Twisters (2024)

Despite the recent wave of nostalgic affection for it, Twister was never a movie that I considered great. It wasn't bad, and I have some amount of goodwill for any blockbuster that gives a lead role to Bill Paxton, but it wasn't up there alongside the many other disaster movies that came along after it. So I wasn't very keen to see this sorta-sequel (there's a bit of machinery used that was in the first film, and there are twisters, of course, but that covers all of the main connections). Thankfully, I had a partner very keen to see this, which is how I can now be glad that I saw it on the big screen, because this is blockbuster fun. 

Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kate, a young woman who retired from the tornado-chasing game after an incident that left her scarred and traumatised while trying to come up with a way to "kill" tornadoes. She now works in meteorology, in an environment that makes use of her intelligence and intuitive ability to read the weather, and hopes to stay far away from lively and huge tornadoes. That plan changes when she is approached by an old friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos), who wants Kate to help him capture some vital tornado data with the help of her natural talent and some cutting-edge technology. That puts them in competition with Tyler (Glen Powell) though. Tyler is a YouTube sensation, a cowboy daredevil, and a minor celebrity with a major ego. He might have a bit more to him though, hidden behind the cowboy hat and super-charged grin. He might even help Kate to finally realise her tornado-killing dream.

Written by Mark L. Smith, a decent enough talent working here to flesh out a story by Joseph Kosinski, Twisters is actually very smart and well-constructed, considering the type of movie it is. It delivers the required exposition via character moments, instead of in one unexciting info-dump, and it makes some interesting points about the need to stop being so passive in a world that has become increasingly hostile to many of the people living in it. It also nicely inverts the formula of the first film in a few different ways, but does so while absolutely sticking to the blockbuster movie formula you expect when you buy your ticket.

Director Lee Isaac Chung may not seem like the obvious fit for the material, considering the previous features he has helmed, but he goes all out here to deliver a slice of undiluted Americana. The scenery, the soundtrack full of lively Country music, the way in which Powell's character continues to deal with the tornadoes as beasts to be wrangled, this is a laid-back Western, in many ways, with a tornado set to be the main villain due in town for a shoot-out scheduled for High Noon. That undersells the film though, because it's also very funny. This is a fun and funny film, one that keeps entertainment front and centre. Like many modern day blockbusters, the runtime clocks in at just over two hours. Unlike many other films, however, this doesn't feel overlong. The pacing is perfect, and part of the reason for that is the timing of Glen Powell's entrance, about 20-30 minutes into the runtime.

There's no need to go on and on about Powell trying to become a star. Powell is a star. He has moments here that solidly underline that fact, and when he does his shimmy swagger at one point I coudln't help thinking of him as a demin-clad, stetson-wearing, male version of Jessica Rabbit. Powell feels like the lead here, to a degree, but it helps that Edgar-Jones is equal to him in their scenes together. She's smart, sassy, and continues to deal with trauma from her past that feels like something anyone would struggle to reconcile with. Ramos is fine as Javi, but neither he nor his main colleague, Scott (David Corensweet), are half as watchable as those who make up Tyler's troupe:Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane, Tunde Adebimpe, Katy O'Brian, and Harry Hadden-Paton (as Ben, a British journalist writing a piece on the star "tornado-wrangler"). Others appearing onscreen include Maura Tierney, David Born, Paul Scheer, Daryl McCormack, Nik Dodani, and Kiernan Shipka, but I won't tell you who gets a decent amount of screentime and who gets to cameo. Is the cast comparable to the group of actors we got in the original movie? No, but it's not too far off.

If you have seen or heard anything about Twisters and already suspect that you will hate it then you may well end up hating it. I would heartily recommend this to anyone after some full-blooded blockbuster fun though. It has human leads sparring with one another to be the brighter star, it has some great special effects also muscling in to be the star of the show, and it has a real eagerness to be absolutely entertaining from start to finish. I think it succeeds  . . . brilliantly.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: How To Blow Up A Pipeline (2023)

While this is only the second film from director Daniel Goldhaber, he's already marked himself out as someone I am always interested. Cam was a fantastic feature debut, and this shows a consistency of form while he moves comfortably from the horror genre into more dramatic, but no less thought-provoking, territory.

In case the title of this film hasn't already made you aware of the content, this is all about a group of people endeavouring to blow up a pipeline. That may seem like a foolhardy mission, and one likely to end in failure, but certain scenes are shown in non-chronological order to illustrate the many extra provisions put in place by activists determined to succeed against overwhelming odds. 

