Open This BLACK BAG

BLACK BAG (4K UHD)

2025 / 94 min

From Universal

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Princess Pepper😸

This happens sometimes…when coincidental timing of various physical media releases results in me reviewing several movies by the same actor or director. In this case, it’s Steven Soderbergh, a director who’s always been really hit-or-miss for me. Still, I appreciate his willingness to try different technical approaches, which made recent releases of The Good German and Presence at least watchable.

However, Black Bag is more than watchable. It’s arguably his best overall film since Contagion (which Free Kittens holds in very high regard). I don’t recall the last time I had this much fun trying to keep up with the complexity of a movie’s plot and actions of its characters. Best of all, we’re rewarded with a climax where it all ends up making perfect sense.

This is another one of those films that’s best going into fairly cold, so I’ll refrain from going into too much detail about the story. But in a nutshell, Black Bag is a spy thriller centered around married British intelligence agents George and Kathryn (Michael Fassbender & Cate Blanchett). Renowned for getting the truth out of liars, George is tasked with rooting out an apparent traitor in their organization and given a list of five people to investigate, one of whom is Kathryn.

When your suavity is rudely interrupted.

The film is driven more by style, intrigue and exposition than action, yet the brisk pace, appealing aesthetic and surprise-laden narrative keeps things interesting and tension filled, not-to-mention one hell of a McGuffin that serves as its catalyst. There are even aspects of the film that are darkly funny. Tying it together are the characters, all of whom appear to have secrets - personally & professionally - that George attempts to reveal. And just when we think we’ve got one character pegged, we’re thrown another curveball.  

But Black Bag is more than just another spy movie. It’s also the story of a marriage, which carries an underlying theme of loyalty to country versus loyalty to a loved one. Perfectly played by the two leads, George and Kathryn appear coolly calculating and outwardly aloof, even towards each other. At the same time, there’s something deeply romantic about their relationship as the story unfolds. 

Running a lean 94 minutes, there isn’t a single wasted moment. Each scene is vital to the plot and calculated to keep the viewer guessing. Every character is important and performed by a great cast (including Naomi Harris, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela and Regé-Jean Page). Bolstered by David Koepp’s smart, witty script and an urgent score from David Holmes (both frequent Soderbergh collaborators), Black Bag is an excellent adult thriller and, so far, one of the best movies of the year.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - The Company of Talent features the cast discussing their characters and co-stars; Designing Black Bag covers the production design.

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4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

A TRIPLE FEATURE OF FORGOTTEN THRILLERS

BODY OF LIES, EDGE OF DARKNESS & PRIDE AND GLORY Triple Feature (Blu-ray)

2008-2010 / 370 min (3 movies)

From Warner Bros

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Bingewatcher😼

Does anyone recall these movies? And if so, who honestly gave them another thought since they were first released? Despite impressive names above the titles (and a few behind the camera), none of them made much of a splash and arguably aren’t worth worth purchasing individually. But bundled together, this is a decent triple feature package, since all three films are pretty good.

Ridley Scott’s 2008 thriller, Body of Lies, doesn’t rank among the director’s classics, but it’s well-constructed, fast-paced and features an earnest performance by Leonardo DiCaprio. He plays CIA operative Roger Ferris, who uses any means necessary to try and nab the leader of a notorious terrorist group. He’s simultaneously aided and hampered by his boss, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), who directs most of the operation from the safety of his phone. While I could have done without the superfluous romantic subplot, the overall story is fairly interesting, with some tension filled moments. This disc comes with a plenty of bonus features, including a 90 minute multi-part documentary, audio commentary, deleted scenes and an alternate ending.

Fresh out of Cocoa Puffs

2010’s Edge of Darkness has the distinction of being Mel Gibson’s last half-decent starring vehicle before his depressing descent into direct-to-video mediocrity. Yet another revenge thriller (and he did a lot of ‘em), Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a Boston cop obsessed with finding those who murdered his daughter right in front of him. His search leads him to shady operations at a nuclear research facility spearheaded by a psychotic CEO and corrupt senator. Structured as a mystery, the plot is fairly interesting, though the film is a ultimately a real Debbie Downer. Ray Winstone steals the movie right from under Gibson’s nose. This disc includes several promotional featurettes and deleted scenes.

When the missus suggests a fun trip to Hobby Lobby.

2007’s Pride and Glory is the best film in this collection. By-far the most character driven, this one focuses on a family of New York cops. Detective Ray Tierney (Edward Norton) is coerced by police chief dad Francis (Jon Voigt) into investigating the deaths of four fellow cops during a botched raid. But Ray has a moral quandary when the investigation uncovers corruption within the department, which includes his brother, Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich), and hot-headed brother-in-law Jimmy Egan (a scenery-chewing Colin Ferrell). Not the most original thing ever made, but it boasts good performances and well-rounded characters to counter an overall lack of narrative surprises. This disc includes a 67-minute making-of documentary.

