Someone has a case of commitment issues in “Love Hurts”. “Love Hurts”, this romantic action comedy, strives to be a modern exploitation programmer, but fails to deliver on romance, action, and most painfully, comedy. The grimness of that fact is even more fitting when you consider the movie is about Marvin Gable's life (Ke Huy Quan), an unremarkable former hitman who had morphed into a realtor with one main obstacle. Do ghosts ever break through the walls of his soulless suburban suburb? The ghosts that arise force Marvin to ask whether he sold a real life to himself, or marketing plans along with houses. Turning a simple premise this deceptive is suspicious, to say the least. I feel sorry for Quan, though, because he must have tried his hardest and, no matter what, not one square foot of this painfully dull film is worth buying.
This is quite the case for a first-time director like Jonathan, who most recently worked as a fight coordinator on David Leitch's SXSW starring feature “The Fall Guy.” With the funding from Leitch, who is also known for “Nobody” and “Violent Night,” I think Eusebio was looking forward to a seamless stint in the director's chair. This film “Love Hurts” sputters, then careens into a wall which can only be described as an inexplicably cringey experience. The film's contrived fight scenes detract from the appeal of the film's already forgettable tone that even the most dedicated romantics regret seeing. The script is too much and too little at the same time; it's unclear whether the stars are simply mismatched or if they're drowning in a sea of average dialogue.
“Love Hurts” seems to aim at the “Rumble in the Bronx” idea while also creeping towards tribute to '70s exploitation films. It's a mess. One thing that this movie succeeds at is introducing Marvin, who tries way too hard and ends up being the least likable character. He wears spectacles and a tacky sweater, bikes to work, admires his garden gnome, and just for fun, he bakes heart shaped cookies.
His awe-shucks manner is blended with the slogan featured on his realtor business card, “I want a home for you.” This idea is just another extension of the lovable character that he has built through “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Unfortunately, his bright charm is always clouded by the incoherent editing. As Marvin calls his despondent assistant Ashley (Lio Tipton), the constant switching between the two seems designed to undermine the friendly base Quan is trying to construct.
Neither does Quan ever meet a suitable counterpart for his perky demeanor during the overly long 83-minute runtime. Sean Astin from “The Goonies” reunites with Marvin's downhome cowboy so he can indulge in one hearty scene and little more. Mustafa Shakir shows up as a one-note, tongue-twisting hired gun, dwarfed by the single repetitive jokes, dailies in his 80s B-movie bad guy hands. Marshawn Lynch and Otis André Eriksen admire their own highlights in which fun go and buddy assassin role play in search of Quan mutilated by Eusebio's endless chopping edits over Lynch.
But the greatest letdown is Ariana DeBose who has the role of Marvin's estranged love, Rose Carlisle. The princess of the Westside. For not wounding his inner sanctum on a leash while murdering Rose who was to make Marvin. And Knuckles, Marvin's underworld brother had dispatched him to vaporize the company's lawyer over money.
To go along with the Valentine's Day letters, Knuckled and his minion Remy (Cam Gigandet) are now intent on killing her along with Marvin. While DeBose wishes to come across as a seductive femme fatale, and her character's motto of “hiding isn't living” suggests she does, she does not seem to possess the necessary edge to fill that role. After DeBose's underwhelming performances in “Kraven the Hunter” and “Argylle,” it makes you question what exactly happened to her. In Steven Spielberg's 'West Side Story', light seems to bend around her differently, but now, she seems to not possess any of that light.
Another film that I find to be devastatingly untrustworthy is “Love Hurts.” Let's take a moment to dissect its underlying premise: when Rose shows up to bring Marvin out of his slumber, we're makes to believe that he is literally willing to give up his new life as an ambitious real estate salesman. I am not here to put down people's hopes.
However, trying to guard a horde of killers so I can defend dull, basic houses on a quiet suburban street with nothing but a dog, and no one else to accompany me home, is not what I would call worth the trouble. Marvin still tries to go back to his dull job because he finds solace in wanting to feel normal despite initially rejecting Rose. Looking at my computer life reminds me a lot of purgatory, or at least beige substitutes.
