'The Dead Don't Die' Review

Synopsis: The peaceful town of Centerville finds itself battling a zombie horde as the dead rise from their graves.

Runtime: 105 minutes

MPAA Rating: R (for zombie violence/gore and language)

Who should see it? Adult fans of zombie movies and comedies.

Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don't Die is an absurdist comedy set at the start of a zombie apocalypse. In Jarmusch's film, there's a discernible degree of self-awareness. Characters frequently break the fourth wall to comment on their surroundings and the recurring use of a single Sturgill Simpson song. The dialogue is hysterical and usually spoken in deadpan, but the undead invasion is surprisingly sluggish. Jarmusch slowly introduces his sprawling, star-studded ensemble of survivalists, and this laidback, deliberate approach wears thin fairly quickly.

Zombie fodder is a necessity, but Jarmusch's divided attention prevents him from meaningfully fleshing out these eccentric personalities. Jarmusch whittles down his cast to narrow his focus on select individuals, but it doesn't amount to much. The town residents are merely vessels to impart Jarmusch's message that our society has become far too fixated on material possessions. These zombies are more concerned with finding the products they enjoyed in their past life than eating brains, and the undead mutter the names of these commodities as they stroll around Centerville.

As the poster's tagline suggests, Jarmusch has amassed a respectable grouping of A-listers to portray this collection of quirky characters. Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Selena Gomez, and Tom Waits are among those most prominently featured in the film, and each actor lends sufficient personality to their respective role. Murray and Driver carry an amusing rapport as police partners while Swinton's strange Scottish mortician Zelda Winston is a sure-fire scene-stealer on account of an off-kilter attitude.

Though it's a low-energy affair, the film remains enjoyable as celebrities engage in wacky antics and deliver side-splitting lines. Jarmusch succeeded in making a unique zombie comedy, but The Dead Don't Die never comes alive.

Film Assessment: B-

'Sorry to Bother You' Review

In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a macabre universe of "power calling" that leads to material glory.

Serving as his feature film debut, Sorry to Bother You was written and directed by rapper and musician Boots Riley. Words that will surely arise in plenty of discussions afterwards are ambitious and unique (or at least terms synonymous to those) because I guarantee you that you've never seen anything quite like Sorry to Bother You. If you're someone who's sick of the summer's franchise fare, this might be the undeniably original breath of fresh air that you've been looking for. Whether you actually like it or not is difficult for me to say, as it depends on your tolerance for the film's outlandish scenarios, but I'm confident Sorry to Bother You will be way too weird for most general audience members. 

For his first feature, Riley's got plenty to say regarding race relations, corporate greed, and capitalism in general. His script was ultimately too ambitious for its own good though since there's such a heavy-handed socio-political subtext lingering over the narrative. I've seen many comparisons to Get Out, but I'd argue there are some substantial differences between the two films as well. Namely, Jordan Peele's subtlety in communicating his message versus Riley's ostentatious approach. This is by design of course, but I found Riley's method to be far too "in-your-face."

I'll say I was onboard for the first two acts of the crazed comedy, but was totally lost in the ending insanity. At that point, the humor lost its edge and everything skewed towards being bizarre rather than funny whatsoever. Sorry to Bother You seems to have found favor with critics and audience members on the basis of being a satirical cautionary tale, but Riley's depiction of reality is ultimately too unfocused and absurdly over exaggerated to possibly take seriously. The strange satirical piece is riddled with an overabundance of interesting ideas, but Riley can't quite tie them all together effectively due to his inexperience as a filmmaker. This problem rears its ugly head as the film progresses and subplots involving certain supporting characters are all but abandoned in favor of some zany shenanigans. 

With that said, the film was aesthetically pleasing and I can't help but respect Riley's ambition and unique voice as a fresh filmmaker. The gimmicks of "the white voice" and dropping the telemarketer desk straight into someone's home during calls could have easily been overused and tiring to watch, but Riley employs these shticks somewhat sparingly and his use is often justified. However, I noticed that the dubbing and lip-syncing were often mismatched and that was fairly distracting to me. I'm unsure if it was intentional for comedic effect or not, but it was glaring nonetheless. 

