Half Measures

We are just as unable
to negotiate 

the terms of our healing
as we were
the circumstances of our pain.

'Infinity Pool' A Review

Infinity Pool is a horror/thriller about a rich couple, James(Skarsgård) and Em(Coleman), who vacation at a luxury resort/compound but venture out into the forbidden countryside at the urging of a couple they meet, Gabi(Goth) and Alban(Lespert). No surprise, things go wrong, and James becomes seduced by the the couple, their gross friends, and hedonistic verve.

There are some wonderful ideas and concepts but the script is woefully defecent as far as character. None of the characters feel, talk, or behave in a realistic way. They are vessels for the ideas not actual representation of humanity. As such the actors don't have much to do, they recite lines, mark out blocking, but none of it, ultimately, has much of an effect because their is virtually no emotional reality present. Skarsgård commits much to his credit and Mia Goth continues her campaign to carve out a new trope- manic-pixie-nightmare-girl. But their efforts are mostly wasted.

Not to say the film is a total loss. It has ambition, it has visual flair, and the ideas are really intriguing. It just doesn't really come together, because the setting, circumstances, and motivations are kind of vague, because the characters are thinly drawn, when things start happening and getting weird there aren't much actual stakes. 

There is a misconception that making a genre piece precludes the necessity of believability. This is wrong and why, sometimes, genre gets unfairly maligned. That mistake is made here. I can buy the idea that in this fictional country tourists can purchase clones to stand in for their crimes. What I can't buy is James would put in jeopardy his financial well being(by alienating his rich wife) and going all-in with a couple(clearly unhinged) who he has just met.

Writer/director Brandon Cronenberg is still green but shows promise. He may need a screenwriting partner.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

'The Pez Outlaw' A Review

The Pez Outlaw is a documentary about Steve Glew, a factory worker in a small Michigan town who develops an interest then side business in collecting. This hobby becomes his full time occupation when he begins importing non-US market Pez dispensers from eastern Europe.

The movie is composed of talking head interviews(with the primary being Glew himself), limited archival footage, and relatively extensive re-creations/fantasy sequences with Grew playing himself. It's intriguing, told at a thriller-like pace, has fun nostalgia, some eccentric characters, kind of an underdog story. Crisply shot, smartly edited, it bangs along and it works.

Above and beyond the level of entertainment there are some gaps, some incongruous holes. Ultimately Glew is a dreamer and a hustler, kind of a Peter Pan, no shame in that, but there is attempts by him and by implication the filmmakers to spin the story as if he were some kind of legit businessman, further some kind of creative(particularly within Pez). There's nothing wrong with taking it to big corporations, undermining them and putting money in your pocket. Especially now, there's not a ton of big business defenders outside of the rich and politicians bought and paid, but what's odd is in the third act there seems to be an effort to legitimize Grew in a way that is odd and quite frankly does not match with the facts as they are conveyed previously. There's also Grew's mental health which clearly has been a challenge for him his entire life, has had a profound effect on his family, and which the movie kind of glances over in a way that doesn't really acknowledge it and places it firmly in the back seat.

Both those criticism are ultimately more just irregularities in the third act, they don't really effect the movie enjoy-ability as a whole, but these things are obvious and the filmmaker(presumably deliberately) didn't really investigate them simply accepting Grew's version of events and perspective(maybe that was his price for participation). Which is fine, it is a movie about him, narrated by him, with him starring as himself. Its not a surprise. Its just a missed opportunity, to get below the surface and investigate Grew as an actual subject rather than a somewhat goofy, and unquestionably entertaining, self-mythologizer.

Slick, well paced, diverting if unconvincing in it's attempts at real insight.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Rent It.

The Persistence Of Rage

The old man steps on my shoe
which prompts an explosion of fantasies
berating and belittling the stranger
tripping him, kicking the offending kneecap
lunging across the train car
eyes bulging, grasping his coat lapels

thrusting my maw at him, teeth bared and grinning
screaming and spitting into his face

roaring, that he and the other passengers might know fear

the visions pass, recede, and I do nothing

sit in silence, patiently waiting for my stop

the anger gone but never vanquished.

'Plane' A Review

Plane is an action movie about commercial pilot Brodie Torrance(Gerard Butler) who is flying a late light flight from Singapore to Honolulu via Tokyo. At the last minute a prisoner, Louis Gaspare(Mike Colter), is taken on board being extradited to Canada. When severe weather necessitates an emergency landing on a remote island populated by a hostile militia group Torrance and Gaspare team up to ensure the passengers safety.

Butler continues his domination as the top seeded B-movie hero/villain, here in the hero incarnation- a good dad, a good pilot, who will do whatever it takes to make sure his passengers get to where they need to go! And he does it well, you can't argue with his screen presence or his commitment. He, and the movies he's been making over the last decade or so, harken back to an era of 90's action flicks that are just simple, morally uncomplicated, fun. And there's a market for that, not only because of the current fade of 90's nostalgia but because of how bloated the movie landscape is with superhero movies and action movies that seem required to be morally opaque. It's great to see Colter and he plays off Butler well but he's a bit less confident, perhaps not totally sure of what kind of movie he's in. Still, the two make a fun shoot-em-up duo. The supporting cast are all solid, particularly Daniella Pineda as the lead flight attendant, nice to see her getting work after her great(but gone-too-soon) turn in Cowboy Bebop.

