'A Quiet Place: Day One' Is a Worthy Prequel

“A Quiet Place: Day One” is written and directed by Michael Sarnoski based on a story that he developed with John Krasinski, the director of the first two films in the series. It is a prequel that establishes what happened in New York City on the day the aliens invaded.

In the movie, Lupita Nyong’o plays Samira, a terminally ill patient who goes on a field trip to the Big Apple from the hospice center she has been residing at while waiting for the end to come. All she wants when she gets to the city is a slice of pizza when the blind yet super hearing creatures violently land on Earth.

For monsters that hunt by sound, NYC is a giant buffet filled with every sound imaginable. Samira still wants her slice of pizza, though, and goes in the opposite direction of everyone else who is trying to make it to the boats after it is discovered that the aliens cannot swim.

Along the way, her cat Frodo stumbles upon Eric (Joseph Quinn), a young man who is also prone to panic attacks. Eventually, he decides to stay with Samira in an attempt to help her get that slice of pizza and maybe along the way, he’ll also find a new purpose in his life turned upside down.

Eric and Samira must remain quiet in 'A Quiet Place: Day One'!

Now, I know that the idea of Samira wanting a slice of pizza may sound absurd, but she’s a woman with not a lot of time to live and the world is falling apart around her. The slice of pizza is not just a slice, it’s metaphorical of a woman who also wants to have just one slice of her former life back before the end.

As we go along in the movie, we learn more about Samira through Eric and vice versa. Quinn and Nyong’o are great as Samira and Eric and their performances help make the overall film work. It was the character work in the first two movies that helped those films win and it is no different in this movie.

Another thing that makes the film work is that there are enough genuinely intense moments when Samira and Eric have to avoid the alien creatures. It doesn’t help them that damn near everything in the city can be a potential noise death trap. However, it may also be an advantage in certain situations such as using a car alarm to distract the crazy monsters.

The creatures are on the hunt in 'A Quiet Place: Day One'.

Now, I will admit one thing. I don’t know if this movie was necessary to the overall series. You don’t necessarily learn anything new about the alien invasion that you didn’t see in the cold open of “A Quiet Place Part II” which also took place on day one.

While it is interesting to see how the aliens functioned in a bigger city and that there were creatures than we’ve ever seen before is interesting. Beyond that, though, the movie also quickly falls back onto the main plot device of these movies which is to remain quiet as best as you can while trying to avoid the monsters.

Still, just because it doesn’t deviate too far from the formula of the series doesn’t mean that it isn’t a worthy entry into the series. With the movie following new characters instead of younger versions of characters we’ve met before, the movie didn’t suffer from the problems of being a prequel as I did fear for what would happen to Samira, Eric, and other characters they encountered along the way.

Thankfully, this movie proved that there is still some life in this series. As mentioned above, it may not be a necessary film, but it is an entertaining one with two solid leads and some intense moments to go along with the character driven story at its center.

The '90s In Action! - "The Matrix" (1999)

What is funny about “The Matrix” is that some considered it the dawn of the 21st century of filmmaking despite being released in 1999. The movie made waves with its heavily stylized action, its innovative effects, and its iconic cyberpunk setting and characters.

It also inspired countless movies afterwards. There's the tone and leather costumes found in 2000's "X-Men" and then there are "Matrix" clones such as "Equilibrium" in 2002, for example. Even video games such as "Max Payne" were inspired by elements of the movie, particularly bullet time, the method of slowing down time in order to see something you normally wouldn't see such as a bullet.

The movie follows Neo (Keanu Reeves), a hacker who feels like something is missing from his life. One day, he is contacted by a mysterious figure known as Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Morpheus’ second-in-command, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss).

They eventually reveal to Neo that the world he is living in is a lie. Neo, like most of humanity, is trapped in a simulated world known as the Matrix. In the real world, the Machines took over and nearly destroyed humanity during a great war.

Trinity and Neo prepare to take on the Machines in 'The Matrix'!

However, the machines need a great amount of power to function and human bodies are an abundant resource of the power that they need. Therefore, the Machines created a world for us to live in while they feed off of our bodies.

So, what makes Neo so special? Morpheus explains that there is a prophecy of The One, a man who can learn to control the Matrix and eventually free humanity from the simulation and take down the Machines. In the meantime, though, the humans that have already been freed try to free others while avoiding capture by Agents, sinister programs the were created in order to police the Matrix.

This is one of those movies that when you see it for the first time, you want to watch it again. The special-effects are insane as is the action that they help create. The iconic hallway fight with Neo and Trinity against a group of guards is still one of the best action sequences ever committed to film.

