Series Review: "Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer" (2019).

From the director of Silk Road: Drugs, Death and the Dark Web comes Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. This true crime docuseries written & directed by Mark Lewis. A twisted criminal's gruesome videos drive a group of amateur online sleuths to launch a risky manhunt that pulls them into a dark underworld.

Born on December 30, 1978, Jun Lin, also known as Justin Lin, came from Wuhan and had come to Canada in 2010 with the intention of starting a new life there and to study computer engineering. In 2012, he was registered as an undergraduate international student in the engineering and computer science faculty at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Born on July 24, 1982, Eric Clinton Kirk Newman, also known as Luka Rocco Magnotta, worked as an escort, and appeared in gay pornographic videos. He also worked as a stripper. He appeared as a pin-up model in a 2005 issue of Toronto's fab magazine, using the pseudonym Jimmy. In early August 2006, he legally changed his name from Newman to Magnotta. In March 2007, Magnotta declared bankruptcy, owing $17,000 in various debts. In December, the bankruptcy was fully discharged. Lin, who was gay, had been using Grindr and other web applications to meet with men. Lin had responded to Magnotta's Craigslist ad proposing sex and bondage. On May 24, 2012, Lin was last seen. His boss became suspicious when he did not show up for his shift the next day. On May 27, three of his friends went into his apartment on May 27. He was reported missing to police on May 29. The last images showing Jun Lin alive were taken by a surveillance camera on the night of May 24, 2012: they showed Lin and Magnotta entering the apartment building where Magnotta lived. On May 25, 2012, an eleven-minute video titled 1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick was uploaded to Bestgore.com, depicting a naked male tied to a bed frame being repeatedly stabbed with what appeared to be an ice pick (later revealed to be a screwdriver) and with a kitchen knife, then dismembered, followed by acts of necrophilia. After the video was posted online, Magnotta fled Canada, becoming the subject of an Interpol Red Notice and prompting an international manhunt. In June 2012, he was arrested in an internet café in Berlin. In December 2014, after eight days of deliberations, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder. Magnotta was given a mandatory life sentence and nineteen years for other charges, to be served concurrently.

No matter what you think of Magnotta and what he did, this series is highly watchable. Most of the time while watching I found myself either shaking my head or sitting there with my mouth agape. By making the conflict between the internet sleuths and Magnotta the central drive of the series, the docu series succeeds mainly in showcasing just how terrible Magnotta was and how determined the sleuths could be.

Simon says Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer receives:

Series Review: "Watchmen" (2019).

"Nothing Ever Ends..." in Watchmen. This dystopian superhero drama limited series written and created by Damon Lindelof and based on the 1986 DC Comics series of the same title created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, the series embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name while attempting to break new ground of its own.

