A Quiet Place Part II signified the return to the movie theaters following the COVID-19 pandemic. Ironically, the John Krasinski (Promised Land, Away We Go) directed sequel to 2018’s surprisingly successful A Quiet Place was tabled for its March 2020 release just before the global pandemic ravaged the world. I give movies like Tenet, News of the World, and Wonder Woman 1984 much credit for releasing their films during the year, knowing they would earn far less revenue than if they had waited. I don’t fault movies for delaying their release, but I applaud the big-budget ones that did not. While 2020 allowed more independent films to take center stage at the theaters that continued operating during the shutdown, those movies didn’t necessarily succeed. It was an abysmal year overall for movies. I did go to the theaters 10-15 times between mid-March 2020 and mid-May 2021. Except for once or twice, only a dozen or so people were at my shows.
Category Archives: Suspense
Stillwater (2021)
Inspired loosely by the story of an American college student accused of murder in a foreign country but proclaiming her innocence while studying abroad, director Tom McCarthy tries to recapture the magic of Spotlight in Stillwater, his first effort since 2015’s Best Picture Winner. Many of us (not including me) remember the Amanda Knox story from 20 years ago. Knox, studying abroad in Italy, was convicted of killing her roommate. She spent four years in prison before ultimately being acquitted by the Italian Supreme Court. McCarthy’s film is far from a true story, though this might be his second Best Picture nominee in five years if it had been. However, as a work of fiction, it leans too heavily on implausibility and story convenience. It doesn’t make it a better or worse movie per se. But it does make it slightly less believable.
Old (2021)
So highly ambitious, so incredibly flawed, but oh so engrossing is M. Night Shyamalan’s (Signs, The Sixth Sense) return to form in his latest mind-**** Old. Suppose you’re new to Shyamalan (which I would understand if you are a bit younger and have avoided all of his critical flops since 2002’s Signs); Old might be the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. For the rest of us, we know that somewhere in the film will have a twist. It’s a matter of either trying to figure it out (which is something we inherently do now) or trying to enjoy the ride. I attempted to do both. I succeeded in enjoying the ride. I did not figure out the twist. There’s also the idea that Shyamalan might try to do one of these types of movies without a twist so it can also be something that plays in your mind. All in all, I was able to set aside all of the many, many imperfections associated with Old and appreciate it for what it was worth and then some.
Wrong Turn (2021)
I recall watching the original Wrong Turn movie in the movie theater in 2003. I enjoyed the movie so much that I bought the DVD when I discovered it in the previously viewed movie bin a few years later. I went over fifteen years between viewings because I wanted to wait for that perfect dark and stormy night to revisit this gem of a film that introduced me to the slasher movie genre. Unfortunately, my rewatch fell flat. I thought the movie was so poorly made and cheesy that I couldn’t believe I had initially been spooked by it. However, looking back, I realize it was because I had nothing to compare it to. Of course, there were Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween, but those were established franchises long before I was born. And honestly, I had no interest in watching any of these.
Breakdown (1997)
In his heyday as a leading man, Kurt Russell (The Thing, Escape from New York) had many massive box-office hits. From 1989 through 1996, he received top billing in five films (Backdraft, Unlawful Entry, Tombstone, Stargate, Executive Decision), earning more than $50 million in revenue. He continued that streak in the highly promoted Breakdown, which garnered $50.2 million while earning critical (81%) and audience (67%) acclaim. Breakdown was a movie I saw opening weekend in theaters and hadn’t revisited until 2021. I remember loving it in the theaters. Unfortunately, because so many ripoffs of this movie have done this premise better, its rewatch left something to be desired. Unlike his other films mentioned above, Breakdown fails to hold, though not through Russell’s fault; he carries it throughout, just like he does with most of his films.