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Around the Fire (1998)
The quintessential film that captures wook life perfectly
I read a lot of the other reviews and based on much of the commentary, I get the sense that many people commenting on this did not read "the book". IYKYK.
This film captures wook life pretty well and although it may seem campy and not too serious, that is essentially what a lot of the wook drug band scene culture is like.
Simon becomes a Prep School Hippie after meeting a friend at his private school and being dragged to his first show. The movie captures the initiation into the scene pretty well and I'm sure anybody that got their start on Phish in the 90's might have a similar experience. You go to a show with no expectations and then you are hooked by the scene, the music, and the camaraderie.
The film captures the wook lot scene of the 90's perfectly. The scene where they eat gooballs is a nice touch and totally in line with how the scene was back then. Simon also has a lot of built up angst from his relationship with his parents and ends up finding a family on tour.
This isn't a movie about drugs being bad, although a lot of the movie is spent in rehab. This is a movie about wook band culture, which unfortunately includes the dark side of getting spun out on psychedelics. The plot shows Simon indulging himself into the scene and enjoying LSD a little too much and ultimately freaking out and getting arrested. The film shows some of the realities of wook band scene culture, including potential issues with drugs. Simon isn't an addict and he never was. He just took too much too fast one time and unfortunately law enforcement got involved. Many drug band aficionados can related to this without the being arrested part.
The scene where he starts to bug out is something many of us have seen on tour. Spun out wooks are all over the place. Except right now, they would be caught by somebody filming from their phone and then would be talked about on the Internet for a week or two. The film reminded me a lot of seeing shows at SPAC.
The end was really good when Simon tells his parents that he doesn't want to go to Europe with them for his graduation gift and instead flies out to San Francisco to catch up with his friends that he met on tour. I think he made the right choice. Going on wook band tour for a summer before college sounds awesome.
The Bear: Fishes (2023)
A beautiful messy trainwreck
This is one of the best episodes of any television show I've ever seen.
I love how the family tension is so clearly felt as this episode unfolds. The guest cast is impeccable. John Mulaney, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gillian Jacobs were perfect. John Mulaney, especially. Going from Andrew Glouberman to this episode shows a really nice range but he still maintains his own personal charm.
The backstory of Carm and his siblings is filled in with this episode. We can see the pure chaos he's used to, the reason he decides to get out of town for a while, and also the reason he returns.
Pure genius episode. This should win some awards.
A Million Little Things: Father's Day (2023)
Why does it take two days to drive from New Haven to Boston?
Sophie and Tyrell are traveling from Yale to Boston and have sex in a hotel room.
For some reason it takes them two days to make a trip that takes everybody else three hours. I have a feeling the writers of this show purposely misrepresent everything about Boston, landmarks, distances, etc on purpose for the point of being absurd.
This is a common and recurring "joke" throughout the show.
The Delilah plot line is also infuriating. She is a very unlikeable character, probably a borderline narcissist. She takes Eddie's kid from him, heads to France and thinks her way is the only way. She comes back to Boston and doesn't even seem to be too interested in seeing her two other kids that she abandoned. What a clown.
Outer Banks (2020)
It's like if the Goonies had a baby with The 100
This show starts off pretty good and draws you in immediately, showing class war between the rich and the poor in a vacation community on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. You see this dynamic at play in many vacation spots, so it's somewhat relatable for some people.
The show follows this group of 4 - 6 kids (depending where you are in the show) that are constantly on the hunt for some treasure.
Let me be clear - nothing about this show is realistic in any way. These high school kids know everything about everything. They know how to use a gun, they can outrun the police, pirates, international criminals, and anybody that is on to them. They can survive on a deserted island and apparently know how to become expert fishers, hunters, and gatherers in an instant.
The kids are constantly making poor decisions. For some reason people were not using cell phones throughout most of the first season of the show, which was strange. I understand there is a power outage, but people would still be taking videos and pictures.
They also survive everything. Capsized boat in the middle of a hurricane? No problem! They never seem hungry, despite always being on the run. They can take some tiny rickety old boat from Barbados to North Carolina on a whim - this is almost 2,000 miles of open sea!
The show is very entertaining, but it gets kind of repetitive: kids are on the hunt for something, kids are being chased, shot at, imprisoned, hunted, etc. And always seem to get away.
It starts off kind of like the Goonies and then turns into something like The 100 after a bit based on how absolutely ridiculous the plot lines are. I would NOT be surprised if in Season 4 the kids find out about some treasure on the Moon and are able to easily hijack a space shuttle and end up meeting Bellamy and Clarke from The 100.
Happiest Season (2020)
A fun and well done relationship-themed Christmas movie
Kristen Stewart (Abby) and Mackenzie Davis (Harper) star in this feel-good Christmas movie that is more of a rom-com than it is a Christmas movie.
Good supporting performances from Mary Steenburgen (Harper's mom), Mary Holland (Jane - Harper's sister), Alison Brie (Sloane - Harper's sister), and Dan Levy (Abby's friend), and Aubrey Plaza (Riley).
The movie's plot is centered around Sloane inviting her girlfriend Abby back to her family's house for the Christmas holiday and dealing with Sloane's family who has no clue she's a lesbian.
Sloane goes home and re-inserts herself into her hometown and family life for a few days while Abby is outcasted and forgotten throughout most of the movie. The scenes with Abby and Riley are fun and I was kind of rooting for them to end up together at the end. John (Dan Levy) basically plays Dan Levy in this as Abby's gay friend who is there to support her and help her in her times of need.
