Category Archives: Uncategorized

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

Posted on by
1
“We’re gonna have to work together” – Harley
Format:Movie
By: Director: Cathy Yan
Writer: Christina Hodson
Genre: Comic Book Action
Released: February 7, 2020
Review Date: February 6, 2020
Audience Rating: Rated R
RevSF Rating: 7/10 (What Is This?)

It’s really nice to see the DC movies finally getting their act together.

Yes, there were a lot of early stumbles, but their last few movies (Wonder Woman, Shazam!, and Aquaman) have been good, if not great. Yeah, I know, I’m not really saying anything new or original there, but for me, it’s true.

And I say this as one of the people who actually enjoyed Suicide Squad. Yeah, mainly for Margot’s Harley, but for other reasons as well. But that is a whole other review, for another time. For now, we’re here to take a look at Dr. Quinn’s latest outing, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. But make no mistake from the title, this is mostly Harley’s movie. Which is one of my only issues with it, but I’ll get to that.

For now, here’s the setup. This movie is a sequel to Suicide Squad. No soft reboot, no reimagining or reset, we’re picking up a bit of time after the Squad’s adventure in Midway City. The events are even directly referenced by Harley at one point in the flick. And that’s not really a bad decision, as for most people Margot’s Quinn was the best thing in Suicide Squad, so don’t change what worked.

We get an opening narration by Harley (Margot Robbie) bringing us up to speed on how she’s been living the high life in Gotham since we saw her last. She’s been free to do whatever she likes, running roughshod over everyone and wreaking havoc wherever she goes, as no one wants to get on the bad side of Mr. J.

Until, that is, they break up.

We get a nice montage showing us how she’s trying to cope with being on her own (and not doing so well), but no one seems to believe that she and the Clown Prince are really no longer an item . . . until she blows up Ace Chemicals. Then everyone realizes they’ve well and truly split.

Once word gets out that Harley really is on her own, everyone who’s ever been shod roughly by Harley comes crawling out of the woodwork for revenge.

One of the people annoyed by Harley is Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), aka Black Mask, a club owner and crime lord with designs on taking over Gotham’s underworld, with the assistance of his head henchman Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina). After Harley had crippled Sionis’ driver, and caused all kinds of trouble in his club, he’s ready for some payback.

Our next major player is Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) aka Black Canary, who starts out as a singer at Sionis’ club, until he spots her beating up some guys, and promotes her to his new driver, see above about what Harley did to his last one.

Into this mix we add Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a GCPD cop who’s seen too many 80’s cop movies, been repeatedly screwed over by her boss, and is valiantly trying to find a way to bring Sionis down. Mainly, that she’s uncovered his big plan to take over the city, involving a stolen diamond that’s been etched with the data key to a lost fortune from another (now wiped out) crime family, the Bertinellis.

As all this is going on, someone is riding a motorcycle around Gotham, murdering mob guys with a crossbow. Montoya is convinced they’re working for Sionis, while he wants to know who’s killing his men.

The answer: it’s The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), aka Helena Bertinelli, out for revenge for her murdered family.

It sounds more convoluted than it is, just stick with me here.

Our final player to enter the scene and the one to kick off the main plot, is Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), a street kid/pickpocket, who happens to pick the wrong pocket. Specifically, Zsasz’s pocket, with the Bertinelli MacGuffin, er diamond, within it.

From here we get action, betrayals, car chases, explosions and lots of fire-forged friendships. And a pretty good time, truth be told.

BoP: FEOHQ holds on to a lot of what worked (and toning down what didn’t) in Suicide Squad. It has an irreverent tone, funny narration by Harley, lots of freeze frames with funny text commentary about the character in the freeze frame, manic energy, some fantastic fight scenes with brutal yet cartoonish violence, cool effects, and some surprisingly great character work. I can’t think of a weak performance in the entire movie.

Robbie’s Quinn is the joyful anarchist we saw last time, but tempered with her struggle in trying to figure out her new role in life, free from her Puddin’ Cup.

McGregor & Messina have great chemistry, and may have a deeper relationship than just Boss/Henchmen (though it would have been nice if that had been more text than subtext, but that’s another article).

McGregor is also clearly having a ball with Sionis, chewing on the scenery without going completely over the top. He plays him as a crazed, mercurial force who’s laughing one minute, then ordering people’s faces peeled off the next. In fact, he’s very much in the mold of how the Joker should feel as a villain to me. Scarily unpredictable, and it’s that shifting nature, friendly and smiling one moment, then a ranting menace on the edge of bloody violence the next, that makes him someone to be feared, as you don’t know what, if anything, could set him off. He’s just a touch more restrained than Quinn’s ex.

Perez and Smollett-Bell are fun as Montoya and Canary, while giving both characters some depth and weight as their histories are unfolded. The fact that they both hold their own with the energy put out by Robbie & McGregor is saying something.

Basco is good as Cain, though her main role is to be the smart-aleck street kid for Harley to bounce off, while providing her the motivation to become a (slightly) better person.

The weakest bit is Winstead’s Huntress, though by no means is it her fault. She really doesn’t get too much to work with, but what she does have, she nails. To be fair, she also gets one of the movie’s funnies scenes involving her and a mirror. I just wish that she’d been a bigger presence, and had more to do.

Which, as I said at the beginning, is really my only problem with the movie. It’s called Birds of Prey, but the BoP themselves feel more like guest/supporting players in what is totally Harley’s movie. We do get to know these ladies, and they’re important, but I just wish it had felt like they were on more of an equal footing with our leading lady.

The movie is very much the story of Harley Quinn, and her growth from Joker’s hench-girlfriend to anti-hero in her own right. Which, again, is only a minor problem for me, and not enough of one to really bring down the flick for me.

In the end, BOP: FEOHQ is a fun, exciting, action-packed thrill ride of a (deservedly earned) R-rated comic book movie. It’s well written, well directed, has a solid cast, fun characters, cute Easter Eggs, great fights (the climax, set in a funhouse inside an abandoned amusement park that is right out of Batman: The Animated Series, is stellar), cool moments, and continues the DCCU’s current upward trend.

Hopefully we’ll get a sequel which will focus more on Canary, Huntress, and Montoya, while Harley & Cain get their own buddy-crime movie. Or at least one with all of them on a more even footing as a true team.

Then again, this is their origin story, so with all of that “getting them together” business out of the way, maybe it will be easier to do that next time.

If you’re a fan of comics, Harley, the Birds of Prey, or just a good time, you should check this out.

