Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) – Review
Quick Thoughts – Grade – B+ – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is another excellent entry into the recent Planet of the Apes canon. Director Wes Ball has created a methodical and thrilling adventure film that features excellent performances from Owen Teague and Kevin Durand. Watch it on the biggest screen possible.
The most impressive thing about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is that it has earned its spot alongside the 2011-2017 trilogy that ended with the critically adored and financially lucrative War for the Planet of the Apes. It’s a tough act to follow, but director Wes Ball and his crew have created a world building adventure that features some of my favorite action set pieces in recent memory (there is an incredible water fight that made me very happy). The visual effects by WETA are once again jaw-dropping and the cinematography by Gyula Pados (Control, Predator, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) expertly captures the Australian wilderness that most of the movie was filmed in (The on location work is admirable). It’s the total package, and despite some claims about it being too long, I think audiences will appreciate the visual smorgasbord.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes focuses on the journeys of a young chimpanzee named Noa (Owen Teague – excellent), who is determined to save his friends and family from a clan of vicious apes who destroyed his village and wrangled his clan to be slaves for a megalomaniacal bonobo named Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). Proximus and his gorilla enforcer Sylva (Eka Darville), need extra ape-power as they are trying to open up a massive steel door to a bunker that holds tanks, missiles and weapons that a power hungry bonobo shouldn’t have. To get to Proximus Caesar, Noa is helped by a charming orangutan named Raka (Peter Macon – who gets all the best lines), and Nova (Freya Allen), a human who wants Proximus Caesar dead because his clan killed her family. Together, they battle Sylva and his cronies during several fun set pieces that feature horse chases, dangerous rivers, and lots of running (Wes Ball directed the Maze Runner trilogy so he’s good at filming running).
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes works because it puts a lot of focus on the characters and never seems to be in a hurry to move to the next action scene. The opening 20 minutes features gorgeous world building as we are introduced to Eagle-clan, a group of peaceful apes who train eagles and live amongst skyscrapers and towers that are still standing after the collapse of society. I’d pay to watch an entire film featuring Noa and his friends climbing amongst the skyscrapers and just hanging out in the community (it would be a super chill movie). The human element isn’t the strongest aspect of the movie as Freya Allen’s character is meant to be mysterious, but that makes her character feel less dimensional than all the apes around her. All the ape/human shenanigans build to something that could carry several sequels, but now that WETA’s technology can make a film 100% about apes, I’m not sure I want to watch pesky humans battling the evolved apes again – I just want to enjoy the beautiful world created by WETA, and Wes Ball. I know this type of film would make about four dollars at the box office so it won’t happen, but one can hope! Either way, I’m excited for more.
Final thoughts – Watch it on the biggest screen possible.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 558: Frailty, Bill Paxton, and Matthew McConaughey
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Mark and John (@MFFHorrorCorner on X) discuss the 2001 cult classic Frailty. Directed by Bill Paxton, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe, and an axe named Otis, the movie is a beautiful thriller that is perfectly directed by Bill Paxton. In this episode, they also talk about Lawman McConaughey, earnest angels, and the excellence of Bill Paxton. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
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You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.
Mark and Jonny Numb discuss the 1997 independent film A Better Place. Produced by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, and directed by Vincent Pereira, the movie focuses on the ill-fated friendship between two high school outcasts. In this episode they also talk about 1990’s independent cinema, View Askew productions, and literate maniacs. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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Hundreds of Beavers (2022) – Review
Quick Thoughts – Grade – A – Hundreds of Beavers is one of the most visually exciting and creative independent films that I’ve seen in years. Director Mike Cheslik has created an instant cult classic and it would be great to see it build a bigger audience who can spread the word.