Visually pretty impressive, surprisingly assured mix of CGI and practicality, even if there are green screens and studio sets in play it always helps to have multiple actual human bodies in a space to create a necessary sense of tangibility. The production on the whole is meat-and-potatoes but it works and mirrors what the movie itself is- straight-up, down-the-middle, entertainment. There are a number of surprising things about it, for one the first twenty minutes or so focus utterly on commercial flight procedure, in a way that's actually pretty riveting and serves almost as a reprimand to the pandemic increase in commercial flight bad behavior but does so in a way that is implicit rather than accusatory. The other real success is the tone- kinda sincere, kinda campy, a little heart, a fair amount of action, all fun.

A clinic in the middle budget action space- pure entertainment. Top Gun: Maverick was a big budget throwback, Plane, and by extension Butler, holds the ground for a type of movie that has virtually been edged out of the market place, forgotten, but is nonetheless necessary.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

See It.

'Broker' A Review

Broker is a drama about a dry cleaner Ha Sang-hyeon(Song Kang-ho) who is partners with Dong-soo(Gang Dong-won) to steal and sell orphans for adoption from a local church-based baby box where Dong-soo works part time. When one of the mother's(Moon So-young played by Lee Ji-eun) reconisders the three work together to broker the deal for her baby and split the profits. All the while they are being investigated by detectives Soo-jin(Bae Doona) and Lee(Lee Joo-young).

The cast all give really textured, compassionate, mostly understated performances with Bae Doona bringing in some really playful oddness. It's great to see Song here without the weight of his previous international breakout Parasite and you can tell he relishes(and excels in) the gentleness of the character and conveys it with an incredibly light touch. Gang also does a lot with a little, Lee is great but is given less space and quiet in which to work at times burdened with a fair amount of plot/exposition.

Richly shot and evocative but with writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda's immersive yet reserved style, an effective but non-intrusive score, all the production elements click. The film struggles to find it's footing in the third act, struggles to end, devolving into somewhat saccharine platitudes and predictability, most likely because the actual plot is clearly not much of a priority. The scenes of the characters simply driving around, getting to know each other, and spending time together are beautiful, affirming, and disarmingly simple that is what the focus of the movie is and its incredibly successful. The baby box, the cops, a murder reveal, all that stuff doesn't really work and ultimately gets in the way of the heart of the actual story.

A thoughtful, considered portrait of working class humanity, although not as complete or effecting as Kore-eda's absolute stunner Shoplifters.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

Chess

My dad and I
played chess for years
until I began to win
then we stopped

he said "what's the point,

I have nothing more to teach."

'M3GAN' A Review

M3GAN is a horror/comedy about orphaned girl Cady(Violet McGraw), her inventor aunt Gemma(Allison Williams), and her best friend AI doll the titular Megan. As Gemma is consumed her with her work and the potential of Megan as a toy, Cady and Megan become co-dependent and Megan begins to take her protection directive seriously.

There's a fun mix of camp and scares, and there's an attempt at some actual real emotion(that mostly doesn't work) but the tone, overall, is fresh and playful. The performances all stay at a certain wavelength, they're serviceable, but there isn't a lot of actual human characterization going on. The scares work and the camp/comedy really works but when the movie attempts to seriously address Cady losing her parents or Gemma being an obsessive workaholic it grinds the momentum to a halt.

The visuals are crisp, Megan herself is a great mix of practical and CG effects that make her feel real and tangible, the soundtrack is catchy, the kills are thrilling, and the jokes almost all hit. The only thing that doesn't really hit is the heart and the movie takes a bit to get rolling but once it works up a full head of steam, it's quite a ride.

A fresh, unashamed piece of pulp entertainment. A perfect January release.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

Top 5 Movies of 2022

Top 5:

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Flux Gormet

A Love Song

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

The Woman King

Documentaries:

Cow

Descendant

The Fire Within

Master Of Light

Sr.

