Adulting

As a child
adulthood seems lofty

exciting

replete with adventure

and choice,

you don't consider

the admin.

A Lure

In the dream
I look down at my arm
and a hook is protruding

I grasp it and pull

slowly and painfully it comes

and keeps coming

with more hooks

and shiny metal disks

its an oversized fishing lure

I awake

disconcerted

what does it mean?

I need to pee.

'Grand Theft Hamlet' A Review

Grand Theft Hamlet is a documentary about two UK out-of-work actors who attempt to stage a production of Hamlet within GTA during lockdown.

"Shot" entirely within the game with audio of the various players talking to each other via headsets the film follows Sam and Mark as they come up with the idea of putting on Hamlet, cast, stage, and eventually perform it. More so than the production itself it's a meditation on the pandemic, isolation, creativity, community, and the enduring nature of art and its ability to restore(or at least distract).

Even at its short runtime the film at times feels claustrophobic(which is fitting) we, like the subjects, yearn for some actual human faces from time to time, but that's apt not a criticism. Its rich with theme and humanity and illustrates, along with last year's The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, the potential power and depth of digital fellowship.

A scrappy, utterly singular, piece of cinema with an ultimate message of hope and connection.

Currently streaming on MUBI.

See It.

'The Monkey' A Review

The Monkey is a horror comedy about a magically murderous monkey that haunts a family over decades.

Theo James in a twin role is effective as Hal, the lead, who also narrates, deploying some versatile emotion with some genuine depth. As Bill, the other twin, he is kind of uninspired, not particularly scary or interesting and James wears his wig and costume poorly. The supporting cast is pretty stacked but many of them are seen too briefly- Tatiana Maslany as Lois Hal and Bill's mom in flashbacks, Elijah Wood as Ted the stepdad of Hal's son, Adam Scott as Petey Hal and Bill's dad in flashbacks, Sarah Levy as Ida Hal and Bill's aunt. They're all perfectly cast but only get a scene or two each which lessons their impact. The bigger issue isn't the cast it's the unique but inconsistent tone and thematic confusion.

Writer/director Osgood Perkins has style, at this point that's inarguable, the film looks great with wild and funny gory deaths, immaculate set design, visually the film is inspired. The soundtrack and score weave together thrillingly but the script is just a bit thin and a bit confused as to its intent. The gross out comedy moments are really effective there's just not quite enough of them, at the same time there are feints made at actually trying to say something- about death, familial trauma, parental responsibility etc.- but those two objectives, as deployed in the film, come across as incongruous. As a result, much like Osgood's 2024 offering Longlegs, it stumbles in the third act, fails to finish, and kind of muddies the whole as a result.

Ambitious, intriguing, at times thrilling, but lacks cohesion. Perkins clearly has a great film in him but we haven't seen it yet.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

'Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)' A Review

Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) is a documentary about the life, career, and legacy of the members of Sly and the Family Stone with particular focus on the band's front man Sly Stone.

Through talking-head interviews, concert footage, archival interviews with Sly, archival news, and some animation the band, its members, but more importantly the music are explored and celebrated. An overdue look at a great and influential figure and band. The best parts are when one of their songs is broken down in an animation sequence and when two talking-heads breakdown their sample of one of their songs. Basically the shop talk is excellent and the film is patient and generous in exploring the band's discography. The investigation into Sly himself, the burden of his Black Genius, as well as his addiction is compassionate and thoughtful if not ultimately particularly deep. But that's OK because it's the music, the sound that is really elevated and focused on, its a music doc not a biography. As an aside it is interesting that this film and many others like it, when discussing artists or public figures with addiction, fail to understand a most fundamental fact about the disease, which is, it can happen to anyone. We all have within us a certain threshold when it comes to substance use, for some its very high, for some(like myself) its very low, but there is a point beyond which the disease is triggered, like a circuit breaker. Sly may have started using for various reasons and circumstances(which the film discusses) but the disease, once active, renders those things relatively moot and the addict is solely focused on the acquisition and ingestion of the preferred substance.

An inspiring rumination on a legendary band with moments of transcendence propelled by the music. Should have had a theatrical release.

Currently streaming on Hulu.

Don't Miss It.

