What I'm Watching: Film and TV Edition
Two big fannish blast from the pasts came up recently. First George Morfogen of HBO's “Oz” passed away. Why is this a fannish thing? Because Morfogen starred in the play “Uncle Bob” that Gale Harold was briefly in. Boy, do I remember those days of fans going to NY to see that play and being SHOOKETH over the content. Who would think a play written by Austin Pendelton about and old man would feature a bug chasing and incest plotline.
The other big fannish event was the announcement of the cancellation of “Supernatural” when it hits season 15. For those of you who are a fan of counting SPN went on five years longer than “Smallville” despite Jenny “Fatty” A(rbu)ckles saying he wouldn't want SPN to overstay its welcome like SV did and that was during SV's 7th season. So....math's fun. Pointing out hypocrisy is more fun.
Jensen is a SV alum so I give he and his husband-costar props for a long running show. They didn't have 70+ years of story to cull from like “Smallville” but obviously they did well with their varied plotlines of Dean saving Sam and Sam saving Dean and Dean getting mad at Sam and Sam getting mad at Dean and some angel sexing tossed in there.
And I'm not the only one being a tosser about this.
Trick, you know you would kill for a Hallmark movie. Maybe they'll give you a producer's credit.
With a season left they have time to figure out their next career move so..
Us
Jordan Peele's successful follow-up to his hit, Oscar winning film “Get Out” has less comedy and more horror than his first outing, but it still retains its social commentary core despite how amorphous it is.
The film opens in 1986 where young Adelaide (Madison Curry) wanders off from her parents (Anna Diop (Titans), Yahya Abdul-Manteen II (Aquaman)) and into a house of mirrors at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk where she sees her doppelganger. Fast forward 33 years later and Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family: husband Gabe (Winston Duke, Black Panther) and children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Hairspray Live!) and Jason (Evan Alex, Mani) return to Adelaide's family home in Santa Cruz and once there Adelaide is overcome with unease and is convinced her doppelganger is coming for her.
As it turns out Adelaide's fears are founded as her doppelganger and the doppelgangers of her family show up on her doorstep leaving Adelaide and her family in a fight for their lives as they battle people who knows them as well as they know themselves.
Inspired by “The Twilight Zone” episode “Mirror Image”, 'Us” is full of symbolism and Easter eggs which is all well and good but I think it's so focused on these things that the story falls short. What Peele has done was made a criticism proof film because many elements are so abstract that it is open to interpretation and there are people who will say that if a audience member doesn't understand the film it's because they're not intellectual enough or didn't “get” it. It's the perfect film for a film theory class but that doesn't make it a good film.
The performances are really strong. In getting to play dual characters Nyong'o gets the opportunity to be strong and nurturing as well as menacing and fearsome. Duke is moreso the comedic element as a sitcom stock thick headed father, but even that works in that it's typically a role not giving to a black man, especially someone who is built like a Duke (and he shows off his thick thighs so yes!!!).
Peele is open about his influences and it's great to have a typical horror score that is amended to his sensibilities so we get a horror film chant score blended with Luniz's “I Got Five On It”.
If you want a film fraught with symbolism and will leave you thinking about what it all means, by all means this is the film but if you're looking to be entertained with a strong story this isn't the one.
Hotel Mumbai
The more things change the more things stay the same. The film, originally bought by The Weinstein Company was to be released in November 2018 to commemorate the 10th anniversary on the Mumbai terrorists attacks that this film is based on. It missed the anniversary due to the bankruptcy of The Weinstein Company, but its more poignant that it is being released just scant weeks after the terrorists attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. Just like the terrorists attacks in Mumbai in 2008, the Christchurch massacre was born out of hatred but in that darkness kindness shown thanks to those who rallied around the community. “Hotel Mumbai” tells the true story of the staff of the Taj Mahal hotel who could have escaped, but instead stayed inside the hotel in order to guide guests to safety in hopes of surviving the siege.
When several radicalized young men lay siege to the Hotel Taj Mahal, hotel staff Arjun (Dev Patel)
, his boss Chef Hernant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) and other staffers hope to use their knowledge of the hotel in order to gather as many guests as they can to safety. Heroism and humanity is on full display as Arjun and Chef Hernant fight to assuage the fears of their guests, amongst them a brash Russian multi-millionaire (Jason Isaacs) and new parents David and Zahra (Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi) who are separated from their infant and his babysitter Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey).
I was literally on the edge of my seat the majority of the time. On it's own merits it's a gripping tale but knowing that it is based on true events and attacks like this is a too frequent occurrence for many places in this world added to its weight. The film also took great care to show that these terrorists bastardized Islam and that they are not true adherents which was welcomed because many filmmakers or showrunners IMO add to the Islamaphobia in the world by throwing out these depictions without having counter representation of the religion.
A true ensemble film everyone gets their chance to shine, but it is Dev Patel who is the heart of the film. I am so happy for the career he's having.
It is a tough watch but it's important to bear witness to the plights of others and it does show the resilience of the human spirit.
-Armie's taking time out from filming the drug trafficking thriller “Dreamland” to promote “Hotel Mumbai” and he's been paired with Patel which has been great fun.
Gym bros
Dev filming Armie's crotch
I salute your vigor, Dev, I do. But unless you and Armie are Facetiming or your filming him urinating, I don't think you can replace Timothee Chalamet.
I mean, Armie's wearing a CMBYN t-shirt in 2019 for goodness sakes!
Native Son
“Native Son”, “Kaffir Boy”, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, all books that were on my high school reading list so I have a long history with “Native Son” and it's the reason why I had such dread about seeing the film. The book is devastating enough but to actually sit and watch it come to life made me queasy. The book and now the film which will air on HBO next month, is a slow train wreck where you just want to pull the victim out of the way and save them. A vast improvement over the book in terms of building on supporting characters and making the protagonist of Bigger less noxious, “Native Son” is still a disquieting look at social shame and fighting for your identity.
Bigger “Big” Thomas (Ashton Sanders, “Moonlight”) is a young man who is seeking to break free from constraints - the constraints of his lower middle class existence with his widowed mother (Sanaa Latham) and his two sisters, the perceptions people have about him for his punk aesthetic and the general preconceived notions people may have about a young black man.
Thanks to his mother's boyfriend, Big is hired as a chauffeur for a well-to do lawyer (Bill Camp, “Wildlife”), his blind wife (Elizabeth Marvel, “A Most Violent Year” and their Communist leaning daughter Mary (Margaret Qualley, “The Nice Guys”).
Feeling good about this great opportunity and the chance to be a part of affluence and to bask in the family's respectability,
Big is loathed to mess anything up. But after a tragic accident, the destiny that Big has been running from threatens to catch up to him.
Sanders' Big is a perfect mix of vulnerability and swagger. He's a loving boyfriend to Bessie (Kiki Layne, “If Beale Street Could Talk”), tough when bullied but also sensitive. If he remained one dimensional as Richard Wright wrote the character in the eponymous book, I don't think this film would be as effective.
Adapted by Suzan Lori Parks (Girl6) and directed by first time director, artist Rashid Johnson
The cast (including Nick Robinson, “Love Simon”) and the writer and director
The Public
For years while Brat Packers Rob Lowe and Demi Moore have had a big film and tv presence, Emilio Estevez has been plugging away with a quieter career. Writer/director of six films going all the way back to 1985's "That Was Then...This Is Now", Estevez is back onscreen eight years after his last project "The Way" with another story that looks at the loss of the middle class and how it has effected society in "The Public".
