Final Destination: Bloodlines

Agoraphobics rejoice! The outside world is a dangerous place - Rube Goldberg death traps are everywhere. If you throw a penny off the CN Tower, well you could kill someone! If you are unfamiliar with the Final Destination franchise, the formula goes like this: Certain individuals escape Death by way of a premonition (don't get on that plane, you're going to die!) and then Death hunts down all those who were supposed to die in that plane crash. It's a formula to print money. "Bloodlines" represents the sixth entry in the franchise. I think I only watched the first one. It's a clever enough premise but I wasn't expecting much from this latest film. It's fantastic. The deaths are spectacular and fun, the action sequences are something Dwayne Johnson would be proud to be in, and the story - Aaron Sorkin would have been proud to have written it. (Just kidding about the Sorkin bit.) That said, the team of writers who worked on this did an excellent job. To my own surprise (nobody warned me it was coming!), "Final Destination: Bloodlines" has arrived here on the Marquee. Make this your next horror destination. In theatres now. 

Friendship

"Dumb and Dumber" meets "Swimfan." Tim Robinson plays Craig, a kind of socially unaware man-child whose wife has recently gone through cancer and survived. They have a teenage son and have put their house up for sale. A package arrives on their doorstep. Wrong address. Craig walks it over to his new neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd). Austin is a weatherman on the local news. He is also in a band. Craig is smitten with Austin's effortless coolness. When Austin invites Craig to hang with him and his bro friends one night, well it goes all awkward. There is a lot of funny stuff here and sometimes the jokes take the whole length of the movie to hit the punchline. Craig getting stronger-stuff from the teenager at the cellphone store was a highlight. I don't want to tell you too much because I want you to discover everything yourself - like the entrance to a secret cave that leads to a land of magical comedy. Catch it in theatres now or go rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when it becomes available. 

Bring Her Back

"Frankenstein," "The Monkey's Paw," and "Pet Sematary" - we have been dealing with death and grief, fictionally since we have been writing stories as people. We will continue to do so because it is what binds us together - the loss of friends and family and our own existential crises - we must all face our own deaths. Add "Bring Her Back" to the list. What's this one all about? Legally blind, Piper (Sora Wong) and her older half-brother Andy (Billy Barratt) tragically lose their father and are put into the foster care of a woman named Laura (Sally Hawkins). Turns out that Laura also had a blind daughter, who, you guessed it, died. You can SEE where this is going - see what I did there? Piper and Andy have a complex relationship but they are now very tight and they have a secret code word - grapefruit. An ironclad, never lie word for telling the truth. "Talk To Me" is a very tough act to follow. The Australian brothers, Danny and Michael Philippou are back, and they are bringing it again. It, being their brand of horror. Is "Bring Her Back" as good? Grapefruit. No, but it's good enough to land an entry here on the Marquee. There are some fresh and arresting visuals for you cinema nerds, and I think you will love them. Grapefruit. Catch it now in theatres. 

Pee-wee as Himself

There is both an immediate intimacy and sadness when a close up of Paul Reubens' face appears on screen. We lost the actor from cancer in 2023 and this posthumous documentary is like receiving a letter from a dead friend. This is a portrait of a man who kept secrets - the documentary filmmakers didn't even know he was dying. It's looking over everything, a reflection of a life lived, and laying it out warts and all. I found it to be fascinating. For example, did you know that Paul Reubens was in the same theatre group as Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) and Phil Hartman? Hartman was on Pee-wee's Playhouse before leaving for SNL. Laurence Fishburne was also a Pee-wee Playhouse regular. Like I said, fascinating. Reubens himself was as ambitious as Joan Rivers - he gave up a lot and pushed himself back into the closet for the sake of a career. He became one of the biggest and most recognizable stars of the 1980s. Pee-wee Herman was huge. Then it came all crashing down. It's an intimate portrait and as an artist and a collector of stuff, I felt I could relate to a lot of it. I found it to be very moving. Both melancholy and inspiring. One of the best celebrity documentaries I've seen. Catch it streaming on HBO.   