Gary Mitchel is Revolution SF’s own Black Canary, but with more screaming.

Slipped Discs: 2/4/2020

Posted on by
Reply
The Doctor is in

Welcome back to the latest episode of Slipped Discs, where I give you a head’s up on what nerdy stuff is available to come home with you, because I still believe in physical media!

Once more, all this information comes from Blu-Ray.com, but they list everything that will be in the stores, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the interesting genre fare.

Doctor Sleep The gist: “Years following the events of “The Shining”, a now-adult Dan Torrence meets a young girl with similar powers as his and tries to protect her from a cult known as The True Knot who prey on children with powers to remain immortal.” I am severely disappointed at all of you out there who didn’t go see this movie. Incredibly well directed by Mike Flanagan, with fantastic performances from Ewan McGregor as Danny, Rebecca Ferguson’s top-tier villain Rose the Hat, and by newcomer Kyliegh Curran as Abra, this movie managed to thread an almost impossible needle of being faithful to both versions of The Shining, King’s original text as well as Kubrick’s masterful adaptation. If you don’t know the full story there, go look it up. Anyway, we get the Blu, 4K and the obligatory Best Buy steelbook. I’ll definitely be picking this up.

The House That Jack Built (2018) The gist: “USA in the 1970s. We follow the highly intelligent Jack over a span of 12 years and are introduced to the murders that define Jack’s development as a serial killer. We experience the story from Jack’s point of view, while he postulates each murder is an artwork in itself.” It’s a Lars Von Tier flick, with Matt Dillon as Jack. That should tell you enough to know if you want to check this out or not.

Rabid (2019) The gist: “After a young woman, Rose, suffers a disfiguring traffic accident, she undergoes an experimental stem-cell treatment that leads to unintended consequences.” This is a remake of Cronenberg’s  body-horror classic, and is very notable for being directed by rising horror stars Jen and Sylvia Soska. I have not caught this yet, but I like the original and it’s on my list.

The Good Liar The gist: “Career con artist Roy Courtnay can hardly believe his luck when he meets well-to-do widow Betty McLeish online. As Betty opens her home and life to him, Roy is surprised to find himself caring about her, turning what should be a cut-and-dry swindle into the most treacherous tightrope walk of his life.” Yeah, it’s not a genre film, but Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen put on a master class of acting that you should absolutely check out.

Grand Isle The gist: “A young father is charged for murder and must prove his innocence through recalling a very twisted and dark night of events.” I have no idea about this movie, but it has Academy Award© Winner Nicholas Cage and Kelsey Grammer, so I’m in. And, as we all know:

Brain Damage (1988) The gist: “One morning a young man wakes to find a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but in return demands human victims.” A classic of good-bad 80’s horror from Frank Henenlotter, the mad genius behind the Basket Case series and Frankenhooker. This Blu-Ray release is from Arrow video, whom I put up there with Shout/Scream Factory when it comes to putting out great genre work that deserves a new life. If you love cheesy, gory horror, you should check this out.

The Nightengale The gist: “Set in 1825 in the British penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land (now the Australian state of Tasmania), the film follows a young convict woman seeking revenge on a soldier who murdered her family.” The new film by Jennifer Kent, who brought us The Babadook. Again, I haven’t seen this one, but it looks good.

The Breakfast Club (1985) Do you really need the gist here? Ok, fine: “Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover they have a lot more in common than they thought.” I know most of us 80’s kids already own this, but this is another cool Best Buy exclusive steelbook which is very tempting for me. I mean, look at it:

Don’t you forget to buy me…

Other titles of note: Halloween ’78/18 combo pack, Dragonheart: Vengeance, The Hunt for Vlad the Impaler, Evil Ed, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Complete Series)

I just realized how many of these I haven’t seen, in spite of how many movies I did catch last year. I guess that means there’s always something new to look forward to!

Let me know which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!

Slipped Discs: 1/28/2020

Posted on by
Reply
No Fate But What We Make…Again

Welcome back for week two of Slipped Discs, where I give you a head’s up on what nerdy stuff is available to come home with you, because I still believe in physical media!

Once more, all this information comes from Blu-Ray.com, but they list everything that will be in the stores, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the interesting genre fare.

First up, a bit of a very personal interest, that actually came out back on the 24th, Blue Öyster Cult: Hard Rock Live Cleveland 2014. B-R doesn’t have any sort of a description, but I think the title tells us everything we need to know. I love BÖC, and I really shouldn’t have to explain their nerd cred. But I will! They contributed two songs to the Heavy Metal soundtrack, have songs based on the works of, and written by, fantasy legend Michael Moorcock, and are true legends of 70’s metal. Here’s a short list of tracks: “Veteran of the Psychic Wars“, “Imaginos“, “Black Blade“, “Vengeance: The Pact“, “Joan Crawford Has Risen From the Grave“, “Godzilla“, and, of course, “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper“. Need I go on? Because I could! I love this band, and that they’re still going strong.

And now, for the Tuesday releases!

Terminator: Dark Fate: The gist: “Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future.” A lot of people seemed to enjoy bagging on this movie, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Sure, it’s no T2, but what is? Arnold was fun, Davis was cool, I liked Reyes, and Hamilton is iconic as Connor. We need to see more women, especially more older women, in roles that are more than just Grandma. Like, Grandma with a rocket launcher. Anyway, it’s out on Blu, 4K and as another Best Buy Steelbook exclusive.

Parasite: The gist: “Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.” One of the top foreign films of last year, from iconic director Bon Joon-Ho. I personally haven’t seen it yet, but it’s definitely on my list.

Fail Safe (1964): The gist: “At the height of the Cold War, during the standard investigation of a possible incursion into US airspace by the Soviets, the nuclear bombers that are always in the air are sent towards their “Fail-Safe” points, about which they orbit while waiting to be sent to their targets if a preemptive attack by the USSR is confirmed. The alert turns out to be false and the various flights are recalled, but a technical error occurs, and one flight of 6 aircraft, armed with multiple 20 megaton nuclear weapons, passes beyond its “Fail-Safe” point, and heads towards its assigned target of Moscow. With the World racing towards WWIII, can the US President and Soviet Premier overcome their distrust, and avoid nuclear annihilation?!” One of the great Cold War movies, and one of the first to ask “Wait, we’re HOW close to nuclear Armageddon?!” Fantastic cast, incredibly tense, and yeah, the “serious” version of what happened in Dr. Strangelove. Anyone who lived through the era will get chills, and those too young, hey, look, the world’s always been in the brink of destruction!

