Movie Review Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery

Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery (2022) 

Directed by Rian Johnson 

Written by Rian Johnson 

Starring Daniel Craig, Janelle Monae, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson 

Release Date November 23rd, 2022 

Netflix Release Date December 23rd, 2022 

Years ago, movies were home to terrific detective characters. For whatever reason, the character of the independent investigator fell out of favor. Perhaps its because independent detectives have rarely been relevant in real life since the days of Humphrey Bogart, or the rise of television gave detectives a more generous home, movie detectives had been in decline for years until 2019 when filmmaker Rian Johnson reminded us how much fun the detective genre can be with his ingenious mystery, Knives Out. 

With the release of Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery, we have proof positive that the detective genre is back with a vengeance. This mystery finds the world's greatest detective Benoit Blanc languishing in the boredom of the pandemic before having his intellect revived with a new case that gets him back into the world. Delivering another career best performance, Daniel Craig gives Benoit Blanc a life and charm that echoes through the history of detectives on film, a brand new colorful icon for this beloved sub-genre. 

A group of 'friends' have received an invitation to the private island of a billionaire named Miles (Edward Norton). All of the guests are Miles' long time friends but they are also people whose livelihoods and financial well being are linked to the benevolence of Miles and his bank roll. In this group is a regularly cancelled former model, Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), a superstar Twitch Streamer turned Mens Rights Advocate, Duke (Dave Bautista), his model girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline), a liberal Gubernatorial candidate, Claire (Kathryn Hahn), and a boundary pushing scientest, Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.) who may have completely solved our environmental crisis or may be about to blow up the planet. 

Interestingly, and quite unexpectedly, another guest for this murder mystery party is Miles' former business partner and best friend, Cassandra (Janelle Monae). This is quite surprising as Cassandra had just sued Miles after ending their business partnership. Miles stole her idea and used his vast army of lawyers to destroy Cassandra while convincing their mutual friends, the other guests at this party, to lie for him in court. So that's awkward. 

Even more interestingly, who invited Benoit Blanc? Benoit received the same strange puzzle box invitation that everyone else did and yet, Miles did not know that the world's greatest detective had been invited to his murder mystery themed weekend. This adds to the layers upon layers of mystery and intrigue that writer-director Rian Johnson has built into this exquisite mystery. But this is no mere mystery, Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery is also hilariously funny. This group of brilliant actors get laughs effortlessly and organically, never too broad or unrealistically. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review The Son

The Son (2022) 

Directed by Florian Zeller 

Written by Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby 

Release Date November 25th, 2022 

Published November 29th, 2022

The Son stars Hugh Jackman as business dad, Peter Miller. Peter is a business dad who does business things like staring pensively out of a window, wearing nice suits, and ignoring his family. Peter's business dad persona is shaken when his ex-wife, played by Laura Dern, turns up at his door one evening. The ex-wife, Kate, informs Business Dad Peter that their teenage son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), whom Peter has dutifully ignored per the rules of being a Business Dad, has been skipping school and she can no longer keep track of him. 

Kate tells Business Dad that Nicholas wants to live with him and after consulting with his new wife, the brilliant, and completely wasted here, Vanessa Kirby, he agrees. Now he can truly be a Business Dad and ignore his son directly. No surprise then that Nicholas immediately begins skipping school again. New wife catches him hanging out in a park instead of going to school. Business Dad tries talking to his son and crying but it doesn't work, and Nicholas becomes ever more despondent until he attempts to kill himself because Business Dad is always business-ing.

Where director Florian Zeller made a genuinely thoughtful and insightful film about mental health and aging in The Father, he has crafted a dramatically inert and lacking in insight film in The Son. Hugh Jackman does his best cry acting since The Fountain and the result is a movie that even Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby cannot lift to a level of being watchable. The problems are evident in a story that has nowhere to go. Business Dad is bad and wrong and should not be a Business Dad is the level of insight we get in The Son. 

It's all dad's fault that his son has severe mental health problems. It's his fault for working too much, for breaking the norms of society by, shock of shock, leaving his wife for a younger woman. He's wrong for being too rich and successful and for traveling too much. That's the surface level critiques that The Son appears to be lobbing at this Hugh Jackman character and his response is to cry or to sulk in his big corner office, staring wistfully out of high rise windows. 

Truly, I am trying to understand the purpose of The Son other than pure misery porn. The film crafts a character in Nicholas who has no way forward, he's a boulder rolling down hill toward tragedy. That's not a bad place to start with a character but the movie gives him no nuance, there is no insight into who Nicholas is or what drives him. The journey from introducing this unpleasant teenage child to the inevitable tragedy seemingly coming at the end is a series of miserable scenes that do explain why the kid is a trainwreck in progress but there is simply nothing else happening here. 

Attempts to give the movie something beyond Business Dad bad, sad teenager wants to die, involves introducing a character played by Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays Business Dad's own Business Dad, a true prick, a hateful, bitter man, who also happens to see right through Jackman's Business Dad. When Hopkins' character mocks Jackman's character for seeming to blame him for his failure as a father, it's cruel and lacking in empathy and self regard, and it is the single most honest moment in an otherwise  phony movie. 