Chicago Pride

Despite the difficulties

crime, inflation, the political machine
despite civic complications

CTA, property tax, CPS

there is no where I'd rather be

than as a denizen of our fair city

its people characterized(generally speaking)

by determined work ethic

and cautious kindness

visiting the DMV today

I was struck

not by frustration, irritation, and malice

as is the cliché

but by a profound sense

of belonging

of community

orderly queuing

prompt and affable treatment

all of us

together

civic responsibility on one side

civil service on the other

all of us Chicagoans

(or presumably Cook County residents)

in acceptance of the day

and its necessities

in pursuit of accomplishment

however minor

and in this efficiency and mundanity

life

in all its depth and complexity

in all its richness

we are here

in the City of Big Shoulders

and we move forward

pride fills my chest

and eyes water in gratitude

joyful in our shared purpose

however fleeting

'The Gorge' A Review

The Gorge is a scifi action romance about two world class snipers stationed at either side of a mysterious gorge that contains mysterious monsters.

Anya Taylor-Joy brings her patented magnetism and commitment and makes something out of this not-much of a character in this convoluted story. She's charming, charismatic, and proves again and again that she's got talent. She brings the same level of intense commitment to her roles regardless of their quality(and good for her!). Unfortunately her wattage isn't really enough to bring the movie out of it's nose dive. Teller doesn't fair as well and uses a less-is-less approach, he hasn't really capitalized on the promise shown in his break out Whiplash partly because of the roles he's had but also perhaps because that was just one of those stars-aligning type of films and he simply doesn't have top-of-the-call-sheet type juice. He's not bad but he's not particularly interesting and the wild swings in tone don't do either actor any favors.

The movie looks cheap, shot mostly on soundstages with extensive greenscreen/CGI it looks fake and there is some uncanny valley effects as a result. The sound mix is atrocious with the oppressive score ten times louder than the (minimal) dialogue track. The biggest issue though is the script. Written on spec, it seems clear that screenwriter Zach Dean's intent was to use this to get his foot in the door not actually have it produced(he's also the scribe of the profoundly unwatchable The Tomorrow War). The Gorge was on the 2020 Black List of "best" unproduced scripts which is kind of baffling and makes you wonder if the script readers at studios actually watch movies. Having just returned from LA I can say it is shocking how many people there who want to work in show business(or do) but don't watch much of the actual product(and seem proud of this fact). Tonally it attempts to mash science fiction, action, and romance but simply switches between the genres scene-to-scene and doesn't meld them which makes you feel like your getting a ride from someone with a stick shift who doesn't know how do it. The dialogue is pretty cringe and there are so many ludicrous plot holes and inconsistencies its virtually impossible to invest in anything that's happening.

Straight-to-streaming mediocrity.

Currently streaming on Apple TV+.

Don't See It.

Domesticity

There's a lot to navigate
logistics, compromise, food

it's noisy, chaotic

but gratifying

the texture of it

the depth

easy to get lost in

the labyrinthine obligation

sometimes it's good

to disappear

in service to others

Ozempic (GLP-1s)

At risk
of stating the obvious
BAD IDEA

Masking

No fault
to those

where it's necessity

but here in LA

it seems

it is simply

cultural norm

to deceive

to lie

to equivocate

to hedge

"we should hang out"

"lets see how we feel"

"lets collaborate"

obfuscation and artifice

as the standard mode

of communication

I may be

a simple midwestern man

with what some might see

as a lack of ambition

a lack of drive

no interest in power or position or perception

but

I'll say this for myself

with pride

I say what I mean and I mean what I say

Direct. Simple.

It seems to me

the better way.

Canter's

bread. meat. mustard. pickle.
simple.
perfect.
Sandwich.

Travel

I've become less and less interested
in other places
and more and more interested
in my own
its trials and textures
its problems and peoples
for first and foremost
I must know myself
and keep my house in order

our capacity to influence

has not grown

with our ability to know

Schwa

And trust
and commonality
and understanding
and community
and united purpose

within this circle of protection

these confines

safety

boundless freedom

'Love Hurts' A Review

Love Hurts is an action romcom about Marvin(Ke Huy Quan) a retired hitman turned real estate agent who is pulled back into his former life on Valentine's Day by the return of the woman he was meant to have killed as his final assignment Rose(Ariana DeBose).