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971): The gist: “Finally released from an institution after suffering a nervous breakdown, Jessica (Zohra Lampert) seeks the tranquility of a secluded home in Connecticut to help make her recovery complete. But instead of a restful recuperation with her husband Duncan (Barton Heyman) and a close friend (Kevin O’Connor) in the New England countryside, Jessica soon finds herself falling into a swirling vortex of madness and the supernatural.” One of the great psychological horror films of the 70’s, with a great “Is it the supernatural, or are they crazy” angle. Horror fans owe it to themselves to check this out.

Black Panther (2018): Do you really need the gist? Ok, fine: “ T’Challa, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king.” This is the 4K re-release in the exclusive Steelbooks that Best Buy has been doing for the Marvel movies. If you need it in 4K, this is a good option for you. I like ’em, so I’ll be picking this up.

Slumber Party Massacre (1982): The gist: “An eighteen-year-old high school girl is left at home by her parents and she decides to have a slumber party. Meanwhile, a murderer of five people with a propensity for power tools has escaped and is at large, and eventually makes his way to the party, where the guests begin experiencing an attrition problem.” A classic of the slasher genre, and one of the only ones directed by a woman, Amy Holden Jones, who has a really great filmography. This movie is pretty iconic for the power drill kills, as well as having a smart script. Another one that horror fans should take a look at, especially as Scream Factory is giving this their patented deluxe Steelbook treatment.

Very Bad Things (1998): The gist: “Kyle and four friends are white suburbanites who set off for a debauched night in Las Vegas before Kyle gets married. But things go badly wrong when a prostitute is skewered on a coat hook as she entertains one of the pals, Michael. Yuppie Robert keeps his head, and goes so far as to murder a security guard who threatens to discover their little accident. The next step is to dismember and bury the bodies and then to return to LA and pretend nothing happened. Of course, guilt and nerves set in and outrageous steps are needed to keep a lid on things. But nothing — absolutely nothing — is going to stand between bride-to-be Laura and her trip down the aisle.” One of the darkest comedies ever made, getting the Blu Ray treatment from Shout Factory. You’re either gonna love it, or hate it, probably depending on how you feel about Christian Slater.

So only two new movies this week, but a lot of older stuff getting a release/re-release. Other possible titles of interest: “Tommy and the T-Rex“, “Body Parts“, “Angel Eyes“, “Along Came a Spider“, & “Footloose“

Let me know which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!

Slipped Discs: 1/20/2020

Posted on by
Reply
Still Looking for that Twinkie

Welcome to the first of what (hopefully) will be a new, weekly bit from me, a round-up of the new geeky movies hitting the store shelves, be it on DVD, Blu or 4K. Because I still believe in physical media, dammit!

All this information comes from Blu-Ray.com. Obviously, you could go look up this information yourself, but they list everything, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the stuff the nerd crew find interesting.

The House by the Cemetery (1981): A Lucio Fulci flick! The gist: “The plot revolves around a series of murders taking place in a New England home – a home which happens to be hiding a particularly gruesome secret within its basement walls.” It’s Fulci, so it’s going to be weird, lurid, disturbing, and a must for horror fans.

Zombieland 2: Double Tap: The sequel to the breakout zombie hit of 2009! The gist: “Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family.” Yeah, it took a while, but I enjoyed seeing this crew (and the surprise cameos) again. Best Buy will have a collectible Steelbook of it, and the first one, available for your undead library.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot: The gist: “Jay and Silent Bob return to Hollywood to stop a reboot of ‘Bluntman and Chronic’ movie from getting made.” There was a time I loved everything by Kevin Smith. But that time is not now. I’ve heard a lot of not good things about this particular movie, but I will probably end up giving it a shot.

The Addams Family (2019): Ok, someone wasn’t paying attention when they wrote the gist: “A stop-motion animated version of Charles Addams’ series of cartoons about a peculiar, ghoulish family.” This movie is CG, not stop motion. I have no idea what they’re talking about. The movie itself, though, surprised me by being a lot of fun. It managed to capture and blend the tone of the original Addams comics, and the 90’s live-action movies.

Dragonfly (2002): A supernatural Kevin Costner flick that was trying to ride the Mothman vibe. The gist: “After his wife is killed while performing relief work in Central America, a doctor’s patients begin delivering messages from her from the afterlife. On a quest to determine what his lost soul mate wants, the doctor is forced to accept the impossible.” I remember it being very meh, but now it’s out on Blu for the die hard Criptid fands, or Costnerites.

Countdown: Everything you need to know about this meh movie is that they gave it the tag-line “Death. There’s an app for that.” Dull, uninspired, and just a waste.

In Search of the Last Action Hero: No, it’s not a sequel to the Arnold movie, but a new documentary that looks pretty interesting. The gist: “In Search of the Last Action Heroes details the action genre over the past 50 years from the early westerns to the contemporary movies of today. We explore the story behind the ’80s action genre many consider to be the golden Era and how it changed come the 90s and saw its decline and rise as we saw the old stars of the 1980s make a comeback. We examine how studios were able to turn outrageous concepts into genre-defining tropes, and how the one-man-army sub-genre produced the superstars of the era.” I love a good documentary, and this topic could be a lot of fun.

Other possible titles of interest: American Pie: Band Camp, Black and Blue, Kitten With a Whip (1964), Dragonheart: A New Beginning (2000), Summer Days with Coo (2007), The Courier

Let me know which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!

The Grudge (2020)

Posted on by
Reply
“I want to show you something . . .” – Fiona
Format:Movie
By: Nicolas Pesce (Director/Screenwriter)
Genre: Horror
Released: January 3, 2020
Review Date: January 12, 2020
Audience Rating: Rated R
RevSF Rating: 8/10 (What Is This?)

I believe that this is the first time where I’m getting to review a remake of a movie, where I reviewed the original when it came out. I’m not sure how I feel about this, except possibly old.

The original The Grudge was released way back in 2004, and I really enjoyed it. So even with Sam Rami / Ghost House behind this remake (after having made the original American adaptation of the J-Horror original), the usual remake unease, combined with by-the-numbers trailers, had me a little apprehensive about this remake.

I am very glad to report that my fears were unfounded. This remake is fantastic.

Like the original, the new The Grudge is about vengeful spirits who died in a rage, so now they unleash that fury on anyone who dares enter their house. This must be the reason for the push for drone-based delivery services, so you stop running out of employees.

