SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (2023) ** ½

Joel Kinnaman is on his way to the hospital to be with his wife who is in labor.  While in the parking garage, he is carjacked by a psycho played by Nicolas Cage who forces him at gunpoint to drive around Las Vegas.  On the road, the pair engage in cat and mouse mind games as Joel tries to keep his cool and outwit his wily captor so he can see his wife and baby. 

Sympathy for the Devil is essentially a two-character movie, but it helps that its two leads are well cast.  Kinnaman does a fine job as the squirrelly, mild-mannered family man who is under the thumb of an unpredictable nut job.  As unpredictable nut jobs go, you can’t do much better than Nicolas Cage.  Sporting a bad red dye job and a crimson velvet jacket to match, he’s a tad restrained.  Since this is Nicolas Cage we’re talking about here, “a tad restrained” means he speaks in an overblown Boston accent, randomly imitates Edward G. Robinson, has a weird soliloquy where he attributes his lifelong sinus problems to a literal childhood boogeyman he calls “The Mucus Man”, and sings and dances to “I Love the Night Life” in a diner. 

While there are sparks here and there between Cage and Kinnaman, there aren’t exactly any fireworks on display.  The are moments where the movie threatens to catch fire (the aforementioned impromptu disco dance scene), but for the most part, the drama is surprisingly inert.  There’s obviously a big secret Cage is holding back and it’s plain to see that Kinnaman isn’t exactly the family man he claims to be.  Unfortunately, the film drags its feet when it comes to doling out its characters motivations.  Because of that, it just boils down to a bunch of scenes of Cage verbally abusing Kinnaman. 

And for a while, it works.  After two solid acts, the final half-hour is a bit of a washout.  It doesn’t help that the big secret is predictable and the reveal lacks punch.  For a movie that’s essentially two guys in a car for most of the running time, the ride is smooth enough, even if the destination leaves something to be desired. 

NIGHTBITCH (2024) *** ½

Amy Adams is stuck in a rut.  She put her career as an artist on hold to raise her kid while her husband (Scoot McNairy) is out on the road working.  Increasingly frustrated by her predicament, the frazzled housewife begins noticing some odd changes.  She’s getting hair in weird places, her sense of smell is becoming acute, and her teeth are now razor sharp.  Dogs also start following her around and she gets weird looks from customers when she frantically stuffs her face with meatloaf in the middle of Trader Joe’s.  Is she becoming a dog, or is it all in her head?

This is one of those moves where some of the imagery is a little too on the nose.  (Housewives, like dogs, are both domesticated, don’t you know.)  However, since the performances are great and the social commentary is sharp, it’s really a moot point. 

The body horror stuff works quite well too.  The scene where Adams finds a bunch of dog hair in a giant zit would look right at home on an episode of Dr. Pimple Popper.  Then of course, there’s the scene where she takes off her blouse and finds… well… I won’t spoil that one for you. 

Adams is excellent, especially in the scenes where she lashes out and unloads all her deep, depressing thoughts at random people (which turns out to be all in her head.)  The scenes of her home alone with her son hit the right notes of pointed realism and hilarious farce.  I’m sure anyone who ever had to raise their child alone for long stretches at a time will be able to empathize with Adams in this, and even root for her when she snaps and snarls at people.  McNairy is equally good in a trickier role.  He’s not exactly a bad person or an uncaring husband.  He’s just oblivious to his wife’s needs and is slightly confused by the “new” her.  I also enjoyed seeing Suspiria’s Jessica Harper as a librarian who recognizes what Adams is going through and tries to lend a helping hand. 

Not all of Nightbitch works.  The flashbacks of Adams’ mother just kind of feel like filler, and they aren’t really fleshed out all that well.  It probably makes all its points early on and plays its cards too soon.  That should in no way deter you from checking it out though, especially if you’re a fan of Adams. 

SUPER MARIO BROS.: GREAT MISSION TO RESCUE PRINCESS PEACH (1986) ** ½

Before Hollywood brought the Super Mario Bros. live-action movie to the big screen, Japan made an hour-long animated feature starring the beloved video game characters.  While Mario is playing a video game, Princess Peach leaps out of the screen and tells him she’s being kidnapped by King Koopa who whisks her back into the television set.  Mario immediately tells his brother Luigi, who thinks he dreamt the whole thing.  Later, the brothers follow a dog down a sewer pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom where the King sends the duo on a quest to find the Princess.  Along the way, they must collect three power-ups (a mushroom, a flower, and a star) in order to defeat the evil Koopa. 

