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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Best Movies Coming to Netflix in May 2021

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Movies are slowly coming back to life at the cinemas. You can see it with each glowing report about a Godzilla vs. Kong or Mortal Kombat doing solid business. And for those with more discerning tastes, films like In the Heights and Those Who Wish Me Dead are definitely going to make their release dates.

Nonetheless, there are many who are understandably not ready to go back to theaters (or have yet to get an HBO Max subscription). Thus Netflix remains an old reliable option. While the Netflix movie selection can be narrow, each month offers some worthwhile gems to revisit or even discover. And May has a surprisingly robust group of Hollywood films from the last 40 years coming to the streaming service on May 1. Here are the best ones.

Back to the Future (1985)

Great Scott! Back to the Future is coming to Netflix. As one of the most beloved films of the 1980s—if not ever—it’s doubtful we need to explain in great detail why this is exciting news. From its star-making turn by Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly to the grand musical score by Alan Silvestri, everything about this movie justworks. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s script is like a Swiss watch in precision, paying off every single setup in the film’s first act when Marty commandeers a time machine made by Doc Brown (a lovable Christopher Lloyd) and accidentally travels from 1985 to 1955… to meet his parents as teenagers!

More time has passed since the movie’s release than the once massive generational gap between the film’s primarily ‘50s setting and 1985. Yet it still plays as a timeless story about family, time travel, and manure. Large piles of manure. By the way, the rest of the Back to the Future trilogy is coming to Netflix, too.

Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009)

Forget about all the “sad” dog movies of the last decade where canines have funny voiceover narrations and then die on repeat. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale is a very bitter, bittersweet dog’s journey based on a harder truth. A remake of the 1980s Japanese film, Hachikō Monogatari, this American movie is based on the real events surrounding Hachikō, an Akita dog who lived in 1920s Japan. Every day Hachikō would run to the train station, awaiting his master’s return from work. One day, after a fatal stroke, his master never returned. Yet for another 10 years, the dog would escape its various new owners and spend the afternoon waiting at the station.

Directed by The Cider House Rules’ Lasse Hallström, Hachi captures this anecdote about a dog’s loyalty with grace and genuine sweetness. But you’re not going to get through it dry-eyed.

The Land Before Time (1988)

Before it birthed a string of straight-to-video movies meant to babysit pint-sized millennials, the original Land Before Time was a generational touchstone for childhoods in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Overseen by Don Bluth at the height of his talent, and in partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, The Land Before Time is a marvel in animation from the period before Disney Animation’s renaissance. It follows an assortment of baby dinosaurs, including a recently orphaned “longneck” named Littlefoot, after a horrible earthquake has rained devastation on all the isolated herbivores. But together they may just find salvation in a land called the Great Valley.

Essentially a dinosaur road movie for children, to the modern eye it’s told with a surprisingly delicate sensitivity. There is no fourth-wall breaking humor and sideways smirks here. It’s a very earnest fairytale captured in the lost art of hand-drawn animation.

The Lovely Bones (2009)

Based on Alice Sebold’s 2002 bestselling book of the same name, The Lovely Bones has a tough premise: a teen girl is raped and murdered, and goes to heaven where she watches her loved ones attempt to process and move on after her disappearance. The debut novel was not only very popular, but generally well-received for its treatment of trauma, sexual assault, and grief.

The movie, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Saoirse Ronan, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci, among others… was not as well received, fairly criticized for its prioritization of CGI heavenly visuals over a nuanced, character-driven story. You may wonder, then, why we’re recommending a movie that wasn’t great? Because The Lovely Bones is a fascinating watch for those interested in the limits of adaptation and, in particular, how a great filmmaker with expansive resources (including a very talented cast) can fail if they’re not the right person for the job.

Mystic River (2003)

As one of Clint Eastwood’s best films as director, Mystic River was the first cinematic adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel, and the author’s hardboiled vision of Boston’s tragically seedy underbelly is well realized here. As much about the hard luck community on the South Side as the story of three men, it nonetheless tracks how neighborhood lives intersect.

We meet three boyhood friends in the movie’s unnerving opening and then jump to their bitter middle age. Oe of them, reformed gangster Jimmy (Sean Penn), has a daughter who’s been found murdered in a gutter. His onetime pal Sean (Kevin Bacon), now a detective, swears he’ll figure out who the killer is, and both men’s estranged acquaintance Dave (Tim Robbins) knows more than he’s letting on. All three’s fates are interlinked in this operatic passion play about the traumas we keep hidden until we’re drowning in regret.

Notting Hill (1999)

Though Four Weddings and a Funeral might have put writer Richard Curtis and star Hugh Grant on the map as the kings of ‘90s British romance, Notting Hill is arguably their true pinnacle. Grant plays a foppish bookshop owner who happens to meet the most famous actress in the world, Anna Scott (played by Julia Roberts who might just have been the most famous actress in the world at that time) when she stumbles into his shop.

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From the sympathy brownie competition, the junket where Grant’s William Thacker has to pretend to be a journalist from Horse & Hound, and Rhys Ifans in his pants, there are plenty of funny, moving moments. But it’s the two montage scenes—a walk through Notting Hill as seasons change to Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and the final montage to Elvis Costello’s “She”—that would melt the hardest of hearts. Rom-com perfection.

Scarface (1983)

Reviews were not initially kind to Scarface, director Brian de Palma’s explosive three-hour remake of the 1932 gangster classic starring Paul Muni (that in turn was based on a novel which loosely chronicled the rise of Al Capone). Written by Oliver Stone and starring Al Pacino as psychopathic Cuban refugee-turned-drug-kingpin Tony Montana, the 1983 film was excoriated by critics for its relentlessly graphic violence, excessive foul language, and over-the-top performances, especially by its leading man. But critics at the time missed the point: Scarface was a reflection of its time—the hedonistic, greed-driven, cocaine-fueled ‘80s—and was appropriately and utterly crazed as a result.

The film did mark the moment when Pacino transitioned from intense, thoughtful character actor to (mostly) histrionic circus barker, but he leaves it all on the field and his mania drives the fast-paced film to its epic, bloodsoaked, and unbelievable (in all aspects of the word) conclusion. As a metaphor for the insane decade of excess that birthed it, Scarface is riveting, breathless, occasionally shocking and often unintentionally hilarious. It’s the gangster movie on coke.

State of Play (2009)

Kevin Macdonald’s remake of a British miniseries by the same name turned out to be a strong thriller in its own right. With a whip smart script by Tony Gilroy and Billy Ray, this movie doubles as both an enjoyable investigative procedural and a love letter to journalism just as newspapers were beginning to die out in the 2000s. Russell Crowe plays Cal McAffrey in the film, the last of the old school guard of reporters, but his ethics will be challenged when the congressman with a dead young woman on his staff turns out to be his old college buddy (Ben Affleck). Rachel McAdams also stars as a young blogger who learns the thrill of chasing a story that takes more than an afternoon to research. Helen Mirren, Robin Wright, and Jeff Daniels also star.

The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

Remember when they made comedies for adults? The Whole Nine Yards is one such anomaly. Really a buddy film about a suicidal dentist (Matthew Perry) and a gangster living under a phony alias who moves in next door (Bruce Willis in one of his last truly charming performances), this giggles and gangsters laugher is a secretly delightful ensemble movie with a deep bench of talent. Indeed, Kevin Pollack, Amanda Peet, Nastsha Henstridge, and Michael Clarke Duncan, as the cuddliest gangster you’ll ever see punch your protagonist in the balls until he’s pissing blood, all get to shine. With a twisty plot, it’s an R-rated throwback to the type of screwball shenanigans that were once Hollywood’s bread and butter.

