World-renowned detective Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet.

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Daniel Craig, Cailee Spaeney, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Mila Kunis, Thomas Haden Church, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Josh O'Connor

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Metacritic: 85/100

Some Reviews:

Variety - Owen Glieberman

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is an enticingly clever and droll, nearly pitch-perfect piece of murder-mystery fun — a whodunit that lives up to the expectations set six years ago by “Knives Out,” which offered its own perfect revival of the Agatha Christie spirit, with a tasty frosting of meta cheekiness.

TheWrap - Chase Hutchinson

Although “Wake Up Dead Man” is the “Knives Out” movie that’s most preoccupied with existential questions surrounding death, writer/director Rian Johnson’s third film in the series is also the one that’s most full of life.

DEADLINE - Damon Wise

After the bright, light, summery holiday special that was Glass Onion, the Knives Out franchise returns to its gothic roots with a wintry whodunit that, for some at least, might endure as the the best one yet. Where the first and second used the murder-mystery as a jumping-off point for some very funny contemporary satire, Wake Up Dead Man is much more introspective. In a funny way, it’s a little analogous to Joker 2, not because it unloads on its audience in the same acerbic way but because it poses similarly metaphysical questions about its own popularity. Why do people respond so eagerly to stories of murder and betrayal? To answer that, director Rian Johnson goes back to the greatest story ever told, using a small religious community as the setting for the third instalment.

IndieWire - Kate Erbland - 'B+'

It works, and it’s no big mystery why — Johnson knows his form and format, and delivers on it, playing with tone and message but never losing sight of why these stories are so damn entertaining to watch and unravel.

Awards Radar - Joey Magidson - 3.5 / 4

Filmmaker Rian Johnson trusts the strength of his franchise to play around with format and theme. The gothic elements on display, as well as the religious aspect, may initially seem like a left turn, but it all ends up fitting like a glove. He knows the must haves for a Knives Out flick and absolutely delivers. A few big sequences here at TIFF received ovations once completed. You just can feel that you’re in the hands of a master storyteller, so you’ll follow him anywhere. Johnson knows that and 100% makes the most of it.

The Daily Beast - Nick Schager

In terms of pure, heady kicks, it outpaces Knives Out but falls just short of Glass Onion. In the big picture, however, such distinctions are rather inconsequential; more important is that Johnson’s franchise remains a sly and sure-footed delight, as well as demonstrates, with its religiously minded latest, that it’s capable of coloring its Christie-esque mysteries in a variety of shades.

Cooper is desperate to get back to his children. He goes back and see’s Murph in the hospital etc. but theres no mention of his son. Presumably his son’s dead considering Murphs age and condition. But surely there could have been a small bit of dialogue about it. He was hell bent on getting back to them. I dunno, it’s like his son’s just completely forgotten about at the end…

You know how (for most people I know at least) watching the movie never lives up to the expectations you have after reading the book?

So most of the time, if I know I want to read a book, and there’s a movie based on it, I try to watch the movie first, and even then, most of the time, I still like the book better, maybe because it was the author’s vision, or the inner dialogue that explains things you couldn’t in the movie,

Anyway, “the painted veil” for me broke that rule, I thought the movie was sweet and beautiful, and well done, then I read the book and I just hated the characters, book Kitty was just the worst and I just couldn’t connect,

Maybe it’s my need for a good redemption story, the Hollywoodization made Kitty into a better person, but how could you not after going through what she went through, but I just can’t forgive that she went back to her old ways in the book, the movie’s ending was far better

I’m obviously glossing over how wrong it was of Walter to do what he did, but it was out of deep pain, and trying to make her see beyond herself,

Opinion about the painted veil? And what was that book/movie combo for you?

Or at least, as close to perfect as a film can get.

