Michael Mann’s “Collateral” (2004) knows that the city at night is a different beast, a living, breathing entity that has a completely different feel from the day.

This is something Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” (1985) also knows, as people don’t behave the same way at night.

The rules are different.

Max, the cab driver played by Jamie Foxx, has seen it all, or at least thinks he has. Time spent in his cab, which he drives with pride and care, is intended to raise money for a real dream ahead.

Until then, it’s momentary pleasures and welcome connections, like the wonderful exchange he makes with a lovely woman (Jada Pinkett-Smith) near the end of his shift. It looks as though Max, as simple and disciplined as he is at his profession, is doing okay.

Things seem like they’re working out, as his occupation allows him to be inching towards where he wants to go in life…and then Vincent (Tom Cruise) enters his cab. As we quickly discover (though the opening scene and the trailers all cued us in), Vincent is a professional killer, and Max is now the hostage and unwilling sidekick to Vincent’s busy night of assignments.

FAST FACT: “Collateral” earned an impressive $220 million worldwide, the most for any Michael Mann production. His 2009 film “Public Enemies” came in a close second with $217 million globally.

The screenplay by Stuart Beattie became famous for the revolving door of actors who courted the project, reportedly gave their best during table reads, then ditched. My favorite almost-pairing was when Cruise nearly had Adam Sandler as his co-star.

Based on the quality of his dramatic work, I suspect Sandler would have been wonderful. Yet, as much as this is yet another ideal vehicle for Cruise (more on that later), Foxx is remarkable.

Coming out the same year as his Oscar-winning turn in “Ray,” Foxx beautifully plays Max as a kind, wise and vulnerable man. Max will not admit that he’s stuck in a rut until he must take action against a passenger who might just be the devil.

I don’t mean this literally…actually, it could be taken as that.

Cruise uses his smile, intense stare and presence not as an invitation but as Vincent’s way of holding Max in his grasp. Cruise has been exceptional in two handers before, namely “Rain Man” (1988). Here, the contrast between the two characters and acting styles makes for an electric pairing.

Michael Mann #BOTD going over a scene with Tom Cruise for Collateral (2004). pic.twitter.com/espsuzu9mf

— Tico Romao (@Tico_Romao) February 6, 2023

“Collateral” is surprisingly funny, though it is beautiful and melancholy enough to suggest that it is taking place in the same world (if not just a few streets down) from Mann’s “Heat” (1995). It’s also an existential film, exploring how random meetings can create lasting contacts or, in this case, an unwanted form of capture.

For example, Vincent almost takes a different cab. We gasp in hindsight, knowing how close Max comes to never meeting the worst customer of his life.

Some moments seem frozen in time, such as when Max and Vincent note a wolf crossing an empty street, and the sustained look they give each other while Vincent is busy murdering a lot of people in a crowded room.

RELATED: MANN’s ‘THE KEEP’ REMAINS A FASCINATING MISFIRE

This latter sequence, set to Paul Oakenfold’s “Ready Steady Go,” is a tremendous set piece. Yet, while this action high point and the third act render this into a chase thriller, much of “Collateral” is a dialogue-driven character piece, more an art movie than simply action.

Some of this is slow enough that the tension dissipates by the second act, but the actors and Mann’s remarkable staging of the violent confrontations charge it back to life.

While Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem and Pinkett-Smith are excellent in this, the movie belongs to Cruise and Foxx.

Vincent is a wonderful villain because of how much we don’t know about him. At one point, he tells Max an anecdote about his father that presents a delicious secret. I’m still wondering if Vincent is lying about his dad.

Another source of mystery that I still think about: some complained about the odd choice for Vincent to have silver hair, but I wonder if that’s also a front. Like a devilish seduction, Vincent gives Max a confidence and swagger he otherwise lacked, first when Max impersonates Vincent and later when he finally stands up to him.

The two share a dark kinship as people who are very good at what they do but no one notices them

“Collateral” is episodic, to be sure, but scene for scene, it gets better as it rolls along. There’s a sequence in a jazz club that is perfectly written, performed and staged.