Based on a book by Andreas Malm, adapted for the screen by Goldhaber, Jordan Sjol, and Ariela Barer (who also stars onscreen in a main role), How To Blow Up A Pipeline feels like a film that is very much needed right now. Goldhaber definitely picks a side, which you might say is obvious from the fact that he even made the film at all, but we're at a point in our lives when picking the right side seems like the obviously right thing to do. The planet is burning (sometimes literally), profits are being put ahead of health and safety on a scale that is frankly horrendous, even if that isn't a problem inherent to modern life, and a lot of the news articles and coverage of this situation, and the protesters who have been ramping up their disruption and exposure, tend to frame it as yet another issue in which both sides have valid points to make about the climate change crisis. The data points to only one side being correct, and anyone who wants to deny the catastrophic events of climate change going on around us should do us both a favour now and stop reading. 

Anyway, apologies, back to the film itself. While not exactly lauding the characters as saints, Goldhaber and co. do a fantastic job of using the non-linear narrative to show the motivating factors here, and to make you view their actions as more naive and potentially damaging than they actually are. The clear visuals (from cinematographer Tehillah De Castro, working on only their second feature in this role, I believe, having done numerous music videos and short films) are accompanied by a very good score from Gavin Brivik (who also worked on Cam with Goldhaber), helped by a script that reflects the conviction of our leads while also conveying the attitudes of those who view them as criminals and ignorant pests.

Barer is very good in her role, but I wouldn't feel right singling any one person out from the others. Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, and Jake Weary play the core activists, and each and every one of them has a different, but equally important, part to play in the grand plan. They are also working together for a number of different reasons that all happen to stem from the one big issue, and the performances effortlessly show the different types of relationships within the central group (whether they are lifelong friends or newly connected by the requirements of their mission) and why they are so determined to strike a blow for eco-terrorism.

There's a famous Albert Camus quote that more of us should remember on a daily basis: "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion." That applies more and more nowadays to people who are striving to correct the balance of a world that is being shifted so far off its axis as to be unrecognisable from what it once was. How To Blow Up A Pipeline reminds us that, despite the headlines and opinion pieces, a lot of people you may view with disrespect and disdain are actually risking a hell of a lot to benefit all of us in the long run. You can apply that to the many people currently taking strike action around the world as easily as you can apply it to the eco-terorrism featured here, and I hope this film succeeds in reframing the mindset of at least a few people who sit down to watch it.

8/10

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Daniel Isn't Real (2019)

The second full feature from director Adam Egypt Mortimer, who also worked with writer Brian DeLeeuw to adapt his novel into screenplay form, Daniel Isn't Real is a fantastic psychological thriller with some impressive horror moments interspersed throughout.

After some opening scenes that show a young boy named Luke cope with his life by creating an imaginary friend named Daniel, things get to the here and now. Luke (Miles Robbins) has spent many years keeping Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger) locked up, but it's now time to set him free once again. Luke believes that Daniel, despite not being real, is there to help him through difficult times in his life. Daniel, on the other hand, believes that he is there to take over, and that will be the best result for both of them.

It's impressive to watch Daniel Isn't Real and watch it start off as something feeling very familiar and predictable before moving further and further towards quite a different angle in the second half. Not that anything then automatically becomes impossible to see coming. Genre fans should be able to stay at least one step ahead of the unfolding plot, but it's all done in a way that certainly proves to be slicker and trickier than the opening scenes would lead you to believe.

The two leads both do great work. Robbins is very insecure and willing to be led around by others, Schwarzenegger is almost Patrick Bateman-esque in his lack of care for anyone around him who gets in the way of his plans. Sasha Lane and Hanna Marks are two different young women who end up caught between the two identities, to different degrees, and I was delighted to see Mary Stuart Masterson in a strong supporting role, playing Luke's mother, someone who has suffered from her own mental health issues for years. The other main actor is Chukwudi Iwuji, playing a therapist named Braun who tries to help Luke without realising the full extent of the problem.

Mortimer obviously saw some main aspects of the story that he wanted to enjoy exploring, starting with that familiar shared experience of having an imaginary friend to help us get through hard times, and the sense of fun and curiosity he has is infectious. Although using the problematic mental state of Luke as the main "battleground" for the film, Mortimer successfully walks a tightrope between creating the tension, and fear, and treating the subject with the respect it deserves. Perhaps most surprising of all are the moments that terrify because they feel pulled from real life, moments in which people cannot stand to see things around them and want to choose suicide, moments in which people battle loved ones until jolted to their senses. If you have ever been in a situation while trying to help people in this confused state, either someone who has been plagued by episodes throughout their life or someone who has hit a certain age and then been cruelly attacked by the onset of dementia, then you'll recognise that balance between wanting them to feel happy, and less confused than necessary, and wanting them to remember who and where they are.