Marvin's hesitance to be with Rose may have some merit. Eusebio's love with Quan and DeBose seems forced as they lack genuine connection. The amount of anticipation this film has is through the roof, but it fails to initiate any form of romance between the two. Great chemistry exists in the ability of two bodies to unite in the same space, where eyes convey need, and love sizzles beneath shared quietness. But Eusebio suffers from explain-itis, drowning the audience with Marvin and Rose's thoughts so frequently that their love story becomes impossible to imagine.
For an action film, “Love Hurts” has very few standout deaths or fights that I can recall. Eusebio seems to be afraid of action and kill scenes, preventing his fantastic fight choreography from being appreciated. Consider the neon-drenched big-bad set pieces that we are treated to. With a score packed witing swirling strings and wah-wah guitars, this picture seems well designed. Even though the desire for cleanliness destroys the faux-exploitation picture, it still remains strikingly unattractive. Hollywood understands how to create action-filled scenes of cinema, but the measurement of these elements seems to elude them.
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In his comedic political satire “Kidnapping Inc.,” Bruno Mourral tells the story of two incompetent kidnappers, Doc and Zoe, who bungle their way through an assignment that could not go worse. A hair-trigger Zoe is furious at what she accidentally happens to do when she, by mistake, ends up killing a politician's son called Ti Ben. One horrible concept leads to another, so now Parker proposes to pose as the target’s body double and kidnap him in order to ransom him off to his rich father. On his way to the airport with big pregnant wife Laura, who wants to give birth in the US for citizenship, they spot their perfect body double. Doc, the more rational in nature, attempts to piece everything together and soothe things down to the best of his ability, even if it seems there is no correct course of action. In the end, instead of escaping their severely tangled conspiracy, the duo seems to be getting deeper and deeper into the pit.
Mourral’s film combines buddy-cop antics, action-packed sequences, and political thrillers into a chaotically interesting tale. It’s like ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘The Parallax View,’ but in Haiti. It is largely action-packed, with chaotically shot chase scenes, plenty of explosions and gunfire, blood, and the panic-filled nonsense of ‘Rush Hour.’ But this elevated level of reality is what makes “Kidnapping Inc.” so unique. Everyone in these absurd situations reacts in the most ridiculous ways that it’s almost impossible to not laugh at the completely outrageous premise of people constantly betraying one another.
Several of the punch lines in ‘Kidnapping Inc.’ are also sharp jabs at society’s obstacles. Before Mourral dives into the story, he explains some statistics and facts about Haiti so that his audience can culturally immerse themselves. It is a satire on the proliferation of kidnappings in that country and uses dark humor to elevate the serious issue of the phenomenon’s abnormal frequency to a punchline alongside modern society’s increasing normalization of violence. The film does its job on shining a light towards the social circumstances and severe violence that drives people to extremes, but does it all with an angry, comical undertone.
People feel frustrated because they don’t think enough effort is made to provide the necessary safety resources for citizens. They are further angered by the politicians and police who profit off fear and tragedy like presidential candidate Sen. Benjamin Perralt (Ashley Laraque) and crooked cop Fritz (Manfred Marcelin).
The film “Kidnapping Inc.” seems to be very comical but eye catching at the same time; for example when a barber cuts hair of his young customer and tells him to stay put, while Doc with Zoe and their hostage tries to escape, and the barber's hand ends up slapping the boy’s face. Another example would be when Doc is delivering a baby in a woman’s car, with a few ladies behind him instructing her to breathe and later praise the newborn. Meanwhile, a town halting soccer match is happening with an announcer in the background repeatedly exclaiming, “Messi!” while Doc tends to the woman he’s giving birth to on the sidewalk.
The movie also features social criticism, focusing on the terrible racism perpetuated by politicians and law enforcement with lighter skin.
The Uncle Doc's and Zoe's absence at a political soiree like Eddy (Marcus Boereau), the diabolic lover, chasing after light-skinned Latinas like a wolf is a rather feeble attempt by the film to touch on the theme of infidelity. Additionally, when Laura expresses a desire not to have a baby in Haiti, she is classist, but she is also scared of the idea of having an asthmatic mother with a high-risk pregnancy in Haiti and not getting the care that is required. Things in ‘Kidnapping Inc.’ isn’t a straightforward comedy, there’s way more complexity and nuance to it.
