Reflections

water, mirror, metal, glass
all our lives are passing gas

ego tells us to be kings
but all we are is flesh-bound SIMS

there is meaning to be found
outside, above, beyond, unbound

not in vanity or conceit
desire is tied to bones & meat

gold & green are but distractions
life is not a prolonged transaction
above all is cosmic compassion

'Mission Impossible: Fallout' A Review

Mission Impossible: Fallout is an action movie, the sixth installment in the MI franchise. The film opens on Ethan Hunt(Tom Cruise) and his team on an operation to recover three plutonium cores which fails because Hunt saves Luther(Ving Rhames) instead of insuring the mission's success. As a result the team has to scramble to recover the cores under pressure from the CIA as well as the impending attack the cores will be used in.

Cruise is successful as he always has been in this role, continually uping if not his emotional performance certainly his physical ones. The practical stunts and action set pieces in the film are incredible. There's an odd and interesting synergy here with actor and character, there's a narrative throughline about Hunt refusing to accept defeat continually pushing himself to greater and greater lengths to accomplish his mission and keep his country(and the world) safe, much like the actor who broke his ankle jumping from a building in the film and who HALO jumped 94 times in preparation for one scene. Similar to the Fast & Furious series as the installments have progressed so has the idea of family within the team at it's center. Sometimes this sincerity can veer into melodrama but in a blockbuster season saturated by CGI and superheroes the straight-forward thrilling action and essential nobility and duty of the team and their care for each other stand out. Rhames as Luther is the emotional center and navigates scenes with some clunky dialogue gracefully. Simon Pegg as Benji doesn't have as much comic relief as in installments past but does participate more in the action which is fun.

Certainly not perfect, some of the plot points and emotional beats are a bit preposterous, still there is something undeniably compelling about how thrilling the old school action is and how unique this patient franchise consistently ups it's game, pushes forward, and always entertains.

Rent It.

'The King' A Review

The King is a documentary about superstar Elvis Presley that clumsily attempts to draw a parallel between Elvis and the American Dream as well as address our current socio-economic upheaval in real time. It fails in almost all its broader ambitions but is, at least, a competent look at Elvis's career. The conceit is that writer/director Eugene Jarecki drives Elvis Rolls-Royce around the country visiting cities Elvis lived, having musicians perform in the back seat, and have random celebrities pontificate about Elvis and the state of America. There are a handful of talking head interviews also(notably Chuck D and Van Jones who are woefully underutilized and seem confused, along with the audience, about what Jarecki is actually getting at) as well as archival footage but the edit of the film mirrors the filmmakers seeming confusion and inability to create a salient point of view.

The film seemingly has three subjects. Elvis the man who's history is delved into relatively astutely however there is a hesitance on Jarecki's part to actually critique the King only make excuses for his failings. Which begs the question, why, none of this ultimately is new information and the format is so half baked the film, even at its inception at its most simple was not much better than a film school project.

The second subject is the American Dream, Jarecki attempts to use Elvis as a metaphor, but the whole idea is based on the supposition the American Dream, at least at some point, was real. And the reality is that the "American Dream" was a marketing and political creation of the 1950's for middle class white men. From it's inception the "American Dream" was something that was only accessible to the demographic in power and was a product that was sold. Given that Jarecki naively gives this idea astounding weight, seemingly clueless to its implication and history, and has a series of white rich or upper-middle class men discuss it.

There is a moment or two where Jarecki gives normal citizens a chance to answer the question at the center of the film, and they are of course the most insightful and through provoking, but he cuts away so quickly back to Alec Baldwin or Ethan Hawke its as if he doesn't actually even understand what the country is about or who are the ones who should be speaking for it. Newsflash, it's not Hollywood elite or the affluent its real people. At one point Jarecki has a Memphis choir in his back seat and they perform a beautiful rendition of Chain of Fools the fact that is all they do, they are not interviewed, is at the heart of what's wrong with the film.

The third subject is an extension of the second and is predicated on pessimism and apathy that its deeply uninteresting, obvious, and quite frankly repugnant. As an extension of his investigation into the "American Dream" a lot of the subjects circle around what I'll call "American Ennui" this idea that the US as a country and as a culture is on the decline destined for failure on a grand scale. And perhaps that is true, who can say what the future will hold, but we have had bad presidents before, the country has been threatened from within but the idea that a single moron could be the fulcrum that crumbles the Republic, to me, is a despairing, cowardly, disgusting, hopeless view. And that is the implication to much of the film- we are doomed. But he doesn't even get that point across in any direct way with any kind of logical argument. It's all sighs and vagueness and images juxtaposed to imply something the filmmaker isn't savvy enough to actually articulate.

