Film Review - "A Quiet Place: Day One"

A Quiet Place: Day One

Directed by Michael Sarnoski

Starring Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, and Alex Wolfff

I may not be a big horror film fan, but I have loved the A Quiet Place series. A unique premise combined with heartfelt storytelling and compelling characters make these films easily stand out in the genre. A prequel showing us the day "the world went quiet" could be considered unnecessary, particularly when you remember Part 2 gave us a good glimpse into that. A Quiet Place: Day One doesn't bring a lot of new material to the table, but don't let that dissuade you. It's a more than worthy prequel that delivers the same quality filmmaking you'd expect from the series while still leaving its own emotional impact. 

Sam (Nyong'o) is a terminally-ill cancer patient living in hospice. The day she reluctantly joins a group-outing in Manhattan is the day those terrifying monsters with exemplary hearing crash-land on Earth and begin terrorizing the population. 

While those that survive the initial attack shelter in silence and await military extraction, Sam makes a personal pilgrimage to Harlem for reasons I will not share here. Along the way she meets a distressed young man named Eric (Quinn) who she reluctantly allows to join her. Oh and there's also Sam's cat Frodo who you're either gonna love or hate because this is the luckiest, most chill cat in apocalypse-movie history.

(Wait...Sam...Frodo...son of a-)

Again, Day One doesn't add much to the lore of the franchise. It's still people trying to stay as silent as possible to survive, getting from one place to another. I will say though that Day One enforces the foundation the first two films laid out, specifically in how the inhabitants of this world will come to combat the monsters. There's no outright moment where someone goes "Oh you know what...we should shut up." but there's little clever moments here and there where you see how the world got from A to B.

But it's interesting to see how different characters in different environments and under different circumstances react to all this. Sam and Eric are not as fleshed out as the Krasinski-I mean Abbott Family in the first two films, frankly their motivations are little thin, but Nyong'o and Quinn's great performances help us to connect with the characters. Both of them are great at conveying so much with saying so little. Nyong'o arguably gives one of her best performances just on the fact alone. She's so expressive and so emotional. She lays it all out there on the screen for the viewer. I only watched the first season of Stranger Things, but I like this Joseph Quinn guy. He threads the line between charming and vulnerable very well. It's also nice to see Djimon Hounsou again, providing a nice connection to Part 2, although he doesn't do too much.

Once again the use of sound in a Quiet Place film does not disappoint. Simple, mundane noises like the crunching of concrete beneath sneakers, or the dropping of a briefcase, hit the ears like a tone of bricks. Not just because of the sound editing but because the films have conditioned us to know that silence is golden.

I don't think I've ever praised a Quiet Place film for its music, but the soundtrack in this one resonates just a bit more. The piano plays a significant part in Sam's backstory, and its use in the score help strike an emotional chord (Heh.) Also, this film features one of my absolute favorite needle-drop moments in cinematic history. You'll know it when you see it.

A Quiet Place: Day One is a delightful prequel that lives up to its predecessors. It may not be as suspenseful or as groundbreaking, but it's got heart, and it's got thrills. It's part I Am Legend, and part Seeking A Friend for The End of the World. A true summer blockbuster in an age where blockbusters are fighting to survive.

Speaking of fighting to survive, there's no way I would stay alive in these movies. I mean, with my seasonal allergies, and the way I sneeze? God help me...

Film Review - "The Garfield Movie"

I don't write a review for every film I see, clearly. Sometimes life and time just get in the way, but regardless of wether I enjoyed the film or not, sometimes I just feel like I don't have enough to say about it to warrant a written piece.

However, oddly enough, I feel like I have enough about this one...

The Garfield Movie

Directed by Mark Dindal

Starring Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, etc.

I low-key enjoy the character of Garfield, and frankly as I grow older, crankier, and more cynical I relate to him a lot more. Who doesn't hate Mondays? I haven't touched those live-action films with Bill Murray in ages but I saw them in theaters. The DVD's are around here somewhere. It's a little surprising that it took until 2024 for Garfield to get a fully-animated, theatrical film. I was probably going to see it no matter what, or no matter who voiced the titular character (I think we all thought it was a prank since it was announced not too long after the Mario casting.)