Three characters lose themselves in the joy of each other’s company, until one of them announces that they’re there as an angel of death.

Something I love about Mann’s films is how, no matter how big or small the role, he clearly loves his characters.

The technology on display is, of course, dated, as flip phones are in plain view. Some of the soundtrack choices are dry, like the use of a Vangelis deep cut from the “1492: Conquest of Paradise” (1992) soundtrack.

I’m nitpicking, of course, as this small but sensational work from one of our greatest living filmmakers has aged well. Beattie’s screenplay is his best, as this easily could have been a schlocky B-movie, along the lines of “Cellular” (2004) or “Phone Booth” (2003).

In Mann’s hands, it’s dark poetry about two souls who, in an ideal world, should never have found one another.

The post Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral’ Still Hits Hard 20 Years Later appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Jussie Smollett. Bubba Wallace. Michael Brown. And, for those with long memories, Tawana Brawley.

The list of hate crime hoaxes is nauseating and long, but most documentary filmmakers have little desire to turn their cameras on the subject.

Enter The Daily Caller.

The conservative platform is churning out documentaries to fill the gaps left by Hollywood, Inc. The site’s “Demand for Hate” gets to the heart of the hoax matter, exploring a revolting case that turned a young woman’s life upside down over what appears to be a lie.

The documentary spends most of its screen time on Morgan Bettinger, a UVA student accused of saying she wanted black protesters to be run over like speed bumps.

Except there’s little proof she said that. In fact, she says she shared the opposite thought. Had a truck driver not blocked the roadway, something tragic might have happened, she mused at the time.

No matter. 

On-site protesters ran with the unpleasant narrative, and her UVA dreams curdled into a nightmare. Her cancellation will sound eerily familiar to most viewers.

• Social media persecution
• Abandoned by adults who should know better
• Judged guilty by her peers, facts be damned

“Demand for Hate” examines the case, blaming everyone from the media to the university’s brass for turning a misunderstanding into a debacle on all fronts.

Why?

They said the current hate hoax wave began with Trayvon Martin, the black teen shot by George Zimmerman during an altercation. We may never know what happened between the two, but the Left and the Media (redundant) falsely claimed the clash came down to bigotry.

NBC even selectively edited a Zimmerman 911 call to suggest that fake narrative. Other journalists made up the “White Hispanic” label for Zimmerman.

That, plus the Michael Brown imbroglio set the stage for future hate crime hoaxes. 

It’s a microcosm of what’s wrong with western culture today.

Except given all the hate crime hoaxes of the last few years it shouldn’t absorb so much of the film’s running time. Yes, Bettinger’s case matters, but showing a breadth of similar hoaxes would paint a more powerful picture of why they keep happening.

The film addresses some of the root causes behind said hoaxes. The conservative film takes a surprisingly measured look at the matter. We don’t get partisan talking heads eager to exploit the issue.

instead, “Hate Crime Hoax” author Wilfred Reilly, Legal Insurrection founder William A. Jacobson and others weigh in with keenly observed truths. They describe the mob mentality that fuels these hoaxes along with the media’s culpability. 

Social media also makes matters worse, with cyber-bullying attacking people like Bettinger without context or facts.

A darkly comic segment follows a focus group sharing their views on the subject. When someone asks if the group trusts the mainstream media they answer in near-unison.

“No.”

The documentary takes a bird’s eye view of the culture late in the film, but the observations feel rushed and inadequate to the larger issues in play.

The filmmakers tried to interview Zyahna Bryant, the activist who helped rally the Left against Bettinger, UVA officials and University President James Ryan to glean their side of the story.

They all declined. Their silence speaks volumes. So does the lawsuit that gives the film a marginal happy ending.

“Demand for Hate” offers a single quote to sum it all up, courtesy of Jim Bacon from The Jefferson Council.

“There’s not enough racism to go around.”

HiT or Miss: “Demand for Hate” is a flawed but fascinating look at the rise in hate crime hoaxes.

