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Posts Tagged ‘Nicholas Hoult’

SHORT TAKES: “Superman,” “Swiped”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“SUPERMAN” *My rating: C+ (HBO Max)

129 minutes | MPAA: PG-13

Well, it’s an improvement over the dour Zack Snyder’Henry Cavill adaptations, but James Gunn’s “Superman” mostly made me appreciate the insanely clever balancing act of the first Christopher Reeve “Superman” (1978).

No origin story here. It begins with Clark Kent (David Corenswet) already co-habiting with fellow reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), who is well aware of his  powers. Evil mastermind Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult, strangely uncompelling) wants to bring down our hero.

Superman’s alien origins are at the heart of the yarn.  Our man comes to believe (mistakenly, it turns out), that he was sent to Earth not to serve its people but to rule them.  This leads to a crisis of conscience.  Meanwhile Luthor picks up that idea and runs with it to justify his persecution of the Man of Steel.

Corenswet makes for a likable if not particularly dynamic Superman.  But he’s got no chemistry with Brosnahan.  Far more engaging is Superman’s apparently untrainable dog Krypto, a computer-animated mutt who combines puppy-like misbehavior with insane strength and speed.

Gunn’s “Superman” has been accused of woke-ness, apparently because it presents its hero as an illegal immigrant and because a subplot — about one country’s invasion of its impoverished neighbor — strikes some viewers as a commentary on the war in Gaza. Maybe. Maybe not.

“Superman” isn’t bad. Nor is it particularly good.

Lily James

“SWIPED” My rating: B (Hu;u)

110 minutes | No MPAA rating

Save your Coke bottles, ladies.  Men are shit.

That’s the unstated but inescapable message percolating through “Swiped,” a tale of female empowerment (and frustration) based on the career of Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was instrumental in creating the dating app Tinder.

Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s film (she co-wrote with Bill Parker and Kim Caramele) follows Herd (Lily James) as she navigates the treacherous waters of the social media industry in the 2000 teens.

Geeks will appreciate the tech history laid out here, but the film’s real concern is the hellish mistreatment Herd was subjected to.  If you thought the computer  world was enlightened and egalitarian compared to old school business…well, no.  Her male co-workers take credit for her innovative ideas.  And when she dares complain, she finds herself the object of corporate slut shaming.

On the personal side, the co-worker she falls in love with turns out, after a period of charming behavior, to be a sexist sleaze ball.  Herd  goes solo to develop her own app, using funds provided by a Russian tech magnate (Dan Stevens) who seems too good to be true. He is; the dude’s got Epstein-level baggage.

Ultimately Herd found true love (with someone well outside her business circles) and founded the wildly successful female-oriented dating app Bumble. She is now rich and powerful.

“Swiped” is inspirational, sure.  It’s also unsettlingly cautionary. 

| Robert W. Butler

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“NOSFERATU”: In the blood

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Lily-Rose Depp

“NOSFERATU” My rating: B(In theaters)

133 minutes | MPAA rating: R

Vampire movies are so ubiquitous that we’ve become inured to them. 

When was the last time a film about a bloodsucker actually scared you? 

 (For me it was seeing Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula” when I was 11. It happened again when I first viewed F.W. Murnau’s silent “Nosferatu” in my early 20s.  Since then it’s been mostly downhill.)

So how should we approach the new “Nosferatu” brought to us by writer/director Robert Eggers (“The Witch,” “The Lighthouse,” “The Northman”)?

It’s the third “Nosferatu,” after the 1922 silent German Expressionist classic and Werner Herzog’s  1979 remake. Though an obvious ripoff of Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel (Murnau renamed the characters in a vain attempt to avoid being sued for copyright infringement), “Nosferatu” introduced some interesting visual ideas which were picked up by Herzog and are now reamplified by Eggers.

Indeed, this “Nosferatu” works far better visually than it does dramatically.  