The Garfield Movie came to theaters on Memorial Day weekend, and was met with less than favorable reviews. Many viewers, myself included, expected this film to be laughably bad. After having seen it for myself though, I think it's a flawed but enjoyable animated adventure.

The film finds Garfield (Pratt) reunited with his long-lost father Vic (Jackson) and roped into his life of crime. One of Vic's former partners, Jinx (Waddingham) wants revenge after he left her to rot in prison after a heist went south. Jinx will let bygones be bygones if Vic, Garfield, and Odie (Harvey Gullièn, but don't worry, Odie doesn't talk) can steal a large quantity of milk from the same dairy farm where she was caught all those years ago. Obviously, during all this Garfield is very reluctant to help and reconnect with his father.

So yeah. The Garfield Movie is a heist film. Not exactly the kind of caper you would expect a lazy, lasagna obsessed cat to be involved with. Honestly, maybe they just had a script about a generic father and son cat reuniting on some adventure, but were afraid it wouldn't have much draw without it being attached to a well-known IP, so they went "...Make it Garfield." That's at least the sense I get.

It's fun, though. There were a few moments I genuinely laughed out loud, and surprisingly there were also a lot of heartfelt moments that damnit, got me right in the feels. However, despite being just under two hours, there were times where the film dragged. Also there's a weird bit of product placement. I'm not saying there's a lot of it, but when it's there, there's no effort put into hiding it. It was almost like it was an afterthought, and they just went back and edited the PNG file of the product logo somewhere into the scene.

The animation is very charming, and the Jim Davis style translates to CGI seamlessly. The new characters lik Vic, Jinx and others also feel like they could've fit into one those classic animated television specials or the Garfield & Friends series. The voice acting is fine. No one really stands among the cast, except for Ving Rhames as Otto the Bull. He is the true MVP of the film. Hannah Waddingham is clearly having fun playing Jinx. Brett Goldstein and Bowen Yang have some funny moments as her henchman. I really want to know what the thought process was in getting Nicholas Hoult to show up and do his best American accent for the less than ten minutes Jon Arbuckle is in this film. There wasn't a thousand other white boys stateside that could've sufficied? It's not as egregious as getting Snoop Dogg to show up as a cat for literally five seconds I suppose...

Okay let's talk about Chris Pratt now. He's not putting as much effort (and I use the word "effort" lightly) into disguising his voice as he did in The Super Mario Bros but it works, but it would only work for this specific version of Garfield. He was casted because of his star-power, not because he was the best for the part. Everything I say about Pratt could also be said about Samuel L. Jackson as Vic, Garfield's father. A fine performance...but it just doesn't fit Garfield. For a portion of the film I was listing all the actors in my head who would've been a better fit, not just for Garfield, but Garfield's father (Nick Offerman, H. Jon Benjamin, Beck Bennett, maybe we could've convinced Bill Murray to come back for a third round? Actually that would be pretty clever if he was the dad in this film. I digress.)

Pratt (and Jackson's) performance is pretty symbolic of the film as a whole. It's fine, but it's just not Garfield. I loved the original animated series and the television specials, and the hijinks Garfield got into there are not the same here. I know it's weird to get critical about a Garfield movie but when you slap that name on it, that comes with a certain set of expectations. I do think if the filmmakers actually were more concerned with the father-son relationship, exploring Garfield's origins, and what makes Garfield who he is, this could've reached the same heights as say, The Peanuts Movie. I'm not saying Garfield can't go on crazy adventures, but those adventures should at least make some sense. 

Despite its flaws, The Garfield Movie is an enjoyable film with some heart, laughs, and quality animation. There's clear effort on the screen, albeit effort that's a bit misguided. Families will enjoy it, die-hard Garfield fans (??) maybe not so much. But I would happily revisit this one again.

The question now remains...which obscure character will Chris Pratt voice next? My vote? Ziggy.