Greetings again from the darkness. Have you hugged a spider today? Adam Sandler has. Well, technically it’s his character who does the hugging. Jakub Prochazka, is a Czech astronaut 189 days into his year long mission. He’s flying solo on “the outskirts of Jupiter” to explore the Chopra cloud which is expected to reveal the beginning of time. Honestly, it feels like a job worthy of more than one man, however, that’s what the source material provides. Based on the 2017 book “Spaceman of Bohemia” by Jaroslav Kalfar, Johan Renck directs the adapted screenplay by Colby Day. Mr. Renck is not one that jumps to mind when thinking of an Adam Sandler movie. His previous credits include the excellent mini-series “Chernobyl”, as well as multiple episodes of acclaimed series, “Breaking Bad” and “Bloodline”.
The reality is that Adam Sandler is a solid dramatic actor, as evidenced by his roles in PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002), and more recently, THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (2017) and UNCUT GEMS (2019). In fact, many of us much prefer heavy-drama Sandler to goofy-comedy Sandler. In this latest, he goes low-key extreme. In fact, Jakub is rapidly sinking into depression, though it has little to do with the loneliness and solitude of space. That’s right … it’s a woman. His pregnant wife, Lenka (the always stellar Carey Mulligan) is missing and won’t communicate with her galactic husband. We know what’s going on with her, but the mission Commander (Isabella Rossellini) refuses to tell Jakub due to his fragile mental state. On top of that, his deteriorating spacecraft is preventing him from sleeping properly.
Soon, that rickety old space toilet is the least of Jakub’s worries. He’s sharing the claustrophobic space with a giant talking spider. Jakub is unsure if this is a figment of his imagination or some alien creature. Passively voiced by Paul Dano, Hanus the arachnid initially appears to be a manifestation of Jakub’s subconscious, but as time goes on, it appears he’s a creature with knowledge of the universe. The low-key vocals from Jakub and Hanus don’t generate much excitement for us viewers, but the therapy Hanus provides, allows Jakub to better understand himself … and also drives Hanus to binge eat. There are no Sandler tantrums or screaming moments … instead his sad eyes and droopy face tell us much about Jakub.
Hanus calls Jakub “skinny human” so many times, it feels like that should be the film’s title. It gets old pretty quickly. Other supporting work comes from Kunal Nayyar as Jakub’s virtual doc, and Lena Olin as Lenka’s mother, although the film struggles to give anyone beyond Jakub much definition (including the underutilized Mulligan). It’s a bit baffling to look at this cast and associate them with the Czech Republic space program, but it’s Hollywood, where the 20-year age cap between Sandler and Mulligan also matters little. The film spent almost three years in post-production for reasons I don’t know, but it’s safe to say it’s one of the better talking spider movies you’ll see, yet not one of the finest lonely astronaut flicks.
Begins streaming on Netflix on March 1, 2024
Posted by David Ferguson 
Greetings again from the darkness. I’ll readily admit that I’m not an expert in outer space-based Science Fiction Romantic-Comedies. If you press me for a description of writer-director Michael Lukk Litwak’s film, it would be “WHEN HARRY MET SALLY … in future space”. Of course, this low budget flick is no match for Rob Reiner’s classic 1989 Rom-Com, yet the mismatched couple and the recurring spontaneous meetups does strike some familiar chords.
Greetings again from the darkness. So many people allow unresolved issues from their past to weigh down or complicate their efforts to live for today. Writer-director Andrew Haigh has loosely adapted the 1987 novel “Strangers” by Taichi Yamada most notably by a shifting of locale and gender. It features the powerful literary trio of loss, loneliness, and love, none of which come easy for Adam, played beautifully here by Andrew Scott.
Greetings again from the darkness. It appears as though I’m one of the few early viewers who walked away without having been beguiled or enraptured with this musical prequel to Roald Dahl’s 1964 story, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Full disclosure requires me to admit that I actually found it a bit dull, and that’s mostly due to the lead performance by Timothy Chalamet. I understand that he’s the hottest young actor working today, and brings along an entire fan base, but for me, Willy Wonka should have a twinkle in his eye, a spring in his step, and enough charm to draw folks in … even at a younger age.
Greetings again from the darkness. Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is possibly the most divisive director working today. Movie goers tend to either love his films like THE FAVOURITE (2018), THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017), THE LOBSTER (2015), and DOGTOOTH (2009) or walk away baffled that any decent human being could enjoy such dark works of strangeness and oddity. Despite this, two of his films have received Oscar nominations, and this latest may be both his most accessible and most outrageous project yet. It’s also a rare outing where Lanthimos left the writing to others. His co-writer on THE FAVOURITE, Tony McNamara (“The Great”) has adapted the screenplay from the 1992 novel by renowned Scottish writer Alasdair Gray, whose tome was influenced by Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.
Greetings again from the darkness. Fast approaching his 83rd birthday, legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki claims this is the final film of his illustrious career. In 2015, he was presented with an honorary Oscar, and he has had three films nominated for Best Animated Feature: THE WIND RISES (2013), HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2005), and Oscar winner SPIRITED AWAY (2002). His career in animation dates back to the early 1960’s and this latest, which took six-plus years to complete, proves he is still amongst the best.
Greetings again from the darkness. David Bowie’s 1975 song “Fame” has a line, “Fame … what you get is no tomorrow”, and that stuck with me during the second half of this terrific and wild film from Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (SICK OF MYSELF, 2022). Borgli not only tackles the issue of sudden fame and the weight that goes with it, but he also comments on ego and today’s cancel culture. Subtext runs throughout a film that feels descended from the mind of Charlie Kaufman and/or Spike Jonze.
Greetings again from the darkness. Alien invasion movies have long been a favorite of science-fiction filmmakers, as well as platform for those who strive to caution us to our societal missteps and wrong choices along life’s muddy path. Within the past couple of weeks I watched JULES (2023), a cute, heart-warming story about an alien who crash-lands in Pennsylvania and is cared for by Ben Kingsley’s character. Going back further we have the thoughtful ARRIVAL (2016), the outlandish MEN IN BLACK (1997), the precious E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) from Spielberg, the frightening ALIEN (1979) by James Cameron, the often-re-made WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), and the classic FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956). Of course, this is but a tiny portion of the complete list, but it gives some idea of the long-lived fascination.
Greetings again from the darkness. Adapting literary works for the big screen is common practice; however, the stakes are a bit higher when dealing with a beloved classic Asian work that is more than 400 years old. “Journey to the West” was initially written during the Ming Dynasty and no original author has ever been confirmed. The stories were re-imagined for an English audience in 1942 by Arthur Waley and published as “Monkey”, and now director Anthony Stacchi and co-writers Steve Bencich, Ron J Friedman, and Rita Hsiao have brought their vision to the screen … focusing on one specific segment of the story.
Greetings again from the darkness. Senior citizens sometimes nearly cease to exist for the outside world, or at best, are humored in a ‘there-there’ manner. So, what do you think happens when an elderly gentleman in a small western Pennsylvania town repeats the same suggestions at multiple City Council meetings, and then, in a nonchalant way, mentions that a spaceship crash-landed in his backyard, damaging his azaleas and birdbath? Right, others just shrug and move on, assuming the ol’ geezer is just imagining things.
Movie Reviews from the Dark 