Quan is his usual charismatic self and deploy's his martial expertise to great effect but the script isn't really on par with his talent and he valiant tries but mostly fails in resting anything coherent from it. DeBose is miscast, the twenty year age difference between her and Quan is apparent and makes the feints at romance between the two particularly cringe. She's a bit lost in the role and has yet to really meet the promise she showed in West Side Story. The rest of the supporting cast is pretty stacked- Sean Astin shows up and it's wonderful to see the two Goonies share the screen again, Mustafa Shakir as Raven a rival hitman, Lio Tipton as Ashley Marvin's co-worker going through an existential crisis(and who has an actually engaging romantic subplot with Shakir's character), boba tea slurping villain Daniel Wu- other than DeBose it's great casting and they all do something with their roles but both the direction and the script prevent any of them from really soaring.

Shot in Winnipeg the "Milwaukee" setting is kind of insulting, it looks like nameless, faceless suburbia rather than any actual place. The action sequences are thrillingly choregraphed and occasionally extremely graphic which is great but it's also pretty incongruous with the other attempted themes. Tonally it's ambitious, you have to give it that, but it's not successful, part John Wick part Gross Pointe Blank, it careens from heartfelt to broad comedy to brutal gore with little to no management, control, or intent. As a result all the genre's they attempt to meld come up short. There are little islands of great scenes but what surrounds them just frustrates. Despite the considerable powers of Quan it never really takes flight.

Destined to underperform in theaters and become a "hit" once streaming.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

The Cost

What they don't tell you
is that sobriety

requires sacrifice

desire, ambition, righteousness

these must

be subordinate

to staying clean

every day

day after day

in perpetuity

they don't tell you

because they don't need to

whatever the cost

it's cheap

'Kinda Pregnant' A Review

Kinda Pregnant is a romcom about Lainy(Amy Schumer) a teacher who becomes jealous of her best friend Kate's(Jillian Bell) pregnancy after she breaks up with her long term boyfriend. She begins to wear a pregnancy belly for the attention but when she meets Josh(Will Forte) while wearing it and sparks fly she has to keeps up the lie.

Schumer is off her game, it's been several years since I Feel Pretty and Trainwreck, and she just doesn't have the same kind of presence, magnetism, or comedic timing here. Jillian Bell is pitch perfect and in the scenes they share it's clear Bell would have been better cast as the lead. Urzila Carlson brings a lot of energy and effort, props to her, but it just doesn't work and you can't help but think she was the third choice after Rebel Wilson and Rachel House declined. Will Forte is great, Alex Moffat brings some heat in too brief a role, Brianne Howey works well with what she has and Lizze Broadway is a welcome jolt of electricity any time she's on screen but overall it just feels like a hodgepodge cast, none of them totally sure what movie they are in, each doing there own thing to varying degrees of success. Some of the fault is on the script which oscillates wildly from broad blue and physical humor to attempts at genuine commentary about pregnancy in the modern age, and as esteemable as the intent may be those two objectivities really clash in the execution. Not to mention the central conceit is an astronomical hurdle, like what Lainy does is pathological, and the movie never really acknowledges that.

Director Tyler Spindel has some talent in this space(straight to Netflix comedies), The Wrong Missy and The Out-Laws weren't great but they were entertaining, this is a step below that. He's never had a particularly strong aesthetic, his movies pretty generic in how they look and are shot, and the script from Schumer and Julie Paiva doesn't give him much to stand on, it feels if not out-of-touch exactly than at least dated. Like it's a script Schumer had laying around from her sketch show days ten years ago that she reworked. Babes from last year which is very similar, although by no means a homerun, is much more successful at getting at the same themes. For that film's faults at least it feels modern. This feels retro in bad way, like Enchanted 2.

Part of the self-fulfilling prophecy of comedy films not getting theatrical releases.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Don't See It.

'Companion' A Review

Companion is a scifi thriller about Iris(Sophie Thatcher) a companion robot who's taken to a secluded weekend away by her "boyfriend" Josh(Jack Quaid) but things are not what they seem and danger is on the horizon!

