Glass (2019)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Notable Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woordard, Luke Kirby, Adam David Thompson

Even five years ago, Glass was an unthinkable film. If you told me that we would be on the third part of an Unbreakable trilogy and the third film in M. Night Shyamalan’s renaissance with a theatrical audience just five years ago I would have probably laughed myself into a heart attack. Yet, here we are in 2019 with Glass, M. Night’s third superhero film and the third film of his in a row to see a significant box office success. It’s unexpected and, while I often think M. Night’s early career can be a bit overblown, something of a welcome return to see him return to genre films and produce interesting pieces of cinema. Glass was something that I ended up being very excited to see.

Oddly enough, I’m not the biggest fan of Unbreakable, the first part of this trilogy. It’s seemingly anti-superhero style to delivering a superhero origin story is both wildly bold and awkwardly disconnected which, while massively respectable, doesn’t inherently hit me the way it did for so many other critics. Split, the surprise sequel/side-quel, is another story. Split was a film that I adored. It was rooted in a fascinating blend of genre concepts and intimate character work. Glass is strangely enough very much a sequel to both Unbreakable and Split in tones, delivering some oddly cold material, but stemming from a punchy genre concept that once again massively benefits from a riveting performance from James McAvoy. While the mixture at times can be a bit different than expected, actively avoiding some of the tropes of the genre while taking a flank to embrace others, Glass is a massively entertaining film that ends up being much more of a hybrid and natural progression of seeing its previous two entries melded together. It’s easy to see why many critics are lambasting the film for that mixture, but by the time the end credits rolled it felt like it was exactly where this series wanted to go even if some of the choices can be outlandishly hit or miss.

12 Monkeys (1995)

Director: Terry Gilliam

Notable Cast: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeline Stowe, Christopher Plummer, David Morse, Jon Seda, Christopher Meloni, Frank Gorshin, Vernon Campbell, Lisa Gay Hamilton

Time travel movies can, in a broader sense, be sticky. More often than not for them to work, the film either has to completely disregard trying to make sense and just plow through with its gimmicks or it has to make any plot holes irrelevant to the narrative. When it comes to a film like 12 Monkeys, it’s the sense of style and strange quirkiness to its proceedings that allows it to move above and beyond the normal trappings of the time travel focused science fiction flick. This late 90’s cult classic from the iconic Terry Gilliam is able to find that right balance between artistry and consumption, humor and horror, and the line between tongue-in-cheek and dramatic heft. Quite frankly, despite being one of the last (only?) true studio productions for the British director, it inherently features all of his style, but in a more packaged and easier to swallow product. It’s an effective combination. On top of being a brilliant film, this latest Blu Ray release for 12 Monkeys is a welcome upgrade for fans. It’s packed with features to add even more commentary and substance to the off beat and unique film and its context.