None of these films set the box office on fire, nor were any of them critical darlings. But while nearly everyone on both sides of the camera have done better work, each movie has a quality or two that make them worth checking out…maybe even revisiting on occasion. 

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray collection originally released in 2012.

TRAP Is Far-Fetched Fun

TRAP (Blu-ray)

2024 / 105 min

FROM WARNER BROS

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Princess Pepper😺

Regardless of what one thinks of M. Night Shyamalan’s overall body of work, you gotta give him props for one thing: He continues to demonstrate a knack for coming up with intriguing premises. When it comes to actual execution, sometimes he bites off more than he can chew, especially when trying to create final acts worthy of his ambitions. But hey, two-thirds of a good film is better than all of a bad one. 

Like such recent efforts as Old and Knock at the Cabin, Trap walks a fine line between brilliant and ridiculous, but is pulled off with enough panache that it’s easier to accept the latter. As usual, it has an irresistible premise. Firefighter and family man Cooper Abbott (Josh Hartnett) takes teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see her favorite artist, Lady Raven (Saleka), in concert. Cooper also happens to be a notorious serial killer known as “The Butcher,” and somewhat implausibly, the FBI knows he’s inside the venue.

Led by FBI profiler Dr. Grant (Hayley Mills), hundreds of agents and cops begin searching the arena for the man who matches witness accounts from previous murders. The first half of the film focuses on Cooper’s efforts to remain unnoticed as he tries to find a means of escape while placating his oblivious daughter. This is all presented almost entirely from Cooper’s point of view, and even though he’s the antagonist, some scenes generate genuine suspense. Watching him come up with plans of action - often on the fly - is pretty engaging, but sometimes does require suspension of disbelief.

Josh enjoys a Jolly Rancher.

Much of that is due to Hartnett’s performance, which is a striking balance of congeniality and menace. We’re aware of his sinister side, but everyone else simply sees a charming, loving dad. He’s so compelling in the role that watching him repeatedly figure his way out of various predicaments - no matter how far-fetched - is pretty damned entertaining. Personally, I haven’t rooted for a serial killer like this since The Silence of the Lambs. 

The film becomes less interesting - and more preposterous - outside of the arena, probably because Hartnett ends up sharing more screen time with Saleka, who also happens to be M. Night’s daughter and ends up being the main protagonist. She was fine just belting out a plethora of pop tunes during the first half, but making her character integral to the story was the narrative wrong turn I’d been waiting for Shyamalan to make. Not only is Lady Raven less engaging, her actions aren’t particularly believable and Saleka’s performance pales in comparison to Hartnett’s (though she isn’t Sofia Coppola-terrible). 

Still, Trap is generally pretty enjoyable, and frequently funny, even with perceived nepotism and the hard-to-swallow plot turns during the final act (including a few which aren’t sufficiently explained). Shyamalan keeps things fast paced and does a good job building tension during numerous sequences. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Setting the Stage: A New M. Night Shyamalan features the director talking about his approach to making the film; Saleka as Lady Raven focuses on the co-star, who also wrote and performed all the songs.

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EXTENDED CONCERT SCENE

DIGITAL COPY

ALIEN: ROMULUS Brings Back The Horror

ALIEN: ROMULUS (Digital)

2024 / 119 min

FROM 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Alien: Romulus is now available on Digital and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD December 3.

Maybe the shot-in-the-arm this franchise needed was for director Ridley Scott to step away once again (though he remains one of the producers). With all due respect to his legacy, both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant were interesting - especially the former - but strayed too far from what made the original 1979 classic a lean, mean masterpiece. I could be in the minority on this, but I never needed a xenomorph origin story. They were scarier when we knew less about them. 

Alien: Romulus, the seventh film in the series (sorry, I’ll never include those AvP poo-poo platters), is directed and co-written by Fede Alvarez, the same guy behind Don’t Breathe and the remake of Evil Dead (which was better than it ever had a right to be). Even his most maligned film, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, was a wild, stylish thrill ride. Alvarez is definitely the right choice to breathe new life into the franchise. More than any entry since Alien, this one feels like a horror movie.

Whether one considers Alien: Romulus a sequel, prequel or spin-off, it fits nicely within the franchise timeline, taking place between the first and second films. Five young people seek to escape the slave-like conditions of a mining colony run by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. For the nine-year journey to another planet, they need the cryo-tubes onboard an abandoned space station orbiting above. However, they discover the hard way the station wasn’t actually abandoned, and restoring the systems unleashes a whole lot of facehuggers. As if that weren’t bad enough, it turns there is also a new batch of xenomorphs on-board, the result of the company experiments that didn’t end well. Does it ever?