Anyway, the tale starts in Japan, where live-in nurse Fiona (Tara Westwood) Landers is our ghost “patient zero”. She makes the mistake of dropping in on where long-haired ghost Kayako (Junko Bailey) and her child Toshio were murdered. After a scare by the undead duo, Fiona flees home to America, where she and her family, husband Sam (Dave Brown) and daughter Melinda (Zoe Fish) discover that you can run but you can’t hide from pissed-off ghosts, and now they become murderous spirits as well.

After this, the movie follows four interlinked stories about the poor unfortunates who made the mistake of stepping into the wrong residence. As in the original, these stories are told in an interweaving pattern, slipping back and forth between setups and reveals, building the tension until you’re ready to snap.

Our four tales (five, if you count Fiona’s gruesome opener) are about:

  1. Single mom Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) who has moved with her son Burke (John Hanson) to town after her husband’s passing from cancer. Along with her new partner Detective Goodman (Demián Bichir), she investigates the discovery of the body of . . .
  2. Lorna Moody (Jacki Weaver), a suicide assistance advocate, who has come at the request of William Matheson (Frankie Faison) about his ailing wife Faith (Lin Shaye). Meanwhile, they have visits from . . .
  3. Detective Wilson (William Sadler), partner of Detective Goodman, who had entered the house while investigating the deaths of the Landers. His visits upset the Mathesons, whom had bought the house from . . .
  4. Peter Spencer (Frank Cho), who is not only dealing with the stress of trying to sell the house for Fiona (whom he doesn’t know has perished at the ghostly hands of Kayako), but he and his wife Nina (Betty Gilpin) have just received some very unsettling medical news about their unborn child.

As you can see, this movie has a rock-solid cast. Riseborough, Lin and Cho are the standouts, and it’s always a pleasure to see Sadler. Riseborough is very sympathetic, smart and believable, Lin is great, and between this movie, The Exorcist TV show and Sleepy Hollow, Cho is putting together a solid horror resume.

The screenplay, by director Nicolas Pesce, manages to juggle the back and forth of the stories without becoming confusing or bogged down with “wait, what?” questions. All the characters are smart (or at least, don’t make stupid decisions just for the sake of moving the plot forward), and are sympathetic. I cared about each of these people, even as I yelled at them to not go into that house.

Also, setting the stories in 2004 & 2006 (when the original and sequel came out), was a cute touch.

Pesce’s direction has a very grounded feel. It reminded me of those matter-of-fact horror films of the 70’s, very easy to follow, well shot, and I love the way he handled the ending.

I also want to give a shout out to the music by the Newton Brothers, it’s great stuff. The end credits song “We Get What We Deserve” by them and Dead Sara has been on repeat in my playlist since I left the theater.

I know that a lot of people are kind of bagging on this movie, but I think it’s because it’s a remake, and as I said before, the trailers are not doing it any favors.

Personally, the movie works for me. But I really enjoy slow-burn horror (which this is). I liked the cast, it has a little gore, good scares, isn’t afraid to be mean, and I liked how it would slip the ghosts into various locations.

The only real complaint I have about the movie is that the ghosts have shifted from Kayako and Toshio to Fiona and Melinda. But as this is the story of their haunting, and Zoe’s performance is incredibly creepy, I can live with it.

Also, supposedly, this is more of a side-story than a reboot, telling the tale of the Landers ghosts, while Kayako and company are terrorizing Sarah Michelle Gellar. As you do.

So, yeah, The Grudge. If you like ghost stories, go check it out.

2019 in Film (Part II)

Posted on by
Reply
I’m ready for my closeup

So in Part One, I listed everything I caught in the theater last year. And now I’m sure that you’re all eager to know which movies I enjoyed the most…and the least. Once more, I feel that I should remind everyone that I didn’t catch everything I wanted to see (go back to part one for that list), so some may not be on here that would have otherwise.

For my top pics, I will provide a quick comment on each movie, but for the bottom four (no, not five, I actually only have four movies I really disliked this year. I’m shocked as well), I’m just going to list them, again, in release order.

My Top 10 Movies of 2019

Bumblebee: I did not expect to enjoy this flick, I quit watching all the Transformer movies after Bay’s first one. But this flick had heart, a great cast, and I could go for an entire movie of the Cybertron section.

Captain Marvel: Loved this movie. Brie kicked ass, loved seeing a young Nick Fury. Seeing a woman realize her power, then her taking out the Kree ship, followed by the fist-into-palm threat, was just amazing. “I don’t have to prove anything to you.” YES.

Shazam!: Not only was this a moving story, with great laughs and surprising poignancy, it’s nice to see the DC movies getting their crap together. Even if I’m not a fan of what they did to Sivana, this movie still makes the list.

Avengers: Endgame: The capstone to 10 years of a wild movie experiment, creating true serialized storytelling/building a universe in a way that had never really been done before. And they stuck the landing.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters: Best Godzilla movie since Destroy All Monsters. Great Kaiju action, passable human drama, and LOTS OF GODZILLA. If you didn’t see this on the big screen, you missed out.

Spider-Man: Far From Home: Tom Holland continues to be a great Peter Parker and Spider-Man. They nailed Mysterio. We gained Night Monkey. A great capstone to Phase Three of the MCU. Plus: JK is back!

Ready or Not: Biggest surprise of the year, and most fun movie of the year. A delightful black comedy, a cross between Clue and You’re Next, two of my favorite films. More people should have gone out to see this. If you haven’t, fix that!

Doctor Sleep: Atmospheric. Scary. Thoughtful. Solid performances. Fantastic villain. And they managed to thread the needle of honoring both versions of The Shining, the Kubrick movie, and King’s novel. I’m still shocked that this movie didn’t do better.

Knives Out: Just a pure joy. A great cast that is obviously having a ball making the movie, and the plot is a nice, twisty ride. It’s as good as you’ve heard, check it out.

Jojo Rabbit: To be honest, I was apprehensive about this one. The trailers made me think it was going to be too silly/goofy, which is how I felt about Thor: Ragnarok (don’t @ me). Instead, it’s smart, thoughtful, funny, and powerfully moving in places. It’s a near perfect film.

JoJo Rabbit is, hands down, my top movie of 2019.

Yes, really.