Hopkins is unquestionably supposed to be a villain here and yet, he makes the character seem cruel but with a purpose. He's the first character who does something other than sulk, cry, or run to another room to avoid the drama. I don't want to say that Hopkins' openly cruel, arrogant, and bitter character is refreshing, but I am struggling to describe it as anything other than that when compared to everything else in this mind-numbing melodrama. 

How does a movie have the brilliant Vanessa Kirby and relegate her to leaving the room when the drama kicks in. Her character exists to be called away to check on a baby. That is until she gets shuffled offscreen permanently with the excuse that she needs to protect her baby from all the drama. This is not how you use your Vanessa Kirby. Kirby is a brilliant actress, having her constantly leaving the room to check on an unseen baby is a weird choice for how to use her. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review She Said

She Said (2022) 

Directed by Maria Schrader 

Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz 

Starring Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson 

Release Date November 18th, 2022 

Published November 23rd, 2022 

She Said takes cues from All the Presidents Men and Spotlight and turns a spotlight on the abuses that led to the #MeToo social media movement. The film stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as New York Times journalists Jodi Kanter and Megan Twohey who spent several months crossing the country, conducting interviews and uncovering information about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, a criminal, rapist, creep who is currently in jail for the crimes he committed. 

It's important to say that Weinstein is a convicted criminal as there are people who attempt to minimize what he did and brush away criticism of powerful men by hand waving sexual harassment as being a product of the time it was committed. It's a bizarre bit of mental gymnastics but there are numerous media figures who are willing to stand up for the Harvey Weinstein's of the world and excuse their behavior because these powerful men didn't know what they were doing was a crime. I

In the years before the Women's Rights movement and the increased representation of women in the workplace and in the halls of power, it was commonplace for powerful men to abuse women, to make demands of women sexually, and to go even further than that in forcing themselves onto unwilling women. By the logic of Harvey defenders, men of a certain age should be forgiven for their behavior because that's just how they grew up. Pro tip, if you think this way, you're part of the problem, you're wrong and please stay away from women. 

Part of the strength of She Said is how the movie demonstrates what these reporters were up against. They were battling not one villain, though Weinstein is undoubtedly a villain who occupies a large space in this story. No, they were battling an entire mindset. They were up against a culture that, at the time, treated terms like Casting Couch as a punchline. Women have been degraded for years by people who thought it was funny that a woman had been 'riding the casting couch' to get where they are. 

The behavior of Harvey Weinstein, aside from when it rose to the level of actual criminal behavior, was treated as normal. Asking a woman for a massage, asking women to remove their clothes, asking women to watch him take a shower, these actions were normalized and convincing the world that these behaviors were more than just wrong, they were worthy of punishment, was a massive boulder that these reporters were pushing up a steep hill. 

Then there were those who eagerly blamed the victims of people like Harvey Weinstein. She Said benefits from the use of names we recognize such as Rose McGowan, a victim of Harvey Weinstein who was degraded for speaking out when her assault actually happened. Here is a question for you, what made you think Rose McGowan wasn't telling the truth when she spoke about Harvey Weinstein assaulting her? What about her made her any less credible than any other person alleging an abuse of power? 

If you are planning a rebuttal to my question in the comments then ask yourself this, why do you know any of what you think you know about Rose McGowan? Why are you so invested in the idea that she may not be telling the truth? Why does it matter to you? You aren't Harvey Weinstein, you aren't his defense attorney. If you're wanting to turn this around and make this about me, ask yourself why you are so eager to argue about something with someone who also has no vested interest in what happened? Before you write your rebuttal, truly examine your life and perhaps consider moving on. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Vicky Christina Barcelona

Vicky Christina Barcelona 

Directed by Woody Allen 

Written by Woody Allen 

Starring Scarlett Johannson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz 

Release Date August 15th, 2008 

Published November 23rd, 2022

Let's address the Woody Allen in the room. Vicki Christina Barcelona was written and directed by a man who has credibly been accused of abuse. It's inescapable that Allen's abuses and his poor response to very public allegations, colors his work. As a critic reviewing a Woody Allen movie in 2022 I have to make a determination. I must decide if I am viewing the art or the artist and how much the artist is reflected in the work. Woody Allen is particularly complicated in this way as his films have all tended to be very personal, reflective of his life experiences and relationships with women. 

Does his status as an accused, very likely real, abuser mean that his art must be shunned? Can we still view the work of Woody Allen and admire it even as we condemn him as a human being? I'd like to believe so but I am not of the authority to make that decision for everyone. I have to accept that if I choose to write about the work of Woody Allen and I find elements that I appreciate, I must accept that someone will take that as some kind of tacit endorsement of Allen. I don't endorse anything about Woody Allen the man but I understand where you are coming from dear reader. 

Why have I decided to engage with the work of Woody Allen now? Because I think Rebecca Hall is incredible in Vicki Cristina Barcelona and it was her breakthrough performance. She became a mainstay among those who love great acting after this performance. And since my podcast is going to be talking about Rebecca Hall's most recent, incredible performance, Vicki Cristina Barcelona was, for me, an unavoidable corollary. 

Rebecca Hall stars in Vicky Cristina Barcelona as Vicky, a grad student who accompanies her best friend, Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) on a trip to Spain. It's a getaway for the summer but it is also a working getaway for Vicky. Vicky is working on a masters in Catalan Culture and Spain is home to a portion of that culture which has a worldwide spread. Vicky hopes to explore the art and history while Cristina, an actress, is searching for an identity and looking to have fun. 

