by Josh Sewell
The Black Phone
(Rated R for violence, bloody images, language and some drug use. Opens in theaters on June 24.)
After exploring the superhero genre with Doctor Strange, director Scott Derrickson returns to his horror roots (along with his longtime co-writer C. Robert Cargill) in this creepy flick based on a short story from Joe Hill. It centers on Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), a shy, smart 13-year-old kid who is abducted by a sadistic masked killer (Ethan Hawke).
Trapped in a soundproof basement, the resourceful Finney begins looking for a way to escape and gets some help when a broken telephone on the wall somehow starts to ring. He discovers the killer’s previous victims can communicate with him, and they want to make sure their deaths weren’t in vain.
Sinister, the previous collaboration from Derrickson, Cargill and Hawke, messed me up for days after I saw it, so I was nervous but excited to see what they had planned with their latest. Turns out The Black Phone is still frightening, but the tone isn’t nearly as nihilistic.
Instead, it’s a coming-of-age drama seamlessly blended with a supernatural revenge thriller. The combination turns out to be a total blast – my screening’s audience was all-in, complete with screams, gasps and cheers. I think The Black Phone could be a big summer hit if word of mouth does its job.
The story takes place in the late-1970s and, for the most part, Derrickson gets the era’s look right. There’s a lot of unsettling grainy footage combined with period appropriate production design that feels lived in, as opposed to something like Stranger Things, where modern actors just seem like they’re cosplaying.
Performances are great across the board. Thames is so fantastic in the lead role that it’s hard to believe he’s making his big screen debut. Madeline McGraw, as Finney’s psychically gifted sister Gwen, is equally compelling and their scenes together evoke an actual familial bond rather than actors pretending to be siblings.
But I’m guessing most people will be raving about Hawke’s work as the terrifying villain. Despite spending pretty much the entire movie behind a collection of horrific masks, he’s able to convey plenty of menace with his eyes and a maniacally unhinged voice. He hasn’t played many bad guys over the course of his nearly 40-year career, but he sure is great at it.
Grade: B+
Spiderhead
(Rated R for violent content, language and sexual content. Now available on Netflix.)
In this sci-fi thriller, based on a short story by George Saunders, convicts in a futuristic prison volunteer as medical subjects on a beautiful island in exchange for a shortened sentence. The experiment’s leader (Chris Hemsworth, also an executive producer) seems friendly enough, but two prisoners (Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett) start to believe something nefarious is going on.
I’m a little late to director Joseph Kosinski’s latest, which hit Netflix last weekend while his Top Gun: Maverick is still raking in mountains of cash at the box office, but word of mouth got me curious. Critics and general audiences seem to either love or loathe Spiderhead, which is always intriguing to me – I respect movies that aim for something more than just “it was okay,” even when it doesn’t work.
After giving it a shot, I’m honestly not sure why the flick got such awful reviews. It’s fun sci-fi schlock, which is tough to pull off, and Hemsworth is delightfully unhinged as a maniacal “big pharma” bro. The soundtrack is full of classic yacht rock hits that reflect his character’s dual persona while also keeping with the ominous tone.
Teller, in his third collaboration with Kosinski (following firefighter drama Only the Brave and Maverick), is a little bland as the everyman protagonist, but his scenes with Hemsworth are appropriately unsettling and balanced out by his amiable chemistry with Smollett.
Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (also responsible for Deadpool and the brilliant, criminally underseen reality TV parody The Joe Schmo Show) manage to craft a clever story that’s entertaining and thought-provoking without going overboard with clunky social commentary. However, from the start it feels like the story is hurtling toward an inevitably tragic conclusion, but the sudden finale doesn’t match the tone of the previous 90 minutes. Part of me wonders if Netflix “suggested” a happier ending.
Regardless, Spiderhead gets enough things right to make it worth a watch. If nothing else, it’ll send you straight to Spotify or Apple Music to look for those killer tunes – they’ve been stuck in my head for days now.
Grade: B
Home Video Spotlight
Out of Sight
(Rated R for language and some strong violence. Available on June 28.)
This outstanding crime thriller from Steven Soderbergh (based on the classic Elmore Leonard novel, with an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Scott Frank) still charms nearly 25 years later and remains some of the best work George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez have ever done. The two play a bank robber and a federal marshal who end up stuck together. Try to guess if sparks fly.
The flick boasts an incredible supporting cast, including Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina, Albert Brooks, Nancy Allen, Catherine Keener, Isaiah Washington, Steve Zahn, Luis Guzmán, Viola Davis, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson. The new Blu-ray, from a new 4K restoration, includes a host of bonus features including an audio commentary by Soderbergh and Frank; a making-of documentary with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew; deleted scenes; and two theatrical trailers.
Boomerang
(Rated R for language and sexuality. Available on June 28.)
Still a fan favorite 30 years after its original release, Boomerang makes its Blu-ray debut next week. Eddie Murphy plays hotshot advertising executive Marcus Graham (Murphy), an insatiable womanizer who may have finally met his match in new boss Jacqueline (Robin Givens).
The film, which co-stars Halle Berry, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, Chris Rock, John Witherspoon, Tisha Campbell and Melvin Van Peebles, was ahead of its time in playfully challenging stereotypes and the hit soundtrack topped the Billboard charts. The Blu-ray includes access to a digital copy of the film; audio commentary by director Reginald Hudlin; and extended/deleted scenes with commentary.