Zombieland (2009)

It’s rare when calling something the second best zombie comedy ever made is high praise, but in a horror subgenre that also includes Shaun of the Dead, this is high praise for Zombieland. As an R-rated teen comedy, one suspects the filmmakers almost lucked into the absurdly talented cast they assembled with Emma Stone, Jessie Eisenberg, and Woody Harrelson. In the years since this movie’s release, all three were nominated for Oscars (Stone even won one), but in ’09 they’re just having a blast with this goofy stoner hybrid about a dysfunctional makeshift family having fun during the zombie apocalypse.

Also, it features arguably the greatest comedy cameo ever conceived. If you haven’t seen it, I’m not going to spoil it for you here either…

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postpunkpontypandyphantomthief · 5 years

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10th Comedy Monologue

(Note: this monologue is in a slightly different style than the others it’s more deadpan and about breaking the fourth wall than it is about pop culture references)

So, How are you all finding World War Tea?

If you don’t know what I mean, basically the beauty community on Youtube has exploded and

Hang on that’s a bit too niche for my audience...I mean I don’t know what you're into

You could be a critic looking to see what the new performers are offering in the world of comedy

You could just be someone interested in the genre wondering what jokes I’m going to conjure

I mean what features are there that I could poke fun at,

Before I got interested in doing this as a hobby, people would say

“I wouldn’t be able to handle it”

but I’m used to people laughing at me

Despite this, I never really got my family’s sense of humour

I might like the old greats like Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and the Pythons

But my sense of humour is very different than that of my family.

Mine is a lot darker

I laugh at some public information films and jokes about some of the ugly aspects of life

They laugh at...Mrs Browns Boys, Michael McIntyre and other things that I don’t find funny

What’s the point in these references, are they genuine questions and opinions or just observations for the audience?

I’m a 2000s kid so I must have material about my days as a One Direction fan but back then I wasn’t even open about being one, I could joke about my anime days but they were mildly problematic and cringy, I could joke about my childhood but half the time I sound whingy

I watched a lot of 80s cartoons as a kid but I already referenced them before so I did

I’ve been through almost every phase imaginable.

I read Jacqueline Wilson and Horrid Henry books, I played with teenage mutant ninja turtle toys and Bratz dolls, I like Video games, Drag Queens, Japanese animation, Films, Musicals, Pokemon, Youtube videos, Emo Music, The Sims, Sherlock and many other things

I was not a popular kid who went to clubs or pubs but I wasn’t always a complete loner either

I was in between, sometimes I want to be energetic and loud and other times I’m chill and I barely make a sound

Despite being at times a total clown

I never really thought of myself as a class clown, half the time even if I was happy I’d just have a neutral frown

Right, ok I know I’m a poet, but I need to cut the rhyming, I’m not Bob Dylan or Pete Doherty

I do love performing, but I only do that part-time, I used to do a course for it but not anymore

Although there are the odd few good memories and the friends I have from there whom I adore

There were some fun times, we’d do improv games, we’d reference memes, it was a blast

This was around the time I was getting more into British Comedy, watching shows like Peep Show, The Young Ones and the Two Ronnies.

While It took time for me to break free from my shy shell, I did enjoy spending time with my fellow performers and getting to know them well

Sometimes my jokes worked other times they didn’t….but there was one time

Now, I’m usually not one for double entendres even if I at times have the habit of making them unintentionally

Me and one of my mates were joking around, as usual, he was making a joke about being a knob, so I said……….”Bet you like it hard then”

Then there was just complete silence….I thought I had done something wrong, I hadn’t it’s just usually with his jokes he would always know how to respond but with this one there was no response just…… Radio static

Wow, …...but I’m not the only one, one time when my mum was talking about McDonald's

Guess what she said instead….Dicky Me’s

Ok!,

You Know sometimes it’s like

I'm a mouse

I'm short

I have small hands

And I like cheese

Speaking of famous cheeses, did you know that John Cleese’s dad, Reginald, his surname was originally cheese but he changed it because it was too embarrassing

And we all know to air out your dirty laundry is quite embarrassing too

This bad joke is sticking out, like a dead parrot

You, know when you think about it there’s a lot of famous Johns aren’t there?

With all the showbiz icons

Whether they be legends or morons

All have the name, John

There’s Lil Jon

John Lennon,

Lydon, Legend

John Deacon

Green, Cena,

Travolta, McCain,

Mulaney

the Dead Kennedys

Majors, Candy

Goodman,

Wayne, Williams

Take Me Home Country Roads~

Rhys Meyers playing copycat bowie

And Jonathan Van Ness

Don’t you forget it, Henny

(stops singing)

(attempts impersonation)

My Name is Michael Caine

And I like to complain

Now I've never really understood the point of using "snowflake" as an insult because doesn't each snowflake look different?

What about Film?

There’s Elton John’s biopic, live-action Aladdin and Pikachu being voiced by Deadpool

Interesting choices,

I recently watched a film called Velvet Goldmine

It’s a pseudo-David bowie biopic because they don’t use their real names

Instead of Bowie and Iggy Pop

It’s Brian Slade and Curt Wild

It’s a lovely tribute to the glam rock culture of the 70s

Even if Bowie attempted to sue the producers because of how accurate the main character was

It’s made me realise

That glam rock subculture needs a revival

We still have Goth, Punk, Alternative and Ska

But not rock and roll with lipstick on

Well that’s what John Lennon called it

I want to wear big coats, scarves and big boots and listen to 70s/80s music

and wear colourful wigs and paint my nails and reenact music videos and host parties

The era of Bryan Ferry and Marc Bolan isn’t as bright as it used to be

I’m just a 21st Century Boy~

#comedy monologue #original monologue

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popentertainment-moviereviews · 5 years

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GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019)

Starring Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O'Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, Zhang Ziyi, Joe Morton, CCH Pounder, Anthony Ramos, Elizabeth Ludlow, Jonathan Howard, Randall P. Havens, Lyle Brocato and Jimmy Gonzales.

Screenplay by Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields.

Directed by Michael Dougherty.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. 132 minutes. Rated R.

Technically, the Godzilla series has come a long way since the days when you had guys in monster suits stomping over a tiny model of Tokyo. The computer-generated special effects of Godzilla: King of the Monsters are pretty incredible. (There was only one scene where it was obvious that they were destroying a model rather than real buildings.)

So why is it that the movies were a lot more fun with the campy guys trudging around in the costumes stepping on mini buildings?

Probably because, no matter how many times they bring Godzilla back (and they have over and over and over and over in the last six decades) these giant monsters are old, campy ideas. You try to play it somewhat straight, as if this is real end-of-the-world life-or-death situations, it just seems sort of silly.

While occasionally Godzilla: King of the Monsters seems to have its tongue in its humongous cheek, for the most part it seems to be taking itself rather seriously – which is death for a giant monster movie. Godzilla and his monster brethren – Mothra, Rodan, Ghidora (and a few others that pop up) – lay waste to several strangely barely-populated cities, including Boston and San Francisco.