Kristen Stewart is always so cool in her movies. She's a woefully underrated actress.
It's a quirky, emotional Christmas movie with a happy ending. There are a lot of of those feel-good and funny moments scattered throughout the movie that keeps it entertaining.
It also covers some of the hardships of sexual preferences when dealing with family perceptions, perceived responsibilities, and acceptance.
The Noel Diary (2022)
It's like the writers pulled random meet-cute and holiday rom-com cliches from a hat
The entire movie was terrible. We were watching it and almost every scene had some very stupid things going on. Here's a partial list:
Dude doesn't even realize his mom died. What's up with that?
How does the dude barely remember his nanny? Sure, he must have vague memories of the nanny from when he was four years old, but he seems to not even remember having a nanny at all.
We find out that there is some bad thing that happened with the dad, but when he shows up at his dad's house, there is a weird scene with the dad chopping down a random Christmas tree with an axe - when he's living off the grid why isn't he using a chainsaw or a handsaw? The dad was preparing for his estranged son's arrival by chopping down a pine tree with an axe?
The couple sleeps in the car in what appears to be sub-freezing temperatures. They'd die.
When the couple stays in the small town in separate rooms, they seem to let the dog just run free - in the bookstore, in the B&B and then the dog kind of disappears at the screening of It's a Wonderful Life.
There seems to be absolutely NO point in the woman having a fiancee. The entire point of this movie is that she comes back and tries to find out about her mom. The fact that she has a fiancee makes her look like some kind of cheating scumbag.
The ending of the movie was pointless. The bulk of the movie is centered around trying to find more information about her mother - why didn't the movie end with her and her birth mother having some sort of loving reunion? The ending focused on this love relationship between the main dude and the cheating main lady.
The scene with the main dude catching up with his dad is so weird - like they haven't seen each other for 35 years and then they catch up in a matter of minutes and they are all good. Later on in the movie, it is revealed that the dad was sending letters that the main dude never received. Why didn't the dad just call or reach out in some other way? This movie wasn't set in the 1700's.
When the main dude is catching up with dad and decorating the tree, they leave the main lady outside in the freezing cold with the dog! Come on - invite her inside!
Later in the movie, the main dude finds a stack of letters from his dad that he never received. This makes no sense at all - it's not like the mom had a reason to withhold the letters from him.
The movie was god awful. It's like the writers put a bunch of terrible "meet-cute" and rom-com movie holiday cliches into a hat and just pulled randomly to make this garbage film. Nothing made any sense.
I feel bad for the dog.
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Matrix meets The Truman Show meets Get Out
This movie starts out in one of those picture-perfect 1950's suburban neighborhoods, depicting housewives that are done up perfectly and husbands that all go off to their important job every day. The characters are beautiful, the setting is gorgeous, and the homes have that cool mid-century feel to them.
Not too far into the movie we get the sense that something is a bit off with the characters and something more sinister is looming. Duh duh duh! It's a pretty common theme that I truly enjoy, even with bad movies. This is not a bad movie, but it is definitely nothing original.
As the movie trods along at a decent pace, we see Alice (Florence Pugh) begin to realize what's going on, but it's unclear whether she's losing her mind or if she's part of some sick world. Her husband Jack (Harry Styles) seems to brush off her concerns as their entire world starts to unravel. I thought Florence Pugh played the part really well - I remember her from Midsommar and she does well in these movies about demented societies. Harry Styles was a bit blah in his role - I didn't get much from his character but maybe his lack of personality was supposed to be part of what he was trying to do.
We also get a glimpse of the "villian", Frank (played by Chris Pine), who does a great job in this role. He's that character with debonair good looks but is entirely hateable. He's like that slimy snake oil salesman that is able to con anybody into anything.
Ultimately we find out that the entire world is some sort of Matrix-like simulation which is enslaving the wives and ultimately meets its demise.
There are some parts of the movie that don't really make sense such as the plane crashing into the mountain. What was the point of this and why is there a plane if they are in some computer simulation world? This is not an unimportant event either - this was the event that spawned Alice's curiosity and led to all of the plot lines in the latter half of the movie.
It's a pretty quick and entertaining movie, but not something that is worthy of multiple re-watches. I liked the plot and enjoy these pseudo-sci-fi movies that involve alternate universes - in this case a simulation.
House of Hammer (2022)
A look into bad behavior of a wealthy family
I watched this docu-series on somebody else's recommendation. I didn't know who Armie Hammer was before I saw this series, but did vaguely recognize his name. The docuseries mentioned The Social Network and Call Me By Your Name. Haven't seen the latter movie yet, so maybe that's why I didn't know who this guy is.
The docuseries is very weak and poorly done. It revolves around a few women telling the viewers about their online and in-person experiences with Armie Hammer, with some random Tik Tock video creators providing commentary. The first episode is confusing because it mostly focuses on Armie Hammer's text messages to various women online. The content of the messages is very sexually explicit, but nothing out of the ordinary between two people that are discussing sexual desires and fantasies. There were allusions to eating skin and bondage, but it is clear the guy isn't a cannibal. Big deal - he stated some pretty explicit things through text message. Whatever. There was also a focus on shibari rope play, which is a pretty common art form where people use ropes to tie people in beautiful ways. For some reason, the docuseries tried to make it seem as if rope play is some sort of sinister and depraved activity. They even played ominous music when discussing shibari. I felt the first episode was more about kink-shaming than anything else. I am simply not interested that some no-name actor was sending women weird sexual messages on Instagram. Who cares?