Vicky can be fun but she's also engaged to be married to Doug (Chris Messina), a steady, stable, investment banker back in New York. The engagement and her academic pursuits limits Vicky's idea of fun. Restless Cristina, on the other hand, has nothing holding her back. Thus, when a sexy Spanish artist named Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) approaches them out of the blue and invites them on an overnight plane trip to a small Spanish tourist town, Cristina says yes immediately and Vicky begrudgingly tags along. 

To his credit, I guess, Juan Antonio is remarkably straight forward about his intentions. He is asking both Cristina and Vicky on this trip to show them a good time, enjoy great food, and to have sex. The sex can be one on one or all together, he's not picky. Cristina is charmed by Juan Antonio's bluntness while Vicky at least feigns being put off by the artists come on. Where the movie goes from here is a rather unique journey as each of these three people is forced to confront their conception of themselves, their identity, and their desire. 

As a writer, Woody Allen has a knack for painting his characters into corners and forcing them to confront their situation and determine a way out. Allen lets not one of these characters off the hook easily. All three will be forced to confront themselves in ways that feel true to each. The internal conflicts find physical expression in art, sex, and the everyday decisions these characters make regarding one day to the next, to the future. 

The construction of the plot is nearly flawless as Allen deploys his supporting character brilliantly to highlight the conflicts of our trio of leads. National treasure Patricia Clarkson may have a limited role but she works to provide a complication to Vicky's story that is perfectly timed. Chris Messina's character, Doug, may be merely functional in the plot but Messina infuses the character with life and he's used brilliantly as an example of Vicky's fork in the road. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Bones and All

Bones and All (2022) 

Directed by Luca Guadagnino 

Written by David Kajganich 

Starring Taylor Russell, Timothee Chalamet, Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg 

Release Date November 18th, 2022 

Published November 28th, 2022 

Cannibalism, eating people. Bones and All follows a small subset of people who are cannibals but not by choice. Maren Yearly (Taylor Russell) was born a cannibal and, as we come to find out, she can't control this desire. Her father helped her manage it for a while and even kept her from realizing her true nature for a time. However, after she snacks on a friend from school, biting off her finger, Dad can't keep her hidden anymore and he's not sure that he should. After bundling her up and setting her up in a new home, he disappears. 

Left on her own, Maren has only a few dollars and a tape that her father made explaining the things that have happened that led to him leaving. He also pointed her in the direction of where her mother may be, somewhere in Minnesota. The film is set in the 1980s so no cellphones or internet, and this is a strong choice as a cellphone and internet access would undoubtedly undermine much of Bones and All. Maren's isolation and the few fellow cannibals she's able to meet in person would be less meaningful if she could join a supportive cannibal community on Facebook. 

The first cannibal that Maren meets is a true creep. Sully (Mark Rylance), upon meeting Maren, claims that he could smell her from more than a block away. The movie eventually explains that all cannibals are capable of smelling each other but it is an effectively creepy way to introduce Sully, who also talks about himself in the third person. Mark Rylance is an effective horror movie character. He suggests an art-house take on Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2's Chop Top. 

Maren does end up spending a night at a house that Sully has staked out. It happens to be the home of an elderly woman who is slowly dying on the floor of her upstairs bedroom while Sully is preparing game hens for dinner. He tells Maren that he feeds on people who he knows are dying, though that is an unsurprising lie. The two share a meal together, if you know what I mean, and then Maren runs off, frightened by Sully's creepy vibe. He's not gone though, unfortunately. 

At the next stop of her journey toward Minnesota and the mother she has never known, Maren meets Lee (Timothee Chalamet) after he disposes of a jerk at a store, and covers for her while she shoplifts. Maren uses her newfound sense of smell to determine that Lee is also a cannibal and since they are close in age, Maren feels comfortable getting to know him. This begins a tentative romance, though one troubled by their equal need to feed on human flesh. 

I am not sure I understand the point of Bones and All. The film has elements of a horror movie but it isn't scary. The film appears to be aimed as a teen romance but the romance is rather tepid. I can see the artfulness in the direction of Luca Guadagnino, he's a tremendous director. The production design, the evocation of the past without leaning too heavily on obvious signifiers, demonstrate his talent for time and place in his work. 

Click here for my full length review of Bones and All at Geeks.Media. 

The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans (2022) 

Directed by Steven Speilberg 

Written by Tony Kushner 

Starring Paul Dano, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen

Release Date November 18th, 2022 

I am not here to call out any of my fellow film critics. Like what you like and make your review whatever you want it to be. That said, I have made the mistake of reviewing the movie I wanted to see versus the movie that is actually what I watched. I bring this up because I have seen a few fellow critics asking for the new Steven Speilberg movie, The Fabelmans to be a different movie. They want to see Speilberg tell a story about becoming a filmmaker in Hollywood in the late 60s and early 70s. The Fabelmans is, instead, about Speilberg's childhood, the very roots of his dreams of becoming a filmmaker. 