Shot over 12 weeks in Northern Wisconsin, Hundreds of Beavers tells the story of a hapless applejack salesman/fur trapper named Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) who goes on a quest to kill hundreds of beavers so he can marry the daughter of the local merchant. It’s 108 minutes of beautiful shenanigans that involves homemade catapults, errant spit, and tiny knives. Edited over the course of four years (1,500 effects shots + one editor = a lot of work), this slapstick gem is packed full of visual gags that never grow stale or predictable. A lot is thrown at the viewer, but the video game-esque narrative (a video game map tracks his travels) allows the audience to easily follow along as Jean gets better and better at killing beavers. It’s a wildly ambitious endeavor that works because it’s genuinely funny and inventive. A lot of work went into the production, and it’s hard to not respect the amount of determination to create a film that features a fur trapper fine tuning his snare traps so that the catapulted beavers aren’t eaten by scavenging raccoons before his love interest can skin them.
I always hate using comparisons, but the movie plays like a Wile E. Coyote/ Road Runner skit met Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and formed a comedic version of The Revenant. Basically, the cold setting, slapstick, and Beaver detectives blend together to create an experience that culminates with a sled chase that is reminiscent of the speeder bike chase in Return of the Jedi. It’s hard to tell where this movie is headed and that’s a good thing because everything builds to a wild climax that involves Buster Keaton-esque fake buildings, cabin fistfights, and a devilish trap inside a wolf den.
Cheslik and Brickson Cole Tews have been making short films together since they were in high school and their bond is the probably the only reason why this film exists because of the sheer amount of shots (and cold nights) and setups for a crowd-funded independent film could only be accomplished by two friends (and their friends who worked for very little money). The two wrote the film by drawing all the different ways beavers could get hurt on notecards, and then building the plot around a hero’s journey that’s easy to follow and allows the hero to kill many beavers. The two used long lenses in wide spaces to keep all the gags in the same frame, and only used six beaver costumes to create the hordes of beavers who are justifiably pissed at Jean for murdering their beaver friends. It’s a well thought out experience and Brickson Cole Tews succeeded in his goal of making “something that was completely and utterly different than anything else anyone would ever try to pull off.”
Final thoughts – Watch it.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 556 – Action Hero Character Names, Chance Boudreaux, and Dwayne Johnson
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Mark and Nick Rehak talk about the action movie characters with the best names and share what their action movie names would be. In this episode, they also talk about Dwayne Johnson movies, people named Scud, and Chance Boudreaux.
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
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MY CALL: This film was excellent. Everything about this was great. It was truly a blast and a pleasure, and it will make your skin crawl in the best way possible. Why haven’t you seen this yet? Go see it… now! MORE MOVIES LIKE Infested: Of course, Arachnophobia (1990). But for more highly stylish horror, consider Saloum (2021). For more buggy French horror, try The Swarm (2020; La Nuee). And for more “trapped in a building with evil”, consider [REC] (2007) or Evil Dead Rise (2023).
Director Sébastien Vanicek’s first feature film earned him the attention of Sam Raimi, who immediately wanted him to do his next Evil Dead spin-off movie, the most recent of which (Evil Dead Rise) also had apartment building tenants trapped with unwanted deadly guests. And I must say, from the opening scenes through the opening credits, Vanicek is quite the stylish filmmaker. The spider-collecting scene in the desert meshes a sense of cold criminal behavior with biological field work. The montage depicting the transit of the spiders from field to city to post to pet trade has the flavor of a drug cartel’s process, and the hard-cut editing and foreign hip-hop form a tense yet energized pairing. Good call, Raimi. This guy’s got the goods.
Infested (2023; aka Vermines) is a much more serious and much more French approach to Arachnophobia (1990). And whereas Arachnophobia begins in equatorial rainforests, Infested opens in the desert of the Arabian Peninsula. In both cases, the spider kills one of its discoverers, and kills another when someone slips on a shoe. So it seems the influencing film is being directly homaged. Frankly, this is like the unofficial Arachnophobia remake we’ve been waiting 30 years to see. Only now it also has the added dimension of trapping its victims in an apartment building with a quarantine, not unlike [REC] (2007); a dash of a more mature-minded Eight-Legged Freaks (2002); and the film includes some strong social commentary on lower income and ethnic communities.
