Road Trip: Yellowstone

First full day in Yellowstone and we got up early to see some geysers before hiking out to cascade lake and then up to observation peak. Beautiful rolling fog and steam in the morning and then a really challenging but rewarding climb. Great day in the park!

Badlands Poems

The Oryx
Animals
do not bemoan or yearn

they have no opinion

on life or death

they simply live

until they die

perhaps they have the right of it.

Wind

Buffeting gusts

exfoliate my face

with grit

Nature's facial scrub.

Lone Coyot

Brown-red

turns to

gray-white

with Autumn's end

in sight.

Ram-of-Way

They are unconcerned

with roads, traffic

or the leering, drooling,

instagraming motorists

their only thought

is grass.

Badlands Sunrise

Got up early to watch the sunrise then did some morning hiking before relaxing in the afternoon. Tomorrow Yellowstone.

The Big Open

The land was there before us
and it will be there long after

we render ourselves to dust

to fertilize the dirt

the land renewed

this is not speculation

but history

which stretches long

and repeats itself

knowing this

it is best

to pay proper fealty.

Road Trip: Badlands

With the time we had originally slotted for our honeymoon we're taking a road trip to tour some national parks. First stop is the Badlands. The plan is to hike and eat Cliff bars and PB&J's and generally unplug. So far so good!

'Enola Holmes' A Review

 

Enola Holmes is an English mystery based on the book series of the same name about the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. The titular Enola(Millie Bobby Brown) is raised by her independent and eclectic mother Eudoria(Helen Bonham Carter) out of the way on their family estate but on Enola's 16th birthday her mother disappears and her brothers, Mycroft(Sam Claflin) and Sherlock(Henry Cavill), return to put her in a finishing school. She flees to London in search of her mother and meets an also on the run soon to be lord Tewkesbury(Louis Partridge). She must unravel the mystery of her mother's disappearance and why her new found friend is being stalked by a bowler wearing thug.

Brown is as charming as ever but there is a twee shallowness to her character and to the whole production which gives it a kid friendly Nickelodean style gloss, mildly entertaining but no particularly memorable. Carter is always a joy to see but her screentime is abjectly brief. Calflin as the sneering Mycroft is delicious as is the finishing school headmistress played by Fiona Shaw but they too have relatively small roles. Cavill is woefully miscast presumably this is some extension of his larger contract with Netflix, whatever the cause, snooze. Partridge as the defacto damsel-in-distress and love-interest is serviceable if relatively bland.

Picturesque if somewhat derivative in aesthetic, the production elements are all competent if not particularly inspired. A recurring motif of direct address in place of voice over doesn't particularly work but overall it's a successful piece of light entertainment aimed at the younger fans of Stranger Things.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream It.

'Tenet' A Review

Tenet is an action/thriller about a nameless spy billed as Protagonist(John David Washington) who becomes involved with a secret organization set to prevent WWIII. The film opens on a blackops mission at a Russian symphony which goes south, afterwards Protagonist begins gathering information about the shadowy figure who is propagating Armageddon with unusual weaponry and tactics.

Washington, so dynamic in BlacKkKlansman, is flattened here, his charm and humor is dampened in favor of a baffling Bond-esk reserve and the script allows him literally zero character development or dimension making the "Protagonist" unknowable and more importantly unengaging. Robert Pattison appears as Neil his handler and fairs substantially better, not because of anything in the script but clearly he did his homework and brings a lot of subtext and nuance to his performance. The supporting cast are mostly negligible save for Elizabeth Debicki as Kat who is a regressive damsel in distress, she does great for what she's given but the role as-written is borderline offensive. Kenneth Branagh as the heavy is startlingly bad, scenery-chewing and unconvincingly evil/intimidating, a confounding casting choice.

Beautifully shot with incredible intricate practical effects the effort is unfortunately for naught as the script and characters are so flat, bleak, unappealing, and lacking in any degree of emotional depth that there are no stakes at any time, even "the end of the world" which the characters keep monologuing about is rendered virtually meaningless. The score is cacophonous, ever-present, and overpowering, almost immediately a glaring distraction.

The story itself is a return to writer/director Christopher Nolan's puzzle-box wheelhouse but unlike Momento or The Prestige but similar to Inception it is so devoid of emotion and 3D characters that regardless of how complicated the turns or interesting the conceit it is a hollow experience.

