One Day At A Time

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

America's Pastime

The stadium
a communal cathedral

a place to gather
and in our togetherness
are we focused
on the moment
the present time

the wind

the grass

each other

and of course

the game

a celebration

not of past or future

not of outcomes or potentials

but only the glorious

and ever unfolding

Now

Saturday, July 18, 2026

The Odyssey is a period action/adventure movie an adaptation of the epic poem by Homer. Odysseus(Matt Damon) helps to sack Troy via the Trojan Horse and then sets of to return home with his men but loses his way. His wife Penelope(Anne Hathaway) waits in Ithaca for his return, surrounded by mustache twirling suitors insisting he is dead.

Damon, Hathaway, Tom Holland, and Robert Pattinson are miscast, the inconsistent and emotionally thin script don't help them out, they're not bad but it's clear they're are all taking different approaches, feel like they are in different movies, the performances overall just don't really mesh, aren't cohesive. The supporting cast is full of big names, all are fun to see, but not all are successful. Samantha Morton gives the most successful performance in the most interesting scene of the movie. Lupita Nyong'o is wonderful but her appearance is brief. Himesh Patel brings some much needed emotional reality. Benny Safdie's appearance is bizarre and jarring, Charlize Theron isn't given enough to do. It's just odd, with all this talent, with all these names, the acting in aggregate is mostly forgettable and bland.

To be fair it seems clear the acting nor the story is really the focus here, it's the production and in that respect the movie is revelatory. The costuming, the Göransson score, the set design- all are incredible. Rich expansive visuals explode in every shot. The non-linear structure and the frequent cutting seem to be a necessity of shooting on IMAX rather than motivated in any way by the narrative. The ending involves some incredibly shoehorned moralizing but the commentary is such a stretch it doesn't even come across as totally cogent.

A spectacular spectacle with nothing much under the hood.

Currently in theaters.

See It.

Friday, July 17, 2026

'Remake' A Review

Remake is a documentary from Ross McElwee about grief and memory. Similar to McElwee's breakout 1986's Sherman's March the film is framed around a conceit(in this case a fiction adaptation of Sherman's March in development) but is really an exploration of McElwee's personal struggles, in this case the untimely overdose of his son.

Through footage shot over the course of his son's lifetime, clips from Sherman's March, footage McElwee's son Adrian shot himself, all accompanied by narration from McElwee- his son's life, their relationship, the act of filmmaking, addiction and death are explored.

Visually the film is intimate and evocative, shot and cut in McElwee's typical analogue fluid style. As a documentarian McElwee is a singular talent. As a father though it is difficult for the viewer not to judge him. The effect feels incredibly honest, immensely human. But it is clear McElwee is culpable, to what degree who knows. But his obsessive need to document, his inability to identify his sons struggles, and his ignorance around addiction are very much apparent. McElwee himself has no insight to provide, he simply bares his soul and grief and pain and confusion to the viewer. Is this powerful? Yes. Is it cathartic? No.

Many artists have made art inspired by the failings of their parents or the failing of themselves as parents. It's a deep well, this joins a large catalogue. But other than sharing his grief with us and some musings on the nature of memory and film McElwee does not go beyond that. In any therapy session, in any 12-step meeting, in any bitch session between friends around the world the foibles of parents and children are discussed. This looks great, it is very effective, but it does not offer anything beyond which anyone with a child or a parent has some insight on. Every parent instills in their child some level of dysfunction or neurosis(however well-meaning), any substance abuse problem is potentially fatal. This is reality and unfortunately this only serves to reflect back to us that reality and does not go beyond that.

Incredibly crafted, brave, made by a flawed man who may not be an entirely worthy subject.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Certainty

As a child
you think of adulthood
as omniscience
the truth is

the older you get

the less you know

Thursday, July 9, 2026

'Maddie's Secret' A Review

Maddie's Secret is a melodramedy inspired by a 1986 Lifetime movie, that follows the titular Maddie(writer/director John Early) as she has success as a food influencer while concurrently dealing with the resurgence of her bulimia.

Early gives a very stylized and committed performance as the titular lead and the cast is chock full of talent. Kate Berlant as Deena Maddie's obsessive best friend, Eric Rahill as Jake Maddie's soulful husband, Kristen Johnston(great to see her) as Beverlee Maddie's wayward mother. On and on everyone in the cast is great and for the most part extremely talented but lesser known character actors. The casting is impeccable. Where Early falls short is in the director's chair, tonally there's confusion as to what the film actually is or wants to be, so the performances run the gambit from extremely presentational to deeply grounded and emotional- different groups of actors all seem to be in different movies.

The visuals are relatively simple but stylized and effective, the score equally so. It's an incredibly ambitious and specific freshman feature from Early and shows significant promise. Much like the first feature of many filmmakers there's simply too much going on, it's trying to do too much, and in doing so in aggregate fails to deliver something cohesive. There are some really compelling moments, some really funny ones, it all feels very topical but also bizarrely esoteric. It's intriguing no question. But the line it walks in regards to eating disorders and the ultimate message(or lack there of) the movie attempts to make with that subject matter could certainly be activating or even offensive to some.

A blend of sincerity and satire that doesn't quite harmonize.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.