Honorable Mentions:

After Yang

The Black Phone

Bros

Dog

Fire Island

Kimi

The Menu

The Northman

Prey

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Disappointments:

Amsterdam

The Banshees of Inisherin

Fire Of Love

Glass Onion

Tár 

Most Overrated:

The Fabelmans

Most Underrated:

Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon / Lightyear

Worst Of The Year:

Blonde (a truly torturous and repugnant viewing experience)

Performances Of The Year:

Viola Davis and Lashana Lynch - The Woman King

Dale Dickey and Wes Studi - A Love Song

Adam Driver - White Noise

Idris Elba - 3,000 Years Of Longing

Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown - Honk For Jesus, Save Your Soul

Daniel Kaluuya - Nope

Justin Long - Barbarian

Daniel Radcliff - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Emma Thompson - Good Luck To You, Leo Grande

Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All At Once

Scenes Of The Year:

Explaining Tea/Opening Credits Dance Sequence- After Yang

"Be Kind To Me" - A Love Song

Chimp Attack - Nope

Berserker Attack/Claiming The Night Blade - The Northman

Acid Trip - Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

Office Chat/Tyler Cooks - The Menu

Lessons In Caution

Carry a knife
a versatile tool

helpful, practical

a simple rule

Read the streets

be aware

there's more to life

than your affairs

Courtesy

to your fellows

a sturdy shield

for any troubles

Bring a book

wherever you go

you never know

when things will slow

Plain advice

freely given

consider it

before decision

'Strange World' A Review

Strange World is an animated scifi adventure movie. On a different world a human colony is surrounded by mountains, on an expedition to traverse them lead by Jaeger his son Searcher discovers a plant that can potentially be used as a power source and advocates they turn back. Jaeger continues alone and Searcher and the team return to the colony. Twenty five years later, the colony uses the plant "Pando" as a power source and has progressed into the modern age but something is wrong with it and a team must set off into the mountains to investigate including Searcher and his son Ethan.

The voice cast are all solid if mostly unremarkable. Visually it is rich and imaginative, the score works, but it is mostly the script that brings it down. The pacing is uneven, too fast in the beginning, drags in the middle, ties up too neat. The plot also trades in some predictable formulas and tropes. It's not bad its just generic. 

Pleasant if unambitious.

Currently streaming on Disney+.
 

Stream It.

'The Pale Blue Eye' A Review

The Pale Blue Eye is a period mystery, based on the novel of the same name, about a retired detective Landor(Christian Bale) who is hired to investigate an incident at West Point. A cadet has been hanged, at first thought to be a suicide then determined a murder when post-mortem his heart was surreptitiously removed. Landor meets and begins to work with a young Edgar Allen Poe(Harry Melling), a cadet.

Bale brings his signature commitment and presence and, until the third act, it's wonderful. He's reserved, layered, and the handful of deductive sequences are really fun. Melling is the real stand out bringing an absolutely electric loquaciousness and heart to the role. Whether the accent or the manner is accurate who knows but he channels the famous poet with alacrity. The two have great chemistry and it's a shame that is not the focus instead, as it progresses, the movie gets caught up in it's convoluted relatively uninspired plotting. The supporting cast are all decent but most are thinly drawn, only Landor and Poe having any real dimension.

Visually stunning, there is a lush dark gothic period quality to it that is absolutely spot on. The costumes are great, the score subtle and haunting. The issue is simply the script, whether in an attempt to be faithful to the source material, truncating it for the screen, or just lack of imagination the movie seems to misunderstand what about this is interesting and gets caught up in pointless red herrings, a truly dumb final "reveal", and a regressive use of sexual assault as a motivator. It's not terrible just disappointing.

A stupendous Melling and a solid Bale can't prevent the plot from self destruction.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream It.

IP Relay

Back in the day of phone cards
and the scarcity of minutes
a free internet work around
was IP Relay
a phone service for the deaf

as an undergrad

I frequently "called" my parents

to tell them to pick me up

or told my girlfriend "I love you"

through the surrogate IP operator

a transgression of youth

an eccentricity of the dawning digital age

'Descendant' A Review

Descendant is a documentary about the community of Africatown in Mobile, AL and its members who are descendants of the survivors from the last slave ship, the Clotilda, illegally brought to the US a couple years prior to emancipation. Through interviews, archival footage, and fly-on-the-wall footage the film explores the community of Africatown, the lives of the descendants, the search for the Clotilda, and the history that comes to light.

Beautifully shot, the richness of the region is on display, with some shots of the landscape underscored by narration from Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston, this is juxtaposed with the ugly industry that surrounds(and pollutes) Africatown mostly owned and leased by the Meaher family, themselves decsendenats of the owner of the Clotilda. Drawing a direct line not only from the direct subjugation of slavery to it's modern day more implicit variety by land encroachment and community erosion(both economic and overall health) but the economic ramifications. With the illegal sale and use of the slaves captured by the Clotilda the Meaher family directly benefited and most likely purchased(or maintained) the plots of land surrounding Africatown which they then leveraged for the greatest profit knowing it would have detrimental affects of Africatown residents. The cause-and-effect of history is crystal clear, the racism and avarice made plain.

Aside from the history, which is both moving and heartbreaking, the real strength and beauty of the film is the descendants themselves. The film is mostly about them, they are on screen most of the runtime, and although the search for the Clotilda is a part of it, it is secondary to simply honoring this community and relating its stories.

It's a fascinating, inspiring film, full of complex themes- racism, class, history, American society, the South, community, perseverance, culture. It's incredibly rich(a reflection of the community it depicts). About suffering, survival, and grace. A microcosm of humanity.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Don't Miss It.