'Spermworld' A Review

Spermworld is a documentary about unregulated online sperm donation. The film follows three men who are donors, one woman who is seeking donation, and the fiancé of one of the three male donors. Through some direct interviews, fly-on-the-wall footage, stylized sequences, and text from an online group the film explores this messy subculture.

The film is beautifully and creatively shot as all of director Lance Oppenheim's projects have been to date. But the engagement with the subjects and with the socio-cultural subset is surface level. There is no real analysis or insight involved, no conclusions drawn, just a simple rendering of these particular individuals and they are, in aggregate, just sad. As a result the feeling it evokes is one of depression and malaise as it is clear there is an ocean of circumstance unrevealed as well as most of the subjects are clearly acting out of a place of trauma and/or negative mental health. The themes are conveyed simplistically and immaturely. There seems to be a preoccupation with the illicitness involved in these interactions rather than their motivations or their results. Children, here, are a commodity and the film does not challenge this idea in any way.

Ultimately the film is too thin to be engaging however well made. Oppenheim's debut Some Kind Of Heaven strikes a better balance and his recent Ren Faire on HBO is more coherent.

A first miss for the director.

Currently streaming on Hulu.

Don't See It.

'Hit Man' A Review

Hit Man is a rom-dramedy about a college professor Gary(Glen Powell) who moonlights as a tech for a contract killing entrapment scheme for the NOPD. When the cop who impersonates the assassin gets cancelled(for unspecified reasons) Gary(a civilian) steps in and you know what, he's pretty darn good at it! He is solicited by Madison(Adria Arjona) to kill her vaguely problematic husband but he tanks the sting because she's attractive and charming. Sparks ensue!

Powell is not a movie star, he may be one day, he certainly has talent, but it is painfully clear here he cannot anchor a movie. Or at least one this poorly and under written. He flounders. His voice over is excruciating. There is no believable character here or any semblance of narrative logic. His parade of various hit man alter egos is presumably meant to be funny but comes across as tonally baffling and thin. Arjona's character is offensively flat, she has talent, but is not asked to do anything aside from contort her automaton of a character to fit the terrible plotting. 

The production is proficient enough but lacks any personality or real creativity, not a surprise from co-writer/director Richard Linklater who's output since Boyhood has been spotty at best(see the truly repugnant Everybody Wants Some!!). But the script is the real culprit. It strains credulity across every aspect, is a confusion of genre and tone, and doesn't deliver on any part of that confusion- its not funny, its not romantic, its not thrilling, its not mysterious. This is the kind of straight-to-Netflix dreck you'd expect from a no-name writer/director/star not an Oscar winner and one of Hollywood's presumptive heir apparents.

Mind-numbing. Worst of the year contender.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Don't See It.

Minnesota Trip

Been up in Minnesota with my HS friend Beanpole to do some hiking and paddling.

Jay Cooke State Park. Beautiful but muddy, buggy, and wet.

St. Croix State Park. Huge, empty, saw a black bear.

Banning State Park. An old overgrown quarry. 

Stayed at a cabin on Sturgeon Lake, wonderful and relaxing.

Watch Tower

As we climbed

the expansive green

to reach the perch

where all is seen

We huffed and puffed

ascending steep

sweat broke out

our efforts cheap

But at the top

the world out wide

did lift our hearts

once again right sized.

Sturgeon Lake Meditation

Consider the water

the lake lapping

the wind (overzealous)

the hunting heron

the clouds in their grayness

the chill

the absence of human action

there is only this

If the land could speak

it wouldn't

doesn't need to

Now

The mud
and the mosquitos

at first blush

a hinderance

a detractor

become valuable,

in their immediacy

are we brought further

and solely

into this instant

this hike

across the St. Louis River

along Silver Creek

in Jay Cooke State Park

our minds entirely occupied

our bodies totally present:

we trudge.

'Babes' A Review

Babes is a comedy about two NYC friends Eden(Ilana Glazer) the Peter Pan and Dawn(Michelle Buteau) the responsible adult. Shortly after Dawn has her second child Eden gets pregnant. The movie follows their friendship as Dawn struggles with life following her second child and Eden moves through her pregnancy.

Glazer is funny and has presence but the character as written feels thinly drawn, undercut by some of the gags and sections of improv that don't really work or don't mesh well with some of the narratives emotional intent. Buteau is an incredible actor and the two undeniably have chemistry but she too is constrained by some of the manufactured conflict throughout the runtime. There's a great movie in here but what we get feels too loose, too surface level, somewhat at odds with the rich(but mostly underexplored) subject matter. The supporting cast has some heavy hitters- Sandra Bernhard, Oliver Platt, and John Carroll Lynch- but all are underutilized. On paper the cast is top notch but what comes across is mostly a confusion of intent.

The look, the soundtrack, the on location shooting all work(although how these characters can afford where they live or their lives in general is certainly a sizeable suspension of disbelief). The main issue is the tone, its uneven and as a result makes the script feel like a rough draft. The emotional beats either feel unearned/underdeveloped or contrived. There's too much conflict that feels forced. There's not enough reality and as a result the comedy isn't as effective as it should be.

Doesn't reach its potential.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Stream It.