Along with pointing people in the direction of reference books, librarian Stuart Goodson (Estevez) and his fellow library staff librarian Myra (Jena Malone, Neon Demon) and security guard Ernesto (Jacob Vargas, Sons of Anarchy) are unofficial social workers for the homeless community who uses the library as a place to wash up and stay out of the elements.
In the midst of a brutal cold snap that has claimed the life of some of the homeless people Goodson knows, a few of Goodson's regulars - among them Jackson (Michael K. Williams, Hap and Leonard), Ray (Bryant Bentley, All or Nothin) and Caesar (Patrick Hume, Rosewood) and newbie George (Che "Rhymefest" Smith who is excellent) - decide that with the absence of available shelter, they will occupy the library.
When Goodson tries and fails to appeal on their behalf to boss, Anderson (Jeffrey Wright) who Goodson is already on slippery footing with, Goodson becomes the defacto leader of their occupation movement by barricading themselves in.
Their act of civil disobedience is construed as a hostage situation by electioneering district attorney Josh Davis (Christian Slater) and a media hungry to fill it's quota of "if it bleeds it leads". When hostage negotiator Detective Bill Ramstead (Alec Baldwin) is deployed, Goodson and the occupiers try to find a way to convey their message about the plight of the homeless in their community.
Estevez isn't a writer compelled to give audiences a fairytale ending. He presents a situation to draw attention like the plight of American farm workers in "Wisdom" and PTSD in veterans in "The War At Home" (which he directed, but didn't pen). With "The Public" it shows how there's a blindspot where it concerns the homeless. Their reasons for being on the streets are varied - in this film some have fallen on hard times, others mentally ill or just prefer to be there - but whatever someone's reason why they are on the street there as a society there needs to be more done for them.
As the film's baddie Slater's Davis is a well-to-do politico who wants to criminalize being homeless while unwilling to address the lack of affordable housing, income disparities and lack of shelters which further exacerbates the issue. The film never gives Davis his "ah-ha" moment. He doesn't learn compassion, he doesn't want to look at solutions and I'm grateful that his character's arc isn't a true arc but a straight line because with how persistent and pervasive homelessness is, it's true to life that those who can still refuse to do anything to help.
It's a stirring, thoughtful film with people finding their voices and the best art reflects those whose stories need amplifying.
The film also stars Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black) as Stuart's neighbor/building manager who he tentatively starts a relationship and Gabrielle Union as the opportunistic reporter who is looking for a spin on the occupation.
-Emilio was on hand for the Q&A afterwards. He talked about :
-How as a young man he didn't understand his father's activism and that the media portrayed Martin as a crazy man and there were times where Emilio thought Martin was crazy as he was constantly getting arrested for various causes but he suddenly understood that his father could not NOT do something. Emilio quoted Jean Paul Sartre, "I do not fight fascism because I think I will win, I fight fascism because it's fascist." Which is still an important message in light of recent terrorist events. I know I feel demoralized and that it's all hopeless and it may be, but as long as I can still shout at how wrong xenophobia, racism, sexism, anti-Semitism is and feel empathy and sympathy for those affected by it than at least there will continue to be a counter-act to these horrible ideals.
Emilio came up with the idea for the film 12 years ago after reading an article from a retiring librarian who talked about the responsibilities that fall on librarians as the homeless do hang out there.
The Wedding Guest
Atmospheric and weighty despite it's slim 94 minute run-time, writer/director Michael Winterbottom's "The Wedding Guest" is a compelling film, but ultimately lacking.
Dev Patel is superb as the enigmatic Jay. We follow him from London's airport to Pakinstan as he travels and picking up various items like he's on a intercontinental scavenger hunt until he gets to his destination. The home of Samira (Radhika Apte, Sacred Games) on the eve of her wedding, where he kidnaps her on the behest of the wealthy and arrogant Deepesh (Jim Sardh, Smoke) who has ties to Samira.
When the abduction goes south, Deepesh distances himself from Jay which leaves Jay a wanted man with unwanted cargo in Samira.
Evolving from dorky, horny teen in "Skins" and earnest young men in "Slumdog Millionaire", "Chappie" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", Patel has fully emerged as the murky baddie we knew was in him like in "The Last Airbender". Patel's Jay is doesn't mince words - that is when he does speak as he's too busy watching and calculating, so methodical in what needs to be done that he doesn't have time for words. But as his time with Samira expands his quiet intensity never wavers, but you do get to see the the curtains lower a bit as he finds compassion for Samira.
It's a low budget film that is only in limited release but I hope that casting directors will see this film and realize that Patel has range and it's time to capitalize on his ability as well as the sex appeal he displayed in "Lion". Thankfully, Winterbottom knows what's up and gave Patel plenty of shirtless scenes and one scene in boxer briefs. You're a real G, Winterbottom.
Long Shot
In a way this could be a spiritual cousin to Charlize Theron's excellent film "Tully". No, "Long Shot" doesn't deal with a harried wife overwhelmed by motherhood, but mixed into that film is the idea of losing who you once were and being afraid of leaving that person behind to who you now need to be. This time it is Seth Rogen, who after a long career of playing slacker-schlubs - seems to be wanting to show that he is eying growth and putting elements of that personality aside.
Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is a rabble-rousing investigative journalist. Fighter for social justice and writing with righteous anger against media conglomerates and lying politicians, he quits his job at his paper rather than stay there under the new ownership of mogul- a lecherous Rupert Murdoch stand-in Parker Wembley (Andy Serkis under heavy prostethics).
A chance run-in with his former babysitter and crush Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) who fulfilled her childhood political aspirations and is now Secretary of State with eyes on the Presidency catapults Fred into the world of politics as she hires him as her speechwriter where his brash, unpolished ways doesn't jibe with the carefully crafted image that Charlotte's advisors Maggie (June Diane Raphael, Grace & Frankie) and Tom (Ravi Patel, American Housewife) has put together for her.
Written by Dan Sterling of very ribald progamming like "South Park", "The Sarah Silverman Program" and "Girls" and Liz Hannah of highminded political fare as Steven Spielberg's "The Post" and directed by Jonathan Levine of slightly war dude-bro Seth Rogen films "The Night Before" and "50/50", "Long Shot" is the perfect blend of salty and sweet as it plays into the standard bro shock-jock humor of Seth Rogen dealing in the scatalogical and profane, but also the standard teddy bear side of Seth Rogan trading in warmth and dedicated friendship shown by his onscreen friendship with his best friend/ personal hype man Lance (O'Shea Jackson Jr., Straight Outta Compton).
It's a tad frustrating that film keeps up with "The Flintstones" bit of a hot woman with a schlubby men. Nothing wrong with schlubby men but it always feels like fantasy casting by men who can barely keep themselves groom being able to snag a goddess whereas in female fronted films where the woman is considered not conventionally appealing such as the recent Rebel Wilson rom-com or Amy Schumer's "I Feel Pretty", these women still end up with schlubby men as if they can't possibly pull an Adonis.
So as much as Rogen and Theron work really well off of each other and their character's attraction make sense that notion of men doing the bare minimum to change in order to pull a hot woman is annoying.
I say that now but back in the day when Rogen was on Fox's "Undeclared" I had a mad crush on him. I even have a picture of the two of us at the "Undeclared" PaleyFest and I have this huge Kool-Aid smile on my face. Meanwhile, I sat next to Charlie Hunnam on the steps of the stage for a picture with a Mona Lisa smile on my face because I didn't want to be thirsty like the other women who were pawing at him although my small Mona Lisa smile was because I was thinking about how I saw him naked and getting rimmed on QAF.
