The Menu

The Menu (2022)

Directed by Mark Mylod

Screenplay by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy

Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Anya Taylor-Joy, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Reed Birney, Judith Light, Rebecca Koon, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, and Mark St. Cyr

When I saw the trailer for this film, I thought the movie was going to be much darker. I was pleasantly surprised that it was funny while being scary all at once.

A carefully selected group of the elite are invited to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant on a remote island that is run by Chef Julian Slowik (Fiennes). Among them are Tyler (Hoult) and his companion, Margot (Taylor-Joy) where the story focuses on the most. Chef Slowik carefully plan dinner service that the guests will never forget.

The movie is more of a dark satirical comedy about class. The movie succeeded where Triangle of Sadness did not. This held up a mirror to people's privilege, affluence or their blatant disregard of being lesser than them. It was delicious for the bourgeoisie to get their comeuppance. Anybody in the hospitality will tell you that sometimes it is not worth it to be beaten down by their betters.

Rating: 8/10

Skyfall

Skyfall (2012)

Directed by Sam Mendes

Screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan

Based on characters created by Ian Fleming

Stars: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe, Rory Kinnear, Ola Rapace and Albert Finney

After I was throughly disappointed with the "movie" that was Quantum of Solace, I have all but given up hope of the James Bond franchise. Hearing the troubles with MGM delaying the film, it seems like the final nail on the coffin. Now, we have Skyfall that falls on the 50th anniversary of the franchise. This film hearkens back to the past films with a touch of class.

During an assistant in Turkey, 007 (Craig) pursues an assassin, Patrice (Rapace) that has taken an highly sensitive hard drive that contains the identities of MI-6 agents embedded terrorist organizations around the world. In an unlikely moment, his shadow Eve (Harris) accidentally shoots Bond and let the bad  guy get away. Bond is presumed dead. An unknown force is coming after MI-6, but this person is particularly after M (Dench).

I'm familiar with the Bond films. This movie felt like a Bond film. The intrigue, the seductions, the thrills, the suspense, the gadgets; it had all of that. Hearing about the plot of the film beforehand, I knew where the story was going to go, but I did not expect it to go with it did. My analytical brain was trying to figure out where will happen next. Some things I predicted came true and some things didn't. I'm glad that the film went to its roots like in Casino Royale.

The major thing bothered me about the movie was the callbacks to the previous films. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. It felt like deja vu. It understood that it is the 50th anniversary of the Bond franchise, but my head was getting dizzy by those moments.

My Rating