Summer movie season is in full swing so here is a round up of what is worth seeing and what you might want to skip.
"Twisters" opens Friday
You might be asking yourself, is "Twisters" a 28-years-late sequel to the 1996 film "Twister"? Technically, no. It is being referred to as a standalone sequel in the same universe as "Twister." Director Lee Isaac Chung called it, "a new science experiment in the same world." But essentially, "Twisters" is just some studio executive not wanting to gamble on a new idea and trying to tap into the nostalgia of the original film. In essence it is a remake, following all the same beats as the original, but bringing in new weather technology and new characters.
Instead of Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as a bickering couple on the verge of divorce, we get Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell as rival storm chasers trading quips. And instead of flying cows, we get chickens and humans. But we get the same arc of the antagonistic couple learning to work together, trucks chasing down tornadoes, and an uneven mix of yee-haw excitement about twisters and the tragedy of all the destruction.
What’s most surprising is that movie technology has changed as much as weather technology, yet "Twisters" feels visually underwhelming. With the exception of one cool shot of a movie theater hit by a tornado, we don’t really feel the power or allure of the tornadoes, nor do we really feel the characters’ passions and obsession with the twisters.
The film tries to incorporate real science but ultimately dismisses science, Ph.D.s, and educated folks. Instead, it sides with the "hillbillies with a YouTube channel" and a kind of "tornado whisperer" approach to meteorology.
"Twisters" offers passable summer entertainment if your main goal is to beat the heat in an air-conditioned theater and you are not very particular about what you watch. Plus, unlike the original "Twister," this film is not Paxtonated — by that, I mean there is no Bill Paxton, and Glen Powell is no substitute.
"Longlegs" now playing
The ad campaign for "Longlegs" was selling it as the scariest movie of the year, which is an unreasonably high bar to set and perhaps that boast has intensified my sense of disappointment.
Osgood Perkins has a good eye for creepy. The film looks great. There is an eerie gloom hanging over everything. The sun literally never shines, and lightning often punctuates the overcast skies. Plus, there are some very unnerving dolls.
But the film suffers from some of the same problems plaguing "Twisters," namely lazy scriptwriting. "Twisters" does a paint-by-numbers popcorn movie, while "Longlegs" casts Nicolas Cage and just banks on him carrying the film. Perkins makes Cage look like an aging drag queen and seems to just let him loose to just be weird and figures that's all he needs to do. He doesn't have to give him depth or dimension or even good dialogue. And while I love Cage, and always enjoy him, he seems wasted and his talent oddly unappreciated by Osgood. Often Cage is his best when his flamboyance is controlled or calibrated as in films such as "Peggy Sue Got Married," "Wild at Heart," "Adaptation," "Face/Off" or "Bad Lieutenant."
The film rips off "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven" but never approaches the richness of those films. "Longlegs" is all surface and its cute stinger at the end makes it feel smugly satisfied with itself. A major issue I had was that I never once believed the main character, played by Maika Monroe, was an FBI agent. She was so trembling and insecure that I could not buy that she would get into the boys club of the FBI. In "Silence of the Lambs," Jodie Foster was vulnerable and sensitive, but you never once doubted her tenaciousness or professionalism.
"Longlegs" is not a bad film, just a disappointing one.
"MaXXXine" now playing
I feel a bit curmudgeonly about those two films, so I am grateful to be able to gush over "MaXXXine."
This film completes Ti West's trilogy that began with "X," which was a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"-style '70s horror film, followed by "Pearl," which served up a Technicolor woman’s picture gone bonkers, and now concludes with "MaXXXine," an '80s, Italian giallo-style slasher film.
Mia Goth has been the anchor for this trilogy, playing two different yet thematically linked characters. I love her energy and matter of fact kick-ass style. She’s my kind of role model for female empowerment. She's never the victim. She doesn’t expect anybody to help her or save her, and she is fully prepared to do whatever she needs to do to survive.
I also love how West delivers not just an homage to '80s movies, but also a Valentine to the sleazier side of Hollywood. It's a sly wink at the dream factory, where the "Psycho" house is just an empty shell and a guy dressed as silent clown Buster Keaton turns out to be a perv. Things are just never what they seem in Hollywood. Despite some brutal violence, "MaXXXine" displays a lot of savvy humor about Hollywood and 80s genre films and filmmaking. So many fun layers to peel back.
West has created such a solid and amazing trilogy. Each film has a style uniquely its own, each can stand alone on its own merits and narrative yet watched together these films are decidedly a better experience.
"The Secret Art of Human Flight" opens Friday at Digital Gym Cinema
And finally, a film to make you feel good about feeling bad, H.P. Mendoza's "The Secret Art of Human Flight."
The film played at the San Diego Asian Film Festival last November and was partially financed by a San Diego man. Now it returns to town at Digital Gym Cinema.
It is a genre-bending film about loss and grief. It is filled with unexpected humor and whimsy. I guarantee it will surprise you and lift your spirits.
Check out my interview with Mendoza from the festival.