That aside there are plenty of laugh out loud funny moments and it does insert a bit of aspirational desire for political change amidst the dearth of pop culture references from a lovely scene featuring Roxette's "Must Have Been Love" to Lil Yachty, Charli XCX and CBD oil.
The film also stars Alexander Skarsgard as the handsome yet doltish Canadian Prime Minister whom the tabloids are shipping Charlotte with and Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) as President Chambers, former TV actor and outgoing President who Charlotte needs an endorsement from.
Finding Steve McQueen
Based on the true story of Harry Barber and his participation in a 1972 bank heist - which is still the largest heist in the U.S - "Finding Steve McQueen' is an innocuous (not without its flaws) little romantic caper that will be released on Video On Demand (VOD) on 3/15th.
Harry Barber (Travis Fimmel, Vikings) has something to confess to his long-term girlfriend Molly (Rachael Taylor, Jessica Jones). He's a wanted criminal who has dodged the Feds for seven years.
Told in flashbacks, Harry's a brash, yet doltish young man who idolizes his Vietnam vet younger brother Tommy (Jake Weary, Animal Kingdom) and Steve McQueen. It's this idolatry of McQueen that makes Harry the best driver which is why his uncle Enzo (William Fichtner) hires him in his plan to rob a Laguna Niguel bank which is reportedly where Richard Nixon has stashed $30 millions in dirty contribution money. Chomping at the bit to screw Nixon, who he hates with rabid-like zeal, Enzo pulls together his crew of Harry, Tommy and Enzo's right-hand Pauly (Louis Lombardi, Gotham) and pal Ray (Rhys Coiro, The Walking Dead).
But it's not over when the job is over because the Feds to put pressure on local detective Howard Lambert (Forest Whitaker) to crack the case. Lambert, with help from his adoring colleague Sharon (Lily Rabe) tries to not only figure out who pulled the job but why is it garnering so much attention from the government.
Somewhere along the line in Fimmel's four seasons on "Vikings" he took his character from a dangerous, smirking character to a dangerous, smirking character who sometimes acted like a gleeful child and that's what Fimmel does with his Barber. Keeping in line with how well regarded the real life Barber is by the community where he hid, Fimmel portrays him less like a cool cat Steve McQueen but Steve Martin in "The Jerk". His blue eyes sparkle mischievously or they go a bit dim when he's saddened by the consequences of his actions. I wasn't completely sold on Fimmel's performance but I was always entertained.
I really wished more was given about the relationship of Whitaker and Rabe's character. If there wasn't going to be closure to them I don't understand why the writer would inject this scenario where you can tell she has a crush on him and he, on the verge of divorce, likely realize it but doesn't want to take advantage of his position of power as her superior. Wasted opportunity.
I attended the Q&A with the cast sans Whitaker and Rabe and just like the "Vikings" Q&A I attended years ago Fimmel is a waste of a chair. He doesn't take these seriously, he barely talks about the project he's promoting. He's good to play off -- all the cast ribbed on him for his insouciance and how he was always late to set, but you can tell they love him and he is a gent. When the director asked the producer to come up Travis offered him his seat (which I think was a way for him to get out of talking), then an Arclight staffer brought him a new one and I can see him mouthing "Thank you" and patting the guy on his shoulder like he had just changed a flat for him. As soon as the moderator announced it was the end of the Q&A Fimmel announced he wanted to meet the real Harry who was on hand and the two took joint pictures with fans.
Triple Frontier
As the debate rages over Netflix and if its films should be considered for Oscars, the Netflix assembly line is still churning out films. It's most recent one is "Triple Frontier" starring a has-been Ben Affleck, a never was: Garrett Hedlund and a could be Pedro Pascal and two actors whose stars have seemingly plateaued: Charlie Hunnam and Pedro Pascal.
Tied into the debate over Netflix is how hard it is to get a film to rise to the top due to how much content Netflix has. For ever "Birdbox" or "Bright" there's a "Mowgli", 'The Boy Who Harness Wind" and "High Flying Bird" that never sets fire. With its questionable star power "Triple Frontier" will surely get some eyes but one can easily see how, despite the pedigree of being a JC Chandor film (Margin Call, A Most Violent Year) and being executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) and written by Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) this film easily could've been relegated straight to cable and should bow down to Netflix for getting it distribution. But it is better than it could have been since over the years Johnny Depp, Tom Hardy, Channing Tatum Tom Hanks and Will Smith were all once attached to the project.
For the past three years former U.S. military operative Francisco "Pope" Morales" (Oscar Isaac) has been toiling away in South America tracking down a drug cartel leader in hopes of taking down his operation. When Pope gets a intel from his informant Yovanna (Adria Arjona) of the drug leader's location, Pope assembles a team of his former military cohorts to take out the cartel head: their former team leader Redfly (Ben Affleck) who is now a divorced washout; Catfish (Pedro Pascal), a married washout, Ironhead (Charlie Hunnam) who is now a trainer for independent contractors and who longs for his former miltary life and his younger brother Ben (Garrett Hedlund) a MMA fighter who was better behind enemy lines than in the cage.
When the men realize that there is more money at stake than they ever could imagine altruism goes out the door and their fight becomes more than just the druglord and his security forces.
Sometimes there are films where you just can't pinpoint where it goes wrong and that's "Triple Frontier". I don't know exactly why it doesn't work for me but it doesn't. Boal and Chandor's script creates a thick layer of tension that is so overwhelming that several times I wanted to walk out because you just know when it's going to go bad it's going to go really bad and the cast chemistry is such that you really do care about these characters and fear for them.
But I think Boal wants to say something about the military and how it treats its veterans and how the military can turn people into heartless, single minded monsters, and the corruption of people but he doesn't articulate the thought fully in the way other films have done (The Kingdom, In the Valley of Elah). And by the end of the film any hope that the film has an underlying message is gone through the blistering, out-of-place score by Disasterpeace (stupid name).
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
If their is a film that epitomizes cozying up with a cup of Taster's Choice coffee it's this film. Just a frothy, comforting, sweet film.
Adapted by Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex, Marley and Me) and Tom Bezucha (The Family Stone) and Kevin Hood (A Royal Night Out) from the 2008 novel of the same name.
In 1946 London, writer Juliet Ashton (the always charming Lily James) receives a letter from Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman, "Game of Thrones", "The Haunting of Hill House") who has reached out to her regarding a book that she formerly possessed. The two briefly exchange correspondence in which he tells Juliet about his book club. Enchanted and intrigued by the origins of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Juliet voyages to Guernsey in order to write a piece about Dawsey and his fellow society members: Isola (Katherine Parkinson, "Sherlock"), Eben (Tom Courtenay, "Little Dorritt), and Amelia (Penelope Wilton, "Downton Abbey).
Ditching her own book tour, to the consternation of her agent Sidney (Matthew Goode) and her fiance Mark (Glen Powell, "Scream Queens"),
Juliet arrives in Guernsey and realizes there is a bigger story to be told about the group and their now absent founder Elizabeth (Jessica Brown Findlay, "Downton Abbey").
There have been countless stories about the Holocaust but I can think of very few that delves into the day to day existence of those living through Occupation and the loss of a communal experience that came about due to Occupation. The scene depicting how the society came together is so heartwrenching yet beautiful about how the smallest thing ends up meaning so much when it's been ripped from you.