In October 2015, rumors of a potential Watchmen television series adaptation first surfaced with HBO in preliminary discussions with Zack Snyder. In November, HBO confirmed that they were seeking to develop a Watchmen series. This would be the second attempt at a Watchmen TV series. Terry Gilliam attempted an adaptation in the early 90s but could only conceive the story being so epic that the time it would take could only be accomplished on television rather than film. Gilliam's vision went into pre-production with HBO and cast Robin Williams as Rorschach, Jamie Lee Curtis as Silk Spectre, Gary Busey as The Comedian, & Kevin Costner as Nite Owl. The project ultimately dissolved after HBO failed to provide a large enough budget for Gilliam's vision. Gilliam himself later claimed afterwards that an adaptation would've been "unfilmable" anyway. By June 2017, HBO had begun negotiations with Lindelof, as Snyder was no longer involved with the production. According to Lindelof, he had been long interested in making a Watchmen work since he read the comic as a teenager, and had been approached to write it at least twice before, but rejected the offers as they came out shortly following Snyder's film and felt he could not improve on that. In the interim, he developed the HBO series The Leftovers. The series was met with high acclaim, and led to yet another offer to write a Watchmen series, which Lindelof then accepted. In late September, HBO officially greenly the production and Lindelof began writing the pilot. Lindelof stated that his vision for the series was to be a "remix" of the comic series. While the show is a sequel to the comic, he wanted to make a story of his own that felt part of that universe without creating a reboot, and made sure that this was apparent from the first episode. In late May, he affirmed this idea in an open letter to fans. One of the first challenges for Lindelof was determining what the focus of the narrative would be. He considered that at the time the original Watchmen comic was released, it reflected on the public anxiety over the ongoing Cold War. In looking for a similar anxiety for contemporary times, Lindelof determined that racial tensions posed the same type of larger picture that would work well for the Watchmen universe, since it presented both historical and present conflicts. The show's credits identify the work as based on characters co-created by Gibbons, who along with Moore created the Watchmen comic. Due to multiple disputes with DC Comics and the producers of previous films, Moore has asked for his name to be no longer associated with any film production of his works from that period, including for the Watchmen film. Lindelof had tried to reach out to Moore to get his blessing for the show but was rebuffed. Gibbons however was an active contributor to the show, providing illustrations in the same style as the original comic series. In late January 2018, Nicole Kassell was announced as the director and executive producer. By late June, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Louis Gossett Jr., Jeremy Irons, Jean Smart, Hong Chau, James Wolk, Jessica Camacho, Dustin Ingram, Jim Beaver, and Glenn Fleshler were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in early June for the pilot. Filming took place in Atlanta, Georgia. In late August, HBO greenlit a full season, scheduling the premiere in 2019. Due to the time between filming the pilot and the remaining episodes, a new production crew had been brought on board, and Kassell remained the director for the second episode to provide necessary continuity. In early September, it was announced that the series was set for an October 20, 2019 premiere date. In late September, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were announced as the series' composers.

The series features an ensemble cast that includes King, Johnson, Nelson, Abdul-Mateen II, Gossett Jr., Irons, Smart, Chau, Wolk, Camacho, Ingram, Beaver, and Fleshler. The series has pretty grim stuff - but quite engrossing and worth your time, thanks to intense performances given by the stellar cast.

Yes, the series is baffling. There is a beauty about it too, though. Plus promise - that if you put the effort in you will be rewarded, with a drama that is more about people after a catastrophic event, than the event. The series depicts with uncomfortable authenticity the psychological toll it would take on a society to have demonstrable evidence that they've been left behind. The series puts a sobering spin on the popular comic-book genre, eschewing action to explore the remnants of a shattered society riddled with pain. The series look to be intense, unpredictable and occasionally brilliant, but they'll almost always leave you feeling heavy. Lindelof is adept at opening a show with a humdinger of a hook, and while parts of the series unfold slowly, it's hard not to take the bait and come back for more. Lindelof has successfully cast aside the whiz-bang nerd totems of his previous work and managed to tap into something deeper and more human - which is precisely what makes the series so unnerving. The series conveys nicely the difficulty of maintaining order, physical or psychological, in the wake of inexplicable mass trauma. Many will hate it. But there will be viewers in whom it strikes a chord so deeply that they will feel themselves overwhelmed by it in the best possible way: not like they're drowning in the misery, but like it's teaching them a new way to breathe.

Simon says Watchmen receives:

Also, see my review for The Leftovers.

Film Review: "6 Underground" (2019).

"They Say No One Can Save The World. Meet No One" in 6 Underground. This action thriller film directed by Michael Bay, and written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. Meet a new kind of action hero. Six untraceable agents, totally off the grid. They've buried their pasts so they can change the future.

In early March 2018, it was reported that Bay would direct an action thriller script penned by Wernick and Reese, which was to be produced by Skydance Media's David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger. In May 2018, it was reported that Netflix would distribute the film, for what they intend to be a new action franchise with Ryan Reynolds starring in the lead role. By late July, Mélanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Corey Hawkins, Ben Hardy, Dave Franco, Lior Raz, Peyman Maadi, and Yuri Kolokolnikov rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, with a budget of $150 million, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in early December. Filming took place in Los Angeles, as well as throughout Italy and United Arab Emirates.

