One Movie Punch

Hi everyone!

We're in the final stretch for the Oscar season! Instead of the usual Takeover Tuesday episodes for the next two weeks, we're going to take the slot each week for two important things. First, we're going to catchup on the Oscar nominees (and potential winners). We're down to just four more we haven't reviewed yet, which is a much better place than last year. More importantly, however, is the second thing we're doing, which is introducing Jon-David, aka the Mafia Hairdresser, as a regular contributor at One Movie Punch.

It's funny, when I sent out the e-mail to our usual network of participants for First Quarter Takeover Tuesday reviews, he was the first to reply. And after the Oscar nominees were announced, I sent a list of films we hadn't yet reviewed to see if anyone would pick them up. He asked me when they had to be done. I gave him a deadline and asked which ones. He said all of them. Of course, that's not really fair to the other critics, so we negotiated down to the two for this month, and many more for the future. His promo for the Mafia Hairdresser Chronicles, his audio drama podcast, will run before the review.

Speaking of Takeover Tuesday, do you think you have what it takes to guest on One Movie Punch? Head over to onemoviepunch.com/takeover-tuesday and learn more about how you can guest here at One Movie Punch. We still have five (5) slots available this quarter for aspiring and established film critics to take the reins for an episode. We'll run your promo before the review and will place it in regular rotation for the quarter. If it sounds like something interesting to you, reach out to us over social media.

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Here we go!

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Hello, this Jon-David aka Mafia Hairdresser, the writer and performer of the podcast The Mafia Hairdresser Chronicles, a campy crime comedy based on my time working for a Hollywood cocaine trafficking couple in the 80s.

Today's movie is THE CAVE(2019), the documentary film from Feras Fayyad. THE CAVE is a narration-free, eye-of-the-storm view of the life of six years in the life of Dr. Amani, the female head of a hospital built, carved, and constructed, epicly, in criss-crossing tunnels under the city of Al Ghouta, Syria, during the war and the use of chemicals against her people.

The film opens. No sound. No music. Just a city. Al Ghouta, Syria. A bomb goes off. Clouds of smoke. Another bomb. Smoke. Bombs. Smoke. Bombs.

This film was shot at great peril to Fayyad and his team of camera people. They shot over one thousand hours of film, following the doctors as they tended to the wounded citizens, besieged victims of bombings, the intended victims of genocide via chlorine bombs.

Between 2012 to 2018, over the time this documentary was filmed, the underground hospital that was filmed, was maintained and built, and constantly rebuilt by engineers and construction workers for the medical professionals made up of doctors, volunteers, and med and nurse students. The close ups of a few of Dr. Amani's co-workers show that they are all just trying to save the lives of their people from extinction. But it is a scene where Dr. Amani has a human moment to herself, after years of saving lives, bombs coming down on her, experiencing death over and over, that really show how amazing a person she is.

This film shows us tragedy and war, and what it was like for these Syrian people under the Bashar al-Assad regime and his Russian allies. But we also get to see that there are people who exist who are so good and they will stay and help their own people. Against odds. At their own peril. Day after day. Year after year. To see this film and to know Dr. Amani is to know that there is pure goodness in the world. It exists. And we can all sleep a little better knowing that; even if Dr. Amani and her team may never have a night of sleep without nightmares of the world that they have had to experience.

Of course, I was emotional when I saw the suffering of so many lovely, sweet, innocent children in this documentary. But I was touched, deeply, seeing Dr. Amani, no matter how rushed, or emotionally crushed she was, how she would comfort every child that crossed her path. She took the moment to put her face close to the face of each child. She kissed them. She whispered prayer, love, and hope with her breath and her words and her mouth, from her soul.

Dr. Amani was the main reason so many lives were saved, and the figurehead of strength that kept the life-saving underground hospital going for as long as it did. What I found infuriating was that, even as she managed her female and male medical colleagues competently, with grace, under extreme pressure, that she had to deal with this outright sexism and archaic ways of life her own people still clung to. Babies and children were starving in the city above "The Cave" Hospital. Women had to sneak out of their homes to come to the hospital to receive food and medicine for their malnourished babies. And all because their husbands would not allow their wives to work and provide. The men would rather let their own children die than let their wives be able to work. Dr. Amani helped any mother and child that she could, and, many times, for good reason, without the father's knowledge.

Above ground, over the tunnels that made up the hospital, there was war, hypocrisy, misogyny, sexism and outright abuse of women. All over Al Ghouta there was regime propaganda. But, in the tunnels, the women and men who worked together had formed a society worth fighting for. The women, the volunteers, the men doctors, the lady helpers, the patients, old and young, male and female: All were equal. All were worth fighting for. All were worth saving. There are several scenes in this film of the men and women who worked in the underground hospital, joking with each other, comforting each other.

THE CAVEis a documentary by Feras Fayyad, a Syrian film director/filmmaker who was nominated for Best Documentary Film Feature for LAST MEN IN ALEPPO, a 2017 film about the Syrian Civil War, also an unflinching, captivating, and sometimes uncomfortable film. THE CAVE is also nominated for an Academy Award in this same category.

The Cave has no narration. Just real people. The real heroes and their own voices, subtitled for viewers, and available in many languages. At the end of the documentary, Fayyad gives you a few more facts about the hospital and what has happened to the lives of those shown in the film.

In post research, I found that the life and passion of Feras Fayyad, regarding the making of this film, to be fascinating, if not harrowing. I invite you to learn more about this courageous director and you can start by going to Variety.com and read the Jan 4th, 2020 article written about him.

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% (CERTIFIED FRESH)

Metacritic: 83 (MUST SEE)

One Movie Punch: 9.0/10

You can stream THE CAVE now on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now, Apple TV and VUDU.

This is Jon-David, aka Mafia Hairdresser, for One Movie Punch.

Hi everyone!

Welcome back for another Matinee Monday. This week, I had the pleasure of taking in Blake Lively's latest film, THE RHYTHM SECTION, especially after seeing her performance alongside Anna Kendrick in 2018's stylish daytime noir, A SIMPLE FAVOR (Episode #274). I'm sure raising children, including adult man-child Ryan Reynolds, takes a great deal of time. Does THE RHYTHM SECTION continue to expand the range of a post-Gossip Girl Blake Lively? You'll find out in a moment.

Before the review, we'll have a brand new promo from our good friends at The VHS Strikes Back podcast. Every week, Dave and Chris blow the dust off an actual VHS cassette, then watch and discuss the film. You can find out more on Twitter @vhsstrikesback or on Facebook and Instagram by searching for The VHS Strikes Back podcast. Don't miss their two guest episodes during last year's Reign of Terror 2019, with reviews for ALIEN VS PREDATOR (Episode #605) and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (Episode #626). And don't miss their upcoming guest review as Comics in Motion for BIRDS OF PREY later in February!

Subscribe to stay current with the latest releases.

Contribute at Patreon for exclusive content.

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Here we go!

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Today's movie is THE RHYTHM SECTION(2020), the art-house action film directed by Reed Morano and written for the screen by Mark Burnell, based on his novel of the same name. The film centers around Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively), a young woman who has given up on life after her family died in a plane crash three years ago. After meeting a journalist who has evidence the plane crash was actually triggered by a bomb, she seeks out the mysterious B (Jude Law) to help her get revenge.

No spoilers.

