Loosely inspired by the life of British comedian John Bishop, Will Arnett stars as a newly-separated fortysomething who discovers a way to talk through his issues by doing stand-up comedy. At times the film is a little cute for its own good such as how Alex (Arnett) falls into comedy while high, the manner in which his secret is discovered, and the unavoidable kid performances and parties all movies like this seem contracted to contain.
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Director Park Chan-wook‘s dark comedy offers an unusual solution to a man’s struggle to find a job in modern times. We’re introduced to Man-su (Lee Byung-hun), a valued long-time employee of a paper-making company who loses his position after an American buyout and automation make his job obsolete. After struggling to find a new job for months, while taking various retail jobs that don’t allow the family to keep the same lifestyle, Man-su changes his tactics and begins investigating his most likely competition with plans to literally eliminate the competition.
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Following the success of The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson turned his attention to bringing another dark fantasy to the big screen. Brian Froud, who provided the conceptual designs for the previous film was tasked with creating creatures for a new world within a labyrinth. And Monty Python’s Terry Jones signed on to write the screenplay based on a story from Henson and Dennis Lee heavily influenced by The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and Maurice Sendak‘s Outside Over There. The film is so closely related to the latter, it nearly prevented Labyrinth‘s release until legal complaints were settled.
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An adaptation of the 1964 play (which was inspired by the myth of The Flying Dutchman), director Andre Gaines‘ The Dutchman is social commentary wrapped up in a messy metaphysical metaphor that, while it has something to say on both the subject of being a successful Black man in America and on marital infidelity and temptation, is far more opaque than it should be except, perhaps, in Clay’s long monologues that are meant to offer cultural critique to the audience more than the film’s antagonist.
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For a thriller starring both Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, The Housemaid is surprisingly lacking in heat or anything resembling eroticism. Sure, we get one sex scene halfway through, but even that seems perfunctory more than adding life into the bewildering thriller that throws out its playbook halfway through, spends 20 minutes speaking directly to the audience setting up an alternative permise, and then finally delivers something more deverting in its final 20 minutes.
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