“Old” (Mystery/Thriller: 1 hour, 48 minutes)

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps and Rufus Sewell

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rated: PG-13 (Strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and strong language)

Movie Review: Creative filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is a movie visionary, but he quickly proves his writing skills are sightless. He is losing his sixth sense. 

This movie is interesting but it has asinine quirks that harm the story. Shyamalan likes to shock with some big secret. You can fool an audience once and maybe twice. After that, you must show something new.

On a tropical vacation, a family and seven others move their vacations to a secluded beach. Soon, they discover they cannot leave the beach, and the rocks encasing the beach cause them to age rapidly. 

Some only have a day to live and others only have hours.

“Old” is an adaptation of a 2010 graphic novel “Sandcastle” by writer Pierre Oscar Lévy and artist Frederik Peeters. It is a fascinating movie but it has coincidences that one cannot explain as plausible.

An off-limits sign sits just out sight. This is similar to movies of yesteryear. The foreshadowing is a sign of what is to come. 

Once the future for these characters does happen, it is engrossing as it is unbelievable. Audiences must take a leap of belief and just go with it. Still, characters’ actions and the temporal mechanics of aging are puzzling.

“Old” makes more sense until its ending tries to explain what transpired. The more this script explains the more the material becomes farfetched.

Grade: C (It is only a matter of time before this gets old.)

Playing at Valdosta Stadium Cinemas

“Bo Burnham: Inside” (Comedy/Music: 1 hour, 27 minutes)

Starring: Bo Burnham

Director: Bo Burnham

Rated: R (Profanity, nudity, sexual content and thematic elements)

Movie Review: At its start, Bo Burnham appears as a hippie in seclusion. By the end of this movie, he appears as a hippie with long hair. In between, he offers nice insights about isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Actor, comedian, writer and director Bo Burnham filmed this production during the last year. He performs brilliantly. He is a one-man show, like a variety show of vaudevillian acts. He is a comedian, commentator, musician and artist.

In the space of one room over months, Burnham offers his take on his identity as a white male, religion, modern media, politics, etc. His commentary tackles multiple concepts through comedy and music. He also ridicules himself, yet he also has plentiful moments of serious, dramatic introspection. 

Burnham says he is a mixture of Malcolm and Weird Al. He is a talented performer, an artist. This is evident by his use of light, the composition of visuals and camera angles. He also acts and sings. Both are good.

He is engrossing, even when bits of his performance are adolescent material and irreverent. He has something to communicate and does it well. Burnham is director of “Eighth Grade” (2018) and the producer of several television specials similar to “Inside.” After this movie, his past works should see a revival.

“Bo Burnham: Inside” is worth the ticket. It is an entertaining movie for adults with humor and music. Burnham is an engaging artist who entertains mightily with philosophical wit, drama and jokes

Grade: B+ (Inside is the perfect place to be to see Bo Burnham.)

“Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Story” (Action/Crime: 2 hours, 1 minutes)

Starring: Henry Golding, Andrew Koji and Haruka Abe

Director: Robert Schwentke

Rated: PG-13 (Strong violence and strong language)

Movie Review: “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Story” is better than previous G.I. Joe movies, but that is not saying much. It could be better. Instead, it results in the typical action movie formula. It has asinine car chases, over-abundant fight sequences and dubious characters with changing allegiances.

Henry Golding plays the popular G.I. Joe character Snake Eyes, who works in a fish-processing factory. He saves the life of Tommy (Koji), the heir apparent to lead an ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage, a group of trained ninja warriors. 

Snake Eyes finds a place in the Arashikage stronghold to train as one of their ninjas. He now has a home but his lust for revenge for a past tragedy may jeopardize his future.

Henry Golding makes an attractive leading actor. He has a certain quiet demeanor that works. This is especially true considering Snake Eyes is known as a silent character in the G.I. Joe canon.

Andrew Koji and Haruka Abe are also intriguing. Koji has a certain stern appeal as a leader of his clan. He will be a formidable villain in future G.I. movies. Abe is impressive as the Arashikage’s chief of security. Her fight scenes are some of the best sequences.

While these characters are interesting, they are in a story filled with action genre clichés. A vehicle chase scene is lengthy. No law enforcement ever arrives. Additionally, the drive of the transfer truck in that scene is one smooth-under-pressure driver. 

As bullets and people fight on top of the cars that he carries, the driver continues to the destination without deviation. Even more, this movie does not show the driver or indicate that the driver is aware people are fighting and dying on his or her vehicle.

Maybe the driver was some type of self-operating vehicle. That would work as this movie is as mechanical as that driver.

“Snake Eyes” is fun but its story needs work. For an origin story, however, it does revive the G.I. Joe franchise. It just never breaks free of action movie stereotypes.

Grade: C+ (Fun cast, but the story is standard action stunts.)

Playing at Valdosta Stadium Cinemas

Adann-Kennn Alexxandar has reviewed movies for more than 20 years for The Valdosta Daily Times.