At a store specializing in various imports and wares from Dubai, Kaleb (Théo Christine) purchases a deadly spider on a whim. Kaleb lives in a run-down apartment building where he collects exotic pets and racketeers sneakers. About as soon as he gets his new pet home, it escapes from its container and produces an egg sac. The spiders reproduce and grow at a rapid pace, and their venom courses through the apartment hallways trailing behind a webbed wake of corpses and spiderlings.
Scenes featuring skittering spiders or tiny swarming spiderlings are shocking even when expected. And boy does this film do well in making its audience feel uneasy whenever spiders are observed crawling along walls, up arms or through vents. It may be a major biological faux pas that these spiders make chirping sounds and grow inordinately large (too large), but even that nice touch serves the film well in staging its suspense. I find myself tensing up and smiling in anxious anticipation, and jumping with a nervous laugh with each subsequent scrambling spider. I adore the high-pitched squeegee-sounding violins twisting my panicked brain and wincing face. This movie is so much fun!
Imagery of spiders emerging from the mouths (and bodies) of the dead are creepy delights. With so much CGI, there was every opportunity to disappoint with some of these effects and the thousands of spiders and wispy webs spanning the screen—but that never happened. Everything was tactful and thoughtfully executed. Vanicek brings hope to those jaded horror fans bemoaning the unexciting redundancy of the genre by infusing a dynamic filmmaking style into the layers of clear effort of the cast and crew. Everyone involved to a great job. This film was excellent.
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John’s Horror Corner: Lowlifes (2024), a domestic survival horror that playfully toys with your expectations.
MY CALL: This was pretty good. The acting, writing, production, gore and violence are all executed well. But I won’t lie—I kind of wanted more. More meanness, more gore, more humor, more extremity, more suffering, more creative deaths, even yet more family drama… something more. MORE MOVIES LIKE Lowlifes: Maybe You’re Next (2013), Becky (2020) or Ready or Not (2019).
Suffering through a boring family vacation grilling out by the RV, Amy (Amanda Fix; Orphan Black: Echoes) and Jeffrey (Josh Zaharia) would rather be anywhere else. But things get even more uncomfortable when they are visited by hillbilly locals Vern (Richard Harmon; The 100) and Billy (Ben Sullivan), who seem anything but trustworthy. Their very polite but equally very nervous parents Keith (Matthew MacCaull; Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) and Kathleen (Elyse Levesque; Ready or Not) succeed in getting the dirty yokels on their way… but as experienced horror viewers, we all know we’ll be seeing more of them.
For such an unfamous cast and directors I never heard of, the writing and acting are a pleasant surprise. The dialogue is simple, direct and well in-character, even if clearly deliberately tropey at times. The family dad says all the things we’d expect, doesn’t listen to his understandably frightened wife, and makes the very mistakes of the genre’s design. So when they happen upon the same unsavory hillbillies again, this time with car trouble up the road, they give Billy an awkward ride to his remote family home where the phone reception is poor and neighbors are distant. It’s pretty amusing seeing the pressure of being well-mannered good Christians supersede our characters’ sense of danger and distrustful smiling strangers.
The country family includes Savannah (Brenna Llewellyn), Juli Ann (Cassandra Sawtell; Harper’s Island), their grandfather Neville (Kevin McNulty; The Uninvited), and the massive Big Mac (Dayleigh Nelson).
Another pleasant surprise from this movie is that it’s not going where we expect. When our family realizes the challenge presented before them in this remote house, the controlling “father knows best” allegory runs thick as Keith manages his wife’s nerves, his daughter’s sexual orientation and his son’s risky impulses—all while trying to survive this ordeal. And if you thought it was going to be a little campy, just wait until you see what’s in the meat freezer. Campy severed body parts galore.
The violence is gory and graphic, from visceral Achilles slashes and blood-spurting slit throats to slowly sawing off limbs, and it’s all on screen. But truly, the first hour of the movie packs little action and entertains more in the form of dangerous social situations. But in that third act we enjoy some solid gore gags and mean violence in this domestic survival horror.