As much as you know there will be a Juliet/Dawsey/Mark love triangle, the film really is more an homage to the joy of community and the enduring power and pull of the written word and how diving into a book transports you to new worlds and new thoughts and can bind your heart. Over the credits are the actors in characters giving stirring readings of an assortment of book lines and it's wonderful capper to a warm and engaging film.
Fighting With My Family
Quaint underdog tale that has the same charm of "The Full Monty" and "Sing Street". Produced by The Rock and written and directed by Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras), "Fighting with My Family" is based on the true story of WWE wrestler Paige (portrayed by Florence Pugh, Little Drummer Girl, Outlaw King).
With her parents (Nick Frost and Lena Headey) and older brothers Zak (Jack Lowden, Mary Queen of Scots, Dunkirk) and Roy (James Burrows) it's to little surprise that Saraya Knight (Pugh) falls in love with wrestling.
The family - minus Roy who is doing a stretch in the pen - form their own gym where Zak trains neighborhood kids so that they won't fall into a life of crime as his brother Roy had.
Zak and Saraya's WWE dreams come true when after tirelessly submitting samples of their matches, WWE talent recruiter/coach Hutch Morgan (Vince Vaughn) comes a calling. The WWE is coming to London to recruit and he wants the siblings to audition.
When Saraya is picked over Zak, she has to go it alone in Florida while Zak spirals over the loss of his dreams.
Once on WWE training grounds Saraya - now going by the ring name Paige - realizes that despite coming from a wrestling background she has a lot to learn about the business of wrestling and how to grapple with the jealousy it inspires in her brother.
I love Florence Pugh and I think she can do anything so I obviously loved this and her. She's like a real life Skipper doll.
Just as in "Little Drummer Girl" and "Marcella", she's tough but conveys such sensitivity. She's the epitome of plucky which serves her well in the wrestling scenes where despite her short stature you can really buy that she's a wrestler. She has the physicality down.
Another bright spot is that the film could have easily pitted the female characters against each other. When Paige, short and not possessing the boobs nor the abs of her fellow tall, tan and taut competitors begin to bump heads with the other women it pivots from the expected cat-fight bent but instead exists to foster a different way of looking at female wrestlers. So often viewers look at them as eye candy but this film shows their dedication and how their athleticism and dedication to the craft shouldn't be discounted.
The cast with the real Paige
Doom Patrol
The second original series from DC Universe Online (the first "Titans" was eventually released on Netflix in its international markets) is ribald, ridiculous (in the best sense) and rambunctious. It's what "Guardians of the Galaxy" is for Marvel and definitely better than most of the DCEU films (sadly).
First seen in an episode of "Titans", "Doom Patrol" centers on the misfits who live under the roof of the mysterious adventurer Niles "The Chief" Caulder (the still rakishly handsome Timothy Dalton).
Full octane, out of control NASCAR racer Cliff Steele (voiced by Brendan Fraser, embodied by Riley Shanahan) awakens from an accident with his brain encased in the shell of a robot.
Horrified, he quickly realizes his situation isn't the weirdest as he's now living with Rita (April Bowlby) a former actress who can't control her elastic body; Larry (voiced by Matt Bomer, emodied by Matthew Zuk) a former military pilot whose body fused with an alien mid-flight and turned him radioactive and Jane (Diane Guerrero) a woman with 64 personalities, each with their own super power.
As Cliff tries to wrap his head around who he is now and the fellow occupants of the house, they have to come together to combat the nefarious Eric Morden aka Mr. Nobody (voiced by Alan Tudyk) a shadow being who wants to exact revenge against the Chief and create chaos.
Each episode includes a jaunty and deliciously wry narration by Tudyk whose Mr. Nobody recounts the perilous plights of our reluctant heroes who are who would rather just stay holed up in the mansion but are dragged into this fight with the help an actual superhero Victor Stone / Cyborg (Joivan Wade).
"Doom Patrol" is like if Mad Magazine made a superhero show. It really delves into it's origins of being weird and wacky. People always talk about Marvel's origins and how all the early creatives there were on acid, well "Doom Patrol" has featured a talking cockroach, a flatualent donkey and a man-tree-dinosaur hybrid
Which is actually from the comics!!
Aside from the comedy I like "Doom Patrol" better than "Titans" because "Titans" is needless violent. It's like the episode of "The Simpsons" where Bart, Lisa and their fellow students are stuck on a deserted island and jubilant over the lack of adults and all the swearing the kids can now do, Bart exercises the freedom by saying "Damn, hell, ass." And that's what "Titans" is. They can get away with extreme violence, nudity and sex on DCUniverse Online and boy, does the show want audiences to know it. "Doom Patrol"'s pilot has a bit of raucous sex and nudity but it is in context to the character versus filling up space.
I will give Titans its due with its casting of Brenton Thwaites and his hot self
Grantchester
Season Four of "Grantchester" will air in the U.S in July. For those who don't know S3 saw a new vicar in town as James Norton's Sidney Chambers and his drinking ways leave and neighboring vicar Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) takes over.
While I love Norton, I wasn't fond of Sidney although
I wanted he and Geordie to bang. This isn't bro hand-holding. Do bros hold hands??
But Will is good looking, he's more of a straight edge and I think Geordie likes a challenge.
This show just got so much more interesting
S4 actually is pretty great as it's tackling progression in society so there's more social issues coming to the surface. If you were a fan of Sidney, I think you will still love the show despite his absence.
Now Apocalypse
If you are familiar with the work of writer/director Gregg Araki then you'd know that Araki's brand of film making is employing good looking, but terrible actors, make it look like it was made on a budget of $100, make it look like it was being lit by blacklight and have gay/lesbian content. Just as John Waters went mainstream with "Hairspray" and "Serial Mom" and James Gunn went legit with "Guardians of the Galaxy", Araki has gone mainstream-ish with his first series!
Starz' "Now Apocalypse" has the Araki brand (for better or for worse) and while the guys are still very good looking, the acting is just...woeful, at least the projection value has been upped. It now looks like it's been made for $250.
"Now Apocalypse" cribs many things from Arakis 2010 sci-fi/mystery/comedy "Kaboom" but does it better - which is not hard because "Kaboom" was terrible. What it has going for it so far is extremely likable protagonists who makes the shaky, off-the-wall premise bearable and by the time the ten episodes are over (Starz in a change of pace opted to release the full season after the second episode. I think they're trying to gauge how many people stream it in order to make a decision to renew it or not.) you're no more illuminated to what is going on but you will be entertained and maybe even really care about the characters.
Ulysses (the gorgeous Avan Jogia)
is a single twenty-something in L.A. In between jobs, alternately lusting after his roommate/struggling screenwriter Ford (Beau Mirchoff) and Ford's scientist girlfriend Severine (Roxane Mesquida). Ulysses shares his hopes and dreams with his best friend, cam-girl Carly (Kelli Berglund) who keeps her career secret from her actor boyfriend Jethro (Desmond Chiam).
When Ulysses meets Gabriel (Tyler Posey)
he begins seeing a connection to his seemingly weed induced nightmares and Gabriel. As Gabriel deals with friends' romantic problems and his owns, he tries to find out if there is a greater truth to his nightmares.
With the overly arch and campy acting by the supporting cast it makes me think that this show is a parody of bad sci-fi films; like a adult version of "Plan Nine from Outer Space" or “Plan Nine from Outer Space” meets MTV's “Undressed”. There's a certain comfort in watching bad TV such as this. It must be the same for people who watch "Sharknado". At least in this I get man-on-man action and Beau Michoff's hairy bum and armpits so A ++ viewing.
