masonfisk

A Liam Neeson effort from 2023 which finds him back on the Emerald Isle in this thriller about an 'on his last legs' hitman who offs the wrong guy w/some dire consequences in store. Neeson does the occasional hit job for a local mobster/fixer, played by Colm Meaney, while maintaining a low key but friendly profile in town w/ties to the local constable, Oscar nominee Ciaran Hinds, & his neighbor, Niamh Cusack, but unbeknownst to him an IRA sect has just set off a bomb (where some children were killed) so the unit hightails it to the outskirts of Neeson's burg where one of the members has been getting handsy w/his sister-in-law which draws the attention & more importantly Neeson's ire who comes to the rescue offing the offending person but his sister, Oscar nominee Kerry Condon, now sees red & wants Neeson's head on the proverbial pike. What follows is an admittedly dull trail of revenge which thinks it's a thrill of minute (by the number of 'f' bombs being dropped) exercise when it isn't making Neeson do some semblance of heavy lifting when all he has to heft is the equivalent of cinematic goose feathers.

1939 brings another sequel to the 1931 classic which I think was the true inspiration for Gene Wilder's Young Frankenstein script has the son of the infamous doctor, Basil Rathbone, heading back to the castle where his dad's experiments occurred w/the townsfolk bracing for his arrival even to the point of having meetings as they plot their moves on how they'll deal w/it. Igor, Dr. Frankenstein's loyal servant, essayed by Bela Lugosi, still lurks among the grounds also awaits Rathbone but for what purpose? Lugosi speeds things along by revealing Rathbone's father's work to him w/the added incentive of actually finding the monster, presumed dead, in the bowels of the estate & bringing it back to life again. Even though the film was made during Universal's heyday w/monster movies, this one feels a bit off (the sets look great though!) as the acting becomes a hamfest, especially between Lugosi & Rathbone, on who can eat the scenery quicker w/Wilder's riffs, particularly the police commissioner, played by Lionel Atwill, being lifted in full to great comedic effect by Kenneth Mars in Mel Brooks' film but as a completist you could do worse w/the final outcome. Of note, according to TCM host Alicia Malone, this would be the last time Boris Karloff would play the creature.

Currently in cinemas is the remake of the 1987 Schwarzenegger cheesefest now mounted by co-writer/director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead/Last Night in Soho) & starring current smile king Glen Powell. Powell is a lowly worker w/anger management issues who finds himself on the low end of the employment pool which makes things tough when his newborn daughter, who's sick, needs some precious meds. Good thing the government has state run game shows for Powell to partake in & seeing his propensity for disagreements, the show runner, Oscar nominee Josh Brolin, inserts him into the titular show which has contestants on the run in these United States pursued by hunters, led by Lee Pace, for 30 days where a large cash price is promised if they survive. And the race is on w/the finished product far & away much better than the Big Oak's take on the material which retains much of the anger & paranoia of Stephen King's novel (especially the last set piece on a plane) mirroring a little too closely the current status of most struggling people in the world. Co-starring Katy O'Brian as one of the contestants, Michael Cera & Emilia Jones as everydau citizens who aid Powell at a crucial junctures & Oscar nominee Colman Domingo taking over as emcee of the show so memoriably played by former game show host Richard Dawson.