It is true that the film disappoints with its pacing near the end and loses the narrative drive, but the unhinged bunny chase to the end, now that is something to behold. Mourral's debut feature is distinctly original, a smart political heist comedy that and at some points is ridiculous enough that subtitles would be marked unnecessary or pointless. Even with the cast that is provided, Mourral, along with co-writer and star Andri, and Gilbert Mirambeau Jr. edit parallel plots to join the characters for a sudden rise of action.
While lacking in some aspects “Kidnapping Inc.” is catchy and engaging in its presentation and is brilliant as an introduction.
About a third of the way into “I Love You Forever”, it completely changed my world. I felt the sensation of excitement I get when I see a movie from an unknown filmmaker that I know is about to launch their career. In this case, everything was about a group of self absorbed twenty-year-old’s from Detroit. They lead completely normal lives until one of them gets into a pretty terrible romantic relationship with a guy who, instead of helping her, ends up shattering her life. Unsurprisingly, the movie is a comedy, which is pretty wild considering everything I just mentioned.
Mackenzie (Sofia Black-D’Elia), a young woman entering the final year of her law studies, is a diligent student. Finn (Ray Nicholson), a local newscaster, has a chance encounter with Mackenzie at her best friend Abby’s (Cazzie David) birthday party where he exhibits his exceptional talent at flirtation. There is chemistry between them so strong that Finn hands his number to Mackenzie, eager for her to call. He then takes her on the most romantic date of her lifetime, setting the stage for a legendary love story.
Or so it seems for Mackenzie. Her standards were already quite low but after years of dealing with her regular hookup named Jake (Raymond Cham Jr), they sunk even lower. Jake is a selfish, uncaring, uncommitted individual who only takes an interest in Mackenzie when it is time for sex. Ally refers to him as “a human vape pen.” Despite this, Mackenzie is desperate enough to wish he would magically start acting the part of a committed boyfriend.
Finally, when Finn carries her off into the sunset Mackenzie gets to experience what she dreamt her whole life: a partner who showers her with the attention and affection she craves, treating her like she is the most important person in the universe. But this satisfaction is more cruel than it seems - “monkey’s paw” like.
Finn manifests as an eager needy little monster enveloped in a dark mix of semi-worrying traits. He’s an irritant that only keeps getting worse. Finn is aggressive-passive, and aggressive in equal measure to his neediness. The amount of important parts of her life she can focus on, including school, has significantly plummeted because of the amount of constant smother that she’s on edge. She is constantly on edge. Even in groups of friend or in class, she finds herself daydreaming and worryingly staring at her phone that she really shouldn’t be expecting a text anytime soon. The messages will only block her focus and keep me locked on her the way a trap would and she knows it’ll show when it’s most inconvenient.
“I Love You Forever,” isn’t the everyday case study or true crime kind of movie that starts with sunshine and rainbows: it’s devoid of the epic fantasy. It’s just another day wrote as a single source of escalation: a relationship that is unbearingly hellish from the start. Whenever Finn is with Mackenzie, he never ever displays keen anger anymore.
The character can yell, whine, manipulate, and burst out crying or even smash certain objects. Does he suffer from an undiagnosed mental disorder? The movie makes no indication, but it makes one wonder. It is clear that Mackenzie doesn’t want or is unable to break up with Finn. Why? It is suggested that she’s been in romantic relationships for long enough that any attention, even if negative, is better than none, which is worrying. She also has the tendency to self inflict harm in shape of blaming herself for Finn’s behavior, which is very irrational.
I have focused exclusively on the terrifying and extreme parts of the tale. But I wouldn’t like to suggest that “I Love You Forever” is hopelessly tiresome, as the case is not. The most remarkable thing about this novel is how it seems to effortlessly glide from violent and often blubbering arguments to wordless psychological character insights into characters thinking and pondering about what is happening to them, and sharp, often knowingly satirical conversations that border on the absurd (“If you’re not going to do therapy, can you at least look at the Tik Toks I sent you?”). Then, it takes away all sense of danger and restores some warmth and reality – or reminds you how bizarrely unique and special all of them are in spite of everything. (In one of the scenes, Ally takes a curling iron with her to a outdoor brunch and says, “I didn’t want to spend the whole day wondering whether I left it on at home.”)