Another highlight of the movie is Neo’s encounters with Agent Smith, a truly devious and self-aware Agent that genuinely hates humans and having to deal with them in the Matrix. Smith is played to perfection by Hugo Weaving in a role that almost steals the show.

Reeves once again proves why he became one of the biggest action stars of the past 30 years. He’s also got great support by Moss as Trinity and Fishburne as Morpheus.

I will say that the movie’s soundtrack kind of dates things as the music is definitely of its time, but Don Davis’ score is still memorable. If you love a gritty cyberpunk tone, then this is definitely the movie for you.

The film was followed up by three sequels. While I will admit that I’ve gotten some enjoyment out of “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions”, I cannot stress how much I think you should avoid “The Matrix Resurrections”. In spite of the sequels which plenty of fans have issues with, no one can deny the style, the action, and the influence of “The Matrix”.

25 years later, it’s still one of the best sci-fi action films ever made.

'Lisa Frankenstein' Can't Figure Itself Out In Order to Stand Out

'Lisa Frankenstein' (2024)

“Lisa Frankenstein” is the latest effort from screenwriter Diablo Cody and the feature-length directorial debut for Zelda Williams. The movie is set in 1989 and Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is a goth girl who suffered a terrible trauma two years prior when her mother was brutally murdered.

Her favorite thing to do is hang out at the grave of an unknown young man from the Victorian era while she avoids her evil stepmother Janet (Carla Gugino) and those at school who look down on her.

To her surprise, the deceased man of her dreams comes back to life and she now finds herself hiding the Creature (Cole Sprouse) while trying to figure things out. As the title already suggests, the movie is an update on the “Frankenstein” storyline with a look at what it’s like to be the outcast.

However, I could never completely get behind the movie. It took me a moment to figure out why that was because the performances are good and the direction from Williams is solid. I would seriously consider watching anything else that she may want to helm in the future.

Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse star in 'Lisa Frankenstein'.

After thinking about it for a minute and talking to my friend with whom I watched the movie, I realized what the main problem was. The movie’s identity never settles on what it wants to be. Does it want to be a horror comedy? Does it want to be taken seriously? Does it want to go over-the-top and do zany things? I don’t know and it would appear that the movie doesn’t know either.

Another problem is that I thought the film’s story would escalate more than it actually does. It gets to a certain point and then it stalls for the most part. There is one moment where I thought things were about to get even more interesting, but then it just ends.

That was another problem I had: the ending. I won’t spoil it here, obviously, but by the time the movie reaches the credits, I don’t feel like the movie earned its ending. I was left wanting more and all I got was an ultimately mediocre movie.

Finally, I think another reason that I felt something was missing was due to the fact that the movie forgets some of its own set up. For example, remember when I said that Lisa’s mother had been murdered prior to the film’s events? The movie goes to some lengths to set up that her mother’s murderer got away, but the movie quickly forgets this and moves on without ever mentioning it again.

So, in conclusion, the movie looks good and the movie has good performances. Unfortunately, that’s all I felt this movie succeeded at due to the story’s uneven and confused tone. There was potential with this story, but the final movie fails to make good on that potential.

THE '90S IN ACTION! - 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' (1999)

'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' (1999)

Words cannot begin to express how much Star Wars fans were expecting "Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace" when it was about to be released in 1999. A lot of us waited forever for the trailer to download in Quicktime on our old computers so we could watch it over and over again. People sat outside theaters for days just so they could be the first to get in and get good seats.

Some today may be asking why there was all the fuss over the movie? Well, we hadn't received a new Star Wars film since the release of "Return of the Jedi" in 1983. For years, fans assumed that they only new stories they would get from this universe would be through the books and video games that were released in the Expanded Universe outside what was then just the Star Wars trilogy.

The fact that writer and director George Lucas was returning to his creation was a huge deal and it was heavily covered not just in its own marketing but through the media as well. When the movie came out on May 19, 1999, the reception was... decidedly mixed.

This was when the Star Wars fandom turned on anything that existed outside of what was now known as the Original Trilogy. A nice chunk of the fandom hated the new movie because they hated Lucas' new direction and vision for what was the beginning of the Prequel Trilogy.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon prepare to fight in 'The Phantom Menace'.

But why did they hate it so much? Well, it didn't give them what they wanted. Anakin Skywalker, who is destined not just to become a Jedi but also the evil Sith Lord known as Darth Vader, is shown here to be an innocent kid. He wasn't the evil Jedi right out of the gate and that bothered plenty of people in the fandom.

