Summer Snow

 In Denver visiting my high school friend with my other high school bud. Went for a hike today in the mountains and there was three feet of snow in some places. Beautiful scenery but there came a point we had to turn around cause the path was snowed over. Pretty wild.

'Late Night' A Review

Late Night is a dramedy about late night talk show host Katherine Newbury(Emma Thompson who's long standing show is being cancelled because of declining ratings. Enter Molly Patel(Mindy Kaling) a chemical plant worker, and aspiring comedian who seemingly doesn't do comedy(?), who randomly gets an interview for the shows writing staff and is hired because of a mandate to hire a woman writer. Molly and Katherine develop an odd couple friendship or at least professional relationship which reignites Katherine's comedic passions and gives Molly an opportunity to fulfill her dream of writing for late night.

Thompson is a totally authentic delight, no surprise there, its nice to see her in a more modern role with some significant comedic range. The script isn't up to her colossal ability but her significant screen time is a treat. Kaling doesn't fair well opposite the Oscar winner, her performance is pretty flat, unbelievable, and underwritten. She's unable to make much of the, admittedly muddled and thin, emotional arch of the character. We have no real sense of who she is, what her comedic style is, or if she's even funny. The supporting cast, predominantly douchy white dudes, are fine I guess but they are given way to much screen time and attention for the idea of them being the butt of the joke to really play. Lithgow as the husband of Katherine is the one exception as a character with actual dimension but he is mostly sidelined.

It is refreshing to see this fictional world where one of the long standing late night talk show hosts is a woman, doubly so given Thompson is one of the greatest actors living, however the plotting of the show veers from bizarre to tone deaf to hopelessly dated.  The ivy league privilege of the writing staff isn't particularly challenged, the entitlement of the wealthy is kind of glossed over, and whatever feminist message is being attempted is undermined by the story itself and its cast. Because the reality is the majority of the speaking parts in the movie are given to white men, the writers room of the show is "transformed" at the end to be more diverse but it is done in a montage with no dialogue. Perhaps Kaling's intent was to show the "reality" of the writers room but if that is it it is not particularly interesting and it feels regressive rather than progressive. Why not see the comedy writers room we want rather than the ones we have type of thing. Plot wise this could have been done any number of ways.

A great idea, a wonderful Emma Thompson performance, and a real mess of a story.

Stream It.

Bridging The Gap

Sometimes
an absence
a void
is a wound
a hurt
made habitual
made ignorable
until
it is healed
then relief
then realization
the pain has been there
all along
but now banished
bridged.

I talked to a friend
I thought lost
not through conflict
or estrangement
but distance
and time
I found our connection
perhaps not iron
like once it was
but strong
and sustaining.

'The Last Black Man In San Francisco' A Review

The Last Black Man In San Francisco is an independent drama about two friends Jimmie(Jimmie Fails) and Mont(Jonathan Majors) living in San Francisco dealing with it's rapidly changing socio-economics and Jimmie's attempt to reclaim his childhood home.

Fails, also credited with the story, beautifully plays a fictionalized of himself. Quiet and searching, funny and kind. The performance pairs harmonically with the story and his chemistry with on-screen best friend played by Majors is effortless. Majors plays a bit more of a character, an eccentric playwright/actor with some odd social ticks but equally as compelling. The interplay between the two is so smooth and emotional it really centers the already Atlantic film around them. The supporting cast are equally authentic but the two best friends are the real heart and focus of the film, to its benefit.

Long graceful tracking shots follow Jimmie as he skateboards or he and Mont bus through the city and they show San Francisco in a very real, compelling, and because of the tech industry monopoly it's a city that is quickly disappearing, losing any semblance of culture or identity beyond the hipster yuppie. They are gorgeous(especially the opening) and there are number of set piece scenes(although most of them could be described that way) that are not only crisply, startlingly shot but are totally moving. Mont "directing" a group of arguing locals outside his house, the play that is essentially the films climax, Jimmie meeting with his father in his apartment, Jimmie running into his mother on the bus, a chance encounter with a character played by Thora Birch who may be Enid from Ghost World.

