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World War I, two British soldiers are tasked with a seemingly impossible mission: warn another company of 1,600 British soldiers deep in enemy territory that they’re about to walk into a deadly trap; racing against the clock, the two will face death at every turn to relay their message, but are they already too late? Directed by Sam Mendes and Written by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns this epic cinematic tale is an instant classic example of why big films need to be seen on big screens with big sound. Immersive, raw, beautifully conducted chaos, Mendes pairs massive set piece after massive set piece with equally quiet moments of near reflection to show the true cacophony of life at war. Meanwhile the heavy lifting by actors George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman delivers the horror and humanity in buckets while Cinematographer legend Roger Deakins captures every nuance in a seemingly real-time one take shot for the length of the entire film. Absolutely stunning and mesmerizing, not to be missed, 1917 is heavyweight cinema with all of its senses roaring! Running one tick shy of two hours, 1917 is Rated R.

The crew of a deep sea mining and drilling company is forced to abandon their rig roughly 6 miles beneath the ocean’s surface, but, finding safety and sanity won’t come easy, and, what if they’re not alone at these depths? Directed by William Eubank and Written by Brian Duffield and Adam Cozad this claustrophobic quest to cross the ocean floor and get home is like so many adventures….just a little different. Be it outer space, shrunken down inside the human body, or now plunging to unfathomable depths, the formula is tried and true, a cascading chain reaction that necessitates action/reaction and drives the next action/reaction; and, in this case, it mostly works, clunky as it may be, sometimes purposely poking itself in the eye to force levity and re-assure the audience “hey, we’re hip, we’re cool, we don’t take this that seriously, neither should you, it’s all in fun.” So, with critical ego’s checked at the door the real herculean works are pulled off by the ensemble which includes a crew cut and significantly less catatonic Kristen Stewart, a doughy and comedic T.J. Miller, and the weathered Vincent Cassel all doing their darnedest to give us the first tastes of panic of the new year while drawing heavily on the vibe of Alien (1979) but falling far short of Ridley Scott’s terror, alas, once the evil that lurks below is finally revealed an audible groan from the checked critic ego waiting at the door can loudly be heard, as if to say, “Really? And it’s not Cthulhu? Come onnnnnn, groan!!! Eye roll.” And yet, here we are, potentially matinee material, or a rental/stream later. 2020, ready or not, here we come! Underwater is rated PG-13.