In the meantime, two groups of scientists – one good and one evil – run around the world and watch the creatures with awe as they try unsuccessfully to stop the rampant monster-on-monster violence.

Of course, two of those scientists (Kyle Gardner and Vera Farmiga) are a broken up married couple – an earlier Godzilla attack killed their young son. Now, their teenaged daughter (Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger Things) spends the movie trying to get her parents back together, helping them to communicate with the monsters (how did a 15-year-old get security clearance?), and putting herself into dangerous situations that she has to be saved from before the monsters take her out for good.

I suppose there is more of a story here somewhere, but honestly Godzilla: King of the Monsters is mostly two hours and 15 minutes of monster death matches. Which let’s face it, it probably what someone going to see a movie called Godzilla: King of the Monsters is looking for.

Too bad it gets kind of dull after a while. There are only so many exploding buildings and breath lasers and monsters walking through high-rise buildings that one can sit through before it all starts looking the same.

It doesn’t help that the dialogue is unintentionally funny more often than it is comic by design. Bradley Whitford and O’Shea Jackson Jr. give it their all to be the comic relief – sometimes successfully, but more often they are hamstrung by the cheesy script. Thomas Middleditch, who was undoubtedly brought in to bring a lighter pulse to the action, just looks lost in this chaotic mess.

However, I did learn one surprising thing from Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Apparently, giant monsters know how to bow. Who knew?

Also, big props for the person who decided to put a cover of Blue Öyster Cült’s bombastic hard rock anthem “Godzilla” over the end credits.

Look, you know what you’re getting when you walk into Godzilla: King of the Monsters. If you enjoy films like this, chances are good that you’ll buy into this one as well. It looks amazing, the action is pretty wall to wall, and the story doesn’t slow down long enough for you to ponder the inconsistencies of the plot.

Laying it out there – if you like Godzilla movies, you’ll probably like this one, even though it is more serious than most. Sometimes all you are looking for in a movie is wall to wall destruction. If you ever wondered what it would look like if Michael Bay made a Godzilla movie, this is probably as close as you are going to get.

If you’re looking for something with a little more substance, chances are you wouldn’t be at Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Jay S. Jacobs

#Godzilla: King of the Monsters #2019 #Movie Reviews #Godzilla #Jay S. Jacobs #Kyle Chandler #Vera Farmiga

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eljokerbabey · 6 years

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3, 10, 12-15, 17, 19-26, 28-30, 33-37, 39, 41-47, 49-52, 54-59, 65, 67-75, 77-82, 86-88, 91-97, 100-102, 104-107, 109, 111-113, 115-120, 123-128, 130-133, 135-136, 141-142, 144, 147-150.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?Tom Holland onscreen as Peter Parker in Infinity War. But also my friends who are going with me to infinity war.10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?Probably Nick12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?Boy Pablo - EverytimeGinger Root - Call It HomeWild Child - Crazy BirdBusty and The Bass - Melodies and MemoriesAlice Francis - Shoot Him Down 13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?Yes, its really soothing. I mean, ask first, but yeah generally it kinda instantly puts me in a good mood. 14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?I guess I believe in luck kinda, I mean, I definitely know some people who seem luckier than others.15. What good thing happened this summer?It’s not yet summer so I guess it means last summer, which is lots, went swimming, made new friends, had fun. 17. Do you think there is life on other planets?Yeah, whether its intelligent hasn’t been determined but life definitely exists on other planets. Plus, the universe is too big for intelligent life to not exist somewhere so I think it probably does.19. Do you like bubble baths?Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I had one though. ;-;20. Do you like your neighbors?not really to the one on our left, but the one on our right is a cool guy, he drives a santa truck. The one across the street seems like a good guy.21. What are your bad habits?Second guessing myself, not paying attention, not showing up to stuff22. Where would you like to travel?Japan and Europe, also Canada23. Do you have trust issues?yeah24. Favorite part of your daily routine?petting the cats25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?I guess my stomach26. What do you do when you wake up?Lie in bed for a while28. Who are you most comfortable around?My parents, some of my friends (nick, enrique, emily, david and robin all come to mind) 29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?Nah, I lost contact with one of them, and then I’m just bad at keeping in touch when it comes with others. I kinda wish I didn’t lose contact with a lot of people, not just exes, I’m kinda unintentionally bridge burn-y 30. Do you ever want to get married?fufufufu is this a proposal?!~ So forward, my my. I’ll consider it! ohohohohoho!33. Spell your name with your chin.daNIKEWLK ;L;LDE ;LASN GBEDLKIKNA34. Do you play sports? What sports?sport sport sport sport sport35. Would you rather live without TV or music?TV, I don’t really watch it anyway36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?Yes, many times! Often!37. What do you say during awkward silences?I dunno, I don’t really mind silences, I guess sometimes I’ll make a funny noise or clicky my tongue, very rarely I enjoy trying to make them purposefully awkward, but I have to be in a shenanigans mood for that. 39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?I like stores that have neat stuff, like antique stores or thrift stores.41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?More or less42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?Usually I’ve got something on my mind, but sometimes I just don’t have energy. Also sometimes it means I wish someone where talking to me. Sometimes in relation to me having something on my mind I wanna talk about.43. Do you smile at strangers?Sometimes44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?Space I guess45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?I dont know if I have an answer for that right now46. What are you paranoid about?I dunno, strangers, I just always have an eye out, I got mugged one time and now my brain won’t let me not hyperfocus on what strangers around me are doing.47. Have you ever been high?A couple times 49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?I dunno probably50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?Purple I think51. Ever wished you were someone else?Yeah kinda, I guess I’ve mostly just wished I was me in someone elses situation or something52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?Things about my appearance, I’m working on it. 54. Favourite store?I don’t know55. Favourite blog?Mine56. Favourite colour?Somewhere in the realm of blue57. Favourite food? I’m not really hungry right now so its hard for me to have an answer for. Uhh, probably sushi though. 58. Last thing you ate?I had some burger king 59. First thing you ate this morning?probably the aforementioned burger king65. Are you hungry right now?no67. Facebook or Twitter?I guess I use facebook more68. Twitter or Tumblr?Tumblr probably69. Are you watching tv right now?nope70. Names of your bestfriends? Michael, Emily, Nick, Enrique, Ally, come to mind71. Craving something? What?human intimacy or something72. What colour are your towels?There’s purple ones and green ones and a couple of blue ones72. How many pillows do you sleep with?3 exactly73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?I do not

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?I dunno, probably a couple, somewhere around here

75. Favourite animal?Cat77. Chocolate or Vanilla?chocolate78. Favourite ice cream flavour?Cookie Dough or something79. What colour shirt are you wearing?Blue

80. What colour pants?Black81. Favourite tv show?I dunno I have lots, My Hero Academia, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Doctor Who, etc82. Favourite movie?This is also hard, I still really liked spiderman homecoming, most of the marvel movies really, uhh, Kung Fu Hustle, Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim, etc86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?I dunno, Crush?87. First person you talked to today?Nick I think, hard not to when he lives in the same room as me88. Last person you talked to today?Either my dad or nick, I can’t remember if I said anything to nick when I entered the room a second ago91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?Sure92. In a fight with someone?Kinda, I’m not on the best terms with a couple people93. How many sweatpants do you have?2 pairs probably? 94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?Unsure, several95. Last movie you watched?I just watched Baby Driver and Thor Ragnarok with my family96. Favourite actress?I don’t knooooooowwwwwww, favorites are haaaaaaaard. 97. Favourite actor?haaaaaaaaaaaaaaard.100. How are you feeling?

