XXX Factor

Covering some new and old ground in the longest feature of the franchise (coming in at a whopping two hours and forty-nine minutes), John Wick: Chapter 4, directed by Chad Stahelski (who has helmed each of the four films), starts us off pretty much right after the previous picture. Flipping the script a bit from the last one, Wick (Keanu Reeves), now healed (boy, does he do that quickly – though it’s supposed to be a couple months later), must deal with the claustrophobic landscape that has enveloped him due to his unsatiated revenge-filled drive. Walking the perilous path of dealing with hitmen, as well as friends and enemies (who can often switch allegiances on a dime), the memorable faces of the underground web weaver – the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), New York powerhouse – Winston (Ian McShane), his trusty concierge – Charon (Lance Reddick, who sadly passed away on March 17th), and the head of the table – Elder (George Georgiou), will all make appearances again... though perhaps not in the ways we might expect.

Like a reflective revery, Steven Spielberg looks back at his own life with the 2022 Academy Award nominated (seven selections, including Best Picture) feature film The Fabelmans. Co-written (along with Tony Kushner) and directed by Spielberg, he creates a throwback style picture, something along the lines of the moving I Remember Mama (1948)... a sweeping retrospective of love and death, bullying and forgiveness, familial unity and division, over several decades. The Spielberg name becomes Fabelman, with Sammy replacing the name Steven (Gabriel LaBelle; as a younger child, Mateo Zoryan). We open with his parents, the weak tech genius Burt (Paul Dano) and artsy centre of attention Mitzi (Michelle Williams – in an Oscar nominated role) taking him to his first movie – 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth.

If there ever was an Academy Award Best Picture nominee that throws everything at you but the kitchen sink, 2022's Everything Everywhere All at Once, written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, would be it. A philosophical thinking piece woven within an Asian infused Marvel-style multiverse of madness – which incorporates kung-fu action, quirky comedy, marital stress and romance, familial drama, and plenty of adventure, the narrative follows the Wang family: mother Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), father Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), and visiting grandfather Gong Gong (James Hong).

Coming off like a fatalistic fairytale, Martin McDonagh’s fourth feature film, The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), has been deemed a pitch black tragicomedy, whereas his other films (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) would more simply be described as dark comedies, or dramedies. Subtly drawing symbolic ties to the Irish Civil War of 1922-23 (it is set in 1923), as well as the long lasting strife known as The Troubles (which took place between the 1960s to 90s), this divide is shown by way of muses Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson).

A supernatural tinged horror thriller, 2021's The Black Telephone (based upon Joe Hill’s short story of the same name), co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson, might never have you seeing those long corded, wall mounted phones in the same way ever again. Set in 1978, we follow Finney (Mason Thames), and, to a lesser extent, his younger sister Gwen (Madeline McGraw), in what should seemingly be an idyllic childhood in Denver. But, just below the surface, all is not right.

This is a tricky one to judge. Jordan Peele’s third writing/directorial effort, Nope (2022), is a highly creative and original concept that delves into the science fiction alien field... but is missing something to make it a truly effective effort. With its critics likely pointing to its title as an apt description, the word in fact references character reactions to some sort of alien craft seen in the sky. Though it still might have people pondering whether it means something else – perhaps, ‘Not of Planet Earth’, ‘Newly Ordained People Eaters’, or ‘Never Offer Predators Equines’. Set on a vast horse ranch in rural California, the Haywood family have been providing horses for Hollywood productions since day one (a cool reference back to the original moving picture – a galloping horse ridden by an African American jockey created by Eadweard Muybridge).