The post ‘Demand for Hate’ Gets to Heart of Hate Crime Hoaxes appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

It’s back to basics for Team Pixar.

The studio, which could do no wrong for years, is suddenly falling back on sequels to its more popular titles.

Hard.

If “Inside Out 2” is any indication, it could be the most conservative path from a bean counter perspective. We may not get any future classics, but “Inside Out 2” shows the tried and true is good enough for families starved for appropriate fare.

Faint praise? Perhaps. It’s an upgrade over recent Disney-fied titles.

Young Riley (Kensington Tallman) still hears voices in her head. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear are back from the first film, embodying the youngster’s mood on any given day.

Except there’s something new in Riley’s life, and it’s bound to shake up the emotional world depicted in the first film.

Puberty.

Riley is obsessed with thriving at summer hockey camp, but middle-school-aged pressures keep getting in the way. Should she bond with her favorite gal pals or cozy up to the hockey phenom with the badass streak in her hair?

Can she score enough goals to impress her cranky coach, or will she crumble under the pressure?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Franchise fans care about one question above all – will Joy and co. keep her kindhearted nature alive while a flood of emotions crashes over her biological shores?

It’s the latter that matters most, of course. Amy Poehler’s Joy leads the way, reminding us how gifted the “Parks and Recreation” alum remains even without any physicality to bump up the gags.

The laughs generated this time around aren’t as big as before. It’s a series of snickers and smiles, from clever wordplay to sly visual gags.

RELATED: EX-DISNEY ANIMATOR: STOP PUTTING THE MESSAGE FIRST 

And, as is too common with modern animation, the frantic action often takes the place of sweet, emotional storytelling. The latter is there, often conveyed in Riley’s evolving expressions. Kudos to the animated team that brought such complexity to the pre-teen’s mug.

Still, introducing Anxiety (Maya Hawke) into the girl’s emotional world is a masterstroke. So, too, is avoiding the kind of adult material that has inundated Disney content in recent years.

“Inside Out 2” isn’t woke, assuming you look past the hockey team’s aggressive diversity. It’s like a modern TV commercial but more obvious.

The unabashed scene stealer? Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui, the French emotion with the beatnik wardrobe. Kids may not know what Ennui means, but they’ll laugh all the same. The film uses Ennui sparingly, which isn’t true for Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). The new emotion’s one-note shtick grows tired fast.

Powerful lessons abound, from the pitfalls of ignoring old friends to the perils of putting too much pressure on a specific goal or task. Riley’s innate kindness is her super power, not that blistering slapshot.

That’s the sort of universal sentiment that powers family-friendly fare, the kind Pixar once delivered for grateful parents and grandparents.

“Inside Out 2” can’t out-perform its predecessor, but its sweet storytelling will go down easily this summer.

HiT or Miss: “Inside Out 2” expands the original’s canvas, providing a witty look at teen angst.

The post ‘Inside Out 2’ Leaves the Lectures Off Screen appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” isn’t the first time the actor took a massive risk in presenting a lavish, three-hour western during the summer movie season.

Thirty years ago, during the busy summer of 1994, Costner headlined Lawrence Kasdan’s “Wyatt Earp.”

Kasdan’s film, which covers a lot of the same ground as George P. Cosmatos’ “Tombstone” (or Kurt Russell’s “Tombstone,” depending on whose account you believe) arrived six months in theaters after “Tombstone” (1993).

To put it mildly, the timing of the release and the comparison between the two films put Kasdan’s film at a major disadvantage.

In the most expansive and thorough manner imaginable, Kasdan presents Earp’s childhood with his strong, inspiring father (Gene Hackman), Earp’s early marriage that ends in tragedy, then his transformation from a criminal into an infamous law enforcer, to the central figure of the gunfight at O.K. Corral.

We get much more, although the film stops short of giving us Earp on his deathbed.

To cut to the point: I’m a fan of this movie, which has wonderful moments, but sitting through the three hour and 11-minute running time is like binge-watching a series that is sometimes rewarding, sometimes frustrating.