I’m feeling ok

101. Do you type fast?very

102. Do you regret anything from your past?yeah kinda, I have made mistakes that I probably would change if I could, at the very least I wish I could make them right. I do think they attribute to where I am and that changing any of them would mean changing my whole life so I don’t know that I regret them104. Do you miss anyone from your past?Yeah, there’s a few people that I don’t talk to anymore (rather, they don’t uh, talk to me anymore) because I was… I dunno, kinda crazy. I really wish I could’ve had the foresight to keep those people in my life somehow.105. Ever been to a bonfire party?Kinda? I mean, sure, I guess so106. Ever broken someone’s heart?Yeah, I’d probably change that too. I dunno, I at least hope the people I’ve hurt know I’m sorry.107. Have you ever been on a horse?a what109. Is something irritating you right now?Not right this second but I do have things that are problems on a general scale, I’m just not currently upset about them111. Do you have trust issues?again, yeah112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?I don’t remember, I don’t remember the last time I really cried113. What was your childhood nickname?Pooh, like Winnie-The, its because my middle name is Oso, which is spanish for bear, so I got called Pooh-Bear a lot, and often it was just shortened to Pooh.115. Do you play the Wii?This is a very old person sounding question. “Hey sonny, do you like the eck bawk?” yeah I guess I’ve played the wii, I think Nick has one116. Are you listening to music right now?Not right this second but I can hear the background music from a game nick is playing, which would be this song117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?Sure118. Do you like Chinese food?Yeah hella119. Favourite book?favourites are haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard. I like The Dresden Files a lot, the Haruhi Suzumiya books are really good, Scott Pilgrim is fantastic, Interview With A Vampire is pretty solid120. Are you afraid of the dark?Not like, exceptionally, i mean, sometimes?123. Can you keep white shoes clean?I mean, sure, I don’t really own a pair of white shoes but I’m sure I could do it if I wanted to124. Do you believe in love at first sight?Kinda, I mean, I believe that you can get a crush on someone based on observation of appearance125. Do you believe in true love?uhhh, as much as experience tells me I shouldn’t, I guess so, I mean, I think its about dedication on both sides, love is partially a choice, or rather, a dedication126. Are you currently bored?yeah I mean, kinda, generally, but answering questions is entertaining.127. What makes you happy?Doing fun stuff with people I enjoy128. Would you change your name?In some situations sure.130. Do you like subway?yeah its good131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?I’d probably give it a try, one date/hangout with a romantic connotation just to see couldn’t hurt probably? I dunno, I think about things in a pretty exploratory manner, so I tend to be open to experiences to see whether or not something works.132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?Probably Nick? 133. Favourite lyrics right now?I already did this in a previous one so I’ll go for some different ones this time “I was a green eyed monsterCould you tell I was afraid?I sat myself down and shot my fear in the face”Garbage - Man On A Wire I just really like the delivery in that song, and I’ve been listening to it lately 135. Dumbest lie you ever told?I try not to just lie about stuff now but when I was a little kid I had some pretty good ones, I once convinced a friend that by law they had to have a black guy in every commercial. I also convinced him that japanese or something was just english backwards.136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?uh, closed, given that the door to this room goes to the outside141. Night or Day?normally I’d say night but I’ve found myself getting depressed with nightfall lately142. Favourite month?December144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?milk 147. Mars or Snickers?Mars148. What’s your favourite quote? “The power of one man doesn’t amount to much. But, with whatever little strength I’m capable of… I’ll do everything humanly possible to protect the people I love, and in turn they’ll protect the ones they love. It seems like the least we tiny humans can do for each other.“ - Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist“We evolve, beyond the person that we were a minute before. Little by little, we advance with each turn. That’s how a drill works!” - Simon, Gurren Lagann149. Do you believe in ghosts?I don’t know what I believe right now150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? How could things Have gone so wrong?Thanks for the ask! Lemme know if I missed anything

#ask #answered #my life #own post #mayax81

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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years

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The Weekend Warrior Reopen Movie Theaters Edition 8/21/20: UNHINGED, PENINSULA, THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS, TESLA and More!

Well, this is the weekend when movie theaters are supposed to reopen, whether it’s some of the big chains like Regal or AMC, even though, Canada is well ahead of us, having opened about 300 theaters last weekend. A few of the movies in this week’s column will supposedly only be released only in theaters, while a few of them have already given up on theatrical to go the streaming route. I really don’t know what to tell you if you live in New York and L.A. except that pre-COVID, you used to get all the movies first, so I guess we better get used to things flipping thanks to the pandemic. Either way, there’s an INSANE number of new movies this week, and I’m going to do my best to cover all of them… or at least the ones that I know exist.

And then on top of all THAT, the annual Fantasia Festival in Montreal is starting this week in a virtual edition filled with literally hundreds of genre films, and lots of great films from Asia in particular, and man, I wish I had time to watch more of the movies they’re offering. I’ve only been up to Fantasia in person a few times, and both times were great experiences. Much of that has to do with the audience, which is mostly made up of college-age and older genre fans who enthusiastically lap up every minute of genre awesome that Fantasia delivers. Sadly, it’s very much the type of festival that benefits from being together in person, especially at the end of the night when filmmakers and fans alike converge on one of the local drinking holes.

One of the movies I did have a chance to watch was Justin McConnell’s Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business, an intriguing doc that follows the director of Lifechanger on his five-year journey to get that movie made. It involves a lot of schmoozing and networking at festivals like Fantasia (in their Frontiéres market, which I’ve never attended) and Cannes, basically struggling to sell his ideas to financers and trying to focus on other ventures (like short films) in the meantime. It’s a sobering film for anyone wanting to become a filmmaker, because McConnell doesn’t leave any moment of utter heartbreak on the cutting room floor on his journey to make a movie that I have literally never heard of! So yeah, I guess calling your movie “Lifechanger” could end up being more ironic than you set out to, but what McConnell has in this movie is some great advice and anecdotes from some of the greatest horror filmmakers, including Guillermo del Toro, Richard Stanley, Larry Fessenden, Sid Haig, Mick Garris. I mean, if they’ve been involved in any aspect of indie horror over the past five years, they’re in this movie, and often, it’s more worthwhile listening to them than following McConnell’s own journey.

I hope to have more to say about Fantasia over the next few weeks as it runs through September 2, but I gotta get to the crazy number of movies opening this week, and again, a few of them are in theaters.

Speaking of movie theaters, Russell Crowe stars in the action-thriller UNHINGED (Solstice Studios), which will presumably ONLY be seen in movie theaters this weekend, reportedly 2,000 theaters that will not include either New York or California, the two biggest movie markets in the country. Sigh. Let’s just get on with this…

Directed by Derrick Borte (The Joneses), Crowe plays a violent and angry white man – can’t wait for THOSE think pieces, he said sarcastically – who is literally honked at by Caren Pistorious’ soon-to-be-divorced mother who is late bringing her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman) to school. He does what every sane person would do… he proceeds to terrorize her, kill her loved ones and do everything he can to teach her a lesson. America, what a wonderful place, huh?