Some of the origin stuff is kind of weird and not in line with the games.  I mean the brothers’ profession is changed from plumbers to grocers.  Why?  Did the animators feel it was unsanitary to base a kids’ movie around two plumbers?  Also, Luigi (who is depicted as being skinnier and taller than Mario for the first time) is kind of an asshole who only goes along on the adventure so he can collect coins and freakout when he eats bad mushrooms.  Speaking of mushrooms, Toad is a woman in this, which is a little odd, but at least her design is more faithful to the game than Mojo Nixon’s character in the live-action movie. 

Despite all that, it’s a fairly decent adaptation.  I especially liked how they used the same sound effects from the game along with a few musical cues.  The way the adventure was broken up into different levels was cool too, although I could’ve done without some of the soft rock musical interludes.  It’s also interesting to note how some of the touches in this movie would go on to be incorporated into later games (like Mario being able to hop into the cloud and drive it around). 

As for the animation itself, it’s fine.  I’ve always been a fan of the Super Mario Bros Super Show, so for me, it pales in comparison to that incarnation.  However, Super Mario Bros.:  Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach remains an interesting, if not entirely successful first attempt to render Mario and company into another medium. 

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1981) *** ½

1981 was the unofficial start of the erotic thriller boom.  Movies like Body Heat and The Postman Always Rings Twice were throwbacks to the film noir thrillers of the ‘40s, only with steamy sex scenes the films of old could only hint at.  The genre would go on to be perfected over the years (READ:  The filmmakers added more sex), but the big sex scene in Postman, while not exactly explicit, certainly got people talking. 

Jack Nicholson plays a drifter named Frank who wanders into a cafe and is unable to play his tab.  The owner is an agreeable Greek immigrant (John Colicos) and offers him a job, complete with room and board.  Frank gets one look at the guy’s wife, Cora (Jessica Lange) and decides to stick around.  It doesn’t take long before they are bumping uglies and plotting to run away together.  Of course, it would be easier for everybody if her husband was out of the picture.  Permanently. 

This was Jack’s third collaboration with director Bob Rafelson.  (Or, fourth, if you count The Monkees movie, Head.)  One of the common themes of their work together is that their pictures tend to focus more on characters than plot.  Most film noir thrillers depend on a lot of twists and turns.  With Postman, the twists don’t come from the screenwriters pulling the rug out from under us, but from the way the schemes of desperate people don’t always go as planned. 

Jack is excellent here and he’s especially memorable when he furrows his brow.  It’s a poker face style of acting where you’re not sure if he’s plotting murder or just coming to terms with how his life has turned out.  Thanks to her performance in this and All That Jazz, people began taking Jessica Lange seriously as an actress after the snobby critics dismissed her debut in King Kong.  She has a lot of smoldering intensity and is Jack’s equal in every way.  The memorable supporting cast also includes bits by Christopher Lloyd, Angelica Huston, Don Calfa, and John P. Ryan. 

This was also the first screenplay by playwright David Mamet, who would go on to an impressive film career both behind and in front of the camera.  (He would later write Hoffa starring Nicholson.)  Does it maybe drag a bit in spots?  A little.  Could it have been trimmed down a bit?  Sure.  However, when the two leads are cooking, Postman delivers. 

POSSESSION: KERASUKAN (2024) **

It seems like everyone has been having Possession on the brain lately.  Early in 2024, we had a nice little homage to it in The First Omen.  Hollywood has also announced an American remake announced directed by Smile’s Parker Finn starring Robert Pattinson.  Somehow, this Indonesian remake of Andrzej Zulawski’s classic of paranoia managed to beat that project to the punch when it was unceremonious dropped on Netflix. 

A navy sailor returns home to find his wife wants a divorce.  He suspects her of cheating and goes to find out what she’s been up to.  He soon learns she’s been cursed by a sex demon. 

The 1981 original was a slower-than-slow burn.  I’m glad to say this version picked up the pace quite a bit.  (It’s a good half an hour shorter than the original, too.)  The most interesting thing about Possession:  Kerasukan though is how it adapts the material for Indonesian culture.  I liked how the filmmakers took the original premise and infused it with aspects of their religion and folklore.  Another big difference is the color palette.  Whereas the original had a lot of cold blues, this one is filled with warm red tones. 