“Wyatt Earp” deserves to be rediscovered and is far better than its reputation, though the quicker on its feet “Tombstone” is, without a doubt, the stronger and more focused of the two. Kurt Russell as Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday remain iconic figures in western cinema history, as does “Tombstone” itself.

Kasdan’s film is a true western saga, a sprawling character study of how Earp learns to become like his father: tough as leather, impossible to knock over and forever devoted to family. The story is about the development of a killer instinct and how it serves a young man who grows up amongst the most lawless and murderous creatures of the wild west.

Earp is introduced as naïve, boyish and inexperienced, aiming his pistol at the moon. As the story progresses, we see how cold, hardened and unflinching he is, as steely a killer as he is a lawman.

Earp’s dark night of the soul (after losing the love of his life) goes on too long and is the first instance where the film’s pacing starts to work against it. “Tombstone” barely knew what to do with its female characters – the scenes between Russell and Dana Delaney are embarrassing.

The love stories within “Wyatt Earp” are handled far better.

Kevin Costner reflects on releasing his Western epic Wyatt Earp just six months after Kurt Russell played Earp in the 1993 action film Tombstone. https://t.co/C2eQY6ZspB

— Screen Rant (@screenrant) May 24, 2024

On the other hand, “Tombstone’s” ensemble cast is better assembled, as the villains are vivid, the smallest roles are perfectly cast and even Jason Priestley is well suited for the film. In “Wyatt Earp,” aside from the above-the-title players, there are actors who are too contemporary for their roles (like Tom Sizemore and Bill Pullman) and the villains (played by Jeff Fahey and Lewis Smith) don’t come into focus.

Kasdan’s film is romantic about the west, while “Tombstone” is the brisk B-movie that gets right to the heart of the story. For a much fuller story, the true love story at the center, that being the brotherhood between Earp and Holliday, is better handled in “Tombstone,” with its moving final scene a master class between Russell and Kilmer.

Here, a title card concludes the involving dynamic between the two.

RELATED: COSTNER: AMERICAN SUCCESS STORIES AREN’T FAKE

Cosmatos’ film is rightly considered one of the greatest westerns ever made – over time, it’s even surpassed the popularity of Best Picture winner “Unforgiven” (1992) and Costner’s own “Dances With Wolves” (1990).

Kasdan’s film isn’t on the same level, though there are great scenes throughout, like how Earp gets deputized on the spot after instantly ending a shooting spree. James Newton Howard’s score has the strength and beauty of the best of John Williams.

Despite what many incorrectly state, “Waterworld” was neither a major flop nor the film that sidelined Costner’s career. Actually, the film’s box office and critic reception wasn’t bad.

A year later, Costner had a word-of-mouth hit with “Tin Cup.” It wasn’t until “The Postman” (1998) that Costner’s career looked like it cratered…until a year later, when “Message in a Bottle” was a surprise hit.

If Costner has anything in common with Earp, it’s his ability to reinvent and rebuild his reputation in the public eye. Neither Earp nor Costner has ever stayed on the ground after getting knocked especially hard.

Costner has always excelled playing characters with a dark side, which is why the second act of “Wyatt Earp” really cooks.

’Wyatt Earp’ starring Kevin Costner premiered in theaters 27 years ago today, June 24, 1994 pic.twitter.com/80ApN8h3hy

— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) June 24, 2021

Another massive reason, and perhaps the biggest factor why this needs to be revisited, is Dennis Quaid’s take on Doc Holliday. it is a transformative, intelligent and funny performance.

Every scene Costner shares with Quaid is a great one. Quaid’s take on the character is different from Val Kilmer’s extraordinary turn in “Tombstone,” but let me say this- overlooking Kilmer for a Best Supporting Actor nomination is every bit as stupid as Quaid’s being overlooked for his work here.

Holliday isn’t an easy character to get right, let alone humanize. Kilmer’s work is a milestone in his amazing body of work, but so is Quaid’s performance, among the most surprising and richest in his career.