The job of the artist is to elevate, inspire, comfort. What The King is ultimately about is none of it's supposed subjects but it's filmmakers fear. Fear of change, fear of the present, fear of the future. Not only is his point of view incorrect its boring.

Don't See It.

Ants

amnesiac lemmings
huddle and rush
file into offices
compact and crushed

slurp and shit
in feeckles squares
with bulging eyes
unawares

file and shuffle
punch the clock
never halt to think
or watch

perhaps all cogs
in the machine
too numb to live
too dumb dream.

'Sorry To Bother You' A Review

Sorry To Bother You is a distopian dark comedy set in an alternative-realty Oakland which follows Cash(Lakeith Stanfield) as he gets a job as a telemarketer and climbs the ranks by using his "white voice". As he ascends the corporate ladder his eyes are opened to the twisted lengths some will go for profit.

Stanfield's natural and easy magnetism is underutilized as he is mostly a passive force within a significant amount of narrative craziness. His character has little to no dimension or emotional arc so there isn't much for him to do. Tessa Thompson as Cash's girlfriend Detriot is more convoluted, it seems as if the character is written as a critique of a certain type of cause-conscious woman but Thompson plays against the script to attempt to give the character some kind of relatability and is only mildly successful. Arnie Hammer's mogul Steve Lift is the only really successful performance because it is a full-blow caricature. The cast is stacked with talent but the characters are only place holders, plot pawns rather than people.

The film is full of intriguing concepts, thick satire, and an in-your-face socio-political rage that are all stimulating, there are enough surprises and biting commentary to provoke thought and inspire, but ultimately the film has little actual emotion. It spends so much time on metaphors and ideas there is no real space left for an actual human story. And, unfortunately, without that it lacks the intense impact it attempts. A base hit rather than a homerun.

Ambitious and stylish, more cerebral than resonant.

Rent It.

'Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot' A Review

Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot is a biopic about Portland based cartoonist John Callahan(Joaquin Phoenix) and his struggles with alcoholism. The narrative has a non-linear structure using the convention of John's support group lead as a focal point which is flashbacked from. The film jumps from his drunken accident which left him wheelchair bound, his physical rehabilitation, and his process in recovery.

Phoenix is always assured and committed but this performance is more breezy, tender, and at times petulant than is his norm. There is little of his usually frenetic wincing and he conveys the emotional journey of an addict in recovery with an honesty "sober stories" rarely accurately depict. Jonah Hill as Donnie does his best and is passable but the affectation he takes on doesn't quite work. Jack Black in a supporting role that is almost an two-part cameo gives one of the most electric turns in the film with the second of his two appearances, an amends scene with Phoenix, easily being the film's best and a best of the year contender because of it's absolutely magnetic rawness and authenticity. Mara as John's love interest Annu is given little to do with even less character dimension.

The one thing the film gets extremely right is recovery but the other elements are relatively bland. It's a quiet film but at times it is so quiet it becomes inaudible. Visually the film has no style, the colors are washed out, there is no sense of urgency or momentum in the edit, and the non-linear format actually serve to disperse any narrative tension rather than build it.

An Amazon Studios film that is presumably the format for which it was intended to be viewed.

Stream It.

'Eighth Grade' A Review

Eighth Grade is a coming of age dramedy that follows Kayla(Elsie Fisher) on her last week of eighth grade. The film opens on Kayla recording a self-help style installment on her vlog, we then see her attending school and the image she attempts to convey in her videos and the subjects she discusses are in contrast to her life at school. She is awkward, reserved, and anxious and the videos, which also double seamlessly as Kayla’s internal monologue, are her attempt at becoming. The days we follow Kayla may seem, for the most part, inconsequential but they are imbued with the life-and-death importance that she gives which we in turn share with the same high-stakes, heartbreak, and exhilaration that she feels.

Fisher easily gives one of the best performances of the year, she channels openness, vulnerability, and courage that is universal for that almost always tortuous time in development. It is significant also that she is age appropriate for the character(as is the entire cast) something Hollywood has typically shunned in favor of prettier more assured performances(i.e. inauthentic). The rawness, complexity, and honesty she conveys is both shattering and ecstatic. Fisher is able to translate an emotional truth that extends beyond the typical feel-good coming-of-age cliché to something deeply resonant. Josh Hamilton as Kayla's father Mark also puts in an amazing turn, a career best, with a realistic awkwardness and care he portrays a real dad who cares for his daughter with natural clueless and ineptitude outside the wise/cool dad troupes these types of films usually rely on. The supporting cast are all incredibly spot-on, there is humor paired with a magnetic authenticity that ground and elevate the story beyond convention.

