Kate

It was nice to see you
at the grocery
to know
you are alive
to remember
that year or so

we knew each other
even if
in hindsight

it was inconsequential

all things contribute

to who we are becoming

'Poor Things' A Review

Poor Things is a scifi dramedy based on the 1992 novel of the same name part Frankenstein part Pygmalion that follows the life and evolution of Bella Baxter(Emma Stone) a reanimated corpse.

Stone is out of her depth, she puts in a commendable effort but the script is too flawed and the character too nuanced for her to really get her hands around it and make something compelling from it. She has a couple pitch perfect scenes but in total the performance, and therefore the film, fall flat. The humor, social commentary, and emotions rarely work consistently or in concert. And its not all her fault, much should be laid at the feet of writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos, yet you cannot help thinking of more dimensional actors who could have made something better, clearer, with the role(Alia Shawkat, Lashana Lynch, Rachel McAdams to name a few). The dudes in the cast are all pretty good, particularly Ramy Youssef who its great to see in this kind of movie, but that's the problem, for a movie explicitly about women and feminism there's too many dudes and the focus is on them and how they view and relate to Bella not on Bella herself.

The film looks great and has Lanthimos's signature visual panache as well as an effective, subtle, melodic almost droning score not to mention absolutely immaculate costuming. But the script is so flawed, the protracted gratuitous sex scenes so thematically counterintuitive, the messaging so inaccurate the result feels like a 90's feminist tutorial for middle schoolers made by men who have no real understanding of their subject.

For a film ostensibly about women's empowerment and autonomy what we actually see is exploitation, subjugation, and a profound misunderstanding of gender dynamics. Rote situations used to demonstrate dated and obvious ideas attempting to critique the male gaze but inadvertently utilizing it.

Beautiful looking and commendably ambitious but ultimately ineffective and bludgeoning. Regressive.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Don't See It.

'Wonka' A Review

Wonka is a musical family fantasy, a defacto prequel to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory/Wonka origin story. Wonka(Timothee Chalamet) arrives in an unnamed city(London?) after working as a ship's cook to open a chocolate shop. He is thwarted by the existing chocolatiers but with the help of some new friends and confectionary ingenuity he may come out on top!

Chalamet has flashes of eccentric brilliance but in aggregate his portrayal is too muted, too conventional, to uninspired to do the beloved character justice. Calah Lane as Noodle is wonderful as is Hugh Grant in his relatively brief role as an Oompa-Loompa and the rest of the supporting cast is full of talent but the music and the script just don't have much life in them so there's not much to be done. This is clearly not someone's passion project, it is a studio trying to use IP that they have and it doesn't have co-writer/director Paul King's typical humor or heart that he's displayed in the Paddington films. 

Visually its pretty boring, it looks like a generic UK town, there's too much CGI and not enough physically built sets and props, the score is a bit on the nose and there is no breakout/catchy hit from the songs. It's not terrible, its mildly diverting but there's just not enough purpose or imagination behind it to justify revisiting this character and this world.

A lead actor beyond his depth, a script trying too hard to have broad appeal to be particularly appealing.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

'Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child Of Fire' A Review

Rebel Moon is an SFF epic about an independent moon farming colony that is threatened by a ship from the Motherworld a militaristic galactic empire. Kora(Sofia Boutella) a former Motherworld solider living the quiet life in the farming colony goes on a quest to gather warriors to help defend it.

Boutella is decent as the lead but doesn't have the edge or complexity she needs to really anchor the movie. The rest of the cast is full of some solid actors but none are given much of anything to do, the plot mechanic of "gathering the crew" takes up the bulk of the run time and is breezed through so efficiently none of the hero's Kora gathers feel much like actual characters.

The movie looks great, the costumes are great, the soundtrack is great. All the production elements work together to create a really slick pleasing alt-Star Wars vibe. Its the script that's the problem. Clunky, derivative, overly plotted and emotionally underdeveloped. Its entertaining and better than The Creator but like that movie its clear there is a great movie in here but it fails to reach that potential by a fair margin.

An underbaked but enjoyable popcorn flick.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Rent It.

Offerings

We return to where my wife was born.
We visit the places and people
that shaped her.

We pay our respect to the land.

It is good and correct that we do these things.

I am privileged to share in it.

'Maestro' A Review

Maestro is a biopic about the life of conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein written/directed/produced/starring Bradley Cooper. Already get the sense that that's probably too much, you'd be right!

As a filmmaker Bradley Cooper displays little to no cinematic style, the film looks, sounds, and is structured like other better biopics/historical dramas. Cooper is pulling most clearly and directly from Spielberg and Scorsese who are both listed as producers on the movie, their influence is glaring and the comparison poor. It feels generic, derivative, and tired. It lacks any emotional insight, its characters don't feel real, and we actually learn very little about who Bernstein was or what he did other than he was gay and was in a straight marriage for much of his life. His sexuality is the focus, his marriage, not his artistry or music. And even that aspect is not really investigated, it has little nuance or insight. Its a bizarre, narrow, unfulfilling take.

Bradley Cooper the lead actor is over-the-top, in love with himself, and bafflingly uncompelling. The incoherent dialogue and stylized inflection make for a movie where it is almost always impossible to tell what is being said, meant, or happening. Carey Mulligan is wasted and there are way too many shots of her quietly pinning staring at Cooper, those shots are probably 1/4 of the run time.

The whole endeavor feels like a protracted self-indulgent undergrad scene study from a pretentious east coast acting institution.

Acutely unsatisfying.