Gimme Shelter

Stage security at rock concerts seems to have come a long, long way since 1969. But then again, do we have outdoor concerts with 300,000 people anymore? "Gimme Shelter" is a 1970 documentary about the 1969 Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway in sunny California. It was a free concert and people thought it might be a companion bookend to Woodstock from early that year. The Hells Angels were hired as security for the show. When I was a young man, I read "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and Hunter Thompson's "Hell's Angels." I was fascinated with this period of American history - mostly the story of LSD and how it came to affect so much of the culture. It surprises me that I only got around to watching this documentary now. It's a fascinating time capsule. It's also a horror movie. The Rolling Stones were at the height of their popularity and fans were ravenous to see them, touch them physically if possible. The film starts with Mick Jagger watching footage of his band performing at Madison Square Garden, during which three individuals, fans, rush the stage to touch, hug, or somehow engage physically with the band - all three within minutes of each other. Mick and the boys kept playing. Scary for them. What's even scarier? Hells Angels. As I said, this is a horror movie. People tripping out of their gourds, stoned to the hilt on LSD and/or mushrooms, zombie-like march towards the stage, some of them naked. It's "It Follows" but for real. There is a terrifying scene where Mick is singing on stage and beside him is a man who looks like he is transforming into a zombie or werewolf - high as a loon. I watched in complete horror. From the start you know there is a death coming and the whole film is filled with dread. Both riveting and horrifying, one of the most fascinating rock documentaries you will see. Watch it on the Criterion Channel or go rent it in Ottawa from Movies 'N Stuff. 

A Boy and His Dog

Set in the year 2024, based on a novella by Harlan Ellison, and released in 1975, "A Boy and His Dog" has been a film on my to-watch list for many years. Alex Garland, I maintain, has a working thesis, a theme if you will, that men are violent, sex-crazed animals. Enter Don Johnson ("Miami Vice" heartthrob of the 80s) in one of his earliest roles as Vic, a violent, sex-crazed nomad living in a post-apocalyptic, post WW IV world. He has a companion, a dog, Blood (voiced by Tim McIntire) with whom with he communicates telepathically. Blood is actually smarter than Vic. Blood helps sniff out females for Vic so he can rape these women. It's dark and disturbing but the talking dog keeps it seemingly light (something out of "The Cat from Outer Space" playbook). In "A Boy and His Dog" the scavengers live in a desert wasteland, with faux generals and makeshift barter towns where guns are checked at the door. The entire look of the film is "Mad Max" four years prior to "Mad Max" and six years prior to "Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior." The rest of the world lives underground in nuclear fallout bunkers. Jason Robards plays the leader of the clown underworld and lures Vic down for breeding purposes. Reasons to watch: 1) Don Johnson gives such a great performance you believe he is communicating with the dog. 2) Mad Max fans will be enlightened and entertained. 3) Looking at the future from the perspective of the past - what does a possible 2024 look like in 1975. 4) The Dog - he is adorable and very funny. 

Warfare

If there is one theme which seems to run throughout the films of Alex Garland ("Men," "Civil War") it is that men are overly fixated on sex, they are dangerous, and can be extremely violent. This is my own interpretation of his work and if it's an accurate one, it's a thesis I agree with. This time ,Garland's lens gives us the violence men can inflict on each other in this snapshot of modern warfare. It's an honest and brutal depiction of U.S. soldiers in Iraq in 2006. Why they are there, what the purpose of their mission is - we have no idea. We are just plopped down with these men as they suddenly find themselves in serious danger. It's based on the memories of the real soldiers who were in this fight. It's immersive, traumatizing, and important. Do we need another reminder of the horrors of war? Yes we do because we can't seem to get it through our collective heads that war is horrible. There is nothing glorified here. Gripping, realistic and devastating. It's not an easy, relaxing film, but a tense and important one. There were moments in my screening where nobody dared to munch popcorn - you could hear a pin drop as we watched these men move through their paces. I'm sure this will land on my list of top films of 2025. Catch it in theatres now.