The film stars Reynolds, Laurent, Garcia-Rulfo, Arjona, Hawkins, Hardy, Franco, Raz, Maadi, and Kolokolnikov. The cast, and Bay, shows how the film's bad-ass heroes become rogue fighters. But takes an age to do so, and does it without an ounce of intelligence.

Let down by a disappointing script, dodgy dialogue, poor CGI effects, panicky editing and a subplot that's both morally reprehensible and entirely out of place, Bay's movie is loud and vulgar and disorienting, and not at all an exhilarating kind of fun. The film is a cocktail of convoluted scheming, smirking one-liners, and unabashed Bayhem is unsurprisingly well-suited to its demands. But it's still s**t. Surely we've moved on? Had the action sequences been better framed and presented, this might have been one of the summer's mindless high points. As it is, it's a passable diversion. For those of us who like action, we can talk sensibly. Is the film a dumb film? Yes. How dumb is it? It's incredibly dumb-nay, exuberantly dumb. And who was it who said, "exuberance is beauty?" The film combines over-the-top action scenes with lifeless jokes and the disappointing result is an uninspired action comedy. It may well annoy a few of you as much as it occasionally did me, and it will definitely not elicit a good laughs. I don't hate action thrillers, but as well-intentioned as this film might be, it never gels for me. It's so awash in constant action that it takes all the fun of the characters right out of it. The set pieces are a confused mess and the character chemistry too weak to hold together the sloppy script despite good casting. Even committed action fans may acknowledge the editing is so frenetic that it's often impossible to know what is going on - or why. It's all shot and edited in a cut-to-ribbons, unsatisfying, no-stakes CGI way. Go and rent the far superior and similarly themed The Losers (2010) instead.

Simon says 6 Underground receives:

Also, see my review for Transformers: The Last Knight.

Film Review: "The Good Liar" (2019).

"Read between the lies" in The Good Liar. This crime thriller film directed and produced by Bill Condon, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, and based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle. The film centres on career con artist Roy Courtnay, who can hardly believe his luck when he meets well-to-do widow Betty McLeish online. As Betty opens her home and life to him, Roy is surprised to find himself caring about her, turning what should be a cut-and-dry swindle into the most treacherous tightrope walk of his life.

In March 2018, it was announced that a film adaptation of Searle's novel was to be directed by Condon with Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren to star. By April, Russell Tovey, Jim Carter, Mark Lewis Jones, Laurie Davidson, Phil Dunster, Lucian Msamati, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Tunji Kasim, Stella Stocker, Daniel Betts, and Céline Buckens rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and took place throughout England, as well as Berlin, Germany.

The film stars McKellen, Mirren, Tovey, Carter, Jones, Davidson, Dunster, Msamati, Jóhannesson, Kasim, Stocker, Betts, and Buckens. The film serves as a creaking "star vehicle" for two stars who should have known better, and maybe had a little chemistry. Both McKellen and Mirren are at once an obvious choice for the parts and a hard sell to audiences soothed by their ageing star power after their string of less-than-stellar efforts after decades of reliability and class.

The two leads and their star power are undeniably appealing, but they can't make up for The Good Liar's slow, muddled plot, or the lack of chemistry between McKellen and Mirren. The film displays austere cinematography and Condon's waning skill at working with actors, especially with McKellen. The tone is lightly comic, the dialogue flirty and amusing but the performances are unengaged. There's no floor of reality, as there always was in a Hitchcock film, even his light confections. It is a tense, troubling thriller, marred only by problems of pacing and some implausible characterisation, it's full of vivid, miserable life. The film begins as an ingenious exposition of the great truth about charming people having something to hide: namely, their utter disturbing past. It ends up as a dismayingly unthrilling thriller and bafflingly unconvincing character study. The film's dreadful dialogue and plot-holes do not help. It is nothing more than a silly inane story lacking strong characters and ay sense of adventure. Despite the star power, the film lacks fireworks. It proves to be a case of big star power with low wattage. With bland visuals, cookie-cutter characters, and cliched Hitchcockian plot twists, the film offers an unpleasantly pungent treat for fans of the genre. In the end, the film was a bland, badly directed, star-driven cinematic molestation of Searle's tight-as-a-drum novel. This should have been a potent combination, but it turns out to be a fizzer. What's to enjoy about this one from the director and star that brought you Gods and Monsters?