The parts of the docuseries with Courtney Vucekovich were also a bit puzzling to me. She had an ongoing relationship with Armie most likely because he's a sort-of-celebrity. She describes one evening where he was very drunk and she was not, but went along with him in trying to do some rope play. For some reason this is supposed to be a big deal for the viewers? She was uncomfortable with this after the fact, yet still continued to date him and even met his mother?
Let me be clear - Armie Hammer and his family come off as spoiled, privileged men of low moral character. They are definitely scumbags and use their fame and wealth to prey on women to get what they want sexually. No doubt about that. But nothing in this entire series indicates that Armie is a rapist or anything other than some drunken famous idiot with sexual fantasies that push some boundaries for people.
A portion of the second episode focuses on Armie's aunt describing her father (probably around 30 years old at the time) having parties in LA in the 70's that were fueled by booze, sex, and cocaine. Big deal!! Who cares? Yes, these men were drunken idiots and despicable human beings, but I'm not sure why this warrants an entire docuseries.
This entire docuseries fell flat. I'm not even sure what the point of it is. It's not really a "me too" type of series since there were no real accusations of sexual assault or abuse and Armie is not really denying anything that he is accused of doing. The docuseries seems like it focuses on people who were wronged by the horrible men in this pathetic family.
The grandfather dies and the granddaughter is one camera whining about *only* getting $250,000 for an inheritance because her brother was gifted a lot more. Give me a break. That is far more than most people will ever see as a lump sum.
Nothing really happened in this entire series.
The third episode spent a good portion of the second half documenting google searches for things like "Will Armie Hammer make a comeback?" and then highlighting quotes from random articles.
There is one woman named Julia Morrison who plays a good part of the interview time discussing her online conversations with Armie, but she never actually ever met the man! It's almost like these people want to be victimized over online conversations. I get it - you talk to somebody and spend your emotional energy through online interactions and you might feel like a fool afterwards, but come on...you never even met up with him in real life. Who cares?
One final comment - the docuseries briefly mentions Armie Hammer's private Instagram account that shows videos of him doing stupid things like drinking and driving and snorting lines of cocaine. Again - this is not a big deal at all. To put that in perspective, our current president's son has terabytes of this type of content with far more explicit videos and the general public doesn't even seem to care about that. If they don't care about the son of a sitting president doing far worse things on video, then why should anybody care about some no-name actor posting stupid things to his hidden Instagram account?
I just fail to see the relevance of anything that was discussed in this entire series. Maybe the production was all wrong, maybe it was that there was no real big secret or horrific thing that was uncovered. It is only an expose of what is unfortunately very common behavior by wealthy men that think they are something special.
Relying on Google searches and Tik Tok accounts as one of the primary sources of information makes for a very boring docuseries.
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 (2022)
Engaging docu-series that anybody in their late 30's to 40's can relate to
Even if you didn't attend Woodstock '99, you probably knew somebody who did if you were born in the mid 70's to the mid 80's.
This docu-series is three episodes long, each around 45 minutes in length, so it can be watched from start to finish in one viewing. The series presents some excellent footage from the festival that shows how crazy this event was. It also includes some good first-person interviews from people that attended 22 years ago and interviews with the promoters and management that were involved.
This review will not be specifically of the quality of the documentary, although I found it to be done very well. One of the major themes of the promoter's wishes was to bring back the spirit of the original Woodstock, which would have been nearly impossible with this musical lineup and how it was being promoted. I recall being in college at the time and the people I knew that were excited about it were definitely the types to attend for the sole purpose of getting as drunk as possible and partying for three straight days. It seems that is what many other festival goers were doing, too.
The world was a much different place in 1999 than it was in 1969. Back in the 60's, I presume that young folks were a bit more socially active and conscious while in the midst of seeing their friends and families being forced to go to war in Vietnam. For the 1999 festival, the promoters were trying to find some sort of "cause" for the attendees to rally around and they happened to select gun violence. However, this feels a bit contrived - not to say that it wasn't an issue - due to most of the attendees not really having a strong opinion about it one way or another. The motivation there was to party and have a good time. The late 90's were kind of very indulgent times. I did not know it at the time, but looking back they were the culture of the youth was very indulgent and aggressive.
The one thing that this documentary lacks was that they never really touched upon the ACTUAL cause that people were interested in. Even the festival goers did not know what it was, but it's clear to most people and in hindsight that these people were rallying against corporate greed, which resulted in them being treated like animals and being taken advantage of. It's unfortunate that the documentary was not as clear as it could have been to make this a very important point. There are discussions of greed and profits, but it was never presented as a central and major theme for which people were fighting against in their own ways.
I think the kids of the 1990's addressed these types of issues with rioting, chaos, and anarchy where the kids of the 1960's may have taken a bit of a softer tone. Perhaps this is the natural progression of things and the kids of the 1990's realized that the more peaceful, softer methods don't get you anywhere.
The documentary also shows the failures of the organizers, the horrific logistical scenarios that played out, and the sort of artificial feeling of "peace, love, and unity" that they were trying to promote.
Maybe instead of looking at this festival as a trainwreck, we can look at it as an indictment of corporate greed and how people truly feel about it. After being treated like caged animals that were drinking feces contaminated water, it kind of makes sense that they would want to burn the entire thing to the ground. Wouldn't you be a little angry, too?