Thatcher's star continues to rise and her performance is by far the most compelling element of the movie, she gives Iris incredible depth and dimension, executes the action panache, and translates some of the deeper themes as best as can be expected with the uneven script. Quaid is serviceable but other than The Boys has yet to show he's got the talent or range to be at the top of the call sheet, he's not able to really play any levels here, his 'turn' is profoundly unsurprising, the character is flat and he doesn't do much to bring it to life. The limited supporting cast have talent, it's especially great to see Harvey Guillén playing against type, but they don't have enough to do.

Visually the film looks good, shot mostly at one location, it's slick, evocative, and mostly effective. The soundtrack is uneven and at times serves to undermine or work against the established tone, there are a couple diegetic needle drop moments which clearly intend to be impactful but oddly fall flat. But mostly the problems stem from the script, discordantly paced the movie either needs more action or more AI philosophizing, as is the momentum starts and stops and allows the audience to easily get ahead of what's happening. The whole idea is relatively derivative(Ex Machina being the closest cousin) and ultimately there's just not enough new or fresh about this to hold that much interest. There's a good movie in here but as is it's relatively rote and feels more like a bloated Black Mirror episode rather than a feature.

A consummate Thatcher can't quite elevate this middling fare.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

Two Short Poems

Know Thyself
I don't like the beach
I'm a trees guy

Commonality

We are all

branches

from the same tree

'Presence' A Review

Presence is a supernatural thriller about a family of four that moves into a large suburban home inhabited by the titular presence. As they navigate their own interpersonal issues they butt up against the spirit at various times culminating in the unraveling of its mystery.

Lucy Liu as Rebecca the matriarch is the biggest name in the cast and has the biggest presence, its a treat to see her in something this intimate and grounded given her recent cinematic offerings were Red One and Shazam 2 she's able to really stretch here and do some subtle, interesting stuff and the character has some darkness to it. Chris Sullivan as Chris Rebecca's husband is good but he struggles a bit with finding a groove and matching the tone, the same is true of Eddy Maday as Tyler, neither of them are bad but their calibration is off. Callina Liang as Chloe fairs better and effectively grounds and gives emotional stakes to the story and her scenes with Sullivan are his best. The big sore thumb of it all is West Mulholland as Ryan, partly a result of the absurd dialogue he has to speak but also he seems totally ignorant of the tone. The performance has no subtlety, comes across like a mustache twirling villain more appropriate as a bully in a 80's teen comedy than in this. His casting severely limits how far the film can go because of the nature of the role and how flatly and obviously he plays it.

No surprise coming from Soderbergh, visually it has some flair, shot from the POV of the spirit, the camera floats around the house(and is constrained within it) and cuts in-and-out based on it's own whim resulting in not only a cool look but a unique way we get to know the family and it's situation. The soundtrack is subtle and eerie, the location(its all in the house) effective. Soderbergh does what he does best, makes a pretty good movie fast and on the cheap.

An engaging distraction with a heavy that drags down much of its potential.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

'One Of Them Days' A Review

One Of Them Days is a comedy that takes place over the course of a day about two friends Dreux(Keke Palmer) and Alyssa(SZA) who have to come up with rent after it was "repurposed" by Alyssa's boyfriend Keshawn.

Palmer is really able to cut loose, as does SZA, and the two have electric chemistry. They're consistently funny, deliver surprises, but also a heartfelt friendship. Some of the "obstacles" they face feel pretty contrived at times but their natural charm and presence pushes through those without much notice. The supporting cast all really deliver- Vanessa Bell Calloway, Katt Williams, Lil Rel Howery- to name a few of the 'known' actors, and the same goes for the more unknown cast as well particularly Aziza Scott as Berniece, the heavy. Everyone is having a lot of fun, they are all on the same page, and there's agreement in what movie they are making and as a result it really soars.

Visually the film is conventional(no real sequences with much going on other than standard coverage) but effective. And without any kind of visual ambition the focus, justly, remains on the cast and the narrative. The soundtrack is solid, the costuming is great, the pacing is pitch perfect. It's an all around solid buddy comedy of which there has been a dearth for years. 

Nearly pitch perfect, laughs and some heart too.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

See It.

