Title: Lapsis

Director: Noah Hutton

Released: July 11, 2020 (South Korea – Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival)/October 1, 2020 (United States – Nashville Film Festival)

Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes

Available to stream on: Kanopy

Ray Tincelli (Dean Imperial) is just trying to do what’s best for his younger brother, Jamie (Babe Howard). You see, Jamie suffers from CFS (Chronic Fatigue Symptom), and the treatments are expensive, to say the least. Unfortunately for Ray, he keeps striking out with his extra side hustles and attempts to turn a quick profit. Luckily Ray isn’t completely out of options just yet.

Quantum is a tech company that is on the verge of a monopoly on both software and hardware. In the “New Economy” the quantum trading market is the way of the future. The servers for Quantum are all connected by cables that are plugged into giant black cubes, strategically placed in low-populated and desolate areas. CABLR, the company that ensures all these cables are plugged in, happens to be hiring.

What exactly does the job entail? Well, each contractor is assigned a route and along the way they unspool the cable and plug it into the cubes as they come across them. For each route accepted and successfully completed, you earn a set amount of money.

Sounds like a rather easy and straightforward way to earn some extra money, right? Maybe on paper.

As it turns out, humans aren’t the only ones that are assigned routes. CABLR also happens to be using robots to run the same routes. If a robot passes you on a route and completes it before you, you don’t receive the full payment.

Will Ray be able to complete enough routes to help Jamie?

Is there a way to outsmart the robots and eliminate the competition?

What if the fellow cablers along the trail aren’t as friendly as they appear?

Lapsis (2020) is one of those movies where after the end credits roll, you find yourself sitting there wondering if you fully grasped everything that just happened.

Noah Hutton wrote, directed, edited, and scored a clever science fiction film that pulls no punches in poking fun at the “gig economy”. It’s very easy to look at CABLR offering “financial freedom” and increased pay/better routes the more routes you complete and draw comparisons to Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Amazon, etc. Dangle the carrot in front of those who need help the most all while working to make them obsolete.

Full disclosure, when I first saw Dean Imperial as Ray, I wasn’t sure if I could get behind him as a protagonist. Boy was I wrong. As the story unfolds, we are gaining a better understanding of what exactly is taking place at the same time as Ray is. This allows you to connect with Ray’s character and align yourself “in his corner”, if you will.

It is tough to talk about Lapsis (2020) at-length without giving too much away. If you fancy yourself a dystopian sci-fi flick, definitely seek this out. If you’re on the fence, give it a shot anyways. It is a brisk 108 minutes and who knows, you just might surprise yourself.

So, there you have it. Those are my thoughts on Lapsis (2020), but what are yours? Tell me what you thought of it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

See everything else that I’m watching and give me a follow over on Letterboxd.

As always, keep an eye on Threads and Instagram this Wednesday for a preview of what the letter “P” will have in store for us next week.

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Title: Perfect Sense

Director: David Mackenzie

Released: January 24, 2011 (Sundance)

Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes

Available to stream on: Tubi and Kanopy

Michael (Ewan McGregor) is a chef at a busy upscale restaurant. One day, when stepping out back on break, Michael bums a smoke from Susan (Eva Green), who lives in a flat adjacent to the restaurant.

Susan works as an epidemiologist. She is currently investigating a new epidemic that is causing people to lose their sense of smell. Before the sense of smell goes, people are overcome with grief. When the grief subsides is when one realizes so is their sense of smell. But it gets worse. Every memory that you have that is in any way linked to a specific smell, well those memories begin to vanish as well.

Being that Michael works so close to where Susan lives, they begin chatting as they see each other before eventually becoming involved with one another. They are very cautious and try not to be the reason the other becomes infected. One night, in the kitchen of Michael’s restaurant, Susan bursts into tears. Later, while consoling her in bed, Michael too breaks down. Cut to the next morning and neither one of them has their sense of smell anymore.

Meanwhile, the epidemic continues to evolve. After the sense of smell, next up is the sense of taste. Like before, there are warning signs. A sudden onset of anxiety followed by insatiable hunger. Once the hunger fades, you realize you no longer have the sense of taste.

As quarantines take effect, Michael and Susan realize that they’re in this together until the end, whatever that might be. They, along with the rest of society, begin to adapt to life without certain senses.

But there is only one problem with that.

