THE UNHOLY TRINITY: At Least Someone's Still Making Westerns

THE UNHOLY TRINITY (Blu-ray)

2024 / 95 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Buckaroo😽

We don’t get a lot of westerns these days, so if nothing else, we can appreciate movies like The Unholy Trinity keeping the torch burning. 

Not that it does anything to breathe new life into the genre. Despite a couple of marquee names above the title, the movie came-and-went in theaters nearly unnoticed. And creatively, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Some impressive Montana location work notwithstanding, The Unholy Trinity is watchable but nothing remarkable, kind of like director Richard Gray’s last film (also a western), Murder in Yellowstone City.

In this one, Henry (Brandon Lessard) is young man out to avenge the execution of his father, Isaac Broadway (Tim Daly), who claimed he was framed by Saul Butler, the sheriff of Trinity. Though inexperienced, Henry travels to the town intent on shooting Butler, fulfilling a promise he made just before Isaac was hanged. But it turns out Butler is already dead and has since been replaced by a new sheriff, Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan).

Henry was promised ice cream, but it soon became obvious none was coming.

At this point, a lot of additional plot (maybe too much) is thrown into the film. It so happens that Isaac wasn’t a saint and most of the town hated him, especially St. Christopher (Samuel L. Jackson), who once partnered with Isaac for a gold theft but was later screwed over. Now he believes the stolen gold is buried somewhere in town. Meanwhile, Gabriel takes Henry under his wing, protecting him from a band of angry miners after the kid kills a couple of them in self-defense. There’s also a posse forming to track down a Blackfoot woman named Running Cub (Q’orianka Kilcher), believed to be the one who shot Butler.

These concurrent plotlines are rendered a bit more murky by additional developments and characters, some relevant, others kind of superfluous. But there’s some decent action here and there, which of course culminates in a climactic shoot-out. This is when Henry goes from gullible rube to fighting by Gabriel’s side faster than it takes to reload a six-shooter, reflective of a screenplay that’s far more committed to fully developing the Gabriel and St. Christopher characters than its main protagonist. And if I were lucky enough to land Brosnan and Jackson in those roles, I’d probably do the same thing. Their performances are easily the best part of the movie, while Lessard is merely adequate.

Elsewhere, The Unholy Trinity is technically proficient and well paced, though it plays like one of those movies destined to be something you stumble upon while searching a streaming service with no particular title in-mind. But while there’s nothing memorable or distinctive about the film, it’s a serviceable enough little western if you keep your expectations in check.

LOCKED: Anthony Hopkins Phones-It-In...Again

LOCKED (DVD)

2025 / 94 min

Paramount

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Road Warrior😽

Self-absorbed deadbeat dad Eddie Barrish (Bill Skarsgard) needs cash fast, so when he spots a fancy new SUV sitting unattended in a parking lot, he decides to steal it. 

But Eddie learns the hard way this isn’t just any SUV. Breaking into it is easy, getting out is another story. The doors lock, trapping him inside. The interior is soundproof and the windows are indestructible, which Eddie learns the hard way when he tries to shoot the glass, causing the bullet to ricochet into his leg. When the vehicle’s owner, William (Anthony Hopkins), calls through the car phone, he makes clear his intention to terrorize Eddie…

…and he has just the car to do it. William has customized the SUV so he can drive it remotely and control everything inside (radio, climate control, etc). Worse yet, the seats are equipped with tasers, which he repeatedly uses on Eddie. It turns out William has a pretty good reason for luring Eddie into the car, and for awhile, we might even empathize with his desire for revenge. Conversely, Eddie’s kind of a jackass, concerned only about himself. But during a key moment involving Eddie’s little daughter (and kinda disturbing if you’re a parent), William is revealed to be truly psychotic, while Eddie is overcome with remorse over how he’s been neglecting her.

"Yes, this is my burrito. And no, you may not have a bite."

Taking place primarily inside the car, Locked is a pretty entertaining psychological thriller with an interesting premise, though a little suspension of disbelief is certainly required at times. Being the only onscreen character for a majority of the film, Skarsgard delivers a solid performance that grows in intensity as Eddie becomes increasingly desperate. As for Hopkins…this is the second film I’ve seen - following 2022’s Zero Contact - where he’s literally phoning-it-in. We never actually see him until the final act, and while Hopkins is incapable of giving a bad performance, it doesn’t look like he’s trying all that hard here.

For a second-tier thriller, Locked more or less delivers as advertised. Considering the premise, the film lacks the tension and pace to be anything truly remarkable, but it’s proficiently put together and an agreeable way to kill ninety minutes. However, I’m not sure why it’s labeled as part of the Paramount Scares series. There’s nothing about it that could remotely be considered horror.

