“Paragon”
Stream on Amazon Prime Video.
The dry, funny comedy from New Zealand involving fantastic shenanigans made me laugh at the end. Michael Deignan's new film may not reach that level, but it is still very entertaining.
Dutch (Benedict Wall), a former tennis pro who peaked at No. 347 in the world, is limp after hits and running. In search of the Toyota Corolla who hurt him, he meets the mysterious Lyra (Florence Noble), who appears to have been kicked out of the Benegesserite from “Dune.” She announces Dutch to the existence of multiple dimensions (including “avocado dimensions”) and claims to have “psionic powers” including telekinesis. “Can I use it to change the channels on my TV?” he asks. “That's what remote control does,” replies Lila. About 50 minutes after the film, the Dutch finds the Corolla driver. This is when “Paragon” takes even more messy turns, as he actually has ambitions. If an accident that hurts someone can have beneficial effects on someone else, what is the end result? “Paragon” is written ingeniously and despicable, but the real reason it works is because it has a heart.
“Silent Planet”
Rent or buy on most major platforms.
Setting the film in a world of desolate sky may have encouraged some directors to use the scenery to grow bigger. Instead, Jeffrey St. Jour's function has a claustrophobic focus (but narrows it down with good location shots in Newfoundland). Theodore (Elias Cotias) has long been sentenced to work alone in a planetary prison. During the day he mines the ore sent to Earth. At night he watches comedy in his small habitat.
And one day another prisoner, Niya (Briana Middleton), arrives – Theodore takes out a monitor from his chest, so he is thought to be dead. They engage in tense living. This has the advantage of revealing to viewers why they were exiled in the first place. Niya says she was framed for terrorism. As for Theodore… well, that's a bit tricky, as he can't really tell the difference from the story he tells himself anymore. Whether something is fake or fiction, “it really doesn't matter here,” says Niya. But that's very true, as she and Theodore may share important connections. “Silent Planet” stays like a slow, pensive, ultimately dangerous game of cats and mice. It's hard to know who plays what role.
“Hospitable Dimensions”
Stream at home or on Fandango on the roku channel.
Ash (Joma West) and Sam (Annabel Logan) are young filmmakers who try to rebound from what appears to be a bad experience in film. So, when they get discovered footage that appears to capture the disappearance of a woman named Emily (Josie Rogers), after passing through a freestanding door, the pair smells. Especially after they said they managed to get back home.
Watching Ash and Sam run through Graham Hughes' “hostile dimensions” is like Bill and Ted making a film at the same time, looking at someone missing. They consult a physicist (Paddy Kondracki). They come up with highly technical statements such as “This might just be Creepypasta trash, but…” The biggest part of the film is the multiple planes of beings revealed behind various so-called wolf doors, including an empty amusement center called “Pandamonium.” After “The Death of Vlogger” (featuring many of the same cast), Hughes begins to name a bit of his name only in the microbadge dimension.
“elevation”
Stream in Max.
The phenomenon of powerful creatures has been defeated or at least slowed down by the seemingly harmless thing – the common bacteria in the “war of the world”, the water of “signs” – not new in science fiction. The so-called Reapers, which emerged from the blue to kill everyone on Earth in George Nolfy's film, appears undestructible, but at least one of them will not cause a rampage anywhere. This works well for mountainous nations like Colorado, where small communities survive out of reach of strange killing machines. Unfortunately, Will (Anthony Mackey) has to leave his camp and move to a lower elevation to retrieve the oxygen filter for his ailing young son. He is accompanied by Nina (Morena Bakarin), a scientist who is about to return to her old lab to test her theory about her enemy. As a skier, I definitely dig into scenes where people use chair lifts to escape their pursuers, but “altitude” generally needs to please B-movie fans. The film ends with a prominent opening of a sequel and I'm ready for it.
“With you in the future”
Stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Carlos (Michel Brown) and Elena (Sandra Echelia) are on the verge of a fierce divorce when Cupid (Mauricio Barientos) intervenes and sends them back to the 1990s around the time of their fateful date at a Mana concert. The older couple goes to town to prevent their younger selves (played by Fernando Catoli and Marian Cartus) from falling on each other, saving future pain. Has Carlos got better together with the wealthy Christina (Amin Taileta)? Would Elena, who was in the band, have she grown it if she wasn't married? But of course, the pair realize that they are initially aware that something good is happening, and the sudden change of course: the young Carlos and the young Elena have to come together!
The film by Mexican-born Roberto Giroux shares a major theme with his recent “My Old Butt.” “Together with You in the Future” enjoys some of the consequences of the behavior of older couples moving, including the fact that changing the course of the event leads to a change of themselves. And do you really want to do that?