The electronic score weaves harmonically with the action, more assertive than typical it underlines, elevates, even directs some of the emotions of its lead to startling effect. The cinematography is almost claustrophobic in that the film is constantly revolving around Kayla's POV but never straying further. All elements come together to put us solidly in Kayla's head, seeing the world the way she does and feeling the way she feels.

The film has so much nuance and emotional resonance and reliability the title may be Eighth Grade but it is really about the glorious, messy, heartbreaking human condition.

Don't Miss It.

Temples Of Industry

Human architecture
has yet to surpass
the Creator's natural splendor
yet we strive for wonder
in our construction
not in worship
or in service
to our governance
but lauded
Capital
despite the, perhaps,
perverse intention
the vaulted high-rises
that surround me
on my commute-
the mirror sheen
and stolid, austere
grace of these
monuments to labor
produce an awe
and peace
not equal
to the harmony of nature
but sometimes
close
reminding me
of my small part
in the churning beauty
of humanity's ambition.

'Whitney' A Review

Whitney is a documentary about the life of singer and actor Whitney Houston. Through first person interviews, archival footage, home movies, and narration from Houston herself from past interviews the film follows her from childhood, to early fame, to superstardom, then eventually to her tragic death.

The most compelling aspect of the film is Houston's own words in the narration as well as her performances which showcase her one-of-a-kind talent. The why and how of her family life isn't particularly interesting and there is no real comment, observation, or conclusion being made by the filmmaker. For example there is the implication that the family were all supported by Houston's income but no actual reflection or insight about what this meant or the toll it took. The film implies Houston had a relationship with her friend and assistant Robyn Crawford but Crawford herself isn't in the film and the only commentary we have is from one of Houston's brother's who simply says "wicked". It's startlingly obtuse and in fact lazy.

Whitney Houston is one of the greatest icon's of the 20th century, a competently edited pastiche of archival footage would be interesting and this has many individuals from Houston's life participating however it ultimately fails to scratch the surface of who the star was and get's the nature of addiction very wrong.

Stream It.

Goodbye Job

Everything about you
was bad for me
your chaotic
all-hour demands
passive aggression
and guilt trips
were claustrophobic,
tyrannical.

The token gift cards
in lieu of legitimate
employment benefits
you handed out
so magnanimously
baffled and insulted
your constant cursing
and latent sexism, icing on the cake.

I learned a lot
not from being taught
but forced
to blindly stumble
day-to-day
and cover for the string
of resignations and firings
you neglected to prepare for.

You paid well I guess
but I figured out
over three protracted
painful years
peace of mind is greater
than bank balance.
I'll miss nothing
least of all your ineptitude with Adobe.

'Leave No Trace' A Review

Leave No Trace is a drama about a father Will(Ben Foster) and his daughter Tom(Thomasin McKenzie) who live off-the-grid in Forest Park outside Portland, OR. They are discovered, reported, and turned over to social services. The film follows their journey as they attempted to assimilate back into society.

Foster, known for his emotive powers but also his intensity, gives one of the most understated, reserved, but assured performances of his impressive career. He conveys a complex range of emotion and implies a mountain of backstory and baggage with the fleeting exposition the script provides. He projects an unflinching(and appropriate) love for his daughter as well as a distant but incurable damage. McKenzie, the true lead, is remarkable. With a compelling innocence that never dips into ignorance or gullibility. The performance has such openness and honesty that it is both heartbreaking and glorious. The two have the best onscreen chemistry of the year, clearly conveying this incredibly intimate and nuanced father-daughter relationship with few words and mostly their bodies and faces.

There isn't much plot to speak of and the script has to be less than half the length of any normal feature but because of that it has a beautiful, simple, almost meditative quality. We are shown this relationship and taken with as it evolves with such care and consideration not only to the central pair but to the landscape they inhabit with such harmony. The third character in the film is nature, specifically the forests of the Pacific Northwest and as they envelope the two leads a rare and quiet intimacy emerges. As the film progresses it reveals itself to be, essentially, a coming-of-age story for it's teenage lead but it transcends that tired descriptor with an astounding silent wonder and compassion.