Simon says The Good Liar receives:

Also, see my review for Mr. Holmes.

Film Review: "The Addams Family" (2019).

"Think your family is weird? Think again" for The Addams Family. This 3D CGI-animated supernatural fiction fantasy black comedy horror film directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, written by Matt Lieberman and Pamela Pettler, and based on the characters created by Charles Addams. Members of the mysterious and spooky Addams family - Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Wednesday, Uncle Fester and Grandma - are readily preparing for a visit from their even creepier relatives. But trouble soon arises when shady TV personality Margaux Needler realizes that the Addams' eerie hilltop mansion is standing in the way of her dream to sell all the houses in the neighborhood.

In 2010, Illumination Entertainment acquired the rights to The Addams Family comics and announced an animated film with Tim Burton attached as director. The film was planned to be entirely stop-motion animated with the characters based on Addams' original drawings. However, in July 2013, the film was cancelled. Eventually, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures brought the rights and announced that they would produce an animated film, with Pettler hired to pen the script. In October 2017, it was announced that the film would be produced and directed by Vernon, and Lieberman rewrote Pettler's script. In December, it was reported that Oscar Isaac was in talks to voice the role of Gomez Addams in the film. For many years fans have lobbied for Isaac to take the role of Gomez, and prior to this film, when he was asked about the idea, Isaac expressed interest. In June 2018, Isaac was officially cast, alongside Charlize Theron, Allison Janney, Bette Midler, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard and Nick Kroll. By August 2019, Aimee Garcia, Elsie Fisher, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Snoop Dogg, Pom Klementieff, Tituss Burgess, and Jenifer Lewis rounded out the film's cast.

The film features the voice of Isaac, Theron, Grace Moretz, Wolfhard, Kroll, Dogg, Midler, Janney, O'Hara, Short, Fisher, Klementieff, Dogg, Garcia, Burgess, and Lewis. The performances given by the cast were both creepy and predictable, mysterious and rather tame. The performances was an extended collection of one-liners and not much more. However, the film displays the bizarre rhythms of the cast, and moves us from gag to gag with a stately slowness that keeps a fundamentally slapstick-driven film from ever feeling too busy or rushed.

The Addams Family is peppered with amusing sight gags and one-liners, but the disjointed script doesn't cohere into a successful whole. However, the film captures the family's droll humor with just the right mixture of morbidity and genuine care. At times this can all become a little silly but Vernon and Tiernan manages to rein the film in before things get too ridiculous. Vernon and Tiernan infused the film with a gleefully broad visual sensibility that remains a highlight from start to finish. Ultimately, despite inspired casting and nifty visual trappings, the eagerly awaited animated effort may be a major disappointment. The film's aimlessness and repetitiveness eventually become draining. A late Halloween treat giftwrapped for Christmas, the film does not live up to its packaging.

Simon says The Addams Family receives:

Also, see my review for Sausage Party.

Film Review: "Marriage Story" (2019).

From Netflix and the director of The Squid and the Whale and Frances Ha comes Marriage Story. This comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. The film is an incisive and compassionate look at a marriage breaking up and a family staying together.

In 2016, during post-production of The Meyerowitz Stories, Baumbach first conceived the idea of the film based on his divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, as well as his parents' divorce. He began to research the subject, and met with three-time collaborator Adam Driver to discuss the role. Speaking of writing the film, Baumbach said: "I have a real connection to the material ... [but] I was also at a time in my life where many of my friends were getting divorced. I saw it as an opportunity to do something more expansive, so I did a lot of research. I interviewed a lot of my friends, and friends of friends, and then also lawyers, judges, mediators." Following the release of the film, Baumbach said, "I showed [Leigh] the script and then I showed her the movie a little bit ago. She likes it a lot." In November 2017, it was announced Driver and Scarlett Johansson set to star. In addition, Netflix would produce and distribute the film. Driver and Johansson were cast before the script was complete. Hence, throughout the script writing process, the cast collaborated with Baumbach on certain character aspects. By mid January 2018, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever, Mark O'Brien, and Wallace Shawn rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and lasted forty-seven days. Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, California, and New York City. Persona (1966) served as a visual influence for the film. The film was the first Netflix film to be granted the longest theatrical release of thirty days. Netflix reopened the previously closed Paris Theatre in New York to exclusively play the film.