Honorable Mentions: Alita: Battle Angel, Happy Death Day 2U, Us, John Wick 3, Crawl

Bottom Four: Hellboy, Dark Phoenix, The Dead Don’t Die, Rambo: Last Blood

Special Call Out: Cats. Oh my god, Cats. This movie is not the worst. It’s not the best. It’s an experience. And I recommend that everyone check it out for themselves. It’s indescribably wild. I still have bits of “Magical Mr. Mistoffelees” rattling around in my head weeks later. I may go see it a second time.

It’s bonkers. It’s gloriously weird. It’s … Cats.

And it got me writing again, so it’s got that going for it.

You’re not prepared. Go anyway.

2019 in Film (Part 1)

Posted on by
1
The best thing about popcorn is the way it screams when you eat it…

So, all in all, 2019 was a pretty good year for movies.

A few surprises (though fewer than expected).

A few disappointments (though fewer than expected).

A few long-term friends coming to conclusions, (some more permanent than others).

(I think I’ll stop with the parenthesizes now…)

This was also my first full year with the AMC A-List program, which lets you watch up to three movies a week, be it in Dolby, 3-D, IMAX, or what have you, all for about twenty bucks a month. So as long as I saw at least two movies each month, it paid for itself.

My best months were June and December, which tied with six movies, meaning I paid about $3.50 a movie, which ain’t bad.

(I could go on about the program, and it’s perks, but they’re not paying me to do so, and that’s kind of another post. I may do one with all the movies I’ve seen so far with A-List, but I may not. The first one I did was Venom. And I said I was gonna stop with these things…)

Because of the A-List, I did see more movies than I probably would have without it.

Maybe.

To be honest, I most likely didn’t see that many more than if I didn’t have A-List, as I love going to the movies.

I did, however, do more repeat viewings than I usually do, because hey, a pretty much free movie is a pretty much free movie.

So, without further adieu, here’s everything that I caught in the theater last year, with the date, because why not? I also note the three movies that I saw outside of A-List, just for clarification.

Jan.
Bumblebee (11th)
Glass (17th)

Feb.
Alita: Battle Angel (13th)
Happy Death Day 2U (26th)

Mar.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2nd)
Captain Marvel (7th)
Captain Marvel (11th)
Us (23rd)

Apr.
Shazam! (4th)
Pet Sematary (10th)
Hellboy (14th)
Avengers: Endgame (25th)

May
Avengers: Endgame (2nd)
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (12th)
John Wick 3 (17th)
Brightburn (27th)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (30th)

Jun.
Ma (non A-List) (1st)
Dark Phoenix (12th)
Avengers: Endgame (15th)
Shaft (22nd)
The Dead Don’t Die (23rd)
Toy Story 4 (25th)
Anna (30th)

Jul.
Avengers: Endgame (1st)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2nd)
Crawl (22nd)

Aug.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (12th)
The Kitchen (17th)
Ready or Not (22nd)
Hobbs & Shaw (25th)

Sep.
It: Chapter 2 (10th)
Rambo: Last Blood (23rd)

Oct.
Joker (3rd)
The Addams Family (10th)
Zombieland 2: Double-Tap (18th)

Nov.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (1st)
Doctor Sleep (7th)
Terminator: Dark Fate (non A-List) (11th)
The Good Liar (17th)
Charlie’s Angels (23rd)

Dec.
Knives Out (3rd)
Frozen II (9th)
21 Bridges (11th)
Jojo Rabbit (12th)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Non A-List) (19th)
Cats (23rd)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (24th)

Yeah, there are a few gaps, for various reasons, though a few are still playing in the theater at the time of this writing, and I’ll try and catch them there. In no particular order, the ones I missed that I still want to see are:

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Rocketman. Uncut Gems. Jumanji II. Midsommar. Fighting With My Family. The Lighthouse.

Now, which movies make my top 10 list? Which are my bottom five? For that, you’ll have to come back next time.

Hairballs Anonymous

Posted on by
1

So, Cats. 

Cats.

The movie adaptation of the beloved Broadway show. 

Cats. 

Yeah, that was a movie. It happened.

I saw it. 

I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never seen the show live. I’ve seen clips, heard the songs, and yeah, it’s iconic. It changed Broadway/Theater in the 80’s, for good or ill, there’s no denying it. There’s also no denying the power of “Memory.” It’s a legit showstopping number. So while I’ve never seen it performed in person, I respect it.

(I will also never forget the SNL bit where John Lovitz was a Hypnotist with a show on Broadway, and all the reviewers were a monotone “I loved it. It was better than Cats. I’m going to see it again and again.” I’d link it if I could find it.) 

As for the movie….wow. 

All I can kind of say is wow. 

First up, yes, the CGI is an absolute train wreck. I didn’t see the “patched” version, but I can not see how any kind of patch would help. It needs major work. There are times the dancer’s feet are not on the floor, but hovering over it. They also usually have no “weight,” and are just obviously not part of the environment. There is sometimes a shifting rim around the actor’s faces where they tried to blur the makeup into the fur, and when it shifts, it’s jarring. 

The design work of the cats themselves was fine, none of them really stuck out as terrible or amazing. But you could tell which ones had received the most work, and which ones were “Ok, this is a background character, we’ll touch it up later. What do you mean we don’t have a later?” 

The directing was serviceable, and I’ll leave it at that. 

The sets were…fine. They had a nice bit of unreality, putting us in this world of weird humanoid cats.  

The acting…isn’t terrible. There’s not a lot of it, as this is a singing musical, so most of the dialog is via song. But there are some moments, and they’re passable. My main issue is that, and I know that I’m going to get heat for saying this, but I dislike James Corden, and I absolutely HATE Rebel Wilson. I wish she’d drop into a hole and never been seen again. So, all their major scenes were not pleasant for me. At all. 

Everyone else was fine, and seemed to be having a good time. I really liked Jennifer Hudson, Laurie Davidson, Judi Dench & Ian McKellen (obviously), and I thought Francesca Hayward was really good. The duo doing Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (Danny Collins & Naoimh Morgan) reminded me of the Lutece Twins from Bioshock. Not a bad thing. 

And Idris Elba is Idris Fucking Elba. Damn. 

But people don’t really go to Cats for the acting. You go for the choreography, the music, and the songs. And boy howdy, there are a lot of songs.  Most of them are done well, and they made sure to nail “Memory”. They had to get that one right, or people would have rioted.

I also really enjoyed Tailor Swift’s song, but it felt like it had come in from an entirely different movie. “Beautiful Ghosts” was also good, but it was not done any favors by being next to “Memory.” 

