The Weekend Warrior Feb. 3, 2023
KNOCK AT THE CABIN, 80 FOR BRADY, SWORD ART ONLINE, THE AMAZING MAURICE and More
I’ve been pretty busy in January with Sundance and other things, particularly paying work, which is why this column has fallen by the wayside. At this point, I honestly can’t guarantee it with any consistency unless I figure out how to set-up “Pledges” on Substack, so I’m not struggling to write something each week while neglecting my paid work.
KNOCK AT THE CABIN (Universal)
M. Night Shyamalan’s second movie in the past two years (and that’s also while showrunning the excellent Servant on Apple TV+) is a very different beast from many of his past movies, firstly because it’s (I believe) only his second adaptation, this one based on Paul Tremblay’s novel “The Cabin at the End of the World,” but he also has some help on the script, although I’m presuming the project still originated with him. (Correction: It’s actually his third adaptation, because since writing this, I’ve learned that Old was based on a French graphic novel.)
Like most if not all of Shyamalan’s films, it’s better not to know too much about anything outside the basic premise, but maybe if you’ve read the book you know more than that. I haven’t read the book, so I’m just going by the movie. Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge play Eric and Andrew, the parents of an adorable young girl named Wen (Kristen Cui) who are vacationing at a cabin when they’re visited by four armed strangers, including Dave Bautista’s Leonard, and his “associates” Redmond (Rupert Grint), Adrianne (Abby Quinn), and Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird). They present an ultimatum to the family: One of them has to die in order to save the world from apocalypse. Eric and Andrew are dubious, despite all the proof presented to them.
Part of the reason Knock at the Cabin works so well is that it’s essentially seven actors in and around this cabin (some beautiful design work by Naaman Marshall and his team), and it could be one of Shyamalan’s best casts for such a small film.
Bautista has been out and about saying how much he loves acting and how he wants to be taken seriously as such. His performance as Leonard certainly is one that should help. We first meet Leonard as he comes up to the young Wen in the woods as she’s collecting grasshoppers, and at no time, does his character change his calm demeanor. It’s also nice to see Shyamalan bring back two actors (Grint and Amuka-Bird) from his other projects, because he seems to be building an ensemble around him, or at least one can hope so. Aldridge is so much better in this than he was in Spoiler Alert last year, although he is in danger of having scenes stolen by the precocious Ms. Cui as his young daughter.
Without getting into heavy spoilers about what happens in the plot, it’s fascinating to watch how the two men react to their guests. Although there is a lot more violence and blood than I was expecting – this is definitely R-rated – this is not a home invasion thriller like The Strangers or The Purge. In fact, it’s a very thoughtful premise that makes one think about what you might do if put in a similar situation, and then it gets into bigger ideas involving religious and spirituality as it goes along.
As with Shyamalan’s past movies, this one does have a couple major twists, set-up well by the fact that, like the main characters, you’re unsure what these four strangers might want or where things are going. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be as moved by the film’s dénouement as I was.
Knock at the Cabin is another solid thriller from Shyamalan. Once again, he uses all his skills and experience as a filmmaker to create an extremely effective thriller where the tension gradually builds around the mystery about what is really happening.
Rating: 8/10
80 FOR BRADY (Paramount)
I don’t know much about the true story on which this movie is based, but someone wisely greenlit the script and cast four of the best actresses over 70 to play the real-life octogenarians who wanted nothing more than to go to Super Bowl LI to watch Tom Brady play. Not knowing anything about the story, it’s hard to determine how much of this comedy was just made up for the sake of humor and entertainment.
It stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field and Rita Moreno as four best friends from the Boston area who become enamored with Tom Brady and the Patriots while helping one of them (Tomlin’s character) recuperate from cancer. Okay, that sounds legit, but that turns into an obsession where they decide they absolutely must go to the Super Bowl to root for him, doing so by entering a radio contest (which they actually lose). Simple enough, right?