They excel as an ensemble and even in the smallest roles. All of which combines with the careful attention of the writing to result in the image of a certain period, location, and social group.
I found most of this film to be dominated by speech, however, the shifts towards more impressionistic modes highlight a specific gift for subjective filmmaking. The way in which faces are zoomed in on as characters react or simply think about their surroundings is truly wonderful and creates for an engaging subjective piece of cinema.
The repetition of the movie really began to bother me. Add on the fact that it ends so abruptly and tries to pin it behind a comic punchline, I can see how viewers will be bewildered. Think of how much deeper the story could’ve stemmed had the focus not been so targeted on Finn and Mackenzie’s downfall, and instead focused on Mackenzie’s post downfall state. Nonetheless, it is an exceptional piece to showcase young American talent. It most certainly kept me engaged with the rougher yet glassy 21st century twist to a Whit Stillman or Baumbach movie. At first glance the characters may come across as overly wordy, pompous, and twits, but there’s a captivating charm to them. They may all have ridiculous and convoluted lives, but they are very much relatable.
If you prefer the music of Led Zeppelin over the gossip surrounding them, then this movie is for you. My name is XXXX and I’m one of those people, and I found it fascinating. I personally love Led Zeppelin and their music, so I was interested in learning about the legends or gossip as they call it around Led Zeppelin.
“Becoming Led Zeppelin” is, bizarrely, devoid of gossip — or anything bordering documentary and film, really. I will say that to docu-film Led Zeppelin, you require absolute music, and to get that, you need their greenlight. Thus, the low grade, or highly sensationalized version of euphemism would be an authorized one. So, as I say, documentary made with full enthusiasm from the group’s surviving members comes out to be sententious. With all the interview clips provided, the main focus was on not just the music but the influences and the career paths that fed it. It’s called “Becoming”, because it’s about the formation of the group and ends after their first more than successful US tour.
You wouldn’t even be able to conjure a hagiography of this combination if you tried; their personas paint a different picture. Yes, the film directed by Bernard MacMahon shows surviving members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones as somewhat nice guys, and apart from being nice, they are incredibly articulate, highly intelligent, and charming storytellers – whom people want to listen to. But he does not speak at all about them in the way of visible plinth-building for them.
While Jones and his contemporary of the 60s British rock sessions scene were long-time colleagues, veterans of the Jones and Jimmy Page were The Hurdy Gurdy Man, a erstwhile folk-rocker Donovan on the psychedelic metal classic and, as Jones amusingly recounts, song of the title of the James Bond classic Goldfinger. Jones and Page were beplaying for a while and Plant and wildman drummer John Bonham were not Plant’s early gigging rock singers that had formed band of joy first. Page, the last man standing in the wrecking English group the Yardbirds who was still trying to keep that moniker wonder, heard the dudes eventually hired them by the name of The New Yardbirds after Plant and Bonham had gone their seperate ways.
The first time they played together, there was something truly special about the energy the group had. Page understood this was far beyond the New Yardbirds. It was Keith Moon of the Who who gave them that disparaging name wondering how they managed to function as a group. In the case of his last conjecture, Page would get the last laugh since they recorded their classic first album in just 36 hours spread out over a couple of weeks in fall of ‘68. Less than a year later they released the much more powerful second album, Led Zeppelin II, which was during an American tour where they played bigger and bigger venues from the west to the east.
Interviews with contemporary footage bring forth every detail and this is how Bonham can participate. How could you ever miss the manager of the group, Peter Grant? You could tell from the way he looked that he was the bad guy in the group, which is how the enterprise was modeled.
In the end, the film is about the three people listening to a tape of the rare interview of Bonham, who passed away in 1980 from a pulmonary aspiration after a binge, and reminiscing about the band's stint together with great fondness and pride telling, 'I do not need to do anything else'. The gentlemen are touched, and so will you be.
But finally, the main the music that is present is astonishing. The title opening of yet another splendid (and very much so different) rock and roll movie 'The Last Waltz' states, 'THIS MOVIE SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD'. No one ought to inform the IMAX projectionists that handle this movie — both times I've watched were at deafening volumes which is completely how it ought to be. While doing so, though, it could be a good idea to bring earplugs.