I have to say that, overall, the movie is a disjointed mess of a thing. I feel where it worked best was where it was futzed with the least. The tap in the railway cat song,  Victoria’s ballet-inspired performances, and some of the group dances.

I wonder if they ‘d had the courage to go with makeup and prosthetics on a real stage, if it would have worked better? Or been less weird? Maybe? I don’t know.  

I do know, though, why they did go the CGI route, and while I think the effects being the energetic mess that they are will be a factor in why “Cats” ends up being a cult hit, it really could have used another few passes of work. Which probably means a six month delay, at least.

But then, I also wonder if the CGI had been improved, if it really would have made that much of a difference? Or at least a positive one? Because it is this “WTF AM I WATCHING?!” vibe from these weird and wild effects that are adding into the love I’m seeing for this movie online.  

And I get it. I see the appeal. I can feel it pulling on me, trying to get me to join in on the weirdness. There is something catchy about it, beyond the songs that already appeal to fans of the play. (And speaking of attraction, oh lord, can I see this being a huge Furry “that’s when I knew” movie). 

So, in the end, the movie is kinda weird, kinda plotless, that’s only held together by a few good and one great song, but same can be said of the show. So on that note, it’s a good adaptation.

I think it overstays it’s welcome by about 20 minutes (it should end when Grizabella flies off to heavy heaven/rebirth/whatever). It is a hot mess of a movie, but it’s a glorious hot mess, with some standout moments. And I will probably watch it again at home. 

I’m not going to catcall anyone who does love it, even if I don’t exactly do so myself (I think). This is because as a general rule, I try not to harsh anyone else’s buzz. And I would rather see a movie that dares to be weird, to be different, to swing for the fences like this and doesn’t quite get there, than some boring, bland and safe piece of film put together by committee. 

But oh man, it’s a “WTF did I just watch” mess.

A Rocky Road, Westworld Wins

Posted on by
Reply

And here we are for my second installment of Quick Reviews! I still need to get current on Flash, Supergirl, and Arrow, but I am keeping up with everything else. Mostly. So let’s get started!

1

Westworld — Seriously, this may be the best show on TV right now. This story is deep, the characters are well crafted, and it’s masterful in the art of the slow reveal. I love how we’re seeing more of the scary dark side of Dr. Ford; his lunch with Cullen was a beautiful depiction of how he may be playing the adorable grandfather, he’s using it to hide his keen and manipulative mind.

As a table-top RPG player, I’m also loving the exploration of people “playing” the park, with William as the type of gamer I prefer to be/have in my group, and Logan as the typical Munchkin who could care less about story, setting, morals, NPCs or other players, except in how he can use/abuse them for his own good time. Sticking Dolores in with these two is going to be interesting. Speaking of, I do wonder how she had her conversation with Bernard, while still out with those two. Is her “memory” being remote loaded into that little glass room with him? And it’s interesting that Bernard is keeping her clothed in these little secret meetings, against Dr. Ford’s insistence on keeping them naked behind the scenes to drive home his “these are things, not humans” agenda.

Getting back to the slow reveal side of the show, the hints on Harris’ Man in Black. He’s perfect in this role; the menace in his “Say another word and I’ll cut your throat. This is my vacation.” line gave me chills. I love that he’s searching for a game with real stakes, I’ve known that type of gamer as well. They can be a great addition, or poison, depending on what they’re looking for in your game. Then that end scene, I see a robot uprising in our future.

Supergirl — I finally got a chance to watch the first two episodes, and the move to the CW really hasn’t hurt the show at all. Mainly because it continues to be a show about optimism and heart, with a stellar cast. Losing Cat hurts, but at least she’ll come back for visits. Speaking of the cast, shuffling Jimmy to the new boss, the DEO into new digs and folding Winn in with them works for me. These first two episodes were full of fun, heart and Tyler Hoechlin is the Superman we need and deserve. He had great chemistry with the group, especially Kara, and he nailed both Clark and Kal-El. Like a lot of other people, I would be really interested in him having his own series.

As for the plots, I hope that Lena is not secretly evil, but she is a Luthor. I won’t be shocked if that reveal happens, though it would be a better twist (and fit the show’s heart) if she was legit. The worst would be if they play the “she was legit, but X happens, she blames Kara and turns evil” bit. It would mirror Lex’s story (some versions), but it’s a bit overplayed and hokey these days. I like Cadmus being the season’s Big Bad. They did a good job with Metallo, but he reminds me of a minor thing that’s been bugging me since the show started: they’re giving Kara a lot of Kal’s villains/stories in this series, which makes me wonder what he’s been doing/who he’s been fighting for the 12 years he’s been flying around Metropolis? (And yes, loved the “Moving back to Gotham” line)

Ash vs Evil Dead – The show continues to be so much better this year. Ash over his dead dad was the perfect mix of pathos and humor, and the line “Think of your life as a good time, not a long time,” was pure Ash. The addition of Ted Rami has been great, but I always enjoy his work. The rodeo with the Demon Delta was a blast, and intercut nicely with the ladies hunting down the spawn of the Necronomicon. It was also cool seeing the hell portal in the trunk of the car, and I can’t wait to see what trouble tossing the book inside is going to cause.

Gotham – The storyline with the Mad Hatter continues to be mildly interesting, but Gordon himself remains the least interesting guy on the show. The real reason I keep watching it Penguin/Nigma, and now it looks like the show is going to screw that up with a dumb love triangle storyline. Those always work out so well. Here we had a chance to have a show with a decent non-heteronormative relationship, and they’re gonna screw it up with a cheap attempt at manufactured drama. I’m going to keep watching, hopeful that the show is pulling off a cunning or crazy misdirection, but I’m worried. I’ve walked away from this show before, and if they screw this up, I’m willing to do it again.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – This show is still improving, but Daisy/Sky/Quake backslid again this week into “I hate her” territory. I’ll be glad when they finish off this self-pity arc they’ve locked her into. Ghost Rider continues to be cool, though I totally called him letting his uncle get grabbed by our physics ghosts while he killed off the gang guy. I also liked the new director facing off with the Congress lady on TV, but I’m not sure that I’m going to like the political angle they seem to be setting up between them in the end scene. Still, watching May & Coulson continues to make the show worthwhile.

