'The Bikeriders' A Review

The Bikeriders is a period drama about a Chicago motorcycle club in the late 60's/early 70's inspired by the photo-book of the same name.

Tom Hardy plays Johnny the founder of the club and is mostly adrift in the performance with a script that gives him little to do and little direction to pursue. He's a compelling actor(as always) but his accent choice isn't great and he relies on tics that we've seen him deploy in better movies. Austin Butler is Benny, the James Dean surrogate, and he simply does not measure up. On paper Benny is an idea not a character and Butler plays it that way, frequently just pensively starring off camera, there is no humanity present and as a result his screentime and arc are mostly a waste. Conversely, Jodie Comer as Kathy is excellent, the accent is perfect and she is able to convey actual emotion throughout(the only real heart involved in the whole picture). By an oddment of the screenplay, she serves basically as the narrator, nearly all her scenes are "interviews" where she is providing exposition, she only has a couple actual scenes with other actors. She executes it wonderfully but it is a terrible choice, a waste of her considerable talent. The supporting cast has little to do and make little impact aside from Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus, and Michael Shannon(the sole cast member with any ties to the actual city of Chicago).

The film is shot in suburban Cincinnati and it shows, nothing looks authentic, there is no sense of actual place and this is compounded by the fact that the three leads are British and aside from Shannon none of the actors are from Chicago let alone the Midwest. Its a baffling production choice compounded by the incomprehensible casting choices. Again, to give Comer her due, she is the only one that actually sounds midwestern and properly evokes its people. As a result of these choices the film feels like it has no identity, there is no truth to it, it is not evocative of place, culture, or people. To compound these mistakes even further the structure of the screenplay is too faithful to its source material, it feels like a sprawling piece of journalism not a narrative film. When you take a step back there is no actual story here only what Comer is able to inject by force of will.

A rare but extreme miss by writer/director Jeff Nichols. One of the big reasons Mud was so effective was that it was a film about Arkansas filmed in Arkansas starring actors, if not all from AK, at least from the South.

As my old man would say- that don't cut shit in Chicago.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

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'I Am: Celine Dion' A Review

I Am: Celine Dion is a documentary about the titular singer following her struggles with STS(Stiff-person Syndrome) with flashbacks to archival footage of her career and home movies and stills of her childhood.

Her career is impressive and its nice to revisit songs and triumphs from it. She allows relatively unrestricted access to her life in Las Vegas currently which is interesting, she's vulnerable and struggling, seeking a path forward with her art and diagnosis. Its brave. But ultimately there is very little insight about who she is and why she is the way she is. The retrospective element feels like a greatest hits or a video CV. Its watchable but there's very little depth to it. Dion is extremely circumspect about her family, the references to it, her marriage, and her children is all very glancing. She is very upfront about her struggles with STS to the point of uncomfortability, there are a couple extended sequences of her extremely painful episodes, which one can suppose will raise awareness about the condition. But beyond that there is a decided lack of context throughout, it seems clear Dion herself most likely doesn't think about that, doesn't really reflect, its not in her nature. And that's fine but as a film solely about Celine Dion we learn very little about Celine Dion. 

Director Irene Taylor is a talented filmmaker, it looks good, the soundtrack slaps, the film has movement and momentum but Taylor either doesn't really interrogate Dion or Dion was only willing to be personal on certain subjects and to a certain degree. That's all fine but the end result is thin and too polished.

Dion's talent and influence is undisputed, who she actually is is still in question.

Currently streaming on Prime.

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The Next Right Thing

We are
in some small part
an expression

of the great creation

which connects all things

from the smallest microbe

to the behemoths of deep space

interlinked in our propulsion

our purpose

and yet 

we deviate from the current

rail against its curves

fixate upon self

and the impotent pursuit

of will

devested of this delusion

free from its bondage

we have the opportunity

to be a conduit

of pure intent

not the arbiter of the path's direction

but a facilitator of its endurance

not certain, not righteous

but member

in total equality

of the collective divinity.