We have to review the movie that The Fabelmans is and not the film we wish it were. I understand the motivation, I really do, because I didn't find The Fabelmans particularly satisfying. This coming-of-age story feels a bit flabby, broad and lacking in insight for my taste. It's not a Steven Speilberg biopic, it's a romanticized, fictional take on the unusual memories that shaped one of our greatest filmmakers. It has moments of grace and lovely intentions, but the feather lightness of the material never gains weight. 

The Fabelmans begins with young Sammy Fabelman seeing his first movie, the Best Picture winning The Greatest Show on Earth. The final moments of that film contain a remarkable train crash the staging of which is why the movie won Best Picture. It's a remarkable achievement that crosscuts miniatures and a real staging brilliantly considering the limitations of technology in 1956. It makes sense that Sammy would find this sequence pivotal, a flashpoint in his life that he never forgot. 

Having become obsessed with this sequence, Sammy takes the toy train set that his father. Burt (Paul Dano), painstakingly assembled for him as a series of Hanukah gifts and recreates the scene. Putting a car on the tracks and his train running at it, Sammy is lucky not to destroy his new expensive toys. While Burt is upset with his son, Sammy's mom, Mitzi (Michelle Williams), sees things differently. She knows that Sammy needs to understand how the train accident was done, the magic of the movie must be recreated. 

Thus, Mitzi gives Sammy his father's camera. She tells him to film it one time and then he won't have to destroy his toys to understand the movie. Sammy, doesn't quite listen to his mom's advice. Instead, he films the scene multiple times from different angles and then arranges the shots in a way that mirrors editing, though isn't quite cutting film. He's able to show it to his mom and she's blown away with his talent and encourages him to keep working with dad's camera. This is the genesis of Sam Fabelman, film director. 

Cut to teenage Sammy, now Sam (Gabrielle Labelle). Now a boy scout and seeking his photography badge, Sam uses his Boy Scout pals to be part of his first movie. Inspired by a showing of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Sam is going to make a western. It's a huge hit with his friends, fellow boy scouts and his family, each of whom are blown away by Sam's talent and dedication. This leads to another movie, this time a war drama that earns tears from his mom and applause from everyone else. 

Find my full length review of The Fabelmans at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review White Noise

White Noise (2022) 

Directed by Noah Baumbach 

Written by Noah Baumbach 

Starring Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle 

Release Date November 25th, 2022

Published November 18th, 2022 

Netflix 

I've never read Don Delillo's much heralded 1985 novel, White Noise. Others have told me it is quite brilliant. I'm told it has a visionary quality that makes it quite worthy of being adapted at any time. From what I know about White Noise, Noah Baumbach, director of intimate dramas about awkward families and spiky characters, would not be the most likely choice to direct this material. The story carries elements of science fiction, high minded satire ala Joseph Heller, and a borderline unfilmable obsession with death. Unfilmable in that most audiences won't find the theme one they want to watch play out in a movie. 

It's rather perfect that an iconoclast like Baumbach would choose something so seemingly impossible as his first big budget directorial effort. It's also kind of perfect that he's taken millions of dollars of Netflix money and made an indie movie on a blockbuster budget. White Noise is filled with showy, dramatic speeches, and wildly strange moments of action fitting of a director of esoteric human drama. White Noise is filled with numerous themes but none of which seems to stand out or find any satisfying resolution.

Adam Driver stars in White Noise as J.A.K or Jack Gladney, father of 5 children from 4 marriages to five different women. His new wife, Babette (Greta Gerwig), shares with Jack a despairing fear of death. What begins as a somewhat romantic, fatalistic conversation about how they can't live without each other and making the case that one should die before the other in order to save them from comparative states of horrific grief. 

Babette's fear of death manifests in her beginning to take an experimental drug that is supposed to relieve her of the fear of death. Instead, the drug just effects Babette's memory in general making her forgetful but still deeply in fear of death. For Jack, he expresses his fear of death through his work as a professor at the fictional College on the Hill, located somewhere in Ohio. Jack has earned fame in Academic circles for his intensive course, Hitler Studies, where he opines on the evils of the dictator and the culture that made him possible. 

At one point, White Noise comes to a complete halt for a dueling speech between Driver's Jack and his best friend, Professor Murray Siskind (Don Cheadle). In an incredible verbal dance, Jack and Murray each pontificate about the area of their expertise. Jack, of course, knows all about Hitler while Murray's unique field of study is Elvis Presley. The pair find strange and fascinating parallels between Hitler and the King of Rock N'Roll in each having attachment issues related to their mothers, their absent fathers, and their incredible ability to draw and compel a crowd. 

Neither Driver and Cheadler nor Jack and Murray are competing here. Rather, the pair is improvising a intricate dance of intellects that dovetail off of one another, building on each others points, coming to the point of interrupting each other but never seeming to steal the attention away. At one moment, Jack recedes into the crowd of gathering professors and students, mesmerized by their tete a tete and then he re-emerges in a different part of the crowd, rising from a crouch to take hold of the scene, and Murray steps back in awe to enjoy his fellow Professor's presentation. 

It's the best scene in White Noise and it is so good that I want to recommend the movie solely based on the quality of Driver and Cheadle's magnificent duet. I want to recommend it but I am not sure that I can. You see, what remains of White Noise following this bravura effort is far too strange, obtuse, and esoteric that I am not sure who the audience for this is meant to be. White Noise has director Baumbach tapping various styles from other directors from Altman to Wes Anderson to Mike Nicholas and Stanley Kubrick. The homage throughout White Noise is fascinating but I am not sure it adds up to anything in the end. 

