Film Review: "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018).

"Where will you be, when it all ends?" Hopefully watching Avengers: Infinity War. This superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and produced by Marvel Studios. It is the sequel to 2012's The Avengers and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it is the nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

In October 2014, Marvel announced a two-part sequel to Avengers: Age of Ultron, titled Avengers: Infinity War. Part 1 was scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018, with Part 2 scheduled for May 3, 2019. In April 2015, Marvel announced that Anthony and Joe Russo would direct both films, with back-to-back filming expected to begin in 2016. The same month, Kevin Feige said the films would be two, distinct films "because they [have] such shared elements, it felt appropriate... to [subtitle the films] like that. But I wouldn’t call it one story that's cut in half. I would say it's going to be two distinct movies." In addition, according to Feige, the Avengers are expected to have a "shakeup" in their team lineup between Avengers: Infinity War and the untitled Avengers sequel. By May 2015, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely had signed on to write the screenplays for both parts of the film, which draws inspiration from Jim Starlin's 1991 The Infinity Gauntlet comic and Jonathan Hickman's 2013 Infinity comic. In a NY Times interview, when asked about how the script was written to accommodate the large cast, McFeely said, "Not every scene can be 25 people in a room. You're going to have to make kickball teams and then have a tournament." Anthony Russo added the film was inspired by 1990s heist films, with Thanos "on a smash-and-grab [to acquire the Infinity Stones], and everybody’s trying to catch up the whole movie." In May 2016, the Russos revealed that they would retitle the two films, to further remove the misconception that they were one large film split in two, with Joe Russo stating, "The intention is we will change [the titles], we just haven’t come up with [them] yet." That July, Marvel revealed the film's title would be shortened to simply Avengers: Infinity War. Between April 2016 to January 2017, many actors from previous MCU films were confirmed to be reprising their roles in the films.

In late January 2017, Principal photography began, under the working title Mary Lou, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia as well as Downtown Atlanta. Additional locations included Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cumbernauld and the Scottish Highlands in Scotland, Durham, England, Queens, New York, and Ifugao, Philippines. IMAX stated that this film, along with the sequel, was entirely filmed with digital 2-D ARRI Alexa IMAX cameras, which are specially customized versions of ARRI Alexa 65 cameras with IMAX technology. Captain America: Civil War (2016) was the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to incorporate the new cameras, but only for its airport sequence. This made Avengers: Infinity War the first non-documentary film to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras, although it did not use the traditional IMAX aspect ratio of 1.43:1 but rather the digital IMAX ratio of 1.90:1, which closely matches the 1.85:1 aspect ratio of The Avengers (2012) and Ant-Man (2015). In Early March 2018, Disney moved the release date to April 27 2018, releasing five days before the tenth anniversary of Iron Man (2008), to match the date in several international markets. In June 2016, Alan Silvestri, who composed the score for The Avengers, was revealed to be returning to score both Infinity War and its sequel. The visual effects for the film were created with the combined talents of Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Method Studios, Weta Digital, Double Negative, Cinesite, Digital Domain, Rise, Lola VFX, and Perception. With a running time of 156 minutes, this will make the film the longest Marvel film to date following Captain America: Civil War, which had a running time of 147 minutes. With an estimated budget between $300–400 million, the film would go on to become one of the most expensive films ever made.

The film features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Benicio del Toro, Chris Pratt, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, William Hurt, Winston Duke, Peter Dinklage, Terry Notary, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Carrie Coon, Michael James Shaw, and Josh Brolin. The cast gave spectacular performances that took their characters to whole other levels that we did not expect from the very first moment to the last.

Exuberant and eye-popping, Avengers: Infinity War serves as an overstuffed but mostly satisfying sequel. It succeeds in the top priority of creating a worthy opponent for its superheroes and giving the latter a few new things to do, and this time the action scenes and the stakes definitely measure up. It is a whole summer of fireworks packed into one movie. It doesn't just go to 11, it starts there. If this is what the apotheosis of branded, big-studio entertainment has come to look like in 2018, we could be doing much worse. Unlike other tentpole movies of its genre and scale, the film most definitely has emotional and gut-punching moments. The film redefines the scale we can expect from our superheroes.

