Colony

• Director: Yeon Sang-ho
• Writer: Yeon Sang-ho, Chi Gyu-seok
• Starring: Gianna Jun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rock, Shin-Hyun-been, Go Soo, Lee Junk-ok

Grade: C

A normal day at a shopping mall turns into chaos as a scientist launches a bioterrorist attack. Horror has seen its fair share of subgenres, and one of the big ones that is rarely done well is the zombie genre. We have our bright spots such as 28 Days Later – along with two of its sequels 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004), Shaun of the Dead, and Train to Busan. Ten years following the release of Train to Busan, South Korean filmmaker, Yeon Sang-ho, attempts to recreate what made that film a massive success that its 2020 sequel, Peninsula, could not for audiences with Colony. 

One Night Only

• Director: Will Gluck
• Writer: Travis Braun
• Starring: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, King Princess, Ziwe, Ben Marshall, Molly Ringwald, Levar Burton

Grade: C

The United States Government has instituted a national ban on pre-marital sex, and New Yorkers are preparing for the only night of the year where the ban is temporarily lifted and they can fulfill their suppressed desires. While it’s unfortunately not crazy to envision this as a not-too-distant future headline in the real world, it’s actually the premise for One Night Only, Will Gluck’s new romcom starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner. The duo’s characters, Allie and Owen, meet on this fateful day and, as expected, shenanigans ensue. What follows is a good enough time at the theater, but nothing that adds anything special to the genre. 

Minions & Monsters

• Director: Pierre Coffin
• Writer: Pierre Coffin, Brian Lynch
• Starring: Pierre Coffin, Trey Parker, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Allison Janney, Jeff Daniels

Grade: B

Singin’ in the Rain. Barton Fink. 8 ½. Boogie Nights. Minions & Monsters. All of these celebrated titles share a love for films, filmmaking, film history, the colorful weirdos responsible for putting it all together, and the never-ending struggle to see your dreams realized on the big screen. Unfortunately, only one of those films includes a minion dressed in clown makeup and a thong wielding a chainsaw. Yes, perhaps it’s the only logical endgame for Hollywood to see the third film in a Despicable Me spin-off as a love letter to cinema but, surprisingly enough, writer-director-voice artist Pierre Coffin mostly makes it work.