Tag: rian johnson

Scooby-dooby-doo. “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (2025)

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directed by Rian Johnson
© 2025 Netflix. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to day 4 of 2026! How many of your resolutions are already postponed to 2027? Come on, be honest, we know how things work. I just hope that you’ll be regularly checking my blog and watching lots of good films. The rest can be done later. Let’s begin the year with something funny, thrilling and mysterious – so retired 007, Daniel Craig, playing Sherlock Holmes. This is the third film of the Knives Out series, where we follow Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who each time has a different crime to investigate. If you haven’t seen the previous two parts – no worries, because it’s made in a similar way like other detective stories, so each part is a separate story. In this one, I’m taking you to church (just like Hozier wanted – wink, wink), where a young priest Jud (Josh O’Connor) becomes an assistant of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Since it’s a little town they serve in, new things aren’t very welcome here. Still, Jud notices Jefferson’s strange behaviour that influences the parishioners and he tries to make some changes, which is difficult on many levels. One day, Jefferson gets murdered in an unusual way and, obviously, Jud is the main suspect. However, here comes our mastermind Benoit Blanc whose job is to learn about this village’s secrets and find the actual murderer. I’ve seen all three parts of the series and as much as I enjoyed the first one, the second film wasn’t that exciting. So I didn’t feel like checking out the third part, but somehow I did out of boredom and actually got surprised. In my opinion, it’s almost as good as the first one. The mystery is so weird and complex that it makes it even funnier to be solving it. Not to mention the magnificent cast that you could watch for hours. I guess I had extra fun because not that long time ago I took part in a city game where the main task was to solve the mystery of a stolen object in a church. It was all made up, obviously, but we had to analyse how the thief actually managed to hide, steal and escape. So this film reminded me of that game and I was watching it thinking “yeah, Blanc, I know how you’re feeling, been there, done that.” I believe this is an awesome title to begin your year with. Let’s just hope you won’t need to wake up any dead men in 2026. Crossing my fingers for that.

My rating: 7/10
S.

What is reality?! “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (2022)

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directed by Rian Johnson
© 2022 Netflix. All Rights Reserved.

Let’s start this year with some mystery, shall we? Today I’d like to recommend you the squeal to “Knives Out” which was appreciated by many and everybody hoped for “Glass Onion” to be equally good. Is it? Well… not in my opinion, but it’s still a film worth seeing. In this story we get to meet a bunch of very different people, each of whom receives a mysterious box. The box is full of riddles and after solving them all, a card can be found. Miles Bron (Edward Norton), a wealthy guy, invites his friend to come to his private island in Greece and play a game during which they will have to guess who “murdered” him. Somehow, the detective that we know from the previous film, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) also gets an invitation even though he’s not a friend of Miles. At first it seems like a relaxing weekend during which they will be having lots of alcohol and playing Cluedo in real life. However, Benoit was not supposed to be there in the first place. And the fact that he has come, leads to a conclusion that things might be way more complicated than they seem. First, I had a really pleasant time watching this film, so if you’re looking for something to cheer you up – great choice. However, at the beginning I had a feeling that perhaps it’s an adaptation of one Agatha Christie’s books, but unfortunately it wasn’t. Or maybe fortunately? Not sure. But when I got excited about knowing what may happen next (because I read that book), they surprised me with a different plot, so I got a little disappointed. In the end, I believe the mystery itself isn’t as fun as the one in the first film, but generally it’s entertaining and made in a style I personally enjoyed. Besides, we have a lot of good actors and funny gags, so we shouldn’t complain that much. I have to say that my absolute favourite is Kate Hudson in the role of Birdie, who kind of reminds me of Andie in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” when she’s trying to be horribly annoying so Ben gives up. Kate has some kind of talent in not overacting such roles and I honestly laughed at her reactions with pleasure. And as much as I’m not a fan of Daniel Craig as Bond, I definitely hope to see him more as Benoit Blanc. So crossing fingers for next parts and I’m glad that Rian Johnson is sharing Agatha Christie’s vibes.

My rating: 6/10
S.

You all love twisting the knife into one another. “Knives Out” (2019)

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directed by Rian Johnson
© 2019 Lionsgate. All Rights Reserved.

That’s the hottest production you can see this December. And don’t even mention another “Star Wars” part. This film is an exception and I’m sure you’ve never seen anything like it. I was actually surprised that it’s a comedy, because it has such high ratings, which isn’t usual. And it’s not only from ordinary viewers, but critics including. A comedy, a fantastic cast, a story about a murder – sounds just perfect. So the murder happens quite quickly and the dead one is Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), a very rich writer. The housekeeper (Edi Patterson) finds his body the next morning after his 85th birthday party. Obviously the police come, but they aren’t alone. Someone has hired detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) who observes all the suspects. They talk to all family members, but also his private nurse Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas). Seems like she was the only person that the novelists liked very much, since the rest of the family didn’t care about anything but his money. Richard (Don Johnson), his son-in-law, is cheating on Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), Harlan’s daughter. Then his daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette) turns out to be stealing money from him lying it’s for her daughter’s tuition. Before the death he also had an argument with his son Walt (Michael Shannon), who works at Harlan’s publishing company and the novelist wasn’t satisfied with certain decisions being made. There’s also Ransom (Chris Evans), Harlan’s grandson, who is the laziest person on this planet and the man wants to cut him out of his will so he doesn’t get any money and needs to work hard. So as you can see, all those people had a reason to, shortly speaking, get rid of the old man. If you think it’s another “guess the killer” production, I have to disappoint you. What if I tell you that you get to know the killer almost at the beginning? Strange, huh? I was a bit shocked, because I didn’t know why I should keep watching it for another 1,5 h since I already knew the most important fact. What happens in this film is the most marvellous story that I’ve seen recently. I honestly didn’t want it do end. I would really give it a 10/10, but I think the beginning was slightly too slow and later I noticed a small logical mistake, but obviously I cannot tell you that, because it would be a spoiler. So watch closely, maybe you will see it as well. But for sure, this is a must-see film this year.

My rating: 8/10
S.