'Flight Risk' A Review

Flight Risk is a thriller about U.S. Marshall Madolyn(Michelle Dockery) escorting mob accountant Winston(Topher Grace) from Alaska to the lower 48 in order to turn informant, but bush pilot Daryl Booth(Mark Wahlberg) is more than he appears!

Dockery, probably best known for Downton Abbey, is great here- pulpy, brash, competent- the total package for this kind of role in this kind of movie. Grace is equally good as the worm-with-a-conscience and the two play off each other kind of shockingly beautifully for this kind of B grade genre fair. Wahlberg though is the real point of discord, the squeaky wheel, he is just horribly miscast. He starts off with this really bad corny, aw-shucks old boy accent, which morphs into his best attempt at a deranged killer a la Cape Fear and it...really doesn't work. He puts in a valiant effort but it just does not fall within his range. As a result, the movie never really takes off as the bulk of it is just the three of them in a small puddle jumper.

Shot on a budget it looks decent, the production elements work, its all very contained and adequate. The script is a bit rote but there's definitely appetite for this kind of flick.  It's short, well paced, a tight little piece of pulp, decent enough but falls short of making that big of an impression.

Mildly entertaining, held back by its star.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

The Chills

I'm grateful when they come

the onset of cold

the shudder and shake

crinkle and crack

flicking and popping

the deployment

of untold white blood cells

internal soldiers

repelling the breach

of pathogen

I writhe under the covers

relieved

by my body's defense.

'Back In Action' A Review

Back In Action is an action/comedy of the spies-that-start-a-family-but-get-drawn-back-in variety. Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx are Emily and Matt the former spies now suburbanite parents who get drawn back into the fray as a result of a Mission Impossible/James Bond-esk McGuffin that was the focus of their last mission.

It's wonderful to see Diaz back after her decade long hiatus, she's still got charisma and energy to spare and she's got great chemistry with Foxx. It's good to see him too although his last several roles have been straight-to-streaming so is certainly missed on the big screen. The supporting cast are all serviceable and pleasant and appropriate for the genre but other than a brief scene or two with Glenn Close, no one is really taking that much of a swing here. It's all very algorithmic rather than inspired.

Visually the film is bland, shot in nameless USA aka Atlanta suburbs, it looks generic. The soundtrack has the same algorithmic feel as the casting and performances and is equally generic. The fight choreography and action sequences are engaging and its clear Diaz and Foxx are doing a fair amount of their own stunts but nothing really breaks out of the realm or predictability.

The exact kind of movie you think it is with the same exact kind of patented Netflix result- good enough to fold laundry or clip your nails while having on.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream It.

Top 5 Movies of 2024

Top 5:

Daughters

Ghostlight

His Three Daughters

Hundreds Of Beavers

The Wild Robot

Honorable Mentions:

Anora

The Fall Guy

The People's Joker

Problemista

Sasquatch Sunset

Sing Sing

The Substance

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Thelma

Will & Harper

Disappointments:

Alien: Romulus

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 

Kinds Of Kindness

Nosferatu

Most Overrated:

Hit Man

Most Underrated:

Rebel Ridge

Worst Of The Year:

Juror #2 and Unfrosted

Performances Of The Year:

Mikey Madison - Anora

Keith Kupferer, Dolly de Leon - Ghostlight

Chloe East, Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher - Heretic

Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen - His Three Daughters

Lupita Nyong'o - A Quiet Place: Day One

Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin - Sing Sing

Naomi Scott - Smile 2

Demi Moore - The Substance

June Squibb - Thelma

Cynthia Erivo -  Wicked: Part I

Scenes Of The Year:

Salt Mine Dance - The End

The Oner - Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell

Noa Calls The Eagles - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Total Eclipse of the Heart - The Last Showgirl

Bieber Dream Sequence - My Old Ass

Laser Dance - Sonic The Hedgehog 3

'The Last Showgirl' A Review

The Last Showgirl is a drama about Shelly(Pamela Anderson) the titular showgirl who's show is closing after many years leaving her searching for what's next.