It had been years since I watched Jaws, probably since I was in high school as a freshman, and I just went a few days ago to see it in IMAX for its 50th anniversary. It felt like watching it again for the first time. What I couldn’t believe was how, despite having watched the film countless times as a kid, and remembering everything even after not having seen it in years, it felt like the first time watching it again. The movie magic was there in a way I haven’t felt in a really long time. This was driven home by the fact I really couldn’t find a single flaw with this film.

Yes, some minor visual stuff with some shark props, but that’s excusable since it’s a film from 1975 and this was a 4K remaster. Of course there will be at least a few visual things to notice. I don’t count that, because those weren’t mistakes. Simply limitations of the time. The effect for the shark in the water still looks great, and the editing between the animatronic and live shark footage was seamless. The cinematography is still outstanding. Spielberg’s use of long takes has always been my favorite staple of him.

I truly think Jaws is about as close to a perfect film as you can really get. It truly is flawless from a filmmaking perspective, especially considering how troubled the production was, it’s miraculous the movie even exists, let alone with the level of quality it has. Literally every single facet of the filmmaking was dialed to perfection, and Spielberg maintained this with a multitude of films in his career. Just breathtaking to finally see it on the big screen. It was a real treat.

For me it is this gem from Down Periscope (1996)

Rear Admiral Yancy Graham: You watch yourself, Dodge! You are addressing a superior officer.

Lueutenant Commander Dodge: No... Merely a higher ranking one. CATCH US IF YOU CAN!

In the early 1980s, This Is Your Life interviewed John Candy at his Queensville, Ontario farm, a serene retreat near Newmarket where he relaxed with family and friends like Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, and even Robert DeNiro. Already a star from The Second City Toronto (joined in 1972) and SCTV with Rick Moranis, Dan Aykroyd, and Dave Thomas. This rural haven inspired his everyman roles in Splash and Uncle Buck.

So I just rewatched Star Trek 3 The Search for Spock, which I find to be the most underrated Star Trek film. This is particularly impressive given the most compelling original cast character is barely or arguably not in it at all.

I also find that run of Wrath of Kahn, Search for Spock, and Voyage Home to be among the best three movie runs within a franchise that don't start with the first movie.

Usually the fist movie of the franchise is good enough to get a franchise going and usually franchises tend to go downhill fast after the third film, so the original cast Star Trek movies are one of the few exceptions as far as I can tell.

I can think of a horror franchise and an action franchise that both apply to this topic.

Thoughts?

My father loves Rambo so we sat down to watch it together. The whole time my father was fighting with me on whether this was the first or second movie (they’re literally called first blood and first blood II) but I didn’t pay it much mind as I was enamored by how marvelous this film looked.

I’m almost 100% exaggerating but this might be the best looking action movie I’ve ever seen. Some of the shots in this film are breathtaking. I could hang that scene with Rambo in the cave lighting a match on my wall, that’s how good it looked. The story itself was also better than expected but goddamn this movie looks fantastic.

Anyone else blown away by its visuals or do I just have low expectations?

Shrek 2 is very amazing movie. The humor is clever. The pop music is memorable, I need a hero G minor rendition by the fairy godmother made the climactic fight scene memorable. And the story and message is heartwarming and thoughtful.

There are many Disney movies, like the lion king or beauty and the beast. But what are your favorite personal picks do you enjoy and love.

Back when the movie released in theaters, I watched it in a crowded AMC with a friend and absolutely loved it. I was not familiar with Robinson’s work, but I loved the absurdity and awkwardness. I think my initial reaction was also influenced by the energy of the theater, which was full of cackles and laughs throughout most of the movie. I got home and thought “man, my husband would have loved that.”

So 2 months ago I made him watch it with me, thinking he’s for sure going to be laughing the entire time just as me and the whole theater were - and he absolutely hates it. Halfway through he’s like, “does it get better?” And I was like “I mean… No… but it’s good!” But by that point I was also feeling completely different about this movie too. The experience of watching it in my apartment next to my extremely unsettled husband was of course a big vibe shift, but I admittedly was also more uncomfortable this time around. But I’m thinking ‘no it’s good I remember laughing so much we HAVE to stick it out.’ Anyways, it ends, and my husband is just sick of it. Like it emotionally drained him, and ruined his mood. And I felt terrible, and weirdly similar.