If there's one thing that keeps Sorry to Bother You afloat though, it's the exceptional ensemble assembled for the project. As the leading man, LaKeith Stanfield furthers his rise as an increasingly reliable actor by exhibiting an immense range and incredibly expressive physicality into Cassius' mannerisms, attitude, and personality. Playing Cassius' girlfriend, Tessa Thompson has spunk to spare and dominates the screen as Detroit. I especially liked the dynamic between Stanfield and Thompson because it so off-kilter and the two had great chemistry.

Jermaine Fowler, Steven Yeun, Danny Glover, Terry Crews, and Omari Hardwick are tasked with portraying Casius' friends, co-workers, and family, and while they each do a solid job with the material provided, the actors feel underutilized in the grand scheme of things. Familiar voices you will hear in varying capacities over the course of the hour and forty five minutes include David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Lily James, Forest Whitaker, and Rosario Dawson.

Rounding out the cast, Armie Hammer is an eccentric CEO who's intimidating on account of his obsessive fixation on the bottom line, and that leads to a few interesting revelations to say the least... I'll preserve the surprise for the sake of ensuring you're as shocked as I was, but those who have seen the film probably know exactly what I'm referring to.

For better or for worse, Sorry to Bother You is unapologetically "out-there" in spite of a forgiving title. With the upmost confidence, I can assure you that it certainly will be one of the weirdest films you see all year.

Film Assessment: B

'Proud Mary' Review

Proud Mary sets its sights on Mary, a hit woman working for one of Boston's biggest crime families, as she crosses paths with a young boy after an assassination gone wrong. The encounter then changes the course of both their lives as Mary adopts Danny to protect him from Boston's most dangerous mob families.

Proud Mary was one of the new films released last weekend you may not have heard of before visiting this review, and trust me when I say it was for good reason... Screen Gems, a division of Sony Pictures, notoriously made the decision not to heavily market Proud Mary. You'll probably see this point brought up in almost any internet review for the film you choose to read, but I went to YouTube to demonstrate just how minimal the marketing was for Proud Mary. My findings were one trailer that came out five months ago and two vignettes released last week. That's it. When you consider that the studio also didn't hold any advanced screenings for critics and really restricted the number of theaters playing the film last Thursday night, things don't look good. Screen Gems was making absolutely no effort to promote this film.

Therefore, it should come at no surprise that this movie was a major melodramatic mess... Babak Najafi, the director best known for London Has Fallen, haphazardly helmed the flick which also features a lousy script from John Stuart Newman, Christian Swegal, and Steve Antin. Plot points weren't provided with proper set-up so the story was rather jumbled and I cannot stress to you enough how terrible all of the dialogue was, which the stilted line delivery from the phoned-in actors certainly didn't do any favors. From a technical standpoint, the edit's composed of plenty of quick cuts and the camerawork was rather pedestrian. Thankfully, there wasn't much shaky-cam... but the forced inclusion of numerous transition scenes showing Mary entering, exiting, or driving a vehicle were tedious to say the least.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of all though was Proud Mary's lack of energy or clear focus. This is supposed to be an action movie for goodness sake! However, there are maybe three action sequences total that all failed to impress me whatsoever and each one was horribly mismatched to an upbeat Motown song. The songs didn't really mesh well with the action occurring onscreen, so when they're incorporated, it's seemingly for the purposes of featuring a fun, peppy song in the background. I don't mind Najafi going for a '70s Motown style if he had committed to it, but that idea lasts all of about four minutes during the film's opening credits. It's almost entirely forgotten afterwards.

As for the cast, their lifeless performances and stale line delivery will probably go down among the worst of the year. Taraji P. Henson is an actress whom I know to be capable of delivering a solid performance (just look to Hidden Figures as evidence), and while she certainly elevates this flick when compared to her costars, she comes across as dull and dreary when all is said-and-done. She's trying to play a tough persona, but the character's actions suggest otherwise and so her character's personality is virtually non-existent and the audience is left looking at her vacant expression. I don't like to chide child actors, but Jahi Di'Allo Winston was noticeably inexperienced and his character was a bit annoying. Meanwhile, Billy Brown, Danny Glover, and Neal McDonough are hardly worth mentioning due to either how laughably abysmal their acting was or how little they had to do in their lacking screen-time. 

The title may tell us Mary is proud, but it's really no wonder that Screen Gems wasn't. Proud Mary is an excruciating watch that I can't in good conscious suggest anyone ever see. It's truly a shameful use of an hour and half.

Film Assessment: F