Those going to see this movie to literally watch Crowe come unhinged won't have to wait too long, as we meet his character as he’s attacking a family and burns down their house, before we’re subjected to an opening credit montage of the type of anger and violence that’s permeated this country over the past few years. We then meet Pistorius’ Rachel as she tries to cope while facing a divorce and trying to get her son to school when she has what would normally be a fairly innocuous encounter with Crowe’s character that drives what is clearly an already insane man over the endge.

There’s something about Unhinged that reminds me of the Michael Douglas movie Falling Down, but that’s only if you consider Crowe the protagonist of the movie, which I certainly don’t. That would be Pistorius’ character, who finds herself being tormented as this man starts following her around and making an already bad day even worse, just to make her feel as miserable as he does. Yeah, it’s not a great movie for current times, but you at least have to give it credit for having a title that gives you exactly what you’re paying to see.

Borte does a pretty decent job creating tension, although parts of it end up being unintentionally funny due to how over-the-top and absurd the whole thing is. At least it all builds up to an amazing final car chase, driven by David Buckley’s score, and that more or less makes up for how ridiculous the movie’s high concept premise gets earlier. While Unhinged has its moments of silliness, I honestly haven’t gotten as excited watching a movie over the past few months as I did watching it – your road rage may vary.

After opening in roughly 300 Canadian theaters last weekend, it will expand into North America in an estimated 2,000 theatres. Under most normal circumstances i.e. before March, I might try to predict how well it might do at the box office, I feel that the times have made it tougher or nearly impossible. (I’ll say it makes $2 to 3 million, just for a laugh.)

The movie I was MOST looking forward to seeing this week was Yeon Sang-Ho’s TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA (Well Go USA/Shudder), which as you may guess from the title is the sequel to his 2016 zombie flick, Train to Busan. This one takes place four years later as a group of Koreans that have evacuated to Hong Kong before the country was shut off from the rest of the world are sent back to retrieve a truck full of American money that could make them rich beyond belief. Not only do they have to contend with zombies but ruthless military gangs that make their mission more difficult.

Listen, Train to Busan was so good as its own standalone movie, we really didn’t need a sequel to see what was going on with that world, but Director Yeon clearly had some idea what that world might look like years later, and it’s a pretty scary place. Paying tribute equally to movies like The Road Warrior and Escape from New York, he decided to introduce some new characters and follow their journey. We meet Kim Do-won’s Cheol-min as he’s taking his wife and son to a ship that’s going to take survivors from the first zombie wave to Japan. Things don’t go as planned and Cheol-min is one of the few survivors thanks to his military brother-in-law Jung-seok (Dong-Won Gang), but the two end up stranded in Hong Kong as the borders of Korea are closed. Four years later, they’re given the incentive to go back to Korea to retrieve the money, and of course, things don’t go as planned. After being attacked first by zombies and then the gang-like military group Unit 631, led by Min-jae Kim’s Sgt. Kwang and Gyo-han Kwoo’s Captain Seo, Jung-seok is saved by two young girls (Re Lee, Ye-Won Lee) and their mother, played by Jung-hyun Lee.

That’s the basic set-up for a film that doesn’t quite measure up to Train to Busan, not because director Yeon wasn’t trying. He clearly didn’t want to necessarily copy exactly what he did in the first movie, but also, he wasn’t able to completely replicate that film’s magic either. A lot of that may be since the characters aren’t nearly as interesting; they’re tougher and far more able to fight off the zombie swarms, which lowers the stakes considerably. Setting the movie further into an apocalypse just means it’s going to tread familiar territory, particularly from things like The Walking Dead.

Despite what I said above about the characters, I generally liked the cast, especially the spunky young girls who took on zombies and militia men alike, but I’ll admit I got more than a little confused about the two main guys, the brothers-in-law. They look so different in the opening sequence, I couldn’t figure out which was which when introduced for the body of the movie. Since this movie mostly takes place at night, it’s also harder to see the brilliant work done by the FX people and zombie actors, which is still pretty amazing to watch.

Peninsula makes for a pretty decent throwback action flick, and you can’t completely fault it for not having as many emotional beats throughout, because the ending is so overflowing with feels, it’s obvious Director Yeon has succeeded again.

Disney+ is premiering the family film THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN on its Disney+ streaming service this Friday. Directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You), it stars Bryan Cranston as Mack, the ringmaster of a strip mall circus whose star attraction is the gorilla, “The One and Only Ivan!” (as voiced by Sam Rockwell). The circus isn’t doing as well as it used to, so Mack has bought a baby elephant named Ruby (voiced by Brooklyn Prince) as a draw for the show’s other elephant Stella (voiced by Angela Jolie). Ivan isn’t too thrilled with the show’s new attraction, but he has other things on his mind, including a pesky dog named Bob (voiced by Danny DeVito) and others voiced by Hellen Mirren, Phillipa Soo… and yes, you’re reading this right… Chaka Khan!

It’s based on the children’s book by Katherine Applegate, adapted by the always great Mike White, and while at first glance, it might seem like a dangerous meld of Tim Burton’s Dumbo with the early 2020 dog Dolittle, there’s a lot more at work here. Sure, there’s a lot of the typical Disney kiddie-related humor – fart jokes and other visual gags – but it’s really about these CG animals and their feelings about their situation, and the elements used to create them and make them feel are superb. Cranston also does a good job maintaining his composure while getting involved in some of the film’s silliness.

Of course, you could just “aww” over the adorable elephant Ruby (basically a miniature version of the Jolie-voiced Stella) or laugh at the antics of the other animals. My favorite was definitely the De Vito-voiced dog, Bob, who offers some of the best jabs and gags, which helps keep the tone from ever getting too heavy without losing the dramatic weight. The movie even takes a cue from Madagascar for one sequence, but either way, it will keep you and your kids entertained.

The entire movie is very emotional, especially the last twenty minutes that might make it hard from having a good old ugly cry. This is a truly wonderful family film and one of the weekend’s nicer surprises. (Note: I also did a more technical review of the movie about things like cinematography and visual FX over at Below the Line.)

This week’s “Featured Flick” is WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS (LD Entertainment/Roadside Attractions), based on the novel by Julia Walton, which stars Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete) as Adam Petrozelli, a high school senior who discovers he suffers from schizophrenia that is far worse than just the voices he hears. It gets him expelled, but knowing he wants to go to culinary school, Adam’s mother (Molly Parker) enrolls him at St. Agatha’s Catholic school, where he tries to keep his condition a secret while being tutored by a brainy and quite attractive classmate, played by Taylor Russell (Waves).

If you read last week’s column, you’ll already know my reticence towards young adult fare. Even with that in mind, I do enjoy coming-of-age tales, especially those set in or around high school, and then if you throw in a bit of religion, some foodie culture and a little tinge of humor, even while dealing with a serious subject, you’ll probably have me on board. That’s definitely true about this movie, adapted by Thor Freudenthal, who makes a smooth transition from kiddie fare to older kiddie fare with a really unique look at one young teen’s journey through an important moment in his life while dealing with a condition that some are never able to overcome.

Having not read the original book or anything about the movie before seeing it, I was a little surprised when things go haywire in Adam’s science class, since I thought maybe he was a mutant. We then meet three characters who will follow him around (at least in his head) for much of the movie, played by Anna Sophia Robb, Devon Bostick and Lobo Sebastian, each representing a part of Adam’s psyche: kind of like the devil and angel telling you what to do in any given situation. It’s quite witty and a clever way to bring some humor into many scenes, particularly Sebastian’s role as “The Bodyguard,” carrying a baseball bat, ready to attack anything that keeps Adam from achieving his goal of being a chef. I loved how the three characters interplayed as a Greek chorus with what was happening.