Less Than Zero (1987)
I watched this after re-reading the book and it is not the same story
If you enjoyed Bret Easton Ellis' "Less Than Zero" and wanted to see how it would come to life on the screen, then you will be horribly disappointed in this film.
The film focuses on Clay (Andrew McCarthy), Blair (Jami Gertz), and Julian (Robert Downey Jr.) during the holiday break of their first year after graduating high school.
Clay is off attending an expensive private liberal arts college in the northeast and comes back with the hope of spending time with Blair. The film focuses more on Julian's addiction to drugs and his ultimate demise, as Blair and Clay try to be there for him.
The film deviates from the book so much that it is not the same story at all. The book presents more of a drug-induced Clay where the movie presents him as some clean-cut innocent little boy. The film's central plotline is Julian's drug addiction, where the book uses this as a thematic concept but doesn't define the entire plot.
The film is missing a lot of debauchery, drug use, and more importantly Clay's feelings - or lack of feeling - that were present in the book. Many of the prominent themes and scenes in the book did not make their way into the film. The allusions to "Disappear Here" do not come through at all in the film. The book does not necessarily paint Rip (James Spader) as some sort of evil villain until towards the end, but the film portrays him as some sort of central character to the story instead of being part of a larger ensemble.
I get it though. This film was produced and released in the middle of the Reagan 80's when there was a huge emphasis on "Drugs are bad, mmmmkay?" which clearly influenced the production of this film.
The drug use in the book is not portrayed as bad or good and there is no moral opinion on the subject, but the film was clearly made with an anti-drug slant - almost to the point of being a propaganda piece akin to those old commercials with the father frying an egg and saying "This is your brain on drugs" or the kid yelling at his dad telling him "I learned it from watching you!".
However, with all of the deviations from the book, the film IS a very good 80's period piece (I don't know if it could be considered that but it does capture some of the essence of the 80's) with some big names.
James Spader puts forth a top-notch performance of a true sociopath. Andrew McCarthy's Clay is absolutely not the same character that Bret Easton Ellis wrote about. The romance between Clay and Blair is also a lot more than what was presented in the book. But for purposes of this film, it worked - assuming that it's a completely different story.
I'm giving this a 5 only because of the major differences between the film and book versions of the story. If it was a standalone film that was not based on a book, it would be a 7/10 from me.
The Parent Trap (1998)
A movie about failed parenting and self-absorption
This is a quirky Disney flick that is geared toward children and families. A very young Lindsay Lohan plays twin sisters Annie and Hallie who were torn apart when they were babies and before they could remember they each had a sister.
The first part of the movie takes place at a rustic Maine summer camp and includes all of the typical rascally hijinks you'd expect to see in a movie about young children at a sleepaway camp. Hallie shows up at the camp from Napa Valley, where she lived in an enormous mansion with her father who is some sort of mega-rich winemaker. Annie shows up at the camp from London, where she lived in an enormous mansion with her mother, who is some sort of world-renowned dress designer. Privilege is abound in this flick!
The two girls discover that they are sisters by talking about their home lives and families and devise a plan to get their parents back together. It all works out in the end and the parents to reunite, but at what cost?
Randy Quaid plays Nick Parker and Natasha Richardson plays Elizabeth James as the parents of Hallie and Annie. It is revealed that the two had a fling of a relationship, popped out twins, and then decided to split. The arrangement was that each parent would take a twin and then never allow their daughters to know that they have a twin sister.
Essentially, each of the parents willfully abandoned one of their children just so they could go on with their own self-absorbed personal lives to chase their "dreams" and large sums of money. Nick Parker and Elizabeth James may be two of the worst villains you might see. However, the producers at Disney do not portray it this way and instead portray Nick's fiancee, Meredith Blake (played by Elaine Hendrix) as the villain.
Annie (now in Napa) plots to destroy Nick and Meredith's relationship and ultimately succeeds. Meredith Blake may not be likable due to her acidic personality and questionable motives for marrying Nick, but she is by no means the villain here.
Nick and Elizabeth are two of the worst parents around. They essentially lied to their daughters for 11 years. Nick fell in love and became engaged to Meredith and lied to her about his deep, dark secret, too!
Ultimately, the movie celebrates the two lowlifes for falling back in love, getting back together, and reuniting Hallie and Annie. I guess the lesson here is that even the bad guys win sometimes.
A Million Little Things: Surprise (2022)
Another episode where Maggie becomes more dislikable
If you've made it this far in the show, you are already aware that Maggie is a self-centered twit that seems to continually destroy the good things in her life.
This episode takes the cake, though. Her truly amazing boyfriend that happens to be a Bruins player throws her a surprise party in grand fashion. This guy is a true gem and it seemed that he and Maggie were in a very good relationship and truly were falling in love.
Until Gary the homewrecker shows up. Gary is the type of guy that is always butting into everybody else's life and this is no different. Immediately after he blew up his wonderful relationship with Darcy because he is a psychopath with clear anger management issues and violent tendencies, he then sulks about for a while as he thinks of Maggie.
Knowing very well that Maggie is in a relationship, Gary seems to always be lurking around the corner and feeding Maggie some depressing lines until she thinks that this violent psychopath is the right guy for her instead of her wonderful boyfriend. At her own birthday party, Maggie chases down Gary as he is leaving and proceeds to have a make-out session in the elevator before heading back to her own party that her boyfriend threw for her.
I guess Maggie and Gary deserve each other. They can make each other miserable. But hey, at least they both are cancer survivors, which seems t be the only thing that keeps them connected.