What happens when you run out of senses to lose?

As someone who considers themselves a fan of both Ewan McGregor and Eva Green, I really wanted to like Perfect Sense (2011). If we are only going to look at Max Richter and his score, then yes, I really liked Perfect Sense (2011). In fact, his score is arguably the best part of the movie. Consistently good from beginning to end.

However, the same cannot be said for the movie itself.

Watching this through 2023 eyes is pretty wild. An epidemic that results in the loss of smell? Hits a little close to home, eh?

The idea of losing all of your senses, one by one, and not knowing when it’ll happen until you randomly succumb to the odd behaviors that occur right before the sense goes, that’s absolutely terrifying. There is a thriller movie for the ages in there somewhere that I was so hoping we’d lean hard into. Instead, we got a half thought-out love story thrown onto us.

We are expected to be invested in the relationship of Susan and Michael but aren’t given nearly enough to want to be invested in them as individuals, let alone a couple. I’m not saying I wouldn’t be here for that story. Ewan and Eva had good chemistry, yeah, let’s explore that more. But don’t try and force that story into the epidemic story and have it be the focal point.

Perfect Sense (2011) needed to decide what type of movie it wanted to be. Unfortunately, we weren’t given enough substance or time to warrant combining the epidemic thriller with the love story. Extra half a star for Max Richter’s work.

Have you seen Perfect Sense (2011)? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Well, there you have it. Thirteen letters down and thirteen left to go. Next week we’ll have the letter “N”. Want to get a sneak peek at who the crew member will be and what movie of theirs we’ll review? Keep an eye on Threads, Instagram, and if you’re over there…Bluesky, this Wednesday.

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Title: X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

Director: Roger Corman

Released: September 19, 1963

Runtime: 1 hour 19 minutes

Available to stream on: Kanopy and Tubi

IMDb synopsis: A doctor uses special eye drops to give himself x-ray vision, but the new power has disastrous consequences.

Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) (no relation to Charles Xavier) believes that he is on the verge of something huge. He is convinced that these new eye drops that he’s created will allow the eye to see to its full potential. This includes gamma rays and x-ray wavelengths. Dr. Diane Fairfax (Diana Van der Vlis) is skeptical to say the least so Dr. X has her witness an experiment on a monkey.

Dr. X administers the eye drops to the monkey while Dr. Fairfax looks on in disbelief as the monkey is able to identify colors through solid material. What neither of them expected was for the monkey to drop dead soon after. Dr. X says that the monkey must’ve died from shock of what he’d seen.

Convinced that he needs to test the eye drops on a human subject, Dr. X decides to administer the eye drops himself. Initially his sight is full of color, as if he were looking into a kaleidoscope. After a few moments his vision settles and he’s able to read the text on papers that are beneath a folder on the desk. One instance isn’t enough to satisfy Dr. X though, so he administers a second round to himself.

This go-around, Dr. X is able to see into a patient’s organs to identify a misdiagnosis. But it doesn’t stop there, while at a social gathering Dr. X realizes he can see through everyone’s clothing. Not to their internal organs like with the patient, while effective the x-ray vision also appears to be selective.

Friend and colleague, Dr. Sam Brant (Harold J. Stone) while impressed with the results of the eyedrops, urges Dr. X to pump the brakes until they can evaluate what the side effects are. To no one’s surprise, Dr. X insists they must push on. While struggling to take the eye drops back from Dr. Brant, Dr. X hilariously throws Dr. Brant out of a window, and he falls to his death.

Now on the run, Dr. X decides to hide in plain sight. He’s working for a carnival barker named Crane (Don Rickles) under the name Mr. Mentallo where he works as a mind reader. After some time, Crane realizes that Mr. Mentallo isn’t just a gimmick and there could be a lot more money to be made off of this “ability” Mr. Mentallo possesses. Crane convinces Dr. X to become a miracle worker of sorts. They’ll charge people whatever they can afford, and Mr. Mentallo will give them the exact diagnosis they need to relay to their doctors.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fairfax has managed to track down Dr. X and he confesses to her that the power has become too much for him. She promises to help him escape but before they can Crane stops them and tells Mr. Mentallo that he knows exactly who Dr. James Xavier is and what he’s wanted for.