It's great to see Anderson in this role and one can imagine it was cathartic and vindicating for her in some ways, the end result however is inconsistent. Some scenes she is locked in(pretty much any time she shares the screen with Jamie Lee Curtis who plays her friend Annette) but other times she really struggles with the clunky, exposition heavy, tell-don't-show dialogue and the overly contrived conflict heavy plotting. Not her fault but she doesn't have the kind of experience to translate the wonky script and inexpert direction into the kind of powerful performance this has the potential to be. This is highlighted, unfortunately, by how good Curtis is. Who absolutely has the kind of chops to turn the mediocre script into something with some meaning. There's clearly ambition behind the film but the only time it's really actualized is in one incredible scene with Curtis where she is dancing to 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. Dave Baptista, the other pro, as Eddie is the only other cast member who seems locked in, the other supporting cast- Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, and Billie Lourd- are just uneven.

The cinematography and sound design are overly aggressive. The shaky close-up hand-held camera work and soft focus don't really work, it distracts and it's pretty consistently incongruous with what is happening. It's a vibe that's more appropriate with a Terrence Malick tone poem not a drama that is attempting to be coherent. The same is true of the sound design, it frequently(and bizarrely) drowns out dialogue. The costuming and make up are great but all together the production design seems to be separate ideas and approaches that don't weave together but make each other even more discordant.

What the movie is actually trying to say is also kind of baffling. This doesn't empower Shelly, it doesn't really provide any insight on her experience, doesn't convey to us or explore her interiority. It's just one kind of hit after another, bleakness to no purpose, and quite frankly lacking much if any authenticity. There is absolutely a great movie in here, there are scenes here and there that are really brilliant, but writer Kate Gersten fails to offer any real emotional insight or truth and director Gia Coppola fails to adjust to what so clearly does and doesn't work.

An odd, uneven, frustrating piece of cinema with one absolutely ecstatic, transcendent scene from Curtis.

Currently in theaters.

Stream It.

Fragility

even the snow

is tenuous
fluffy fractals
quickly crushed

by commuting feet

pristineness

inevitably scuffed

be it ice or innocence

beauty need not be

persistent

to be prized

'Den of Thieves 2: Pantera' A Review

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is a heist movie, a sequel to 2018's Den Of Thieves. After the nebulous conclusion of the first movie LASD sheriff Big Nick(Gerard Butler) continues his pursuit of Donnie(O'Shea Jackson Jr.) eventually tracking him to Nice, France where Donnie is putting together a diamond district job. Nick blackmails Donnie into putting him on the team for the heist and the two develop a cautious friendship as they prepare.

Butler continues to slug it out with Jason Statham for the title of King of January Dad Cinema and he continues to deliver. He's older and is clearly slowing down but he's as charismatic and watchable as ever. Jackson continues his solid, slow-and-steady career, and he is equally compelling here, deploying his lowkey charm and inherent onscreen likability to great effect. The two have great chemistry and equal time is spent on their burgeoning friendship as the main event heist and it mostly works. The supporting cast has some talent, particularly Evin Ahmad who has a sharp and magnetic screen presence, but mostly they are all unknown European actors that don't really distinguish themselves. There's something lost in the sequel without having the deeper bench of known character actors.

Visually the movie is beautiful, shot not on location but close, in the Canary Islands. The action sequences are thrilling, tightly choregraphed, and shot with a focus on authenticity and suspense. The problem is there's only two of them, one at the beginning and one at the end. In the middle there's a pretty great scene at a party where the heist crew all do drugs but in between the story drags. At almost two and a half hours the movie is simply too long. The time spent developing Big Nick's character and then his and Donnie's connection is well intended and effective up to a point but this is a heist movie, awards season counter programing, and it is just way too languorous in its pace to completely deliver.

Fun, entertaining, overstays its welcome by half an hour.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

Severance

(Wrote this for a show over the summer, season 1 is now streaming free on the Roku Channel, season 2 premiers on Apple TV+ next Friday 1/17)

Severance on AppleTV+ is about this procedure which separates the psyche of a person creating one that lives, in totality, at work, and leaving the original person with no memories of what they do at work. This new person has no memories of their life, no context, and the show is mostly about a four person team, Macrodata Refinement, within this corporation Lumon.