Don't Miss It.

JJ

You gave me rides in your Ford Pinto
and I made you tye-dye shirts
we'd hike and smoke
drink and wrestle
talk life, love, and ambition
there was that period
you were training for the Olympics
and teaching yourself piano
while I was a shiftless college student.

We'd spend hours
at the ping-pong table
and walking through the forest
conversation and silence
equally comfortable
but time passed
I moved and became consumed
in the pursuit of liquor
and you with existential dread.

At one point, you reached out
clearly struggling
looking for a life line
and I
in the throes of self-destruction
and self-interest
blew you off
effectively closing the door
on our decade old friendship.

Time passed
and we both emerged
from our respective darkness
me, sober
and you, in med school
I hope you are well my friend
our bond of fellowship
was balm and inspiration both
it's influence will never fade.

I'm sorry
I was not there for you
I tell myself
at the time
I was incapable
which perhaps is true
but that does not mean
I forget
the debt I owe to you.

'Three Identical Strangers' A Review

Three Identical Strangers is a documentary that begins as a feel good story of lost brothers found and gradually descends into deeper, darker, and more complicated territory. The film uses a combination of present first person interviews and archival footage to unspool the story mainly from the brother's perspective.

Bobby, Eddy, and David three identical triplets were separated at birth, each adopted by different families who had no knowledge of their child's siblings. When Bobby got to college he was greeted familiarly and mistaken for Eddy who had attended the previous year. The two eventually connected and the story became national news drawing the attention of David and at 19 the three were reunited. Discussing the story further would spoil it's bizarre and heartbreaking twists suffice it to say after the excitement and joy of finding each other began to wane the brothers began to ask why they had no knowledge of each other in the first place. Their journey to the truth reveals a shocking degree of deception, moral corruption, and tragedy. It is a celebration of compassion and fellowship and a bleak investigation of ethics.

An incredibly powerful story about what it is to be human. More description would only erode it's impact.

Don't Miss It.

'Ant-Man and the Wasp' A Review

Ant-Man and the Wasp is a superhero movie, the sequel to the 2015 Ant-Man and the latest in the ongoing saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The story opens on a very cute scene with Scott Lang(Paul Rudd) and his daughter playing then after some pointless MCU plot positioning the only upside is the introduction of FBI agent Jimmy Woo(Randall Park) the narrative gradually gets moving. Scott reconnects with Hope van Dyne(Evangeline Lilly) and Hank Pym(Michael Douglas) and the three work together to search the quantum realm for Hank's long lost wife Janet(Michelle Pfeiffer). But! They are confronted by the crazed and tortured Ava Starr aka Ghost(Hannah John-Kamen).

Rudd brings his everyman charm to his superhero role and strikes a compelling balance, he is the most relatable hero of the MCU and, seemingly, the only one that actually has a job. He is relatable, fun, and funny in a way no other superhero is. Lilly, finally given a suit, soars as the Wasp. She is strong and emotional and deadly. At this point the only female superhero in the MCU that stands on her own with confidence and assurance and is the leader rather than the sidekick. Rudd is funnier but Lilly is the more proficient and effective hero. Pfeiffer only has brief screen time but is wonderful and gives the movie some much needed gravitas. John-Kamen is a stand out, easily the most complicated and compelling "villain" in the MCU since Loki. Her deadliness is tempered by her anguish and she walks this line perfectly. Scott Lang's crew now all partners in a security business have less screen time than in the first installment, unfortunately, but Michael Pena is back and deliciously upbeat and frenetic as Luis with an extended truth-serum rant that is one of the best scenes in the movie. Park isn't given much to do but he is, as always, a delight on screen.

With it's narrower narrative landscape and focus on teamwork, friendship, and family this offshoot of the MCU is the one with the most heart and as a result is the most effecting. There are scenes of the hero actually in his office working with a subplot about the business needing a crucial account to survive. This is important because it is showing real world issues and problems that the heros are involved in above and beyond(or beneath and below) alien invasions and billion doller technology. We may not relate to Tony Stark's issues with his monolithic company but we can relate to Scott Lang splitting custody of his daughter and his struggles as a small business owner.

The only thing that really holds the movie back, ironically, is its involvement and placement within the MCU cannon. There are some irritating machinations at the beginning to justify Ant-Man's non-involvement in Infinity Wars and an irritating cliff-hanger of a post credit sequence to tie it back in. This is unnecessary and undercuts the playfulness and sincerity of the movie bookended by this discordant scenes.