BRING HER BACK: Grim, Gruesome and Great

BRING HER BACK (Blu-ray)

2025 / 104 min

A24 Films

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

As I get older, I tend to base my horror choices on who’s directing them, rather than a killer trailer, plot synopsis or who happens to be in the cast. Trust me, 50+ years of watching a genre where the bad ones far outnumber the good ones can do that to you. 

But in general, horror is in a good place right now, with quite a few directors committed to creating smart, atmospheric films that either offer something we haven’t seen before, or at least put a unique spin on a familiar premise. Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, Zach Cregger and Ari Aster are directors whose movies I’m totally on-board for without even knowing what they’re about. In fact, I prefer go into them cold. 

After catching Bring Her Back, I’m probably adding sibling directors Danny and Michael Philippou to that list. Their first film, 2022’s Talk to Me, was a wonderfully twisted surprise, which did slightly elevate my expectations for this one. Though maybe just a tad less narratively cohesive, Bring Her Back is another brutal banger of a horror film.

Luckily, I was able to check this one out completely cold as well, so for the sake of those reading this who are similarly unaware, I’ll refrain from going into much detail about the premise or plot. But like Talk to Me, this one centers around a couple of siblings, 17-year-old Andy (Billy Barratt) and functionally-blind younger sister Piper (Sora Wong). After their father suddenly dies, they’re placed in the care of Laura (Sally Hawkins), a former counselor whose own daughter died from drowning. Also living there is a selectively-mute young boy, Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), who lurks around the house wearing nothing but a swimsuit.

Guess who just gave her cat a bath.

Right from the get-go, we sense something’s not quite right about Laura, even though she doesn’t initially say or do anything particularly sinister. However, Hawkins’ note-perfect performance immediately has us on-edge. Most of the story takes place in and around Laura’s house, but to reveal much beyond that would spoil the fun. The narrative unfolds at a deliberate pace and never spoonfeeds the audience with details or exposition that ultimately don’t matter. 

What does matter is the forboding tone, complex characters and increasing sense of dread, and for anyone who assumes the somewhat ominous title suggests a movie akin to Pet Sematary, you’ve got no idea what’s in store for you. Bring Her Back is relentlessly downbeat and grim, punctuated by shocking bursts of violence and gore that’ll have some viewers squirming. At the same time, it's often emotionally affecting and thought provoking.

Only near the end do a few minor cracks appear, perhaps exacerbated by the Philippous trying a little too hard to juggle psychological and supernatural horror elements (one could argue that they should've chosen one or the other). Still, Bring Her Back is an atmospheric, compellingly dark ride, boosted by a perceptive writing (especially regarding the characters) and excellent performances. These two directors are definitely on a roll.

EXTRA KIBBLES

COMING FULL CIRCLE: MAKING BRING HER BACK - 20-minute featurette with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. I suspect Danny and Michael Philippou are pretty fun to tip a few back with.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Danny and Michael Philippou.

SIX BEHIND-THE-SCENES POSTCARDS - A24 seems to be doing this with most of their releases. A nice touch.

DAKOTA: Fly, Dick, Fly!

DAKOTA (Blu-ray)

1974 / 102 min

Cult Epics

Review by Mr. Paws😾

See Dick (Kees Brusse). See Dick’s plane. See Dick fly his plane. See Dick take a job because he needs the money. See Dick fly his plane some more. Fly, Dick, fly! See Dick spend the entire middle act refueling his plane mid-flight with a hand pump. Pump, Dick, Pump! See one of Dick’s engines overheat and stop working without impeding his journey whatsoever. See Dick land safely. See Dick share a blunt with his friend’s wife. Smoke, Dick, smoke! See Dick get paid so he can keep flying. The End.

There you go…almost the entire plot of Dakota, an obscure 1974 Dutch film by Wim Verstappen, who's probably best known in his home country for the sex flick, Blue Movie. But don’t go expecting any soft core shenanigans in this one. The sexiest it gets is when a nubile young woman, Claudia (Monique van de Hen), inexplicably throws herself at old Dick, who shuns her advances. In fact, he spends the first half of the film avoiding her efforts to charter his plane. This aspect of the narrative is then dropped altogether when old friend Helen (Theo van der Groen) hires him to smuggle some crates across the ocean. 

A couple of frequent fliers.

From this point on, Dakota features no conflict, antagonists or character development…just Dick flying his crusty old DC-3 to his destination. As the main character, he’s not particularly likable or interesting. All we really know about him is he loves to fly. The film occasionally teases us with a potential crisis - like the aforementioned engine overheating - but for the most part, Dick’s flight is about as eventful as the average morning commute. 