The show was, for the most part, beloved, by both critics and audiences, so my question is, why is it great? What makes it a great show? It looks great, no question, really cool moody cinematography and interesting odd locations and sets. An eerie, effecting soundtrack, yes. An eclectic and deeply talented cast, yes(including Britt Lower a Chicago improv grad). The twists and turns and surprises and reveals of the story. Yes. No question. However that is not really why people love it. Why they are so effected by it. Severance is a great show and it captured hearts and minds because it is, in essence, The Allegory of the Cave which itself speaks to the most powerful and enduring quality of humanity: curiosity.

Plato's allegory is about a group of people chained in a cave, believing their shadows cast on the cave wall are reality as that is all they know. But upon being released some turn around. Some see the fire behind them and the cave mouth behind that and some depart for the unknown world seeking to understand the truth of reality. Overly simplified but for the sake of argument stay with me. This is 375 BCE Plato says this. And yet the idea endures.

In Severance the four macrodata refiners are quite literally imprisoned, constrained by the very definition of their existence. Consciousnesses wholly and completely confined within this workplace. And they are released to act only when they discover knowledge, when they are in this instance unchained. This comes in two forms, a map left by their old boss Petey and more importantly a self-help memoir written by Mark's(one of the refiners) brother-in-law Ricken they discover by accident. With these are they challenged to consider things outside their perception. And having gotten this glimpse, having peaked behind the curtain, in pursuit of fuller lives, but at a more basic level, reaching for simple understanding, do they act. And it is this fundamental decision which makes the show great. This impulse the macrodata refiners have which we all have to some degree, in some way, in some particular avenue. This desire to know. To see. To understand. To find truth. This quality of the human spirit is what we are responding to when we say to our friend "Have you seen Severance? You gotta watch it." The recognition of our own potential greatness which the show reflects.

And yes, of course, right here, right now, this has been perverted in us. Our most fundamental and wonderous spark has been weaponized, vampiric. Social Media, politics, mega-corporations we have in our hands a machine which can tell us everything we want to know. But that is not reality, that is just more shadows on the wall. Not to say we shouldn't be informed, not to undermine any national or global tragedy or its importance, nor the threats we most assuredly face as a species. But. It is important to question and understand what system we are in, where our information comes from, and by who and why it is provided to us.

Nonetheless this pursuit forges connections, people meet and get to know one another, they form relationships and community, and it is this bond which defines us. Even thousands of years before Plato. We came together. It is this pursuit which causes innovation, which brought us out of the caves and ceased our nomadic migrations. This pursuit which inspires art, reflecting back on us our condition that we may understand and evolve. And it is this aspect that is one of Severance's greatest inspirations. Ricken, the self-obsessed obtuse brother-in-law's vanity project, his book "The You You Are", is the seed of the macrodata refiners awakening. Even something objectively terrible, uninsightful, and navel-gazing can, in fact, be a titanic, earth-shattering, catalyst. And in the context of the show we understand this to be fundamentally true and without irony. That the creative work, regardless of who we have seen Ricken to be, has a power independent of him. That his writing, however saccharine, in its pure sincerity has penetrated the illusion of isolation and revealed the truth. That we are not alone. 

Back in 2016 I directed a play called Blockbuster and it was about a group of women who worked there, using movies and the work environment to engage with various themes. Towards the end of the show there's a scene where one of the characters talks about sexual assault based on her own experience. After one of the shows a friend came up to me in tears and berated me for its inclusion without a trigger warning. My first reaction was defensive, working on that scene had been incredibly difficult and I was proud of the work the cast had done, but I realized I was in uncharted waters. I did not know that experience and both working on the scene as well as being open to my friends hurt brought about a broadening of my perspective, a further understanding of those realities. I was well-meaning but ignorant and only the courage and compassion of my cast and my friend provided me an opportunity for growth, only through working on this project did it arise. I put up a trigger warning for the rest of the run.

Watching Severance we understand that all the macrodata refiners needed to launch on their quest of self actualization was information. Only in ignorance are we complacent, only in darkness do we like pigs at the trough eat the slop given to us without question. But given only a glance, a band of light beneath a locked door, a hint, a glimmer, with just this is inspiration born. We are, by our most fundamental constitution, forced to ask- who am I? where am I? why am I? And it is in the dogged pursuit of these questions are we most ourselves, most human. Severance is a great show because, taking away all the trappings of prestige TV, it is about freedom, it is about becoming.