Beyond these shallow interests I think the series aspires to be the Millennial Sex in the City meets The X Files and Araki uses the characters spectrum of queer identity as a parallel to the ultimate outsider status of an extraterrestrial.
The other big fannish event was the announcement of the cancellation of “Supernatural” when it hits season 15. For those of you who are a fan of counting SPN went on five years longer than “Smallville” despite Jenny “Fatty” A(rbu)ckles saying he wouldn't want SPN to overstay its welcome like SV did and that was during SV's 7th season. So....math's fun. Pointing out hypocrisy is more fun.
Jensen is a SV alum so I give he and his husband-costar props for a long running show. They didn't have 70+ years of story to cull from like “Smallville” but obviously they did well with their varied plotlines of Dean saving Sam and Sam saving Dean and Dean getting mad at Sam and Sam getting mad at Dean and some angel sexing tossed in there.
And I'm not the only one being a tosser about this.
Trick, you know you would kill for a Hallmark movie. Maybe they'll give you a producer's credit.
With a season left they have time to figure out their next career move so..
Us
Jordan Peele's successful follow-up to his hit, Oscar winning film “Get Out” has less comedy and more horror than his first outing, but it still retains its social commentary core despite how amorphous it is.
The film opens in 1986 where young Adelaide (Madison Curry) wanders off from her parents (Anna Diop (Titans), Yahya Abdul-Manteen II (Aquaman)) and into a house of mirrors at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk where she sees her doppelganger. Fast forward 33 years later and Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family: husband Gabe (Winston Duke, Black Panther) and children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Hairspray Live!) and Jason (Evan Alex, Mani) return to Adelaide's family home in Santa Cruz and once there Adelaide is overcome with unease and is convinced her doppelganger is coming for her.
As it turns out Adelaide's fears are founded as her doppelganger and the doppelgangers of her family show up on her doorstep leaving Adelaide and her family in a fight for their lives as they battle people who knows them as well as they know themselves.
Inspired by “The Twilight Zone” episode “Mirror Image”, 'Us” is full of symbolism and Easter eggs which is all well and good but I think it's so focused on these things that the story falls short. What Peele has done was made a criticism proof film because many elements are so abstract that it is open to interpretation and there are people who will say that if a audience member doesn't understand the film it's because they're not intellectual enough or didn't “get” it. It's the perfect film for a film theory class but that doesn't make it a good film.
The performances are really strong. In getting to play dual characters Nyong'o gets the opportunity to be strong and nurturing as well as menacing and fearsome. Duke is moreso the comedic element as a sitcom stock thick headed father, but even that works in that it's typically a role not giving to a black man, especially someone who is built like a Duke (and he shows off his thick thighs so yes!!!).
Peele is open about his influences and it's great to have a typical horror score that is amended to his sensibilities so we get a horror film chant score blended with Luniz's “I Got Five On It”.
If you want a film fraught with symbolism and will leave you thinking about what it all means, by all means this is the film but if you're looking to be entertained with a strong story this isn't the one.
Hotel Mumbai
The more things change the more things stay the same. The film, originally bought by The Weinstein Company was to be released in November 2018 to commemorate the 10th anniversary on the Mumbai terrorists attacks that this film is based on. It missed the anniversary due to the bankruptcy of The Weinstein Company, but its more poignant that it is being released just scant weeks after the terrorists attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. Just like the terrorists attacks in Mumbai in 2008, the Christchurch massacre was born out of hatred but in that darkness kindness shown thanks to those who rallied around the community. “Hotel Mumbai” tells the true story of the staff of the Taj Mahal hotel who could have escaped, but instead stayed inside the hotel in order to guide guests to safety in hopes of surviving the siege.
When several radicalized young men lay siege to the Hotel Taj Mahal, hotel staff Arjun (Dev Patel)
, his boss Chef Hernant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) and other staffers hope to use their knowledge of the hotel in order to gather as many guests as they can to safety. Heroism and humanity is on full display as Arjun and Chef Hernant fight to assuage the fears of their guests, amongst them a brash Russian multi-millionaire (Jason Isaacs) and new parents David and Zahra (Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi) who are separated from their infant and his babysitter Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey).
I was literally on the edge of my seat the majority of the time. On it's own merits it's a gripping tale but knowing that it is based on true events and attacks like this is a too frequent occurrence for many places in this world added to its weight. The film also took great care to show that these terrorists bastardized Islam and that they are not true adherents which was welcomed because many filmmakers or showrunners IMO add to the Islamaphobia in the world by throwing out these depictions without having counter representation of the religion.
A true ensemble film everyone gets their chance to shine, but it is Dev Patel who is the heart of the film. I am so happy for the career he's having.
It is a tough watch but it's important to bear witness to the plights of others and it does show the resilience of the human spirit.
-Armie's taking time out from filming the drug trafficking thriller “Dreamland” to promote “Hotel Mumbai” and he's been paired with Patel which has been great fun.
Gym bros
Dev filming Armie's crotch
I salute your vigor, Dev, I do. But unless you and Armie are Facetiming or your filming him urinating, I don't think you can replace Timothee Chalamet.
I mean, Armie's wearing a CMBYN t-shirt in 2019 for goodness sakes!
Native Son
“Native Son”, “Kaffir Boy”, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, all books that were on my high school reading list so I have a long history with “Native Son” and it's the reason why I had such dread about seeing the film. The book is devastating enough but to actually sit and watch it come to life made me queasy. The book and now the film which will air on HBO next month, is a slow train wreck where you just want to pull the victim out of the way and save them. A vast improvement over the book in terms of building on supporting characters and making the protagonist of Bigger less noxious, “Native Son” is still a disquieting look at social shame and fighting for your identity.
Bigger “Big” Thomas (Ashton Sanders, “Moonlight”) is a young man who is seeking to break free from constraints - the constraints of his lower middle class existence with his widowed mother (Sanaa Latham) and his two sisters, the perceptions people have about him for his punk aesthetic and the general preconceived notions people may have about a young black man.
Thanks to his mother's boyfriend, Big is hired as a chauffeur for a well-to do lawyer (Bill Camp, “Wildlife”), his blind wife (Elizabeth Marvel, “A Most Violent Year” and their Communist leaning daughter Mary (Margaret Qualley, “The Nice Guys”).
Feeling good about this great opportunity and the chance to be a part of affluence and to bask in the family's respectability,
Big is loathed to mess anything up. But after a tragic accident, the destiny that Big has been running from threatens to catch up to him.
Sanders' Big is a perfect mix of vulnerability and swagger. He's a loving boyfriend to Bessie (Kiki Layne, “If Beale Street Could Talk”), tough when bullied but also sensitive. If he remained one dimensional as Richard Wright wrote the character in the eponymous book, I don't think this film would be as effective.
Adapted by Suzan Lori Parks (Girl6) and directed by first time director, artist Rashid Johnson
The cast (including Nick Robinson, “Love Simon”) and the writer and director
The Public
For years while Brat Packers Rob Lowe and Demi Moore have had a big film and tv presence, Emilio Estevez has been plugging away with a quieter career. Writer/director of six films going all the way back to 1985's "That Was Then...This Is Now", Estevez is back onscreen eight years after his last project "The Way" with another story that looks at the loss of the middle class and how it has effected society in "The Public".
Along with pointing people in the direction of reference books, librarian Stuart Goodson (Estevez) and his fellow library staff librarian Myra (Jena Malone, Neon Demon) and security guard Ernesto (Jacob Vargas, Sons of Anarchy) are unofficial social workers for the homeless community who uses the library as a place to wash up and stay out of the elements.