Adam eventually meets Russell’s Maya, the perky, snarky and super smart St. Agatha’s Valedictorian, who he convinces to tutor him in math, while also trying to hide his biggest secret from her. As Adam starts taking a new medication, the voices and his companions start disappearing, but he also learns there are negative side effects. There was a lot to enjoy about this movie, but it was particularly interesting how Freudenthal uses sound and CG FX to recreate what’s going through Adam’s mind when he’s off his meds.

The film coasts gracefully on the general likability of both Plummer and Russell during the highs and lows of their relationship, but I also enjoyed the adults cast around them, including Molly Parker as his mother, Walton Goggins as her overly-cloying live-in boyfriend, and Andy Garcia as a compassionate padre, who all have great scenes with Plummer, bringing many more layers to the characters and story than we normally might get.

Words on Bathroom Walls is an absolutely wonderful movie – for me, it’s this year’s Book Smart -- and a very pleasant surprise at a time when I’m super-cynical about movies that I’m forced to watch on my laptop. Besides being a really original coming-of-age film, it also finds a way to deal with schizophrenia in a head-on way that hopefully gets others to understand a mental illness that makes it hard to live a normal life.

Michael Almereyda writes, directs and produces TESLA (IFC Films), which as you may guess is not a biopic about Elon Musk, but is actually a very different biopic about inventor Nikola Tesla, as played by Almereyda regular, Ethan Hawke. The film follows Tesla through his early relations with Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan), George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan) but more importantly the women, including Anne Morgan (Eve Hewson), who narrates the semi-fictionalized account of Tesla’s life.

If you saw last year’s The Current War, you may be wondering why we need another movie about Nikola Tesla that covers some of the very same ground. I’ll get to that in a moment. Using IMDB, I can probably figure out how many movies Almereyda and Hawke have made together, but I’d have a harder time figuring out if Almereyda has made a single movie I’ve liked, and believe me, I’ve tried. That’s partially what makes Tesla such an interesting endeavor, since it might be Almereyday’s most daring and accomplished work to date.

You have to assume The Current War was already made and out there by the time Almereyda even started making this since that played at Toronto many years ago. Apparently, Almereyda had his own vision and decided to make it, undaunted, because this is certainly a rather unique take. It’s narrated by JP Morgan’s youngest daughter Anne, played by Hewson, but she does so in a way that’s almost out of time, even mentioning Google. For the most part, Almereyda and his cast stick with the period, but there are definitely a few moments like that where it veers into an almost surreal fictionalized version of events.

What really makes Tesla standout is the subdued performance by Hawke where he never goes overboard with Tesla’s Eastern-European accent (unlike Tesla’s associate Szigeti who often sounds like Borat). More importantly, Almereyda decides to tell Tesla’s story through his tentative relationship with women. You see, he never got married, and yet, he meets all these beautiful women along the way who have an impact on his life and career, mostly Anne who provides him with her father’s money but also the intriguing actress Sarah Bernhardt (played by Rebecca Dayan) and others. There are still some of the other players like Edison (played by Kyle MacLachlan) and though I like the interesting turn in Jim Gaffigan’s career into dramatic roles, I did prefer Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse in The Current War.

Regardless, Tesla is just such a gorgeous film that delivers a biopic unlike others using a very distinctive tone, maybe even with a nod or two to David Lynch, and that’s what helps set it apart from Almereyda’s previous work.

Wu-tang Clan founder The RZA directs his third movie, CUT THROAT CITY (Well GO USA), a crime-drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans, starring Shameik Moore (Dope) as James aka Blink, a cartoonist from the Lower 9th Ward, who, along with three of his drugdealer buddies (Denzel Whitaker, Demetrius Shipp Jr, Keean Johnson), are coerced by T.I.’s vicious druglord, “Cousin” Bass, into robbing a casino that puts them in the crosshairs of the local police and others.

There’s something on paper about this movie, written by P.G. Cuschieri, that seems a little been-there done-that, although the cast The RZA has put together – including Ethan Hawke, Rob Hunter, Wesley Snipes, Isaiah Washington and Terrence Howard – some in smaller roles – is just so impressive you just can’t ignore it. RZA is also working with a decent script, one with a few tonal and pacing issues, but also one tht maintains a youthful energy that feels authentic to the time and place.

It takes a little time to get to the actual heist, which paves the way for everything else that happens, including a few deaths. It’s after that where we meet Detective Lucida Valencia (played by Eiza González), who is trying to solve the case of the casino robbery, as more parties get involved, including a City Councilman played by Hawke and some of their fathers. Rob Hunter is fantastic as Blink’s father, who delivers some mighty fine scenes, but others, like Snipes and Howard, have fairly small roles. At first, Hawke’s role seems like a mere cameo, but when he returns almost an hour into the movie, he delivers quite an impassioned monologue that proves his worth in any sized role. It’s a sign of a good director to cast such great actors them step aside an let them do their thing.

Cut Throat City is definitely one of those movies that gets better as it goes along, although it’s by no means an “action movie” in terms of how it deals with the situation in New Orleans that turns so many young men like James/Blink to crime to earn a living. It sometimes gets bogged down in its dialogue and drama and things might not come together as well as hoped, but right now, as a director, the RZA might end up being the unlikely successor to the Singleton legacy.

Jay Baruchel adapts the comic book RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE (Shudder) by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. It follows Todd Walkley, a graphic novel writer played by Jesse Williams, who goes on a road trip with his wife Kathy (Jordana Brewster), for them to follow the trail and study the murders of the serial killer that inspired Todd’s hit comic book character “Slasherman.” Along for the journey is Todd’s best friend Ezra (Baruchel) and art assistant Aurora (Niamh Wilson).

Although I had read the original comic book on which this is based, it was a long time ago. I clearly forgot how dark it was, especially since in this case, the quartet’s story starts in far lighter and fun way. I assume Baruchel and his co-writer Jesse Chabot did this intentionally. It isn’t long before a killer in a welder’s outfit starts brutally killing people and leaving the bodies where our heroes can find them. Turns out that it’s a copycat who is recreating the murders in Todd’s comic.

Baruchel does a decent job with his second feature as a director, which is surprising since his first movie was a hockey comedy, which would have been right up his wheelhouse. Goon: Last of the Enforcers also was tougher since it was a sequel to a really good movie, but Baruchel shows that he has a real handle on horror, especially when it comes to making it as disturbing as anything out there. He has able help in cinematographer Karim Hussain, who gives the film such a stark look with bright green and red lighting, as well as the make-up FX team who create some truly grotesque murder victims.

I’m not usually a fan of slasher films so much, but Random Acts of Violence takes the interesting spin on the genre from the comics and adds new elements that really elevate the original story. (For one, Niamh Wilson’s character was terrific, and she’s completely original to the movie.) These elements and just the overall look and tone makes Baruchel’s adaptation one of the more effective horror films I’ve seen this year.

