Film reviews

Bodies Bodies Bodies Review

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Bodies Bodies Bodies is a film that wants to be the next young adult party film. The film attempts to find comedy in its brutal and grisly violence. I was not laughing—I was appalled.

Let me try to describe the awfulness of this comedy, directed by Halina Reijn. The plot is dry, and the depictions of all the problems encountered by the characters make no sense. It’s clear that the director is using the problems to try to make Bodies Bodies Bodies a killer funny flick, but it’s not that at all. Instead, it’s a killer terrible flick. It would like to be the classic film Risky Business(1983), but it has a generous amount of Project x (2012) thrown in, and it’s wrapped up with a spike of Spring Breakers. The combination of which makes for a very poor movie. That’s how I see Bodies Bodies Bodies.

The film is set in California in a big mansion, with college kids, drugs, and rock and roll. Pete Davidson is David, the host of a party for his friends at his giant mansion near the mountains in California. He invites a ton of friends over, including Sophie, played by Amandla Stenberg, Bee, played by Maria Bakalova, Alice, played by Rachel Sennott, Emma, played by Chase Sui Wonders, Jordan, played by Myha’la Herrold, and Greg, played by Lee Pace. The party involves the usual teen fun—drinking, drugs, talks about sex. But there is more damage than the audience can anticipate. A party game starts to create personality clashes and one of the friends gets injured, which is just the start of the party going awry. When you combine drugs and alcohol and a samurai sword, you have a recipe for disaster. Many damaging and life-threatening problems emerge as the night goes on. Simply put, Bodies Bodies Bodies is a rather unsettling party flick.

As I said initially, the film tries to find its funny moments in the violence of the film, but Bodies Bodies Bodies doesn’t know how to be funny. Davidson is good for a few fragments of humor, but otherwise it just is not funny at all. It tries to create laughs as someone is brutally injured or murdered. I will admit that some people around me were laughing, but I didn’t find anything about this film enjoyable or funny. It is, again, just plain bad.

I’m sure this film will appeal to some movie goers, especially younger people. Mix drugs, danger, and undeveloped minds together, and you’re bound to get some takers. Especially when an actor like Pete Davidson is thrown into the mix. But my experience with Bodies Bodies Bodies was entirely unpleasant. This California party flick is indeed gnarly, but not gnarly in terms of what a surfer would say—I mean that the film is brutally horrific and awful.

I know I have spent much of this review on the negative, and airing my frustrations on this eerie movie experience. I will give one minor ovation, though, to Pete Davidson. Despite this being a very bad movie, his acting, his one liners and humor, was at times somewhat entertaining. Again, the movie sucked, but Davidson’s humor did not always suck. Overall, though, Bodies Bodies Bodies is garbage, garbage, garbage. One and a half stars.

Film reviews

Easter Sunday Review

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Director Jay Chandrasekhar directs a comical and lighthearted flick that is purely a joy. Easter Sunday is astounding in its comedic continuity. With Jo Koy as the lead, he displays his energetic comedy vibe. He blends it into the life of a father navigating many challenges with family and career conflicts. I saw Koy himself perform at the Chicago Theatre in the fall of 2021. Looking back at that performance of his, I realized how much Koy can bring his energetic comedy material to a lighthearted comedy. Easter Sunday made me realize how much meaning there is around family and the obstacles some may go through despite its setbacks.

With the concept of family, tradition, and culture being a major element in Easter Sunday, the scenario of Koy’s character juggling many frustrations spoke to me. Even though many families keep their traditions, Koy’s character finds ways to spark the joy of his family to make up for his own insecurities. Easter Sunday is engrossing as Koy’s character tries to keep the positivity with his family and himself intact. There are numerous annoyances illustrating tardiness, lack of communication, or just Koy’s character trying to find diplomatic solutions for his errors (even though many of them are not intentional). I found the joy in Easter Sunday when Koy’s character finds himself in problems with karma. That is because even his problem from the past is ones that he tries to resolve with his clever sense of humor.

