PLOT: A young girl finds herself struggling after her family moves away from the city. Based on the popular novel of the same name, by Judy Blume.

REVIEW: My recollection of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is very vague. I knew Judy Blume and had perhaps read some of her books, but not this tale of a preteen girl. So even with the talent involved, I wasn’t excited about the movie. And then, I sat down for a screening. Perhaps it was the charms of the lovely and vibrant Rachel McAdams as Margaret’s mom? Sure. How about the excellent work of Kathy Bates as Margaret’s loving grandmother? Yes, yes, yes. And then there is the terrific Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret. Yet, the superstar here is writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig. Let’s dig in and see if Margaret’s prayers get answered.

Margaret (Fortson) is a happy girl living with her adorably quirky parents, played by McAdams and Benny Safdie. That is until they move to a quaint suburban neighborhood, far from the city the young girl loved. Once they arrive and settle in, Margaret finds herself starting over. With a couple of new friends, Nancy (Elle Graham) and Price (Amari Alexis), the three girls start a bit of a competition regarding growing into womanhood. Even still, being away from her grandmother (the excellent Kathy Bates) takes its toll on the young girl. Will Margaret discover a religion she can connect to? And will she finally adjust to her new surroundings? Well, it’s certainly a joy to find those answers.

It’s easy to walk into a film like this and think it’s not for you. And yet, I was fully engaged in the humor and heart of it all. The big-screen adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is delightful. It’s fast, fun, and surprisingly engaging for audiences of all ages. Kelly Fremon Craig is brilliant at creating stories far more universal than one might expect. She did wonders with the excellent The Edge of Seventeen. And while Margaret takes on a slightly younger leading character, the filmmaker never skimps on writing great supporting ones. The care that she has taken with the source material is especially notable.

It also helps that Abby Ryder Fortson is fantastic in the leading role. The young actress brings such warmth to Margaret. As Hailee Steinfeld did in The Edge of Seventeen, Abby brings honesty to her performance. The young actress is a major talent, and watching her opposite Bates and McAdams, it’s clear that she will be following in a few impressive footsteps. If you can connect to Margaret, the film works. And thankfully, she conveys all the heartbreak and happiness of a preteen girl searching for herself. It’s an excellent performance that is made stronger by the lovely script by Craig.

In addition to the film’s star, the supporting cast is equally enjoyable. Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie are stellar as Margaret’s loving but flawed parents. As well, Kathy Bates shines as a grandmother who adores her granddaughter. The two share moments together that are effortlessly sweet. Even Margaret’s friends, played by Elle Graham and Amari Alexis Price, get a chance to shine. When a script treats every character involved with respect and care, it creates an accessible and entertaining experience. If you are going to bring author Judy Blume to the big screen, well, this is how you do it.

It would help if you never judged a book by its cover. At least regarding the terrific new feature, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Kelly Fremon Craig is one of the brightest up-and-coming directors out there. The filmmaker has created heartfelt and honest portraits of young women with both this and The Edge of Seventeen. And building solid and vibrant stories like this that can connect to audiences all across the board is an incredible skill. For those of you that were obsessed with Judy Blume’s work, you are in for a treat. What about if you have yet to learn who Blume is? It doesn’t matter. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is one of the funniest and most charming summer films this year.

8

An action-packed blend of Mad Max and Inglourious Basterds, Jalmari Helander’s Sisu is a gory, gruesome, and excellent ride.

Plot: When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, Nazi soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.

Review: If you saw John Wick: Chapter 4 in the theater, chances are you saw the trailer for Sisu. The brutally bloody teaser showcased the same level of carnage we have expected from David Leitch films like Nobody and Bullet Train, but Sisu is very different. Harkening to the bloodlust one feels dispatching Nazis in games like Wolfenstein 3D or in zombie films like Dead Snow and Iron Sky; Sisu is chock full of World War II German monsters getting what they deserve in every conceivable way as well as some you likely never would have thought up in a million years. Lionsgate is betting that American audiences will appreciate Sisu much like they did Inglourious Basterds, and I can confirm that they absolutely will. Sisu is a violent and epic odyssey across the wild Finnish countryside featuring a badass action-hero character who earns a spot alongside John Wick and Mad Max.

Using throwback title cards and graphics that recall exploitation flicks of the 1960s and 1970s, Sisu briefly explains that the title refers to a Finnish word that cannot be translated but roughly means the grit, determination, and resilience of the Scandinavian people. We then see a brief history lesson about the Nazis being driven from Finland due to the Moscow accord, which did not stop them from scorching the Earth as they retreated. We then find ourselves following prospector Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), a solitary man who wears a wedding ring and digs for gold alone in the remote area of Lapland. With only his dog, Korpi strikes it rich and heads back towards civilization when he runs into a death squad of Germans led by Bruno Helldorf (Aksel Hennie). When the troops discover the gold, a violent chase across the wasteland ensues, with Korpi killing every Nazi. Along the way, we learn how Korpi became the one-man army he has become.