In the midst of a brutal cold snap that has claimed the life of some of the homeless people Goodson knows, a few of Goodson's regulars - among them Jackson (Michael K. Williams, Hap and Leonard), Ray (Bryant Bentley, All or Nothin) and Caesar (Patrick Hume, Rosewood) and newbie George (Che "Rhymefest" Smith who is excellent) - decide that with the absence of available shelter, they will occupy the library.
When Goodson tries and fails to appeal on their behalf to boss, Anderson (Jeffrey Wright) who Goodson is already on slippery footing with, Goodson becomes the defacto leader of their occupation movement by barricading themselves in.
Their act of civil disobedience is construed as a hostage situation by electioneering district attorney Josh Davis (Christian Slater) and a media hungry to fill it's quota of "if it bleeds it leads". When hostage negotiator Detective Bill Ramstead (Alec Baldwin) is deployed, Goodson and the occupiers try to find a way to convey their message about the plight of the homeless in their community.
Estevez isn't a writer compelled to give audiences a fairytale ending. He presents a situation to draw attention like the plight of American farm workers in "Wisdom" and PTSD in veterans in "The War At Home" (which he directed, but didn't pen). With "The Public" it shows how there's a blindspot where it concerns the homeless. Their reasons for being on the streets are varied - in this film some have fallen on hard times, others mentally ill or just prefer to be there - but whatever someone's reason why they are on the street there as a society there needs to be more done for them.
As the film's baddie Slater's Davis is a well-to-do politico who wants to criminalize being homeless while unwilling to address the lack of affordable housing, income disparities and lack of shelters which further exacerbates the issue. The film never gives Davis his "ah-ha" moment. He doesn't learn compassion, he doesn't want to look at solutions and I'm grateful that his character's arc isn't a true arc but a straight line because with how persistent and pervasive homelessness is, it's true to life that those who can still refuse to do anything to help.
It's a stirring, thoughtful film with people finding their voices and the best art reflects those whose stories need amplifying.
The film also stars Taylor Schilling (Orange is the New Black) as Stuart's neighbor/building manager who he tentatively starts a relationship and Gabrielle Union as the opportunistic reporter who is looking for a spin on the occupation.
-Emilio was on hand for the Q&A afterwards. He talked about :
-How as a young man he didn't understand his father's activism and that the media portrayed Martin as a crazy man and there were times where Emilio thought Martin was crazy as he was constantly getting arrested for various causes but he suddenly understood that his father could not NOT do something. Emilio quoted Jean Paul Sartre, "I do not fight fascism because I think I will win, I fight fascism because it's fascist." Which is still an important message in light of recent terrorist events. I know I feel demoralized and that it's all hopeless and it may be, but as long as I can still shout at how wrong xenophobia, racism, sexism, anti-Semitism is and feel empathy and sympathy for those affected by it than at least there will continue to be a counter-act to these horrible ideals.
Emilio came up with the idea for the film 12 years ago after reading an article from a retiring librarian who talked about the responsibilities that fall on librarians as the homeless do hang out there.
The Wedding Guest
Atmospheric and weighty despite it's slim 94 minute run-time, writer/director Michael Winterbottom's "The Wedding Guest" is a compelling film, but ultimately lacking.
Dev Patel is superb as the enigmatic Jay. We follow him from London's airport to Pakinstan as he travels and picking up various items like he's on a intercontinental scavenger hunt until he gets to his destination. The home of Samira (Radhika Apte, Sacred Games) on the eve of her wedding, where he kidnaps her on the behest of the wealthy and arrogant Deepesh (Jim Sardh, Smoke) who has ties to Samira.
When the abduction goes south, Deepesh distances himself from Jay which leaves Jay a wanted man with unwanted cargo in Samira.
Evolving from dorky, horny teen in "Skins" and earnest young men in "Slumdog Millionaire", "Chappie" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", Patel has fully emerged as the murky baddie we knew was in him like in "The Last Airbender". Patel's Jay is doesn't mince words - that is when he does speak as he's too busy watching and calculating, so methodical in what needs to be done that he doesn't have time for words. But as his time with Samira expands his quiet intensity never wavers, but you do get to see the the curtains lower a bit as he finds compassion for Samira.
It's a low budget film that is only in limited release but I hope that casting directors will see this film and realize that Patel has range and it's time to capitalize on his ability as well as the sex appeal he displayed in "Lion". Thankfully, Winterbottom knows what's up and gave Patel plenty of shirtless scenes and one scene in boxer briefs. You're a real G, Winterbottom.
Long Shot
In a way this could be a spiritual cousin to Charlize Theron's excellent film "Tully". No, "Long Shot" doesn't deal with a harried wife overwhelmed by motherhood, but mixed into that film is the idea of losing who you once were and being afraid of leaving that person behind to who you now need to be. This time it is Seth Rogen, who after a long career of playing slacker-schlubs - seems to be wanting to show that he is eying growth and putting elements of that personality aside.
Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is a rabble-rousing investigative journalist. Fighter for social justice and writing with righteous anger against media conglomerates and lying politicians, he quits his job at his paper rather than stay there under the new ownership of mogul- a lecherous Rupert Murdoch stand-in Parker Wembley (Andy Serkis under heavy prostethics).
A chance run-in with his former babysitter and crush Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) who fulfilled her childhood political aspirations and is now Secretary of State with eyes on the Presidency catapults Fred into the world of politics as she hires him as her speechwriter where his brash, unpolished ways doesn't jibe with the carefully crafted image that Charlotte's advisors Maggie (June Diane Raphael, Grace & Frankie) and Tom (Ravi Patel, American Housewife) has put together for her.
Written by Dan Sterling of very ribald progamming like "South Park", "The Sarah Silverman Program" and "Girls" and Liz Hannah of highminded political fare as Steven Spielberg's "The Post" and directed by Jonathan Levine of slightly war dude-bro Seth Rogen films "The Night Before" and "50/50", "Long Shot" is the perfect blend of salty and sweet as it plays into the standard bro shock-jock humor of Seth Rogen dealing in the scatalogical and profane, but also the standard teddy bear side of Seth Rogan trading in warmth and dedicated friendship shown by his onscreen friendship with his best friend/ personal hype man Lance (O'Shea Jackson Jr., Straight Outta Compton).
It's a tad frustrating that film keeps up with "The Flintstones" bit of a hot woman with a schlubby men. Nothing wrong with schlubby men but it always feels like fantasy casting by men who can barely keep themselves groom being able to snag a goddess whereas in female fronted films where the woman is considered not conventionally appealing such as the recent Rebel Wilson rom-com or Amy Schumer's "I Feel Pretty", these women still end up with schlubby men as if they can't possibly pull an Adonis.
So as much as Rogen and Theron work really well off of each other and their character's attraction make sense that notion of men doing the bare minimum to change in order to pull a hot woman is annoying.
I say that now but back in the day when Rogen was on Fox's "Undeclared" I had a mad crush on him. I even have a picture of the two of us at the "Undeclared" PaleyFest and I have this huge Kool-Aid smile on my face. Meanwhile, I sat next to Charlie Hunnam on the steps of the stage for a picture with a Mona Lisa smile on my face because I didn't want to be thirsty like the other women who were pawing at him although my small Mona Lisa smile was because I was thinking about how I saw him naked and getting rimmed on QAF.