Simon says Avengers: Infinity War receives:

Also, see my reviews for Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther.

Series Review: "Ash vs Evil Dead" (2015-18).

"Glory, Gory, Hallelujah!" This is Ash vs Evil Dead. This comedy horror television series developed by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, and Tom Spezialy, based on the characters by Sam Raimi, and produced by the Starz network. The series acts as a sequel to the original trilogy, although it doesn't directly address the events of the reboot. Ash is baaaack! The heroic, chainsaw-handed monster fighter Ash Williams, now an aging lothario who has successfully avoided responsibility, maturity and heinous villains for the past thirty years. Constantly peering over his shoulder, Ash somehow knew that the Evil Dead would return for him. That day arrives when Ash commits an act of carelessness, unleashing a Deadite plague that threatens to destroy mankind.

Sam Raimi originally intended to follow Army of Darkness (1992) with a fourth Evil Dead movie. The plan for which was to follow the theatrical and director's cut endings of the film, with a film that followed two different timelines simultaneously. However, Raimi wasn't able to get funding for the film, and the concept was eventually abandoned. So it was then conceptualised as a TV show instead. Writing for the medium presented new challenges for Sam as he had to make the series accessible to new viewers as well as create new characters to "bounce off of". At the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, during a surprise appearance, the project was first officially revealed by Raimi. In early November, Starz announced that they officially put an order in for the series. Campbell said the channel was the only network that would give them the ability to be unrated and unrestricted; Campbell has stated that Starz does not require the crew to create alternate, "wimpy" versions for television. By late April 2015, Bruce Campbell, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, Lucy Lawless, and Ted Raimi were cast, and Starz released a new graphic teaser advertising the TV show is coming in the fall of 2015, along with a new poster for the series. At the same time, principal photography commenced and took place in Auckland, New Zealand. Additionally, the producers made it clear that they wanted to resolve the legal issues with Universal Pictures, where the events from Army of Darkness could not specifically be mentioned in the first season. In mid-2016, producer Robert Tapert stated that the rights issue had been solved. In late October, Starz greenlit the second season three days before it premiered. In late April 2018, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after a three-season run, with the last episode airing on April 29, 2018. Following the news of the show's cancellation, fans of the series created petitions to renew the series for a fourth or fifth season.

The series stars Campbell, Santiago, DeLorenzo, Lawless, and Raimi. The mix between nostalgia and modern day is well balanced thanks to the great performances given by the cast led by Campbell.

Ash vs Evil Dead continues the Evil Dead series with a blend of irreverent humour and bloody violence, elevated by a cast of well-written characters.

Simon says Ash vs Evil Dead receives:

Also, see my reviews for Oz the Great and Powerful and Evil Dead.

'Once Upon a Time in Canada' Chapter 38.

Holy shit! The hunger is really coming for me! I don’t even know what to say. I’m pretty dumbfounded. And I’ve had a shitload of stuff to deal with the past week. Work can’t be any less energy consuming. If I’m not at work when it is my day off, all I do is catch up on rest, household chores, and blogging. I have to make sure that my blog is up-to-date as much as possible. Even if I’m tired. And when I don’t do so, you know I’m in trouble. Well, food, here I come! Well… not right away. I still have some things to do.

My trip to the supermarket was the first on the agenda, and was a quick chore compared to the other chores that were coming up. I managed to get whatever I needed to do out of the way in a short timeframe. Today, however, dinner wasn’t served at home. I was convinced to have dinner out with my Michael. If anytime he calls, almost all the time he wants me to come out of the apartment and hang out with him for the night. Call it The Ridiculous Adventures of Michael and Simon. But there's more to it than a reasonably priced meal at a restaurant that Michael suggests. Michael would often get me involved in one of his many crazy shenanigans. Between the times I left the apartment and the time we left off to another one of his shenanigans, we had dinner at Messini Authentic Gyros Restaurant on Danforth Avenue in Greek Town.