Directors Tesh Guttikonda and Mitch Oliver’s first feature film is a decent one. I enjoyed this, and I’ll watch out for what they do next. Would I recommend this…? Sure. This is a low to moderate priority recommendation for someone who enjoys mean, gory, even somewhat cheeky horror.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 555 – The Proposal, Sandra Bullock and Romantic Comedies
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Mark and Erik discuss the 2009 romantic comedy The Proposal. Directed by Anne Fletcher and starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, and some unsweetened cinnamon light soy lattes, the blockbuster movie proves that Bullock is an all-timer romantic comedy star. In this episode, they also talk about rom-com tropes, movie posters, and coffee orders. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
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Boy Kills World (2024) – Review
Quick thoughts – Grade – B – Boy Kills World is a gnarly delight that features solid performances from Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Andrew Koji, and Michelle Dockery.
Paying homage to Jackie Chan, Japanese anime, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Boy Kills World has its own Black Knight-type character), Moritz Mohr’s film is wildly violent and it successfully avoids becoming too precious with its inner-monologue narration and stylish action. It’s hard to dislike Boy Kills World because all it wants to do is entertain and showcase Dawid Szatarski’s inventive action design that features Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Andrew Koji and Yayan Ruhian beating people up in kitchens, hallways, and television studios. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Director Moritz Mohr said that he made the film because “We wanted to make something that had some fun because Germany rarely has fun. There’s no action movies, there’s a few horror movies. It’s mostly arthouse.” You can tell that Mohr and his cast definitely had fun as they all look great and helped selI a high-energy experience that showcases what happens to an armpit when it meets a cheese grater.
Boy Kills World, revolves around a boy named Boy (Skarsgård) seeking revenge on Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), the psychopathic leader of an authoritarian regime, who controls the populace by holding an annual event called The Culling. The event keeps the populace in check by forcing Hilda’s most outspoken critics to battle to the death inside a television studio that broadcasts the event around the world. Boy wants revenge because Hilda killed his family and left him hung up in a tree with a noose slowly strangling him. In a good news-bad news situation, Boy is saved by Mentor (Ruhian) and forced to endure a decade’s worth of training that involves copious drug use and enough martial arts training to ensure that when he’s unleashed, he’ll be able overcome his demons (which include visions of his deceased sister that make him freeze during fights) to defeat Hilda and her murderous bodyguard named June 27 (Jessica Rothe).
In a unique twist, Boy becomes a deaf mute after Hilda’s attack, and since he cannot remember his own voice, his inner-narration comes from one of his favorite video game characters voiced by H. Jon Benjamin. It takes a few minutes to get into the rhythm of Boy Kills World as H. Jon Benjamin’s joke-heavy narration rules over the proceedings and makes you wonder if the unique storytelling device is a one-note gimmick. However, as the action kicks into gear and we are introduced to more of the world, it becomes easier to sit back and relax while Boy battles the world. The supporting cast made up of Michelle Dockery, Andrew Koji, Sharlto Copley, Brett Gelman, and Isaiah Mustafa is excellent, and they all get moments to shine as they complain about owls or push carts (instead of fighting) during action scenes.
It took seven years for Mohr to get his film made in South Africa, and he credits producer’s Sam Raimi and Roy Lee for helping him get funding after he and Dawid Szatarski showed them a proof-of-concept trailer and pre-viz reel that showcased the inventive fight scenes. The long delay helped clean up the script – which is a good thing because the movie successfully walks a tight-rope of stylish action and cheeky humor that could’ve easily slowed the move to a halt if it wasn’t handled correctly. In the end, the committed performances (Rothe and Skarsgård got shredded for this movie), likable characters, and inventive fight scenes win the day and I totally recommend that you watch Boy Kills World.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 554: Legion (2010) vs Priest (2011), Paul Bettany, and Rock Throwing
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
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Mark and Nathan pit Legion (2010) and Priest (2011) against each other to see which Paul Bettany film reigns supreme. It’s an incredibly close matchup that will be decided by 10 categories that cover topics like rock throwing, monotone monologues, and final fights. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
Movies, Films & Flix 