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 8, 2024. 

 

                                                                    Until Next Time!

Speak No Evil

My View:  Speak No Evil  (2024)  R  In Speak No Evil, a married couple, Ben (Scoot McNairy) and Louise Dalton (Mackenzie Davis), and their young daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), on vacation, meet another couple, Paddy and Ciara (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi), along with their daughter and son. A friendship is develops, and the other family invites the Daltons to stay at their country home for the weekend. Their stay is fun at the start, but the hosts’ behavior soon turns sinister as dark secrets are exposed, and the family realizes that they will be lucky to get out alive. Speak No Evil is produced by Blumhouse, who gave us horror movies like the Paranormal Activity films, Insidious, The Purge, and Happy Death Day. So you would expect when buying a ticket it’s going to be another scary horror film. Not so fast. Speak No Evil is more a suspense film than a horror film. However, given the reaction of the audience that I saw the screening with, this is more of a black comedy than anything else. That’s the only way I can explain how this film pushes the boundaries of plot and common sense. While the audience I saw the movie with had fun shouting at Ben and Louise to get the hell out of Dodge, they also became frustrated as the couple continually did the old horror trick of ‘going back into the house’ or ‘going upstairs to escape the bad people’ tropes. A few times, I can accept, but this became a running joke as Ben, who has to be one of the weakest decision makers in the history of film, either can’t make a decision (one of the weaker moments in the movie) or keeps leading his family into worse positions. Louise is the hero of the story, someone who wants to leave almost immediately from the moment she enters Paddy’s home. She only agrees to go on the trip because her husband, Ben, has a little pity party fit. Unlike some of my fellow filmgoers, I did not enjoy Speak No Evil, except when watching James McAvoy just go nuts in almost every scene. It was a scary movie with no scares and a couple who couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag, much less a home filled with a couple of nutty people.  My Rating: Cable  Speak No Evil Website   Now playing in theaters nationwide.

My View:  The Killer’s Game  (2024) The Killer’s Game is about Joe (Dave Bautista), an assassin for hire who has been diagnosed that he will die in a few months, so he orders a hit on himself to get it over. Once the hit has been ordered, Joe finds out that the doctor made a mistake and he isn’t dying. The problem is an army of assassins are on the loose, and are out to kill him anyway. I had fun with this film for about the first hour, but then things were pushed too far; with a plot already put together with balling wire and bubblegum, it went off the deep end and never came back. I love Bautista, and I think he has become a delightful actor as he gives his character a clumsy charm that works so well you can see a woman (played by Sofia Boutella) being smitten by him. The film has fun with Joe as the killer with a heart of gold (he only does hits on bad people) but goes a little too far trying to be cute, giving us too many characters with cutesy names to follow, all introduced in a bloody haze of flying body parts and individual soundtracks. Wrestling fans may enjoy seeing WWE wrestler Drew McIntyre as one of the assassins sent out to kill Joe, but they will be disappointed by the fight sequence he takes part in.  The fight sequences are well done, but too often the film goes for the big ending for each assassin out to kill Joe, which becomes almost numbing to watch. The final thirty minutes doesn’t work at all, especially a trip to a church (flashbacks to John Woo’s The Killer, maybe?) that is so poorly done that it almost hurts to watch it. I had high hopes for The Killer's Game after seeing the trailer, but it was a disappointment because it tried too hard to be funny and cute.   My Rating: Cable  The Killer's Game Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  Uglies  (2024)  PG-13  Uglies takes place in the future, where a society is obsessed with physical appearance, Tally (Joey King) is looking forward to when she turns sixteen. That’s when every citizen undergoes extreme cosmetic surgery to erase any imperfections, turning a person from an ‘Ugly’ into a ‘Pretty.’ Tally’s world is going to change when she meets Shay (Katherine Langford), who is part of a group of rebels living in the wilderness known as ‘the Smokies,’ who refuse to undergo the operation. For a while, we were getting a lot of these dystopian YA book-based films about a future where young people are the only hope for saving the world from tyranny and destruction. Films like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent came out, all based on YA best sellers. It’s been a few years, and now a new film has come out based on a best-selling YA series, Uglies. Joey King plays a young woman who can’t wait to become a ‘pretty’ on her sixteenth birthday. She soon learns that what she has been told her whole life might be a lie and that getting turned into a ‘Pretty’ comes at a price. Turning YA films into movies is not always a sure thing. For every Hunger Games, there is a Vampire Academy or Ender’s Game that doesn’t capture the magic that made those book series so successful. Despite the efforts of Joey King as our hero and Laverne Cox as our very stylish evil scientist, Uglies comes up short. The Uglies books were huge best-sellers, and fans have long waited for the series to be turned into movies, but I think those fans will be disappointed in this film. What works in a book doesn’t always translate to the visual medium of movies, and this film feels like they picked a few of what they thought were the best parts of the book and threw them against the wall to see what stuck. The CGI is at times lacking (there is a horrible hoverboard sequence that looks so bad I thought the sequence might be hand drawn) and the film seems like one long set up for the next movie, taking such a long time to set everything up. I think I’ll just read the books next time.  My Rating: Cable   Uglies Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  Seeking Mavis Beacon  (2024) Seeking Mavis Beacon is a documentary about searching for the woman who graced the cover of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, an incredibly popular computer program in the 1980s. Jazmin Jones (director) and Olivia McKayla Ross (associate producer) go on a quest to find this mysterious woman who taught so many people to type. I saw this film at the Atlanta Film Festival and was enchanted by a film about solving the mystery of who Mavis was and why she was on the cover. This is a film about two people who go on a journey of discovery. What I loved about the film is that the heart of the film is really about the journey and the people that the two investigators meet. The lives that were impacted by this computer program and how just a simple photo could inspire people around the world to think they could learn to type from the person on the cover. And yes, they find out who the woman in the photograph is and give her the attention she deserves.   My Rating: Full Price  Seeking Mavis Beacon Website  Now playing in theaters.