So we needed some big grub to survive for the night. Yup. It sure was. It did the trick, but it was a little bit pricier than our usual meals. But why spend less for less when you’re starving? An empty stomach needs fuel, especially after the past of week of working tirelessly with a job like mine for a place like CN Tower. Fortunately, the meal filled us up for the night, like I said. The items we chose were the combination meals, the Pork Gyros Pita for us to be specific. That gave us plenty of meat, vegetables, and pita. Doesn’t seem like much, but it wasn’t. In that time, we talked whilst we enjoyed our meals. All we ever talked about were typical conversational stuff that any men, as well as what we usually, would talk about. All the conversations we had would go on for hours, few hours minimum. Not just when we’re eating of course.

As stated, we were done with our meals and went out in search of something to do for the night, for the night was still young. Continuing the banter we were having is a given. We then had to catch the subway in order to reach our destination: Tilt Arcade Bar. We caught the Line 2 subway and the 511 bus. There was plenty of time for us to get there and have turns at the various games there for hours. However, Tilt was too full, so we had to change plans and find something new to do. Ever the improviser, Michael always knows what to do / where to go in case things don’t according to plan. Even though sometimes he can be indecisive. I even at times had to come up with ideas as to what would we do or where we could go.

Anyways, the new plan was to go to the SLC building at Ryerson. It’s the only place we could go to relax and talk about whatever we wanted. Plus, we could have nice seats to down on, and lots of space. Also, unlike other places, we could have a lot of peace and quiet. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet. I didn’t know why I was feeling so sleepy. Maybe I had too much to eat or work is just affecting me. Thus we split and went our separate ways towards home.

Also, see Chapters 37 and 39.

Film Review: "Submergence" (2017).

"Separated by fate. Bound by destiny." This is Submergence. This romantic thriller film directed by Wim Wenders, adapted by Erin Dignam, and based on the novel of the same name by J. M. Ledgard. Clinging to life in a cell in Africa, James is brutally interrogated by jihadis. Worlds away, Danielle prepares to descend into the Arctic Sea. Facing life-or-death ordeals, they must rely on their deep emotional connection.

By early April 2016, Alicia Vikander, and James McAvoy were cast in a film adaptation of Ledgard's novel of the same name penned by Dignam and Wenders set to direct. At the same time, principal photography commenced and took place in Berlin, Germany; Faroe Islands; Madrid and Toledo, Spain, as well as throughout France and Djibouti.

The film stars Vikander and McAvoy. James and Danielle's paths will cross repeatedly over the ensuing years, but this is not the story of an unlikely couple drawn together by tragedy. Rather, it is a multi-pronged exploration of the things we keep inside thanks to McAvoy and Vikander's performances. However, both Vikander and McAvoy can't enliven this muddled and lumbering melodrama. The passing years find the characters unmarked and undeveloped; incidents follow with little inner necessity and virtually no insight into both of their passions or processes.

The film takes place in two different parts of the world, here utterly boring and uninflected with anything beyond a few trying landscapes. Wenders is clearly phoning it in. Maybe he didn't even show up for work. It's a well-photographed story with an intriguing setup, but soon we're mired in a meandering, stilted story with forced dialogue and some surprisingly subpar performances from the talented cast. A small but taut drama in which the beautiful physical details jumping off the screen only serve to emphasize an ill-defined setting and major insufficiencies in the script and performances. More charitable viewers may struggle along with it, giving it the benefit of the doubt, expecting it to at least stick the landing. Despite assurances to the contrary, Wenders' film turns out to be a frustratingly distancing drama that fails to capitalize on its source material. You need a particular alchemy of mood and character to make so much nothing feel so urgent, an alchemy missing from the film. Wenders is trying to do new things within the confines of a pretty standard European art-film scenario, and the viewer can see he's not approaching the material as though it's rote. It's possible that the film is understated to a fault, that excavating its deeper meanings is deliberately impeded rather than enabled by its gently casual vibe. There are some lovely compositions both indoors and outdoors (including a use of split-screen), but the film still lacks the poetry or even fundamental interest of the film of his it most closely resembles, Paris, Texas. With backing from various producers and director of the gravitas of Wenders - not to mention a solid cast - you'd think the film would be more impressive than it turns out to be.