I first moved to Chicago in 2006 straight from college and worked at the Barns & Noble cafe downtown. I was green and I was oblivious. I locked my bike up with a combination lock and one of those plastic covered mental cords. In the first month I was working, I'd lock it up across the street and could see my bike out the window. One day a guy appeared to be locking his bike up on the same stand and my bike was wiggling. I thought, huh, that's odd, and when I looked back it was gone. I ran out, no trace of my bike, no trace of the guy, I was demoralized. But I began to see and be aware of things I had not been previously. Do I think Chicago is dangerous? No. But it is a city. Teaming with life and passion and energy and duplicity and transcendence. Having been chastised by her, corrected, Chicago gave me an opportunity to learn, to go beyond my limited perspective to experience and understand more deeply, to become apart of something greater.

This is a well used idea, Silo has this, The Matrix, most recently Blink Twice and on and on, all these share this quality. Individuals coming to a jumping off place. A fulcrum where things are revealed and they are changed. Storytellers recycle this idea again and again. Why? Because we will never stop. We will never stop seeking. Never stop searching. Never stop trying to live in truth and beauty. It is our organizing principle.

I'd guess most of the people here tonight are artists in one form or another, to one degree or another. So I want to say two things to you. One, watch the TV show Severance. And two. Thank you and keep going.

By Grace Alone

We need do nothing
to be redeemed

as we are expressions

of the great divinity

despite avarice and pain

joy and generosity

we are, all of us

small but vital pieces

of the celestial mosaic

all cogs in the grand spiritual machine

which makes our glorious existence run

look around!

what beauty!

rejoice in our belonging

take solace in the fact

on the continuum of eternity

our time is but a moment

a fleeting spark 

from the cosmic conflagration

'The Return' A Review

The Return is a historical drama an adaptation of the final part of Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus(Ralph Finnes) washes up on the shores of his homeland to discover it in ruins and his wife Penelope(Juliette Binoche) beset by leering, reprobate suitors and his ineffectual son Telemachus(Charlie Plummer) under threat.

Finnes and Binoche are consummate talents and make something mildly diverting out of this mostly boring, misguided, pedantic script. Plummer is borderline unwatchable and seems wildly uncomfortable, whether a result of the period setting or the clunky script, who's to say, regardless he's bad. The rest of the supporting cast don't make much of an impression and they're given no assistance by the script or direction.

The locations are beautiful and appropriate, the costuming period, but the real issue is the adaptation of the source material. In the first, the end of Odysseus's journey simply doesn't have the same impact having not experienced it, the movie, kind of from conception, is destined to come up short. In the second, the Odyssey is an epic with magic and gods and monsters and adventure and here there is a baffling attempt to make it realistic. Like, director Uberto Pasolini seems to be focused on genuinely investigating Odysseus's PTSD, which I guess fair, but the execution just clearly misses the point entirely. None of the grandness of Odysseus's experience is conveyed, there's no sense of its depth or texture, no sense of its otherworldlyness. Which may be unfair, criticizing it for what its not so taking it on its own merits as a grounded ancient Greek period piece about the cost of war it just never really comes together, never delivers fully on action or emotion.

Two of our greatest actors make something watchable out of something that otherwise wouldn't be.

Currently available to rent on most VOD platforms.

Stream It.

'Wolfs' A Review

Wolfs is an action comedy about two loner fixers(George Clooney and Brad Pitt) forced to work together for a night to cover up an indiscretion by a politician that is more complicated than it first appears.

Both Clooney and Pitt bring their breezy charm and movie star solidity to their parts and it works, they have good chemistry as they have proven multiple times before, and both have some decent comedic chops. This isn't something we haven't seen them do before nor is the story particularly original but its entertaining and fills a particular genre void in the current release schedule. The talented supporting cast is limited namely Amy Ryan and Poorna Jagannathan, who are each in it for basically one scene, and then Austin Abrams who gives an effective and surprisingly bizarre turn as the object of the leads mission.

The film looks decent, shot on location in NYC, a good soundtrack/score, its effective, workmanlike, without much pretention and that's OK. This is an old school piece of adult entertainment and it is a solid example of such. 

A quality popcorn flick.

Currently streaming on Apple TV+.

Rent It.