There is a lot of beauty and poetry and joy and sorrow in this utterly surprising and incredibly moving and often hilarious film. The first great film of the year.

Don't Miss It. 

'Men In Black: International' A Review

Men In Black: International is a scifi action comedy, the latest in the MIB series, both sequel and soft reboot. If the term "soft reboot" gives you pause, it should! After a childhood encounter with an alien Molly(Tessa Thompson) finally tracks down the headquarters of the Men In Black and is hired on a probationary period. She is sent to the London office and teams with Agent H(Chris Hemsworth) to guard a visiting dignitary who guards a precious item which is the key to saving the world from a convoluted and not terribly compelling threat.

The chemistry between Thompson and Hemsworth was proven in Thor: Ragnarok and it is virtually the only thing preventing this regurgitation of IP from being a total snooze fest. The pal around, trade quips, and push each others button in a charming and engaging way. The rest of the cast doesn't have much to do aside from propel the increasingly complicated and unnecessarily contrived plot.

The aesthetics and action sequences are relatively uninspired, the soundtrack negligible, and overall the production is a half-hearted attempt to simply recapture that of the 1997 original, which on the surface it does but fails to garner any of the wonder or bizarre-other-worldly interest. The script is the real detractor, ceaselessly stumbling forward without any time spent on character, fun, or any real surprises. The story feels like a decade old elevator pitch that was never flushed out.

Good to have on during chores based on the two leads undeniable star-wattage but not much else.

Stream It.

'The Dead Don't Die' A Review

The Dead Don't Die is a zombie comedy written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. The film opens on two Centerville officers Cliff(Bill Murray) and Ronnie(Adam Driver) confronting Hermit Bob(Tom Waits) about a chicken stealing compliant. The story sedately flows between the police, a group of young adults traveling through the town, a gas station attendant, a diner, a racist farmer, and a mortician all while zombies very slowly begin to range and kill.

Like most Jarmusch films the cast is stacked with talent, some Jarmusch die hards like Murray, RZA, and Tilda Swinton and newer additions to his ensemble like Adam Driver and Rosie Perez(as the defacto news anchor-narrator cheekily named as Posie Juarez). But Swinton is really the only one given much of a character which to play, albeit a totally bizarre and perhaps non-nonsensical one, at least she's having fun and doing something. The portrayal of the rest of the cast is relatively flat and unresponsive, presumably by intent, and perhaps this is in an attempt at telling something more allegorical than narrative but either way it isn't particularly effective.

The camera work is beautifully fluid, the soundtrack resonant and at times playful, the costumes pitch perfect. The issue, if there is one, is the message and it's deriving metaphor. Zombies and specifically zombie comedies are more than decade past their peek popularity so it's an odd one to use given how saturated the pop culture landscape has been. The message itself, presumably about the current state of the US, both socially and politically, about apathy and inaction in the face of crisis and impending doom, is, kind of on the nose? A bit too obvious with no real offer of hope or inspiration and as such doesn't particularly offer much either as a story or as a metaphor.

Periodically funny, pleasantly performed, impeccable production, but ultimately one of Jarmusch's more muddled offerings, more inline with the odd ultimately boring Limits Of Control rather than his two more recent inspired works Paterson and Only Lovers Left Alive.

Rent It.

I See You Fat Man

I would guess

it was your first time

on a rush hour train

you took up two seats

with your bags and girth

and compulsively chatted

with anyone

who glanced across your sightline.

Perhaps it was nerves or excitement

which made you so garrulous

I would guess

with your handlebar mustache,

sweatpants, and socks-with-sandals

you are a visitor in our city.

I'm glad that guy

gave you an RX bar

a small generosity

to welcome you to the Chi.