Simon says Submergence receives:

Film Review: "The Rider" (2017).

Todd MacCarthy, of The Hollywood Reporter, noted the film as "A rare gem. Cholé Zhao beautifully captures the way a handful of people stoically deal with the merger hands life has felt them." Which is exactly what The Rider is. This contemporary western drama film written, produced and directed by Zhao. Based on a true story, the film centres on a once rising star of the rodeo circuit who is warned that his competition days are over after a tragic riding accident. Back home, Brady finds himself wondering what he has to live for when he can no longer do what gives him a sense of purpose: to ride and compete. In an attempt to regain control of his fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity and tries to redefine his idea of what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.

Zhao first met Brady Jandreau during her research for her earlier film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015). She visited the ranch where Jandreau was working and he was teaching her how to ride a horse. She wanted to put him in one of her films, and when he had the accident that left him with life changing head injuries, she decided to base the script for her next film on his story.

The film stars Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lane Scott, and Cat Clifford. Under Zhao's direction, the nonprofessional cast excels in a wide range of emotions. Zhao and her cast have created an emotionally compelling neo-realist portrait of a once rising rodeo star experiencing the stress and pressure of post-rodeo life. Zhao, a first time filmmaker, patiently observes these conundrums rather than passing judgment, and her stellar cast of non-professional actors delivers a great ensemble performance.

Zhao's sophomore effort is a quiet, sensitive indigenous coming-of-age story set in a contemporary American western landscape.It's an earnest, smartly mounted film about life on a present-day man of the American heartland. The slow-paced film includes a lesser known social theme - damaged individuals in the American heartland. The restrained performances and luscious location photography are enough to make this a film worth exploring, though it might not be a bad idea to down a few caffeine-rich drinks before settling in to watch. Viewers will be torn between admiring its laid-back naturalism and wishing it possessed just a little more oomph. Because her laissez-faire approach makes little effort to fit the fragmentary scenes into a tidy portrait of Jandreau, the film feels more authentic than if she had chosen to impose a tighter structure. An outsider looking in voyeurism veering offensively close to being more about the filmmaker's fixation on her immigrant alienation - if not a blatant exotic poverty porn aesthetic - than the brutal internal isolation of her subjects absent of causality. Zhao's film is imperfect, but it's a heartfelt and gorgeous one with a very timely story at its core. The film shows the potential indie cinema still holds to offer an honest vision of America.

Simon says The Rider receives:

Also, see my review for Songs My Brothers Taught Me.

Film Review: "You Were Never Really Here" (2017).

"Bring the hammer." This is You Were Never Really Here. This psychological action thriller film adapted and directed by Lynne Ramsay, and based on the 2013 novella of the same name by Jonathan Ames. When a teenage girl goes missing, a jaded, brutal enforcer attempts a rescue mission. He uncovers corruption and abuse of power along his way.

In early May 2016, it was reported that Ramsay would write and direct an adaptation of Ames' novella with Joaquin Phoenix to star in the lead role. By August, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman, Judith Roberts, Alessandro Nivola, Frank Pando, and Dante Pereira-Olson rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and took place around New York City. In early May 2017, it was confirmed that composer Jonny Greenwood would score the film.

The film stars Phoenix, Samsonov, Doman, Roberts, Nivola, Pando, and Pereira-Olson. I may not have completely loved the film, but because of the tour de force performances given by the cast, especially from Phoenix, I certainly won't forget it. The moral and philosophical argument that the characters endure is what gives the story its power; and Phoenix does an excellent job portraying a man ambivalent to the bone about the world around him. Phoenix hoists the film from a possibly melodramatic mire to a crushing discussion on the impact of morals and the lack of them.