(Rated R for violence, bloody images, language and some drug use. Opens in theaters on June 24.)
After exploring the superhero genre with Doctor Strange, director Scott Derrickson returns to his horror roots (along with his longtime co-writer C. Robert Cargill) in this creepy flick based on a short story from Joe Hill. It centers on Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), a shy, smart 13-year-old kid who is abducted by a sadistic masked killer (Ethan Hawke).
Trapped in a soundproof basement, the resourceful Finney begins looking for a way to escape and gets some help when a broken telephone on the wall somehow starts to ring. He discovers the killer’s previous victims can communicate with him, and they want to make sure their deaths weren’t in vain.
Sinister, the previous collaboration from Derrickson, Cargill and Hawke, messed me up for days after I saw it, so I was nervous but excited to see what they had planned with their latest. Turns out The Black Phone is still frightening, but the tone isn’t nearly as nihilistic.
Instead, it’s a coming-of-age drama seamlessly blended with a supernatural revenge thriller. The combination turns out to be a total blast – my screening’s audience was all-in, complete with screams, gasps and cheers. I think The Black Phone could be a big summer hit if word of mouth does its job.
The story takes place in the late-1970s and, for the most part, Derrickson gets the era’s look right. There’s a lot of unsettling grainy footage combined with period appropriate production design that feels lived in, as opposed to something like Stranger Things, where modern actors just seem like they’re cosplaying.
Performances are great across the board. Thames is so fantastic in the lead role that it’s hard to believe he’s making his big screen debut. Madeline McGraw, as Finney’s psychically gifted sister Gwen, is equally compelling and their scenes together evoke an actual familial bond rather than actors pretending to be siblings.
But I’m guessing most people will be raving about Hawke’s work as the terrifying villain. Despite spending pretty much the entire movie behind a collection of horrific masks, he’s able to convey plenty of menace with his eyes and a maniacally unhinged voice. He hasn’t played many bad guys over the course of his nearly 40-year career, but he sure is great at it.
Grade: B+
(Rated R for violent content, language and sexual content. Now available on Netflix.)
In this sci-fi thriller, based on a short story by George Saunders, convicts in a futuristic prison volunteer as medical subjects on a beautiful island in exchange for a shortened sentence. The experiment’s leader (Chris Hemsworth, also an executive producer) seems friendly enough, but two prisoners (Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett) start to believe something nefarious is going on.
I’m a little late to director Joseph Kosinski’s latest, which hit Netflix last weekend while his Top Gun: Maverick is still raking in mountains of cash at the box office, but word of mouth got me curious. Critics and general audiences seem to either love or loathe Spiderhead, which is always intriguing to me – I respect movies that aim for something more than just “it was okay,” even when it doesn’t work.
After giving it a shot, I’m honestly not sure why the flick got such awful reviews. It’s fun sci-fi schlock, which is tough to pull off, and Hemsworth is delightfully unhinged as a maniacal “big pharma” bro. The soundtrack is full of classic yacht rock hits that reflect his character’s dual persona while also keeping with the ominous tone.
Teller, in his third collaboration with Kosinski (following firefighter drama Only the Brave and Maverick), is a little bland as the everyman protagonist, but his scenes with Hemsworth are appropriately unsettling and balanced out by his amiable chemistry with Smollett.
Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (also responsible for Deadpool and the brilliant, criminally underseen reality TV parody The Joe Schmo Show) manage to craft a clever story that’s entertaining and thought-provoking without going overboard with clunky social commentary. However, from the start it feels like the story is hurtling toward an inevitably tragic conclusion, but the sudden finale doesn’t match the tone of the previous 90 minutes. Part of me wonders if Netflix “suggested” a happier ending.
Regardless, Spiderhead gets enough things right to make it worth a watch. If nothing else, it’ll send you straight to Spotify or Apple Music to look for those killer tunes – they’ve been stuck in my head for days now.
Grade: B
Home Video Spotlight
(Rated R for language and some strong violence. Available on June 28.)
This outstanding crime thriller from Steven Soderbergh (based on the classic Elmore Leonard novel, with an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Scott Frank) still charms nearly 25 years later and remains some of the best work George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez have ever done. The two play a bank robber and a federal marshal who end up stuck together. Try to guess if sparks fly.
The flick boasts an incredible supporting cast, including Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina, Albert Brooks, Nancy Allen, Catherine Keener, Isaiah Washington, Steve Zahn, Luis Guzmán, Viola Davis, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson. The new Blu-ray, from a new 4K restoration, includes a host of bonus features including an audio commentary by Soderbergh and Frank; a making-of documentary with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew; deleted scenes; and two theatrical trailers.
Boomerang
(Rated R for language and sexuality. Available on June 28.)
Still a fan favorite 30 years after its original release, Boomerang makes its Blu-ray debut next week. Eddie Murphy plays hotshot advertising executive Marcus Graham (Murphy), an insatiable womanizer who may have finally met his match in new boss Jacqueline (Robin Givens).
The film, which co-stars Halle Berry, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, Chris Rock, John Witherspoon, Tisha Campbell and Melvin Van Peebles, was ahead of its time in playfully challenging stereotypes and the hit soundtrack topped the Billboard charts. The Blu-ray includes access to a digital copy of the film; audio commentary by director Reginald Hudlin; and extended/deleted scenes with commentary.
Reach out to Josh Sewell on Twitter @IAmJoshSewell
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