Fun, funny, and surprisingly uplifting.

Rent It.

Top 10 Movies Of 2018 So Far

Top 10:
Black Panther
Game Night
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami
Lean On Pete
Leaning Into The Wind
Thoroughbreds
Tully
Upgrade
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
You Were Never Really Here

Worst Of The Year Contenders:
Beast
Hereditary
Mute
Sicario 2

Backyard BBQ

Sitting in the strip of shade
cast by the wooden fence
surronded by friends
with sweating faces
munching on chips, dips,
and char kissed meats
refreshed, periodically,
by cool canned liquids
and languid conversation
I am content.

The future is still unknown
uncertain, perhaps precarious
yet the bonds of fellowship
forged by summer, grill, and holiday
hold strong and true
ambition and duty await
but tomorrow not today
not now in the setting sun
and the waning heat
and the gleeful smiles
not in this moment
which is good and simple.

'Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado' A Review

Why do we go to the movies? Simple entertainment is the most obvious answer, we go for distraction. But beyond that cinema has the potential to provide so much more. It can provide solace in times of grief, inspiration in times of apathy, adventure even relief from tedium, and hope in times of despair. It can transcend and elucidate. It can reflect back at us the society in which we live in order to call attention to various aspects and injustices within it, that we complacent or ignorant, may not see. And even within the typical summer blockbuster fair film still has this potential. Saccharine indie drama is not the only place for insight. This year, for example, the relatively straightforward comedy Game Night transcended its genre classifications to get at something truly joyous and celebratory. Especially now there is no reason for tired, reductive, rote storytelling.

Enter Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado a lazy, unclear, irresponsible, unnecessary sequel to the significantly more nuanced but flawed original. In our current political climate with the rampant US/Mexico border fear mongering the opening of the movie and the idea on which its plot is founded is either egregiously obtuse or deliberately inciting. Either way it is creatively negligent. Seemingly having no awareness of the implications of this piece of popular media the creators immediately piss away their credibility, essentially, in the cold open.

Emily Blunt as a forcibly ineffective observer to the realistic US and Mexican governments corruption and collusion with the cartels is one of the main reasons the first film works at all. The sequel is more predicated on the action-movie illogic of 90's flicks like Air Force One. In the original Josh Brolin's Matt Graver is a mysterious and darkly pragmatic, very pointedly devoid of morality. In this he inexplicably grows some kind of conscious. The same goes for Benecio Del Toro, who gives a soulful but squandered performance, although he almost makes the switch believable it is totally incongruous with the plot and the original picture. Without Blunt as the third party any kind of actual thematic resonance is lost in the action-movie-trope morass.

More Surrogates than Sicario.

Don't See It.

'Damsel' A Review

Damsel is a western about Samuel(Robert Pattinson) journeying with parson Henry(David Zellner, also written and directed by along with his brother) in toe to meet a proposed to his love Penelope(Mia Wasikowska). The film opens on an excellent scene in the middle of the desert with an old preacher(Robert Forster) bemoaning the west. We then cut to Samuel as he lands on an unnamed beach, wonders into a town, and gets the parson who he's contracted to perform his upcoming nuptials and the two venture out into the wilderness in search of Penelope.

Pattison gives a deliciously fopish electric performance. His devotion to odd indies has been paying off in his performances if not in the movies themselves(see Good Time). His got a wonderful smarmy determined petulance to him that is very complicated but intriguing. Wasikowska is given less to do but is magnetic and embodies this inverted western heroine with necessary gravity. Zellner and his brother Nathan who has an extended cameo are terrible. Flat, confusing, out-classed, and out-of-place. Zellner is so jarringly wrong that it takes Pattison's considerable efforts to make the first third of the film tolerable.

The aesthetics are classic western but the beauty of the butte and the desert are timeless. The main issue is the Zellner's performance and their script. They've attempted to subvert the classic damsel-in-distress troupe but ultimately, after a big reveal, the movie becomes patronizing woke-bro posturing. I give them credit for the attempt but after the turn the film falls apart in a meandering pointless mess. Similar to their previous film Kumiko The Treasure Hunter the story is begun with such promise but quickly devolves into a boring apathetic run on sentence. This not to mention an extended ill advised scene featuring Zellner's Parson being racist towards a Native American for seeming comic effect.

Smug, unexciting, with two excellent but squandered leads.

Don't See It.