Labor Day is no Memorial Day or Fourth of July, so don’t expect any big new blockbusters. The only new wide release appears to be Don’t Let Go, a dramatic horror fantasy about a police detective, played by David Oyelowo, who loses his family to violence. Then, his murdered niece starts calling him on the phone. Is she a ghost or a connection from the past? This flick sort of sounds like 2000’s Frequency, doesn’t it?
If you are not thrilled at the prospect of Don’t Let Go, two excellent films, The Farewell and Midsommar, are still at Ciné at least through Thursday. So is Luce, a challenging drama based on J.C. Lee’s play. In the film, an all-star student-athlete (Kelvin Harrison Jr. from It Comes at Night), adopted from a war-torn country by Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, has his reputation sullied by what his teacher (Octavia Spencer) finds in his locker. At the Georgia Museum of Art on Aug. 29, Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA will be screening as part of the 1930s American Film Series.
Lovers of classic Hollywood can still catch South Pacific on the big screen at Beechwood on Aug. 28. On Sept. 1 and 4, Georgia Theatre Company’s Flashback Cinema begins a monthlong tour of Peter Jackson’s trilogy with screenings of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. University Union again offers free movies for students ($3 for everyone else) at Tate. From Aug. 30–Sept. 1, enjoy Isn’t It Romantic, a takedown of romantic comedies that is actually funny, and the biggest movie ever, Avengers: Endgame.
READY OR NOT (R) Horror duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett can be forgiven for their debut feature, Devil’s Due, thanks to their far superior sophomore feature, Ready or Not. While all the attention was on the now-shelved The Hunt, where rich people hunt poor people for sport—an idea at least as old as The Most Dangerous Game, which you probably read in high school—Ready or Not twists the classic concept with some Satanism and evil in-laws.
The Le Domas family, who made their fortune in board games, reprise their wedding-night ritual of playing a game with the family’s new addition. Unfortunately, former foster child Grace (Samara Weaving, who is definitely not Margot Robbie) pulls hide-and-seek. The Le Domas version of the game involves hunting Grace with last century’s weapons so they can satisfy family benefactor Le Bail. (See if you can solve the fairly simple anagram.)
More black comedy than straight-up horror, Ready or Not does avail itself of some rather gruesome FX. However, as clever as the movie is, the narrative is still rather familiar. Still, Weaving is an appealing enough protagonist, and the supporting cast, particularly Adam Brody and Kristian Bruun (Alison’s Donnie on “Orphan Black”), sell the deadly dark humor. The film passes a few narrative turns that could have freshened up the concept even more, and those who remember 2013’s You’re Next are bound to find Ready or Not even more familiar and less rewarding. Still, you have probably been to worse weddings that lasted far longer.
ANGEL HAS FALLEN (R) At least Angel Has Fallen surpasses immediate predecessor London Has Fallen. In Angel, once-disgraced Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler, who seems to speak through a mouthful of rocks) now protects President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman). After being framed for a failed multimillion-dollar assassination attempt that wiped out the president’s entire Secret Service detail except for Banning, the once and future hero goes on the lam.
Despite some low-grade creativity (subjective soundscapes), the plot machinations needed to convince everyone, including a hotshot FBI agent played by Jada Pinkett Smith, that our hero is a bad guy are as weary as ever. Why do filmmakers keep wasting time trying to convince audiences that Danny Huston, who slithers his way through the movie as Mike’s old war buddy, is a good guy?
Somehow, Angel Has Fallen delivers as inoffensive—I think—a politically charged action movie as our highly polarized climate may allow. The movie boasts a wacky late addition to the franchise in Nick Nolte as Mike’s estranged dad, a Vietnam vet with severe PTSD. Nowadays, any Nolte is good Nolte, and his grumbly version of Rambo props up the movie just as its middle starts to sag. Things liven up in a bullet-ridden climax straight out of Hideo Kojima’s classic video game “Metal Gear Solid,” as Mike battles a helicopter like the Solid Snake Butler was born to play. A word to the wise: Head out before the movie’s cringingly comic early credits scene.
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