Episode after episode, we watch these nitwits completely blow up their lives over and over and yet they seem to go on living their lives as if nothing has ever happened. The entire friend group is nothing but a bunch of narcissistic sociopaths.
Swan Song (2021)
A near-future relationship drama that falls flat
I was looking forward to seeing this film because Mahershala Ali is the lead actor, playing the two main characters (Cameron and Jack) and anything he is in seems to be pure gold. Not this time around, although he does deliver a very endearing and emotional performance in both roles.
The major thematic element of the is rooted in the individual's dedication to family through any means possible and the individual's internal struggle.
The film centers around Cameron, who is about to be a new father and also has a terminal cancer diagnosis. The film is set in the near future and could easily be a stunted love-child if Black Mirror and Westworld had a baby. If you are a fan of both shows, you will immediately see the thematic similarities between that show and this film as they relate to technology and bioethics. More specifically, you will see things like autonomous vehicles, human cloning, contact lenses that serve as cameras, artificial intelligence, digitizing of memories and brain activity, and a bunch of fancy futuristic computer technology.
Cameron is faced with the possibility of dying of terminal cancer and leaving his young wife and their child without a father. The film takes a lot of time showing the love in their relationship and their backstory which is essentially one of those meet cute cliches you see so often in many rom coms.
Both unfortunately for Cameron, human beings have not found the cure for cancer just yet, but have found a way to clone a human being and alter the clone's DNA to erase genetic material that contributes to cancer. It is clear from the beginning that this is a new technology and that there have only been a few test patients to use this technology.
Cameron is faced with the choice of either dying of cancer and leaving his wife and future child without a father or being able to clone himself and transfer all of his memories and life experience to the clone (Jack) that will then go on to live as him without any knowledge that he is actually a clone. In the meantime, Cameron is kept in isolation until he dies of his terminal illness.
Much of the movie is a very slow burn, without much actually happening. Most of the scenes take place in the isolated lab, at Cameron and Poppy's home, and as flashbacks to various points in Cameron and Poppy's relationship.
The film does a good job of appealing to the viewer's sentimental and emotional senses as the tragedy of the plot unfolds. However, the presentation falls flat and the film moves along at a snail's pace and doesn't develop any truly gripping storylines that the viewers can immerse themselves into. This film could have been made without all of the pseudo-techno elements.
One of the major problems surrounding the entire point of the film is related to the fact that humans have advanced bio-engineering so far to produce a perfect human clone, to recreate memories and emotions in a digital sense, and to genetically engineer cancer out of a clone but science STILL has not found a real cure for cancer. It makes you wonder if the pharmaceutical companies are behind this movie to show that yes, cancer will never be cured and that we'll always have to rely on very expensive and elaborate methods that they develop to somehow beat it or treat it.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Fresh take on the timeless "alternate universe" theme
This movie is a journey that takes us through the life of Evelyn, an overburdened, stressed-out middle aged mother, wife, and business owner that simply can't catch a break. Soon after the start of the movie, we are transported into various alternative universes in which she resides, all of which are created by the decisions previously made in her life. Essentially, the setting in this movie is similar to a choose-your-own-adventure book.
Evelyn is called upon by people in other parallel universes to defeat the villian, who is eventually identified as her own daughter. As Evelyn moves through various universes, she sees how her life might have turned out had different choices been made throughout the years and millennia. The movie is filled with irreverent humor that had some moviegoers belting out hearty guffaws! There are elements of the over-the-top type of martial arts scenes you might find in spoofs of kung fu movies. But at this movie's core, we find that it is a story about how you can choose to love the life you have and embrace it completely. As Evelyn is shown all of her different realities in the parallel universes, she still comes back to love the one she is currently living in with all of its problems and flaws.
The movie drags on just a bit long. Jamie Lee Curtis's role in this movie adds to the quirkiness. The visuals are presented as a sort of dream sequence at times and they provide constant stimulation.
It's definitely worth a watch and is truly a unique movie that incorporates a lot of common thematic elements.
The Hunt (2020)
Entertaining black humor flick with just enough gore
I heard about this movie in early 2020 and was looking forward to its initial release, but apparently it was pushed back due to various reasons. There was a theory floating around that it was postponed due to the presidential election, or maybe that was a conspiracy theory used to market the movie, since the plot is based on baseless conspiracy theories.
At its core, The Hunt is a dark comedy with a short run time that satirizes elements of what some may call a "class war" in America. It pits elites against conservatives and packs in the stereotypes. The elites are out of touch billionaires that feign to care about the cause-du-jour (climate change, AIDS, Haiti crises, etc.) and the conservatives are mostly gun-toting, hunting, poor "deplorables" that love to give light to conspiracy theories on the Internet.
I found the movie to be pretty clever and entertaining. There is definitely a lot of over-the-top gore and pretty much everybody dies. The cast is eclectic, with a lot of familiar faces from your favorite movies and TV shows. Glenn Howerton of It's Always Sunny, "Kevin" from This is Us, Hillary Swank, Emma Roberts, and many more are featured.
I recommend The Hunt for a quick, entertaining watch.
Crystal (the main character) gives a pretty funny monologue that expands on the fable of the tortoise and the hare.
Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021)
Well-executed, unique, mocku-sitcom/dramedy show
My initial excitement about this show stemmed from the fact that it is set in Worcester and is filmed around Massachusetts and that Annie Murphy is the lead actress.