We've seen an explosion in female-led thrillers in the past few years. We've also covered quite a few of them on the podcast, including ATOMIC BLONDE (Episode #324), MARIA (Episode #514), and TOMB RAIDER (Episode #358). In fact, 2018 was littered with female-led thrillers, including Jennifer Lawrence's RED SPARROW; Jennifer Garner's PEPPERMINT; and Taraji P. Henson's PROUD MARY. With the exception of ATOMIC BLONDE (and a soft spot in my heart for TOMB RAIDER), the latest crop of female-led action thrillers have all been just so-so. I'm going to say up front that I am delighted to see the number of female-led action thrillers hitting the big and small screens, and despite the problems with some of those films, it's great to see the film industry finding gender parity. It also stands to reason that because of this explosion, we're also going to see a lot of mediocre female-led action thrillers, based purely on the law of averages.

This is absolutely not because women are in the lead roles, or because these stories seem unrealistic, or because of any number of thinly-veiled sexist arguments. In nearly all of the above cases, it wasn't the women in the lead roles which were the problem, but the characters they were asked to inhabit and the story being told around them. Blake Lively is easily one of the highlights of the film, despite playing one of the more challenging roles in this budding genre. Without spoiling the story for anyone, Stephanie Patrick has a very troubled life prior to seeking revenge, and Blake Lively carries the character down the path, for better or worse. I have no doubt she could carry this franchise forward, and would love to see a Stephanie Patrick with a lot more confidence taking on another mission. But I do think it will need some retooling, because THE RHYTHM SECTION falls firmly into the mediocre range.

THE RHYTHM SECTION is visually beautiful, which is to be expected from director Reed Morano. She was best known as a cinematographer for the first part of her career, working on a ton of projects you can peruse at her IMDb page. She also helped produce and direct the first three episodes of "The Handmaid's Tale", the stunning adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel. THE RHYTHM SECTION has a number of beautiful shots, moving between London, Scotland, Madrid, and Tangier, among other locations. Great framing is paired with great costumes, all matching each scene's color palette. I felt the action scenes were great, especially a long-take car chase that reminded me a great deal of the Uncharted video game series.

I also felt that Morano struggled with pacing while trying to capture those same beautiful shots. Taken apart, every scene or sequence looks technically amazing, but when they are placed in sequence, they can also linger just a little too long, and sometimes way too long. It creates a weird effect where the film's parts are actually greater than their sum, which is one of the more difficult knots to untangle, especially given the film's translation to the screen.

It's the story where I have a great number of problems. Mark Burnell is the author of the Stephanie Patrick book series, and wrote the screenplay for the film. I have not read the novel, although I and One Movie Spouse are looking forward to checking them out, especially as fans of the Lisbeth Salander series. (Shoot, forgot to mention those movies earlier as well!) However, you can tell there's a lot of story missing, which ends up being told in montages and soft-focus flashbacks, but likely helped flesh out Stephanie's character. And you can tell that what we are seeing feels very rushed, because the scope of the story is quite large, once things get going. Stephanie has to track down a number of people to extract her revenge, but after a long setup and training sequence, we end up speeding through the food chain towards the hidden mastermind. You can tell a meandering story in a novel as opportunities and ideas arise. But you can't always fit that story into a feature film, not without feeling short-changed.

I saw the same difference between reading Robert Ludlum's original Jason Bourne novels and seeing the feature film adaptations in the 2000s. Each novel tells a wide and sweeping story, delving into details and characters, and exploring the lore behind the story, especially Treadstone. The movies, however, don't even try to capture that same level of immersion, and distilled the stories down to their barest elements, mostly focused on action for better or worse. I think the only two ways THE RHYTHM SECTION works on the screen, to capture the full story, would be to either play it as a limited-series, so we can grow with Stephanie as a character, with time to marinate between segments, or distill it down into action and intrigue that keeps a good pace, similar to the aforementioned ATOMIC BLONDE. In today's film, it feels like Burnell falls into a common adaptation trap, trying to keep all the important scenes from the book even if they may not be important scenes for an effective film.

THE RHYTHM SECTION is an adaptation of Mark Burnell's novel of the same name, written for the screen by Burnell and brought to life between Reed Morano's beautiful cinematography and Blake Lively's effective performance. However, the film suffers in its adaptation for the screen, trying to tell too large of a story in too short a time. Action and espionage fans should definitely check out this film, despite its adaptation issues. Everyone else should keep in mind this film deals with some very difficult subject material, right from the start, and throughout the film, in addition to a standard revenge tale.

Rotten Tomatoes: 33%

Metacritic: 44

One Movie Punch: 6.0/10

THE RHYTHM SECTION (2020) is rated R and is currently playing in theaters.

Hi everyone!

Welcome back for another week of reviews here at One Movie Punch! This week, we have a mixture of film reviews for your enjoyment. On Monday, I'll be reviewing THE RHYTHM SECTION (2020), starring the incredible Blake Lively in a potential franchise launch. On Tuesday, we'll be picking up the first of two reviews from Jon-David, aka Mafia Hairdresser, who will be joining the podcast as a regular contributor going forward. He'll be reviewing THE CAVE (2019) this week, an excellent companion piece to last week's FOR SAMA (Episode #703). On Wednesday, I'll be reviewing CLOSURE (2018), a daytime comedy noir which will include interview segments from writer/director Alex Goldberg. Thursday will see the return of Christina Eldridge, aka Durara Reviews, who will be tackling perhaps the most unlikely animated film nominee at this year's Oscars, KLAUS (2019). Andrew returns on Friday with another Fantastic Fest feature, this one heading towards a limited to wide distribution in theaters, entitled THE LODGE (2019). And on Saturday, I'll finally be reviewing the powerful documentary TRANSFORMER (2017) as part of our Under the Kanopy series.

Of course, today we have our first Sponsor Sunday event for the year, with a film chosen by our third sponsor, Matthieu Landour Engel. We had the pleasure of reviewing Matthieu's short ZERO M2 late last year in Episode #661, along with the full interview in Patreon Episode #P019, still publicly available at patreon.com/onemoviepunch. We were very honored to have him join the growing list of sponsors last year, and that made him eligible for Sponsor Sundays today. Every sponsor at One Movie Punch gets the opportunity to force me to watch and review a film, but I can't really say watching David Lynch's DUNE (1984) is something I need to be forced to do. If you want to get in on the action for Sponsor Sunday, head over to patreon.com/onemoviepunch and sign up at any level. A promo will run before the review.

Also, because Matthieu is such an awesome person, in lieu of any specific promotion of his projects, he's asked me to put a plug in for Darcy Prendergast's recent short film TOMORROW'S ON FIRE, which is currently available on Vimeo. The short film is being used to raise awareness and funds for the recent Australian wildfires. As someone who has had to evacuate twice due to wildfires, I can certainly appreciate this effort. You can find Darcy's work on Twitter at @d_prendergast, on Facebook @ohyeahwow, and on Instagram @dancy_predatorghast. Check the show notes for a link to the short film, or check social media.

Tomorrow's On Fire by Darcy Prendergast

LINK: https://vimeo.com/383034313

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Here we go!

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JOSEPH: "And now, One Movie Punch presents an interview about the real star of DUNE (1984), the unnamed House Atreides pug, with his only remaining descendent, in a segment we like to call..." JOSEPH: "PUGS! IN! SPACE!"

JOSEPH: "Translations will be handled, as always, by One Movie Spouse. So, what is your name?"