That said, you still have to say Zulawski did it better, at least where the shocks are concerned.  Yes, it’s neat that the filmmakers substituted a monster that’s more in line with Indonesian folklore, but that that doesn’t mean it’s very effective, especially when the demon just looks like a mummy hiding inside a throw pillow.  Some of the CGI touches are less than convincing too.  It’s also odd that the filmmakers opt for an Exorcist-style finale.  I guess something may have gotten lost in translation there as they seemingly took the title too literally. 

Let’s face it. It would’ve been hard to top the shocking shit from Zulawski’s film.  I guess armed with that knowledge, the filmmakers instead were content to take the movie’s themes and adapt them and update them for a modern Indonesian audience.  And for a while, it sort of works.  It’s just a shame that it goes completely off the rails in the third act once it stops stealing from Zulawski and starts ripping off William Friedkin.  Still, I have to say it’s far from the worst horror remake I’ve sat through this year. 

ANORA (2024) *** ½

Anora is kind of like Pretty Woman on meth.  A sexy stripper named Anora (Mikey Madison) meets a spoiled rich Russian kid named Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn) in the club and gives him a lapdance.  Before long, he’s paying her a little extra for some sexy fun time on the side.  That eventually leads to shelling out big bucks for a week-long arrangement.  During that time, they fly to Vegas for some ketamine and after a bout of lovemaking, they decide to get married.  What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas though when the kid’s furious parents send their bodyguards to break up their wedded bliss. 

The set-up is simple.  The resolution is predictable.  However, everything that occurs in between is a goddamn rollercoaster.  There’s a stretch of about a half-hour there where writer/director Sean Baker builds up a level of concentrated intensity where you honestly have no idea what’s going to happen next.  The way Baker juggles the prospect of violence with black humor, sustained suspense, and manic performances ranks up there with the final scene in Boogie Nights. 

The film is a terrific vehicle for Mikey Madison.  She showed lots of promise in her supporting roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Scream.  Here, she’s given centerstage and she really makes the most of it.  Madison’s completely unleashed here and gives a performance that’s equal parts exhilarating and heartbreaking.  You really take the ride along with her and her reaction shots are often priceless. 

Baker also earns points for resisting the temptation to deliver a false Hollywood ending.  Instead, he gives us something that while wholly believable, is tinged with a bittersweet sadness.  The film is close to two-and-a-half hours, and I can’t help but think there couldn’t have been a tighter version of the same material somewhere in the editing room.  (The nighttime search for Ivan drags in the third act.)  That’s a minor quibble in the long run because when Anora cooks, it gives you one of the purest hits of adrenaline you’ll get from a movie all year. 

THE CREW (2000) ***

Some movies have a premise so thin that you can almost hear the screenwriters pitching it to the execs at the studio.  With The Crew, it’s easy to imagine a screenwriter sitting down and saying “Hey, do you know what’s making a lot of money?  Those Grumpy Old Men movies with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon.  And you know what else is raking in the dough?  Those mobster comedies like Analyze This and Mickey Blue Eyes.  What if we combine the two?  Let’s make a mobster comedy about grumpy old men!”

The thing with these kinds of films is that it can work as long as you have the right cast.  A good cast of seasoned pros can take a thin script that is little more than a fleshed out “elevator pitch” and wring laughs out of it if the chemistry is right.  The Crew has not one, but four ringers in the form of Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, Dan Hedaya, and Seymour Cassel.  They keep you watching, even when it feels like the script is running on fumes. 

The quartet play aging monsters who have retired to Miami and have grown discontent by their surroundings.  They set out to get their mojo back, but in the process, they accidentally start a war with a South American drug lord (Miguel Sandoval).  Things get complicated when they learn the cop on the case (Carrie-Ann Moss) could possibly be Dreyfuss’ long-lost daughter. 

There are plenty of highlights along the way.  My favorite bit was the amusing scene where Burt is working at Burger King and tells an annoying customer what everyone in the service industry has always thought, but never said aloud:  “Special orders upset us.”  There’s a pretty funny parody of the famous Copa shot from Goodfellas too.  I also liked that former wise guy Hedaya took a job as a mortician and tried to make up for his past misdeeds by putting smiles on all the deceased’s faces. 

Sure, not all of it works.  Some of the subplots feel a little too much like a sitcom (like when the boys are forced to kidnap Lainie Kazan), but the film coasts on the performances.  Again, it might have been dire if everyone wasn’t on their game.  Luckily, it’s an agreeable way to kill an hour and a half, especially if you’re a fan of Dreyfuss or Reynolds (or Jennifer Tilly who appears as a sexy stripper who worms her way into the gang).