Much of the dialogue (the screenplay is by Eggers) has a flowery late Victorian melodramatic feel that borders on the laughable.  And the characters aren’t particularly compelling.

But the look of the piece is simply fantastic.  Eggars and cinematographer Karin Blaschke slide effortlessly between blue-tinged black and white and a pastel pallette not unlike an old-fashioned hand-colored postcard.

There are a couple of extended tracking shots that are mind boggling.

And Craig Lathrop’s production design — especially the fantastically rugged Carpathian mountains and forests and the vampire’s crumbling castle — is little short of spectacular.

Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson

The plot closely follows the original.  Estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is sent to Romania on business, leaving behind his recent bride Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp…yes, Johnny’s daughter), who has long been plagued by “melancholia” and horrific dreams.

Thomas eventually finds himself in the weird castle of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard), who is…well, you know. He barely survives the encounter, then sets off in pursuit of Orlok, who is headed to Germany, drawn by an almost spiritual bond with the terrified/visionary Ellen.

Meanwhile Ellen’s mania is  throwing into turmoil the household of friends Friedrich and Anna (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corbin). Their family physician (Ralph Ineson) suggests bringing in his old professor (Willem Dafoe) who has been thrown out of the university for his occult obsessions. This eccentric suspects that evil is on its way.

Well, duh.

In terms of plotting, then, this is standard-issue stuff.  But Eggers and company toss in some nifty variations.

For instance, there’s the look of Orlok.  The filmmakers have rigorously avoided letting any image of Skarsgard in costume reach the Internet…although they’ve posted some early makeup designs that were abandoned.

The Orkok of Murnau and Herzog was almost rat-like.  But this Orlok feels more, well,  human.  His bald head shows some patches of decay, and his face is dominated by a hooked nose and a droopy mustache.  Skarsgard delivers his lines in a sort of growl.

What’s surprising is the aura of inevitability as the vampire makes his way to his rendezvous with Ellen. The Count may be a monster, but he’s a surprisingly romantic monster, driven by forces even he cannot understand.

Depp’s performance is dominated by wide-eyed dread.  But she has a couple of scenes of demonic possession that are “Exorcist”-level freaky.  

And I haven’t even mentioned Simon McBurney as Knock, Thomas’ boss and this version’s equivalent of Renfield.  It’s a kick-out-the-jams performance  highlighted by the character’s devouring of a live pigeon.

There’s some grotesque blood-letting and brief nudity, and viewers with a rodent phobia are warned that there’s a supporting cast of several thousand rats.

At its best this “Nosferatu” suggests more than it shows. Particularly effective are scenes in which the Count appears only as a shadow. 

Now that’s creepy.

| Robert W. Butler

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“THE ORDER”: Too relevant for comfort

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 6, 2024| 1 Comment »

Jude Law

“THE ORDER” My rating: B (In theaters)

114 minutes | MPAA rating: R

The torn-from-the-headlines crime drama “The Order” offers the spectacle of two Englishmen — Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult — portraying distinctively American characters with smoldering intensity.

They’re terrific.  

Perhaps even more salient is the way that Aussie director Justin Kurzel’s film, though set almost 40 years in the past, resonates ominously with our current zeitgeist.

When we first encounter Law as FBI agent Terry Husk, he’s almost unrecognizable.  Law has for so long been a sex symbol that seeing him slightly overweight, with a droopy mustache, puffy features and a slightly disheveled look, our brains can hardly take in the transformation. (He did much the same thing earlier this year by beefing up to play King Henry VIII in “Firebrand.”)

After a long career fighting organized crime, Terry has been assigned to reopen the bureau’s dormant Idaho office (the setting is the early 1980s).  It’s a low-keyed assignment, presumably to reward him for years of high-intensity, dangerous work.  His main concern is finding a house for his wife and kids (whom we never see).

Uh…no.  A missing person report turns into a murder case; the victim is a white supremacist whose loose lips apparently teed off his swastika-lovin’ buddies.  And before long Terry is neck deep in an investigation of a growing terrorist threat.