Currently in theaters and streaming on Netflix.

Don't See It.

Irv

My grandpa loved me
from the top of my head
to the tips of my toes
to the marrow of my bones

all the way through.

I understood this as a child
with a profound certainty

I was seen, I was safe
and that sustained me
for many years after his death.

'The Boy And The Heron' A Review

The Boy And The Heron is a Japanese animated fantasy about a boy, Mahito, in 1943 Tokyo who's mother dies in a fire after which his father re-marries his aunt and moves to that side of the families country estate. Once there Mahito gets harassed by the local Grey Heron and finds himself in another world.

There are two versions of the film available, Japanese with subtitles or the English dub, both feature returning Miyazaki(writer/director) casts and both give excellent performances. The animation style is typical for Miyazaki and it is gorgeous as well as refreshing simply not to have the kind of CG 3D same-ness that almost all animated films have aesthetically devolved into.

The story is sweeping and complicated and emotional. Imaginative and odd in Miyazaki's typical style. It feels more more of an appropriate send-off for Miyazaki who originally announced his retirement with 2013's The Wind Rises. This is much more focused, much more rich in its ideas, metaphors, themes, and imagery. In a year with a lot of great movies but a lot of the same kind of great movies this sticks out as a bold, necessary, adventurous piece of cinema from one of the art forms absolute greats.

Unique, challenging, an absolute thrill.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Don't Miss It.

'The Family Switch' A Review

Family Switch is a family comedy about a family who gets Freaky Friday-ed. 

Overall the cast is good, Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms could do this kind of part in their sleep but they show up and put in the energy here to help give the movie some life. The kids are decent too especially Emma Myers as the daughter CeeCee(a good follow up to her turn in Wednesday). The supporting cast is solid and affable but no one really breaks out beyond the kind of B-list, family friendly, just-good-enough-not-to-turn-off metric that this kind of movie seems to fill for Netflix.

The idea is an old one, the characters even call this out explicitly at one point, but there's enough decent jokes, enough sincere heart, and its paced well enough to keep you watching. Director McG seems to have found a new lane with his time at Netflix- decent but in no way exceptional- genre flicks.

An inoffensive and effective PG comedy(holiday adjacent) that'd be good to watch with the fam if holiday tensions start to rise.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream It.

Fourth Wind

I have more to learn

about myself 

more avenues to traverse

secrets to uncover

reservoirs to tap

Socrates first step

to true wisdom

'know thyself'

is no mean feat

is never complete

In the midst of a challenge

my energy depleted

my outlook grim

my motivation non-existent

I am renewed

Not once or twice

but many times

some unknown reserve

emptied, consumed

to inexorably continue

It cannot last

but the finish line

is fast approaching

relief in sight

one more day and then the next

'Silent Night' A Review

Silent Night is a holiday action movie mostly devoid of dialogue. After his son is killed by a stray bullet in a drive by shooting Brian(Joel Kinnaman) chases down the perpetrators and is shot in the throat losing his voice. He spends the next year preparing to exact his revenge.

Kinnaman is not a particularly good actor nor does he have much presence, he has yet to show the same promise he did in his breakout role in AMC's The Killing. He is certainly not a leading man and giving him no dialogue further hamstrings his already limited abilities. At his best he is passable like he was earlier this year in Sympathy For The Devil but without an actual star to play off of his performance is DOA. Much like No One Will Save You the lack of dialogue doesn't really work and feels very transparently like a script contrivance, its distracting, boring, and renders the characters less engaging. The supporting cast, inexplicably also burdened with no dialogue even though they are not mute, have little to do and don't make much if any impression.

The movie looks great, director John Woo hasn't lost his visual acumen and its a treat to have him release a US based movie, but the script is dog shit, regressive, and offensive. Its unclear where the movie is even taking place, it seems as if its in LA but then there are a bunch of Texas license plates so maybe its along the border somewhere? The depiction of Latinx organized crime as defacto slathering monsters is insane and racist. Similar to 2018's Peppermint this element of the plot is baffling and feels straight out of the Reagan era. There are things to criticize about 1974's Death Wish, the originator of this type of movie, but at least the baddies in it were somewhat generic(not to mention its a far superior film than almost all of its copy-cats). Once the action finally starts, which takes far too long, its not particularly interesting nor is Kinnaman particularly adept or fluid with its execution. For a holiday action movie look to 2022's Violent Night or 2020's Fatman.

An absolute waste of time.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Don't See It.

'Candy Cane Lane' A Review

Candy Cane Lane is a family Christmas comedy about Chris(Eddie Murphy) who is focused on his neighborhood house decoration competition after he is laid off. When he encounters a mysterious Christmas decoration shop and makes a deal with Pepper(Jillian Bell) the cheerful but ominous proprietor things start to go awry.

Its always good to see Murphy and here he's great as the affable and loving dad with screwed up priorities that need to be straightened out by this holiday adventure. He's an old school star, he lights up and holds the screen. He's funny but also able to navigate the heart of it without falling into cliché or saccharine-ness. The chemistry with his family- Tracee Ellis Ross as Carol his wife and Genneya Walton, Thaddeus J. Mixson, and Madison Thomas as the three kids- is great. Bell is wonderful as the villain of the piece and there are some great supporting actors/cameos(David Allen Greer shows up in a great way). There's not a lot of depth to the movie, its not that kind, but the cast are all good actors having a good time and the comedy, emotion, and adventure elements all play.

