Dir - Ana Lily Amirpour
Overall: GOOD
Another unique genre hybrid from filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is a black comedy, odd-ball thriller with strippers, cops, mental asylum escapees, and racially co-opting white boys. Shot on location in New Orleans, it has a purposely seedy aesthetic that fuses neon tackiness with the grimier aspects of the French Quarter, plus the hip, techno-heavy soundtrack by Daniele Luppi and Italian DJ Bottin helps to create the appropriate atmosphere for a fish-out-of-water story. Jeon Jong-seo in her first English-speaking role plays the mysterious ex-mental patient of the title who randomly garnishes the ability to mind control people that either get in her way or get in the way of those that egg her on into utilizing her newfound superpowers. While these sequences are usually played for laughs, they are also done out of a desperation that puts us in the sympathetic seat, even if Jeon's backstory is purposely left murky. When Kate Hudson's stereotypically down-on-her-luck stripper enters the picture and uses Jeon to make a financial killing at the literal expense of some deserving and some not so deserving bystanders, Amirpour's script toys with the concept of karma and still presents her characters with a nuanced enough brush to condone their actions. Hudson probably steals the show, but Ed Skrein and a very Craig Robinsony Craig Robinson are great as well, plus the relatively happy ending makes some of the more unflinching aspects go down that much smoother along with the fantastical ones.
Dir - Kirk Thatcher
Overall: GOOD
In on-again/off-again development for roughly thirty years, Muppets Haunted Mansion is the ensemble's first Halloween special, debuting on Disney+ in early October of 2021. Directed and co-written by long-time Muppets contributor Kirk Thatcher, it has the usual pun-heavy gags, meta nods and winks, and overall silliness that the puppet ensemble has always embellished in. Fusing The Muppets usual shtick with Disney's lighthearted dark ride proves to be an idiot-proof concept and something far better achieved than the studio's infamous Eddie Murphy-started vehicle from 2003. The story focuses on Gonzo the Great's fearless nature as he walks around the title mansion like a kid in a candy store, all while Will Arnett hams it up as a creepy butler and Gonzo's pal Pepe the King Prawn falls under the spell of Taraji P. Henson's husband-beheading Constance Hatchaway. It is enough of a plot to keep things moving to the next ghoulish, kid-friendly set piece, with a few tolerable musical numbers and recognizable cameos thrown in. The obvious use of a green screen in many of the scenes, (including all of Arnett's), is distracting, but the meager production values are actually played for laughs with a few jokes here and there as to the insufficient budget. It does not make room for all of the Muppet players to get the top-billed treatment and there is regrettably no Animal drum solo, but at only forty-nine minutes, it delivers the chuckles in a brisk enough fashion.
Dir - Mark O'Brien
Overall: MEH
A monologue-heavy performance showcase from writer/director/actor Mark O'Brien, The Righteous casts an impressive and persistent aura of dread, yet mangles some of its themes along the way. Shot in black and white as a means to perhaps stylistically cover up the minuscule budget, the film largely plays out at a single farmhouse with a minimal amount of speaking roles, though speak they do. In typical dramatic fashion, the characters get to unwind uninterrupted with a series of musings on regret, faith, and heartfelt justifications for both past and current actions. Henry Czerny, Mimi Kuzyk, and Kate Corbett give weighty portrayals as two adopted parents and a biological mother of a young girl who has recently been taken from them; a traumatic experience that suffocates the entire proceedings and begs the question of whose side any sort of god is actually on. This is further complicated with the arrival of O'Brien's suspicious drifter who is brought in by the family, only to reveal his otherworldly purpose as an answer to Czerny's penance. The ideas are interesting, plus the tone is humorless and sincere, yet its weaving of end of days dogma and the nature of its supernatural components via psychological torment lead to a murky finish that only gets by on the strength of the movie's style and committed performances. This gives it enough to recommend, but it could still afford to bring itself together more to deliver on its potential.
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