I'm told that Delillo's novel actually thrives on trainwrecking the narrative into some inescapable place and leaping to a new narrative thread. White Noise, in fact, depicts an actual trainwreck that serves the purpose of shifting the narrative from quirky academic satire to an equally quirky survival thriller. The family is forced to flee from their home after a train is hit by a semi-truck carry flammable chemicals. The train was carrying toxic waste and the result is what the book and film call an 'Airborne Toxic Event.' Jack ends up being exposed to the Toxic Event and assumes that it is going to kill him but that is only used to underline his ongoing obsession with death. 

The Airborne Toxic Event portion of White Noise includes a chase scene and chaotic, end of the world preaching and then just peters out into the family returning home and going on with their lives. It's weirdly clever and provides yet another narrative trainwreck into another story, though slightly less successful than the actual trainwreck scene. The final act then becomes a domestic drama as Jack investigates Babette's experimental drug. I doubt that I can spoil the movie but I am nevertheless going to end my description there. 

White Noise is a particularly unsatisfying experience. On one hand, I love some of the ambition that Baumbach demonstrates. The stuff with Driver and Don Cheadle and Hitler and Elvis is genuinely riveting. Driver's performance is weird, as is Cheadle and Greta Gerwig's performances but they are entertainingly weird, they match the weird tone of White Noise. The acting is really first rate in terms of how it marries with the wild ideas of White Noise. That said, I can see where a more mainstream audience than myself, might be put off by the theatrics, the showiness, and the un-ironic bigness of these performances. 

I also love the film credits which encompasses the final scene of the movie to the very end of the last credit on screen. It's essentially a music video reminiscent of the wildly anarchic and inventive style of a Spike Jonze video. The lengthy choreographed sequence marries dancers and non-dancers a like in a series of coordinated movements that mimic and mock the daily mannered pleasantries of grocery stores in our obsessive consumer culture. Actual dancers glide amid the coordinated movements of shoppers, smiling, everyday consumers, going about the business of selecting their varieties of brands and filling carts to overflow with item after item. 

Consumer culture is among the many broad targets of White Noise though what point is being made about consumer culture is far too broad to determine. That really is the defining quality of the movie White Noise, it's a scattershot blast of vague commentary on modern life, some of it quite interesting and entertaining and quite a lot of it presented without much insight, humor, or meaning. I could excuse that as being just like life where not everything has a deeper meaning but that feels like a cop out by both me as a writer and critic and by the movie which appears incapable of settling on any kind of point. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Decision to Leave

Decision to Leave (2022)

Directed by Park Chan Wook 

Written by Park Chan Wook 

Starring Wei Tang, Park Hae Il, Lee Jung Hyung 

Release Date October 14th, 2022 

Published November 22nd, 2022 

To be released on MUBI in December, 2022

On the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast we had a moment involving the Chan Wook Park movie Oldboy that became part of our show lore. The premise of our show has me, a professional critic, my co-host Bob, a music critic, and our friend Josh, your everyday movie fan, talking about movies. We talk about all of the new movies of the week and a classic. Oldboy was chosen as our classic the same week that Spike Lee released his inferior remake. 

Myself and Bob were already huge fans of Oldboy while Josh had never seen it and knew nothing about it. As our conversation about the film progressed it slowly dawned on Bob and myself that Josh had missed an important plot point. There is a disturbing twist in the end of Oldboy and Josh had not picked up on it. Thus, to proceed with the conversation, we had to explain to Josh what the twist was and we did so delicately as to allow the twist to occur to him in real time. It's my favorite moment in the nearly 10 year history of the show. 

I only bring that up as an example of the subtlety and brilliance of director Park Chan Wook. Anyone could have missed the twist in Oldboy and still have enjoyed the movie as Josh did. It only deepened for him after we told him what he missed. Missed signals, misunderstandings, and the role of what we want to hear versus what we actually heard, each play a role in Park Chan Wook's new movie, Decision to Leave. This gorgeous looking murder mystery thrives in the thin margin between desire and truth. 

At the bottom of a mountain the body of a middle aged man is found. It appears to be an open and shut case, a climber falling from a significant height. Nevertheless, Detective Jang Hae Jung treats this like any other case, he will investigate it fully before he closing the case. Soon, what appears to be an open and shut case begins to take on new layers. Skin under the fingernails of the victim indicates perhaps they didn't fall but were pushed off of the mountain. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

The Menu

The Menu (2022) 

Directed by Mark Mylod

Written by Seth Reiss, Will Tracy 

Starring Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor Joy, Hong Chau, Nicholas Hoult 

Release Date November 18th, 2022 

Published November 18th, 2022 

Imagine Gordon Ramsey as a character written by Ari Aster and you get a sense of what The Menu is all about. Director Mark Mylod and screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy have given foodie culture a massive middle finger while honoring the humble food workers of the world from the celebrity Chef to the humble Soux Chef. A group of the fabled One-Percent are gathered at a high end experience restaurant on an island on the coast of a major city for what they think will be the high art equivalent of dinner. What they get is a severe comeuppance. 