The show follows Allison McRoberts, the sitcom wife of Kevin. I am two episodes in and am loving it so far. At first glance, it may seem like a typical sitcom about an obtuse and offensive husband, a gorgeous wife, and their goofy neighbors.
The "comedy" scenes are completely over the top, full of laugh tracks, cheesy intro music, and obvious studio-set lighting. These scenes are brilliant in the way that they both pay homage to and mock the stereotypical sitcom (Married With Children is the one that comes to mind) tropes: men being men, beer drinking, stupid hijinks, etc. The living room set is almost an exact replica of what you see on Everybody Loves Raymond and Married With Children. The sitcom scenes are meant to be obnoxious and the characters are meant to be as annoying as possible.
The show instead focuses on Allison's feelings of despair and hopelessness. Throughout the scenes without Kevin, the mood changes by using different camera angles, lighting, and the absence of the fake laughs and cheesy music.
Two episodes in, I get the sense that this show is going to be much deeper than typical sitcoms and will have a long-range arc for Allison, all while mixing in the irreverent scenes with Kevin.
A few notes about the setting: the show is not actually shot in Worcester, but does manage to include somethings that only locals would understand, such as the yellow bags that are used for trash collection. Many of the geographical references such as street names do not actually exist, but there are plenty of references to Boston sports and local arenas and businesses.
Annie Murphy is great in this show and I did find myself amused by the over the top "sitcom" scenes. I'm hoping this show sticks around for at least a few more seasons.
Big Sky (2020)
This show is aimless and boring
I thought this was going to be a decent suspenseful crime drama after the first episode, but it is a meandering, pointless trainwreck. There are too many pointless plot lines that don't do anything to add to the overall arc, if there is one.
Songbird (2020)
At its core, this movie is a terribly executed romance/action film that tried to take advantage of a COVID-based setting
Set in a dystopian Los Angeles which pretty much resembles current day reality with amplified features, this movie is about one man's quest to reunite with his lover.
It seems that this movie was created to be the first major motion picture to have COVID as a main focal point of the setting. Most of what is shown in the movie is a conspiracy theorist's wet dream of 2020 and 2021. The setting of the movie is what drew me to it in the first place and what it portrays is everything that America is experiencing in 2020 and 2021, but in a hyperbolized form. The movie shows lockdowns, government curfews, medical identification devices, the gaps between the wealthy and the ordinary, the oppressive governmental regulations, etc. It is essentially a hyperbolized version of the current world circa 2020-2021.
This is the only semi-interesting feature of the entire flick. The plotline is extremely dull and boring - almost pointless. Some random dude who works as a courier and happens to be one of the few that is immune to the COVID virus has a girlfriend or lover that can not leave her apartment. They speak through video chat on a regular basis until all hell breaks loose and there is a need to rescue her. He eventually frees her and they ride up the Pacific Coast Highway on a motorcycle as some overweight, slovenly, introvert suffering from PTSD follows them on a drone and broadcasts his video to his new virtual friend who happens to be a gorgeous pop star that is relegated to singing on the internet.
What happens in between the start and the end is a terribly executed action movie. There are car chases, gun battles, and tense encounters with the law enforcement that are completely forgettable. This film tries to be an action movie, a romance movie, and some sort of cutting-edge dystopian film all in one and it failed at all three.
You can not feel any real connection between the courier and his lover. The action is flat and boring. The dystopian-nature of the setting never evokes any real emotions of despair and hopelessness like one might experience in better films like Brazil, Outbreak, Contagion, Blade Runner, Running Man, etc.
At a short 82 minutes, it might be worth a watch if you want to zone out to a terrible movie just to see what the fuss is about. It's not much of a time commitment but it's definitely not worth the $5.99 it currently costs for a streaming rental.
One additional comment about the cast: the cast is flush with talent including the timelessly beautiful Demi Moore, the brooding, scheming Bradley Whitford, and the ravishingly beautiful Alexandra Daddario . All of the characters are easily forgettable, as is this flick. There is zero depth for every single character in the movie. It's as if they literally feel nothing.
I Care a Lot (2020)
This is not a good movie
This movie's premise - that caregivers take advantage of their wards - is an idea that seems plausible, even likely considering the heinous and greedy things that people do to each other. I was hoping for more based on the cast.
The movie's plotline seems like it was written by taking a bunch of random ideas written on pieces of paper, thrown into a hat, and then drawing a few with the intent to tie them all together somehow.
The characters are all horrible people with no development whatsoever throughout the film. Who are they? Why are they doing what they do? We really don't have much of an idea.
The movie is an aimless trainwreck that includes pointless montages over cheesy upbeat music, a shallow love story between two women, random gun shootouts, various druggings that seem to almost work, a ridiculous car crash scene, and an ending that is completely unbelievable. The "villians" in this movie are secret members of some Russian organized crime syndicate, but seem to be completely incompetent when faced with dealing with a sociopathic suburban white woman. One would think that they know how to kill and dispose of a body after drugging her and rendering her unconscious. Instead, they develop some over the top scheme to make her death look like a car crash. Why didn't they kill her first and then crash the car?
Why does it seem that these tranquilizer drugs are readily available at the local pharmacy since everybody seems to have them when needed? How are the judicial system and the caretaking facilities so inept at dealing with their "wards"? The major plot line of the story relies on the viewer believing that the state would kidnap a perfectly healthy older woman and without any sort of serious medical assessment and then hand her over to a caretaker without allowing family any sort of access.