Sorry I Missed It (A film that I didn’t see when it was first released but have seen recently): Rebel Ridge  (2024)  TV-MA  In Rebel Ridge, all Terry (Aaron Pierre), an ex-Marine, wanted to do was post bail for his cousin, but a small-town police chief, Chief Sandy Burne (Don Johnson) has taken his money, and Terry is about to get it back anyway he has to. Rebel Ridge is one of those films where you go, that actor is killing it, and I can’t wait to see what he does next. Up to this, Aaron Pierre has mostly been a TV actor, but I’m telling you that Aaron Pierre is a movie star. From the first moments of Rebel Ridge, the tension builds and builds. The film has been compared to the Stallone film First Blood (the first Rambo film), but that’s a misplaced comparison. In Rambo, there isn’t much of a plot other than a sheriff (played by Brian Dennehy) who hates another man and will do anything to get rid of him. Rebel Ridge slowly gives us reasons why Terry is so determined to get his cousin out on bail and why the police chief is trying to keep Terry’s money. Rebel Ridge isn’t your typical, one-man-against-the-system movie, though Aaron Pierre as Terry can kick a lot of butt, all without killing anyone. Terry gets help from a court staffer, Summer (played by AnnaSophia Robb), who becomes Terry’s ally in his quest to get his cousin out on bail. It turns out there is a lot to Summer’s story too. There are plenty of action sequences to keep the film moving, and then there is Don Johnson, who is so good at playing a slick, cocksure Chief who thinks he can get away with anything because he has a badge. Well, he hasn’t met a man like Terry.  My Rating: Full Price  Rebel Ridge Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies  (2023)  How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is about M (Putthipong Assaratanakul), a university dropout without a job, who sees his cousin strike it rich, caring for a dying relative and then being named in the relative’s will. A motivated M volunteers to care for his terminally ill grandmother (Usha Seamkhum) with the goal of achieving the same outcome. This is a moving film about family, commitment, and how it takes time to know someone. M is someone who you don’t like at first, mostly because he is such a slacker, living off his mother while trying to make it as an online gamer, which he sucks at. Seeing his cousin hit it big, he moves in with his grandmother and trying to become the perfect grandson in her eyes, all so he can have her house to sell when she dies. However, the more he cares for his grandmother, the more he becomes attached to her. M also observes how the rest of the family doesn't pay much attention to her, even when she falls and needs to go to the hospital. The film doesn’t mince with making most of the characters self-involved, almost always showing us their worst sides, like Amah’s son, who she waits patiently for him to show up, which he only does when he is in trouble and needs money. M learns about his grandmother's life, both present-day (her loneliness) and in the past, when she was in an arranged marriage. What makes this film stand out is that the characters are fully fleshed out. We get to know them, and they seem real with all their flaws. I also loved that the film has a few twists and turns, some you don’t expect that take you down a few paths you didn’t know you needed to walk on. And yes, you will need a box of tissues for the ending, but I think you will come away feeling that M is a better person than he was when his scheme started.  My Rating: Full Price  How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies Info  Now playing in select theaters.

