10s Movie Review - Bad Times at the El Royale

Director: Drew Goddard
Genre: Thriller
Runtime: 142 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, Nick Offerman

Description: Circa 1969, several strangers, most with a secret to bury, meet by chance at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one night, everyone will show their true colors - before everything goes to hell.

Review: Many times I thought about Quentin Tarantino, while watching “Bad Times at the El Royale”. And that’s a compliment to director Drew Goddard, who is still looking for his own voice but is very talented. Goddard decided to use the non-chronological narration and it works!
The El Royale hotel stand on both Californian and Nevada ground. The border runs right through the middle of the hotel. And the hotel is some strange clientele. The mysterious Father Flynn, soul singer Darlene Sweet, slick salesman Laramie Sullivan and hippie girl Emily Summerspring. All of them have secrets, including the hotel itself.
Goddard has an eye for atmospheric detail, manages to create unusual camera angles and builds up the tension. It looks fantastic. Especially one scene, with Darlene singing “You Can’t Hurry Love” shows what a great filmmaker Goddard actually is.
All characters have their own reasons to be in the El Royale and the less you know from the start, the better. Jeff Bridges is strong as always. But it’s Chris Hemsworth who steals the show as Billy Lee. It takes a while for him to enter the story, but when he does, he really does.
“Bad Times at the El Royale” is a really good film, that looks great and has amazing potential. I enjoyed it from start to finish!

Rating: 4/ 5

Movies to Look Forward to - October 2018

October 4th – A Star is Born
Director: Bradley Cooper
Starring: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliot, Dave Chappelle
Description: A musician (Bradley Cooper) helps a young singer and actress (Lady Gaga) find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

October 4th – Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson, Jenny Slate, Riz Ahmed
Description: When Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) acquires the powers of a symbiote, he will have to release his alter-ego "Venom" to save his life.

October 11th – Bad Times at the El Royale
Director: Drew Goddard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Jeff Bridges, Nick Offerman
Description: Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption - before everything goes to hell.

October 18th – First Man
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Ciarán Hinds, Ethan Embry, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit
Description: A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

October 18th – Hell Fest
Director: Gregory Plotkin
Starring: Amy Forsyth, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Reign Edwards
Description: A masked serial killer turns a horror themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show.

October 18th – Mowgli
Director: Andy Serkis
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Andy Serkis, Naomie Harris, Eddie Marsan, Matthew Rhys, Freida Pinto, Tom Hollander, Rohan Chand, Peter Mullan, Jack Reynor
Description: A human child raised by wolves must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), as well as his own origins.

October 25th – The Girl in the Spider’s Web
Director: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Claire Foy, Sylvia Hoeks, Sverrir Gudnason, Stephen Merchant
Description: Young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) and journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) find themselves caught in a web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt government officials.