'Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie' A Review

Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie is a time travel/parody/mocumentary about aspiring musicians Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol(playing versions of themselves) attempts to play at Toronto venue the Rivoli which inadvertently sends them back in time.

Based on/a continuation of their TV show and web series the style is pretty niche, reminiscent of last years Pavements, I'm not sure anyone not already fans have much to actually enjoy here. As a novice, Johnson is relentlessly insufferable and McCarrol seems to do virtually nothing. The Back To The Future element is less parody than it is just direct recreation and reference. The hidden camera/on-the-street elements are somewhat impressive in that they're able to stitch together a narrative but other than constraints of budget that element doesn't bring anything to the movie or serve much purpose.

For fans of the duo presumably a real hit, for the uninitiated not much to offer beyond the mediocre. Hot Tub Time Machine did a better Back To The Future spoof, Bad Trip did a more inventive narrative and was funnier at using guerilla/prank style shooting.

NTBTSTM isn't bad it's just not particularly lively or original. It's a pastiche of better films and ideas.

Currently available to rent on most VOD platforms.

Stream It.

'Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice' A Review

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a scifi action/comedy about Mike(James Marsden) who's fallen in love with his boss Nick's(Vince Vaughn)wife Alice(Eiza González) the both of whom want to flee the criminal underworld they inhabit. But Nick's future self has come back on this evening in particular because Mike's life is in danger.

The cast is stacked with talent both Vaughn and Marsden have buckets of charm and humor they deploy throughout, González doesn't have much to do but her innate watchability makes it work. The supporting cast has some fun surprises- Keith David(legend), Jimmy Tatro, Stephen Root, and Dolph Lundgren- are all fun and funny. There's a scrappiness about the production and the cast that translates to low key fun.

The script is overly plotted, the title is unnecessarily cumbersome, and some sequences employ some pretty dated(and cheap looking) filmmaking techniques. BUT. Overall it's a mostly effective fun action/comedy with a scifi twist that allows Vaughn to do a double role(pretty well!).

Entertaining if not spectacular.

Currently streaming on Hulu.

Rent It.

Life Is Suffering

In the dark
lonely hours
the First Noble Truth
takes on new resonance

when illness or fear

keep rest at bay

it requires

a certain pragmatism

to endure

hydrate

piss

lay down

clear the mind

sleep

wake up

repeat

it is not

the big questions

of Purpose or Meaning

that offer solace

but base necessities

that mitigate dread

during the long night

'Project Hail Mary' A Review

Project Hail Mary is a scifi movie based on the 2021 novel of the same name. Grace(Ryan Gosling) awakens from a medically induced coma on a space craft with amnesia. Over time and through flashbacks he figures out he is part of a mission to determine the cause and correct the dropping temperature of the sun. He meets and befriends an alien who he names Rocky and the two set about trying to save both their worlds.

Gosling deploys every ounce of every-man charm he has(which is substantial) and mostly shoulders the film effortlessly. Rocky, voiced and puppeteer'd by James Ortiz is also really wonderful and the real heart and focus of the film is their burgeoning friendship and connection. They have great chemistry and the nuts-and-bolts hard scifi problems are interesting but really it's their relationship and the surprising amount of humor the film mines that's the real delight.

The film is beautiful and really uses Space and the space to great effect. With a good blend of practical effects and CGI there's a tactile quality the really elevates it. Some real classic rock needle drops serve to fill out a pretty stellar sound design. All-in-all the production is near perfect.

If there's a fault it is in the run time, it feels a tad long, ends several times, these are all taken directly from the book so it's faithful to its source material but as a cinematic experience it could have packed a bit more punch at minus 10-15 minutes.

A wonderfully thrilling and surprisingly emotional ride with laughs to spare. The first real blockbuster of 2026.

Currently in theaters.

Don't Miss It.

Guileless

It took me years
to learn guile

how I grew up

who I grew up with

it wasn't picturesque

wasn't faultless

but the joys

and the cruelties

were all honest

straightforward

I was slow

to recognize

deceptions

mostly from the rich

the privileged

the bosses

you need wealth

to posture

the certainty

of safety

for pretense

a flexible

morality

for hypocrisy

all class luxuries

and craven

'Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare' A Review

Fukushima A Nuclear Nightmare is a documentary about the 2011 earthquake, resulting tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster. Through found, news and social media footage from the time and talking head interviews, the Fukushima incident is delved.

The footage is harrowing and the first hand accounts, particularly those from the plant workers, are poignant and make for an informative and effective doc but other than general warnings about nuclear power, capitalism, and just overall human hubris what it all ultimately means, the broader take aways or specific indictments, are left vague. It feels as if it's building up to a call-to-action but there's no number to call, no organization to donate to, nothing to be done(or at least that's the feeling one is left with). Nuclear power rises in popularity again, another threat in the laundry list of our current pre-apocalyptic age.

A reminder we haven't learn from the past even if when it's recent.

Currently streaming on HBO Max.

Rent It.

'Inside The Manosphere' A Review

Inside The Manosphere is a documentary about the rise of toxic masculinity/misogyny on the internet particularly focusing on influencer culture. Presenter Louis Theroux interviews and shadows various manosphere goons attempting to discourse with them logically and making faces at their more egregious declarations.

The movie is composed of social media clips and footage of Theroux as he follows various influencers observing and interviewing them. Visually it's not particularly original or dynamic but with this kind of doc cinematography isn't really a focus and ultimately doesn't detract from what it's trying to get at. But what is that exactly? Other than letting these guys regurgitate their poisonous talking points and Theroux looking surprised and/or disgusted he occasionally challenges some of their views in conversation(which is something) but there's not as much of a pointed indictment as this kind of ugliness should solicit(in favor of attempting to take a more humanist view ie most of them didn't have dads and/or were abused) nor is the broader cultural context in which these twisted Peter Pans exist much investigated nor their, and more broadly this movements, effects on women. 

It all feels mostly superficial, simply scratching the surface, the attitude boils down to "how crazy is this right?" with Theroux as the straight man, in some ways mirroring the same tactics as these influencers. Without more nuance, analysis, and context this could be viewed as providing a more mainstream platform for these worms.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream It.