“Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1”

(Western: 3 hours, 01 minutes)

Starring: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington.

Director: Kevin Costner

Rated: R (Violence, gore, nudity and sexuality.)

Movie Review:

“Horizon” is Kevin Costner’s hodgepodge of American life during the 15 years before and after the Civil War. The movie is a nice slice of multiple lives in scenic areas of the West. However, this is not “Dances with Wolves,” which Costner directed in 1990. “Horizon” could use some focus as it seems like a survey documentary for a history course.

Several groups of people are attracted to the western frontier. Among the many is mysterious horse trader Hayes Ellison (Costner). He rescues a known freelance prostitute Marigold (Abbey Lee) and Sam, a child in her care.

The three travel across Montana as the outlaw Sykes Brothers, Junior (Jon Beavers) and Caleb (Jamie Campbell Bower), and their posse pursue them. In another instance, we see Frances and Elizabeth Kittredge (Sienna Miller and Georgia MacPhail), a mother and daughter, survive a fatal Apache attack led by Pionsenay (Owen Crow Shoe) on their small town, Horizon.

These and other characters in this movie play like they are all part of television episodes. Each episode would have merit as an individual teleplay but not together as a screenplay.

This mélange is the main weakness of “Horizon” that even Mark Kasdan, co-writer for “Silverado” (1985) cannot help to enliven.

Visuals appear movie-worthy. The acting is good enough, and the characters are interesting.

The movie in its entirety, again, lacks focus. With hope, Costner is going somewhere with the other chapters of this saga; his story of a nation unsettled needs settling.

Grade: C (The wild, wild West is wildly orchestrated).

“Despicable Me 4”

(Animation/Comedy/Action: 1 hour, 34 minutes)

Starring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King and Will Ferrell

Directors: Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage

Rated: PG (Violent action and rude humor)

Movie Review:

Gru, his Minions and his human family remain endearing characters. They still garner laughs with their antics, although the humor wanes.

This outing Gru (Carell), wife Lucy (Wiig), and their daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), Agnes (Madison Polan) and baby Gru Jr. are placed in witness protection. The family of six must hide from Gru’s longtime nemesis Maxime Le Mal (Ferrell). Meanwhile, Gru has a tough time bonding with Gru Jr.

What makes these “Despicable Me” animated movies in part are the voices of the many actors. Here, Carell, Wiig, and Coffin, who voices the Minions are brilliant. Funnyman Will Ferrell, Joey King and Sofía Vergara as Maxime’s companion Valentina (voice) join them this time.

“Despicable Me 4” continues the laughs, but its cluttered plot distracts. The one-hour, 30-minute runtime has too many subplots and Minion shenanigans. The super-minions are an overkill.

Grade: B- (Amusing, it is still the opposite of despicable.)

“MaXXXine”

(Crime/Horror: 1 hour, 43 minutes)

Starring: Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale and Giancarlo Esposito

Director: Ti West

Rated: R (Violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use.)

Movie Review:

Director Ti West and lead actress Mia Goth collaborate again for “MaXXXine” after dazzling audiences with the 2020 movies “X” and “Pearl.” While this latest teamwork is scattered storytelling at moments, this prequel to “X” is still an engaging movie for this series.

“MaXXXine” starts with a quotation from Hollywood legend Bette Davis: “Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star.”

Maxine Minx, the sole survivor of the first film, “X’s” 1979 Texas porn star massacre,” wants to be a star. In 1985 Hollywood, Minx is an adult film star who gets a big break to star in a major horror film. Meanwhile, a mysterious killer stalks women of Hollywood, and his murders may reveal Minx’s ominous past.

Ti West is a creative director-writer. He gives Mia Goth’s Maxine Minx a world filled with old Hollywood-embedded scenes while making connections to his past movies in this series. Audiences see silent film actress Theda Bara’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In “Pearl,” Goth’s psychotic Pearl feeds her rival starlet to an alligator named Theda Bara. “MaXXXine” also showcases the house from “Psycho” (Director Alfred Hitchcock, 1960), where Maxine Minx sees a visual of the violently disturbed older woman from “X” in the window.

West knows his older films. His study of them is what makes his movies dynamic. He and Mia Goth make a good team. Goth is a talented actress. She plays a temptress and a violently murderous beauty equally impressive. She is now moviedom’s scream queen, except she makes other characters scream. “MaXXXine” ends with the 1981 song “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes. Goth has those eyes. She is confident and has moxie, the audacity to achieve her goals. Goth via West’s writing and direction makes this a worthy character study.

While the characters and this story are inconsistent in some moments, “MaXXXine” is still effective. Goth and West prove they are good colleagues.

Grade: B (She is a star!)

“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot”

(Drama: 2 hours, 10 minutes)

Starring: Nika King, Demetrius Grosse, Diaana Babnicova, and Elizabeth Mitchell

Director: Joshua Weigel

Rated: PG-13 (Thematic material involving child abuse, violence, language and suggestive material)

Movie Review:

“Sound of Hope” is one of the more inspirational movies one will see this year. It is based on the true story of Reverend WC Martin and his wife Donna Martin, who managed to lead their Bennett Chapel Church of Possum Trot, East Texas to help 22 families adopt 77 of the most difficult-to-place children of The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).