That aside there are plenty of laugh out loud funny moments and it does insert a bit of aspirational desire for political change amidst the dearth of pop culture references from a lovely scene featuring Roxette's "Must Have Been Love" to Lil Yachty, Charli XCX and CBD oil.
The film also stars Alexander Skarsgard as the handsome yet doltish Canadian Prime Minister whom the tabloids are shipping Charlotte with and Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) as President Chambers, former TV actor and outgoing President who Charlotte needs an endorsement from.
Finding Steve McQueen
Based on the true story of Harry Barber and his participation in a 1972 bank heist - which is still the largest heist in the U.S - "Finding Steve McQueen' is an innocuous (not without its flaws) little romantic caper that will be released on Video On Demand (VOD) on 3/15th.
Harry Barber (Travis Fimmel, Vikings) has something to confess to his long-term girlfriend Molly (Rachael Taylor, Jessica Jones). He's a wanted criminal who has dodged the Feds for seven years.
Told in flashbacks, Harry's a brash, yet doltish young man who idolizes his Vietnam vet younger brother Tommy (Jake Weary, Animal Kingdom) and Steve McQueen. It's this idolatry of McQueen that makes Harry the best driver which is why his uncle Enzo (William Fichtner) hires him in his plan to rob a Laguna Niguel bank which is reportedly where Richard Nixon has stashed $30 millions in dirty contribution money. Chomping at the bit to screw Nixon, who he hates with rabid-like zeal, Enzo pulls together his crew of Harry, Tommy and Enzo's right-hand Pauly (Louis Lombardi, Gotham) and pal Ray (Rhys Coiro, The Walking Dead).
But it's not over when the job is over because the Feds to put pressure on local detective Howard Lambert (Forest Whitaker) to crack the case. Lambert, with help from his adoring colleague Sharon (Lily Rabe) tries to not only figure out who pulled the job but why is it garnering so much attention from the government.
Somewhere along the line in Fimmel's four seasons on "Vikings" he took his character from a dangerous, smirking character to a dangerous, smirking character who sometimes acted like a gleeful child and that's what Fimmel does with his Barber. Keeping in line with how well regarded the real life Barber is by the community where he hid, Fimmel portrays him less like a cool cat Steve McQueen but Steve Martin in "The Jerk". His blue eyes sparkle mischievously or they go a bit dim when he's saddened by the consequences of his actions. I wasn't completely sold on Fimmel's performance but I was always entertained.
I really wished more was given about the relationship of Whitaker and Rabe's character. If there wasn't going to be closure to them I don't understand why the writer would inject this scenario where you can tell she has a crush on him and he, on the verge of divorce, likely realize it but doesn't want to take advantage of his position of power as her superior. Wasted opportunity.
I attended the Q&A with the cast sans Whitaker and Rabe and just like the "Vikings" Q&A I attended years ago Fimmel is a waste of a chair. He doesn't take these seriously, he barely talks about the project he's promoting. He's good to play off -- all the cast ribbed on him for his insouciance and how he was always late to set, but you can tell they love him and he is a gent. When the director asked the producer to come up Travis offered him his seat (which I think was a way for him to get out of talking), then an Arclight staffer brought him a new one and I can see him mouthing "Thank you" and patting the guy on his shoulder like he had just changed a flat for him. As soon as the moderator announced it was the end of the Q&A Fimmel announced he wanted to meet the real Harry who was on hand and the two took joint pictures with fans.
Triple Frontier
As the debate rages over Netflix and if its films should be considered for Oscars, the Netflix assembly line is still churning out films. It's most recent one is "Triple Frontier" starring a has-been Ben Affleck, a never was: Garrett Hedlund and a could be Pedro Pascal and two actors whose stars have seemingly plateaued: Charlie Hunnam and Pedro Pascal.
Tied into the debate over Netflix is how hard it is to get a film to rise to the top due to how much content Netflix has. For ever "Birdbox" or "Bright" there's a "Mowgli", 'The Boy Who Harness Wind" and "High Flying Bird" that never sets fire. With its questionable star power "Triple Frontier" will surely get some eyes but one can easily see how, despite the pedigree of being a JC Chandor film (Margin Call, A Most Violent Year) and being executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) and written by Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) this film easily could've been relegated straight to cable and should bow down to Netflix for getting it distribution. But it is better than it could have been since over the years Johnny Depp, Tom Hardy, Channing Tatum Tom Hanks and Will Smith were all once attached to the project.
For the past three years former U.S. military operative Francisco "Pope" Morales" (Oscar Isaac) has been toiling away in South America tracking down a drug cartel leader in hopes of taking down his operation. When Pope gets a intel from his informant Yovanna (Adria Arjona) of the drug leader's location, Pope assembles a team of his former military cohorts to take out the cartel head: their former team leader Redfly (Ben Affleck) who is now a divorced washout; Catfish (Pedro Pascal), a married washout, Ironhead (Charlie Hunnam) who is now a trainer for independent contractors and who longs for his former miltary life and his younger brother Ben (Garrett Hedlund) a MMA fighter who was better behind enemy lines than in the cage.
When the men realize that there is more money at stake than they ever could imagine altruism goes out the door and their fight becomes more than just the druglord and his security forces.
Sometimes there are films where you just can't pinpoint where it goes wrong and that's "Triple Frontier". I don't know exactly why it doesn't work for me but it doesn't. Boal and Chandor's script creates a thick layer of tension that is so overwhelming that several times I wanted to walk out because you just know when it's going to go bad it's going to go really bad and the cast chemistry is such that you really do care about these characters and fear for them.
But I think Boal wants to say something about the military and how it treats its veterans and how the military can turn people into heartless, single minded monsters, and the corruption of people but he doesn't articulate the thought fully in the way other films have done (The Kingdom, In the Valley of Elah). And by the end of the film any hope that the film has an underlying message is gone through the blistering, out-of-place score by Disasterpeace (stupid name).
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
If their is a film that epitomizes cozying up with a cup of Taster's Choice coffee it's this film. Just a frothy, comforting, sweet film.
Adapted by Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex, Marley and Me) and Tom Bezucha (The Family Stone) and Kevin Hood (A Royal Night Out) from the 2008 novel of the same name.
In 1946 London, writer Juliet Ashton (the always charming Lily James) receives a letter from Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman, "Game of Thrones", "The Haunting of Hill House") who has reached out to her regarding a book that she formerly possessed. The two briefly exchange correspondence in which he tells Juliet about his book club. Enchanted and intrigued by the origins of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Juliet voyages to Guernsey in order to write a piece about Dawsey and his fellow society members: Isola (Katherine Parkinson, "Sherlock"), Eben (Tom Courtenay, "Little Dorritt), and Amelia (Penelope Wilton, "Downton Abbey).
Ditching her own book tour, to the consternation of her agent Sidney (Matthew Goode) and her fiance Mark (Glen Powell, "Scream Queens"),
Juliet arrives in Guernsey and realizes there is a bigger story to be told about the group and their now absent founder Elizabeth (Jessica Brown Findlay, "Downton Abbey").
There have been countless stories about the Holocaust but I can think of very few that delves into the day to day existence of those living through Occupation and the loss of a communal experience that came about due to Occupation. The scene depicting how the society came together is so heartwrenching yet beautiful about how the smallest thing ends up meaning so much when it's been ripped from you.
As much as you know there will be a Juliet/Dawsey/Mark love triangle, the film really is more an homage to the joy of community and the enduring power and pull of the written word and how diving into a book transports you to new worlds and new thoughts and can bind your heart. Over the credits are the actors in characters giving stirring readings of an assortment of book lines and it's wonderful capper to a warm and engaging film.