The acting is sub-mediocre. Peter Dinklage is certainly no Tyrion Lannister in this bomb. I can't tell if Rosamund Pike actually portrays a sociopath really well or if her lack of showing anything in this movie is one of her flaws.
It's a very bad movie, but it's pretty much what I have come to expect from movies produced by Netflix.
Animals.: Humans (2017)
This episode seems very relevant in 2020 and early 2021
This is the only episode to date that is not animated and involves actual actors on the screen.
An evil corporation has taken over power and control of everything, selling products that people need for every aspect of their lives. Through this, they also develop a strange virus that infects the population of New York and the cure for the sickness the virus causes.
The government representatives are weak and the President is an actual puppet in this episode - greenlighting anything that the evil corporation does.
I love the dark comedy and satire in this one. It really hits home when watched in context of what's happening right now.
A Million Little Things (2018)
This show is a highly entertaining trainwreck with amusingly hateable characters
I am more than halfway through Season 2 right now and after the first episode, I was impressed with the themes and the concept. I gave the show a shot hoping that the writers would create deal with real life issues, complex relationships, and relatable life experiences.
Boy, was I wrong. This show has devolved into a cesspool full of self-absorbed narcissists that continually whine about trivial things while brushing off major issues in their lives. This show is somehow marketed as a story about a group of tightly knit friends that always have each other's backs. Instead, we see unrealistic responses and reactions to everything that comes their way.
The characters have zero depth. The backstabbing cattiness is always present, but never spoken. There is more character development in some of those run-of-the-mill XXX movies that involve a pizza boy delivering food to a lonely wife. The characters whine, complain, and spend as much emotional energy equally on trivial matters as they do with very serious life and death situations.
The plot lines are completely absurd and the twists have become comical. There is one episode where a character's dog gets away and within minutes the entire friend group descends upon his neighborhood within minutes from all over Boston to help him search the city, only to realize the dog got into the trash room in his apartment building. It's as if the characters only serve to enable each other's wretched behavior. The secret children, the heart transplant, the ease at which people can simply get over an incestuous affair and pregnancy, and the obvious poor financial decisions followed by a continued life of luxury will suck you in.
The show is set in Boston, but it seems as if the writers know nothing about the City. The Gary character clearly gets all his clothing at the TJ Maxx at Shopper's World in Framingham. If Boston sports teams didn't exist, this guy would have no style. The atmosphere doesn't capture even an iota of the essence of the city. There is never any traffic, these people all have fancy cars despite living in the heart of the City where parking is nearly impossible and they never take the T to travel around. A trip from Brookline to Inman Square takes a matter of a few minutes in this show. If you're from Boston you know this is absurd. Two of the characters open a restaurant, which is a very expensive endeavor in Boston and Cambridge, plan to open it without a liquor license or certificate of occupancy and then happen to snap their fingers to have a white knight ride in and magically obtain these things which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The writers use cheap tricks over and over again to advance plot lines. For example, the characters tend to throw important pieces of private information into the trash and another character discovers it, which then leads to the next plot line. This happened with Delilah's pregnancy test, Rome's suicide letter, and again when Maggie threw away her funeral song playlist.
This show is like watching a raging conflagration and having the firefighters accidentally hook their hoses up to a gasoline storage tank instead of a fire hydrant. The characters are so hateable due to almost always making the wrong decision (except Katherine), but so loveable due to the pure entertainment value that their dysfunctional lives bring the viewer.
UPDATE:
I have caught up to the current episode and the show continues on with the characters' incessant whining and complete inability to handle adult situations. The "Gary" character continues to become more annoying, as he makes poor decision after poor decision. The "Boston" setting is becoming more ludicrous, especially after seeing one scene where a couple characters are looking for apartments and they show listings that are clearly not remotely close to Boston.
Many of the episodes that aired through 2021 come off as smug virtue signaling. For a few episodes, COVID is front and center and then all of a sudden it is completely absent from the plot of the show. The plot lines of the episodes through 2021 are basically rehashing the kind of white-washed hashtag activism you see from suburban white women that post on Instagram and Facebook. These episodes are basically echoing the "cause-du-jour" that many people witnessed through viral memes on social media and they do a terrible job of it all. The show tried to address things like hate crimes against Asians, the black lives matter movement, transgender issues, and abortion but it came off as totally insincere and completely shallow and tone-deaf. It's almost as if the writers are mocking some very serious and deeply rooted issues.
A Million Little Things: Ten Years (2019)
Maggie is a horrible person
I never really got a good feeling about the Maggie character during Season 2 and this episode solidified that sentiment.
Much of the writing is completely unbelievable throughout the entire show, but the old dog switcheroo situation is both cruel and unbelievable. If the writers of this show are trying to create the most hateable characters on television, they are succeeding.
Carol (2015)
A story of discovering self-fulfillment against the backdrop repressive post WW2 family values
Carol (played by Cate Blanchett) is introduced in the movie as somebody who lives a life of wealth and privilege as she is shopping for a Christmas gift for a young girl. Therese (Rooney Mara) is the shop clerk that helps Carol and returns some gloves to Carol that she forgot at Therese's shop. This interaction piques both characters' interest in each other.
The film is set in post-WW2 New York City and portrays some of the more conservative family values that seemed to be very prevalent around that time.