'Thelma' A Review

Thelma is a comedy that plays with action tropes about a widow Thelma(June Squibb) who is the victim of a phone scam who sets out to get back what's hers.

Squibb in her first lead role is wonderful, bringing her robust humor and vulnerability to this fun, quirky, and sometimes poignant tale. Richard Roundtree in his last film role plays Ben her friend and accomplice, it is such a treat to see him here with a healthy amount of screentime. He brings some much needed grounding and pathos but is also able to play a bit more subtly with the humor. Thelma's grandson Danny played by Fred Hechinger is the big surprise, he is so present, so emotional, and has magnetic chemistry with Squibb. With Hollywood shoving the likes of Austin Butler and Timothée Chalamet down our throats its so refreshing to see a young actor with actual talent and screen presence. Parker Posey(always an absolute delight) and Clark Gregg round out the main cast as Danny's parents and use their more limited involvement to excellent effect. 

First time writer/director Josh Margolin comes out of the gates shockingly assured. Shot on location in LA the film looks great, the staging on locales serve to create a real world and to highlight the underseen lives of the elderly lead. The score though is the homerun, overlayed throughout is an exciting action/thriller/heist sound which serves to straightforwardly heighten the action as well as recontextualize the journey and perspective of the titular hero. It is so fun and so effective. And that is the real triumph here, this alchemy of theme and tone. Grief, aging, purpose, family, action, comedy, drama: all are included here, woven together gracefully like a delicate tapestry.

A feel-good, thoughtful, tightly focused film that entertains and inspires.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

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'Inside Out 2' A Review

Inside Out 2 is an animated coming-of-age dramedy a sequel to the 2015 hit. Riley hits puberty and Joy/Sadness/Anger/Disgust/Fear welcome new emotions Anxiety/Ennui/Envy/Embarrassment. As Riley sets off for a weekend hockey camp the summer before high school the emotions jockey for control.

The vocal performances are all decent although the re-casting of Fear and Disgust conveys an odd audio uncanny valley, like Dan Castellaneta taking over the role of the Genie from Robin Williams. But the emotional impact of the original is not present, not a fault of the cast but of the script.

It is nice to revisit Riley and her emotions but there is an assembly line quality to the story that leaves something to be desired. The movie splits its time between Riley in the real world and the world in her head which results in a distracting lack of focus and much of the plotting feels perfunctory. With some of the action it also implies that Riley herself is more a robot to be controlled by the various emotions which is disconcerting and doesn't jive with the mechanics of the original in some ways undercutting the whole metaphor. The emotions don't really have a clear journey, Joy and company pretty much just tread water for the entire second act, and it is apparent Riley, on the precipice of puberty and high school, is the more interesting character and has the more engaging story. The two don't feel particularly integrated and in splitting the narrative down the middle neither are fully realized. Riley's anxiety attack towards the end of the movie is the only really inspired and effective sequence.

Mildly diverting but not particularly exciting, lacking the desired Pixar emotional punch.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

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Cat Dreams

stalking in the tall grass
a tree perch for pouncing
pathetic prey plodding

meat, fresh or stinking
yummmmm

What's that!?

'The Watchers' A Review

The Watchers is a horror/thriller about American ex-pat Mina(Dakota Fanning) living in Ireland and working at a pet shop. On a delivery to a zoo she breaks down in a mysterious woods. She meets Ciara(Georgina Campbell), Madeline(Olwen Fouéré), and Daniel(Oliver Finnegan) all of whom have similarly been lost and spend their nights in a bunker on display for the unknown creatures who prevent them from leaving.

Its great to see Fanning once again as the lead, she's always had presence but in her age she's become more robust as an actor able to play more intricately with subtlety and emotion. She's a joy to watch and she works wonders against the poorly written, predictable script. Fouéré, a treasure, also gives a performance that elevates the material, she's always captivating to watch and her late career mainstream success is a benefit to us all. Campbell and Finnegan don't fair as well, they have talent, but are unable to really extricate or differentiate themselves from the awkward thudding nature of the dialogue.