If Dakota is supposed to be some sort of metaphorical journey, I sure as hell never found any underlying theme. For Dick’s trip to represent anything beyond flying his plane, perhaps the first half of the film should have established him as a bit more than a cantankerous guy who smuggles stuff. Aside from decent cinematography (some of it by future Speed director Jan de Bont), Dakota drones on and on without ever taking off.

EXTRA KIBBLES

DAKOTA PRESS FLIGHT - Exactly what the title implies…a 20 minute promo film from 1974.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Peter Verstraten.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 1978 (Vara Visie)

PHOTO GALLERY

REVERSIBLE COVER

MANIFEST Never Soars, But Never Stalls

MANIFEST - THE COMPLETE SERIES (Blu-ray)

2018-2023 / 3,720 min (62 episodes)

Warner Bros

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Princess Pepper😺

Manifest is one of those shows I considered giving a shot when it first aired, but never got around to it. Part of the reason is because my viewing habits generally preclude tuning in at the same time each week. More problematically, a lot of serialized programs require you to jump on-board at episode one, otherwise you’re lost and playing catch-up. For example, I was once sent Season Four of Game of Thrones to review, but never having watched it before, it took me several episodes to know what the hell was going on.

But worst of all are the times I got sucked into shows like Revolution and Surface, only to be left hanging when they were unceremoniously cancelled without any storylines being resolved. That’s the same fate that befell Manifest, too, at least until Netflix stepped in to bring the series to a proper conclusion with a fourth and final season. While a majority of Netflix’s original programming leaves me cold, I do appreciate that they’ve thrown lifelines to several previously cancelled shows.

Now all 62 episodes of Manifest are available in this 13-disc Blu-ray set. So if nothing else, the sprawling story and all its subplots are can be devoured to completion for as long as your sofa remains comfortable. And binging really is the best way to enjoy this show. Not that it compelled me to pull any all-nighters, but the primary story and about half of its subplots were just engaging enough for me to repeatedly tell myself “just one more episode” (or two, or three) before turning in for the evening. 

Flight 828, carrying 191 passengers from Jamaica to New York, goes missing for  5½ years. When the plane finally reaches its destination, no actual time has passed for the passengers themselves. To them, their flight landed as scheduled. Where they’ve been the entire time is a mystery that gains the worlds attention, including government agencies tasked with trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, these passengers face worldwide public scrutiny, both good and bad.

"How come you guys get binoculars and I don't?"

The bulk of the ongoing story arc centers on the Stone family, whose lives are completely upended, as are those of friends and loved ones they’ve returned to. It’s also revealed that all the passengers now experience visions (which they refer to as “callings”) compelling them to figure out what they mean, which usually ends up saving someone’s life or - more ominously - offering clues to their possible fates. It also turns out that ignoring callings has dire consequences. Concurrently, the NSA is doing experiments involving some passengers with plans of weaponizing their new abilities.

The first couple of seasons reminded me of Stephen King novels like Firestarter and The Institute, where people with supernatural talents are exploited by nefarious government organizations. Those aspects of Manifest are pretty interesting, with antagonists we enjoy hating while establishing certain 828ers as especially gifted. Though it’s the primary story arc driving the entire series, there are frequent subplots and narrative detours. Some side stories are succinctly wrapped up in a single episode, others lay the groundwork for later developments. Well conceived characters and decent overall performances help, though a few of them seem to be taking turns being the most obnoxious, shrill or irritating. 

As a result, Manifest never quite soars, but never stalls, either. For every compelling plotline, there’s one that might test the viewer’s patience (especially regarding some of the main characters’ relationships). While watching, there were occasions when I’d wish they’d just get on with it, only for the episode to conclude on an ominous cliffhanger, compelling me to keep charging forward. Eventually, layer upon layer of plot twists, revelations and apocalyptic implications build up to the point where the viewer becomes hopeful that the conclusion will be nothing short of mindblowing. It isn’t, and roughly halfway into Season Three, the biblical allusions and increasing Kumbaya tone hint at an underwhelming denouement.

But while I think the entire thing could have been more effective as a miniseries (maybe even a single epic movie), Manifest generally does a good job maintaining our interest in its busy plot over 62 episodes. Ultimately, I doubt I would have stuck with the show if forced to tune in once a week, but binging until you’ve had your fill for the night is pretty fun.

CROWN OF SHADOWS Wields A Dull Blade

CROWN OF SHADOWS (DVD)

2024 / 142 min

High Fliers Films

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😾

On the DVD cover, there’s a review quote from a website touting Crown of Shadows as “Game of Thrones meets 300.” While that might sound enticing to some, it’s been my experience that no movie promoted as “(insert title) meets (insert title)” has ever been any good.