Anya Taylor Joy is our entryway character, Margot, a young woman who received a last minute invitation to this high end dining experience. Her date, Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), is a food snob and was desperately in need of a date after his girlfriend broke up with him. Margot has no interest in Tyler's food snob nonsense, and is barely tolerating his need to photograph his food and pontificate about the delicacy of Chef Slowik's (Ralph Fiennes) technique in crafting a food experience. According to Tyler, the entire menu is a story and you have to eat to the end to get it. 

There are only 12 guests at this restaurant which is located on a small island where the Chef and his staff live and cultivate all of their food, growing, raising, butchering, and serving food that is all sourced on the island. The cost of this dining experience is said by Tyler to be $12,000. per person. You get the pretentious attitude for free, thankfully. This particular dining experience is extra special as the diners have been specifically chosen and include Angel Investors, a Famous actor, played by John Leguizamo, and a famed food critic who helped Chef Slowik break into the big time in the world of Food Culture. 

Each of the guests on this night at the restaurant known as The Hawthorne have been hand selected. Except for one. That would be Margot and in the first few minutes of arriving at the restaurant, the Chef wants to know why she is here. Then he wants to know which side she is on, the workers or the diners. These questions escalate through the night as the Chef's plan comes more into focus and the fear and dread of the diners  radically vacillates from the whole experience being a theatrical presentation to the genuine fear that someone or, perhaps, everyone here is going to die. 

This builds to a final bravura moment that you will not be able to predict, a deconstructed classic of a desert with a visual flair that is audacious and darkly hilarious. I won't spoil it, I don't think I could, but I won't over explain it. It's just a phenomenal final scene and one I want you to experience for yourself. Some of The Menu doesn't quite land, it can be rather hamhanded at times in terms of the motivations of Chef Slowik or obtuse about the villainy of the diners, but those are minor complaints when compared to how great the ending of The Menu is. 

Anya Taylor Joy continues to make terrific decisions in the roles she chooses. She has unusual taste and that is well reflected in a filmography that carries few traditional choice and a variety of fascinating oddities like The Menu. Joy could very well have played one of the Kitchen staff or the main Chef as she carries an imperious quality that would fit with those characters Having chosen to play the most traditional audience surrogate available in this story she's equally winning. The script gives her a juicy secret to play with and the story centers on her in a very unique way. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Disenchanted

Disenchanted (2022) 

Directed by Adam Shankman 

Written by Brigitte Hales, J. David Stern 

Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph 

Release Date November 18th, 2022 

Published November 17th, 2022 

Disney Plus 

I'm growing concerned that Disney has somehow found an algorithm that determines the exact level of mediocre. Look at their recent spate of live action movies and you can see what I am getting at. From Jungle Cruise to Hocus Pocus 2, Disney has been able to craft movies so inoffensive, bland, mediocre and passably 'entertaining' that they simply pass through you like a fast food meal, not bad, but not exactly a memorable meal. 

Further evidence of this algorithmic mediocrity comes in their latest Disney Plus release, a sequel to the wonderful 2007 comedy, Enchanted, called Disenchanted. Bland, mediocre, passable, each of these benign phrases are perfectly fitting of this deeply run of the mill effort. Directed by a master of bland, middle of the road, mainstream mush, Adam Shankman, Disenchanted is not a bad movie, just a supremely bland, deeply unmemorable movie that fails to justify its existence. 

Where Enchanted was wildly inventive, a loving tribute to Disney Princess tropes, Disenchanted sends up fairy tale tropes with all the skill of someone taking up juggling for the first time. Using Disney created tropes from Cinderella, Snow White, Maleficent and any number of classic fairy tales, Disenchanted appears to have been made by people whose idea of satire is aiming a fire hose of every idea without hitting any specific target. 

Disenchanted picks up the story of former fairy tale Princess, Gisele (Amy Adams), living her happily ever after in New York City. It's been 10 years since she fell through a portal into the real world and met and fell in love with her handsome Prince, New York lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey). However, things are not the as Happy as the phrase Happily Ever After implies. Gisele has grown weary of the big city and her relationship with her adoptive daughter, Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) has grown strained. Morgan has become a movie teenager, a bland amalgamation of sarcasm and unfocused rebellion. 

In order to get her Happily Ever After back on track, Gisele asks Robert to move the family to the suburbs, specifically, a tiny hamlet called Monroeville. There, they buy what appears to be a run down former castle and set about a new ending for their story. Things do not go well and with everyone in the family at each other's throat, Gisele grows desperate for a magical fix to her problems. That magic arrives with a visit from her friends, Prince Edward (James Marsden) and his wife, Nancy (Idina Menzel). 