Over the brisk ninety-minute running time, Sisu manages to cram in many different types of action. From snipers to minefields, airplanes to motorcycles, underwater deaths to hangings and explosions, Sisu is far more violent than even the trailers let on. The desolate look of Lapland made me think of this film as being closer to Mad Max: Fury Road than John Wick. There is gunplay and hand-to-hand combat, but there is so much more going on here than the trailers show. Interestingly, the film features Finnish characters speaking their native tongue, but all German characters speak English. There is also not a lot of dialogue overall in the film, with Jorma Tommila uttering only eleven words in the entire movie. Keanu Reeves may have set a record in John Wick: Chapter 4, Sisu blows away that screen time ratio to dialogue. Tommila, who is 59, does an amazing job of physically embodying Korpi and communicating his visceral nature through scowls and a furrowed brow. It is a stellar performance.

The supporting players here are mostly cannon fodder, with the exception of Aksel Hennie. Best known for roles in The Martian and The Cloverfield Paradox, Hennie plays a selfish and rough Nazi who selfishly wants the gold as he knows Germany is poised to lose the war. Like any main villain, Hennie sends his henchman after Korpi and eventually has a one-on-one showdown with his nemesis. Of the other Nazis, standouts are Jack Doolan as the sniper, Wolf, and Tommila’s son Onni who plays Schutze. Mimosa Willamo plays a captured Finnish woman named Aino who explains Korpi and the meaning of sisu to the Nazis. Of the entire cast, there are probably only about thirty minutes of the film featuring spoken dialogue, with the rest taken up by action sequences or starkly beautiful landscape shots of the characters following each other across Lapland. Sisu is a desolate film in appearance but still surprisingly beautifully shot.

Writer/director Jalmari Helander is no stranger to violent action in his movies, having directed the Christmas action-horror movie Rare Exports and the Samuel L. Jackson flick Big Game which co-starred Ommi Tommila. Helander is brother-in-law to star Jorma Tommila and has given his family some stellar roles in his films. Here, Helander echoes great movies like First Blood, whose main character, Rambo, shares much in common with Korpi. In fact, if Rambo had been set during World War II, it likely would have looked a lot like this film. Like First Blood, there is far more than excessive violence that makes Sisu worth watching. Tommila’s performance is absolutely stunning to watch as he does everything from shielding himself using dead Nazis to finding a disturbing way to hold his breath underwater. Everyone from Kevin Smith to Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez would have loved this type of movie as kids, passing around VHS copies to their friends. This movie is a blast with a fitting retro look and sound courtesy of cinematographer Kjell Lagerroos and composers Juri Seppa and Tuomas Wainoia.

While many audiences may shy away from a foreign film because of subtitles, Sisu is almost entirely in English but does not need much dialogue to tell its story. Sisu is bloody, brutal, and absolutely awesome. Clocking in at half the length of John Wick: Chapter 4, Sisu is a non-stop bloodbath that I immediately wanted to rewatch as soon as it was over. There are no famous Hollywood stars here, but this movie is worth seeing on the biggest screen possible. So grab some popcorn and a soda and sit back while Nazis get blown away amidst satisfying buckets of blood.

10

Becky star Lulu Wilson has signed on to play the lead in the alien invasion film Xeno, featuring an alien created by the Henson Company

Annabelle: Creation and Becky star Lulu Wilson, who is soon to be seen in The Wrath of Becky, has signed on to star in the alien invasion film Xeno for writer, director, and VFX Artist Matthew Loren Oates. Deadline reports that Wilson is joined in the cast by Omari Hardwick (Power) and Trae Romano (Stargirl).

Set to start filming in Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 8th, Xeno will see Wilson taking on the role of a teenage girl befriends a terrifying alien that crash-lands in the desert near her home. As government agents close in, the girl protects her dangerous new companion while also dealing with her depressed mother and the mother’s abusive boyfriend.

Kevin Hart is producing the film through his company Hartbeat. Hartbeat’s Bryan Smiley and Luke Kelly-Clyne are also producing, alongside Oates and Shana Marie. Thai Randolph, Kevin Healey, and Ty Walker serve as executive producers for Hartbeat, and Hart’s global media company is working with The Henson Company to build the film’s alien creature. So this thing is probably going to look pretty cool.

Oates has directed multiple short films, but his only previous feature is the 2006 drama Wasted, which is also known by the title Farewell Bender and is listed on IMDb as an adventure thriller for some reason. That film had the following synopsis: Three twenty-something pals circa 1996 revisit their small-town roots to attend the funeral of their high school friend Bender. The guys spend a wild weekend reminiscing over football, booze and babes while struggling with one buddy’s self-destructive lifestyle, another’s seemingly perfect life and the other’s humiliating insecurities.

Xeno sounds like it actually will be an adventure thriller… and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s going to turn out. Wilson is a talented young actor, and I can’t wait to see what the Henson Company does with the alien character.

In addition to the films listed above, Wilson’s credits include Deliver Us from Evil, The Millers, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Cop and a Half: New Recruit, Sharp Objects, The Haunting of Hill House, The Glorias, and Star Trek: Picard.

Does Xeno sound interesting to you? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.