The production design is all solid with relatively minimal CGI which helps. There is some on location shooting and a lot of sets. That kind of approach increasingly bears more fruit as, like it or not, audiences can tell when CGI is used and it unequivocally detracts from the quality of the watch. The story feels a bit like a 90's throwback in a great way- family oriented holiday comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously and executes well. A solid, if not destined to be classic, holiday offering.

Fun, funny, feel-good.

Currently streaming on Prime.

Rent It.

Direction

The question then becomes
what do you want your life to be

what is its shape

its depth and breadth

its tone and tenor

what is its quality

decide this

and set off in its pursuit

'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' A Review

THG: TBoS&S is an action/adventure movie based on the Hunger Games prequel novel of the same name. Coriolanus Snow(Tom Blyth) is a teen(not the mustache twirling president he will become!) struggling with the economic situation to which his once vaulted family has fallen. In his latest class assignment he is tasked with mentoring a competitor in the hunger games. Who is he assigned? You guessed it! The female district 12 participant folksy singer Lucy Gray(Rachel Zegler)! Fireworks ensue!

Blythe is kinda pitch perfect as a young frustrated morally complicated aristocrat. You can see the ideals, the compromises, the necessities, the priorities all conflicted within him. Zegler puts on a twang and gets to sing a bit which is great and she too is able to get at that morale bargaining which is necessary. The support cast are all great- Jason Schwartzman as a young Lucky Flickerman, Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom a dean at the Academy, and my-oh-my Viola Davis as Dr. Volumnia Gaul is an absolute sensation. Davis just goes for it and it is a delight to watch, she steals every scene she's in.

Visually the film is rich, well made, great costumes and set design. It's actually really nice to re-visit this world and some of these characters even if, on paper, a HG prequel doesn't have much grab to it this really delivers. Its a bit overlong, the movie clearly ends and then there's another 40 minutes tacked on that feels like it could have been its own movie but still all-in-all a surprisingly engaging piece of entertainment. Maybe even more so given the last HG movie came out 8 years ago so there's enough room for this installment to actually breathe.

Well made, well acted, well constructed. A slick piece of popcorn entertainment.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

See It.

'Saltburn' A Review

Saltburn is a dramedy/thriller about Oxford first year Oliver(Barry Keoghan) who becomes infatuated with the rich/popular/handsome Felix(Jacob Elordi) and his crowd and semi-befriends him scoring an invitation to spend the summer at Felix's family estate the titular Saltburn.

Keoghan is miscast and out of his depth, Oliver never feels like an actual human being and more a collection of ticks and tactics that Keoghan employs. It is clearly A Performance. He has his same superhero build from The Eternals which is unnatural for his frame and which he is clearly not comfortable with so above and beyond the deliberately awkward performance his physicality is also stilted, one would presume part of the reason is that there are extended scenes of Keoghan naked none-the-less it serves only to make the performance less believable. The supporting cast, at least the younger individuals, come across as equally inauthentic, it doesn't help that all of them are 8-12 years too old for their roles, presumably the characters are supposed to be in their teens. Part of the issue is that the film is tonally inconsistent changing from scene-to-scene- is it comedy, farce, melodrama, thriller, magical realism- the film can't decide, wants to do it all and in so doing dilutes its intent. The veteran performers who have the smaller 'adult' roles are much more assured- Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Carey Mulligan- but this isn't about them and their ability to provide consistent characterizations and ride the tonal shifts doesn't trickle down to the younger cast who are the focus.

The film looks incredible with some beautiful sometimes provocative shots and sequences, but it is clear cool looking scenes and challenging images take priority over narrative/coherence. The score is inconsistent, sometimes pitch perfect and elevating the action other times dragging the viewer to a particular feeling by the ear. Other than Keoghan the big issue is the script, first and foremost it is transparently derivative it is The Talented Mr. Ripley meets Call Me By Your Name with a dash of Euphoria. Its influences are so glaring that it quickly goes past 'inspired by' to 'lifted from'. The motivations of Oliver(and Felix and his sister and cousin) are always opaque, there is very little context provided for any of the characters and their behavior is so varied its as if these things don't exist. As a result they are not people but kind of vacant decadent teen archetypes pantomiming prescribed plot beats. Further, the morals/messaging are so convoluted it is unclear what the point of it all even is, presumably that's the intent, to be thought-provoking, but the what's conveyed is an inert apathy.

Writer/director Emerald Fennell's freshman feature Promising Young Woman was a revelation, a knockout. This still shows ambition, shows tremendous talent, but has none of that thematic power or pointed characterization. Ultimately it is, like its subjects, a vacuous indulgent mess with very little to be entertained by or learned from.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Don't See It.

Foodways

I make rosettes
as my mother does
as my great uncle Gale did
as my great grandma Bertha did
and further back

to the fjords

the farmers and the fishermen

but always

boiling fat, batter, cast iron

and time

'Frybread Face & Me' A Review

Frybread Face & Me is a coming-of-age drama about Benny(Keir Tallman) a young boy living in San Diego sent to spend the summer with his Grandma(Sarah H. Natani) on the Navajo reservation in Arizona where he meets and befriends his cousin Dawn(Charley Hogan) aka Frybread Face.

Tallman and Hogan are a bit rough around the edges in their performance, occasionally a bit stilted, but they have moments of real heart and authenticity, overall it works and the scope of the film- small, casual, day-in-the-life- helps them to get where they need to be, to find those moments of connection and transcendence. The supporting cast are all solid particularly Natani who is absolutely sensational, she steals the show in a similar way that Youn Yuh-jung did in 2021's Minari although its doubtful she'll get the same award buzz(but she should).