Visiting from Gisele's animated home world, Andalasia, they've brought a gift, a magic wand, to be given to Gisele and Robert's baby daughter. Once they leave however, Gisele decides to use the wand for herself. She wishes for her new home to be just like Andalasia and the next day, it's a full on fairy tale. Robert is now an adventurer, Morgan has become a Cinderella like figure, and, since Gisele is technically Morgan's stepmother, she begins to turn evil. A helpful scroll informs Gisele and us that if she doesn't reverse the wish by Midnight she will turn evil and all of Monroeville will remain in this fairy tale world. Oh, and that means destroying Andalasia for some reason. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.media

Classic Movie Review Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge (1952)

Directed by John Huston 

Written by Pierre La Mure, Anthony Veiller, John Huston 

Starring Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor 

Release Date December 23rd 1952 

Published November 15th, 2022 

Film Foundation Restoration Screening November 14th, 2022

Four films share the title Moulin Rouge in the past 90 years of cinema. The most famous, perhaps due to recency bias, is Baz Luhrmann's lavish 2001 musical starring Ewan McGregor. The previous movie titled Moulin Rouge was released in 1952 and was directed by the beloved and venerated director John Huston. Though known for his gritty thrillers like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre or the detective noir The Maltese Falcon, Huston was a true iconoclast who indulged any number of interests, including deep romanticism marked by longing and sadness. 

That longing, sadness and romanticism is certainly on display in Huston's take on Moulin Rouge. While other stories surrounding the legendary 19th century dance hall center on the bohemian revolutionary art and culture for which Moulin Rouge became a symbol, Huston's Moulin Rouge falls upon the tragic story of artist Toulouse Lautrec, a man whose fame came about after his time at the Moulin Rouge and because of the work he did promoting the Moulin Rouge with incredible posters he painted in exchange for being able to drink for free. 

In a flashback we see young Toulouse Lautrec as a notably spry teenager. Though known for his short stature, Lautrec was not born with dwarfism. An accident occurred that left Lautrec with a pair of broken legs that did not heal correctly causing his growth to be stunted. The injury and a series of romantic failures, briefly depicted in the movie, led to heavy drinking and a general avoidance of close relationships in favor professional friendships, rivalries and drinking buddies. 

The sad story then follows Lautrec into a brief relationship with an explosive and unpredictable sex worker, Marie Charlet (Colette Marchand). It's a relationship of convenience as Lautrec rescues Marie from being arrested and she comes to stay at his home. She tries to entice him into bed but he rejects her, not wanting to be her customer. The push and pull of emotions between Lautrec and Marie make up the middle portion of Moulin Rouge and it will resonate with anyone who has loved someone who did not love them back. 

Lautrec's soulful longing is undercut by his unsympathetic rage and cutting remarks toward Marie. The two fight and makeup with similar intensity but the relationship never progresses to the kind of intimacy that Lautrec desires but cannot fully express. Jose Ferrer's ferocious performance never states the obvious about Lautrec, how his low self-esteem and self worth caused him to believe he was unworthy of love. It's all brought forth by Ferrer in his fiery eyes and thin skinned reaction to any minor slight. 

Late in the second act we do see some growth from Lautrec. He finds success with his poster tributes to the Moulin Rouge and seems to begin a relationship with an independent young woman named Myriamme (Suzanne Flon). Sadly, his self-loathing short circuits any possible romantic relationship and Lautrec slowly destroys their relationship with his cruel remarks. Ferrer is remarkable in these scenes as he capably moves from intelligent and charming to cutting and cruel with minor shifts in his tone and a dismissive, angry gaze. 

Read my complete review of Moulin Rouge (1952) at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Resurrection

Resurrection (2022) 

Directed by Andrew Semans 

Written by Andrew Semans 

Starring Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman 

Release Date January 22nd, 2022 

Published November 16th, 2022 

Resurrection is not a movie you watch passively, it's a movie you recover from having watched. The 2022 horror thriller starring Rebecca Hall is an intense and thoroughly enthralling experience. And all of that is due to the remarkable performance of Rebecca Hall. Beginning the movie as a confident, independent business woman and single mother before slowly succumbing to the abuse she suffered as a teenager, Hall is breathtaking, delivering one of the best performances of 2022. 

Margaret (Hall) is a confident and successful woman with a corner office, a beautifully appointed apartment, and a teenage daughter who she loves dearly. We meet Margaret as she is counseling one of her subordinates who is going through a rough time with a boyfriend. Margaret is thoughtful, understanding and very helpful in her advice. It's clear, at this point, that Margaret may have some experience in dealing with abusive men, her advice comes from a place of hard won experience. 

This veneer of success however, along with a rather mundane routine of sleeping, jogging, working and sleeping with a married man, begins to be upended when Margaret encounters her former abuser, David (Tim Roth), at a work conference. She only sees him briefly but it is enough to trigger a significant breakdown and panic attack. This is just the beginning. Soon, Margaret begins seeing David in other unexpected but also very public places such as a department store and a local park. 

Deciding to confront David, he immediately starts pressing her buttons. He claims to be there with Benjamin whom we learn is the baby the two had together more than 20 years ago. This is not possible as Benjamin is dead and it's strongly implied that David killed the baby. If that were the only implication, Resurrection would be a very different movie. As it is, the revelations from this point on, I don't wish to spoil. You must have this experience for yourself. 

Resurrection is a disturbing movie. Writer-Director Andrew Semans has a strong command of the terrifying things that abusers do to their victims and some may find it hard to sit through just how disturbingly real David's machinations are, on top of the outlandish notes that Roth brings to the character. The gaslighting, the grooming, the separation of the victim from their support system, all of these are seen or referred to as part of Margaret's past with David. 

Click here for my review of Resurrection at Horror.Media. 