Legends of Tomorrow – Another show that continues to improve in its second season. I’m happy that this Vixen is joining the team, and I loved their little adventure in Japan. Though I do have to wonder why a show that is strapped for the budget to do Firestorm on a regular basis added a guy who’s powers are another expensive CGI effect. Ray’s struggle of “am I a hero without the suit” arc is hopefully ending soon, with him building a better looking set of armor. I also hope they end the “Secret Message from Barry” thing quickly/the return of Hunter before they get tiresome as well (which won’t take long).

Arrow – I finally watched the first episode of the new season, and while Mopey Oliver is always a drag, at least by episode’s end he seems to be pulling out of it. I also got a little tired of their naear constant attempts at putting over Diggle. The guy doesn’t need it, we already know how good he is, was there ever a question about his skills? Still, I like our new bad guy in town, and the fact that we’re going to have both Wild Dog and Ragman, two of my favorite underutilized DC characters, makes me very happy and hopeful for the season.

American Horror Story: Roanoke – This season is amazing. I had wondered why on Earth the husband had come back to the house, as he was the only one I couldn’t figure out. The actors didn’t believe in the ghosts, and the wife wanted her husband back, but the reveal on why he went back into this merry land of murder made sense. As did his wife’s reaction, the poor dear. I’m wondering if she’s going to be our sole survivor. Speaking of, there were so many kills this episode, three before the opening credits! I’m so happy the producer died, but is it bad that I wish the jackass had suffered a bit more, at least on camera? I love the real Butcher, and felt so bad for Bates’ character at their fated meeting, especially her meek little “I just wanted to be on TV…” before her head was split from crown to nose. Though with the other three ladies being held by the murder hillbillies and the Butcher’s forces at the house, I wonder how they’re going to make this last for three more episodes.

Channel Zero – This show continues to be a slow reveal, slow burn kind of thing, and really working on the creepy vibe more than out and out scares, which is nice. I’m still trying to figure out how the tooth fairy fits in with Candle Cove, and we have the mystery of the teacher’s level of involvement. I like the twist that the main guy had to kill his brother because of what the show was turning him into, and I wonder now what it’s doing to his daughter. It still feels a little forced at times, but I’m still enjoying it enough to stick with it.

The Walking Dead – The hell with this show. And not because of the deaths of [SPOILERS], lots of people have died on this show. My issue with the show is that it’s fallen into a horrible formula. Unless it’s the first episode of the season, the mid-season finale, the return episode or the final finale, not one damn bit of real plot motion happens. There’s more life in the undead on the show than in its plot. All you need to watch for each season is those four episodes, and you won’t miss a damn thing, and that’s frustrating as hell. JDM was great as Negan, but I don’t think he’s gonna be enough to make up for the lack of plot progression and once more having to watch Rick suffer through a crisis of “Oh god, I can’t do/deal with this!” whining. And I’m also sick of his and Daryl’s plot immunity. Negan should have killed Daryl for slugging him, and the only reason he didn’t was the “If Daryl Dies, We Riot” crowd would turn on this show and tear it to pieces. Maybe this season will change, but I have my doubts.

Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s do the Time Warp Again – Someone at Fox has had a burning desire to remake Rocky Horror for at least 10 years, at least that when I first heard of their thinking about doing this. I’m personally not opposed to remakes; my favorite movie is a remake, John Carpenter’s The Thing. But if you’re going to do a remake, you should at least try and bring something new to the table, and this, well . . . it did add “Superhero” to the end, so that was new.

Most of the cast did their best, I loved Milian & Carny as Magenta & Riff Raff, the casting of Ben Vereen as Dr. Scott was genius, and it was cool that Curry was the Criminologist. Everyone else was pretty solid, though McCartan over-sold Brad’s squareness but did well after his tryst with Frank.

Speaking of, casting Laverne Cox as Frank seemed like a good call. And while she can sing, her Frank just didn’t work for me. Her Frank was sexy as hell, and had some great outfits, but Frank should feel dangerous, slightly crazed and have an edge. And she felt Hot Topic edgy. Especially with removing the cannibalization of Eddie. But, in a way, that’s my complaint with the whole thing. This was bloodless, toothless and somehow sexy yet nearly sexless. Most of the songs were decent, but overall, this is not gonna be the version anyone thinks about or requests when they wanna see Rocky.

Quick Reviews

Posted on by
Reply

So, yes, I and this blog site, are alive. Because the internet doesn’t really kill anything until the servers break down. Or you’re a popular superhero MMO that people still miss to this day.

I have missed writing reviews and the like for the site, but life’s been interesting and kept me away; mainly doing the podcasting and posting over on the social media, aka Facebook. I have been posting my thoughts on the TV shows that I’m watching over there, and it suddenly occurred to me “Hey, why not post them on that blog thing you’ve been neglecting for three years!?” This way, I have stuff for people to read here, and I can expand/expound a bit more than I can over on the FacBoo. So that is what I’m going to do!

Now, while I can say more here, I fully intend to still keep these as short reviews, so I can keep up with them as I watch the shows, and not fall behind as might happen if I were to try and do an in-depth look at each show. I want these to be a quick hit of what I’m enjoying (or not) in each show.  I was thinking of calling this Blipviews, in reference to Max Headroom’s Blipverts (kids, ask your parents), but it doesn’t quite work for me. If I do come up with a clever name, I’ll let you all know; or if you have a suggestion, please leave a comment! Now let’s get started!

1

Channel Zero – Watched the first two episodes, and it’s okay. Not good, not bad, just ok so far. I like how it seems to be merging two Creepypastas, Candle Cove and the Tooth Fairy, but some of the “weird-for-weird’s sake” feels forced. The jumping back and forth chronology and flash-cuts to cause confusion, tension or jump scares could also be handled better. And the show is desperately trying to grab the “Stranger Things” vibe, and not doing that so well. On the other hand, it does have some great visuals, and they’re doing a great job with the Candle Cove show inside the show itself. I’m going to stick with it, as I like anthology shows, even in the AHS-season story vein, though my preference is the one-and-done Twilight Zone style.

American Horror Story – Speaking of which, this season continues to be f’ng amazing! The “twist” of turning it into a “reality” show is a bit of genius, and gets the whole cast into the house. There were two bits that surprised me, but should not have, was seeing the “actress” Kathy Bates is playing. I forgot that her scenes were “re-enactments”, so of course she’s an actress. Though her going bug-nuts in the role is brilliant. The other was related, in that the the real crazy nurses were different, and much scarier in appearance, which made me happy. Other things that I liked: When the PA acted like a normal person and decided “Fuck this, I’m out of here.” “Fuck her, I’m don’t care who that is!” and “Oh fuck, there’s a pig headed ghost in my car!” The text cards explaining that the show never aired and we’re seeing the footage stitched together (though I wonder then, who’s watching this?) was a nice touch. The glimpse of the “real” professor’s tape, and that Angela Basset directed it. My only question is why the husband came back to the house. I know the actors don’t believe in the ghosts, the wife wants to get back with her husband and the sister wants to clear her name, but why in the world would the husband willingly come back to this place? Still, this show is just killing it this year (ha!) and I am so sticking with it to the end.