Working equally well on two fronts, Daniel Isn't Real is an entertaining film and also one that will keep you thinking. Some may have issues with the way it portrays some aspects of difficult mental health issues, but I think the beginning and the finale allow it to sidestep most major criticisms, and also push it from a thriller into more solid horror territory.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.

Hellboy (2019)

Hellboy is the weakest film yet from director Neil Marshall, who has been away from cinema screens for far too long (his last solo project was Centurion, almost a decade ago). But a weak film from Neil Marshall is still something that I'll happily watch ahead of films from many other directors. Because Marshall has consistently provided me with entertainment, thrills, and some of the best moments in modern genre cinema. So, despite the critical and commercial failure of this movie, I was always going to give him my time.

David Harbour is the actor now taking on the main role, and Ian McShane is his father figure, but this will all feel very familiar to fans of the property. All you need to know is that an evil sorceress, a "blood queen" named Vivienne Nimue (Milla Jovovich) is trying to come back and get her revenge, despite having been dismembered and her body parts placed in different locations, and part of her plan involves Hellboy taking charge of Excalibur and unleashing a kind of hell on Earth. Hellboy is helped in this adventure by a young woman who can communicate with the dead (Alice, played by Sasha Lane) and a skilled soldier type (Ben Daimio, played by Daniel Dae Kim).

I could spend just as much time writing about all of the little mis-steps that stop this from being a great movie, but I am choosing instead to try and heap a little praise upon it. Enough people have told you why you should give it a miss. I am going to try and convince you to give it two hours of your time.

First of all, forget the previous Hellboy movies. They are fantastic, and few people have the same attention to detail when it comes to creating cinematic worlds as Guillermo del Toro. So it's important to remember that as you go into this. It's not a Del Toro film, and it's not trying to be. I think too many people gave this a viewing while still holding on to their love (and well-earned love, at that) for those other movies.

Second, this is a good cast. Harbour does well in the main role, and McShane has become a master of stealing scenes while appearing in smaller roles in recent years. Jovovich has a blast as the big baddie, and is especially fun in the roles that have her still waiting for her body to be fully assembled. It's a shame that Lane and Kim aren't as much fun as they could be, let down by a script that doesn't seem to know what to do with them for large sections of the runtime, but that's compensated for by the performances from Sophie Okonedo, Thomas Haden Church (in a brief cameo), and Stephen Graham, voicing a "henchman" creature named Gruagach.

Although the script by Andrew Cosby may not be as strong or interesting as it could be, everything moves along energetically enough, with some fun set-pieces interspersed throughout that allow Marshall to deliver some blood and guts around people who roll their eyes and swear at the monsters attempting to push them off their mortal coil.

The special effects are varying in quality, the score from Benjamin Wallfisch is foot-stampingly good, and the whole thing is just a flawed bundle of messy fun. Which is sometimes the best kind of fun (hey, get your mind out of the gutter). Give it a watch and you may agree.

6/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy the movie here.

Netflix And Chill: Hearts Beat Loud (2018)

Here's a simple test for you before you consider watching Hearts Beat Loud. How do you feel about seeing Nick Offerman when he briefly breaks into an expression of pure joy? There are few things that cheer me up more, he becomes a child (sometimes the expression is accompanied by giggling, sometimes it isn't). There are at least two occasions in this movie which show Offerman as happy as he can be, and those two moments alone make the film worth your time. Thankfully, there's also a lot more to enjoy here.

Offerman plays Frank Fisher, the fairly grumpy owner of a record store that is due to close soon. He's been running it for 17 years so he views it as a good run. Frank has a few people he enjoys spending time with, including his landlady (Leslie, played by Toni Collette), a friend who runs a local bar (Dave, played by Ted Danson), and his daughter (Sam, played by Kiersey Clemons). In fact, he and his daughter have a tradition of a weekly jam session that he knows he is going to miss when she heads off to university. And that makes it all the harder to let go when she comes up with a song that they tweak together. Frank uploads it to Spotify and is pleasantly surprised when it is noticed by indie music fans. He wants to use their recognition to do something more, while Sam wants to keep her head in the game, as it were, and just get used to the hard studying she has ahead of her.

Directed by Brett Haley, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Marc Basch, Hearts Beat Loud is such a sweet and beautiful little film that I keep being tempted to raise my rating for it even further. It does everything in a deceptively simple manner, crafting the characters and plot points with a light touch that leaves you sightly surprised by how happy and emotional you are by the time it all ends. Okay, on the one hand, you can criticise it for the lack of realism and the constant sense of optimism but that's not the point. It's an optimistic film. It's a film that uses something that seems unrealistic to display a wonderful and idealistic parent-child relationship at the centre of everything, and then surrounds that central relationship with other great depictions (Offerman and Collette, Offerman and Danson, Clemons and her girlfriend, played by Sasha Lane, etc). People go through ups and downs with one another and it's all done in a really satisfying way without ever trying hard to make it overly cinematic or inauthentic. That's the reality the movie aims for, which counterbalances any and all of the plot contrivances, in my opinion anyway.