Sure enough, this creatively bankrupt exercise in tedium makes your typical mockbuster from The Asylum look like…well, Game of Thrones or 300. Worse yet, it runs a deadly 142 minutes. Even worse than that, there’s so much obvious use of AI that I can’t help but question the amount of actual human effort involved in throwing it all together.

The generic plot has Prince Elderon (Andrew Gourlay) on a quest to defeat his evil sister, Queen Ginnarra (Megan Tremethick), who cruelly rules the kingdom of Aberon with otherworldly help from “the Dark Gods.” But he’s not alone. Elderon discovers he has the ability to summon dragons, just like his murdered father, which makes him the right guy to lead a resistance against Ginnarra. 

Even if you aren’t necessarily a stickler for originality, it is atrociously written, the story, dialogue and characters coming across like teenage fan fiction. And not only is the movie long, it moves at a snail’s pace, with interminable scenes of characters taking excruciatingly long pauses between delivering their lines (exacerbated by pedestrian performances). 

Somebody's doin' a little crop-dusting.

Most of the conflict is presented through exposition rather than on-screen action, which might actually be a good thing, since the fight scenes are clumsy and the CGI is only a step or two above video game graphics. It is accompanied by a music score loaded with obnoxious, repetitive chants that sound like the kind of heavy metal lyrics Ronnie James Dio would’ve discarded for being too trite.

But the real rub here is the abundance of AI used to make everything look more epic. Not only are the differences between these sequences and location shots aesthetically jarring, it’s overuse makes one ponder how much they relied on AI for other things. It sure would explain the derivative story, silly screenplay and monotonous music.

But even if you’re one of those who are totally cool with AI replacing genuine creativity, Crown of Shadows is a laborious endurance test. Too long and slow to even qualify as so-bad-it’s-good, just staying awake for the entire film might be one hell of an accomplishment.

25 CATS FROM QATAR: A Real-Life Incredible Journey

25 CATS FROM QATAR (Blu-ray)

2025 / 95 min

Whole Grain Pictures

Review by Dave, the Cat Dad😸

My two cats, Pepper and Mr. Bonnie, don’t know suffering, sadness, fear, hunger or even a dirty litter box. Ever since adopting them two years ago, they lead a carefree life of total luxury and basically run the house, which is strewn with cat toys in every room (including some that didn’t start out as cat toys, like all my hair ties). 

Do they appreciate how good they have it? Probably not, which is part of what makes them endearing. To them, I’m not a parent or master…I just happen to be the roommate who pays all the bills (and as I write this, Pepper is glancing at me with a face that suggests, “At least you know your place, Dave”). 

All cats should be entitled to a life like this. Unfortunately, most aren’t, especially if they're unfortunate enough to live in Qatar. Millions of strays struggle to survive on its streets. What’s sad (and infuriating) is many of them were once pets owned by people living there temporarily, but when they moved back home, the cats were left behind to fend for themselves. I hope there’s a special place in Hell for those folks.

Some are lucky enough to find care with individuals who do their best to feed and give medical treatment. But these guys mostly doing it on their own dime and can’t possibly save them all. In the documentary, 25 Cats from Qatar, we meet some of them, as well as the cats they try to help. These animals are often malnourished, alarmingly thin, often suffering from infections or injuries from living on the street. Animal lovers be warned, especially those who hold cats near and dear to their hearts…these sequences are heartbreaking and tough to watch.

Her pet deposit must be astronomical.

But thanks to Katy McHugh, an American cat cafe owner, a couple dozen of these cats are getting a chance to start a new life. At her own expense, she arranges to travel to the city of Doha and select 25 to bring home for adoption. It’s not an easy task…not only do the cats need to be healthy enough to survive the journey, she must select those most likely to be adopted out. The film mostly focuses on a half-dozen candidates, and what Katy’s does to give them the best chance. Each cat has a unique story, and the viewer can’t help but become emotionally invested in their journey. 

While watching the film, I regarded Pepper & Mr. Bonnie, lounging on the sofa with me without a care in the world. “You two little divas don’t know how good you have it,” I said. Mr. Bonnie stared back and arrogantly merped, which I interpreted as, “You say something, can opener?”

As harrowing as the scenes of feral strays and permanently disabled cats are, the cat rescue itself (which ends up being more than 25…yay!) is joyous and heartwarming. Though we’re reminded that Katy’s efforts are just a drop in the ocean, they are life changing for a few fuzzy felines. Unless you’re complete lacking empathy, 25 Cats from Qatar is a deeply affecting film.

EXTRA KIBBLES

PREMIERE EVENT Q&A