The movie also contained some annoying elements such as Jar Jar Binks, a character that was universally hated when the flick was finally released. The lighter tone of the Republic was also criticized as was the story that seemingly only involves a trade dispute on a small planet.

For years, the fandom decried this movie and it became one of the first examples of a film where the hatred online only amplified the fandom's problems with the movie. Finally, it also didn't help that this movie was released 16 years after the last film and every fan had it in their head what they wanted to see in this movie.

Thankfully, over the years, the fans that grew up with this movie have come to its defense and "The Phantom Menace" has grown quite the cult following within the fandom. Of course, part of that is due to the fact that the fandom has also found plenty of other things to bitch about with the content that Disney has released since they acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight the sinister Darth Maul in 'The Phantom Menace'.

For me, I can readily admit that I've enjoyed this first episode in Lucas' saga since it was released in '99. I went to the theaters to see it nine times and I've watched it numerous times during my various rewatches of the series over the years.

I'll go over my own thoughts in a minute, but for those who may not have seen the movie, here's a brief rundown. The Trade Federation has imposed a blockade on the small planet of Naboo and Coruscant has sent two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) to negotiate. Things do not go as planned and both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escape Naboo with Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) in an attempt to get her to Coruscant in order to plead with the Galactic Senate for help.

First, though, they reach Tatooine where they meet a young boy named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyed). Now, not only do they have to deal with a far bigger and more sinister plot by the Federation, but Qui-Gon must figure out why Anakin is so talented in the Force and whether or not Anakin should be trained in order to become a Jedi.

The first thing I'll say about the movie is that if any of the haters come to me and tell me what they think is wrong with the movie, I'll probably agree with their criticisms. Particularly, there is an overuse of CGI in places, the dialogue and acting can be cringy at times, and I do think that Jar Jar Binks is the most annoying character in all of Star Wars.

Yet, I can't help but like the movie in spite of its numerous flaws. I've even tried to watch this movie several times with the intent of really paying attention to the flaws and seeing if the great amount of hate surrounding this film over the years is justified. I just don't think that it is.

The movie flows extremely well from one scene to the next, it actually looks great for a movie that is now 25 years old, Neeson is great as Qui-Gon, and there are some action sequences that are fantastic such as the now famous Pod Racing scene and the climactic lightsaber battle towards the end of the movie.

In short, this is a Star Wars film that I can and have sat down to watch several times and I've had fun with it every time. While I can understand someone not liking this movie due to its flaws, I can't help but overlook them and enjoy the fun film that Lucas crafted all those years ago.

"The '90s in Action" - 'Hackers' (1995)

'Hackers' (1995)

Okay, so with my latest film for ‘The ‘90s in Action!’ is stretching the boundaries of what an action film is. “Hackers” is actually classified as a crime thriller, but it does have some action beats and it definitely has an over-the-top villain.

The first thing that I’ll get out of the way is that this movie does not accurately portray how computers work in any way and I’m well aware of that. In the ‘90s, it was apparently a big challenge to make it exciting showing people working on computers.

What “Hackers” does well, though, is that it gives us a true cyberpunk atmosphere and a highly stylized world where our hackers operate. It simplifies things for the audience’s sake and I believe film critic Roger Ebert said it best when he reviewed the film, “The movie is smart and entertaining, then, as long as you don’t take the computer stuff very seriously. I didn’t. I took it approximately as seriously as the archeology in Indiana Jones.”

What the movie sets out to show us was a very real culture where talented hackers use their talents behind the keyboard for harmless exercises. As the tagline for the movie read, “Their crime is curiosity.”

Crash Override and Acid Burn are at the center of 'Hackers'!

The movie mainly follows Dade Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller), a hacker who performed a major hack when he was a kid but got caught. Now that he’s 18, he has regained access to a computer and is hacking once again under the code name Crash Override. After being forced to move to New York City, he eventually meets other hackers like him.

There’s the Phantom Phreak (Renoly Santiago), Cereal Killer (Matthew Lillard), Lord Nikon (Laurence Mason), and Joey Pardella (Jesse Bradford) who has yet to get a nickname. Then there is Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), a hacker who is initially at odds with Crash Override and they soon find themselves in a bet to see who the better hacker really is.

In the meantime, Joey gets set up for causing a virus that threatens to sink oil tankers unless whoever is behind the virus is paid $5 million. In reality, this is a cover by Eugene Belford, aka The Plague (Fisher Stevens). His true plan is that he’s been slowly embezzling money from the company he works for and Joey discovered this when he hacked the company’s mainframe, so the Plague framed Joey and he gets the secret service to track not just Joey but his friends as well.