When you sneeze in zero gravity.

But it wouldn’t be an Alien film without the usual Weyland-Yutani shenanigans, would it? Speaking of which, Romulus is chock full of references to previous movies, sometimes as exposition, other times mere fan service, the latter of which is occasionally an unnecessary distraction. Sure, some fans might get a kick out of a new character uttering the immortal line, “Get away from her, you bitch,” but there’s absolutely no reason to use the late Ian Holm’s likeness (and a voice actor who sounds just like him) for another evil android. That's a worse decision than bringing Peter Cushing back from the dead for Rogue One.

Besides, Romulus introduces a pretty neat droid of its own. Andy (David Jonsson) is a discarded Weyland-Yutani product reprogrammed to be a companion/protector of main protagonist Rain (Cailee Spaeny). Their relationship makes them the movie’s most engaging characters, while the rest are comparatively bland (though Spike Fearn as android-hating Bjorn is fun to despise). 

Elsewhere, Romulus follows a similar narrative pattern to the first two films. taking time to establish the setting, scenario and characters before ramping up the tension. Not only are there xenomorphs & facehuggers to worry about, but the aforementioned nefarious android and another relentless countdown before the entire station is destroyed (voiced by MU/TH/UR!). And sure, there are the bloody alien kills and chest bursting scenes we’re all familiar with, but Alavarez manages to thrown-in a few nasty surprises of his own. It’s all deftly directed, with a couple of thrilling sequences as good as anything Ridley Scott or James Cameron came up with.

Did we need another Alien film? Probably not. This one doesn’t introduce new elements or concepts…just a fun, scary spin-off that, despite numerous shout-outs to the rest of the franchise, still tells a good stand-alone story. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

RETURN TO HORROR: CRAFTING ALIEN: ROMULUS - This is a pretty good four-part making-of documentary totalling 25 minutes.

FEATURETTES - Inside the Xenomorph Showdown features director/co-writer Fede Alvarez and others discussing zero-gravity elevator sequence; Alien: A Conversation features Alvarez and talking with original Alien director Ridley Scott (Alvarez’ idol worship is endearing).

4 ALTERNATE/EXTENDED SCENES

Something's Wrong with Dad in THE BEAST WITHIN

THE BEAST WITHIN (Blu-ray)

2024 / 97 min

FROM WELL GO USA

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Here’s a werewolf movie that tries to do something a little different with the concept, which is appreciated since these beasties haven’t really been all that scary in years. The Beast Within isn’t particularly scary either, but director Alexander J. Farrell obviously has loftier intentions than serving-up another lycan on the rampage. However, the film is a mixed bag and requires more patience than some horror fans might have.

Willow (Caoilinn Springall) is a little girl living at a remote farmhouse in the forest with her parents, Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings) & Noah (Kit Harrington), and grandad Waylon (James Cosnmo). It seems like an idyllic existence, save for one thing…Imogen frequently drives Noah into the deep woods, bringing along a caged pig each time. He returns the next day, clothes covered in blood. 

Though they try to keep it a secret from her, Willow follows them one night and discovers Dad’s a werewolf (though he’s never referred to as one). Of course, she’s initially horrified, but Noah assures her she’s safe. The only one who’s not quite so optimistic is Waylon. For good reason, it turns out. Though the farmhouse is fortified with fencing and a massive gate, it may not be enough to protect them from Dad’s animal side.

"Dad, they put mayo on my sandwich. Go kill them."

Atmospheric and somber in overall tone, The Beast Within is deliberately paced, taking its time - maybe too much - revealing the family secret and Dad’s true nature, which the audience will have figured out within minutes. Still, we’re invested in Willow’s character, who’s nicely played by Springall. The same can’t be said about her parents, who seem protective and loving one minute, cold and aloof the next…especially Dad. As the narrative unfolds, it suggests that he might actually be pretty abusive.,,even when he's not transformed

The scenes depicting this unusual family dynamic become pretty meandering after awhile, especially after Noah’s curse is revealed. In fact, aside from a few effective dream sequences, the movie doesn’t really venture into full-blown horror territory until the final act, which ultimately makes the first two-thirds worth enduring. With more of an emphasis on tension than special effects, we hear the creature long before we actually see him, which is a nice touch. And when he is finally revealed, at least we aren’t laughing.

While an air of inevitability hangs over the entire film - meaning it ends the only way it really can - Farrell does attempt a little slight-of-hand with the final scene, which could be seen as either clever or a cheap shot. But for the most part, The Beast Within is a decent werewolf film that might be worth checking out for patient viewers.