AMY: "I do not have a name. My father did not have a name. My father before him did not have a name, who played in the film. In fact, I find names to be outdated, human concepts, which David Lynch was trying to move beyond in this questionable adaptation."

JOSEPH: "Wow, that's a very... uhhh, astute observation."

AMY: "Thank you. You are a lot more polite than your other human counterparts."

JOSEPH: "Right. So, let's get to the movie. What was it like for him to be the only pug on set?"

AMY: "It is my understanding that he faced major discrimination because of his breed. You know, pugs were originally bred as companions for Chinese Emperors, before they became the toast of the town in Europe. But even back then, my ancestor could feel the rising anti-pug discrimination we see in today's Internet memes and videos."

JOSEPH: "That's quite insightful. Did everyone treat him as a mere animal, or...?"

AMY: "I must say that he had nothing but praise for a then young Patrick Stewart, enjoying most his time filming the battle scene. They often talked about the lack of enthusiasm he had for the part, but my ancestor assured him things would work out. And wouldn't you know it, three years later Patrick Stewart would become Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise."

JOSEPH: "We have to wrap up here. Do you have any thoughts on the upcoming adaptation by Denis Villeneuve?"

AMY: "If casting is any indication, then we might be in for a real treat. Of course, with no mention or images of the House Atreides Pug, I'm not sure this new adaptation could ever have the same refined audience."

JOSEPH: "Well, I appreciate you taking the time. I know it must have been... rough to fit us into your schedule."

AMY: "Really? A dog pun?!"

JOSEPH: "My bad. On to the review..."

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Today's movie is DUNE (1984), the science-fiction epic written and directed by David Lynch, based on the novel written by Frank Herbert. On the desert planet of Arrakis, nicknamed Dune, a precious resource known as the spice is mined, which contains the ability to fold space. As House Atreides assumes command of the planet, young Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan) discovers his destiny, gets glowing blue eyes, rides a giant worm, and, yes, has a pug companion.

No spoilers.

I have always been a voracious reader. Before we could carry the Internet in our pocket, or stream whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, I would throw on some instrumental music and read. It began as a steady diet of young adult detective novels, especially Alfred Hitchcock's "The Three Investigators". It turned into reading nearly all the available Dungeons & Dragons novels, during the heyday of TSR, Inc., before they were bought out by Wizards on the Coast. And after I made it to college, and the Internet became a thing, an older gentleman I met in a Stephen King newsletter group recommended Frank Herbert's "Dune".

I had seen the movie, of course, which I thought was so-so. He laughed (or however we did that before text abbreviations over e-mail) and said I owed it to myself to read the first book, or the first three, or all six of them if I felt so inclined. And after a trip to a second-hand bookstore, littered with cheap mass market paperbacks, I picked up the six for a song and placed them on the shelf for break. I was working full-time at the university during the summer, but after work I went home, made dinner, watched a little television, then headed to my room for some music and started reading "Dune". Three weeks later, I had finished all six of them, reading voraciously on breaks, back at the apartment, even at the bar waiting for friends to show up on the weekend. I absolutely loved the books.

Frank Herbert's "Dune" series is easily one of the best science-fiction series out there. He nails that combination of hard science-fiction, not just with the science itself, but with the social and political structures, all while blending in a clear messianic hero story. Translating that rich, immersive world to the screen has mixed results, a combination of special effects limitations of the time, and the fool's errand of trying to cram a multi-year political saga into just two hours.

Contextually speaking, the practical effects are really good for 1984, a melding of classic Dino de Laurentiis production values (think CONAN THE DESTROYER and a host of lesser-known sword and sorcery films) and some attempts at cutting edge digital effects, including a shielding mechanism and the classic glowing blue Fremen eyes. Die-hard science fiction fans have learned to be forgiving with effects over the years, but not so much the general audience. Many critics, and many audience members, probably couldn't help but lump DUNE into the other de Laurentiis pictures, much like how science-fiction is often lumped into fantasy and the other so-called pulp fiction. I adore the film score and soundtrack, by Brian Eno and the band TOTO. The sets and costumes are all excellent, and actually do the lion's share of the world-building.

World-building is where DUNE tends to struggle the most, which isn't just trying to collapse everything into two hours. From the opening monologue, we are assaulted with information, an attempt to collapse the history into something manageable, but also I think to get the petty details out of the way for Lynch to take us on a more surreal journey through this universe, focused more on the emotions and the meaning. DUNE is chock full of Lynch's emotional storytelling, which runs counter to Herbert's storytelling style. The clipped dialogue and the internal monologues, all staple Lynch features, felt out of place. And once everything is set up, we go through what could easily be eight hours of content in about ninety minutes, including a two-year resistance movement. Perhaps if Lynch had the space, or the inclination, to develop the world, we could have seen a science-fiction "Twin Peaks". I thought the film was so-so when I first saw it, and after reading the novels and seeing it again, I think I still only find it so-so.

I want to close on some thoughts about the franchise, especially with the upcoming remake by Denis Villeneuve. My desire to read all six novels back in college wasn't just because they were so great. I was also hoping to finish the novels before taking in the mini-series produced for The Sci-Fi Channel, which I found far superior to today's film. Better effects, more time to explore, more time to marinate. I was also impressed by their follow-up series, which collapsed the next two novels to close out the initial trilogy. It didn't do as well as hoped, either critically or with the larger audience, and there was the small franchise reboot that found massive success called, and let me check my notes here, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. I streamed that in a couple months as well.

Twenty years later, we're getting another attempt at a remake. If anyone can manage this, it's Villeneuve, as ARRIVAL cements his understanding of hard science-fiction, and BLADE RUNNER 2049 (Episode #332) certainly shows he knows how to take care of a franchise. Can he do what Lynch could not in 1984, with even better special effects, and a side-car television series? We'll find out in December 2020, or maybe if it's pushed for reshoots.

I would actually want a Game of Thrones style show, starting with the prequel novels based on Frank's notes to build up the houses, and explore the larger universe. For me, watching 1984's DUNE is the equivalent of cramming the entire first season of Game of Thrones into a two-hour film. It was hard enough collapsing it into ten episodes, but it was such a masterful translation. "Dune", as a franchise, would be incredible in a similar vein, especially now that producers know audiences don't mind humongous casts, intricate plots, political intrigue, immense worlds, and tenuous characters. The series could continue into the core six novels, with the obvious series bail out points being the end of the first novel, the end of the third novel, the end of the fourth novel, and the end of the sixth novel. You could even do a split timeline show, inserting the prequels and a larger, more drawn out story of Paul Atreides on his journey. I know I would.

DUNE is Lynch's so-so attempt to adapt Herbert's epic science-fiction novel for the big screen, perhaps an irreconcilable difference in storytelling focus. It looks and sounds great for 1984, with many of the correct pieces in place, but ultimately feels too rushed being shoehorned into a feature-length film. Science-fiction fans owe it to themselves to see the film, and I would further recommend the first novel, which fills in so many of the details missing from the film. Everyone else, just know the film also has many, many good parts, even forward-thinking parts, that are definitely worth a single viewing.

Rotten Tomatoes: 53%

Metacritic: 40

One Movie Punch: 6.5/10

DUNE (1984) is rated PG-13 and is currently playing on VOD.

Hi everyone!