I’ve been told that there is a longer version of “Wyatt Earp” available overseas and that it’s far preferable. However you absorb the film, it is lengthy and falls short of “Tombstone” but ignoring it is to miss out on major acting highlights from Costner and Quaid, and a gem from Lawrence Kasdan that deserves another day in the sun.

The post How Costner’s ‘Wyatt Earp’ Set the Stage for ‘Horizon’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Few phrases capture a sports fan’s agony like “Bucky F***ing Dent.”

The light-hitting Yankees shortstop made Red Sox fans miserable in 1978, turning his name into a Beantown slur. His stunning, three-run homer in the one-game playoff between the bitter rivals is one of baseball’s best moments.

It also inspired the title behind David Duchovny’s “Bucky F***ing Dent,” the novel he turned into his second directorial effort.

“Reverse the Curse” should throb with a fan’s undying passion. Instead, the story teeters between forced humor and treacly melodrama. A few poignant moments rise to the surface, suggesting what a far better film might look like.

That’s a shame because Duchovny hasn’t been this compelling in a while.

It’s 1978, and our main character spends his days flinging peanuts to hungry fans at Yankee Stadium.

Teddy (Logan Marshall-Green) wants to write novels, but he’s stuck in perpetual adolescence, down to his Wolverine-like sideburns. His stupor is shaken by word that his estranged father Marty (Duchovny) is dying.

The son reluctantly decamps to Marty’s house, and their past disagreements quickly flare up. Marty’s “death coach” Mariana (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s” Stephanie Beatriz) brings down the temperature, but there’s so much anguish between father and son it’ll take more than her presence to keep the peace.

At least Marty and Teddy can agree on loving the Sox, caught in an epic battle with their rivals in the summer of 1978.

And we all know how that turned out.

Screen Rant presents an exclusive clip from #ReverseTheCurse, starring David Duchovny, Logan Marshall-Green, and Stephanie Beatriz. Catch it in theaters or on demand on June 14! https://t.co/QUa1oLJvaM pic.twitter.com/URSuPKK06M

— Screen Rant (@screenrant) June 11, 2024

“Reverse the Curse” has a rom-com-level gimmick even Kate Hudson would turn down. Teddy tricks Marty into thinking the Sox are running away with the division. How? He intercepts the morning newspaper and hands him a manipulated version via cut-and-paste headlines.

The scheme is dumb on more levels than an abacus can count, and Duchovny the writer/director instinctively knows it. Other films would have pegged their story on the gambit. Here, it’s discarded long before the critical third act.

Up until then, Duchovny creates a compelling variation on the regretful father theme. We don’t know exactly how Marty failed his son, but the pair understands those emotional wounds aren’t easily solved.

Team Duchovny worked on a tight budget on “Reverse,” and it often shows. A quick street sequence uses ’70s-era B-roll in embarrassing ways. We get little of either New York City or Boston, visual elements that could have expanded the film’s canvas.

The film’s faux sports announcers wouldn’t fool a Little Leaguer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Reverse” still finds ways to move us. Beatriz’s ability to channel authentic characters, be it here or as “Brooklyn’s” toughest cop, impresses. Duchovny withholds a key part of Marty’s backstory for the film’s waning moments, but the payoff is sizable.

So is his performance, a weathered soul processing grief while holding out hope for a reconciliation.

It’s all the more frustrating when Duchovny trots out an extended flatulence riff or expends screen time on Marty’s old buddies, neither of which pays off as intended.

And even this writer is exhausted by the “author who wants to write the Great American novel” trope. Can’t characters aspire to other career options?

“Reverse the Curse” proves Duchovny has the heart of a poet, down to the unpublished snippets from Marty’s past. His film shows he has a way to go before mastering a movie’s tone.

HiT or Miss: “Reverse the Curse” offers some meaty dramatic moments, but they’re scattered between cringe-level humor and meandering themes.

The post ‘Reverse the Curse’ Whiffs on Life’s Nasty Curveballs appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

David Allen’s “The Primevals” has finally arrived.

After maintaining a mythic status for nearly 50 years as a legendary unfinished and “lost” film, Full Moon Pictures has completed a movie I never thought I’d see.

