Tag / Thriller

by mvfour

Netflix Levels Up Their Streaming Game with Bingeworthy Programming Primed to Captivate Viewers with ‘Back in Action,’ ‘What Had Happened Was,’ and ‘Missing You’

Secret operative missions, stand-up comedy, and a who-dun-it; Netflix enthralls viewers with a new batch of titillating entertainment.

From L to R: Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, and Rosalind Eleazar; Photo Credit: Netflix.

Superstars Cameron Diaz (Emily) and Jamie Foxx (Matt) make a splashy comeback with their spy thriller Back in Action. The couple plays a pair of brilliant CIA spies in a clandestine relationship. Once Diaz finds out she’s pregnant with their child, they decide to disappear, assume new identities, marry, and move to the suburbs until their cover is blown. Forced to return to the world of espionage with precocious teens in tow, they battle oligarchs and their henchmen until their family is safe. Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, The Wife) plays Cameron Diaz’s estranged mother, whose actions allude to being a former spy, and she’s glorious as usual! An actor’s actor.

Both actors are in great shape, and we buy their roles as GenX martial experts who haven’t lost their edge. Back in Action marks Diaz and Foxx’s return to cinema. Diaz hasn’t starred in films since 2014, and in the middle of shooting the action-comedy, Foxx had a medical emergency that left him out of the spotlight for a few years. The two stars have dynamic chemistry and a natural comedic ability. Cameron Diaz’s Emily is reminiscent of Natalie Cook’s graceful fight scenes from the Charlie’s Angel franchise (2000–2003), while Foxx channels his Django character’s stealth moves.

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx proved their bankable stars as Back in Action remains the top film on Netflix.

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx in ‘Back in Action’; Photo Credit: Netflix.

Clearing the air and setting the record straight on his hiatus from TV and Film, Foxx stars in his poignant and hilarious comedy special What Had Happened Was. Rumors and conspiracies stating that P. Diddy drugged Foxx to him becoming a paraplegic were debunked by Foxx. The truth, as confirmed by the actor, is that he had a brain bleed, leading to a stroke that doctors had a hard time diagnosing, and his sister stepped in to advocate for further analysis. Foxx addresses the severity of his condition and epiphanies, makes jokes, and sings in this hilarious and poignant one-hour show. Foxx still got it, but more importantly, never lost it.

Lastly, Harlan Coben returns with his book adaptation series, Missing You. And use John Waite’s hit 80s song “Missing You” as the musical backdrop.

Rosalind Eleazar (Kat) and Richard Armitage (Stagger) in ‘Missing You’; Photo Credit: Netflix.

Missing You follows Kat Donovan (Rosalind Eleazar, Slow Horses, Deep Water), a detective inspector in the U.K. whose fiance broke off their engagement and went off the grid for 11 years. To make matters worse, Kat learns her father’s murderer is about to die and visits him to find out why he murdered him, a former policeman. In true Harlan Corben fashion, there are more winding twists and turns than the steepest stairwell in a centuries-old European castle in this story. And fans of the suspense-thriller author will love it! Not to mention the diverse multinational cast and Coben favorite and veteran British actor Richard Armitage (Fool Me Once, The Stranger) as Donovan’s boss, Ellis Stagger.

Fluff up your couch and prepare your favorite snacks for a superb TV viewing this weekend or next. Back in Action, directed by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief). It’s Netflix’s highest-grossing film to date. Jamie Foxx’s honest Golden Globe-nominated special What Had Happened Was, detailing his recovery, is ripe with impersonations, storytelling, and singing extravaganza. If you’re looking for more than a contained show or film, check out the 5-episode limited suspenseful series Missing You.

by mvfour

‘Strange Darling,’ A Film That Will Equally Delight and Disgust You — But Not for the Reasons You May Think

Writer-director JT Mollner flips the horror script on its cinematic head with this unconventional film.

Willa Fitzgerald as the Lady in ‘Strange Darling’; Photo: Magenta Light Studios.

Strange Darling begins with a young woman or “the Lady” as she’s known in the film (Willa Fitzgerald, Reacher, The Fall of the House of Usher) sporting a bandage on her left ear running across a wooded area in a red jumpsuit, clearly distressed. It is a recognizable image, sure, seemingly fitting the horror film trope of the lone woman escaping the deranged killer. And we meet the presumed killer, “the Demon” (Kyle Gallner, Smile, Dinner in America), soon after chasing the young woman, a modern-looking redneck in a plaid jacket with dirty blonde-haired hair and an almost handlebar mustache carrying a shotgun ready to pounce on his victim, yelling, “Here, Kitty Kitty.”

There is no dialogue for almost 10 minutes of the film. Action sequences, yes. That lead to suspension and pure anxiety. Elements that adequately compensate for the nonverbal visuals to keep the viewer engaged.

Kyle Gallner as the Demon in ‘Strange Darling’; Photo: Magenta Light Studios.

Filmmaker JT Mollner (Outlaws and Angels) prefaces the film with a narrated backstory with accompanying words about an elusive serial killer who’s been killing people for years and how the carnage came to an end by revealing the story in the course of six chapters in the movie. Yet, Mollner starts the film with chapter three and continuously goes back and forth between chapters to give the audience more information, excruciatingly fun and unpredictably horrific. It’s a wildly effective storytelling technique reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s ground-breaking story-structure-disrupting film Pulp Fiction. In addition, the gore factor is relatively high in Strange Darling. Tarantino would be proud.

Strange Darling even resorts to scrolling red text on a black background, a color scheme synonymous with many a horror film, especially one of my favorites: John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween, ominous factor, check!

But the horror tropes keep coming.

Kyle Gallner as the Demon and Willa Fitzgerald as the Lady in ‘Strange Darling’; Photo: Magenta Light Studios.

The audience thinks they know who the serial killer is, but our theory is ground to a screeching halt when several bloodbaths ensue, leaving innocent people in the murderer’s wake, which “the Demon” may or may not have committed. It’s terrifying. It’s unanticipated and gives way to nuanced and exciting storytelling audiences crave. The film’s point of view shifts between killer and victim/and/or victims, and it’s magical to watch as the series of events unravels.

I won’t share any spoilers because Strange Darling, produced by Giovanni Ribisi (Lost in Translation, Sneaky Pete) and served as cinematographer, is a must-watch. It made my top five horror movies of the last decade. Yeah, it’s that good. Watch it now on Prime Video.

Other notable horror flicks with fantastic twists to add to your film repertoire:

  1. Midsommar — written and directed by Ari Aster.

2. Thanksgiving (couldn’t be more seasonal) — co-written and directed by Eli Roth.