We're closing out the week with another entry in our ongoing series, Under the Kanopy. Kanopy is a library and university funded streaming service that grants card holders six free streams per month from a variety of classic, mainstream, independent, and international releases. They also have streaming agreements with excellent distributors, like A24 and Kino Lorber, who often produce and distribute the critically acclaimed, if not commercially successful films. Today's film, FOR SAMA, was originally available on Kanopy, but has also recently become available on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and PBS after this year's nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars. It is not an easy watch, as it deals with the siege of Aleppo in Syria, from the perspective of a journalist and doctor raising a child in a makeshift warzone hospital. We've previously covered Syria in our review for LAST MEN IN ALEPPO (Episode #032), which tackled the noble White Helmets, a community-organized first responder squad which rescued civilians from bomb sites and transported them to hospitals like those in FOR SAMA. Both documentaries are very powerful, but also very graphic, as one might expect.

Before the review, we'll have a promo from our good friend Rory Mitchell, from the Mitchell Report Unleashed podcast. They were gracious enough to have yours truly on as a guest recently, which you can check out in Mitchell Report Unleashed Episode #173. You can follow Rory on Twitter @officallyrory, on Facebook @mitchellreportunleashed, and on Instagram @re3684. You can also subscribe to the podcast at anchor.fm/rory-mitchell8. Don't miss a single episode of his insightful interview-driven show.

Subscribe to stay current with the latest releases.

Contribute at Patreon for exclusive content.

Connect with us over social media to continue the conversation.

Here we go!

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Today's movie is FOR SAMA(2019), the powerful documentary directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts. Set within the city of Aleppo, FOR SAMA is a love letter from Waad Al-Kateab to her daughter Sama, born during the brutal siege after the revolution. It is comprised of video shot by Waad Al-Kateab, centered around the makeshift hospital operated by her husband, Hamza Al-Kateab.

No spoilers, but a very serious content warning for graphic violence. FOR SAMA is video taken within a war zone, showing the true horrors of modern warfare. It is an important film, but the destruction is very real, and therefore may not be suitable for all viewers.

If there's one blind spot I had last year, it was documentaries. I used to do a regular feature here at One Movie Punch called Documentary Thursdays, and I loved using the opportunity to keep up with theatrical documentaries, or to take in something I wanted to learn more about. 2019 was a very busy year for the podcast, so before today's film, I had only reviewed one of the current Oscar nominees, AMERICAN FACTORY (Episode #585). Jon-David will be up next week with his review of THE CAVE (Episode #706), another documentary from Syria about another makeshift hospital. We'll pick up the other two in the coming weeks, but many suspect the award with go to one of these three documentaries. We know AMERICAN FACTORY has reached many viewers thanks to producers Michelle and Barack Obama, but why are there a surprising two documentaries about Syria?

Well, because the situation in Syria is horrific. In the early 2010s, the so-called Arab Spring spread across North Africa and the Middle East, a series of popular uprisings against existing governments and dictators, starting in Tunisia, and spreading in large measure to five countries: Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria. Without getting into the politics of each specific situation, the governments each responded in different ways, most with extreme forms of violence. Syria's situation, in particular, is horrific thanks in very large part to their current dictator, Bashar al-Assad, and his use of chemical weapons and other forms of collective punishment against the people. This brutal response brought condemnation from the international community, but apparently not enough to push forward with another regime change.

This internal conflict would be enough to create a terrible situation, but Syria is also involved to some degree in three external conflicts: sitting next to a volatile situation between Israel and Palestine; a larger regional power struggle with new factions formed out of the chaos of the US occupation in Iraq; and perhaps the most volatile of all, a growing perceived cold war between the United States and Russia, both of which are involved on the ground in Syria for dubious, sometimes confused reasons. The news cycle, especially in the United States, flips between scenes of extreme destruction and very privileged pundits talking about the situation like a geopolitical chess game. They rarely discuss the effect on the actual people on the ground, because they refuse, or are not allowed, to send reporters. So when video evidence is smuggled out, as with FOR SAMA, the truths they reveal become all the more important.

That's the key strength of FOR SAMA: it's very human focus. Nearly everything we see in FOR SAMA is being captured by Waad al-Kateab, using a decent video camera, and whatever software was available. Waad is a journalist before a documentarian, but FOR SAMA blurs that line a great deal. While news outlets tend to use aerial photos, maps, and staged interviews to discuss the situation, Waad is capturing everything from a very human perspective. Not just bringing her eye to the events around her, but literally capturing things at eye-level and in real-time, during bombings, emergency room trauma, and other regime-induced horrors. Simply put, there is no other record for the horrors taking place in Aleppo except for the footage being captured inside, which is exactly why both FOR SAMA and THE CAVE are very important documentaries, not just for last year, but for the larger historical record.

For me, this ground-level focus of FOR SAMA is as important as other works that look at or discuss the horrors of war for everyday citizens. Last year, One Movie Spawn covered IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD (Episode #562), which looked at the horror of bombing Japanese civilians during World War II, which was a different take on similar themes in 1983's BAREFOOT GEN, set in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Or the impact of reading Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five", based in part on his experience being a prisoner of war in Dresden during the Allied bombings. All these works show the perversely described "collateral damage" of war, waged in our names, and for which we bear responsibility in equal measure for our support of said actions. And all of which should give us caution in pursuing war at all.

Finally, what's especially important about FOR SAMA is that it is told from a female perspective, and further, from both a mother's and a daughter's perspective. I don't mean this in the sense that crimes against women and children are categorically worse, even if they are in nearly all cases. I mean this in helping men to understand a basic question asked right now, not just in war-torn regions, but in looking towards the coming climate catastrophe: Why bring any life into this world at all? It's a decision every potential mother will have to make going forward. And yet, when Waad looks at Sama through the camera, and when Sama looks back at her, and through that same camera at us, we know instinctively why. Women have the incredible capability to bear children, and as such, bear the truly awesome responsibility of answering that specific question about bringing life into this world. There is no universal answer to that question, but by the end of FOR SAMA, we all can understand a little more about Waad's answer. And I suspect mothers will understand her decisions a lot more, in ways I can understand as a father, but also in ways I cannot as a man.

FOR SAMA is a poignant, effective, and necessary addition to the historical record, capturing a ground-level look at the siege of Aleppo, from the point of view of director Waad al-Kateab. While capturing the real-life horrors of modern war, it also meditates very well on the larger question of bringing life into a destructive world, provides at least one answer to that question, and importantly all from a mother's perspective. Documentary fans, or folks who want to learn more about the effect of war on civilians, should definitely check out this film. But please heed all the graphic content warnings!

Rotten Tomatoes: 99% (CERTIFIED FRESH)

Metacritic: 89 (MUST SEE)

One Movie Punch: 10/10

FOR SAMA (2019) is rated TV-PG and is currently playing on Amazon Prime, Kanopy, PBS, and YouTube. Check the show notes for a link to the full film on YouTube.

FULL FILM: youtu.be/8jFHbo0Cgu8

Hi everyone!

It's Friday, so that means another Fantastic Fest feature from Andrew Campbell. The festival, in addition to screening the best and weirdest genre films every year, has also become a film market for those same features. And now thanks to whatever clerical error resulted in Andrew receiving press credentials last year, we're reaping the rewards as the purchased films begin receiving limited and independent screenings, including today's pickup from podcast favorite distributor, Neon. Check out Andrew's recent reviews from Neon for PARASITE (Episode #628), BORDER (Episode #480), and BODIED (Episode #383).