Currently in theaters. Review safety measures before venturing out to the movie theater. All theaters have restricted occupancy and some have assigned seating, for those you can track how many people have bought tickets to a given showing. Even so-

Don't See It.

Mistakes

The pump got stuck
in the on position

as the bike filled

I felt no division

I clasped and fiddled

no rage or panic

as the tank rose

reaching volcanic

It splashed and sprayed

that cloying reek

but I cleaned it up

without critique

Perfection is a useless game

Life is error and constant change

Take Off Your Shoes

Don't ask
Just do

'The Babysitter: Killer Queen' A Review

The Babysitter: Killer Queen is a horror/comedy a sequel to 2017's The Babysitter. Two years after the events of the previous film Cole(Judah Lewis) is struggling to acclimate to high school and is still traumatized from his run-in with the satanic cult led by his babysitter Bee(Samara Weaving) although no one believes him and his parents fear for his mental health. His best friend, beautiful and popular Melanie(Emily Alyn Lind) invites him to a party/getaway at a nearby lake. Once isolated things take a familiar turn for Cole.

Lewis once gain channels a naive charm, walking a tightrope of what could be a transparent archtype and infusing it with some real emotion and humor. Lind gives a fun turn as a sultry psycho and the supporting cast all show up and provide comedy and menace in equal measure. Jenna Ortega as Phoebe, the new student who is thrown together with Cole, provides much needed edge and heart and pairs well with Lewis. Overall there's not a lot of strenuous acting going on here but it's a difficult genre blend to pull off especially with young actors so that they're able to do it, with relative ease, makes for an engaging if not particularly inspiring cast. But in this type of movie that's not really the point.

Vibrantly shot(in writer/director McG's signature saturated style) with a couple sequences of real creative flourish- a Mortal Combat inspired fight, a hallucinatory dance sequence- the film feels both fresh and retro, harkening back to the Scream franchise but having more fun. With a solid story, dynamic editing/sequencing, enough action and gore to satisfy but enough laughs to make it not oppressive this unpretentious piece of genre fair is surprisingly satisfying.

Currently streaming on Netflix along with the 2017 predecessor.

Rent It.

'Unpregnant' A Review

Unpregnant is a road trip dramedy about two estranged friends who reconnect after popular type-A Veronica(Haley Lu Richardson) gets pregnant and has only her outcast former best friend Bailey(Barbie Ferreira) to ask for a ride to Albuquerque, NM as she's in Missouri and can't get an abortion in-state without parental consent.

Richardson continues her streak of electric parts(Columbus, Support The Girls) showing range and charm to spare. Ferreira as the more unknown is the bigger surprise, bringing energy and a perfect balance of humor and pathos. The two have great chemistry and the friendship has a wonderful lived-in authentic quality, their off-beat humor and interests are right there on the surface although the two have gone different directions since growing apart. The reconciliation and what actually happened is played patiently and realistically bringing nice balance to the more over-the-top adventures they have on the trip. The supporting cast is solid but the focus, rightfully, is about the two leads and the tentative repair of their friendship.

An interesting companion piece to this year's Never Rarely Sometimes Always this is a much lighter comedic take on the trials and hurdles of abortion, even so the film doesn't shirk in addressing it. There's an incredible, bonkers almost gonzo sequence where the two fast off against a militant anti-choice couple, and Veronica with a staunch Catholic family has to address that which if not altogether satisfying is commendable. But what's more focused on than the abortion issue at large is the two young women and their friendship and it unfolds with an ease, charm, and humor which belies it's heart.

Laugh out loud funny, enough cringe inducing truth not to feel the unwanted pregnancy is being used as a plot point, and just a simple propulsive road trip film. Lots of adventures, lots of hijinx, and a fair amount of soul.

Currently streaming on HBO Max.

See It.

'Love, Guaranteed' A Review

Love, Guaranteed is a romcom about work-obsessed lawyer Susan(Rachel Leigh Cook) who takes the case of jaded Nick(Damon Waynes, Jr.) against the titular dating app for it's love "guarantee". What follows is exactly what you'd think it would be.