On the run again, now with a heightened threat of the police, Dr. Fairfield and Dr. X flee to Vegas. While here, Dr. X decides to use the eye drops to make some quick cash. While this seems all well and good, apparently irrational outbursts are a side effect of the eye drops. Unable to keep his cool, Dr. X is threatened to be escorted by security. To escape he tosses his winnings into the air as a distraction as he flees the casino in a stolen vehicle.

With a police helicopter following him overhead, and his vision severely impaired from the eye drops, how will he manage to escape?

What will the lasting impact of the eye drops be on his vision?

Right away I knew it was going to be a weird ride. It feels as if we were dropped into the middle of an already in-progress limited series. Why things are at the point they are and how they got there, doesn’t matter. Here it is and now we’re off and running.

For it being 1963, the special effects manage to not feel offensively cheap while also feeling the right level of campy. The script seems rather simplistic, and the acting is at times stiff. However, that’s not to say that there were no bright spots or redeeming qualities.

Don Rickles as Crane the carnival barker was incredibly casting. It didn’t feel like Rickles had to act so much as just be himself in this role.

The big reason that X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), for me, avoids the category of “awful camp” and instead lands somewhere in the realm of “fun camp” is the performance of Ray Milland. His commitment to the role of Dr. James Xavier is what kept me engaged throughout. Without him, the movie becomes just something to have on for background noise.

It’s a weird ride but one that somehow manages to be fun along the way.

So, what did you think? Were you a fan of X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)? Hit me with your thoughts on it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Alright, we are down to the last two weeks in the A-to-Z challenge. Due to my upcoming schedule, I won’t be asking for suggestions for the “Y” and “Z” installments. I will, however, still be posting what the movies will be on Instagram and Twitter come Wednesday.

For the second half of the year, we’ll do the A-to-Z challenge one more time focusing on crew members. Set decorator, stuntperson, makeup artist, doesn’t matter what their role is, as long as it isn’t an actor or a director. You name the crew member and I’ll pick a film of theirs I haven’t seen to cover for the week. Just something to start considering over the next few weeks.

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Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes

Directed by: Roland Emmerich

Budget: $138-146 million

Box Office: $58.9 million worldwide ($19.1million U.S. and Canada)

Watched via: VOD rental

IMDB synopsis: A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it.

Head of NASA, Jo Fowler (Berry), former astronaut Brian Harper (Wilson), and loveable conspiracy theorist KC Houseman (Bradley) depart on an impossible mission to save the Earth from being destroyed by the moon.

Roland Emmerich (Universal Soldier, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, etc.) directing another disaster movie, this time where the moon is suddenly on a collision course with Earth. Add in Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, and John Bradley and you’ve got, what on paper should be, the ingredients for a fun popcorn disaster flick. If only we were that lucky…

Within the first 10 minutes you know you are in for a long ride. The writing is absolutely awful. This leads to awkward performances from Wilson, Berry, and Bradley. It isn’t that either of them gave a necessarily “bad” performance. Instead, it is almost like they each were acting in three different types of movies. The entire first act of Moonfall is a lot of word salad and square pegs trying to be forced into round holes. On top of the writing/acting, the effects are equivalent to those in any of the numerous Sharknado films. No, I am not expecting to see a realistic moon crashing into the Earth. However, I am not expecting glaringly awful green screens either.

Nevertheless, there is fun to be had with Moonfall, even if that fun consists of unintentional laughter. For me, this moment came at about the one-hour mark. As our heroic trio is preparing to launch into space, it becomes a race against an incoming tidal wave. The shuttle then blasts through the wave as it ascends into space. This was where I decided to just try and have fun with the remainder of the movie, despite all of its flaws. While I cannot say that this approach was a smashing success, I can say that it made the remaining ninety minutes much more bearable.

Currently, Moonfall is available to rent on demand for $5.99 across all major platforms (Apple, Amazon, Vudu, Redbox, etc.). But do not go and do that. If the desire to watch Moonfall strikes you, you are better off just waiting. In fact, wait until you can stream it on a major platform that you already subscribe to. But even then, don’t just watch it on a whim.

Moonfall would probably best be experienced with friends and copious amounts of snacks. Set up a virtual or in-person watch party and you can create your own MST3K commentary.

Have you seen Moonfall? If so, what did you think? Give your thoughts on it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media. Let me know, “I’ve Scene That!”

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