Visually the film is simple but evocative, the desert, the home where much of the action take place feel real and lived in. The production works and continues to prove not only the viability of low budget indie filmmaking but its necessity. The film tows the line at times between sincerity and saccharine but never quite tips over the edge and the voice over sometimes works but sometimes feels like the result of a lack of confidence. Yet there is joy and inspiration to be found in writer/director Billy Luther's narrative feature debut and bodes well if he continues down this track.

Quiet and potent.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

See It.

'Blue Beetle' A Review

Blue Beetle is a superhero movie about the origin of the titular hero Jaime Reyes(Xolo Maridueña). After graduating college Jamie returns to his home town of Palmera City to find work. After a run-in with nefarious billionaire Victoria Kord(Susan Sarandon) and her niece Jenny(Bruna Marquezine) Jamie befriends Jenny and comes into contact with an alien artifact that gives him powers.

Maridueña is charming and affable as the lead but its his family that really steals the show- Belissa Escobedo as Milagro, Adriana Barraza as Nana, George Lopez as Uncle Rudy- the family dynamic and their more casual times together are the best parts of the movie. The rest of the supporting cast is all solid and its a treat to see it full of Latinx actors the plot machinations with Sarandon are less successful not because of her performance but because that aspect of the movie is pretty stereotypical superhero and at this point we've seen too many variations on the origin story.

Visually bright, lots of neon and a fair amount of practical effects make for a good look with a catchy soundtrack the production has some life to it, its not stupendous but its certainly a cut-above the average superhero fodder in terms of its look, its energy, and its cast even if the plot itself is derivative.

An entertaining if never quite surprising diversion.

Currently streaming on Max.

Rent It.

Uncle Buck

There is no greater unifier
(at least in my family)
than the 1989 John Hughes' classic

we can all agree

the principal is a terror

that Bug is a douchebag

that Chanice is a saint

that Miles and Maizy are cute 

that we could all use a Buck sometimes

and see ourselves in this family somewhere

we can all relate

and laugh

and lo where there is discord

UB sews harmony

'Dream Scenario' A Review

Dream Scenario is a surreal cringe comedy about boring biology professor Paul(Nicolas Cage) who starts inexplicably appearing in people's dreams launching him into internet/pop-culture celebrity.

Cage gives a masterfully pathetic performance, playing both the comedy and the sad tragedy of this hapless buffoon but he's doing more than the script in most instances, he's carving out this really unique, kind of fascinating character, in a movie that doesn't back him up. The supporting cast are all talented- its always a treat to see Julianne Nicholson(playing Paul's wife Janet), Tim Meadows plays the dean and Paul's friend, Michael Cera shows up as a douchy PR guy with the always pitch perfect Kate Berlant as his partner- but they are all very thin characterizations. The ideas take center stage in the movie and there are simply too many of them and as a result actual humanity and cogent narrative intent are lost. It is clear the characters are going through prescribed plot and real human behavior is sacrificed as a result.

Beautifully shot, particularly the multiple dream sequences, the film has an eerie visual beauty bolstered by an effectively haunting score. The production, all around, is evocative an assured. So, what's the problem? There's too much going on. Is it about dreams/spirituality/the collective unconscious? Is it about viral fame? Cancel culture? Boomers? Incels? Mid-life crisis? The answer seems to be all of the above. And in making feints at all these themes but never really developing any of them all-in-all its a hodge-podge of scenes loosely connected by an admittedly great lead performance. It fails to come together to actually say much of anything when it is clear that its trying to say something.

Ambitious, well made, and a stupendous Cage make for a film that exceeds its grasp.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

'Next Goal Wins' A Review

Next Goal Wins is a sports dramedy based on a true story about disgraced coach Thomas Rongen(Michael Fassbender) leading the national American Samoa soccer team, the worst internationally.

Fassbender is miscast, he doesn't have much facility with the comedy or the heart and seems out of his depth, floundering. A sharp counterpoint to his pitch perfect turn in The Killer. The supporting cast are all great particularly Oscar Kightley as Tavita and Kaimana as Jaiyah Saelua but the overall tone is confused(exacerbated by Fassbender). The movie can't quite decide if it wants to be a parody or a full blown feel-good. As a result the comedy and the heart is all very casual, very lackluster, rote.

Visually serviceable but lacking the typical panache of co-writer/director Taika Waititi. Its not terrible just underwhelming. The big highlight, the reason to watch, is the wonderful Samoan actors and the spotlight on American Samoa, its singular and cool and fun, but everything else for the most part- the narrative, the soccer, the emotional beats- seem like an afterthought.

Waititi returns to his indie roots but may have lost a step after his journey into big budget Hollywood.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

I'm Going Home

Curled up in a seat
on the Irving Park bus
headed east, home
to comfort and warmth

I am overcome

I quietly weep

(not the first by far

to do so on the CTA)

not in sadness

or grief

but in relief

in gratitude

to be alive

to be free

to have this life that I do

A friend said to me this week

"I am a prisoner in my own life."

it put things in perspective.

'The Holdovers' A Review

The Holdovers is a dramedy set in 1970 at an all boys prep school in New England. Paul(Paul Giamatti) is a curmudgeonly ancient history teacher who is co-oped into staying over the holiday break to supervise the boys who aren't going home, Mary(Da'Vine Joy Randolph) is the kitchen manager staying over to cook for them, and Angus(Dominic Sessa) is the one student left behind when the four other holdovers are swept away on a last minute ski trip. The three have little adventures, bond, connect, and learn something from each other.