Directed by Joshua Weigel (“The Butterfly Circus,” 2009), the movie follows primarily the Martin family. WC (Grosse) and Donna Martin (King) have two children but adopt foster children to provide them with proper loving homes. One of the most difficult children is Terri, played nicely by Diaana Babnicova (“Don’t Breathe 2,” 2021).

A capable cast finally seizes their roles with a certain seriousness, and their ability to be their characters matures as the script does simultaneously. They are in a faith-based screenplay, but they provide more than the standard performances for the genre.

The story has a sluggish, typical start for a faith-based movie, the loss of a loved one. Death begins the inspiring piece, but “Sound of Hope” goes beyond that eventually.

In a world where the faithful and non-faithful fail to protect the most vulnerable among us, children, The Martins do what their faith requires of them. They sacrifice their easy lives for the task of being spiritual servants. The religiosity displayed is gratifying. The Martins do not merely preach the word; they live it. Their faith and some nice dramatic scenes propel this positive movie.

Grade: B (Have faith, See hope.)

“Longlegs”

(Horror/Crime/Thriller: 1 hour, 41 minutes)

Starring: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood and Alicia Witt

Director: Oz Perkins

Rated: R (Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.)

Movie Review:

Director-writer Oz Perkins (“Gretel & Hansel,” 2020) creates an intense plot-based drama with three chapters. He sets the mood nicely. It is very entertaining. Despite some hiccups, “Longlegs” sets a nice mood, filled with a certain intensity that works.

“Longlegs” comes with much hype, thanks to fanfare around Nicolas Cage playing the title character Longlegs. He murders families in their quaint homes. FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) and her supervisor Agent Carter (Underwood) have few clues about who Longlegs is except for the written clues he leaves behind. Even more, they do not know how he commits the crimes. Their investigation leads them to unknown and familiar places linked to the occult involving satanism.

Often movie audiences confuse original and entertaining with good. Cage delivers another out-there portrayal. These roles are becoming typical for him. He is fun, although Longlegs’ physical attributes are weird.

This horror has nice thrills because of the sinister atmosphere created from its start. The problem is that Perkins creates characters not as developed as the plot. It does not provide enough reasons to care about these characters. Consequently, the intensity goes away when the movie is done because of this.

Still, “Longlegs” has enough thrills to make one notice. The story provides an interesting mystery to solve.

Grade: B- (Long stretch of thrills pay off.)

“Touch”

(Drama/Romance: 2 hours, 01 minutes)

Starring: Egill Ólafsson, Kōki, Palmi Kormákur, Yôko Narahashi and Masahiro Motoki

Director: Baltasar Kormákur

Rated: R (Sexuality and thematic elements)

Movie Review:

“Touch” takes place two decades 50 years apart. It is a romantic drama based on the novel by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson who co-wrote the screen adaptation with versatile director Baltasar Kormákur (“Beast,” 2022; “101 Reykjavik,” 2000). Kormákur is most apt as a filmmaker when dealing with his Icelandic culture. His ethnicity is present. Japanese and a touch of British cultures are also present. From one culture to the next and spread across decades, “Touch” occasionally gets lost in translation.

A gentleman in his 70s, Kristófer Hannesson (Ólafsson) searches for 51 years for Miko Nakamura (Narahashi), the woman he fell in love with in 1969. Just as the COVID pandemic emerges in 2020 and fearing he has little time left, Hannesson receives a message from Nakamura. That is enough to reignite his love for her, so sets off to find her. When countries in Asia are shutting down, Hannesson heads toward danger to find his love.

Flashback to London in 1969, a young Hannesson (Director Kormákur’s son Pálmi Kormákur) and a young Nakamura (Japanese model and songwriter Kōki) meet at a restaurant under the proprietorship of Nakamura’s father Takahashi-san (Motoki). Both are university students. He is from Iceland, and she is from Japan. The young people become a loving couple. Their love is severed when Nakamura and her father leave overnight without telling anyone of their destination.

The older versions of the lovers are more intriguing. Ólafsson and Narahashi play them well. They appear to have more chemistry than Pálmi Kormákur and Kōki portrayals of the characters. While Pálmi and Kōki are a beautiful couple, they are upstaged by the older actors’ seasoned ability to just be.

The fault is not theirs. Writers Baltasar Kormákur and Olaf Ólafsson use the younger lovers to get to the apex of their story. The young lovers’ story is slow-paced, and the romance is delayed, a lengthy time to get the couple together.

Ultimately, this movie becomes romantic in two decades. The wait is worth it. As lovers from differing cultures merge, their histories must also. We see them grow as individuals, and we learn about their cultures. Both are engaging.

Grade: B (A touch of classic moviemaking.)