Growth

As far back as human history goes
we have marveled at our progeny
from the time of tribes and hunts
to this our capricious digital age
there is pride and wonder
in our children.

Holding my niece
listening to her incessant,
pointed, shockingly coherent chatter
I am amazed
not only by her loquacious tongue
but her height, her strength,
her dexterity
over weeks she leaps
cognitive chasms with alacrity.

And this feeling
so special, so wholly mine
and my family's
stretches back and back and back
to plains and huts and the miracle of fire
when woman first gave birth
and life began.

Vitals

In rehab
they took our vitals
every four hours
and I learned
in a clinical way
how my heart rate,
pulse,
and blood pressure
were effected
by exertion
and emotional upset
it provided
a practical tool
and awareness
after release
for the maintence
of calm.

'A House With A Clock In The Walls' A Review

A House With A Clock In The Walls is a family fantasy movie set in 1955 in small-town Michigan. Ten-year-old orphaned boy Lewis(Owen Vaccaro) goes to live with his Uncle Jonathan(Jack Black) who, along with his neighbor Florence(Cate Blanchett) are magic practitioners. Lewis settles in to his new school with some growing pains but begins to find his place as he learns magic from his Uncle. All the while the titular clock in the walls of his uncle's home is counting down to an ominous end.

Vaccaro is solid in the lead- likable, assured, and appropriately awkward. Child actor's can sometimes fall prey to being overly precious or more adult than they should be or conversely are wooden but he strikes a good balance. Nothing earth shattering, but then again neither is the script. Black and Blanchett ride easily on their natural charisma and confidence. They have good chemistry aren't asked to exert much skill. That's not to say the movie isn't entertaining, it is. It is a simple, playful, slightly dark family flick.

Not a sequel or a reboot, although an adaptation of a 1973 novel, the film has some freshness about it. A pleasant, exciting story that entertains both kids and adults. Not terribly sophisticated however it doesn't need to be.

Straightforward, you get what you expect, fun. Bolstered by an Oscar winner and nominee putting it a notch above typical kid fair.

Rent It.

'Mandy' A Review

Mandy is a psychedelic revenge thriller in the Shadow Mountains in 1983. The film opens on logger Red(Nicolas Cage) and his partner Mandy(Andrea Riseborough) in their secluded home. The first half focuses on their relationship, homelife, and dreams both figurative and literal as a sense of foreboding begins to build. When a LSD abusing cult abducts Mandy the situation and reality itself begins to unravel.

Cage gives an ecstatic performance that begins slow, thoughtful and internal then explodes in one of the best scenes of the year, a bathroom breakdown, then goes on to the expressionistic heights he is known for. He is always a master of going back and forth from an empathetic realism to what he has called "American Kabuki" and this provides him the chance to be a loving partner as well as an LSD fueled unhinged terminator. Riseborough and Cage have a casual but magnetic chemistry, they don't share much dialogue but their bond is clear. She balances him well with an ethereal, wraith-like presence that is also strong and assertive. The film breaks in two, the first half being Riseborough's the second Cage's and there is a harmony in it. The supporting cast are all excellent and bizarre especially Olwen Fouéré and Bill Duke who has a delicious cameo.

The cinematography is both innovative given the current cinematic landscape and a nostalgic throwback to 80's schlock and music videos. Neon, monochromatic filters, foggy dream sequences, 2D animation, weird washes and cuts. It's evocative and different and serves to heighten the otherworldly nightmarish story. The tone of the film and the score specifically are metal inspired with an eerie thrumming score that descends into the darkness along with Red.

A surprising, vivid, fresh, strange take on a conventional plotline reinvigorated by two great leads and an injection of dark fantasy.

Don't Miss It.

'Love, Gilda' A Review

Love, Gilda is a biographical documentary about the life, career, and death of Gilda Radner. The format is relatively conventional- talking head interviews, archival footage, and some home movies- but the access to Radner's personal papers and footage is extensive and incredible as is how honest and emotional the portrait it paints of the individual. Radner, essentially, narrates the film herself as the director Lisa D'Apolito utilizes the audiobook for Radner's memoir. It all is woven gently together into a caring, thoughtful, and dimensional portrait of one of the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century.

The format is traditionally chronological but Radner's contagious, effervescent, and resilient spirit come through. What we see is not a run down of her IMDB but a dynamic comedic talent struggling with the demands of show business and the desire for a partnership and family. A feminist who blazed the way for comedians who came after but one who didn't do it with rhetoric or hard political stances but perseverance and the power of her art.

An inspiring and moving film about the life of one of the greats.

See It.

Security Risk

I walked into work
and was confronted
with empty chairs
abandoned desks
and an eerie quiet
little did I know
the office was closed
for the nebulous
"security reasons"
and I
the lone employee
left unnotified
sat befuddled
in my cubicle
perhaps
perspective crypt,
I contacted a co-worker
who appraised me
of the potential danger
and I quickly left
Odd
in our age of
active shooter training
the threat is so routine
it has a corresponding
company policy
and procedure.

'The Predator' A Review

The Predator is a scifi adventure movie the latest in the series which began with 1987's Predator. A rogue predator crash landed in Mexico pursued by another predator. The crash disrupts a military operation and ropes in Quinn(Boyd Holbrook) a US sniper. Quinn and the predator are captured by government agent Will(Sterling K. Brown) who calls on the expertise of biologist Dr. Bracket(Olivia Munn) and when the predator breaks from his constraints and another predator appears pursuing the first all hell breaks loose and Quinn and Dr. Bracket hook up with a bus full of mentally ill servicemen. I forgot, Quinn's autistic son is able to understand and manipulate the predator's alien technology. Sounds chaotic and confusing? It is!

The one real shining star in the whole mess is Sterling K. Brown who goes big with his mustache twirling, relish, and sarcasm and it pays of big time. Munn is decent as the ass-kicking scientist and could have shouldered, successfully, more of the movie. Holbrook is passable but boring, a throwback to a dated 80's archetype that has been boxed up and put away for a reason. The group of mentally ill soldiers who gather around Quinn are all great actors - Thomas Jane, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key- but aren't given much to do. Seemingly writer/director Shane Black wanted to combine Predator with another 80's classic The Dream Team along with many other storylines and inspirations. All taken together it's clunky and borderline incoherent.

There's an interesting idea in the script somewhere and the cast is excellent but the script feels overworked and the cut is bizarre. A clear cut example of too many cooks not enough restraint. Visually the movie is scattershot, some great set pieces counterbalanced by extended scenes of woefully underfunded CGI.

Entertaining in a lazy Sunday sort of way.

Stream It.