In Easter Sunday, Koy is Joe Valencia. An actor and a comedian in Los Angeles, California. The film is based of the real-life of Koy’s career with stand-up comedy. Joe tries to land a big acting project, but he is also trying to be a good father for his son Junior. Junior is played by Brandon Wardell. In between Joe waiting for news from his agent, Joe is also getting ready to celebrate the tradition of Easter with his family. Joe’s mindset starts to hit plateaus as his mother Susan starts to stress out. Susan is played by Lydia Gaston. Apparently, Joe’s extended family keeps bringing in all kinds of problems to the table on the traditional holiday. This includes financial struggles, honesty problems, and a whole variety of cultural binds. All in between these problems Joe himself is still waiting from his agent and trying to connect with his son and his family. Easter Sunday continues keeps bringing in all kinds of family problems to the table, but it is presented in the most charming and entertaining perspective.

Koy is mind-boggling in his performance as an actor, comedian, and a father. He has that laid-back mindset, the positive attitude focus, and many quotes that many people will connect to. His presentations of them are true and honest. In a scenario of talking about family and all, there is a moment where he says, “My son dies when I take aways his phone.” That reminded me of how many people today state the obvious of the many distractions with the ones we love. The relationship between Joe and Junior has its moments. Easter Sunday reminded me that even at times when people in my family tell me something I do not want to hear, that it is never to be personally rude. It is just a reminder that some priorities are more important than the technologies that we are hooked on.

Easter Sunday is an adventure of laughter, disconnect, and many funny first-world problems. Koy’s performance had me in laughter. The times culture and tradition in Easter Sunday is relevant to today’s society. It is presented in the most faithful and enduring style of filmmaking from Chandrasekhar. Three and a half stars for Easter Sunday.

Film reviews

Bullet Train Review

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What country has almost two thousand miles of very high speed “bullet” trains? Japan. What happens to a bullet train if anything goes wrong at those speeds? The passengers—and the main characters in the film Bullet Train—are of course in very serious risk of harm. What actor can deliver a dark humor with laughs and deceit that can stand up to these extreme risks? The one and only Brad Pitt.

In Bullet Train, a film directed by David Leitch, Pitt is Ladybug, a man who does dirty work for high pay. He is assigned to retrieve a briefcase on a train, but there are others aboard the train who have the same goal. There are two agents, Tangerine and Lemon, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry. There is Prince, played by Joey King. And there is Kimura, played by Andrew Koji. All have one element in common—they are all assassins. Ladybug realizes that the other operatives aboard the train will make his mission more difficult, and that there are many dangers associated with the mission.

With Bullet Train, Leitch uses violence, conflict, and characterizations for numerous surprises. With Pitt as the lead character, there is no question that it will be a ride of high-octane fun. Pitt’s down-to-earth attitude and method style acting is a perfect fit for this film. His character here is reminiscent of his role in Mr. and Mrs. Smith(2005) blended with Fight Club (1999).

The character development in Bullet Train is superb. There are tons of satirical conversations between Ladybug and Tangerine, and Ladybug and Lemon. All of the main characters are criminal pros, and as the tension grows they think back on their background and to funny conversations with clever metaphors and references. Be ready to hear a generous amount of references to Thomas the Train. One character repeatedly refers to it as his way of coping with stressful situations, and the references are always hysterical.

Bullet Train is flat out fun with many tangents, and it’s unforgettable. There are many blindsiding scenarios where the film becomes a ride of laughs, action, and non-stop brilliance from the mind of director David Leitch. It is an action hijacking film on acid, a warp-speed of brilliance and engrossing suspense. I did not want the train to stop. With Brad Pitt in fight mode there is always an extra hit of something, an iron fist, sarcasm, misdirection, or a combination of the above. See Pitt in his epic performance on a very fast train. Four stars for Bullet Train.

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