The colorful SEGA spiny mammals are back and fully charged!
If there’s one thing the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog films have shown, it’s that Jim Carrey is sorely missed as a regular on-screen presence. His performance in 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog was, not so arguably, the best part of the film and without it the film would’ve been easily dismissed. The sequel, coming out only two years after the first, is a rare instance of more-is-better working for a franchise. Carrey remains the main draw, and he once again delivers the manic goods. Two new colorful iconic characters from the SEGA game’s universe, Tails and Knuckles, are fun additions. Unsurprisingly, the addition of extended plotlines surrounding minor side characters isn’t as fun. Like a broken record, I’ll once again say that movies are too long these days. Sonic 2 is twenty minutes too long (23 minutes longer than the first movie). Despite some extraneous tangents, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 doubles down on the jokes, the action, and the energy.
The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival closes tomorrow, Thursday, May 7th, but that still leaves you time to see some films, including the closing night film, Experimenter (with Winona Ryder in attendance for the Q&A!). The screening is at 7:00pm at the Castro Theatre, and info and tickets are available here.
In the meantime, we’re spotlighting three other films that played during the Fest. And be sure check back after Thursday for our final wrap up.
Welcome to Me (USA, 2014, 86 min, Marquee Presentations)
Alice (Kristen Wiig) and Gabe (Wes Bentley) form a connection.
Saturday Night Live and Bridesmaids alum Kristen Wiig stars in director Shira Piven’s new film, but the picture is no lightweight comedy. It has some rich laughs, to be sure, but, ultimately, it’s a smart, compassionate, and serious look at mental illness and the narcissism of new social media and reality TV platforms. Wiig plays Alice, a Palm Desert former veterinary nurse with borderline personality disorder who wins the lottery and decides to invest her winnings in a local talk show hosted by, and entirely about, her. The film deftly explores the collision between mental and cultural illness, and Wiig continues to flex the dramatic muscle we saw in last year’s The Skeleton Twins by giving her bravest performance yet. A stellar supporting cast, helmed by Tim Robbins as a patient but firm therapist, and the wonderful Joan Cusack, channeling her famous Broadcast News character, help to shape the picture’s serio-comic tone. Wes Bentley, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, and Jennifer Jason Leigh nicely complement the proceedings as well, but this is Wiig’s show all the way, and she’s absolutely masterful. Put this one on your must-see list now.
Screenings:
Opens this Friday, May 8th, in limited release in the Bay Area, including at the AMC Van Ness and the Presidio Theatres in San Francisco, and the Elmwood Theater in Berkeley. You can watch the trailer here.
The Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT, closed last Sunday, February 1st, and the award winners were announced that day; they can be found here.
Spinning Platters Sr. Film Reviewer Carrie Kahn continues her coverage of Festival films, so you can know what to look for in the coming year – and what to avoid – as many of these titles are purchased and widely distributed
As a reminder, we are using our patented Viewing Priority Level (VPL) Guide to advise you accordingly:
The Best of Me offers the near-worst in its genre.
Eye candy, yes. Chemistry, no. James Marsden look-alike, absolutely not.
Take a close look at the picture above. Does Mr. Shirtless look anything like a high school version of James Marsden? If you answered ‘yes’, then this movie is absolutely the movie for you. If you answered ‘no’, then you’re completely normal and will understand what I say when I say that the part of young Dawson was completely miscast. This was the biggest failure of The Best of Me, but there were other failures as well, including a overly complicated third act. Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember), The Best of Me is obviously catering to the same audiences that have contributed a whopping ton of money to previous Sparks adaptations. But this movie fails as an inspiring story and fails to provide compelling characters. I haven’t read the book so I can’t say for sure whether or not it was the source material’s fault. But either way, its unpredictability and distractions ruin the chance for emotional connectivity.