Giamatti is great as this kind of proto Tuesdays With Morrie he's funny, relatively emotional, and has dimension. Randolph is excellent, as she always is, and its great to see her in a more dramatic role here(her breakout in the criminally short lived High Fidelity TV show and her turn as the detective in Only Murders In The Building probably being her two biggest roles to date) she brings a much needed reality and pathos to the film, which at times can veer into the cliché or twee. Sessa is compelling but clearly struggles to find emotional variance. He's young, he's got talent, but he's green and periodically it shows. Overall its a solid cast primarily focused on the core three.

Shot digitally with a celluloid effect the film endeavors to evoke the period not only in its production design(which is excellent) but in the camera filter. It works but can come across as a bit forced. We get it, its 1970. The script is a version of a type of movie that has fallen out of fashion- coming-of-age boys prep school- a la Scent Of A Woman, Dead Poets Society et al. So in that respect its actually kind of refreshing in that we haven't had a movie like this in probably 15-20 years. There is a large nostalgia element, not necessarily for the 70's as some of the socio-political tie ins of that period are only cursory and do not feel particularly authentic, but for a certain type of film. And its good- well made, well acted, entertaining, even maybe slightly inspiring. But it is without question a certain kind of story, which, given the wonderfully diverse tapestry we live in may not be particularly reflective of our current culture or have much, if anything, to say about what it has become.

An effective throwback which leaves an odd aftertaste.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.

'Quiz Lady' A Review

Quiz Lady is a comedy about Anne(Awkwafina) a restrained, game-show obsessed accountant who has to reconnect with her estranged free-spirit sister Jenny(Sandra Oh) in order to settle their mother's gambling debts. The plan the two hatch is to get Anne on her favorite TV show Can't Stop The Quiz(a Jeopardy stand in) to make the required money.

Awkwafina plays somewhat against type, although she played a similarly grounded character in The Farewell, as the straight person to Oh's much more flamboyant Jenny. And yet Awkwafina continues to prove her range and her bonafides as a not-to-be-ignored Gen Y star. She's funny, she's emotional, and she's real. Oh clearly relishes the opportunity here as she is also cast against type, she's big, brash, colorful, and really funny. The two have pitch perfect chemistry and navigate this relatively straight forward feel good comedy with the kind of movie star wattage that turns this decent script into a great film. The supporting cast are all really fun, particularly Will Farrell as Terry the game show host(his best performance in years) and Jason Schwartzman as Ron the raining champion when Anne finally makes it to the show. With a limited budget and a limited cast the movie is able to provide what many big budget films this year have failed- entertainment, heart, a coherent journey.

Like most comedies there is not much room or money for production artistry so it is fairly nuts-and-bolts here but it all works, it is all evocative. Anne's home, her work, and the bowtie wall at Can't Stop The Quiz are all wonderful sets and prove, that even within the confines of the genre and budget, they are able to do some pretty cool stuff to help build out the world.

The biggest disappointment here is not with the film itself but the fact it was released straight-to-streaming. This would have been better in a full theater where the laughter and experience could be shared and the choice not to is baffling especially considering the recent dearth of new releases due to the strike(s). Would this have been a world wide sensation? No. But would it have recouped its budget and then some and provided the movie going public with some much needed variety? Absolutely.

Currently streaming on Hulu.

Don't Miss It.

Weird Frequency

At night

when sleep

begins to crest
come flashes
not premonitions
as they are rarely true

but glimpses, inklings

of possibility

or portent

it is best

not to heed

these shadowed

communiqué

but better

not to ignore them either.

'Fingernails' A Review

Fingernails is a scifi drama about a world where romantic relationships can be codified and confirmed by a test. Anna(Jessie Buckley) is an out of work teacher in a relationship with Ryan(Jeremy Allen White) which, even though they have passed The Test, she feels unsatisfied by. Anna gets a job at the Love Institute an organization that works with couples to pass The Test. There she is paired with Amir(Riz Ahmed) and while working with aspiring couples begin to develop feelings for each other themselves.

Buckley puts in a pretty calculated performance, the script doesn't do her any favors but Hollywood has been trying to push her as a lead, as a star, for her last several films and she has struggled. She continues to here with a lot of indicating, a lot of Acting, she is adrift in the character. Its simply not believable paired with the script that has various glaring logical holes as well as confusion as to its own themes it all doesn't really go anywhere. White is good but miscast, his hair and wardrobe is straight out of The Bear and yet we are supposed to believe he is a boring businessman(he's a heartthrob!). Ahmed is the only one appropriately cast giving a grounded, believable performance but he can only do so much. Luke Wilson as the head of the Love Institute is great but barely(criminally) utilized.

The production design is all very crisp and clean but with a confused, frequently boring script, it doesn't really matter. The conceit is very close to the far superior The Lobster and given that and that co-writer/director Christos Nikou is a protégé of Yorgos Lanthimos the comparison is impossible not to make and is extremely unfavorable. Fingernails has nothing really to say about relationships or love, it does not utilize it's primary conceit for any clear purpose and it has no concrete definable rules. The result is a bunch of shallow characters talking shallowly about relationships in a way that offers, both within the context of the action as well as the dialogue, no real insight.

Perhaps intriguing for teens or college kids with little to no romantic experience Fingernails has absolutely nothing to impart to any adult who has actually had one.

Currently streaming on Apple+.

Don't See It.