Before the review, we'll have a promo from the Ocho Duro Parlay Hour. Every episode, the ODPH Crew covers a wide variety of topics from sports and popular culture, with a little something for everyone. A huge shout out to Ken at ODPH for becoming a sponsor of One Movie Punch. We can't thank you all enough for your constant support! Let us know what Sponsor Sunday movie review you want as soon as possible! You can find them on Twitter and Instagram @odparlayhour and on Facebook @ochoduroparlayhour. Get the avalanche of content you deserve!

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Hello film fans!

Andrew here, back today with an absolute white-knuckler of a film. As always, I'll keep my distance from spoiler territory, but after today's review you will either be psyched for its upcoming release or will know that this is one for you to avoid.

Over the last few years, many of my favorite horror films have come from two auteurs writing and producing their first two original films: Jordan Peele and Ari Aster. Peele's GET OUT and US brought the so-called elevated horror with their social themes complimenting his expert direction and memorable performances. Though Peele had shot to fame thanks to the deserved success of KEY & PEELE on Comedy Central, Ari Aster came out of nowhere to deliver HEREDITARY and MIDSOMMAR just 13 months apart, with the latter commencing principal photography while HEREDITARY was still raking in the millions theatrically based on exceptional word-of-mouth. The co-writer/directors of today's film aren't household names yet, but with THE LODGE serving as their follow up to the disturbing, criminally underseen 2014 German-language horror film GOODNIGHT MOMMY, they should be on your radar.

Today's movie is THE LODGE (2019), written by Sergio Casci, Severin Fiala, and Veronika Franz, and co-directed by Fiala and Franz. THE LODGE is distributed by Alamo Drafthouse's distribution company NEON, making its Texas premiere at the 2019 Fantastic Fest after being bumped from its original Fall 2019 release date to February 2020. THE LODGE stars indie-darling (and Elvis Presley granddaughter) Riley Keough as Grace, a young woman with a dark childhood who finds herself engaged to a recently-divorced older man, Richard (Richard Armitage). Richard, Grace, and his two teenage children head to a remote and snowbound mountain lodge with the goal of breaking down the children's icy barriers when it comes to this new mother figure. When business calls Richard back to the city, Grace steps up to watch the children alone for a few days as the tension begins to boil over.

The trailer for THE LODGE is excellent. Yes, it does give away some key imagery from the film, but it's out of context and doesn't detract much from the story. It's haunting, it looks and sounds gorgeous, and really refrains from giving away much of the plot. However, with the whole 'trapped in a sinister house' motif, I'm afraid it may come off like a film full of played-out jump scares. That's not at all what you're getting here. I tried sitting through the new THE GRUDGE remake recently and walked out after the first few dozen times I heard...

...and a nightmarish image popped into the frame. Yes, THE LODGE has a few of those pulse-accelerating scares, but it has far more in common with the existential familial dread of HEREDITARY, even down to the usage of a dollhouse in the story. THE LODGE is not about the big scares, rather it starts out by knocking the audience for a loop in the first ten minutes and then sustaining that dread for nearly two uncomfortable hours.

If you're a horror fan, you may recall how it felt walking out of HEREDITARY or MIDSOMMAR in a daze, relieved that the film is finally over, but certain you just saw something pretty special. THE LODGE is not great date night horror fare, unless you're ready to take a bit of a mental pounding. What it also provides is some lush visuals that put all of the over-processed studio horror-films to shame. Fiala and Franz have an eye for framing scenes, transforming even the most benign interactions between Grace and the children into something unsettling. Though much of the film keeps us trapped inside the lodge, there are several well-shot scenes in the snowy surroundings and the shots of the lodge from on high recall the same foreboding feelings you get instantaneously from seeing Kubrick's Overlook Hotel in THE SHINING.

What makes THE LODGE fantastic? This is a horror film marketed to mainstream audiences that refuses to pander to them. After Ari Aster's two amazing films, I've been searching for that next fix and THE LODGE is as close as I've come to reaching those artistic horror highs. Fortunately, Fantastic Fest delivered two dynamite films on the same wavelength this year, so check this one out and watch out for my review of A24's SAINT MAUD in mid-March if you love to feel bad at the movies.

THE LODGE is a rewarding endurance test that all self-professed horror aficionados should see on the big screen (and you'll never want to watch it again). Fans of unrelenting dread and films where it does always turn out okay in the end, such as HEREDITARY, MIDSOMMAR or, I'll say it, CATS, will enjoy this film.

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Metacritic: 70

One Movie Punch: 8.2/10

THE LODGE is rated R and opens nationwide next Friday, February 7.

JOSEPH: "Dude, this movie hasn't even come out. Why are you talking about a movie our listeners can't even watch yet?"

Joseph, I'm glad you asked. Come back next week for the conclusion of my two-part review arc entitled "Films Premiering on February 7 That Feature Horrible Things Happening at a Remote Cabin"...

JOSEPH: "That old chestnut, eh? I like it!"

...where I'll be discussing COME TO DADDY, starring Elijah Wood as a troubled man trying to reconnect with his estranged father. It's not quite as dark as THE LODGE, but it comes close.

I'll see you then.

Hi everyone!

I can think of a number of bad films for date night, but today's film just might take the prize. One Movie Spouse and I went to see the film on one of our weekly movie dates, and it was a real buzzkill. Not for the excellent performances, incredible costuming, or insightful storytelling, but for the vile, true story behind Fox News. She's going to be up in a bit with her thoughts, about the movie itself and the story behind it. I'll just be over here swearing to no one in particular that Fox News is even still operating.

Now, whenever I feel passionate feelings come up, I turn to Aicila and Erik at Bicurean to help me sort things out. Every episode, they explore a different topic, looking for the underlying issues, and finding common ground whenever possible. You can find them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @bicurean, or check them out at bicurean.com. Be sure to like, follow, rate, and subscribe! They've been huge supporters of One Movie Punch over the past year, and we cannot recommend them enough! A promo will run before the review.

Subscribe to stay current with the latest releases.

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Here we go!

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Hello, It's me Amy, AKA One Movie Spouse, back for another review. MWAH! Listen to my review, then catch me on Twitter @OneMovieSpouse to keep the conversation going. Here we go!

Today's movie is BOMBSHELL(2019), the drama directed by Jay Roach and written for the screen by Charles Randolph. The film sheds light on the sexual harassment scandal at Fox News, involving the exploitation of women by Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), focused on former anchor Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), former co-host Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), and an entry-level aspiring employee named Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie).

No spoilers.

"Bombshell" is filled with an all-star cast including Academy Award® winners Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman, and Academy Award® nominees John Lithgow and Margot Robbie. This film is based on the real scandal inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time, Fox News. The film is an explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who helped turn Fox News into a financially successful and socially damaging news channel. I did not know the extent of the scandal at Fox News and was shocked to see it all laid out during this nearly two-hour film.

Without giving details beyond what's revealed in the film trailers, the most powerful and lingering thought I have after seeing the film is the courage and tenacity of these women. They had to endure years of sexual harassment at Fox News, and the impact of taking a stand against it. I was horrified to see what Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, and Kayla Pospisil had to endure to receive in order to keep their jobs and/or advance their careers. My husband and I have been enjoying "Mad Men", and at times during BOMBSHELL, I had to stop and remind myself that fifty years later the same shit was still happening in the workplace. This film struck many emotional chords with me: disgust, anger, anxiety, and eventually some relief as their full story came to light. No woman should have to endure what these women did in order to have a career. PERIOD.

