Buzz Blog

Children of the Corn *1/2
In principle, there’s nothing wrong with a new angle on Stephen King’s 1977 short story that shifts the religious fervor of kids in a small Nebraska town to an existential rage over the way adults have failed them. Writer/director Kurt Wimmer simply fails to deliver on that premise in almost every possible way. The corn-farming community of Rylstone is all-but-dying—the result of toxins damaging the soil—and teenager Bo (Elena Kampouris) seems to be on her way out for bigger opportunities. That’s before an orphan named Eden (Kate Moyer) rallies the other younger children to take charge and serve an entity she refers to as “He Who Walks.” Moyer provides the main reason to watch, turning in a terrifically creepy performance with enough savvy to know when the smile inspired by the chaos she’s causing should express genuine joy, not sinister designs. Otherwise, this is a movie that can’t find its footing either as satisfyingly bloody genre fare or as an allegory for youthful rage at having their future sacrificed to selfish adult interests, with the personality of our ostensible heroine Bo never registering as anything beyond bland functionality. It’s the kind of horror film that think’s it’s clever to offer a reference to the vintage creepy-kid episode of The Twilight Zone, but instead only reminds you that there’s nothing nearly as insightful or unsettling going on. Available March 3 in theaters. (R)

Creed III ***
Sylvester Stallone is nowhere to be seen, and Bill Conti’s iconic Rocky theme makes only a token late appearance, so it’s time to see if this franchise can stand on its own—which, as it turns out, it can. The burden of confronting the past continues to be a touchstone, however, as Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan)—enjoying his retirement from boxing with wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent)—re-connects with Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors), a childhood friend and ex-amateur boxing champ who might have a few chips on his broad shoulders. Jordan also steps into the director’s chair for this installment, and he seems to have all the tools, from handling small character moments like a diner conversation where Adonis and Damian’s method for unwrapping a straw reveals a common history, to turning the climactic bout into an almost mythological encounter where the audience disappears. Majors, meanwhile proves to be exactly the kind of antagonist who can go toe-to-toe with Jordan’s on-screen charisma, finding coiled intensity even in a seemingly casual smile. The story feels a bit thin in terms of clarifying the incentive for Adonis to return to the ring—we know we’re getting a fight, and the justification is dispatched with some vague hand-waving—while some tropes like the obligatory training montage just seem to be filling space. But after nearly a decade, Adonis Creed clearly has earned a place outside the shadow of Rocky Balboa. Available March 3 in theaters. (PG-13)

iMordecai *1/2
It’s very sweet that co-writer/director Marvin Samel wanted to honor his father by telling a part of his story; it just makes for a mess of a movie when you never really settle on which part to tell. Judd Hirsch plays Mordecai Samel, an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor retired and living in Miami with his wife Fela (Carol Kane). Set in his ways, he’s reluctant to upgrade to a smart phone when his son Marvin (Sean Astin) insists, but ultimately agrees when tech assistant Nina (Azia Dinea Hale) offers him lessons. In theory, that premise alone—a cross-generational, digital-age odd-couple friendship—could have sustained a plot, especially once it becomes clear that Nina is working through issues related to her family’s Nazi history. Samel, unfortunately, just keeps packing the story with more sub-plots: Fela’s diagnosis with dementia; Marvin’s financial struggles with his cigar business; the uneasy father-son relationship; Mordecai’s desire to work on being an artist. And while the animated segments flashing back to Mordecai’s childhood in Poland are effectively rendered, it starts to feel like part of a throw-everything-at-the-wall approach that also includes broadly comic anecdotes and earnest emotionalism. As nice as it is to see Hirsch and Kane staging a Taxi reunion, they’re ultimately part of something that’s less a narrative than it is an approximation of being stuck for 100 minutes with someone flipping through a family album and reminiscing. Available March 3 in theaters. (NR)

One Fine Morning ***1/2
See feature review. Available March 3 at Broadway Centre Cinemas. (R)

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre ***
I’m not saying that any movie demonstrating the wisdom to hire Hugh Grant as your villain is going to turn out to be a good movie—but I guess I’m kind of saying that? Grant reunites once again with The Man from U.N.C.L.E./The Gentlemen filmmaker Guy Ritchie for this tale of a freelance covert operations team—Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) and his new cohorts Sarah (Aubrey Plaza) and JJ (Bugzy Malone)—brought in by their handler (Cary Elwes) to find a super-important McGuffin that’s been stolen from a government lab and put on the black market. Fortune’s scheme: Enlist the assistance of action movie star Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett) to ingratiate himself with big fan/bigger arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Grant). Ritchie has always shown a facility for this kind of caper, and he keeps the action humming in a way that makes the most of the cast members’ strengths (and limitations). That goes triple for Grant, whose oily bad guy conveys all the irrational confidence of a billionaire, while ultimately coming through with the ruthlessness that makes him formidable. The plotting gets overly convoluted at times, including introducing a rival team of operatives as another obstacle for Fortune’s crew, and doesn’t really make the most of Hartnett’s character, missing some of the fun of an action hero thrown into a real-life action movie. Mostly, though, it clicks along on a vibe of energetic pure entertainment, with Hugh Grant’s now-creepy grin the icing on the confection. Available March 3 in theaters. (R)