The film is a masterful blend of drama and horror, with fantastic performances across the board (Phoenix especially, delivering one of his very best). As a portrait of a deteriorating state of mind, the film is a masterful one. The film masquerades as a psychological and philosophical puzzle but is essentially a thriller film full of decorous sensationalism. The film is yet another installment in the pantheon of post-modern films intent upon assaulting the human desire to give meaning to the world. The film in fact needs to be talked about, as what it is attempting to do by marrying the darkest, most nihilistic components of contemporary cinema with a redemptive message is groundbreaking. Within the genre of action thriller, the film is a doozy. It speaks to the worst aspect of humanity imaginable: that evil lurks in every corner of the world. An acute and profound dissection of the genesis of a complex, seemingly harmful world with an alarming potential for complete corruption and evil. I recommend you prepare before you see it. It poses difficult questions, and perhaps has too easy answers. But it's a grueling and fascinating interview process. It may be one of those pesky films that is awful to watch but is worth watching all the same. Oh, dear. As a psychological study of a shattered man struggling to make sense of a heinous world around him, it's endlessly fascinating. We're not supposed to talk about a lot of the ugly feelings the film stirs up, but maybe we need to. It may not be a crowd-pleaser, but it's not every day we get an emotional powerhouse of a film done this well.

Simon says You Were Never Really Here receives:

Also, see my review for We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Film Review: "The Endless" (2017).

"Time is a prison" in The Endless. This science fiction cosmic horror film produced and directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, and written by Benson. Two brothers receive a cryptic video message inspiring them to revisit the UFO death cult they escaped a decade earlier. Hoping to find the closure that they couldn't find as young men, they're forced to reconsider the cult's beliefs when confronted with unexplainable phenomena surrounding the camp. As the members prepare for the coming of a mysterious event, the brothers race to unravel the seemingly impossible truth before their lives become permanently entangled with the cult.

The film stars Benson, Moorhead, Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington, Lew Temple, and James Jordan. The cast contributed a Pirandello-esque sort of paradoxical meta-horror whose folk are unwitting players in a film (or several), desperate to find a way safely to exit the stage and escape the gaze of an unseen, and obviously viewer-like, observer.

The film is a clever, twisted and very impressive slow-burner of a chiller. The film was absolutely suspenseful, with the finale being seriously unnerving. With its great cast, unique concept, and its sharply written script, Resolution is one of the very best films I’ve seen this year. Throughout, the film had a quietly mythic power, and took many big risks that paid off. There's a sense of unease that pervades almost every frame in the film, and a key part of it is not knowing what's lurking around the next bend. This is what horror movies are supposed to do, but it hardly ever really works in practice. It not only nails it, but it does so without leaning on any jump scares, stings in the score, or cheap gore as a crutch. There are long buildups, and then there's The Endless, a movie that's virtually all nothing-much-happening setup until a still-teasing titular event that occupies just a few final seconds. It delivers a dashingly intelligent commentary on the horror genre, the nature of cinema, and the relationship viewers have to on-screen victims. It is an inventive, character-based story that provides be the breath of fresh air the genre sorely needs. It is a strangely tense and humorous meta-narrative" that "manages to keep its eerier moments surprising and its emotional life arresting. Though the film has some significant flaws, it's important that films like it get made and that filmmakers like Moorehead and Benson continue to aim high and take chances. It is a notch above your average low-budget cosmic horror flick. It has the usual scares and head-scratching events. But, the story is what locked me in. As a meditation on cosmic horror, and even film itself, it might be in danger of coming across as pretentious, if it weren't so damned entertaining throughout. Ambiguity enlivens the smart, knotty film, which routinely nods to its own artificiality while positing storytelling as a constantly evolving beast apt to save your life one moment and consume you the next. A strangely tense and humorous meta-narrative about two friends experiencing weird goings-on at a camp.

Simon says The Endless receives: