Saturday Night

My View:  Saturday Night  (2024)  R  Saturday Night takes place on October 11th, 1975, when, at 11:30 pm, a group of young, wild performers and writers launched a new live TV show that changed the landscape forever. The film chronicles the events that took place in the 90 minutes prior to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. I am old enough to remember sitting in front of the TV with my dad to watch a new live show on a Saturday night at a really late time. My dad was a playwright and loved TV, especially comedies, so we were both blown away by what we saw that night. Not everything worked (George Carlin’s standup routine near the start of the show was a bomb), but most of the stuff they did was off the wall, inspirational comedy that thumbed its nose at almost everything from commercials to newscasts. Filmmaker Jason Reitman brings us the 90 minutes before that crazy broadcast happened. Saturday Night is a fun film that, like SNL, keeps throwing things at you, some of which work, some don’t. The film centers around Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), who is trying to put together a show in 90 minutes that everyone is telling he can’t possibly get it together. Everything goes wrong, from John Belushi not signing his contract and going rogue to lights that fall from the ceiling to a lineup of sketches/stand-ups/musical guests that would fill a four-hour show. All the while, Lorne is being told by the head of the network (played by everybody’s favorite SOB Willem Dafoe) that he will go to a Johnny Carson rerun if he feels that the show isn’t ready. Some outstanding performances help the film with Matt Wood playing the bull in a china shop, John Belushi, Ella Hunt playing the adorable ray of sunshine Gilda Radner, and Nicholas Braun as both the strange Andy Kaufman and the gentle Jim Henson. The film spends too much time on the relationship between Lorne and his wife, Rosie Shuster, played by the always scene-stealing Rachel Sennott. The film plays up too much with their strange relationship, with her deciding who to go home with, Lorne or Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien). I had fun with the film, especially seeing legendary SNL writer Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey) wreak havoc as only one of the great comedic but caustic minds could do. It’s a mad whirlwind of a film that doesn’t stop moving until the final frame, just like SNL itself.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Saturday Night Website Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Piece by Piece  (2024)  PG  Piece by Piece follows the life and career of American musician Pharrell Williams through the lens of Lego animation. Unlike all the other Lego movies like The Lego Movie (2014), this is a documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom (2013), Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)). Neville, in Lego form, sits down to interview Pharrell about his life and his music. The difference from an ordinary documentary is that we see everything through Pharrell’s eyes told through the magic of Lego animation. Pharrell’s fans will love this film, as will anybody who has listened to hip-hop, rap, and pop in the last thirty years. The fun of the film is seeing who will show up next to be interviewed and what their Lego figure will look like. Everyone who interacted with Pharrell and his ability to create hits shows up, including Gwen Stefani, Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, and more. The film works when it lets Pharrell tell his story with enthusiasm and creativity. It doesn’t work when it gets bogged down by giving us an almost blow-by-blow sampling of the hits he has had a hand in and all the fashion lines he developed. Like putting together a Lego creation, the film has a lot of parts, some of which don't always fit. However, overall, Piece by Piece is a fun look at the life of a highly creative person who sees the world a bit differently, much like Legos themselves. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Piece by Piece Website Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  Terrifier 3  (2024)  R  In Terrifier 3, the residents of Miles County are sleeping peacefully on Christmas Eve. That slumber is about to be disturbed by a man who will unleash chaos, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton). I did not like this film as much as I liked Terrifier 2, which I loved because of the use of mythology, creating a firm understanding of what was going to happen. Plus, we got Lauren LaVera as Sienna chopping up Art right and left in an archangel costume. LaVera brought the movie to life and gave us a hero to root for. This film takes place five years later, and our heroine, Sienna, hasn't been doing well. She spends most of her time in a psychiatric facility. She gets out to visit for the holidays what’s left of her family and her brother, who is now in college. As with the first two films, there are plenty of body parts flying all over and blood spilling everywhere as Art finds different ways to kill, this time in a Santa costume because it’s Christmas. The film feels like filmmaker Damien Leone got just a little too cute in trying to overwhelm us with all the Christmas carnage. The film also goes a little too far in trying to shock audiences in several scenes. There are still some enjoyable scenes where people, like in the second film, begin to mess with Art and have no idea who they are dealing with. I missed the old Sienna, who battled Art for the final third of the film in part 2. The final battle seemed rushed and felt too much like a setup for the 4th installment. Overall, Art the Clown fans will have fun watching him dismember people, but Sienna fans, like myself, want her back to her old self for part 4.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Terrifier 3 Website   Now playing in theaters.

My View:  The Apprentice  (2024) R  The Apprentice tells the story of how a young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) learned everything he needed to know about the world of real estate from the right hand of infamous lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Much has been said about this film, and it’s understandable why Donald Trump would not want it to be released. The film is about Donald trying to find his way in the world, out from the shadow of his father and he finds a man that can lead him to the promised land, even if that road is going to be bumpy and full of legal problems. Roy Cohn, played by the consistently brilliant Mark Strong, was a man who used everything in his power to ensure his clients won, including bribery, blackmail, and throwing every legal maneuver he could until the opposition stood down or gave in. Cohn saw in Trump someone he could mold and advise, though I am sure he also thought that Trump could be just another pawn in Cohn’s back pocket. The film doesn’t always work, but it’s not because of the performances. Sebastian Stan gives us a Trump who, when first meeting Cohn, is unsure of himself or how to go about getting what he wants. But ultimately, Cohn taught Donald too well, and what Cohn was used to giving out, Trump ended up giving him the same treatment. Do you learn anything new about Trump? Not really.  It’s funny, I didn’t like either character but by the end of the film, at least I understood Cohn.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Apprentice Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  The Last of the Sea Women  (2024)   The documentary The Last of the Sea Women takes place on the shores of Jeju Island, just below the southern tip of South Korea. A group of fierce elderly female divers fight to save their disappearing culture from the looming threats of pollution and global warming. You will fall in love with these feisty warriors, most of whom have been diving for 40 or 50 years. Once a thriving group of over 30,000, now their numbers are dwindling as the women continue to work in a sea that is slowly warming, causing them to dive deeper (without any breathing apparatus). The film follows the women as they continue to work, dealing with pollution and coral bleaching on a daily basis. Their lives are threatened when Japan, a not-too-distant neighbor, announces that it will release water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site into the ocean. The film has some beautiful shots of women working under water that highlight why someone would keep working well into their 80s. It’s a magical world that they get to explore every day, but the film asks, for how much longer?  My Rating: Full Price  The Last of the Sea Women Info   Now playing on the Apple TV+ platform.

My View:  Lonely Planet  (2024)  R  In Lonely Planet, a writer, Katherine (Laura Dern), goes to a retreat in Morocco to be alone and finish her novel. There she meets Owen (Liam Hemsworth), a young man who feels abandoned by his girlfriend. The acquaintanceship develops into a life-altering love affair that neither was looking for. Romance and rom-com films often follow a pattern. If it’s a rom-com, the two eventual lovers dislike each other (or at least think they do) and seem wrong for each other. In romance films, usually, the two eventual lovers are in bad relationships (sometimes just the wrong person for them) or coming out of a breakup (or have given up on romance). In this film, Katherine is suffering from writer’s block, and it’s not being helped by the fact that her long-term relationship has ended. Owen the a guy who is with the woman who doesn’t appreciate him. So our couple meet by chance and start spending time with each other. Now, I am a fan of romance films, and I have always loved watching Laura Dern on the screen. Unfortunately, she is let down by the material, with the film playing the troupes I just described to the hilt. The big breakup (a usual thing in romance films) feels like a huge reach and brings the entire film crashing down. I did enjoy the ending, though it was once again right out of the romance playbook. Liam Hemsworth doesn’t have a lot to do; just be dreamy-looking and take his shirt off a lot. The two leads have some incredible chemistry that shows on the screen. The film centers around Laura Dern’s character and Dern makes this film watchable. It’s not a horrible romance film, just incredibly predictable, with a huge plot hole.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee Lonely Planet Info Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see when it was first released but have seen recently): Lee (2024) R   Lee is the story of Elizabeth ‘Lee’ Miller (Kate Winslet), a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II. Lee was a complex woman who fought to be seen as an equal, a photographer who belonged in the same places as men. The fact that she accomplished it during a war is remarkable. Kate Winslet pours her heart and soul into the role of the fiery Lee, whose personality was not always easy to get along with. A woman who bragged about her sex life and her drinking, she meets her match in an English art dealer named Roland (Alexander Skarsgard), who lets her be herself without trying to control her. Once the war starts, Lee makes it her mission to be on the front lines where the action is, and she finds someone willing to help her succeed in Life photographer David Scherman (played by an almost unrecognizable Andy Samberg in an outstanding supporting role). Together, the two photograph some of the horrors of the war, including the first uses of napalm, the shaming of French women who slept with the Germans in order to survive, and the results of the Holocaust at the camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. The film also shows us how the famous picture of Lee was taken with her taking a bath in Hitler's own bathtub. The film lets Winslet show us Lee as a bold woman who had trouble with authority and was willing to fight her way into where she knew she belonged.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Lee Website    The film is still playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Akira Kurosawa's Dreams  (1990)  PG  A collection of eight stories based on dreams that legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), Ran (1985)) had and wanted to explore on film. Kurosawa couldn’t get the film made with Japanese backing, so Steven Spielberg and others in Hollywood got Warner Brothers to release the film. It’s a fantastic film that tackles grief, guilt, mental illness, death, and the destruction of the environment. Incredibly beautiful at times, and all the stories are moving and heartfelt. Where else can you see filmmaker Martin Scorsese play Vincent Van Gogh?  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Dreams Info The film is available for rent/buy on streaming services.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Piece by Piece:  Animation Legal

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Heretic  (2024) R  Two young Mormon women (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) have been spreading the word of God door to door without much success. They knock on Mr. Reed’s (Hugh Grant) door, and he welcomes them in, eager to hear what they have to say. The two girls soon learn that they are captive in the house and are to play a game of cat-and-mouse in the home of a madman. It’s going to be fun to watch a horror film where Hugh Grant is the bad guy.  Heretic Website  The film will be released in theaters on Friday, November 15, 2024. 

 

                                                                    Until Next Time!

Joker: Folie à Deux

My View:  Joker: Folie à Deux   (2024)  R  In Joker: Folie à Deux, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), the failed comedian, has caused a lot of trouble and has been put away in the Arkham State Hospital. There, he meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), and they soon embark on a journey of mayhem and romance. Joker: Folie à Deux is a musical by a director, Todd Phillips, who doesn’t like musicals. I say this because all the musical numbers are shot so flatly and without flash that it feels as if there wasn’t a lot of thought put into them. Joaquin (who we know can sing from his Oscar-nominated performance as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line) sings like a man who, even in fantasy sequences, hasn’t found his voice yet. Even the fantastic Lady Gaga sings some of her songs like an amateur at a high school talent show. The tone of the film is set with an opening animation cartoon where The Joker is about to go on stage and is beaten up and thrown in a closet by his shadow, who then assaults a bunch of people and then goes away when Joker is arrested and beat up by police for the crime. Phillips has created a sequel that is almost a hate letter to the fans of his first Joker film, as for most of the film, the Joker part of Arthur is held in check, only coming a few times, mostly during the trial portion of the film. The first film centered around madness and its ability to take over a person and feed on the chaos they create. This film is about trying to control that madness while letting someone else take control. We first see this with how he is subversive with both the guards, especially the main one (played by Brendan Gleeson) and his lawyer (played by Catherine Keener). Then Arthur meets Harley, who wants to be the girlfriend of the Joker, and tries everything she can to bring him to the forefront. This is a frustrating film to watch because there is a good story in there somewhere; maybe if the musical numbers had been more over the top, more fantasy-looking and sounding than they were on screen. Joker: Folie à Deux is a film that feels like the filmmaker is thumbing his nose at all the fans of the first film. One of the hallmark scenes of the first Joker is the incredible shot of Joker dancing down the vast amount of stairs while a Gary Glitter song is blasting. Take a look at the movie poster for this film. It’s a scene on those same steps with Harley and Joker dancing together. That scene never makes it into the movie. See what I mean, thumbing his nose at us.  My Rating: Cable  Joker: Folie a Deux Website   Now playing in theaters, including IMAX.

My View:  Hold Your Breath  (2024)  R  Hold Your Breath takes place in 1930s Oklahoma amid the region’s horrific dust storms. An evil presence named The Grey Man is killing people, and one mother (Sarah Paulson) is determined to stop him from killing her two daughters. This is another of a long line of films recently that have wasted the talents of their leads, this time Sarah Paulson. The film fails to elicit the necessary chills, as it takes an incredibly long time to establish the final third of the movie when things finally come to a head. The film tells too many stories instead of focusing on the feeling of helplessness and fright that is a combination of isolation, loss of loved ones, and the constant threat of blinding dust storms. I think this film would have worked better if it had been a more conventional horror film, then a film where a troubled mother falls into a hole of madness that she has trouble climbing out of. The bogeyman that is promised is never delivered, and instead, we get a tale that provides few chills and even less suspense than it should have.  My Rating: Cable  Hold Your Breath Website  Now playing on the Hulu platform.

Indiefest:  The Outrun  (2024)  R  In The Outrun, Rona (Saoirse Ronan) is a troubled young woman whose life in London was filled with alcohol and mayhem. To get sober, she travels back home to Scotland’s Orkney Islands, hoping that she can find something to bring her peace in its wild beauty and isolation. Once again, Saoirse Ronan proves she is one of the finest young actors in film today. She puts the film on her back and leads us down a very bumpy road to sobriety and appreciation for finding joy in small things you can anchor to. The film gives us flashbacks to how, because of her drinking, she pushed away everyone who loved her and how Rona figures out that she needs isolation to come to terms with her addiction. The film brilliantly lets us see the island’s beauty; even when the weather is brutal, there is still something to admire and find joy in, like recording the howling wind on a bitterly cold night. Even in the flashbacks, we have hope for Rona, and Ronan lets us see glimpses of hope, something that she can build on when she is on the island. The Outrun is a powerful film about learning to love the small things in life and finding hope in the beauty of the world around us.   My Rating: Full Price  The Outrun Website  Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Monster Summer  (2024)  PG-13  Monster Summer is about Noah (Mason Thames) and his friends, who are ready for a big summer of fun on Martha’s Vineyard, but their plans are disrupted when some kids they know are suddenly turned into almost lifeless zombies. Noah seeks the assistance of a retired police detective (Mel Gibson) to embark on a harrowing journey to save their beloved vacation spot. Monster Summer is a fun adventure film for both kids and adults, with a nostalgic feel for the 70s and 80s films that featured ordinary kids taking on supernatural beings. Monster Summer might be the only recent movie with Mel Gibson that is a kid’s film, so at least we have that. The scares aren’t too bad (except near the end) for young kids and adults will enjoy a plot that moves along. It’s a pretty simple film that gives us a little mystery for Noah and his friends to solve, with help from a police detective with his own scary reputation.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Monster Summer Website  Now playing in theaters.

Indiefest:  ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!  (2024)  Casa Bonita is a Mexican restaurant in Denver that was started in the late 70s as a place where families could come for a meal and get lost in all that there was to do, including puppet shows, live performances, Mariachi bands, caves, and cliff divers. It was even featured in an episode of South Park. It turns out the co-creator of South Park, Trey Parker spent many a birthday inside this magical restaurant described as Colorado’s own little bit of Disneyland. Trey and his South Park partner, Matt Stone, discover that the restaurant has fallen on hard times and is being auctioned off. Stone and Parker successfully bid on getting the restaurant and that’s when the story becomes interesting because the two had no idea how much money and time they would have to put into this Denver cultural icon to bring it back to its glory days. I am reminded of a line from the 1986 film The Money Pit, where the Hanks character says: 'Here lies Walter Fielding. He bought a house, and it killed him.' Like that movie, the restaurant the two South Park guys want to save becomes a massive money pit, where every crook and corner of the massive place has hidden problems, like right out of a South Park episode, where things seem to blow up in their faces. I had a great time watching this film, as the two go from being heroes in Denver for saving the restaurant to thinking about giving up on the dream and letting the place die. As you would expect, there are plenty of laughs as the guys tend to deal with problems using their sense of humor when things look bleak. How could you not like a documentary that weaves in South Park flashbacks and scenes from the obscure Elvis Presley film Fun in Acapulco while Trey Parker goes on an extended riff on how the puppet show should be R-rated? Even if you aren’t a South Park fan, you will fall in love with this quirky Mexican restaurant and the people who love it.  My Rating: Full Price Casa Bonita Info   Now playing on the Paramount+ platform.

My View:  Apartment 7A  (2024) R  Terry (Julia Garner) is a young dancer living her dream of being in a musical on the stage when during a performance, she shatters her ankle and is now suffering in pain every time she tries to dance. Terry loses her apartment, is hooked on painkillers, and after a grueling audition that she once again fails, she passes outside an apartment complex. A middle-aged couple (Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally) rescues her, who not only nurse her back to health but give her an apartment just down from theirs to live in while she tries to get back into the game. Soon, she discovers that this nice couple have connections that keep giving Terry hope until she discovers dark forces are making those good things happen for Terry. Apartment 7A is a prequel to the 1968 horror classic Rosemary’s Baby, giving us a look into what happened before Rosemary and Guy moved into this same apartment building. That film was shocking for its time with some terrifying scenes, written and directed by Roman Polanski, and was bolstered by outstanding performances by Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon (who won an Oscar for the role of the next-door busybody neighbor Minnie). It’s a film that is still scaring people to this day. Unfortunately, this film doesn’t. Even with three-time Emmy-winning (Ozark) actress Julia Garner and Dianne Wiest in the Ruth Gorden part, the film fails to have any of the suspense and horror that the original film did so well. The pace of the film is incredibly slow, and unlike Mia Farrow’s character in the 68 film, Terry seems to accept just about everything that she is given, even when things seem way out of the ordinary. What little bits of horror that do show up are poorly done with little effect and create very little foreboding that should be ever present in this tale. The ending is predictable (how could it not be), making this film seem like a poor attempt to jump on the coattails of a classic, and like Terry’s accident in the first part of the film, it suffers from a lame (pun intended) plot. My Rating: Cable  Apartment 7A Info  Now playing on the Paramount+ platform.

My View:  White Bird  (2023)  PG-13  After being kicked out of one school for being a bully, Julian (Bryce Gheisar) is having trouble fitting in at his new school. His grandmother, Grand-mere Sara (Helen Mirren), tells Julian how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a French village during World War II. She tells Julian how a boy she made fun of and bullied became her savior and best friend. White Bird is a sequel to the 2017 film Wonder. We find out what happened to Julian, the bully of that story. It turns out that Julian didn’t learn much from his interactions with Auggie and his Grand-mere decides he is in need of a story. The story is a pretty conventional one, with the Nazis taking over the town and Sara (Ariella Glaser) is saved by the heroics of a young man named Julian (Orlando Schwerdt). Julian was always being picked on at school because of a severe limp caused by polio, and even Sara looked down on him. Through Julian, Sara learns about kindness and how to be more concerned about her fellow man. Glaser and Schwerdt work well together on screen, and they make the simple plot more impactful. The film is also helped by Helen Mirren’s narration and by a subdued Gillian Anderson playing Julian’s mother. The film doesn't go too much into the horrors of the Nazis or the Holocaust, making it suitable for young adults to watch. It's a tale that tries a little too hard to hit the heart strings, but is propelled along by strong performances by the two leads. If you haven't already figured it out, present-day Julian was named after Julian from WWII. My Rating: Bargain Matinee   White Bird Website   Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  A Different Man  (2024)  R  In A Different Man, Edward (Sebastian Stan) is a man with neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes facial tumors that make his face almost unrecognizable. Edward is barely making a living as an actor in corporate videos and dreams of someday impressing his neighbor (Renate Reinsve). Edward’s life is about to change when he is given the opportunity to undergo facial reconstructive surgery that will transform his face. Be careful of what you dream of! This black comedy is about getting what you wished for and then realizing that maybe you were the problem and that nothing has really changed. Edward is a miserable man who hides from others on the subway and doesn't even complain about the leak coming from his ceiling that is growing day by day. Edward gets a miracle treatment and almost overnight, becomes a good-looking guy with a well paying job and even gets the girl of his dreams. That is until Oswald (Adam Pearson) shows up in Edward’s life, and though Oswald also has the neurofibromatosis condition, he is everything that Edward, even the new Edward, isn’t. Oswald is sophisticated in manner and dress, comfortable in any situation, the life of the party, and everyone loves him. Slowly, Edward sees the life he wanted, and it’s Oswald’s. Adam Pearson, an actor who has neurofibromatosis, is brilliant as the cock-sure Oswald, who takes over every room he is in and is the man that Edward always dreamed of being. Pearson is magical on screen who brings depth and meaning to the storyline, with a flair that makes you see why everyone in the movie thinks he is someone they want to be around. Things go from bad to worse for Edward, and we know it wasn’t a bad hand that life had dealt Edward; it’s just that he didn’t know what to do with the cards.  My Rating: Full Price  A Different Man Website  Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Martha Marcy May Marlene  (2011)  R Elizabeth Olsen (yes, she is the sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley) stars in the title role, as a woman who suddenly shows up on her sister’s doorstep after she was missing for two years.  The reunion, though, is difficult and forced as Martha is hiding secrets, and her deception starts tearing apart the sisters. We discover, in flashbacks, that Martha lived in a cult led by a charismatic man (played by the very creepy John Hawkes). This is a dark film, and you won’t always be able to decipher reality and what is just happening in Martha’s mind. Olsen is amazing. Her appearance changes when she exhibits a remarkable range of emotions as the film progresses, and she gets pulled deeper and deeper into the cult. Hawkes is perfect as the cult leader who never uses physical violence to meld his members. His control is all accomplished with a calm, quiet demeanor that is far scarier. Olsen is almost certain to get an Oscar nomination in this interesting study of a cult mind. When I wrote this review in 2011, I predicted Olsen would get an Oscar nomination. Unfortunately, she didn’t get that nomination, but she received a bunch of critic awards. I am still astounded that she is the sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley.  My Rating:  I Would Pay to See it Again  Martha Marcy May Marlene Info  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon. 

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Joker: Folie à Deux:  Vintage Camera Operators

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Red One  (2024)  PG-13 After Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons), aka Red One, is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) teams up with the world’s greatest bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to find Saint Nick and save Christmas. This looks like a lot of fun with a very in-shape Santa, a talking polar bear, Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Claus, Lucy Lui, giant warrior snowmen, and a Krampus who loves to fight. The film opens in theatres on November 15th.  Red One Website

 

                                                                        Until Next Time!