By all accounts, movies are back, so I’ve got to get back on that review train. I finally got around to F9 the other day, with (hopefully) many more to come. But there are several movies that I didn’t get to that I want to cover quickly while I still have the chance.
LUCA
Disney’s latest original movie is set in the beautiful Portorosso off the Italian coast. It follows Luca, a sea monster living in fear of being discovered and hunted by the city’s human inhabitants. But when he meets fellow sea monster Alberto, it sets off a summer neither will ever forget.
LUCA isn’t one of Disney/Pixar’s best offerings, but there’s still plenty here to like. As always the animation is spectacular. No doubt viewers will be wishing Portorosso was a real city they could set off to for a lovely summer vacation.
The story is fairly simple and straightforward, but there’s nothing wrong with that; it is a kids movie after all. Learning to love yourself for who you are. Accepting that being different isn’t a good or bad thing, it’s just part of life. Realizing that sometimes people are jerks just because they’re jerks. Not everybody needs some sort of “villain origin story” to explain why they suck. Lots of good messages for kids (and let’s be honest, adults too) presented in an easy to understand way.
It’s got heart, it’s got humor, it’s got great voice acting (Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan voicing more animated parents, please). LUCA may not reach the heights of the top-tier Disney/Pixar empire, but it offers more than enough to satisfy anyone looking for a good family movie.
Score: 81/100
ZOLA
Inspired by one of the wildest Twitter threads we’ve ever seen, ZOLA is about as A24 of a movie as you can get. While parts of the original story are disputed, and others have admittedly been exaggerated, it’s still a real life adventure on a completely different level than what most of us would be used to.
Zola – played to perfection by Taylour Paige, is a waitress/stripper living in Detroit. During one of her waitressing shifts, she meets Stefani (Riley Keough, also played to perfection), also a stripper. They hit it off and Stefani invites Zola on a road trip to Tampa, to dance at a club where Stefani claims they can each make a lot of money. Zola agrees, and thus begins the wild tale. If you remember the thread, you know shit goes sideways almost immediately. If you don’t remember, or haven’t read it, I’ll leave it at that and allow you to discover the rest of the story on your own.
As fun as it (mostly) is, it has a few detractions that keep it from reaching the heights of its potential. At only 86 minutes, it cruises by at a welcome pace, but it felt like it could have used another 10-20 minutes. However, it also doesn’t feel like there was much left on the cutting room floor. There are several lingering shots on rather unimportant or irrelevant images that felt too forced, as though they were struggling just to make the time they ended up with.
But perhaps the biggest thing holding ZOLA back is the fact that it’s based on actual events. Regardless of how much of it is true, there’s some dark stuff happening here; domestic abuse and sex trafficking, for example. That makes the outrageous fun ZOLA aims for feel decidedly less so.
But the end result is still more entertaining than not. And it’s anchored by four incredible performances. In addition to Paige and Keough, there’s also Colman Domingo as X, Stefani’s roommate/pimp, and Nicholas Braun as Derrek, Stefani’s dim-witted bu well-meaning boyfriend. Seeing these four play off each other is the main draw. In particular, Paige and Keough absolutely shine.
Btw, how incredible would it be for a movie based off a Twitter thread to be nominated – maybe even win? – for Best Adapted Screenplay?
Score: 81/100
NO SUDDEN MOVE
Steven Soderbergh is one of my favorite directors (I mean, the guy made my all-time favorite movie, OCEAN’S ELEVEN) so the hype levels were massive for this one.
Set in 1954 Detroit, NO SUDDEN MOVE follows several small-time criminals brought together for a job that’s maybe too simple to believe. That, combined with Soderbergh directing, was more than enough to get me 100% on board. And NO SUDDEN MOVE mostly lives up to those lofty expectations.
NO SUDDEN MOVE features plenty of the hallmarks of a Soderbergh vehicle. Just hearing the music in the opening scene lets you know you’re in his world. It features the signature star power many of his films have, and each and every one of them brings it. Don Cheadle is at, or at least very near, his best. Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, Bill Duke, Julia Fox, a fun cameo from a frequent Soderbergh collaborator. And maybe the highlight of the performances is a more than welcome star supporting turn from Brendan Fraser.
Add in a the standard twists and turns we’ve come to expect from Soderbergh, and you’ve got yourself one of the year’s best (so far, at least) movies. Unfortunately, it gets a little too convoluted at times, preventing it from becoming a truly great film.
Score: 88/100
Quick Hits
FEAR STREET PART 1: 1994 is the first in a slasher trilogy being released in quick succession by Netflix. Parts 2 & 3 come out July 9th and July 16th, respectively. PART 1 focuses on a group of teenagers who come face to face with with the supernatural terror that has plagued their town of Shadyside for hundreds of years. It doesn’t do anything to reinvent the genre, but it’s a fun little flick. 80/100
THE ICE ROAD: Liam Neeson as an ice road trucker off on a rescue mission to save trapped miners. But of course, it’s never as simple as that, as he and his team deal with the harsh elements and of course the bad guys who want the rescue to fail. It’s not great by any means, but if you’re a fan of what Neeson has done in his twilight years as an actor, this should be a fun enough way to spend a couple hours. 55/100
GOOD ON PAPER: The (inspired by a) true story of comedian Iliza Shlesinger’s experience with a friend-turned-boyfriend who she later discovered was lying about several aspects of his life. It’s a fun twist on the rom-com genre and offers up enough laughs and character work to make this one well worth your time. 76/100
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