Nicholas Hoult

Hoult plays Bob Matthews, a charismatic/conniving hater who, frustrated that the Aryan Nation leaders are too slow to begin a race war, has created his own spin-off sect, “The Order.”

(Has any other actor in recent years played such a wide variety of roles?  Hoult has been a war boy in “Mad Max: Fury Road,” a hilariously entitled Russian tsar in “The Great,” a mutant in the Marvel Universe.  He’s played author J.R.R. Tolkien, and appeared in “The Favourite” for director Yorgos Lanthimos.)

Matthews has recruited a small army of similarly-inclined social outcasts and begun a campaign of bank and armored car robberies and bombings. They’re printing counterfeit money.  

He also orders the assassination of Denver radio talk-show host Alan Berg (Marc Maron), who routinely ridicules the separatist/supremacist mindset.

Hoult is so good you can see why malcontents are drawn to him.  But he also deftly explores the character’s growing sense of personal power and the contradictions between the Christian faith he extolls and his clearly unChristian proclivities.

Screenwriters Zach Baylin, Gary Gerhardt and Kevin Flynn stick remarkably close to the historic facts, which provide several opportunities for well-staged action sequences.

Terry is aided in his investigation by a fellow agent (Jurnee Smollett) and a local cop (Ty Sheridan) whose roots in the community prove invaluable in unravelling the mystery.

Hanging over it all is a pall of nervous anticipation that renders even the beautiful Northwestern landscapes somehow threatening and sinister. The hate speech, the waving of The Turner Diaries, the determination to punish “race traitors” — it’s all a bit too familiar for comfort.

Looking around our country today, one concludes that Bob Matthews would be pleased.

| Robert W. Butler

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“THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD”: Survival

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on May 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Angelina Jolie, Finn Little

THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD” My rating: B- (HBO Max)

80 minutes | MPAA rating: R

Insubstantial but nevertheless satisfying, Taylor Sheridan’s “Those Who Wish Me Dead” reacquaints us with Angelina Jolie in action heroine mode.

At age 45 Jolie has more gravitas than in her Lara Croft/”Salt”/”Mr. and Mrs. Smith” heyday. So while she might not retain all the physicality of those earlier incarnations, she compensates for it with an inner strength that transcends the overworked action tropes.

Here she plays Hannah, a professional firefighter working Montana’s deep woods. Drinking and carousing with her rugged peeps she’s the good ol’ tough gal. Inside, though, she’s struggling with the emotional fallout of a fatal conflagration…the ghastly incident hinged on an unpredictable change in wind direction, but Hannah blames herself.

Which is why for the current fire season she’s been assigned to a lookout tower situated on such a remote ridge that it can only be reached on foot. (I dunno…maybe they used helicopters to bring in all those girders.) This assignment is meant to keep her safe — physically and mentally — until she can return to normal duty.

Be assured that the screenplay (by Sheridan, Michael Koryta and Charles Leavitt) doesn’t allow her much rest.

Across the country in Florida, a forensic accountant (Jake Weber) realizes that his poking around in a vast government conspiracy has put his life — and that of his young son Connor (Finn Little) — in jeopardy. A couple of shadowy black op types (Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult) are eliminating prosecutors — and their families — pursuing a massive corruption case.

Now they’re after the numbers cruncher.

The chase leads them to Big Sky Country, where the father and son once vacationed at a survival camp run by a local lawman (Jon Berthal) and his wife (Medina Senghore). Their plan is to disappear into the wilds with the help of these knowledgable backwoodsmen.

(more…)

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“REBEL IN THE RYE”: Reclusive genius

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Nicholas Hoult as author J.D. Salinger

“REBEL IN THE RYE” My rating: B- 

106 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

“Rebel in the Rye,” the new biopic about reclusive author J.D. Salinger, isn’t bad.

Nor is it particularly inspired.