A bit of backstory:

Like most cinephiles my age, I first encountered “The Primevals” in a 1978 issue of Cinefantastique with a well-remembered cover illustration by Barclay Shaw. The image showed a Lizard Man commanding his spaceship to seize Earth.

The cover art promoted the arrival of Allen’s “The Primevals,” an extension of his “Raiders of the Stone Ring” short film.

Allen had already established himself as another Ray Harryhausen, a true stop-motion animation wizard. He provided FX work for a crush of projects, including the “Puppet Master” series and “The Howling.”

“The Primevals,” which told a wildly imaginative adventure story that involved Yeti, a squadron of explorers, cavemen, lost worlds and, yes, Lizard Men from outer space, appeared to be Allen’s magnum opus.

The film’s test footage became so legendary among film circles, I actually showed them to my Lost Films class decades ago. The startling combination of live-action footage and a Lizard Man, in one scene, demonstrated how accomplished and ahead of its time, as well as insanely ambitious, Allen’s vision was.

Filming stopped and started, finally gaining traction in the 1990s, then halted by Allen’s 1999 death, then finally completed when Charles Band and his Full Moon Pictures crew held fundraisers to complete the footage.

The end result is astonishing.

The film not only presents Allen’s designs and creatures, at last in plain view, but stands as a major achievement in editing.

The fusion of old and new footage is comparable to what Frank Marshall and the Netflix team accomplished when they put together Orson Welles’ “The Other Side of the Wind” (2018).

“The Primevals” begins with a Yeti attack taking place outside “a sherpa hut, deep in the Himalayas.” The killer prologue concludes with an extended Yeti hand (a cool visual that survived “Raiders of the Stone Ring”). The story then cuts to a press conference, declaring proof of the existence of the abominable snowman, a very- “King Kong” scene.

After some discussion, a cluster of adventurers are off to find the Yeti and the strange sights and creatures in their midst.

Allen’s film is glorious. “The Primevals” is not a spoof, a send-up, satire or a parody. There’s not a trace of cynicism or self-reflective meta commentary. This is the real deal, a true B-movie with A+ special effects and an unforced charm.

The performances are mostly bad, barely on the level of a soap opera, which is perfect. There’s no Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, Will Smith or Jeff Goldblum to center this with movie star gravity. I don’t mean to be unkind, but the quality of the acting is the film’s richest source of humor.

Of the ensemble, Juliet Mills comes off best. There’s a character named Rondo Montana, played by an actor (Leon Russom) who seems ill suited for the role but gives it his best shot. Richard Joseph Paul, playing the film’s lead, stares hard at a giant stuffed abominable snowman and, later, at a giant brain in a jar.

It’s almost as funny as learning he tried to get a Ph.D. on the existence of Yeti (I want to see that movie!).

There are lines like “So, you’re our protection. Good. I’m not the heroic type,” recited as though the line were being read for the first time.

Because none of this is played for laughs, the exposition-heavy parts of the movie are often hilarious. My favorite line (which is delivered with a straight face) is, “The eyes of a dying giraffe can change a man.”

The soap opera levels of acting extend to how the characters are presented: despite the long journey into the wilderness, the hair, make-up and dental care are immaculate.

I’m not complaining. The unsteady acting and goofy dialogue only solidifies the movie’s true identity as a lost drive-in artifact. Nothing about this is self-conscious. The movie is pure.

For a low-budget film, the scale is massive.

Add Richard Brand’s great score and appealing widescreen cinematography by Adolfo Bartoli and you have a movie that could have been a classic in its day, but now plays like a once lost, now found crucial missing piece of film history.

Early on, a character declares, “This is science, not sensation.” Actually, it’s reversed, because this is “The Primevals,” not “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “The Mummy,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Jurassic Park,” “Independence Day” or any of the other dozens of films that came afterward and were clearly inspired, in ways big and small, by Allen’s oft-reported work in progress.

There are some lulls, as this feels a little padded, even at 90 minutes. The ending is a tad anticlimactic, as it seems the already elaborate finale could have somehow been even bigger.