Until you actually see the movie, it’s hard to imagine why a studio like Paramount would pay so much money to make this a wide release, but it certainly is a story that pulls you in, mainly due to the work of the four actors, Fonda and Tomlin who have been working together for years (and after another movie called Moving On coming out next month).
Director Kyle Marvin (who was one half of the duo behind the excellent indie, The Climb – thanks for letting me know, DS!) does a decent job with the material, especially in the way it brings in others around the main quartet. Billy Porter is definitely the standout as a choreographer Moreno’s character meets in a high-stakes poker game with a few other celebs, but his second appearance is just some silly fun.
When I wrote this, I was gonna say that based on his acting in the movie, Brady should stick to football, but just this morning he retired … for real this time, but yeah, I do not recommend producing more movies even if this one is a fun enough story.
The results are a perfectly harmless, but mostly charming and amusing comedy, where it’s obvious that everyone involved is having a blast. Despite any issues the movie might have in terms of plausibility, the fun everyone is having certainly should translate to audiences.
Rating: 7/10
Other wide releases that I won’t have a chance to see but should do decent business. (You can read more about them over at my Above the Line column or on Gold Derby.)
SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE - PROGRESSIVE - SCHERZO OF DEEP NIGHT (Crunchyroll)
THE AMAZING MAURICE (Viva Kids)
BTS: YET TO COME (Trafalgar Releasing)
THE CHOSEN SEASON 3 FINALE (Angel Studios)
To be honest, I know every little about any of the above, including theater counts, although I got screeners for the first two, although I just haven’t had time to watch them. (The first is the third feature in a popular anime series, the latter is an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s children’s book with a stellar British voice cast.)
My predictions for this weekend’s top ten…
1. Knock at the Door (Universal) - $23.4 million N/A
2. 80 for Brady (Paramount) - $10.5 million N/A
3. Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century/Disney) - $9 million -43%
4. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (DWA/Universal) - $8.5 million -20%
5. The Chosen S3 Finale (Angel Studios) - $6.5 million N/A
6. A Man Called Otto (Sony) - $4.2 million -37%
7. BTS: Yet to Come (Trafalgar Releasing) - $3.8 million N/A
8. M3GAN (Universal) - $3.4 million -45%
9. Pathaan (Yash Raj Films) - $3.1 million -55%
10. Sword Art Online: The Movie (Crunchyroll) - $3 million N/A
Some limited releases to look out for this weekend, including a few international features from a variety of places, none of which I’ve had time to watch or review, sadly.
BABY RUBY (Magnet Releasing)
Bess Wohl’s horror film stars Noémie Merlant and Kit Harrington as a couple who bring home a new baby that is crying constantly, making her feel like something is wrong, including the reaction of the other neighborhood moms to her new baby. It’s opening at the IFC Center this weekend (with Wohl doing QnAs on Friday and Saturday) and other theaters, but it also will be available On Demand.
THE BLIND MAN WHO DID NOT WANT TO SEE TITANIC (Cinedigm/Fandor)
This film with such an intriguing title comes from Finnish filmmaker Teemu Nikki, and it will open in New York, L.A., Chicago, and San Fran this Friday, as well as a couple other places. It follows Petri Poikolainen’s Jaako, a Finnish man who loves movies despite being blind, and who gets into a long-distance relationship with Marjaana Maijala’s Sirpa, who falls ill, convincing Jaako to make the trek to meet her. The movie won the Orizzonti Extra Audience Award at Venice back in September, and you can watch the trailer below.
LET IT BE MORNING (Cohen Media)
The latest film from The Band’s Visit director Eran Kolirin will open at New York’s Quad Cinema and the Laemmle Royal in L.A. after winning nine of the eleven categories it was nominated for at Israel’s Ophir Awards. It stars Alex Bakri as Palestinian-born Jerusalem native Sami who is invited to his brother’s wedding, which will require him to return to the Arab village of his youth, an event that’s rocked when Israeli soldiers put his hometown under lockdown with no explanation. It’s adapted from the best-selling novel by Palestinian author Sayed Kashua.
