War, dead Nazis, blood-drinking witches, cursed woods, spooky magic shit, mystery, just a smidge of cannibalism, Micky Rourke in a shiny eyepatch; Warhunt has a little bit of everything. And while certainly not for everyone, damn if it doesn’t kind of rule.
Awards season seriously feels like it runs half the year. It’s not quite that long, but beginning in early (and earlier every year) December and, at least the last couple years, wrapping up with the Oscars in March, it’s not short.
When reclusive tech millionaire Chris Decker (Cameron Monaghan, Gotham) goes shopping late one night he has a chance encounter with former model Sky (Lilly Krug) at the supermarket. At least he thinks it’s chance encounter. Chris and Sky fall into a hot, passionate love affair, and you know what they say about things that look too good to be true. So begins Shattered, the latest film from director Luis Prieto (Kidnap) and writer David Loughery (Lakeview Terrace, Passenger 57).
2021 was, as usual, a great year for movies. They always are, even if the moviegoing and movie watching experience looks different for most people these days. (I watched 300+ movies for the first time this year, 11 in theaters.) But now that the calendar has turned, it’s time to look forward to our most anticipated movies of 2022.
The big hook for The 355 is the insane cast. Director Simon Kinberg assembled an epic level of talent that includes Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz, Bingbing Fan, Sebastian Stan, Edgar Ramirez, and Jason Flemyng, all chasing after a MacGuffin box in a globetrotting spy caper. And the result it wildly just okay.
Home invasion stories are a staple of the horror and thriller genres. It’s well-worn, oft-trod territory, but when handled well, still offers an effective avenue for tension, pressure, and terror. Randall Okita’s See for Memay not lay any fresh tracks, but it does deliver a tight, impactful, efficient thriller, one with enough unique hooks and unexpected turns to set it well apart from the pack.
It’s that time of year again, where I hem and haw about making a best-of 2021 (or whatever year it happens to be) list only to ultimately relent and do the thing. So here, as per usual, are my favorite films of the past 12 months.