Ash vs Evil Dead – At last, this show finally feels like what I was expecting! Episode two fully embraced the old “Splatstick” description of the original movies. The big fight between Ashy Slashy & the possessed intestines was horrifying and hilarious. I was right there with Ash in screaming “Not up the butt! Not up the butt!” And yeah, it’s nice to have a show brave enough to balance female naked with full Monty pierced male naked, even if it was on a corpse. For episode three, everything with the possessed Olds killing the teens was great, it’s always good to see Ted, even with the weird blonde hair, and it was nice seeing Ash make up with his dad, before waxing him, which they telegraphed five miles off, but it was still funny/shocking. I’m loving Bruce and the gang, the show is the mix of funny/gory that we’ve been promised, and I can’t wait to see where this all goes, though I really am gonna miss Lee Majors.

Gotham – This show continues to be amazing. It’s grabbed hold tight onto the Bat-Guano crazy rail, and the more it does so, the better it gets. Gordon continues to be the most boring guy on the show, but Bruce is coming along nicely (as well as growing like a weed!) The Cobblepot/Nigma bromance is the best thing on the show, and I know the shipping community must be having a field day. I almost bought that Nigma was going to turn on Penguin, because of how crazy that would be, but I was glad that it was a fake-out. When it was over and they were talking at Casa Penguin, his and Nigma’s embrace at the demanded to end with a kiss. I’m also wondering where they’re going with Chief Chickles and Alice’s blood in his eye.  I hope they don’t kill him off, but I’m not sure he’s gonna survive the season.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The show continues to improve! The story is getting a lot more interesting, and I’m glad they’ve forced the band back together so we stop having dueling storylines. I’m still highly annoyed with Daisy/Sky/Quake, but I liked Simmons standing up to her, and I loved Ghost Rider facing off with explosion guy. The look on his face when he held the flaming chain was perfect. I’m not sure where they’re going with AIDA, but I’m guessing she’s gonna be more of a back-end of the season story arc thing, with all the setup going on while we deal with these Physics Ghosts/obligatory tie-in to Dr. Strange. And while I kinda hope he sticks around, my feeling is that G-R is gonna be G-one when this arc is finished.

Flash – Episode two had the most awkward family dinner ever, but aside from that, it was a solid episode. Any appearance of Jay Garrick/John Wesley Ship makes me all kinds of happy. I also like that the Flashpoint event wasn’t just insta-fixed, and it looks like this is our new reality, at least until the big-mega-five-show cross-over happens. And while Berlanti keeps saying Supergirl is gonna stay separate, I’m hoping that it’s a cover, and the BMFSCO is a mini-CRISIS/multiverse collapse that merges things. And no, I still haven’t caught up on Arrow or Supergirl, as I have to find time to watch them. Though I have been watching…

Legends of Tomorrow – So far the show continues to be an improvement over the first season. I like Canary as the leader, though I didn’t enjoy seeing Stein struggling as the “ahh, ahh, I need a minute” guy. What I did enjoy was watching the JSA kick Nazi ass all over the place, even with the bad CGI on the Uber-Nazi. I would have also liked seeing Hourman, Dr. Mid-Nite and Obsidian have more to do. Or lines. But still, it was a fun romp, which is more I can say about most of season one.

I also watched some movies this week, and here are my thoughts on them.

Steve Jobs – The one with Fassbender as the tech/design guru. It was not your standard bio-pic. It plays in three acts, showing us Jobs backstage before three big events in his life, and the conversations he had with people before he headed out onstage. It’s a clever setup, as it gives everyone a reason to be there and have these talks that reveal Jobs, his mindset and the growth of his life. He talks with the mother of his child & the child, with the Woz, and others. The first act is before the introduction of the Macintosh, the second is before the introduction of the NeXT, and the last is before the introduction of the iMac. The movie does not sugar-coat Jobs, and shows that while he was brilliant in design and knowing what a computer can do, or how design matters in use, that he was also a bit of a condescending jerk, a control freak and be overly vindictive when he felt wronged. It’s a good movie, especially if you like bio-pics or have any interest in the history of personal computing.

Hatchet – This is one that’s been on my “I need to get to this list” for a few years, because I’m a huge fan of Kane Hodder, and this movie was pretty much built around him. That and as a throwback to “old-school” slasher horror. And it is pretty much that. We have about a 40 minute opening of meeting a bunch of thinly drawn characters, watch them venture they shouldn’t go, find out about our mad killer, and then enjoy his dismembering the poor doomed fools in various inventive ways. If you like this kind of horror, you’ll enjoy it.

Maggie – This is the zombie drama that’s notable in that it stars Schwarzenegger doing a fairly serious, dramatic role as a father who’s daughter is slowly becoming the undead. It’s an understated, indie drama, with a zombie frame, and it’s ok. Schwarzenegger gets to show off his dramatic chops, and while he’s not bad, it’s still hard to buy him as any kind of a “normal” guy and not the larger-than-life guy we’ve come to expect from him. The movie also suffers from an ending that is a mixed success in that it tries to make a statement on the power of family, but it also tries to be ambiguous and feels unsatisfying. I’m not unhappy that I watched it, but only watch if you’re a hard-core zombie or Schwarzenegger fan.

Z for Zachariah – This movie is apparently based on a popular book, and has Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie and Chris Pine as survivors of some kind of radioactive apocalypse, living in a valley that was somehow spared the fallout that wiped out the rest of the world. Robbie is a devout Christian girl who grew up in the valley, Ejiofor is a scientist who makes his way there, and then Pine is a miner who gets there after Ejiofor & Robbie has been together for a while. This is a movie with three great actors, an interesting premise, and yet still manages to still be boring as hell. It wants to be a meditation on faith, science, love and relationships, but instead it was like watching paint dry. When the movie finally gets to the big climax between Ejiofor & Pine, it decides to be ambiguous (there’s that word again), and ends up feeling more frustrating/annoying than compelling/interesting. I hate to end on a downer, but don’t bother.