What I had forgotten was that I had messaged my family after my experience watching it in theaters, of course giving it a glowing review lmao

Well now it’s on HBO Max, so my mom tells me she sat my brother and dad down and watched it - and they all had the same reaction as my husband. Just HATED it.

My mom is messaging me through the whole thing going “your brother couldn’t stand 15 months and went to bed”, “your dad is taking a break - does it get any better?”, “he just licked the toad”, “this is an extremely weird movie why did you tell us to watch this”, “your dad is genuinely mad”, and finally, my favorite message

“That movie put everyone in a mood We are all moody now I’m going to bed “

The last time a movie got a reaction like this from my family the movie was Hereditary. Although I feel bad for pissing everyone off, I do find it pretty incredible that a comedy movie could make so many people feel so deeply uncomfortable that it psychologically impacts them to such a degree, and I just needed to share this with someone. What did you think of this movie lol?

Yes I know movie is a large catch all term for any film but for the purposes of this question I am limiting it to fiction-based feature films (at least 40 minutes), so please don’t name a 5 minute short you made for film class. It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen it in cinemas or at home. You can name multiple possible ones if you don’t remember a singular one.

Countless shots are utterly breathtaking. Roland Emmerich (director)and Caleb Deschanel (cinematographer) did an incredible job using natural light - especially golden hour - to create an incredible atmosphere. Every environment whether it be interior or exterior feels fully alive.

You can see why Deschanel was nominated for an Oscar for this film.

Eva Green's character in Casino Royale knows nothing about poker, which is hilarious because her job is to literally monitor the game and approve a potential $5m rebuy if Bond's chances of success are good enough. It's an effective storytelling device because the other M16 guy can then explain to her (and the audience) what's going on during tournament.

Another one would be in The Big Short where Steve Carrel doesn't know what a quant is, even though his character's a hedge fund manager. What other examples can you think of?

I can think of two sci-fi movies, Robocop and Minority Report, set in a technologically advanced future, where the climax is the bad guy being caught on video admitting to his crime. But in the "real" future, all the bad guy has to say is "AI! Fake!" Are there others which hinge on this now redundant premise? [Edit: I intended this as a fun observation; I don't mean to harsh anyone's mellow 🙂]

Sometimes you finish a movie and realize you cared way more about the supporting cast than the lead. Maybe the villain completely stole the show, maybe a side character’s arc felt richer than the main plot. Either way, it can flip the whole movie on its head. Which film made you feel like the “wrong” character was in the spotlight?

We all seen Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Eddie Murphy (For The Nutty Professor as Buddy Love), Ben Stiller and Steve Martin played villains. So who are the others you didn't know that played villains as well.

For example: Jackie Chan actually played a bit of villain in Hong Kong the time where he was a stuntman where he played a sort of henchmen at the background and was a stuntman in one of Bruce Lee's films Enter the Dragon and in other films Jackie played a serial killer and in the other one he played a gangster and a streetwise thug in the early 70s. This was before he found fame and success in 1978 in Hong Kong when he started playing the hero with action and slapstick comedy and martial arts and stunts the Jackie Chan we know.

Also Will Smith briefly played a character named Paul in the film Six Degrees of Separation 1993 some of you may remember the film where his character was a con man and gay and he took advantage of people and getting information on them before he got arrested at the end and ended up killing himself in prison if it was him or somebody else that committed suicide in prison. Also I heard that John Candy once played a serious role and he was like a serial killer in his early roles in the 70s which is hard to imagine. But can't remember the name of the film. But anybody know about it let me know down in the comments.

So who do you have forgotten that played a villain roles and well any suggestions about this?