As an overview of Salinger’s early life, his years of frustration and his emergence as a major American voice with Catcher in the Rye, it lays out the facts competently. Director Danny Strong, making his feature debut after a stint with TV’s “Empire,” puts on a decent show with a limited budget.

And former Brit child actor (“About a Boy”) Nicholas Hoult demonstrates  acting chops that could carry him into more leading man roles.

Strong’s screenplay begins with the PTSD-suffering author in a mental institution in the late 1940s, then flashes back a decade to his college years.

At Columbia Jerry Salinger falls under the influence of writing professor Whit Burnett (Kevin Spacey), who sees terrific potential in his student despite the kid’s self-indulgence and an unwillingness to take suggestions from anyone. At the same time  Jerry launches a romance with Oona O’Neill (Zoey Deutch), estranged daughter of acclaimed playwright Eugene O’Neill (and future wife of Charlie Chaplin).

(more…)

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“EQUALS”: Feelings

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on July 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »

eqmaxresdefault“EQUALS” My rating: B-

101 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

The dystopian future depicted in Drake Doremus’ “Equals” is on one level pretty attractive.

The people are mostly young, well fed and moderately good looking. Everyone wears white clothing and works and lives in uber-modern buildings of glass, plastic and concrete. There appears to be no crime.

Also, no joy. This civilization — formed after a war that left most of the Earth a smoking ruin — views emotion as a sickness or perhaps a crime. Citizens are bombarded with public service announcements alerting them to the symptoms of SOS — “switched-on syndrome” — in which they will begin to be overcome by emotions.

It’s like a being told you have AIDS…as the disease progresses the sufferers will become ever more unstable. Eventually they will be institutionalized and destroyed. Many choose suicide.

Early in “Equals” Silas (Nicholas Hoult) is diagnosed with an early stage of the disease. His coworkers are understanding but cautious…he won’t be required to wear a face mask, but his work station will be set apart from theirs.

He senses that a co-worker, Nia (Kristen Stewart), may also have SOS. Slowly they are drawn to commit the ultimate sin: A love affair.

(more…)

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“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD”: Let my people go

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on May 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

mad max fury road“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD” My rating: B

120 minutes | MPAA rating: R

There is dialogue in the new Mad Max film — mostly delivered in a nearly indecipherable variety of Aussie English — but it really isn’t necessary.

You could eliminate all the words or replace them with made-up gibberish and this still would be the same movie, still a symphony of speed and violence, still a textbook example of visual storytelling.

It’s been 30 years since director George Miller wrapped up his Mad Max trilogy and moved on to projects like the family-friendly “Babe” and “Happy Feet.”  But he remains fascinated with Max’s post-armageddon comic-book world, a world filled with great deserts, rusty cars and trucks cannibalized into bizarro war machines, and traversed by that lonely warrior, Mad Max.

This “Max” is bigger, badder and noisier than previous entries. There’s never been much room in the series for human concerns, and this time around there’s even less.

Even the character of Max (Tom Hardy replacing Mel Gibson) is little more than a physical presence.

But as a mind-boggling exercise in pure action “Mad Max: Fury Road” is overwhelming, achieving the sort of visual poetry typically ascribed to “Ben-Hur’s” chariot race or one of Sam Peckinpah’s blood ballets.

Max, a prisoner of the despotic desert king Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the villain Toecutter in the first “Mad Max” back in ’79), finds himself swept along on a mission of vengeance and recovery.

Immortan Joe’s five wives — gorgeous young women apparently free of the diseases afflicting most of surviving mankind — have escaped with the help of Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron, with shaved head and a missing arm), a sort of over-the-road trucker.

Now they’re being pursued across a dusty wasteland (filmed in the sands of Namibia) by the angry husband/king and hundreds of souped up vehicles outfitted with flamethrowers, monstrous crossbows and other jerry-rigged implements of mayhem.

Furiosa’s goal is to find “the green place,” an oasis of water and peace remembered from her childhood. Good luck with that. (more…)

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