Indie filmmaker Aaron B. Koontz (Camera Obscura) returns with his second feature, the horror-Western THE PALE DOOR (RLJE Films/Shudder). It’s about two brothers, Duncan Dalton (Zachary Knighton) and his younger brother Jake (Devin Druid), who lead a motley group on a failed bank robbery. After Duncan is injured, they find a girl named Pearl chained in the wilderness, and they follow her back to a ghost town to get Duncan medical aid where they’re brought to a brothel that turns out to be a coven of witches.

I don’t want to fully shit on this movie, because it has a few elements of merit, but honestly, none of them show up until roughly 51 minutes into the movie when it transforms from a fairly lame Western into a semi-decent horror flick. The movie is co-written by Keith Lansdale, who you might guess is the son of Joe R. Lansdale (an EP on the movie), who is kind of legendary for his horror-Westerns. Instead, The Pale Door spends the first half following overused Western tropes but not particularly well-written ones, and everything just looks too clean and bright without the grit that’s necessary to make a Western work. Granted I’ve seen a LOT of Westerns in my day but there are so many great ones even of similar budget, like Ti West’s In a Valley of Violence, so there’s little excuse for how badly this one falters.

Amidst the mostly bad cast, Koontz does have a few ringers like Pat Healy (from Ti West’s The Innkeepers!) and Stan Shaw, the latter as Lester, the former slave who becomes a substitute father for the brothers and who has some great moments in the last half of the movie. After the big reveal of the witches, things do generally get better and the ending is quite touching, as it strikes a nice note about brotherhood. But all of the stuff up until that point just isn’t very good on so many levels. It’s almost as if Koontz was learning how to make a movie while actually making the movie. (This is something more common on someone’s first movie, though.) Even the fact this movie is basically about brave men fighting evil women just isn’t a particularly good look for a movie right now. The Pale Door is a movie that needed to be better from the jump, and also get to some of the more exciting and gory stuff faster, since it’s just going to lose too many people before it finally shakes things up.

Actor Peter Facinelli (from The Twilight Saga, among other things) writes and directs the suspense thriller, THE VANISHED (Saban Films), starring Thomas Jane and Anne Heche of a ten-year-old girl, Taylor, who disappears while they’re RVing at a lakeside camp, causing them to do all sorts of unexpected things in order to find her.

I’m not sure whether I was more surprised that this was based on true events before or after actually watching it, because this movie gets pretty cray-cray, and that’s in the same week where we have Russell Crowe in Unhinged! Unfortunately, Facinelli’s sophomore effort as a filmmaker – that seems to be a theme this week -- comes across like a bland TV movie that doesn’t offer anything new from ‘90s thrillers like Fatal Attraction or I Know What You Did Last Summer, other than maybe some overacting from Heche or general sleaziness from Jane. It also stars a barely-recognizable ‘90s star Jason Patric as the town sheriff trying to find the couple’s daughter along with his deputy (Facinelli, who else?).

Very quickly, the couple get so desperate to find their daughter they start killing anyone they think might be responsible. By an hour into the movie, everyone is still a suspect, including the guy who runs the camp who (just by coincidence) happens to be part of a pedophile ring. UGH. The problem is that Facinelli throws red herring after the red herring at the viewer, leading up to one of the biggest “What the Holy F?!” endings that would likely make Shyamalan proud. The Vanished wears out its welcome pretty quickly and just leaves you wondering how much of it is true… and mind you, this is in a week where we have a movie with a talking gorilla, who also happens to be an artist… and that’s also based on a true story!

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to some of these other movies or won’t have time to review, and hopefully you’ll check some of them out.

A genre film that looks pretty cool is Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY (Dark Star Pictures) that follows Xin (Gu Shangwei), a Chinese undercover cop on a secret mission who ends up in a remote Cambodian jungle prison where the warden (Vithaya Pansringarm from Only God Forgives) sells his prey to rich hunters looking to go after “the Most Dangerous Game.” Yup, this is the second movie this year (after The Hunt) inspired by that short story. I’ll try to add some thoughts if I have a chance to see it before week’s end

Oscar-winning BlackKklansman writer Kevin Willmott writes and directs THE 24th (Vertical Entertainment) is about the all-black Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry Region and how 156 African-American soldiers held a mutiny in Houston as protest to the violence and abuse at the hands of the city’s police. The film stars Trai Byers, Bashir Salahuddin, Aja Nomi King and Thomas Haden Church.

Bummed I didn’t get to watch Thom Fitzgerald’s STAGE MOTHER (Momentum Pictures) in time to review since it has such a great cast that includes Lucy Liu, Jacki Weaver, Andrian Grenier and Mya Taylor from Tangerine. Weaver plays Maybelline, a Texas church choir director who inherits her late son’s drag club in San Francisco so she goes there to save it from bankruptcy.

Of this week’s docs, I’m most interested in Barbara Koppel’s DESERT ONE (Greenwich), which looks at the 1980 rescue attempt by U.S. Special Forces to rescue American hostages held in Iran (as seen in Argo) with interviews with President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Walter Mondal, Ted Koppel and both hostages and hostage takers. I haven’t had a chance to watch it, but Koppel is an amazing doc filmmaker, and I’m sure it’s a fantastic movie. Just need to find the time to watch.

I did get to watch Danny Wolf’s Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (Quiver Distribution), which not only has the most self-explanatory title of any doc ever made but is also quite comprehensive in covering how nudity has been used in movies going all the way back to the pre-Code and silent film days. No surprise that Wolf is the director of the highly-enjoyable Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time series, because he gets just as many interesting names and faces on this movie, including Malcolm McDowell, Peter Bogdanovich, Pam Grier, Amy Heckerling and more. This is actually a really good doc for the cinephile completist who wants to know everything (or just watch) every semi-famous nude scene that people have been talking about over the past 100 years.

I didn’t have nearly as much interest in P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes’s House of Cardin, which gets a virtual cinema release this Friday before its On Demand release on September 15. I’m just not into fashion. More my speed is Dana Brown’s new doc A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story (1091) about his father who became famous for his surfing movies. Also on Thursday, you can catch Ric Burns’ doc Oliver Sacks: His Own Life about the neurologist and storyteller on his battles with drug addiction and homophobia. If any of those names jump out at you, just go on Google, and I’m sure you’ll find the movies.

Opening at the Metrograph for a one-week one as part of its Digital Membership (with a live screening with intro on Friday at 8pm Eastern) is a 2k restoration of Judy Irving, Chris Beaver and Ruth Landy’s 1982 film about the arrival of the nuclear age with the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. TONIGHT at the Metrograph is a special Live Screening of James Gray’s 2008 film Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow with an intro by Gray tonight at 8pm Eastern. Remember, it’s only $5 a month and $50 a year for a Metrograph digital membership, which is a fantastic deal!

Also opening in Virtual Cinemas (including Film at Lincoln Center’s and other regional arthouses) this week is Marcell Jankovic’s Hungarian 1981 animated film Son of the White Mare (1981), getting its first ever U.S. release in a new 4k restoration made from the original 35mm print. FilmLinc will also show Robert Kramer’s 1990 doc Route One/USA about a five-month road trip from the Canadian border to Key West.

A few of the other movies out this week include Love Express: The Disappearance of Walerina Borowcyk (Altered Innocense), Jamie Patterson’s Tracks (1091), Mona Zandi Haghighi’s African Violet (Venera Films), Behind the Line: Escape to Dunkirk (Trinity Creative) and Watch List (October Coast).

Oh, also Christopher Nolan’s Inception is opening in some U.S. theaters as a 10th anniversary rerelease? Man, I miss 10 years ago.