Indiefest:  The 4:30 Movie  (2024) The 4:30 Movie takes place in the summer of 1986, where three sixteen-year-old friends (Reed Northrup, Nicholas Cirillo, and Austin Zajur) spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. This Saturday, they may learn a thing or two about life and love. Filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) can be hit or miss with his films, with a lot of misses lately. I am happy to say that this film is a delight, especially for moviegoers of the 1980s. The film takes you back to a time when teens would spend their whole Saturday going from one film to another, no matter how many times they had seen some of them. The film revolves around Brian (Austin Zajur), a movie fanatic who has just gotten the guts to ask out the girl of his dreams, Melody (played by the wonderfully cute Siena Agudong), to see an afternoon movie. It took Brian a year to ask her out after kissing her in her parent’s pool. She says yes, but his best friends, Belly (Reed Northrup) and Burny (Nicholas Cirillo) aren’t too happy about the idea that Brian has asked a girl to their day of movie-watching. From the moment they arrive at the theater, things start going wrong, and at one point it appears that Brian won't be able to get his dream date. The 4:30 Movie is a love letter to Kevin Smith’s teen life, with references to everything from Billy Idol to discussions on if the first movie of a series can be called Poltergeist I if the films sequels have numbers attached to the titles. The 4:30 Movie works when we are just dealing with the three friends or when Brian is hanging out with Melody. Characters in the film feel like real teens, and the chemistry between Austin Azajur and Siena Agudong, which is everything you want in a first romance, makes us want more of their scenes together. The film does a horrible job of creating fake movie trailers that don’t come close to the look and feel of the 80s exploration films (though the trailer for the Nun by day and hooker by night one is enjoyable for a bit). There is also a touching scene between Brian and one of the ushers (played by Genesis Rodriguez), where she tells Brian that he should think about becoming a director because of his love of film. Overall, I had a good time with the film. I wish Smith had done one more re-write and tightened up some scenes that go on a little too long. Still, it’s fun going to the local cinema with Brian and his friends and trying our hand at sneaking into a few R-rated films. There are two bonus portions in the credits. One an additional scene after the first bit of credits and then outtakes during the rest of the credits.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The 4:30 Movie Website Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film:  Bright Young Things  (2003)  R  The film takes place in 1930s England when young aristocrats wore tuxes, partied all night, and slept all day. They all thought their days of fun and debauchery would go on forever. Adam (Stephen Campbell Moore) has written a novel he is convinced that the world is going to love. Having already spent the advance, his only manuscript is seized as pornography, and he is now out of luck. What’s a guy to do when his fiancé Nina (Emily Mortimer) expects to be supported in the life she has grown accustomed to. Adam, desperate for money, starts writing an anonymous column in the biggest newspaper in the country, giving everyone an inside scoop into what goes on at all those parties that everyday people are never invited to. Bright Young Things is a fun and enjoyable film with a cast of soon-to-be stars like Emily Mortimer, David Tennant, and James McAvoy. It also has some brilliant performances by Stockard Channing, Jim Broadbent, Dan Aykroyd, and scene-stealer Peter O’Toole. It’s a look at a life that didn’t last as long as they thought it would.  My Rating: Full Price  Bright Young Things Info  The film is available on most streaming services.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Speak No Evil:  Skipper

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Saturday Night  (2024)  R  On October 11th, 1975, at 11:30 pm, a group of young, wild performers and writers launched a new live TV show that changed the landscape forever. This is the story of what happened in the 90 minutes before the first broadcast of what was to be later named Saturday Night Live. I want to see it just to see J. K. Simmons as comedy legend Milton Berle.  Saturday Night Website  The film releases in theaters on Friday, October 11, 2024.  

Until Next Time!