Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Crisp Criticism - "Rampage", "Isle of Dogs", "Truth or Dare", "Annihilation"

by
Julien Faddoul













Rampage

When three different animals become infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist team up to stop them from destroying Chicago.
Based on an arcade game and dopey as all hell: Bad CGI characters, corny jokes, a puerile plot (with villains who seem to be based on the Trump children) and a star who is deathly afraid that any audience member may not like him.

d – Brad Peyton
w – Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse, Ryan J. Condal, Adam Sztykiel
ph – Jason Presant
pd – Barry Chusid
m – Andrew Lockington
ed – Bob Ducsay, Jim May
cos – Melissa Bruning

p – Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia, Brad Peyton, John Rickard

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Joe Manganiello, Malin Ã…kerman, Jake Lacy, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, PJ Byrne, Breanne Hill, Matt Gerald














Isle of Dogs ***

In the future, an outbreak of canine flu leads the mayor of a Japanese city to banish all dogs to an island that’s a garbage dump. The outcasts embark on a journey when a 12-year-old boy arrives on the island to find his beloved pet.
Meticulous, lightening-fast, Kurosawa-affected stop-motion animated feature, the second such endeavour by its director, who here charmingly mixes his typical tropes of humorous exposition, deadpan line deliveries and the aching loneliness of his characters with a figuration on the escalation of modern day authoritarianism. It is beautifully animated and a delight to watch.

d – Wes Anderson
w – Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Kunichi Nomura
ph – Tristan Oliver
pd – Paul Harrod, Adam Stockhausen
m – Alexandre Desplat
ed – Andrew Weisblum

p – Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven M. Rales, Scott Rudin

Cast: Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Kunichi Nomura, Tilda Swinton, Akira Ito, Frances McDormand, Akira Takayama, Courtney B. Vance, F. Murray Abraham, Fisher Stevens, Yojiro Noda, Mari Natsuki, Harvey Keitel, Yoko Ono, Ken Watanabe, Anjelica Huston













Truth or Dare

A harmless game of “Truth or Dare” among friends turns deadly when someone—or something – begins to punish those who tell a lie or refuse the dare.
Generic and not at all scary Blumhouse horror film that is more interested in teen angst than anything else.

d – Jeff Wadlow
w – Jillian Jacobs, Michael Reisz, Christopher Roach, Jeff Wadlow
ph – Jacques Jouffret
pd – Melanie Jones
m – Matthew Margeson
ed – Sean Albertson
cos – Lisa Norcia

p – Jason Blum, Couper Samuelson

Cast: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Sophia Taylor Ali, Landon Liboiron, Nolan Gerard Funk, Sam Lerner, Gary Anthony Williams, Brady Smith, Hayden Szeto













Annihilation *

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don’t apply.
Languid, sedate and inevitably underwhelming sci-fi expedition. Like all of Garland’s works, visual and philosophical quasi-ideas remain just ideas and never gel prosperously into a justifiable two hours, no matter how much inspiration he takes from Tarkovsky.

wd – Alex Garland   (Based on the Novel by Jeff VanderMeer)
ph – Rob Hardy
pd – Mark Digby
m – Geoff Barrow, Ben Salisbury
ed – Barney Pilling
cos – Sammy Sheldon

p – Eli Bush, Andrew Macdonald, Scott Rudin, Allon Reisch

Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Oscar Isaac, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Benedict Wong, Sonoya Mizuno, David Gyasi, John Schwab, Sammy Hayman




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