The Stop Button

Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021) D: Sam Liu. S: David Giuntoli, Mark Dacascos, Kelly Hu, Michael Jai White, James Hong, Jamie Chung, Chris Cox. Kickass animated Batman feature set in the 1970s, in a groovy, butt-kicking karate picture. It’s a team effort with Bats (Giuntoli, who’s fine) just a cog as he reunites with his (albeit mystical) dojo friends. Dacascos is Richard Dragon, Hu is Lady Shiva, White is Bronze Tiger. Hu’s legit great, Dasascos is solid, too. Fantastic action choreography.

Black Christmas (2006) Unrated Version D: Glen Morgan. S: Katie Cassidy, Kristen Cloke, Andrea Martin, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert. Atrocious remake has less than nothing going for it even after the big twists turn out to be incest, cannibalism, and misogyny. The gore’s terrible too, because Morgan’s a bad director and writer. The acting’s something awful too, with “lead” Cassidy and Martin coming out best. Choke, Winstead, and Trachenburg are profoundly bad. Avoid this CHRISTMAS.

Fantastic Four (2015) D: Josh Trank. S: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson. Abysmal adaptation offers nothing but bad performances, worse writing, and reminders of other movies one could be watching. Jordan does the best in the main cast. Teller’s terrible, Mara’s bad, Nelson’s literally chewing, and Cathey… poor Cathey. Bell’s awful too but why wouldn’t he be? It’s so incompetent it’s not even embarrassing. And there’s something funny about the music.

The King (2019) D: David Michôd. S: Timothée Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Tom Glynn-Carney, Robert Pattinson, Ben Mendelsohn, Andrew Havill. Epic-sized telling of Prince Hal’s transformation into King Henry V. Chalamet’s a solid lead; Edgerton (who co-wrote with director Michôd, so presumably intentionally) steals the show as Falstaff. Everything’s fine until the reveal-heavy finale when Harris (as another advisor) can’t get away with being so slight. Mendelsohn’s awesome in his bit. Nicholas Britell’s music’s awesome, too.

Kneecap (2024) D: Rich Peppiatt. S: Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí, Josie Walker, Jessica Reynolds, Simone Kirby, Michael Fassbender. Pretty good “origin” story of Irish-language hip-hop trio, KNEECAP. The film’s fast and loose with the historicity of the sometimes fantastical events, and the third act’s a disaster, but the group’s sympathetic. Albeit not the best actors. But then there’s Fassbender in a bit part; he and Walker carry all the gravitas. Great photography, too (Ryan Kernaghan).

Man Push Cart (2006) D: Ramin Bahrani. S: Ahmad Razvi, Leticia Dolera, Charles Daniel Sandoval, Ali Reza, Farooq ‘Duke’ Muhammad, Panicker Upendran, Arun Lal. Rending tale of NYC breakfast cart vendor Razvi, who’s hustling to make as many bucks as possible, and how dangerous vulnerability can be in that situation. Writer, director, and editor Bahrani relies a little to heavily on melodrama (assuming DV can cover it; not with some of these actors), but Razvi’s so absurdly good it all works out.

They Cloned Tyrone (2023) D: Juel Taylor. S: John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, Kiefer Sutherland, David Alan Grier, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Tamberla Perry. Outstanding, exquisitely crafted semi-satire about Boyega, Foxx, and Parris’s unlikely trio finding themselves in the middle of a government conspiracy. There’s a moody, grainy seventies vibe, which director Taylor also brings to the sci-fi action. Taylor’s clanging genres–Blaxploitation and “urban”–for sparks, but everything’s character-driven. The leads are fantastic (and the occasional cameo’s always solid).

A Very Missing Person (1972) D: Russ Mayberry. S: Eve Arden, James Gregory, Julie Newmar, Ray Danton, Dennis Rucker, Pat Morita, Skye Aubrey. TV movie updating of the Hildegarde Withers franchise has Arden in the lead, tracking down an heiress who’s fallen in with some hippies. But are they sketchy yacht captain Danton’s hippies? It’s slight to be sure, but Arden’s got great timing with the one-liners. Gregory plays her cop pal, except (young) blond charmer Rucker drives her around everywhere.