The movie looks slick, the bunker set particularly is evocative, the creature design once they are reveled is cool, the soundtrack effective. Its just the script. The pacing and tone are off, the dialogue unnatural and exposition heavy. There's a great movie in here, no question, there is simply a confusion as to its purpose. There's too much fat, it meanders when it should thrust. Its unfocused. It takes too long at the beginning to set up the situation, it rushes through the middle where all of the tension and character development should be, and then it ends derivatively, twice. Writer/director Ishana Night Shyamalan has talent but, like her father, her screenwriting abilities are questionable.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

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'Ghostlight' A Review

Ghostlight is a family drama about construction worker Dan(Keith Kupferer) who stumbles across a community theater production of Romeo & Juliet where he befriends one of the actors Rita(Dolly de Leon). Eventually he joins the cast and through the process is able to work through family troubles with his wife Sharon(Tara Mallen) and daughter Daisy(Katherine May Kupferer)

Keith Kupferer is a reserved but emotive lead, there's a clarity to all his internal ebbs and flows thats really impactful if not big. There's a naturalism to the performance, almost an everyman quality, that grounds the film but also clearly conveys its sincerity. Him and de Leon have great chemistry and she carves out her own beautifully rendered character with a limited supporting role. Katherine May Kupferer is more theatrical, more dramatic, which makes sense as a teen and as a drama kid and her arc because of this is probably the most clearly drawn. Mallen has the smallest of the family roles and is equally effective, just makes you wish she had a bit more space in the screenplay. Their chemistry is helped by the fact the family is a family in real life. The rest of the supporting cast are all lovely and real and build out this world and community with a grace and intention that seems to be almost passé in our current transitional era of cinema.

The film looks great, shot on location in the Chicago suburbs, as a result its sense of people and place furthers the films intentions. There's not a ton of flash in the production but there are some nice touches, distorted sound or shaky close ups to convey high emotion. It just works and serves to bolster the simple yet evocative realism. Where the film really soars is in the exploration of its themes, namely grief and the transformative nature of art. The way the film builds the story and characters to a relatively subtle but extremely potent catharsis. The narrative has a quality that, again, seems almost like a throwback in that the characters over the course of the film change. They learn and grow. The drama isn't bludgeoning or bleak, its quiet and authentic, there is plenty of humor, but its effect is deep. These are just people trying to figure it out and isn't that what all of us are?

Earnest, powerful, in keeping its scope intimate it soars.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

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Hubris

I saw two ravens
a portent

I didn't heed

Frustrated

mosquito ridden

I plunged ahead

on a narrow log

across a creek

with a crack

and shudder

I fell

soaked, phone ruined

chastised

for my willfulness

another lesson

in hubris

'Spermworld' A Review

Spermworld is a documentary about unregulated online sperm donation. The film follows three men who are donors, one woman who is seeking donation, and the fiancé of one of the three male donors. Through some direct interviews, fly-on-the-wall footage, stylized sequences, and text from an online group the film explores this messy subculture.

The film is beautifully and creatively shot as all of director Lance Oppenheim's projects have been to date. But the engagement with the subjects and with the socio-cultural subset is surface level. There is no real analysis or insight involved, no conclusions drawn, just a simple rendering of these particular individuals and they are, in aggregate, just sad. As a result the feeling it evokes is one of depression and malaise as it is clear there is an ocean of circumstance unrevealed as well as most of the subjects are clearly acting out of a place of trauma and/or negative mental health. The themes are conveyed simplistically and immaturely. There seems to be a preoccupation with the illicitness involved in these interactions rather than their motivations or their results. Children, here, are a commodity and the film does not challenge this idea in any way.

Ultimately the film is too thin to be engaging however well made. Oppenheim's debut Some Kind Of Heaven strikes a better balance and his recent Ren Faire on HBO is more coherent.

A first miss for the director.

Currently streaming on Hulu.

Don't See It.