Casting and makeup was phenomenal in this film! It is remarkable to see the resemblance between Charlize Theron and Megyn Kelly, put their photos side by side, and it's near impossible to tell who's who and their similarities are uncanny right down to their mannerisms. Go ahead, Google it quick and then come back if you haven't already made the comparisons. WOW, right?! And let's talk about John Lithgow's makeup and performance for a moment. Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) is a human piece of garbage! There are few times in my life have I hated a man more than this. I felt physical revulsion when he came on screen. BLECH!

I don't want to end this review on a vile note, however. There's a reason these talented actors were cast in these roles. They tell a powerful, albeit uncomfortable tale. It is my hope to anyone seeing this film that is being harassed or has been exploited at work to have the courage to speak up and receive assistance. There is no shame in sharing your story and asking for assistance.

BOMBSHELL is an eye-opening story shedding light on the scandal at Fox News. It tells a powerful tale of three women who had the courage to speak up and make change in this powerful media empire.

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

Metacritic: 64

One Movie Punch: 7.0/10

BOMBSHELL (2019) is rated R and is currently playing in theaters.

Hi everyone!

It's Episode 700!

Thank you all so much for your support since 2018! One Movie Punch has always been a labor of love, and today's episode is no exception. In fact, today's film might have required a bit more labor and a little less love to get through, and write, but here it is. You might be wondering why I would be covering a movie like today's film, and at least in this case, it's because this film co-stars Kyle Hester, who I had the pleasure of interviewing last year for his role in THE CHAIR (Episode #550), along with a two-part exclusive interview on THE CHAIR, PREACHER SIX, and other projects, including ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN. It's very low-budget. It's very independent. And it's got problems... but also some very interesting ideas.

Before the review, we'll have a promo for the Super Media Bros. They were part of last year's Big Heads Media Takeover, reviewing CLOVERFIELD (Episode #519), which you should definitely check out. I'm throwing their promo on this episode because this film is right up their alley for their Cult Cinema Showdown segment. I'm also kind of hoping they come back on the podcast for Takeover Tuesday, but don't let them know that! You can find them on Twitter @SuperMediaBros_, Facebook @SuperMediaBros, and Instagram @supermediabrospodcast. If you love cult cinema, and the more obscure corners of the media universe, let Midnight Agent Raw and Okami guide you!

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Today's movie is ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN(2019), the film adaptation of the cult web series written and directed by creator Hilton Ariel Ruiz. The film follows Aaron Walker (Braeden Baade), a man infected with a zombie virus which his body is somehow fighting off, along with his shotgun, played by, well, a shotgun. He's on the run with his girlfriend Rachael Young (Kathryn Kuhn), who may know more about his condition than she realizes. And there's black magic, ruined buildings, soft focus softcore love scenes, and friend of the podcast, Kyle Hester.

No spoilers.

I was drawn to ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN because this film has two of my favorite film plot devices: zombies and shotguns. My love of zombies was nurtured in large part by George Romero's groundbreaking work, and developed more recently by "The Walking Dead", "Z Nation" and the explosion in zombie-related content that has followed. One of those corners of the zombie world has been Ruiz's largely fan-supported independent intellectual property "Zombie with a Shotgun", which has been adapted as an experimental web series in 2012, and more recently as a comic book through Rats & Crows Publishing in 2017, intended as a companion to today's feature film adaptation.

My love of shotguns was born, hilariously, during Tarantino and Rodriguez's "Grindhouse" double-billing, when a trailer for a fake film called HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN was played, but then eventually picked up and produced for home markets, an homage to the exploitation microbudget films of yesteryear. My love was nurtured with a three-year obsession with Destiny on PlayStation, where I both loved using and hated being taken out by the close quarters weapon. I'm not an ammosexual by any means, but there's something about shotguns in films that imply a lot more than the scene would suggest.

So, put the two together, and you would think you'd have a hit.

Unfortunately, ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN begins with my least favorite plot device, in media res, which literally translates to "in the middle of things", and that's where we end up, not just with an opening flash forward to a standoff between the authorities and said zombie with said shotgun, but then a flash back to Aaron and Rachael on the run. The film acts as a combination reboot and continuation of the web series, featuring the same lead male, but a new lead female. I suspect the film rewards more than frustrates fans with these opening moments, especially if they know the lore.

For the uninitiated, the film only makes a semblance of sense about two-thirds of the way in. We do get pieces of the story along the way, sometimes in further flashbacks, like some weird and unexplained sexual satanic ritual with some sort of connection to the zombie virus, or the odd scene that targets the bizarre relationship between Aaron and Rachel, who apparently still engage quite frequently in physical intimacy. Ruiz marketed this film as one that would throw out all the rules for zombie films, but when it comes to world building, you can't break rules without establishing other ones, which we desperately need early on.

Storytelling choices aside, the film also struggles with the multiple curses that come with low budget cinema. Film quality is inconsistent, with high-resolution drone shots smashed up against lower-resolution camera shots. Sound is inconsistent, sometimes competing with ambient noise. And yet, the film still has a hypnotic feel to it, a combination of tantalizing scenes injected to re-engage interest, along with a sense that we're going to end up somewhere. And we do end up somewhere, with a decent introduction to the world, but it's only an introduction, and that's what makes the film ultimately disappointing.

ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN needs a lot of work to unlock the obvious potential in the property. More storytelling and world building up front. More consistent production levels. Definitely step away from the soft focus softcore scenes, until they can be relevant to the feature. I think I'm so harsh on this because I see so much more potential, which can explore this weird kind of zombie romance art-house vibe in the same way that 2015's MAGGIE was able to do with zombies and the parent/child relationship. I want to see this franchise find a larger audience, because we still have a lot of territory to explore with zombies, and despite its flaws, the film has the potential to tell so much more.

ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN is a low-budget adaptation of a cult intellectual property, which deserves a larger budget and better production. What this film lacks, however, is compensated by the interesting idea, which managed to captivate this zombie film fan all the way to the abrupt ending. It is definitely not a perfect film, but it has a lot of potential, and a few interesting ideas worth future exploration.

Rotten Tomatoes: NR

Metacritic: NR

One Movie Punch: 4.3/10

ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN (2019) is not rated and is currently playing on Amazon Prime.

Hi everyone!

It's Takeover Tuesday, and we're welcoming back our good friends at the How I Met Your Friends podcast! Today, they're tackling the film everyone loves to hate this year, the cinematic trainwreck known as CATS. I'm actually disappointed with the reviews so far, because one of my favorite CDs in my youth was a collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest hits, including "Mr. Mistoffelees". I'm not exactly sure how they could possibly translate this song to the screen, but I think we know now how not to do it. Or do we? Julie and Kathleen will be up in a moment with two very different views.

Do you think you have what it takes to guest on One Movie Punch? Head over to onemoviepunch.com/takeover-tuesday and learn more about how you can guest here at One Movie Punch. We still have five (5) slots available for aspiring and established film critics to take the reins for an episode. We'll run your promo before the review and will place it in regular rotation for the quarter. If it sounds like something interesting to you, reach out to us over social media.

Subscribe to stay current with the latest releases.

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Here we go!

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JOSEPH: "All right, let's call this meeting to order. Thank you all for joining us, in person here and around the world via conference call. We'll skip the roll call and get to it."