Fighting With My Family
Quaint underdog tale that has the same charm of "The Full Monty" and "Sing Street". Produced by The Rock and written and directed by Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras), "Fighting with My Family" is based on the true story of WWE wrestler Paige (portrayed by Florence Pugh, Little Drummer Girl, Outlaw King).
With her parents (Nick Frost and Lena Headey) and older brothers Zak (Jack Lowden, Mary Queen of Scots, Dunkirk) and Roy (James Burrows) it's to little surprise that Saraya Knight (Pugh) falls in love with wrestling.
The family - minus Roy who is doing a stretch in the pen - form their own gym where Zak trains neighborhood kids so that they won't fall into a life of crime as his brother Roy had.
Zak and Saraya's WWE dreams come true when after tirelessly submitting samples of their matches, WWE talent recruiter/coach Hutch Morgan (Vince Vaughn) comes a calling. The WWE is coming to London to recruit and he wants the siblings to audition.
When Saraya is picked over Zak, she has to go it alone in Florida while Zak spirals over the loss of his dreams.
Once on WWE training grounds Saraya - now going by the ring name Paige - realizes that despite coming from a wrestling background she has a lot to learn about the business of wrestling and how to grapple with the jealousy it inspires in her brother.
I love Florence Pugh and I think she can do anything so I obviously loved this and her. She's like a real life Skipper doll.
Just as in "Little Drummer Girl" and "Marcella", she's tough but conveys such sensitivity. She's the epitome of plucky which serves her well in the wrestling scenes where despite her short stature you can really buy that she's a wrestler. She has the physicality down.
Another bright spot is that the film could have easily pitted the female characters against each other. When Paige, short and not possessing the boobs nor the abs of her fellow tall, tan and taut competitors begin to bump heads with the other women it pivots from the expected cat-fight bent but instead exists to foster a different way of looking at female wrestlers. So often viewers look at them as eye candy but this film shows their dedication and how their athleticism and dedication to the craft shouldn't be discounted.
The cast with the real Paige
Doom Patrol
The second original series from DC Universe Online (the first "Titans" was eventually released on Netflix in its international markets) is ribald, ridiculous (in the best sense) and rambunctious. It's what "Guardians of the Galaxy" is for Marvel and definitely better than most of the DCEU films (sadly).
First seen in an episode of "Titans", "Doom Patrol" centers on the misfits who live under the roof of the mysterious adventurer Niles "The Chief" Caulder (the still rakishly handsome Timothy Dalton).
Full octane, out of control NASCAR racer Cliff Steele (voiced by Brendan Fraser, embodied by Riley Shanahan) awakens from an accident with his brain encased in the shell of a robot.
Horrified, he quickly realizes his situation isn't the weirdest as he's now living with Rita (April Bowlby) a former actress who can't control her elastic body; Larry (voiced by Matt Bomer, emodied by Matthew Zuk) a former military pilot whose body fused with an alien mid-flight and turned him radioactive and Jane (Diane Guerrero) a woman with 64 personalities, each with their own super power.
As Cliff tries to wrap his head around who he is now and the fellow occupants of the house, they have to come together to combat the nefarious Eric Morden aka Mr. Nobody (voiced by Alan Tudyk) a shadow being who wants to exact revenge against the Chief and create chaos.
Each episode includes a jaunty and deliciously wry narration by Tudyk whose Mr. Nobody recounts the perilous plights of our reluctant heroes who are who would rather just stay holed up in the mansion but are dragged into this fight with the help an actual superhero Victor Stone / Cyborg (Joivan Wade).
"Doom Patrol" is like if Mad Magazine made a superhero show. It really delves into it's origins of being weird and wacky. People always talk about Marvel's origins and how all the early creatives there were on acid, well "Doom Patrol" has featured a talking cockroach, a flatualent donkey and a man-tree-dinosaur hybrid
Which is actually from the comics!!
Aside from the comedy I like "Doom Patrol" better than "Titans" because "Titans" is needless violent. It's like the episode of "The Simpsons" where Bart, Lisa and their fellow students are stuck on a deserted island and jubilant over the lack of adults and all the swearing the kids can now do, Bart exercises the freedom by saying "Damn, hell, ass." And that's what "Titans" is. They can get away with extreme violence, nudity and sex on DCUniverse Online and boy, does the show want audiences to know it. "Doom Patrol"'s pilot has a bit of raucous sex and nudity but it is in context to the character versus filling up space.
I will give Titans its due with its casting of Brenton Thwaites and his hot self
Grantchester
Season Four of "Grantchester" will air in the U.S in July. For those who don't know S3 saw a new vicar in town as James Norton's Sidney Chambers and his drinking ways leave and neighboring vicar Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) takes over.
While I love Norton, I wasn't fond of Sidney although
I wanted he and Geordie to bang. This isn't bro hand-holding. Do bros hold hands??
But Will is good looking, he's more of a straight edge and I think Geordie likes a challenge.
This show just got so much more interesting
S4 actually is pretty great as it's tackling progression in society so there's more social issues coming to the surface. If you were a fan of Sidney, I think you will still love the show despite his absence.
Now Apocalypse
If you are familiar with the work of writer/director Gregg Araki then you'd know that Araki's brand of film making is employing good looking, but terrible actors, make it look like it was made on a budget of $100, make it look like it was being lit by blacklight and have gay/lesbian content. Just as John Waters went mainstream with "Hairspray" and "Serial Mom" and James Gunn went legit with "Guardians of the Galaxy", Araki has gone mainstream-ish with his first series!
Starz' "Now Apocalypse" has the Araki brand (for better or for worse) and while the guys are still very good looking, the acting is just...woeful, at least the projection value has been upped. It now looks like it's been made for $250.
"Now Apocalypse" cribs many things from Arakis 2010 sci-fi/mystery/comedy "Kaboom" but does it better - which is not hard because "Kaboom" was terrible. What it has going for it so far is extremely likable protagonists who makes the shaky, off-the-wall premise bearable and by the time the ten episodes are over (Starz in a change of pace opted to release the full season after the second episode. I think they're trying to gauge how many people stream it in order to make a decision to renew it or not.) you're no more illuminated to what is going on but you will be entertained and maybe even really care about the characters.
Ulysses (the gorgeous Avan Jogia)
is a single twenty-something in L.A. In between jobs, alternately lusting after his roommate/struggling screenwriter Ford (Beau Mirchoff) and Ford's scientist girlfriend Severine (Roxane Mesquida). Ulysses shares his hopes and dreams with his best friend, cam-girl Carly (Kelli Berglund) who keeps her career secret from her actor boyfriend Jethro (Desmond Chiam).
When Ulysses meets Gabriel (Tyler Posey)
he begins seeing a connection to his seemingly weed induced nightmares and Gabriel. As Gabriel deals with friends' romantic problems and his owns, he tries to find out if there is a greater truth to his nightmares.
With the overly arch and campy acting by the supporting cast it makes me think that this show is a parody of bad sci-fi films; like a adult version of "Plan Nine from Outer Space" or “Plan Nine from Outer Space” meets MTV's “Undressed”. There's a certain comfort in watching bad TV such as this. It must be the same for people who watch "Sharknado". At least in this I get man-on-man action and Beau Michoff's hairy bum and armpits so A ++ viewing.
Beyond these shallow interests I think the series aspires to be the Millennial Sex in the City meets The X Files and Araki uses the characters spectrum of queer identity as a parallel to the ultimate outsider status of an extraterrestrial.