YESTERDAY IS HISTORY, TOMORROW IS A MYSTERY // A FILM REVIEW OF "LAST NIGHT IN SOHO"

BY MATEO MORENO

Edgar Wright has made a career of making cool films. And I don't mean "cool films," the kind of films that only film school kids seek out and seem to alienate everyone else. His films are made for everyone and they just are cool, period. Stylish and sleek, beautifully shot and uniquely different, Wrights filmography runs the gamut of styles and genres. His latest is LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, which he co-wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. SOHO has the pulse of Baby Driver or Scott Pilgrim but adds in a fresh, strange and intriguing blend of retro and time travel. It also hopes around genres within itself, making it a wild ride indeed.

Thomasin McKenzie is Eloise, a student who is studying fashion design and has recently moved to London from the country. He grandmother worries about her but is also excited to see her pursue her dreams. Once there, she immediately butts heads with her catty roommate and the Heather-like crew around her. Not wanting to stay in that environment, she gets a place of her own, which also means she has to get a job so that she can afford the extra expense. This might have turned out as simply a young woman trying to find her place in the world in an ordinary story, but Eloise is no ordinary person. She begins having very vivid dreams (or are they visions?) concerning an aspiring singer Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy) who decades earlier lived in the same exact apartment that Eloise is now renting. She's dazzled by these visions of yesteryear. The glamour of the nightclubs and clothes, the way people spoke, the dedication of Sandy to be heard. She's taken adrift by this world that she sees around her. Eloise herself even finds herself changing, becoming someone new altogether. But just as when we often idolize days gone past, we don't immediately recognize the darkness hiding within the shadows. And the 1960's had plenty of that. Soon, the bright candy colored palette begins to wash away and the gritter and sadder truth sinks through. On top of all of that, a murder mystery begins to unfold in front of her, one that happened years ago and one that only she can solve decades later.

There's a lot of twists and turns in LAST NIGHT IN SOHO and it would be ruining the fun to reveal any of those here. So I won't. What I will say is that Wright has crafted a fast paced and delectable crime thriller. The beautiful cinematography, by Chung-hoon Chung (who also crafted the marvelous shots in the original Oldboy and the It remake), and the fantastic costume design by Odile Dicks-Mireaux, visually catapults the film far and above those around it. McKenzie is a great window into the world. Her performance is raw and vulnerable, fragile but strong. She makes quite an impression here. Taylor-Joy is dynamic as the lady from the past, radiant and vibrant, showing off her dancing and vocal chops as well (her voice can even be heard on the soundtrack). Matt Smith chews up the scenery nicely as the mysteriously suave man who may be able to help Sandy reach her own dreams. And I have to mention the one-two punch of casting Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp, two legends of cool in their own right. Wright directs with a flourishing charm, jumping from the past to the present with dizzying ease. Not all of the film works perfectly, though what doesn't is overpowered by the sheer style and boldness of the film, and the mystery and horror roots seem to jump from the seams. I found that it even grew more and more on me after I left the cinema. Sure, I could have stood a bit more depth in the characters, a bit more history into what makes them tick. But that's a minor quibble among the dizzying storytelling on the screen here. It's bold and exciting and the perfect tonight for a night out at the cinema.

GRADE: A-

WRITTEN BY Edgar Wright, Krysty Wilson-Cairns DIRECTED BY Edgar Wright STARRING Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Michael Ajao, Rebecca Harrod. OPENS OCTOBER 29TH IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE. FOR MORE INFO: LAST NIGHT IN SOHO

ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD // A FILM REVIEW OF "THE WORLD'S END

BY MATEO MORENO

Legend has it there was a boy named Gary King and he had a group of friends who followed him everywhere.  On one magic night, Gary and his friends embarked on a quest that no other human could accomplish: to hit 12 pubs and have a Pint at each, ending with the famed THE WORLD'S END.  Though they gave it a good fight, Gary and his mates never finished that pub crawl, instead ended up on a hilltop overlooking the town that was theirs.  The oracles have predicted for years that Gary would return to the mythic town of Newton Haven, with his mates in tow, to finish the propisized pub crawl and thus will bring peace to all the lands until the end of time.  Um... or something like that.

Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick Frost reteam for the third chapter of the "Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (the first two being Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) tackling yet another genre.  Pegg plays Gary King, a washed up alcoholic who hasn't ever stopped trying to recreate the glory days of his high school experience.  When he was a lad, he and his friends tried a 12 pub epic crawl and never made it to the final bar, "The World's End."  Now, 20 years later, Pegg tracks down his mates Andy, Steven, Peter, & Oliver and drags them back to their old stomping grounds to attempt the crawl once again.  But once they arrive, things are far from the same.  Something is rotten in the state of Newton Haven, and everyone there is just a bit... off.  So sets the stage for a rollicking and hilarious trip down memory lane, which included the reappearance of an object of both Gary and Steven's affections Sam (Rosamund Pike), who also happens to be Oliver's sister.  Having tackled Horror and Action, the trio set their sights on Sci-Fi and nail it.  The first half of the movie plays just like a buddy comedy and is thoroughly hilarious and heartfelt.  Then suddenly, the movie goes apeshit and the Sci-Fi element comes in.  And mannnnn does it deliver.  It's strange, wacky, and relentless.  Just another day in the mind of three comedic masters.

Pegg relishes in making Gary look like a jackass, and he really is, but he's also one you can get behind and sympathize with.  You want him to win at the end of the day, if for nothing else than to see him not loose yet again.  He's fast and furious, as is his buddy Andy (Frost).  Frost is all buttoned up and reserved, feeling sorry for Gary's decline over the years.  But once he gets a few Pints in him, Frost lets loose and has you in his comedic pocket from then on.  The entire ensemble of friends are great, from Martin Freeman's (The Hobbit, Sherlock) deadpan Oliver to to Paddy Considine's regreatful Steven, Eddie Marsan's needing to let loose Peter, and the charming Rosamund Pike desperately trying to figure out what the hell is going on.  Showing up for some very funny moments is David Bradley (the Harry Potter films) as the creepy old man who may have all the answers.  The finale may lag a bit, but the final moments make up for it, and it certainly entertains you tenfolds.  Take a trip to The World's End but don't try a pub run before.  Leave that for after.

MATEO'S GRADE: B+

Directed by Edgar Wright Written by Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike  Rated R for Adult Language, Violence  NOW PLAYING

BOTTOM LINE: A strange, odd, hilarious good time.  With this crew, what else would you expect?