Crash Override is not alone in 'Hackers'!

It is true that if you can get past the absurd computer jargon, you find yourself in a fantastical world with characters that you enjoy hanging out with for the most part. While the computer effects are nothing like the real world, the movie is trying to get you into the mind of the hackers. They’re trying to get you to see what they see and, for the most part, you’re with them.

The performances are fun as well. Miller is a good lead, Lillard is as crazy as ever, Santiago is a good guide into this world of hackers, Jolie shows off her early talents as an actress that led her to superstardom, and Mason is great as Nikon, the man with a photographic memory that can remember everything.

Then there is Stevens as the Plague. I believe I read some time ago that Stevens dismisses this role and the movie altogether. I hate that because I actually think he gives an appropriately devious performance that is just right for this kind of movie. It’s a fun role for the audience to take in and Stevens should be proud of it.

Yes, the movie is absurd in places and out of date just due to age, but every time I play this movie, I love it. I just get lost in this world of hackers and their quest for justice for their friend and the fun they have in their world. In conclusion, if you can look past the absurd computer techno babble, this is a fun movie and one worth seeing!

MIDDLE -AGED MATINEE! #13 - 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'

'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984)

Welcome back to “Middle-Aged Matinee!”, the article where I take a look back at films that came out in the year of my birth, 1984! Today, I’m taking a look at a film that is often considered writer and director Wes Craven’s masterpiece, “A Nightmare on Elm Street”.

Believe it or not, by the time the mid-80s was arriving, the slasher genre was already starting to show diminishing returns at the box office. This is why, also in 1984, Paramount Pictures decided to try and end the “Friday the 13th” series with the fourth entry, “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter”. But then, a movie came along that completely re-energized the slasher for the latter half of the ’80s.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” was inspired by a series of unrelated articles that Craven read in the “L.A. Times''. The articles were about young teens, often refugees who had gone through bad experiences. The kids were trying to avoid sleep by taking caffeine pills or sneaking a coffee pot into their rooms because they thought their nightmares were trying to kill them.

The kids would eventually have to fall asleep and much to the horror of their parents, the kids would scream due to a terrible nightmare before dying in their sleep. This is when Craven had the idea of a monster that stalked kids in their nightmares and if the teens are killed in the dream, then they are killed in the real world.

Freddy invades the nightmares of his victims in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'!

For years, Craven was trying to get his film off the ground, but no one wanted to touch it. Even Craven’s friend, Sean S. Cunningham (who directed “Friday the 13th”), told him that it wasn’t that scary since the kids were dying in their dreams. In other words, no one understood the concept and passed on it… Except for one man.

Robert Shaye was the founder and CEO of New Line Cinema, a small video distribution studio that had only dabbled in theatrical releases. Shaye wanted to make a real effort to put a movie into theaters and he actually understood and liked Craven’s idea.

While it was a harrowing experience to get the money and the funding even ran out at one point during the film’s production, Shaye was able to secure what ended up being the $1.1 million budget in order to finish the movie. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” came out on November 9, 1984, and ended up grossing $57 million, a solid hit when considering the genre and the budget.

The home video sales were also through the roof and New Line Cinema instantly became a major player in Hollywood. That is why New Line was often referred to as the “house that Freddy built.”

'A Nightmare on Elm Street' marked the feature film debut for Johnny Depp.

Speaking of which, for anyone who has never seen the movie, it is about a group of teens who are all having nightmares about the same monster. He is a horribly burned man who terrorizes them and tries to brutally murder them in their sleep. He has a unique glove with knives on the fingers and he wears a dusty fedora and a red and green striped sweater.

His name is Freddy Krueger. Now, it looks like Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends must figure out a way to stop him before it’s too late and they all end up on the wrong side of Freddy’s glove.

This movie is one of the most original slashers ever released with a genuinely original movie monster. Freddy is played by Robert Englund and it would become Englund’s signature role throughout the years. The character is based on an encounter that Craven had when he was a kid.

One night, in his bedroom, Craven looked down from his window and noticed an old man in a fedora walking down the street. The man somehow picked up on the fact that he was being watched and he turned and stared back up and smiled at Craven. The man then acted like he was going to come into the apartment building, but that was the last that Craven ever saw of this man that he assumed simply wanted to scare the shit out of a kid for kicks.

Nancy and Freddy face off in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'!