On Netflix this week, you get Trish Sie’s The Sleepover, a family adventure-comedy starring Sadie Stanley and Maxwell Simkins as Clancy and Kevin, who discover their mom (Malin Akerman) is actually a high-end thief in the witness protection program. When she and their dad (Ken Marino) are kidnapped to commit one last job with her ex-beau (Joe Manganiello), they have to team-up to rescue their parents. There’s also the Argentine crime-drama The Crimes That Bind, starring Cecilia Roth, coming to Netflix Thursday, and the Indian gangster film Class of ‘83 coming Friday. Amazon will premiere Richard Tanne’s teen romance Chemical Hearts, based on the book “Our Chemical Hearts” by Krystal Sutherland, which stars Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams.

Next week, more movies not in theaters, but also some movies in theaters! And others not in theaters, since I’m guessing the ones in New York will still be closed.

By the way, if you ever read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest

#TheWeekendWarrior #Movies #Reviews #Unhinged #Peninsula #Tesla #ThePaleDoor #TheVanished #WordsOnBathroomWalls #RandomActsOfViolence #CutThroatCity

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Clarice Episode 13 Review: Family is Freedom

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This Clarice review contains spoilers.

Clarice Episode 13

Clarice, episode 13, “Family is Freedom,” only closes some of the cliffhangers “Father Time” ended on. We still don’t know whether Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds) will be reinstated into the ViCAP team, and we never find out what happened to young Clarice when her Sheriff father left her at the mercy of some pissed off criminals.

The last image we saw of that encounter, when Clarice ran it through her repressed memory bank, was a young Clarice with a gun held to her head as her father hangs his head in shame in the distance. The men who said they were cheated, and called Clarice’s dad a criminal and a coward, warned him he couldn’t hide behind his little girl. We never learn how that scenario plays out. How does she live through that incident to become the wild card federal cop she is today? The gang in the alley do not appear like they’re going to accept partial payment, and the implications are Clarice became part of a deal. But we don’t know and may not find out, as Clarice has not been picked up by CBS, and hasn’t officially been claimed by Paramount+.

This makes “Family is Freedom” the probable series finale, and for that Clarice really pulls out all the stops. The River Murders conspiracy Agent Starling forced the ViCAP team to investigate turns out to be something far worse than expected, the entire episode is action-centered, including the dynamics of every conversation, and one of the main cast gets shot.

The main setting is an exquisitely efficient horror house, and Alastor CEO Nils Hagen (Peter McRobbie), who runs it, is a monster whose deeds go far beyond the crimes of Buffalo Bill. The episode digs deep into the Silence of the Lambs subconscious to rework its iconography. The central location is an everyday nightmare: An animal research facility with its own rendering machine. This is a wonderfully horrific pairing. It screams “you really don’t get much more evil than this.” And then it does. It turns out the machines are grinding up the medical students Tyson (Douglas Smith) has been bringing over as part of his volunteer medical team. This means the meat being rendered is humanitarian cuisine.

The season villain is truly horrific, clicking so much more than the usual horror cliché buttons. Nils Hagen is a mad scientist from a long line of mad scientists. His grandfather weaponized chlorine during World War I, and in tender moments, the family posed deceased children in death portraits. “Memento mori,” as Agent Shaan Tripathi (Kal Penn) puts it, were all the rage at the turn of the century. But photogenic dead kids leave a strange legacy. Nils has been a chemist all his life, it is in his blood. He was born knowing there is no need for fire to get rid of the even the most seemingly damning evidence. Bleach and steam is enough during company sale time, because DNA breaks down at 400 degrees. He says it incredibly matter-of-factly, like the epitome of a psychopathic chief executive. But it is part of his collective unconscious.

It appears Tyson has been trafficking the students because he wants a brother. But all his father’s offspring turn out still born deformities. The students used for breeding are kept in pens, like lambs before slaughter, as if this isn’t going to trigger more memories in Starling. But she dips into her childhood trauma to pull out the idea of all the trapped animals rushing out at once. It is unintentionally funny when the person they run into is Deputy Assistant Attorney General Paul Krendler (Michael Cudlitz), and they knock him to the ground beating tiny little fists into his burly chest.

Just when you think the Hagen family have had their fill of bad blood, the evil father gives his prodigal son a tasteless choice. “This girl is here for you to kill so you can prove you are here for me,” Hagen says. But Tyson’s third option is no less terrifying, nor less psychopathic. He points out Clarice’s strength, her intelligence, he almost pulls her mouth back so Hagen can inspect her teeth, and basically says have at her. Go forth and multiply, I’ll get the jars ready.

Clarice weaponizes psychiatry with a magic bullet. She really gets into Tyson’s head, possibly taking tips from her therapist, Dr. Renee Li (Grace Lynn Kung). Clarice not only gets him to kill his own father but blow his own head off. It’s amazing what you can get away with when you turn in your badge to people who want you to keep it. Hagen was right to have his “first doubts.”

Every major player gets some kind of personal satisfaction. Agent Ardelia Mapp (Devyn Tyler) files her own paperwork, and doesn’t care who gets papercuts. At the outset of the episode, we learn she’s been told to remain in her departmental office, and will be terminated if she plays around with ViCAP. She gets to tell Krendler she’ll be suggesting where her boss can stick his desk duty.

Agent Murray Clarke (Nick Sandow) gets to visibly enjoy it. It may be his happiest moment of the season, and that includes the ending when he is wrapping his ViCAP jacket around a young medical student he helps save. Mapp is also allowed some follow through. She lay her case out straight succinctly, and Special Agent Anthony Herman (David Hewlett) runs out of facial expressions long before she finishes citing out the most grievous offenses. He, like Hagen, hits every button on the cookie cutter of bad men with powers: top cops. It doesn’t matter what Herman says, or what he claims to believe. He was doomed to one-dimension the moment his first word of dialog was keyed into the script.

Agent Esquivel (Lucca De Oliveira) takes strong-arming a witness literally, brother. He has the head of CSA Security Specialists cheek-deep in paperclips at his own desk before arriving at the ViCAP meeting in time to answer a question hanging in the air. The timing on the show is amazingly fortuitous. His entrance into the scene is plays like an old Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse bit. But there are so many moments which coincidentally happen to occur at the last possible moment. Krendler happens to call Attorney General Ruth Martin (Jayne Atkinson) about extenuating circumstances, just as she’s getting spit on by a House representative.

Congressman Llewellyn Gant makes a hard choice easier for Ruth. He tells her to step down, and take care of her daughter Catherine (Marnee Carpenter). The Attorney General responds by giving the go-ahead on an assault which may have been caused by an out-of-control agent who assaulted a civilian. She also begins an investigation on which politicians were getting funding from Alistor, so she gets to stick it to the man. The entire team gets the tell-tale mourning music moaning low as the victims are escorted to vans, and Krendler is loaded into intensive care.

“Family is Freedom” is exactly the kind of ending Clarice promised from the beginning. It went through the paces far too steadily to have any other outcome. The biggest break in protocol is how Clarice Starling took down the two main culprits without lifting a finger. She raised her voice a few times, but the only triggers she pulled were in the minds of her prey. The main character gets what she wants as well, everyone appreciates her, apologizes to her or gifts her with new beads. She even gets time to visit her mother. Clarice gets enough closure to close out the series.

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