FULL TIME (Music Box Films)
Also opening at the Quad this Friday but then at the Laemmle Royal on Feb 10 is this French film from Éric Gravel starring Laure Calamy, which also won prizes at Venice for Best Director and Actress. The César-nominated Calamy plays a single mother named Julie who works at a five-star hotel in Paris, trying to balance all aspects of her life including her commute to her job from the suburbs and raising children while also trying to find a better job that can help her financially.
Throwing out a bit of repertory fun for those in New York. (If I can ever get back on track with this column, I’ll start covering L.A. rep again.)
The Metrograph’s terrific “Live by the Sword, Die by the Gun” continues with Clint Eastwood’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961) this weekend.
Also beginning this weekend is “Folktales, Ghosts & Parallel Realities,” centered around Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria (still doing its roadshow rounds) and Tropical Malady (2004) as well as screenings of King Hu’s Legend of the Mountain (1979) and Masaki Kobayashi’s Kaidan (1965).
Metrograph is also continuing its Filmcraft series with “Filmcraft: Bradford Young, ASC” based around the Oscar-nominated cinematographer with some of the films he has shot: 2013’s Mother of George, David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Body Saints (2013), and then some movies that influenced him like Babylon (1980) and Ken Loach’s Kes (1969).
On Sunday, it begins a series called “Strange Fruit” curated by Brandon Harris (“Making Rent in Bed-Stuy”), who talks to Elvis Mitchell after showing his new Netflix doc, Is That Black Enough for You? (2022)
Vincente Minelli’s Some Came Running (1958) is playing Friday and Saturday as part of “Metrograph Selects,” and Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” (2003) plays as part of the ongoing “Metrograph Presents A to Z” program. The “Film Bites Man” series continues with the Belgian thriller, Man Bites Dog (1992), and the Spanish horror film, REC (2007).
Starting this Friday is another exciting filmmaker-programmed series called ‘Verse Jumping with Daniels, which you might guess correctly is programmed by Daniels, showing their latest and greatest, Everything Everywhere All at Once, as well as their previous movie, Swiss Army Man (2016), and Daniel Scheinert’s The Death of Dick Long (2019), as well as an “Evening of Shorts” on Sunday. And then there are the other movies which range from Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster (2013), Leos Carax’s Holy Motors (2012), Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1997), Masaaki Yuasa’s Mind Game (2004), Chloé Zhao’s The Rider (2017), and much more.
Italian filmmaker Dino Risi’s Una Vita Difficile (1961) has a new 4K restoration which will make its premiere this Friday. If you haven’t seen Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), then you can catch it on Sunday as part of “Film Forum Jr.”
QUAD CINEMA
Tying into the release of Eran Kolirin’s Let It Be Morning, the Israeli filmmaker is getting a short retrospective that will include The Band’s Visit with Kolirin and actor Tony Shaloub doing a QnA on Thursday night.
IFC Center currently has a series going called “Good Witch/Bad Witch” and this weekend, it will screen the original The Witches from 1990 and Miyazagi’s Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), the former just on Friday and Saturday, the latter running for the next week. (Plus, there’s one final screening of Bell, Book and Candle (1958) on Thursday afternoon. This weekend’s “Late Night Favorites” offering is Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).
They’re doing a series called “On the Bowery: Lost and Found Films of Sara Driver,” which I don’t know a ton about although it will include Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger than Paradise and Boom for Real, the Jean-Michel Basquiat doc with a QnA.
Other movies hitting theaters this week:
A LOT OF NOTHING (RLJEfilms)
THE CIVIL DEAD (Utopia)
SHE IS LOVE (Bright Iris Film Co.)
THE LOCKSMITH (Screen Media)
THE LAST DEAL (Scatena & Rosner Films)
OCEAN BOY
That’s it for this week and I hope to have some thoughts on Sundance movies for you very soon.