'Five Nights At Freddy's' A Review

Five Nights At Freddy's is a horror movie about Mike(Josh Hutcherson) a down-and-out guy taking care of his young sister Abby(Piper Rubio) who is forced to take a job as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria in order to hold off a custody battle with his avaricious Aunt Jane(Mary Stuart Masterson). The job turns out to be more than Mike bargained for.

Hutcherson is great, continuing his eclectic filmography, he's a great lead. He has heart, dimension, and plays the supernatural elements straight giving them more heft and occasionally injects some much needed comedy. It's great to see him as the lead in a feature and one hopes it gives him more opportunities to come. Rubio is a real surprise, giving this introverted kid more depth and realism than most child actors can muster. It is wonderful to see Masterson even though her part is relatively small and Matthew Lillard shows up for a bit which is a lot of fun. All in all its a small but extremely effective ensemble filled with solid character actors that get some room to really play.

On a small budget much of the action takes place in the titular restaurant. And that's great, the production design is simple but evocative and the animatronic work is thrilling if a bit stilted. There is little to know CGI in the movie and the practical effects(even if somewhat constrained) serve more effectively to create a real, tactile experience than would CGI. This is also bolstered up by clever and judicious editing and a narrative which is maybe at times a bit of a stretch but still provides much needed emotional stakes to make the movie click.

A solid, mostly family friendly, horror flick.

Currently in theaters and streaming on Peacock.

Rent It.

Budging

Recently many old people have tried to budge me

-Boomers-

at the bookstore, bakery, dance concert

the list goes on

believing, I would guess

their age provides them

with a society wide

FastPass

I do not tolerate this

I do not let it go

because one

the line is a sacred

long-standing

cultural agreement

and two

the Boomers

collectively

have wrought more damage

than any generation that has gone before

their breadth and longevity not a function 

of any particular accomplishment

or just cause

but of circumstance

and consequential medical advancement

(looking at you Lipitor)

yes, I am courteous to my elders

and value the wisdom and experience of the old

but rudeness, entitlement, and self importance

are not a good look regardless of age

and respect must be earned.

'The Killer' A Review

The Killer is a thriller about the titular hitman played by Michael Fassbender. The film opens on a mysterious killer in Paris on a stake out. With meditative voice over the Killer goes through his mantra(repeated throughout) and his morning physical routine. The hit goes wrong and he is forced to do something he does not do- improvise.

Fassbender, in what is outside of a couple scenes a solo performance in a solo film, is exquisite. He does what he does best- play the emotionally challenged, fully competent, stoic. The precision, the methodicalness, the voice over, it all serves to portray this extremely questionable character in an incredibly satisfying way. It reflects the production around him, all very clean, sharp, controlled, aiming for perfection. Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O'Malley, Tilda Swinton are all great but basically only have a scene each and serve really only as obstacles for the Killer to contend. In that way the film is beautifully symbiotic, watching we are the character, what we see and hear is what he sees and hears, the information focused on is only what he focuses on, his thoughts are spoken via voice over so they are our thoughts. There is no extra fat, it is all lean, all essential.

Does the film have anything to say? Not much. Or at least its themes(control, power) are more broad and nebulous. There is a focus, almost an ecstatic pleasure, in process and character rather than story. This is an excellent, gripping, meticulously constructed, adult thriller. That's it. The plot is probably its weakest element and almost irrelevant. It is a tour de force for Fassbender(who hasn't had a particularly good role since 2015's Macbeth) and a perfect marriage to director David Fincher's penchant for obsessive, exacting production.

In a world of the John Wick and Extraction franchises, which could(at least on paper) be lumped in with this, the lack of interest in action here(although the brief sequences of such are immaculately staged) is beyond refreshing. Some may find this film too cold, too clinical, but it could not be more effective getting you into the mind and spirit of this character and in that it is exceptionally satisfying.

Delicious in its clarity, a transcendent turn by Fassbender, and Fincher at the height of his craft.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to Netflix.

Don't Miss It.

Simple. Not Easy.

We are conditioned
with ambition
money, power, position
these are things
we are taught
to pursue
and on attaining
will be satiated

The Great American Fiction

I recognized the persuasion

in the declaration

so I got small

went inward

but like wealth

contentment is no easy

aspiration

Simple, not easy

is the mode of operation

trite abstractions

honesty, humility, service

the guide 

for daily interactions

unattainable is perfection

but in the pursuit lies satisfaction

'The Saint Of Second Chances' A Review

The Saint of Second Chances is a documentary about Mike Veeck minor league baseball owner and promotor and son of Bill Veeck major league baseball owner and promotor. Through archival footage, re-enactments, and talking head interviews the career of Mike and the legacy of his father are laid out with laid back humor and heart.

As far as its construction the movie is not particularly unique, it has the same components we've seen repeatedly from the genre(that has seen quite a boom during the streaming era due to its low production cost) and its put together in a familiar way. But the story itself is unconventional, compelling, fun, and spotlights a man who has a pretty quintessential underdog story. A story of failure and redemption and brings new energy and interest to America's favorite pastime(as Mike himself did).

A breezy, entertaining, occasionally insightful doc about a man who deserves to have his story told, deserves a chance in the broader spotlight.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Rent It.

'The Pigeon Tunnel' A Review

The Pigeon Tunnel is a documentary about the life and career of author John le Carré aka David Cornwell through an interview with the subject, reenactments, and clips from various adaptations of his work.