It's the movie's pitch-perfect performances, especially from Johansson and Driver, that provide a rock-solid foundation for its tale of crumbling relationships. Don't look now, but Johansson and Driver's days as Black Widow and Kylo Ren may be coming to an end.

Marriage Story is a piercingly honest, acidly witty look at divorce and its impact on a family. It's a rare film that can be convincingly tender, bitterly funny, and ruthlessly cutting over the course of fewer than a hundred and thirty-six minutes. The film not only manages this, it also contains moments that sock you with all three qualities at the same time.The film is domestic tragedy recollected as comedy: a film whose catalog of deceits and embarrassments, and of love pratfalling over itself, makes it as painful as it is funny. A wry exercise in acute observation and emotional distancing, Baumbach's film represents what's best in autobiographical filmmaking. Baumbach has created an unforgettable film about horrifyingly human people.

Simon says Marriage Story receives:

Also, see my review for Frances Ha.

Film Review: "The Command" ("Kursk") (2018).

"Based on the true story of the K-141 Kursk Submarine Disaster." This is The Command (Kursk). This war drama directed by Thomas Vinterberg, written by Robert Rodat and based on the book A Time to Die by Robert Moore. A small group of sailors survive a devastating explosion aboard the Russian submarine Kursk. The dying sailors wait for government help, unaware of the political thunderstorm raging on land.

In mid August 2015, it was announced that EuropaCorp was developing a film about the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster based on Moore's book, penned by Rodat and with Martin Zandvliet hired to direct. However, in late January 2016, it was reported that Zandvliet was no longer attached and that EuropaCorp had hired Vinterberg to direct the film. In mid March 2017, it was reported that the character of Vladimir Putin had been cut from the film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, EuropaCorp's president, Luc Besson, wanted to shift the story's focus to the rescue mission rather than the politics behind the disaster. Putin had been Russian president for eight months when the tragedy had occurred. He was supposed to appear as a supporting character in at least five scenes and was sympathetically portrayed in the original Kursk script, which highlighted why he had taken the tragedy personally as Putin's father had been a submariner. By late April, Matthias Schoenaerts, Léa Seydoux, Colin Firth, Martin Brambach, August Diehl, Peter Simonischek, Max von Sydow, Bjarne Henriksen, Matthias Schweighöfer, Lars Brygmann and Michael Nyqvist were cast. However, Nyqvist died on 27 June 2017, making this one of this last roles. Despite completing all of his scenes, they were ultimately deleted. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late July. Filming took place in Binche, Brussels, Deinze, Flanders, Belgium; Finistère, France and Hunedoara, Romania. The film was originally scheduled to start in September 2016, but it had to be postponed due to Russia's defense ministry not issuing a permit for shooting in the country, which would run for about a month. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Russia's defense ministry originally promised cooperation with the crew to provide realism to the movie. However, later it reportedly grew concerned about granting access to classified information and sensitive locations.

The film stars Schoenaerts, Seydoux, Firth, Brambach, Diehl, Simonischek, von Sydow, Henriksen, Schweighöfer and Brygmann. Despite strong performances from the cast, their performances are sabotaged by the film's unnecessary political gibes and a schmaltzy tacked-on ending.

The film makes an audience care about Communists trapped between a rock and a hard place deep beneath the sea. The film is solidly paced and well acted but lacks the emotional connection that might have made it a classic. The film takes its place among a small group of undersea motion pictures. Unfortunately, it takes its place at the end of the line. What could have been a movie packed with historical significance and nail-gnawing underwater tension ends up little more than a lumbering public-service announcement for the human spirit.

Simon says The Command (Kursk) receives:

Also, see my review for The Hunt (Jagten).