First Meal In Ruidoso

As the old woman
next to us
with purple streaked hair
sent back her latte
for the second time
because it "didn't taste right"
I realized
people are the same all over.

'The Sisters Brothers' A Review

The Sisters Brothers is a western based on the 2011 novel of the same name. The film opens on the on the titular brothers, hired guns Eli(John C. Reilly) and Charlie(Joaquin Phoenix), during a brutal and striking midnight shoot out. After getting a new job from their boss the Comadore(Rutger Hauer) the two set off after idealistic chemist Hermann(Riz Ahmed) and their lead man Morris(Jake Gyllenhaal).

Reilly and Phoenix both put in balanced compelling performances, both brutal and emotional, conveying a sense of the time and evoking the genre but in a way that is more open and melancholy than we have a tendency to see. There is none of the typical stoicism, in its place we get a strikingly practical violence with a degree of introspection that feels remarkably fresh if cutting. The film bounces back between the titular brothers and the unlikely pair played by Ahmed and Gyllenhaal and they too have transmit a originality of character that the setting and circumstances of the story don't typically allow for. All four of the defacto leads put in relatively understated turns but all have a deep honesty and sincerity that make returning to the well-worn western new, exciting, and thought-provoking.

The cinematography is beautiful and bleak, the production design clearly focused on a surprising amount of authenticity or at least realism. The violence is brutal but practical. The setting unforgiving and oppressive but also kind of magical. There's a lot going on and all the elements work harmoniously to bring this unique western tale to life. Shot through with humor and a deep heartbreaking yearning the film delivers a singular experience in a bloated genre.

The novel offers the different pleasure of being inside Eli Sisters head but the film breaks up the focus, virtually equally, between the four leads and paints a strikingly compassionate nuanced portrait of the interior lives of these characters who we would typically only understand externally.

See It.  

'Pick Of The Litter' A Review

Pick Of The Litter is a documentary that follows five potential guide dogs from birth through rigorous training and their eventual placement. The film uses psuedo reality TV competition format as the five doggos progress through various levels of training with various volunteers and specialized trainers. A graphic shows that only around 1/3 actually make it to being guide dogs. The film intercuts fly-on-the-wall footage with interviews of two perspective seeing-impaired individuals waiting for guide dogs as well as various interim caretakers.

The "will they make the cut" angle is nice enough and provides some necessary pacing but it's the people that populate the process that are really fascinating and moving. All dedicated with various degrees of success into shaping the potential pups into guide dogs. There's certainly many emotional moments, the five doggos inevitably pull the heart strings, it's clear how much good the dogs can do as guide dogs but also as brief companions for their various keepers. There's a lot of hope in the film and a lot of fun. Further explanation or description would simply spoil the low grade excitement and suspense.

In our current time bloated by vitriol, hyperbole, and aggression the world can seem too big, too cold, it can be too easy to despair. Now more than ever we need small stories, sincere stories, this is the latest example of the inevitable resurgence of sentiment. The world stage may be too broad, too bleak, but real day-to-day good people trying to make a difference is the grease by which the real world turns. Yes, this is a feel-good movie about puppies but it is also an example of human compassion and goodness. An example we need now more than ever.

See It.

'Night School' A Review

Night School is a comedy about Teddy(Kevin Hart) a high school drop out who is working overtime to present the image of a more successful wealthy person to his girlfriend loses his job and goes to get his GED at the titular Night School presided over by unorthodox but effective Carrie(Tiffany Haddish).

Haddish soars as the fast taking, sharp, demanding, ultimately nurturing teacher. She brings her natural high-wattage charisma, charm, and infectious humor to a role that is relatively flat on the page. The other members of the class- played by most notably Rob Riggle, Al Madrigal, Romany Malco, and Mary Lynn Rajskub- are all equally dimensional as characters and funny. Within the movie there's a really wonderful comedy hidden with this core group and Haddish. The biggest determent to the movie and it's least compelling aspect is Hart's character and his performance. The character is a throwback to a 90's trope that now feels so archaic, so unlikable, so irredeemable the inevitable "arc" the character goes through is not only unengaging it's preposterous. The role is either  out of Hart's range or as it's written it's impossible to pull off. With the success he's justly garnered over the past decade he seems to be continually funneled into these psuedo leading-man comedys(like Will Farrell and Eddie Murphy before him) which do not recognize or utilize his particular talents, and are above all mundane to the point of apathy. Contrast this performance with 2017's Jumanji where Hart is, essentially, playing a character within a character to great success there is no question of his ability and star-power but this is unquestionably a failure.

The runtime is a half hour overlong and while there is plenty of laughs the central story line is deeply flawed. The visual style and score are sufficient and modern but for comedys especially the story is of utmost importance and ultimately this one doesn't rise above decent.

Stream It.

Faith

to me
belief
is easier
than unbelief
Gaia and Odin
spirits and ghosts
more probable
more compelling
than bleak
infantile
nihilism

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.