The film has the same sleekness and edge that director Errol Morris has developed over the years but as far as the content it is solidly in the middle of the pack as far as his work goes. Cornwell is an interesting guy but he was famous and relevant 50 years ago, which is not a dig, but within the film there is an assumption that we the viewer not only know who he is but are aware of specifics about his life. So the result is a lack of context for some of the routes the questioning and the film go down. Cornwell provides some interesting insights but the net effect is relatively thin. Not to put to fine a point on it but there were moments where the viewer is left wondering, unless they are a big Cornwell fan, who cares?

Not as directly unsatisfying or irresponsible as some of Morris's other recent features like American Dharma and The Unknown Known more akin to his more modest work, eccentric examinations of interesting characters, like Tabloid but lacking the punch or interest of his seminal The Fog Of War or the more recent docuseries Wormwood.

Morris is one of our greatest living documentarians and any new work of his is worthy of a watch but hopefully he has at least one more great work in him because this ain't it.

Currently streaming on Apple+.

Stream It.

Unbelief

A common trope
in horror stories
a common barrier

is the characters inability

to accept the supernatural

or the monstrous

or simple danger

denial is frequently

the prominent villain

and most horror stories

like many genre yarns

function as allegory

so what does this oversight

have to teach us

our disbelief

in the boogeyman

does not mean

he is not hiding in the closet

our unwillingness

to acknowledge our problems

our refusal to process them

does not mean they are not there

that they are not lurking, feeding

waiting to be confronted

Belief

What if
in Hook
Robin Williams wasn't actually Peter Pan
what if 

he was just a normal corporate guy
like he first appears
what if
once he gets to Neverland
it is simply the power of his belief
that facilitates 

his transformation
his decision

-Yes. I am Peter Pan.-
the catalyst for his becoming

'The Creator' A Review

The Creator is a science fiction movie set in the near future about the rise of AI that follows Joshua(John David Washington) a former covert military operative who has since become disenchanted but is pulled back in and maybe learns to feel again after befriending child AI Alphie(Madeleine Yuna Voyles).

Washington seems a bit adrift in this role, he has talent no question, but he doesn't have the unshakable presence and contagious magnetism of his father who could bring mediocre movies like Virtuosity up in quality simply be being in them. Washington is bogged down by the derivative, convoluted, borderline incoherent plotting and the thinly drawn character he's asked to play. He has good moments but overall he is lost. Voyles is great but underutilized. The rest of the cast truly have very little to do.

The movie looks incredible, it sounds incredible, the world building is very good but when it comes to ground level narrative and character it almost completely collapses. Blade Runner, Terminator, AI, The Fifth Element, even Elysium the list this movie pulls from goes on and on. And the problem is that it shows. There's too much going on, the pace is to fast, there's too much irrelevant plot that distracts and detracts from what the movie clearly wants to be about which is Joshua and Alphie's relationship and connection.

Outside of a purely sensory experience The Creator has little to offer. Its a shame because there is absolutely a great movie in there.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

Night Deer

In the evening field
the silhouette
the ears, the antlers
the shadowed form
then, rising up
a dozen more
staking their supper claim
temerity lost in the dark

An Offering To Dancing Man

Deep inside the cave
the tour paused
to gather round an ancient glyph

a limestone sheet

painted, pre-history

by some ancestor three millennia ago

on the left

a human shape, arms and legs extended

as if in a leap

on the right

a jagged snake or bolt of lightening

as Kelly, our patient effusive ranger

explained to us these images

the fat barking boomer of the group barged to the front

to take a picture

and as he knelt and Kelly orated

he let out a loud rapacious fart

deafening, thunderous in Mammoth's stillness

and all of us in attendance

stunned, silent, stifling laughter

thus was fealty paid to Dancing Man

by our modern day equivalent- Farting Man.

I tell my sorrow to the stones

There is a stone
with epitaph:
her spirit smiles
from that far shore
and softly whispers
"weep no more"

and beyond death

this message seeks

one hundred years

and more it leaps

to my heart

this day it strikes

to remember well

a once bright light

Esline Age 1852-1912

Mammoth Cave

Second stop where were spending most of our time, Mammoth Cave. Beautiful forest and really cool long cave system. Did a tour each day we were here, the lantern one especially was great.

The Dunes

The beauty, the majesty
of the sand, the black oaks, the marsh
are marred

by the inescapable plumes

issuing from east and west

the steel mills, the power plant

not miles but yards away

from these fragile wonders

The tourists

all hauling beach chairs

and dragging dogs

glisten with lotion

as they lounge on the beaches

heedless of their slow pollution

and drink their Pabst

'Elemental' A Review

Elemental is an animated family romcom about anthropomorphized elements living in a city. Ember is conflicted about running her immigrant father's shop, during a pipe burst she has an accidental encounter with Wade, a city inspector, who reluctantly gives the building multiple citations. The two then work together to save the shop and fall in love in the process.

The voice cast is all talented but emotionally the movie doesn't really get off the ground. The script is trying to do too much, the allegory too convoluted and muddled, and as a result so is the narrative. Its cute, it looks great, although could have used some songs, but its thin and predictable. 

Not that every Pixar movie needs to reinvent the wheel but it seems recently they have fallen prey to Disney's inevitable homogenization. It feels like something we've seen before many times, its made of parts and sequences and scenes we've seen before many times, the setting and the fact the characters are elements is new, cool even, but what they do with it is pretty rote. Too much time is devoted to the inter-elemental conflict as well as the machinations of the store and too little is spent on what, presumably, should be the focus- the romance of the two main characters. Story and emotion are sacrificed for furthering the momentum of the plot.