JOSEPH: "First order of business, and we're running out of time folks. I've got a review that needs to get done right away, and I'm looking for a volunteer. Amy, can you take this one?"

ONE MOVIE SPOUSE: "I am One Movie Spouse, after all. Saving you is kind of my thing!"

JOSEPH: "Great, it's CATS, so..."

ONE MOVIE SPOUSE: "Well, you see..."

JOSEPH: "Okay. One Movie Spawn?"

ONE MOVIE SPAWN: "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

JOSEPH: "Okay. No need to be so touchy. Andrew. Buddy."

ANDREW: "Um, yeah. I've got to take care of some other stuff."

JOSEPH: "I'm seeing a pattern here. Keith, are you begging off as well?"

KEITH: "I mean, sure, now it might seem like..."

JOSEPH: "Okay. Ryan, this one's got your name on it!"

RYAN: "I'm not entirely sure how you can place the entire blame on me..."

JOSEPH: "Blame? I mean, it's bad, but... Shane?"

SHANE: "No! NO!"

JOSEPH: "How about anyone out there on the conference call?"

GROUP: *CHATTER*

JOSEPH: "Okay, fine. Let's just see who didn't make the call today... Oh. Oh, I know who can review this one. That's the last time they miss a meeting. Okay, that's settled."

JOSEPH: "Item two..."

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Today's movie is CATS(2019), just released at the end of 2019, the musical film directed by Tom Hooper and based off of the stage production of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber. CATS has something for everyone, as long as you already love musicals and are familiar with this one. It's probably best if you're into ballet, too.

No spoilers in this one, folks.

CATS, the movie musical, is based on the stage production of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It opens on a white kitten named Victoria (Francesca Hayward) being dumped in the London streets. Other strays find her and take her along for the evening ahead. The strays are Jellicle cats and it is the night of their yearly gathering, the Jellicle Ball. Throughout the night, we meet the cats contending for a chance to go to the Heaviside Layer and start a new life.

Victoria meets many cats along the way. Mr. Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson) is a magician cat who develops a crush on her. Rebel Wilson plays Jennyanydots the Gumbie Cat, who is also competing to go to the Heaviside Layer. Wilson and James Corden, playing Bustopher Jones, steal the show with hilarious quips and inside jokes.

By the end of the evening, we've been entertained by all the contenders and followed a budding romance. Dame Judi Dench, who missed playing Grizabella in the original production because of an injury, plays Old Deuteronomy, the Elder of the Jellicle cats, who will select this year's winning contestant.

CATSis a magically weird little movie that doesn't quite live up to the hype. We definitely recommend this to fans of musicals and the original CATS. Not a fan of either of those? Perhaps skip this one.

Rotten Tomatoes: 20%

Metacritic: 32

One Movie Punch: 5.0/10

CATS (2019) is rated PG and is available in theaters.

Hi everyone!

Welcome back for another Matinee Monday! This week, I'll be covering Guy Ritchie's new film, one of my favorite directors once upon a time, especially for classics like LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH, along with a host of English gangster films. He's hit a rough patch as of late, but will today's film be a return to form? You'll find out in a moment!

Before the review, we'll have a promo from the Top 5 from Fighting podcast. Every episode, Greg and Mike discuss a wide range of topics, and when they disagree, you know they're gonna fight about it! Always fun, but always contentious, you don't want to miss a single episode. You can find them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @Top5forFighting. They have been some of our biggest supporters from last year. Shout out to their Marketing Angel. You know who you are!

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Here we go!

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Today's movie is THE GENTLEMEN(2020), written and directed by Guy Ritchie, based on a story developed with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies. The film follows an attempt by American-born Irish drug lord Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) to sell his extensive marijuana business to Oklahoma billionaire Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong). After an attack on one of Pearson's growhouses puts the deal in jeopardy, Pearson must manage the repercussions, even as other players seek a more hostile takeover.

No spoilers.

I remember when I began my career out of college, traveling to Los Angeles in 2001 for a consulting gig, where I met one of my good friends, who was also a fan of movies. Movies hadn't yet moved to streaming services, but he had grown up closer to Chicago than I had, and as such, had access to a much more extensive selection of films than either my corn town or state university rental stores had to offer. So, once we got to talking about movies, he asked if I knew about Guy Ritchie, and I said no, and his jaw hit the floor. So, that weekend I went to our rental store in Denver, checked out LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (1998) and SNATCH (2000), and immediately fell in love with UK gangster films as a whole. Every few years, Ritchie would put out another gangster picture, including REVOLVER (2005) and ROCKNROLLA (2008). There was also SWEPT AWAY (2002), but we don't talk about that one.

Ritchie's star was really on the rise when he was given the green light for his SHERLOCK HOLMES franchise, which completed two films before Robert Downey, Jr. disappeared into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It opened up his schedule to pursue a number of mainstream films, all of which only did okay critically speaking, including THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015), KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD (2017), and strangely, the recent live-action adaptation of ALADDIN (2019).

It seems like a strange direction for the previous monarch of UK gangster films, but that's because other things have been in the works, most notably the successful "Snatch" television series, expanding on the story from the 2000 film in the same way the "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" television series followed the 1998 film. And clearly, that has most recently influenced today's film, THE GENTLEMEN, a return to form for Ritchie, but in some ways, maybe from a bygone era.

There are a lot of things I liked about Ritchie's gangster films, but most especially his combination of characters and story he brings to whatever project. THE GENTLEMEN is driven by both characters and story, told on multiple levels. Initially, the story begins as a conversation between Pearson's reserved right-hand man Ray (Charlie Hunnam), and an almost unrecognizable Hugh Grant as the hilarious, pansexual reporter Fletcher, who has stumbled across the deal to sell Pearson's operation. In fact, Fletcher playfully narrates the story, which he's also developed as a script, and which allows Ritchie to engage in multiple homages to film-making as a whole, including a reference to Francis Ford Coppola's surprise hit, 1974's THE CONVERSATION (Episode #091).

The story takes a little bit to get going, especially as Fletcher's narration needs to put a lot of chess pieces on the board, and on multiple levels. Pearson interacts with the big dogs, like Matthew, and the up and coming Asian gangster, Dry Eye (Henry Golding), which leaves the supporting and adjacent cast largely to deal with the repercussions, often to violent and comedic effect. Everything escalates, however, after the growhouse gets attacked, involving a group of ruffians known as the Toddlers, who are trained by their coach named... well, Coach, played by Colin Farrell in one of his best performances. The cast is excellent. Once all the pieces are on the board, the film then steadily and delightfully accelerates towards its final destination.

Every viewer will need two key traits, however, to extract the maximum enjoyment out of this film. First, you cannot be squeamish when it comes to graphic subject matter, especially sex and violence. THE GENTLEMEN does not pull any punches with its violence, sometimes graphic and often extreme. That's a staple for Ritchie gangster films, though, and while it can be gruesome, it is never really torturous. It's actually a nice balance of scary calm, instant escalation, and real gangster shit. But it is not going to be for everyone.

Second, however, is that you cannot be easily offended, and it's here where I had quite a few problems with the film. THE GENTLEMEN is also awash with sexist, racist, and homophobic humor. Sometimes it's done very well, like a direct conversation about racism between Coach and one of the Toddlers. Sometimes it's done almost purely for shock value, or in a mistaken attempt at realism, especially the anti-Asian and homophobic jokes that did absolutely fuck all for the story. With violence we know the people on screen are not actually being hurt, but offensive comments also target people in the audience. I can tolerate the cultural differences in the UK regarding the impact of the c-word, which also permeates the film. But I can't accept the same anti-Asian and homophobic tropes seen in the film industry since its founding.