'Hit Man' A Review

Hit Man is a rom-dramedy about a college professor Gary(Glen Powell) who moonlights as a tech for a contract killing entrapment scheme for the NOPD. When the cop who impersonates the assassin gets cancelled(for unspecified reasons) Gary(a civilian) steps in and you know what, he's pretty darn good at it! He is solicited by Madison(Adria Arjona) to kill her vaguely problematic husband but he tanks the sting because she's attractive and charming. Sparks ensue!

Powell is not a movie star, he may be one day, he certainly has talent, but it is painfully clear here he cannot anchor a movie. Or at least one this poorly and under written. He flounders. His voice over is excruciating. There is no believable character here or any semblance of narrative logic. His parade of various hit man alter egos is presumably meant to be funny but comes across as tonally baffling and thin. Arjona's character is offensively flat, she has talent, but is not asked to do anything aside from contort her automaton of a character to fit the terrible plotting. 

The production is proficient enough but lacks any personality or real creativity, not a surprise from co-writer/director Richard Linklater who's output since Boyhood has been spotty at best(see the truly repugnant Everybody Wants Some!!). But the script is the real culprit. It strains credulity across every aspect, is a confusion of genre and tone, and doesn't deliver on any part of that confusion- its not funny, its not romantic, its not thrilling, its not mysterious. This is the kind of straight-to-Netflix dreck you'd expect from a no-name writer/director/star not an Oscar winner and one of Hollywood's presumptive heir apparents.

Mind-numbing. Worst of the year contender.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Don't See It.

Minnesota Trip

Been up in Minnesota with my HS friend Beanpole to do some hiking and paddling.

Jay Cooke State Park. Beautiful but muddy, buggy, and wet.

St. Croix State Park. Huge, empty, saw a black bear.

Banning State Park. An old overgrown quarry. 

Stayed at a cabin on Sturgeon Lake, wonderful and relaxing.

Watch Tower

As we climbed

the expansive green

to reach the perch

where all is seen

We huffed and puffed

ascending steep

sweat broke out

our efforts cheap

But at the top

the world out wide

did lift our hearts

once again right sized.

Sturgeon Lake Meditation

Consider the water

the lake lapping

the wind (overzealous)

the hunting heron

the clouds in their grayness

the chill

the absence of human action

there is only this

If the land could speak

it wouldn't

doesn't need to

Now

The mud
and the mosquitos

at first blush

a hinderance

a detractor

become valuable,

in their immediacy

are we brought further

and solely

into this instant

this hike

across the St. Louis River

along Silver Creek

in Jay Cooke State Park

our minds entirely occupied

our bodies totally present:

we trudge.

'Babes' A Review

Babes is a comedy about two NYC friends Eden(Ilana Glazer) the Peter Pan and Dawn(Michelle Buteau) the responsible adult. Shortly after Dawn has her second child Eden gets pregnant. The movie follows their friendship as Dawn struggles with life following her second child and Eden moves through her pregnancy.

Glazer is funny and has presence but the character as written feels thinly drawn, undercut by some of the gags and sections of improv that don't really work or don't mesh well with some of the narratives emotional intent. Buteau is an incredible actor and the two undeniably have chemistry but she too is constrained by some of the manufactured conflict throughout the runtime. There's a great movie in here but what we get feels too loose, too surface level, somewhat at odds with the rich(but mostly underexplored) subject matter. The supporting cast has some heavy hitters- Sandra Bernhard, Oliver Platt, and John Carroll Lynch- but all are underutilized. On paper the cast is top notch but what comes across is mostly a confusion of intent.

The look, the soundtrack, the on location shooting all work(although how these characters can afford where they live or their lives in general is certainly a sizeable suspension of disbelief). The main issue is the tone, its uneven and as a result makes the script feel like a rough draft. The emotional beats either feel unearned/underdeveloped or contrived. There's too much conflict that feels forced. There's not enough reality and as a result the comedy isn't as effective as it should be.

Doesn't reach its potential.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

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