A cheese plate appetizer rather than a meal, fills the belly but doesn't quite satisfy.

Currently streaming on Disney+.

Stream It.

Indiana Dunes

Headed out on our annual Fall vaca today, first stop the Dunes. Really nice but a bit overshadowed by the heavy industry around.

'No One Will Save You' A Review

No One Will Save You is a scifi horror movie, home invasion by way of alien invasion. Brynn(Kaitlyn Dever) is a seamstress who lives alone in a small town and is outcast from her community, one night she is awoken by an intruder and she fights to survive.

Dever is a solid lead and its nice to see her get the time and space to really flex as she is, in essence, the only real character in the whole movie. She is constrained by one of the movies conceits however which is that there is only 5 words of dialogue. Similar to All Is Lost this doesn't really add anything particularly meaningful to the story, the situations are effective in-and-of-themselves to ratchet up tension, and it in fact detracts as pretty quickly it becomes obvious this is a script decision not a character one, its not believable she wouldn't talk to herself at all, part of why Castaway is good is because Hanks sparse dialogue when he is marooned brings us into his head. The same with this years Inside it is the most human thing in the world to talk to oneself or to at least vocalize in someway. Dever navigates this lay on well but more dialogue or even voice over would serve to more effectively flush out her character and give weight to Brynn's backstory which is kind of clunkily inserted.

The production is excellent writer/director Brian Duffield knows how to put together a well crafted genre flick, it looks good, the locations are spot on, the score is eerie and relentlessly builds, and the alien design is truly spectacular and well thought out. This is another straight-to-streaming feature that should have been released in theaters especially with Halloween fast approaching, its a mid-budget solid piece of work that has the potential to have really caught on and would have easily made decent box office regardless, get your heads outta your asses studio heads!

A relatively minimal, forceful, propulsive genre flick perfect for the spooky season, if somewhat muddled in its human element.

Currently streaming on Hulu.

Rent It.

Sometimes Its Hard

My wife and I were watching this docuseries Wrestlers
(great, would recommend)

and the main guy, Al Snow, says at one point

talking about the prospects of his wrestling company

"No one's going to eat a shit sandwich on this but me."

and he ain't wrong, sometimes its your turn

and no one ever tells you that

your parents don't tell you that

your teachers don't tell you that

no one tells you until you've already figured it out

that sometimes life is hard

that's it

full stop

sometimes its just tough

there's no magic bullet

there's no quick fix

there's no get-out-of-jail free

you just gotta muscle down

open wide

and eat the shit

'Dumb Money' A Review

Dumb Money is a biographical dramedy about the 2021 GameStop short squeeze. Keith Gill(Paul Dano) is a financial advisor and recreational youtuber who makes vids about GameStop stock which he has heavily invested in. Other retail traders connected through Reddit bring on the short squeeze in opposition to various hedge funds who have shorted GameStop.

The cast is stacked with talent and celebs, to run down a few- Dano is wonderfully gentle and moral as Gill, Sebastian Stan and Vincent D'Onofrio(as rich start up guy and rich hedge fund guy respectively) both give really specific funny performances. But the rest don't have much to do, this isn't a movie about people this is a movie, ultimately, about the stock market and it has little interest in actual humanity. The rest of the cast come and go through scenes but have little in the way of actual dimension or personality(no fault of the actors).

Sharply made with lots of time jumps, quick edits, and text on screen - The Big Short meets the The Social Network but derivative of those and equally focused not on people or narrative but recent historic financial instances. It's a bizarre focus to make a feature about and shows, along with the recent glut of movies about products(Air, Blackberry, The Beanie Bubble) that Hollywood is adrift, aimless, when it comes to understanding what we, regular folks, want to watch. This movie is fine, Dano's pretty great in it actually, but this isn't entertaining enough or interesting or moving enough to be really great. The attempted commentary on class is, quite frankly, insulting. It's much more interested in getting the titular dumb money to get involved in the stock market than telling a compelling story about the working or middle class. All these corporate movies are fine but they're never going to make a splash, they are never going to be hits because they've forgotten what good stories(and therefore good films) are about. People.

An inoffensive waste of time and talent.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.

'The Equalizer 3' A Review

The Equalizer 3 is an action movie, the 3rd installment in the Denzel Washington led Antoine Fuqua directed series. Robert McCall(Washington) returns this time in Italy. He gets wounded in the course of one his job and is nursed back to health in a small costal town. As he befriends the locals and acclimates to the locale problems arise when Camorra(mafia) members attempt to put the squeeze on the townsfolk. Sounds like that's a situation that needs to get Equalized!

Washington is one of our last great movie stars so, needless to say, he's great here. He's funny, he's badass, and his honestly way odder and more idiosyncratic than he has been as McCall previously. There's way more small embellishments, way more almost non-sequitur micro moments. It's a lot of fun. It's great to see him and Dakota Fanning together again, her as a CIA operative, twentyish years after the incredible Man On Fire. Although Fanning's role doesn't amount to much beyond a scene or two. The supporting cast, especially the townsfolk, are all great although the Camorra heavies are a little thinly drawn(and portrayed). All in all its a solid cast.

Visually its slick, with Fuqua's typical penchant for action, edits, and heavy(effective) scoring. Italy looks wonderful. The fight scenes, somewhat limited by Washington's age, are thrilling if a bit more sparse than in the previous films. Fuqua knows how to make a solid popcorn flick- it looks good, its paced well, Washington is showcased- its not amazing but its entertaining.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.