'The Rental' A Review

The Rental is a horror movie about two couples going away for the weekend to a remote cabin using an online rental site. Charlie(Dan Stevens) and Mina(Sheila Vand) are business partners and Michelle(Alison Brie) and Josh(Jeremy Allen White) are their respective significant others and Charlie and Josh are brothers. After conflict with the caretaker Taylor(Toby Huss) the group takes moly and the evening goes too far. Tensions, suspicions, and paranoia rise and the group finds themselves trapped in a situation out of control.

The cast is wonderfully stacked. Stevens is always a treat and gets to play a little against type with a streak of smarm. Brie in one of her more dramatic turns, flourishes. Vand who has the most dimension to play within is captivatingly raw and electric and White is also magnetically charged. The group as a whole and the various subsets all have wonderful chemistry but the narrative the characters are within never quite makes up its mind what it wants to be nor allows the actors to go horror-movie-ham or have any kind of realistic emotional development.

Beautifully shot with graceful flowing camera movement, a stunning static location balancing both beauty and claustrophobia. A subtle thrumming score all balance to create a near perfect mood. But the glaring problem is the narrative, it is hodge-podge of derivative horror tropes injected with some baffling interpersonal issues and the two never come together. The story, and hence the movie, lacks focus and as such, despite it's stellar cast and immaculate production never really gets off the ground. First time director Dave Franco shows great ambition and promise but the tone lacks clarity- is this a slasher film, a home invasion, a moral allegory? The answer seems to be 'yes' and in trying to hit so many genre points none are fully realized.

Currently available to rent on most VOD platforms.

Stream It.

8 Years

Eight years ago
I woke up at 7am
wretched
in the sink
and dug
the bottle
of Bacardi Superior
out of the trash
and gagged down
the half inch of swill
that was left.

My last drink.

'The Booksellers' A Review

The Booksellers is a documentary about Antiquarian booksellers as well as the book business in general. The movie follows various booksellers in NYC to their offices, book fairs, and auctions. They are also interviewed about the history of the business, it's various niches, and their personal journeys within it.

Some interesting broad strokes on the world of books and booksellers but too much time is spent on affluent collectors and the high priced portion of the business to have anything like broad appeal. When primarily dealing with and talking about books that cost a couple thousand dollars or more we are by definition talking about an exceptionally slim market and group of people simply in the terms of economics and as such the interest level of the average viewer would be pretty narrow. The history of book shops and used book stores is discussed at various points briefly but this is not a broad look at books, their history, and their evolution in the digital age it is focused relatively exclusively on the  wealthy subset who collect these objects not for their function but for their prestige. The potentially fascinating and appealing subject matter narrows to another odd look at high end collecting, more akin to art or baseball card collecting than books as important cultural objects/tools or literacy in general.

But to quote Roger Ebert- it's not what it's about it's how it's about it. The Booksellers is a quirky and effective look at an intriguing subset which doesn't effectively acknowledge the economic privilege therein.

Currently available to rent on most VOD platforms.

Stream It.

The Slab

My dad likes to say
"any day on a motorcycle
is a good day"
and he's not wrong
gliding across farmland
floating along rivers
soaring over hills
it's like flying, freedom
unfettered
in the present
passing through each moment
to the next
only yourself
traversing the impassive road
but it's not always easy
at 90° the engine never cools
the concrete bakes
warm waves roil and crash
and the only thing that keeps
heat exhaustion at bay
is the wind at speed
we did not so much ride as flee
even so, it was a good day
because even hot and near sick
there is nothing like feeling free.

Legacy

I don't know much
about fathers and sons
only having one
and being one
but for me
it can be a struggle
to balance the weight
of the years
joys and triumphs
as well as tears
but life is short
and time is precious
a platitude perhaps
none the less affecting
so effort and acceptance
plied with patience
and attention
may not solve enduring problems
but can mend the present's detachment

'Showbiz Kids' A Review

Showbiz Kids is a documentary about kids in showbiz. The movie follows a hopeful child actor(Marc Slater) going to auditions during pilot season, a working child actor(Demi Singleton) as their career ramps up, cut with interviews of various former child actors with archival footage of their young work.

An intriguing and sometimes heartbreaking but unfortunately unsurprising look at how fame and working full time on movies and TV shows distorts childhood and the family unit with interviews from Evan Rachel Wood, Jada Pinkett Smith, Henry Thomas, Mara Wilson, Wil Wheaton among others.

Interesting if somewhat narrow in scope the movie takes an honest and commendable look at the damage fame, success, and wealth can wreak on the child stars(and their families) that attain them. The movie doesn't shy away from the darkside of the business but isn't overwhelmed by it either.

Currently streaming on HBO.

Rent It.

'Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen' A Review

 Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen is a documentary that takes an in-depth look at Hollywood's depiction of transgender people and the impact of that depiction on transgender individuals and the community at large. Through talking-head interviews and archival footage from the silent film era to present the complicated portrayal and evolution of transgender people in media is investigated from various derogatory and questionable troupes to the more recent points of progress and acceptance.

A sweeping, fascinating, and moving dive into a marginalized group through depictions in mostly mainstream TV shows and features provides a unique and sometimes stark look at how we rely on our art to inform who we are and how that can betray us. The film also includes history on the transgender community and struggle along with incredibly poignant personal accounts from the various performers/historians/experts that are commenting on the various films/TV shows being discussed.

The relatively standard format(archive/talking head) is enlivened by the expertise as well as the honest emotion on display. Especially informative and important for the cis community as it recontextualizes and clarifies some major works of the last 50 years and makes a clear and unapologetic human connection to a group that is perennial othered.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Don't Miss It.