“The Room Next Door”

(Drama: 1 hour, 47 minutes)

Starring: Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and John Turturro

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Rated: PG-13 (Thematic content, strong language and sexual references)

Movie Review:

“The Room Next Door” is exceptional because of the acting talents and chemistry of Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. These actresses are at the top of their game. They are both as impressive as the person directing them Pedro Almodóvar (“Talk to Her,” 2002).

Author Ingrid (Moore) has just written a book about death. She is terrified about the upcoming experience of dying, so Ingrid is horrified at first when close friend and fellow journalist Martha (Swinton) asks for Ingrid’s assistance for Martha’s planned suicide. Martha has cancer. The terminal medical condition has left Martha tired of life, and she intends to end her life before a future excruciating pain and chemotherapy. Martha just wants someone to be in the room next door when she commits suicide.

This movie is an adaptation based on the novel “What Are You Going Through” by Sigrid Nunez. This screenplay by Almodóvar and Sigrid Nunezby takes a very delicate situation on a serious topic and makes it very interesting.

The plot works because Moore and Swinton have good chemistry. Swinton is sharply intelligent in this role. Moore offers good dramaticism. Together, these women are a powerhouse of dramatic acting.

“Room Next Door” rushes Ingrid and Martha’s reconnecting as friends and former coworkers, but it offers a gratifying story of friendship and love lost.

Grade: B (See it at a cinema next to you.)

“One of Them Days”

(Comedy: 1 hour, 37 minutes)

Starring: Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Maude Apatow

Director: Lawrence Lamont

Rated: R (Strong language throughout, sexual material, violence and brief drug use.)

Movie Review:

A better title for “One of Them Days” would be “Dumb and Dumber 4.” The movie has a play on Blaxploitation, where only some of the moments are articulate. Others are just plain stupid and racial stereotypes. Elements of this plot are asinine to the point the movie is almost good.

Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) are longtime best friends and roommates. Thanks to Alyssa’s management of their rent money, the young women have nine hours to find the funds to avoid eviction. As they race to find funds, bad decisions make their debts grow.

Keke Palmer and SZA are interesting actresses. They have a friendly chemistry. They both present bubbly kind demeanors. Here, their roles here are far-fetched. They play friends who forgive each other for circumstances that would make most people probably murder their roommate.

Even more secondary characters such as Lil Rel Howery and Vanessa Bell Calloway are underused. Meanwhile, Lucky acted by Katt Williams, despite some funny bits, is an overused character. His moments are more repetitive than comical initially.

“One of Them Days” could be a better day at the cinema, but the hijinks are not convincing. The latter half is much better than the prior, yet the distinction is nothing to rave about.

Grade: C+ (One of those so-so-buddy comedies.)

“Wolf Man”

(Horror: 1 hour, 43 minutes)

Starring: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner and Matilda Firth

Director: Leigh Whannell

Rated: R (Bloody violent content, grisly images and language.)

Movie Review:

Actor-writer Leigh Whannell wowed audiences with 2020’s “The Invisible Man,” where he was a director and co-writer. “Wolf Man” continues the old-style monster movies returning to the modern cinema. It is well done, but it is not potently scary. Minus the first scene with father and son hunting, one does not get an ultimate sense of fear from the characters that their lives are in danger.

Blake Lovell (Abbott), Charlotte (Garner) and Ginger (Firth) are a family. They return to Blake’s childhood home in a remote mountainous part of Oregon after local authorities pronounced Blake’s estranged father Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger) deceased after a lengthy disappearance. After being attacked by a werewolf creature, Blake transforms into something similar to the ghastly being pursuing him and his young family.

This cast is a talented group. Their roles fit them, especially Abbott who already has a creepy appeal as the titular character.

Garner is good, and Firth is appealing as a child actress. However, the two are never convincing as fearful people stocked by a savage beast.

“Wolf Man” plays more like a survival movie than a horror. Suspense has a mild effect that leaves you once the conclusion happens.

Grade: C+ (Interesting but nothing to howl at ultimately.)

“Autumn and the Black Jaguar”

(Adventure/Family: 1 hour, 40 minutes)

Starring: Lumi Pollack, Emily Bett Rickards and Paul Greene

Director: Gilles de Maistre

Rated: PG (Rated for thematic material, violent content, peril and some language.)

Movie Review:

“Autumn and the Black Jaguar” is an environmental movie about saving wildlife in the Amazon. While this family drama has good intentions, the narrative is far from convincing. Prune de Maistre’s script is superficial at best.

If only the characters did the right thing, this movie would be an hour and 20 minutes shorter. Lumi Pollack and Emily Bett Rickards play the characters in this case. They play 14-year-old Autumn and her prissy biology teacher Anja. Autumn wants to save Hope, a black panther in danger because of poachers. To save the animal, the two people go on quite a journey and get to know each other in the process.

The big problem with this movie is that it doesn’t make sense. A teacher discovers that an underaged student plans to go overseas alone without her father’s permission. Rather than call the student’s guardian, the teacher boards the flight with the student to retrieve the rambunctious teen. Some dedicated teachers are out there, but none will chase a student halfway around the world when you can call the student’s parents.

“Autumn and the Black Jaguar” is a follow-up to Director Gilles de Maistre’s “Mia and the White Lion” (2018). Both are photoplays about the conservation of wildlife. “Autumn and the Black Jaguar” has good intentions about saving the environment but fails to make itself relevant with a believable situation. This is sad considering it has a good family appeal otherwise.

Grade: D+ (The best part is when the screen fades to black at the conclusion.)