Always a pleasure to see Cook after her rocket to stardom in the 90's she faded away from the mainstream in recurring parts in cable tv and Lifetime movies. She's lost none of her charm or her humor and she has wonderful chemistry with Waynes, who also a treat to see in this somewhat pedestrian romcom. Unfortunately the two are way funnier and charismatic than the relatively paint-by-numbers script allows them to be. There are some fun supporting cast members, Lisa Durupt and Sean Amsing as Susan's legal assistants and the app CEO Heather Graham who's made a comeback recently as a character actor in the Netflix-verse.

The movie has a lot of promise and there are a few moments of really brilliant comedy but the movie doesn't try hard enough, big swings aren't taken in either the romantic or comedic side of things and what's left is a thoroughly predictable, safe, if still undeniably pleasant view that could have been way better.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream It.

The Pragmatist

The problem with preparing for the worst
is you fixate on it
through constant strategizing
worst-case-scenario becomes the-inevitable
over time
well meaning preparation turns to pessimism
despite the best intentions of
The Pragmatic Pragmatist.

'i'm thinking of ending things' A Review

i'm thinking of ending things is a psychological thriller/horror/fantasy about a young woman(Jessie Buckley) who's thinking of ending her six week relationship with Jake(Jesse Plemons) as the two go to visit his parents on their isolated farm during a snow storm. This is intercut with vignettes of an old man going to work as a janitor at a high school. Various pieces of art/media are discussed and quoted verbatim as the characters flip erratically through personalities, emotions, and ages.

Buckley and Plemons are two compelling actors but their "characters" come off more as acting excercises than actual humans. Because of the stylized nature of the script from each scene to the next it is unclear if they are meant to be the same people from scene-to-scene or if they are people at all. The same is true of Toni Collette and David Thewlis as Jake's parents. In a way this character-tourettes is impressive from a craft standpoint but is utterly unconnected to any real humanity that it's rendered basically meaningless.

Exquisitely shot in a claustrophobic aspect ratio with some really wonderful production flourishes the film is inexorably held back by it's pedantic pretension and lack of actual narrative. Like much of writer/director Charlie Kaufman's solo work it is bleak and unsettling for(seemingly) the sole intent of being bleak and unsettling in(admittedly) incredibly artistic ways. Ultimately this dream/hallucination/memory/fantasy has no actual substance. It has no actual characters, it has no actual emotion because it is more concerned with the cerebral than the tangible, more concerned with looking interesting than actually being interesting.

A beautifully constructed sad sack of a story barely coherent enough to be called such.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Don't See It.

Loving Detachment

I love you
but not your sickness
which has an appetite
that never slackens
I will not feed it
for all it craves
is misery
and more.

'Mulan' A Review

Mulan is a Disney historical/family/action movie a live-action adaptation of the 1998 animated version. In rural Imperial China Mulan(Liu Yifei) is an active brave young woman who is reprimanded as those attributes are not honorable for a female. When the Emporor decrees each family must contribute one man to the army Mulan takes the place of her lame father disguised as a boy. She makes friends and reveals her fighting abilities while in training and the army is premtively set against the invading force lead by Bori Kahn(Jason Scott Lee) and made virtually unstoppable by witch Xianniang(Gong Li).

Yifei is charming and charismatic and brings her certain amount of energy to the screen but fails to break out of the relatively simplistic, flat, and rushed story the script provides. The supporting cast is filled with wonderful performers- always a treat to see Lee especially here he is at his leering, swaggering worst(best) as the heavy, Donnie Yen and Jet Li(as Commander Tung and The Emperor respectively) also always a delight, and the list goes on unfortunately none of them are given much to do nor time to do it.

Beautifully shot, with some intriguing action sequences but ultimately bland to the point of the banal. With such a stacked cast and rich subject matter Disney once again plays it to safe with it's live-action remakes of it's own catalog. The movie moves too fast, says too little, and leaves basically all it's characters as opaque outlines. This is not to mention the various controversies already associated with it. Leaving that aside it certainly is transparently catering to the Chinese box office and as a result of that deliberate calculation erodes its potential. A brilliant piece of business on paper, a movie that is only worth watching in the background while folding laundry.

Available for an additional fee on Disney+, available as part of the regular Disney+ subscription come December.

Stream It.

Banana Bike

My dad taught me to ride a bike
in the park beside our house
I rode our yellow banana bike
as my sister did before me
stuttering along the forgiving grass
I found the balance which has never left.