As the plot unfolds, we find that Carol is in a failing marriage to Harge (Kyle Chandler) and has a daughter with him. Harge is a man that comes from a very conservative family that surrounds themselves with the high-society types. Within this dynamic, we see that Carol has been very suffocated for a good part of her marriage to Harge and is striving to break free to find her own individual contentment. He and his family characterize her "unorthodox" lifestyle decisions, such as sleeping with other women, as immoral and reprehensible to the point of stalking her and privately filming her in order to use the "evidence" in a messy custody battle for their daughter.
Other reviews have mentioned that this is a love story, but I saw it as a story of self-realization, with her relationship with Therese as a driving force toward this end. Therese is much younger than Carol and has her entire life ahead of her. She is also on her own journey of self-discovery. Toward the end of the film, we see Therese starting out her own career, through the path that she made for herself. Many of the deeper intricacies of the plot are implied, such as when Carol gifts a nice camera to Therese that tells us she is supportive of Therese's endeavors to go out and make a life for herself - the kind of life that Carol has been looking for her entire life. A life of freedom to do what she wants on her own terms.
American Honey (2016)
This movie is a meandering, aimless trainwreck
Some reviews have been comparing this film to Larry Clark's "Kids", but other than following around a group of high-school and young adult aged people and giving the viewers some insight into their lives, there isn't much resemblance.
Be prepared for a long film with many scenes that seem to extend far beyond their intended purpose and a lot of fluffy filler shots of flowers and landscapes. The film could have easily been reduced to two hours and maintained the same impact on the viewers.
The story is set in America's midwest about a young lady named Star (Sasha Lane) who seems to be in a dead-end situation in her own personal life. The film does a very good job of portraying the bleak hopelessness and malaise that seems to be persistent throughout Star's world and life. She sees a group of traveling misfits making a scene at a grocery store and becomes intrigued about their lifestyle. Eventually she joins the delinquents in an adventure to make money through a door-to-door magazine selling scam.
The film is about her journey to find a place where she feels that she belongs. There is a pretty run-of-the mill love triangle involving Star, Jake (Shia LaBeouf), and the head of the gang of future meth-heads. The flick has it all in terms of trainwreck qualities. There is a poor shoot-out scene, a lot of horrible decision making on the part of Star including severe alcoholism and prostitution. Star doesn't really go anywhere in this movie and seems to go from one desperate, hopeless situation to another one.
There is no real overarching moral to this story. It is more of a snapshot of what can be assumed to be a somewhat typical life of a young adult living in America's meth basket of a heartland. The importance of the film is captured in the mood and the ambience that surrounds Star and the group of degenerates that likely have accomplished everything they will ever accomplish in their miserable, pointless, putrid lives by the time they were 15 years old.
The soundtrack is a huge highlight of this film, with an excellent mix of some heavy hitting hip-hop and ethereal indie tunes.
Beasts of No Nation (2015)
This is a story of loss and rebirth (SPOILERS)
The movie starts out following a typical middle-class family living in a small village in what appears to be West Africa. The movie then expands the context and shows us that the town is in the middle of a battle between the corrupt and violent United Nations backed government forces and the ragged pack of rebel fighters.
As the peaceful townspeople decide to ship away women and children to allow the men to stay back and fight, there is no room for some of the younger boys, so they are also to stay behind. Agu, the film's protagonist, ends up witnessing the United Nations backed government forces senselessly execute all of his family members that remained in the village. Fortunately, Agu is able to flee these mentally disturbed, deranged, blood-thirsty, war mongering United Nations backed government forces as he runs deep into the bush.
Now orphaned, Agu is on his own in the wild. It appears that he will have no chance of survival, as he can not even light himself a fire and is not sure of what he can eat. Fortunately, the story's hero, known as the "Commandant" (played by Idris Elba), has managed to save many other UN backed government created orphans. Commandant's crew of orphaned boys stumbles upon helpless little Agu. Much of the movie is related to how Commandant takes little Agu under his wing, teaches him survival, feeds him, clothes him, and allows him to exact his revenge on the evil UN backed government forces.
Commandant is shown to be leading a pack of what appears to be 20 to 30 other boys and young adults, all presumably orphaned similarly to Agu and all with a thirst for revenge on those that murdered their families. Throughout the film, Commandant is first shown as a heroic warrior, then a wise leader, and then devolves into an ordinary human being. Although he is a true leader, he also answers to an authority. When he finds out that his authority cares more about political aspirations than providing justice, he tries to oust Commandant from his post. Commandant then goes rogue and takes his orphaned boy tribe with him. It is somewhat similar to Colonel Kurtz's situation in "Apocalypse Now", with the exception that Commandant does not really have a clue on how to lead a group of rogue dissidents.
Ultimately, his orphans desert him due to lack of food, water, and hope. Commandant's demise can be attributed to the corrupt nature of war and the western world's political influences. Deep down, he was shown to be a genuinely good man, fighting for justice, all while being a protector and guardian of many orphaned children.
Many will see this movie from a different perspective. One of the themes of the movie, which is something that plays out every day in real life, is that the subtle authoritarian rule of western governments is both the cause and solution to many of life's problems. First, they were directly responsible for the bloody and senseless murder of the families of many of these children. Secondly, as we see toward the end of the movie, these children are placed in a government-run school to learn and survive. Government creates the problems and then attempts to fix them. However, they did achieve their main goal. The villages they needed to eradicate are now gone, with all remaining residents under the guardianship of the state.
This movie is a great example of how innocent lives are taken, families are destroyed, and entire communities are eliminated due to the military involvement of western societies. There is no doubt that this story is being played out for real in the Middle East and all over Africa due to both the United States' and many European countries' perpetual foreign intervention campaigns.