While the role was originally supposed to be played by an older man, Englund’s persona and his ability to tap into Freddy’s dark humorous side won Craven over. And we’re all glad that it did because without Englund, this film wouldn’t have worked nearly as well as it does.

The movie is also beautifully shot by Craven and his cinematographer Jacques Haitkin and, along with Charles Bernstein’s haunting score, it really does give the movie a dream-like feel. The dream sequences themselves are also great, including the death of a character that is dragged up the walls in the real world by an unseen Freddy.

The performances beyond Englund are great as well. Langenkamp is perfect as the girl next door and ultimate final girl, Nancy Thompson. She has to make a transformation from an innocent young woman to a badass who ultimately decides that she has to face off with Freddy herself. Nancy is up there with the other legendary final girls such as Sally Hardesty, Laurie Strode, and Alice Hardy.

The movie would go on to spawn a legendary series of films where Englund would return time and time again as Freddy Krueger. The franchise would also spawn an anthology TV show called “Freddy’s Nightmares” with Freddy as the host and the original movie would be remade in 2010, but the less said about that the better.

No matter what anyone thinks of the later movies or where the franchise went, though, there is no denying that the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is still a bonafide horror classic. It is definitely a masterpiece from the legendary Wes Craven and if by some chance you’ve never seen it, then you need to do yourself a favor. If you have seen it, you already know how special this movie really is.

The '90s in Action: 'Blade' (1998)

'Blade' (1998)

There is no denying that 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men” proved in 2000 that the box office was there for superhero films. In 2002, it can’t be denied that “Spider-Man” proved to be the film where the superhero powderkeg blew up and Hollywood wanted to then make every superhero film known to man.

However, it was a lower-budgeted film in 1998 that proved that adult audiences were ready for more mature superhero fare. That movie was “Blade” and 26 years later, it still shows that it is one of the best superhero films ever made. It is the movie that lit the fuse on the aforementioned superhero powderkeg.

For anyone who may not have watched this movie, it is about a character called Blade and he is played to perfection by Wesley Snipes. Right off the bat, this character is quickly established, showing that he was born to a mother who had just been bitten by a vampire.

Blade grows up with a thirst for killing any vampires that cross his path. The movie opens with an unwitting man being dragged to an underground nightclub. He soon learns that he’s in a room full of vampires, but just before he can be devoured by the members of this sadistic club, Blade enters like an old Western gunslinger, ready to massacre them all.

This intro into the movie establishes that you’re not getting your usual superhero fare and that you’re also getting one of the best superhero films ever made. Blade is indeed a gunslinger and swordsman who also happens to have the help of Abraham Whistler, a fellow vampire hunter and father figure.

Blade and Deacon Frost face off in 'Blade'!

Blade is trying to get to Deacon Frost, a vampire who wants to fulfill an ancient prophecy involving a vampire god that will help him take over the human race. Frost is played to perfection by Stephn Dorff and a perfect villain for the more serious Blade.

The movie is 26 years old and the only thing I can say about the movie is that the special-effects, particularly those towards the end of the film, don’t work quite as great as they did back when the movie was initially released. Yet again, I can forgive this simply because the movie is damn near three decades old now.

The movie itself is a particularly dark yet also darkly comedic film from director Stephen Norrington. Also, the movie looks incredible and both Norrington and his cinematographer Theo van de Sande deserves a special shoutout for giving this movie a unique look and tone.

The movie’s action sequences are also top notch. It is known that Snipes is an expert martial artist and he brings the full weight of that training to the movie. From the opening nightclub sequence to the climactic battle to stop a vampire god, the fight sequences are quite amazing!

The performances are also a highlight of the movie. Snipes is perfect as Blade as is Kris Kristofferson as Whistler, Blade’s right hand man and father figure. You care for these characters’ causes and you want them to succeed. N’Bushe Wright is also great as Dr. Karen Jenson, a woman who is bitten by a vampire and tries to help not only devise a cure for herself but also a better serum for Blade who also has a thirst for human blood if he doesn’t take a special mixture every once in a while.

Of course, no great hero is great without a great villain. Dorff is great as Frost, a vampire who may be feeling a bit of an inferiority complex due to being a vampire that was turned instead of being a purebred. While Frost is most definitely a villain, he has his proper motivations for wanting to become a vampire god and wanting to turn the entire world into vampires.

I first watched this movie back in ‘98 when it initially came out and I loved it then. Now, it’s time to acknowledge another fact about the movie. It truly is the first great Marvel movie ever to be made and it still holds up after 26 years as a bonafide classic.