Five years ago, mid-March saw COVID-19 shut down the world. This year, it'll see Porky and Daffy try not to blow the Earth up. Also in cinemas, a Steven Soderbergh spy thriller, a tween romance, and a grisly comedy about a guy who feels no pain. Here's the scoop:
Black Bag
When Steven Soderbergh idly mentioned that it might be interesting if Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? had been conceived as a spy thriller, David Koepp came back with a script, and a snappily clever one it is. Playwright Edward Albee's icily feuding collegiate couple George and Martha are now chilly, unreadable intelligence agents George (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). When it's suggested that Kathryn may have leaked agency secrets, George decides his investigation should include "fun and games" that will put not the fate of a marriage but the fate of British diplomacy in the balance.
Novocaine
Nathan Caine can feel no pain – it feels as if the next phrase should be "his wife could eat no lean," but that's not where this gory comic fable is headed. When bank assistant manager Caine (Jack Quaid) finally finds the girl of his dreams — only to have her taken hostage during a bank robbery, his rare condition, CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis) turns out to be an unexpected boon. He's shot, fried, stabbed, skewered and otherwise mangled in his attempts to rescue her, yet all he's feeling is heartache. Definitely not for the squeamish (nor for sticklers about narrative coherence).
Young Hearts
"First love lights the fire in your heart" sings Elias' pop singer dad at a rural concert, and when a handsome kid named Alexander moves in next door, 14-year-old Elias knows just what he means. In what amounts to a sort of Belgian junior-Heartstopper, Alexander (Marius De Saeger) is gay and unselfconscious. Elias (Lou Goossens), not so much. On an impromptu trip to Brussels, Alex calls Elias his boyfriend, albeit in French, and earns a quick kiss. But in the schoolyard, the looks of classmates keep them apart. Sweet, positive, LGBTQ coming-of-age story for kids and parents alike.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Fans of Merrie Melodies should get a kick out of this secret alien plot to take over the Earth via mind control — a plan uncovered by pals Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as they work at the bubblegum factory. 1950s sci-fi conventions are mocked, bubbles are popped, and Eric Bauza voices both of the main characters, so he's playing off of himself more-or-less constantly for 91 minutes. He does get a few moments of vocal relief when Petunia Pig helps save the day.
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