are some major flaws with this film and not enough positive aspects to save it. Let’s dive right in. First and foremost is the language. This is a story that begs to be made as an Italian language film. The idea that the audience should suspend their belief as characters slip between Italian accents and the occasional Italian phrase is not fair to the audience. These are not Italian- American mobsters in New York. These are native born Italians living in Italy. Why wasn’t it made in Italian? Well quite simply because the people who made the movie don’t speak Italian and most of the big name cast doesn’t either. Moving this idea to a...

Graham Craycraft Lamb is the directorial debut by director and writer Valdimar Jóhannsson released through the arthouse production company A24. Lamb joins the list of A24 thriller/horror films with others such as Midsommar , The Witch , Ex Machina &c. Lamb is an Icelandic foreign language film, but the viewer barely notices during the first half of the movie because there are probably less than 100 words said. It is quiet and contemplative with a nod back to the silent movie era. Jóhannsson circles around human loneliness that spirals into despair and eventually desperation. Where does this desperation lead them? Where does it lead any of us? Extended dream sequences tell the audience more about the characters’ emotions than perhaps their dialogue could. The movie, a pastoral-set thriller, begins with an ambiguous, ominous tone and beautiful shots of dark, snowy, nothingness. Cut to a couple, only a couple, sitting down to Christmas dinner in their home alone in Iceland’s vast cou...

  By Michael Momper " Let me tell you something Tony... or you can watch the f**king news.... everything comes to an end." -Carmela Soprano      Carmela may have uttered these words only about halfway through the American television masterpiece The Sopranos  but they are just as applicable to the mythos of the show itself as they are to the characters within and our own lives in general. All things good and bad come to an end eventually. Sometimes, life is radiant and full of crescendos. Sometimes life is anticlimactic and bleak. Sometimes it just ain't cinematic.     You can imagine my surprise when I found out that my favorite show, which had its final episode in June of 2007, planned to deliver a prequel movie in 2021. Written by David Chase, the creator and showrunner, and also co-written by Lawrence Konner (who wrote numerous episodes of the show), I knew it literally couldn't be in better hands. Additionally, it stars familiar incredible actors l...

  By Michael Momper     Paul Schrader is the kind of filmmaker that makes theater-going worthwhile. In delivering intense moral quandaries and violently high stakes, he slowly puts the audience on edge and makes them squirm in their seats. His filmography is impressive, as he has co-written or written some of the greatest dramas of all time. Most notably, he has worked with Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull  and The Last Temptation of Christ. His writing has become known to focus on troubled and twisted characters; characters grappling with their own past and the horrors that they have committed or that they have witnessed at the hand of others. His vision is often one heavily doused in cynicism, highlighting a cruel and wicked world but showing the effects that we can have on those around us for both better and worse. Taxi Driver in particular is one of the greatest character studies in American cinema, and its portrayal of an incredibly tortured soul...

  By Michael Momper   ​ James Wan, creator of the  Saw  and  The Conjuring  franchises, has returned to his seat in the pantheon of great horror directors after a brief deviation with his direction of  Aquaman . His newest film,  Malignant , is equal parts horror and thriller, totally  bonkers, and a hell of a lot of fun. It is a rocky road at times, with some very campy and stilted dialogue throughout, but given its crazy 1980s horror vibes it is inoffensive enough to overlook. You can say a lot about this movie for better or worse, and it will no doubt be a divisive one, but one thing that is undeniable is its creativity. ​ To avoid spoilers, I can’t get too much into the plot because the  absolutely insane  twist in the back half of the movie is one that absolutely nobody will see coming. A proper suspension of belief is important for a story this ludicrous and fun, even though there are a few very frustrating  plot  ho...

Graham Craycraft The Green Knight is a 2021 movie adapted from a 14th century legend about an Arthurian knight on Christmas day. The movie is directed by David Lowery through the now extremely successful arthouse production company A24. With movies such as Midsommar, The Witch, Uncut Gems, and many more it has become a reputable company worthy of instant respect and consideration for any films they release.  Dev Patel plays Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, who is lost in the shadow of the knights of the round table. He has no reputation and is desperate to prove his worth to his mother, his king, the realm, and himself. The Green Knight is a supernatural figure who offers a game to gathering of royalty and knights. Someone may strike a blow on the knight, but in one year the knight shall return it. If the promise is upheld all will be well, if it is broken, well, the opposite.  The plot is very well done and the cast is great. But, like most A24 films, the real magic is in th...