Denali

In Denali the rest of our time here. There's only a single road access to the park and not a ton of established trails. A big thing here is just hiking out into the bush, there's a bus system that takes you farther than you can drive and you hop-on/hop-off to explore. An interesting idea but the bulk of the guests here are retirees or international visitors both groups seemingly ill prepared for the conditions and terrain. Beautiful but logistically a bit complicated and relatively difficult to get away from crowds and experience the park in some solitude.

'Pristine Wilderness'

What they call nature

that can't be exploited

not because of law

or moral fortitude

simply because

it is too costly

to get at

Kenai Fjords

Nicole and I are on our yearly National Parks trip, this time in Alaska, going to Kenai Fjords and Denali. First stop is Seward which is basically within Kenai Fjords NP. Mostly nice little tourist town.

Our first full day we did the only hike they really have here up to Exit Glacier, a lot of it is inaccessible except for backcountry backpacking. Pretty intense hike, relatively severe elevation gain.

Beautiful but very demanding hike.

Our second day we took a boat tour, saw some Orcas, sea otters, sea lions, tons of birds. Really cool.

The best part was to get up close and personal with Holgate Glacier.

Exit Glacier

There is a funerary feeling

as we ascend

to pay our respect

the remanence of the ice

all around us

in swaths of rubble

and dirt tracks

even in its diminished state

it is formidable

grand, implacable

it is gracious

as it bleeds

'Slingshot' A Review

Slingshot is a scifi movie about a space mission to Saturn's moon Titan. John(Casey Affleck) awakens from a hibernation cycle experiencing adverse effects, as does his crewmates Nash(Tomer Capone) and Captain Frank(Laurence Fishburne) to varying degrees. As their mental states deteriorate so does the prospect of the mission. 

Affleck is adrift in the lead role, his delivery is stilted, he's a negative space of charm, with his only really acting choice being a distant somnambulist lethargy. It doesn't work and its intensely boring. There are numerous flashbacks with Emily Beecham as his ex Zoe that he seems to be uncomfortable and confused in, as their relationship is intended to be an emotional touchstone its failure renders a lot of the stakes moot. Capone fairs somewhat better but is unable to really create a believable person, he just firehoses fear and paranoia. Fishburne is the only one who seems like an actual human that exists. His presence is a relief and he calmly but firmly, almost solely from his own talent, asserts a reality for the story to be in. 

The production design is limited but competent, the real issue is the script. The dialogue, across the board, is bad, the characterizations non-existent, but the biggest problem is in the derivative and over-stuffed plot. It smashes together a lot of scifi doomed mission tropes seemingly with the perspective more-is-more but nothing is particularly surprising or interesting and the ending, when it comes, lands like the leadest of balloons. Its also kind of odd casting Fishburne given his presence somewhat recalls his turn in the far superior Event Horizon.

There's a decent idea in here but the result is an unquestionable failure.

Currently in theaters.

Don't See It.

Honey Pot

It would be nice
to live in a world
without deception

Where cruelty

and avarice

did not exist

Until then

best to be aware

and go prepared

'Strange Darling' A Review

Strange Darling is a horror/thriller about the final crimes of a serial killer. Set in Oregon and cut into non-sequential chapters it follows the enmity between The Lady(Willa Fitzgerald) and The Demon(Kyle Gallner).

Fitzgerald, clearly relishing the lead position, goes big. Its a full, almost over-brimming, performance, full of ticks, digressions, and a wide range of emotion. Its impressive but at times incongruous or distracting, its busyness occasionally clashes with character coherence. Gallner ultimately has the easier job, on the page he is more contained, but his stolidness pairs well with Fitzgerald's more baroque approach. The supporting cast is so small as to have very little impact but Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr. are absolutely delightful in a brief interlude.

The production bursts with ambition and ideas, there's a couple scenes with saturated monochrome lighting, the shot composition and cutting meld well with the non-linear structure. The soundtrack and score are effective with one diegetic song that's really effective. The bloodwork and action, seemingly all practical, gives it a bit of a 90's grindhouse feel that works. All in all its solid and feels if not totally unique(the influences are very clear almost glaring) at least fresh especially this year with a release schedule so abbreviated and homogenous.

There is an eagerness and excitement that's contagious in the film from writer/director JT Mollner and in total he shows a lot of promise but there are some missteps like the title card loudly proclaiming "Shot in 35 mm" which comes across as pretty gauche as well as the unnecessary true crime lay on that doesn't really work. But the bigger issue is in the messaging, there's a turn about 2/3rds of the way through, a twist/reveal, that recontextualizes what's happening(the non-linear structure is in service mostly to this), and the implications of that are, at best, muddled. It doesn't seem deliberate but an unintended consequence of being overly enamored with this particular plot turn. Regardless of the reason it leaves a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth and undercuts some of the impact.

An energetic, rich, bloody thriller whose reach ultimately exceeds its grasp.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.