THE GENTLEMEN is a return to Guy Ritchie's UK gangster roots, a violent film set in the modern day influenced perhaps too much by the social norms of yesteryear. An excellent cast and a strong story end up struggling with needlessly sexist, racist, and homophobic dialogue, which can sometimes hit upon insight, but often feels injected purely for shock value. Fans of Ritchie's gangster films, who are not squeamish with violence or easily offended by bigoted dialogue, will definitely enjoy this film. Everyone else needs to know this is Ritchie back in his independent roots, not his most recent string of accessible mainstream films.

Rotten Tomatoes: 77%

Metacritic: 51

One Movie Punch: 7.8/10

THE GENTLEMEN (2020) is rated R and is currently playing in theaters.

Hi everyone!

Welcome back for another week of reviews. This week, we have a wide variety of films for you, truly something for everyone this week, and maybe at least one or two films for nobody. Today, I'll be reviewing another feel-good family film, this time on Amazon Prime, followed by my review for Guy Ritchie's latest film, THE GENTLEMEN, tomorrow. On Tuesday, the How I Met Your Friends podcast will be covering CATS, the film everyone loves to hate. On Wednesday, we'll be dropping Episode #700, and it'll be a doozy called ZOMBIE WITH A SHOTGUN. On Thursday, One Movie Spouse returns to unleash a rant like no other over BOMBSHELL. Andrew Campbell returns on Friday with his review of the upcoming THE LODGE, recently picked up by Neon for a limited release. And on Saturday, I'll be reviewing FOR SAMA, another difficult documentary about the situation in Syria.

Over on our Patreon page, we have an interview with Alexander Cooper, writer/director of last week's SANDOW (Episode #693), where we talk extensively about that film, another feature film he produced called PARALLEL, and even a little bit about FIRST BLOOD. You can listen to the full interview publicly for a limited time at patreon.com/onemoviepunch. While you're there, sign up at any level to maintain access to our exclusive content, along with becoming eligible for Sponsor Sundays. All contributions go to paying our expenses and will help us to grow with our audience. A promo about Sponsor Sundays will run before the review.

Subscribe to stay current with the latest releases.

Contribute at Patreon for exclusive content.

Connect with us over social media to continue the conversation.

Here we go!

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Today's movie is TROOP ZERO (2019), the feel-good family film directed by Katie Ellwood and Amber Templemore-Finlayson, who go by the moniker Bert & Bertie, and written for the screen by Lucy Alibar. The film follows Christmas Flint (Mckenna Grace), a misfit girl in 1970's rural Georgia, who learns about an opportunity to be recorded for NASA's Golden Record, and sent out with Voyager 1, as long as she is the winning Birdie Scout troop at the upcoming talent show. After being rejected by the local troop, she assembles a ragtag group of kids to form Troop Zero, and take their shot at interstellar glory.

No spoilers.

Feel-good films are important. We probably don't review enough feel-good films here at One Movie Punch. Part of that is because our critics, on the whole, tend towards dramas and genre films, at least genres that aren't explicitly feel-good. But a larger part of that is the lack of quality feel-good cinema being produced. I mean, there are plenty of family films being produced, especially for the streaming markets, but very few of the classic feel-good family films make it to the big screen anymore, outside of the animated features from the big name distributors. The question is why?

I think that falls into two categories. First, the old theater to VOD to streaming pipeline is in the middle of another shakeup as the remaining streaming giants are brought online. Even as theaters are offering their own versions of the MoviePass model, more and more features that don't require a theatrical experience are being moved to streaming services. In some cases, like last week's TOGO (Episode #690), it might be the case of leaving money on the table, since at least two scenes would have been incredible on the big screen. But perhaps with today's film, it might have saved money that would otherwise have been lost in distribution. That's not to say TROOP ZERO is a bad film, just not a great candidate for the theater, but still an excellent feature for the streaming market.

TROOP ZERO feels built off the template of feel-good family features of the 1980s and 1990s, especially the immense family film home markets. It has a predictable, heartwarming story about misfits finding acceptance. It is driven by unique characters who have forgivable flaws, with the exception of any specific villains. And it doesn't have any high stakes conflicts, at least from an adult perspective, even if the story has plenty of low-stakes conflicts, often played to comedic effect. And, thematically, it deals with both universal pre-teen and adolescent concerns (including trauma, bedwetting, and social inclusion) and specific concerns from the time period (gender roles and expectations).

Casting is a huge highlight of this film. Mckenna Grace, probably the only actress that will ever play both a young Carol Danvers and a young Tonya Harding, continues her impressive filmography with another solid role, playing off her natural charm and extensive experience. Her troop is comprised of equally enjoyable characters, including: her flamboyant, fashion-conscious best friend Joseph (Charlie Shotwell), neighborhood bullies Hell-No Price (Milan Ray) and her muscle Smash (Johanna Colón), and well-meaning evangelical Christian Anne-Claire (Bella Higginbotham) who only has one working eye. They are supported by Christmas' father Ramsey Flint (Jim Gaffigan), who is apparently a good old boy lawyer with a heart of gold, and his assistant at the law practice, Miss Rayleen (Viola Davis), who eventually helps with the troop activities. Opposite Troop Zero, of course, is the local troop lead by social gossip Miss Massey (Allison Janney) and headed up by ultra-snot Piper Keller (Ashley Brooke). The storytelling remains focused mostly on the children, and their aspirations, but the viewer is also treated to a few scenes involving the adults.

Visually speaking, TROOP ZERO works with the late 1970s color palettes very well, especially for rural Georgia. The natural dark greens, browns, oranges, and yellows of Georgia are complemented well by the period-appropriate costuming. Everything looks great, but also sounds great, with the right mix of film scoring and period-specific tunes, including a lovely number by Troop Zero at the competition.

However, I did have some issues with the story, especially for the time period. I'm not sure about the specific politics of rural Georgia in the late 1970s, but I do know that racism and homophobia were still overt issues, especially in rural areas, and in many cases still are. Clearly, a feel-good family film should stay away from dealing with the worst of these period-specific concerns, but I can't shake the feeling that many members of Troop Zero would have faced much greater concerns than some light bullying.

Also, I was pretty shocked at how snotty the Birdie Scouts could be towards the misfits. It's a great juxtaposition, but since One Movie Spouse is a Girl Scout leader, I am obliged to say that most of the behavior by the other troops is reprehensible, and would have resulted in a lot of troop leaders screaming at their scouts. Most of that behavior goes unchallenged, though, for the sake of making a larger point about what's important in life.

TROOP ZERO is a heartwarming, feel good family film, set in a necessarily sanitized version of late 1970s Georgia. While written off the feel-good family templates of the 1980s and 1990s, the film delivers a solid viewing experience, with a few unexpected fun moments, and frankly, one of the strangest denouements I've seen in a while. Feel-good family film fans (say that three times fast) will definitely enjoy this film, especially pre-teens and adolescents. Scout leaders, however, may find last year's review for LITTLE MONSTERS (Episode #639) a tad more cathartic.

Rotten Tomatoes: 66%

Metacritic: 58

One Movie Punch: 7.5/10

TROOP ZERO (2019) is rated PG and is currently playing on Amazon Prime.