However, the special effects are amazing, with the integration of live action and stop motion always solid. In the end credits, stop-motion legend Phill Tippet (whose best work can be seen in “RoboCop 2”) is thanked, as well as the 1978 crew.

30 years after filming, THE PRIMEVALS has FINALLY been released on VOD (home video release coming soon)

A passion project from David Allen, and a labor of love to completion from his colleagues after his passing. I can’t recommend this enough.

Some of the best stop motion ever. pic.twitter.com/sCe8jnNMms

— Erick Lorinc (@ErickLorinc) June 1, 2024

This was filmed in Romania, with lots of artists, sharing a shared vision, who worked hard on this, with the finished result around 2019.

Despite live-action and stop-motion animation bits being filmed at different times in production, sometimes decades apart, the result is not a mess but an editor’s tour de force, as the blending of the old with the new, and vintage and restored shots, is uncanny.

This is a gem in the Full Moon Features catalog. It’s a kick for me to see Allen’s creature and set designs, which I’ve been familiar with my entire life, finally alive and in motion. For some, “The Primevals” will be a cult item, but for me, seeing this is a dream come true.

I loved “The Primevals.”

Three and a Half Stars

The post Stop-Motion ‘Primevals’ Worth the Insanely Long Wait appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

It would take more than one documentary to make a Bigfoot skeptic see the light.

“Sasquatch and the Missing Man” raises far more questions than answers. Naysayers will come away unchanged. Those who believe the big, hairy guy stalks the woods will nod along with every clue.

What “Sasquatch” does best is examine the souls who swear they’ve had an encounter with the mythical creature and how it changed their emotional compasses. And, by extension, the team that puts so much effort into pursuing the truth behind the myth.

The film begins with a sprawling account from a man who encountered a Sasquatch-like creature in the woods. The man’s details are impressive. So is his sense of unease in sharing the story.

Fear? Uncertainty? Whatever happened to him left a mark.

The same holds for a woman who says the creature lurks beyond her property lines.

Both stories offer personal reflections on not just what they saw but how it impacted their lives. It’s not easy believing something that most people dismiss as a sideshow, a concept beyond the realm of rational thinking.

The documentary’s wrinkle? The filmmakers come across signs of a missing person, adding an extra layer to the proceedings. Is it a happy creative coincidence or something else?

We had a lot of fun today on @popculture_show talking Sasquatch, Cryptids and the battle against the 9-5 existence with @tony_merkel and @joelthomasmedia of @MerkelMedia check out the discussion!https://t.co/YmV9PyiR47

— Brett Dasovic (@Brettdasovic) April 27, 2024

The film takes a reality show pivot by simultaneously sharing these stories and revealing the debates behind the scenes. We hear the small investigative team, led by “The Confessionals” podcast host/director Tony Merkel, examine every clue (or non-clue) that crosses their path.

How does the titular “Missing Man” intersect with their unfolding documentary?

To paraphrase “The X-Files,” “They want to believe.” So does the film’s target audience, even if they might crave a tighter presentation. Some conversations could have been left behind without spoiling the story.

Not everyone is on Team Sasquatch, though.

“Most of this is bulls*** but that was real,” producer Joseph Granda, part of the on-screen team, says after a strange noise pierces through the team’s RV-like vehicle.

It’s easy to dismiss what the team uncovers throughout the documentary. It’s the woods! Animals do all kinds of things at night, and few are done in silence. 

And there’s the lingering question that haunts every Bigfoot search – why can’t we get video proof of the big guy (or gal) given the endless sightings and testimonies?

That misses the point. Yes, some will declare “Sasquatch and the Missing Man” as more proof that Bigfoot walks among us. It’s the quieter dramas lurking on the edges that will keep everyone else engaged.

HiT or Miss: “Sasquatch and the Missing Man” could use a few edits, but it’s a compelling look at the legend’s impact on its true believers.

The post ‘Sasquatch and the Missing Man’ Explores More Than Bigfoot appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.