The cast are all perfect. I will watch Offerman in anything, ever since I discovered the greatness of him in Parks & Rec, but he's on top form here, and Clemons is every bit his equal, arguably working with the trickier role (as she struggles to adjust to her upcoming life, it would have been all too easy for the performance to be a bit too moody and in line with many sullen teens we have seen in cinema before). Collette continues to be as great as ever, always being a good friend to Offerman despite the moments in which he mistakenly aims his frustration and anger at her, and Danson is wryly amusing in his role. Lane has a lot less screentime to make an impression, but she does well in her role, and the only major mis-step is the plot thread revolving around Blythe Danner (who puts in a good performance but feels like an unnecessary addition, just there for added emotional moments, in the role of the elderly mother of Offerman, and someone not always as mentally acute as she used to be).

I would be remiss if I didn't include Keegan DeWitt somewhere in this review, the person responsible for writing the main songs that are played by Clemons and Offerman in the film. I would happily listen to this soundtrack, which is a major plus when the story is based around a father and daughter who work well together to create some wonderful songs.

There's not much more to say. This is sweet without being saccharin, predictable without being dull, and magical without feeling ridiculous and fake. I would recommend it to most people, but especially if you enjoyed the likes of Sing Street (which was probably the last film I saw to make me grin like this one).

8/10

You can buy it here.
Americans can buy it here.

The Miseducation Of Cameron Post (2018)

When Cameron Post (Chloe Grace Moretz) is caught in a sexual encounter with another girl, she is sent away to a gay conversion therapy centre. Here she meets Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr) and his sister, Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle), who run the centre, and other teenagers who are supposed to be being "cured" of their sickness. The teens include Cameron's roommate, Erin (Emily Skeggs), and the likes of Jane (Sasha Lane), Adam (Forrest Goodluck), and Mark (Owen Campbell). Very few of them seem to believe what the adults are trying to sell to them, but that doesn't make the whole process any less harmful.

The fact that The Miseducation Of Cameron Post can both make you very angry while also proving to be enjoyable entertainment is testament to the quality work put in by everyone involved, from page (it's base on a novel by Emily M. Danforth) to screen.

Indeed, there are many scenes here that you've seen many times before. Standard coming-of-age stuff, or moments of individuals who feel like outcasts meeting kindred spirits and finding strength in that revelation that they're not as alone as they first thought. But everything is freshened up by the setting, the background to why all of these characters are here, and not just the teenagers but the adults too (it's revealed early on that Reverend Rick was "cured" some time ago).

All of the younger cast members do great work, although it's strange that Moretz, who is often so good, feels like she spends many scenes taking a step back while she remains the lead character. This isn't a major criticism, it's a compliment if anything, but Cameron is more our lens through which we get to view this warped world rather than someone going on their own journey. She may be moved around physically but Cameron very rarely feels anything but disdain for the process that she has been pushed into. The same goes for the characters played by Lane and Goodluck, both are confident in just knowing who they are while trying to do what needs done to placate the adults and get themselves out of there as quickly as possible. More interesting conflict comes from the moments involving Skeggs, who tries to act positively saintly at times, and Campbell, who obviously feels the most pain from how his sexuality has damaged his relationship with an uncaring father. Ehle is very good, and most worryingly self-satisfied at the fact that they are doing the right thing for the teenagers they view as sick, but Gallagher Jr. is given at least one great moment in which he expresses a major moment of self-doubt and shows that the harm being caused, the lives being potentially shattered, all stem from someone who means well but is also being ignorant and selfish. We all know what road is paved with good intentions.

Director Desiree Akhavan, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Cecilia Frugiuele, does an excellent job of showing who is in the right and who is in the wrong without turning anyone into outright heroes or villains. You can easily boo and hiss the adults here, and with good reason, but the script and direction doesn't demonise them. What induces rage and frustration also induces no small amount of sadness, and the inevitable thought that these people work with teenagers because adults would be in more of as position to shut their bullshit down within seconds and push them aside as they headed out the door.

The Miseducation Of Cameron Post is, undoubtedly, a film about abuse, and the way in which it sugarcoats the bitter pill is very impressive indeed, making it more accessible to some who might otherwise have avoided it. Check it out when you can, and I hope you're also moved and angered by it.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.