Movie Review Falling for Christmas

Falling for Christmas (2022) 

Directed by Janeen Damian 

Written by Jeff Bonnett, Ron Oliver 

Starring Lindsay Lohan, Chord Overstreet 

Release Date November 10th, 2022 

Netflix 

We all love a good comeback story. As much as our culture tears people down and enjoys a downfall from a massive height, we do love seeing someone bounce back. Lindsay Lohan certainly qualifies as someone who fell from great heights. After having become a major celebrity and a leading lady, she began a descent that was scrutinized and poked fun at for years on end. Battles in the tabloids with her family, public accounts of bad behavior and a series of truly awful movies, had left Lohan at the lowest of depths in popular culture. 

Then, Lindsay went away. Pulling herself out of limelight and getting healthy was the best news. After having a brush with becoming another Hollywood tragedy, Lindsay has seemingly been welcomed back to the Hollywood fold. The announcement of a two picture deal with Netflix was met with excitement and old friends and co-stars like Jamie Lee Curtis cheered her on. That comeback has begun and, before we talk about the movie, we should note that viewing numbers for Falling for Christmas are reportedly quite good. 

That bit of kindness out of the way, Falling for Christmas is a bad movie. It's not egregious or even unwatchable, but it's not good either. This incredibly basic holiday movie blends together elements of the Goldie Hawn comedy Overboard, a bit of It's a Wonderful Life, and the production design of every Lifetime Christmas movie to produce a most mediocre of modern Christmas movies. It's not Lindsay's fault, she has some spark here, but the whole of Falling For Christmas fails the returning star. 

Falling for Christmas stars Lohan as Sierra Belmont, a wannabe influencer and daughter of a very rich ski lodge owner, played by veteran Soap Opera star Jack Wagner. Sierra has come to her dad's lodge to try and get out of taking an actual job. She wants to be an influencer like her flamboyant, yes that is a code word, boyfriend Tad Fairchild (George Young) whose life is dedicated to selfies, trending, and brand deals. 

Here we have the first major misstep of Falling for Christmas. The movie has a very 50 year old man view of what an influencer is. The description is very much coming from a person who is upset that influencer is a job that people claim to have. The writing team does nothing to hide how they've only ever heard Boomer buzzwords about what an 'influencer' is and they are mad about it. Thus, the idea of Influencers is treated with boomer contempt for those damned kids. 

Read my complete review of Falling for Christmas at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Enola Holmes 2

Enola Holmes 2 (2022) 

Directed by Harry Bradbeer 

Written by Jack Thorne, Nancy Springer 

Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Louis Partridge, Helena Bonham Carter

Release Date October 27th, 2022 

Published November 14th, 2022 

Enola Holmes 2 is a consistent delight. Picking up from the breath of fresh air that was the first Enola Holmes feature, Enola Holmes 2 doesn't miss a beat in being fresh, funny, charming and thrilling. The stand out aspect of Enola Holmes 2 is, obviously, Enola Holmes herself played by Millie Bobby Brown. Brown could not be better cast as a quick witted, supremely intelligent, and capable detective hero. Brown's pluck and panache are the perfect qualities to complement a bubbly script underpinned by a genuine dedication to mystery. 

As we re-join our beloved hero, Enola Holmes, she has unsuccessfully hung out her own shingle as a detective for hire. Unfortunately, the ugly misogyny of the time makes it hard for Enola to find work. Soon she's forced to close her office due to the lack of clients. Then, a young girl wanders in in need of Enola's help. The sister of this young girl has gone missing and she wants Enola to find her. It's pretty clear that this child won't be able to pay for Enola's help but Enola jumps into help anyway. 

Running parallel to Enola's missing girl mystery, her big brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill) finds himself vexed by a series of financial crimes. Someone is robbing the rich and powerful via blackmail and they are also taunting Sherlock along the way. No points for guessing that Enola and Sherlock's cases will be crossing paths. How we get to that point is a terrifically fun ride. Driving the plot, even in limited screen time, is the corrupt Detective Grail (David Thewlis). A relentless and dangerous investigator, Grail goes to every length to keep Enola from the truth, right down to framing her for murder. 

Find my complete review of Enola Holmes 2 at Geeks.Media. 

Why Are We All So Connected to Halloween Ends?

Is the Halloween franchise truly going to end? It's unlikely. Even as the next film in the franchise is literally called Halloween Ends, my cynical mind cannot accept that idea. Sure, Jamie Lee Curtis and her continuity in the franchise will end, I trust her when she says she's finished with the series. But, Hollywood doesn't just stopping making a franchise in this day and age. If they feel there is still money to be made from an intellectual property, they will keep reheating it for eternity. 

That said, my cynicism fully expressed, I want to posit why we are so connected to this particular franchise. What is it about John Carpenter and the endurance of this horror franchise? What is it about Michael Myers and Lori Strode that compels us back to the theater for movie after movie. This question arose as I was watching a newly released featurette on Halloween Ends. It's about Jamie Lee Curtis' final days on set and the family atmosphere behind this intense horror franchise. Even as I have not like the newest entries in the franchise, I could not help but get a little emotional as Jamie Lee Curtis teared up and said goodbye to the crew of Halloween Ends. 

Our relationship to Good and Evil 

The unquestioned good of Lori Strode and the undying evil of Michael Myers are the basis for identification with this franchise. Lori Strode was just an average teenage babysitter who became the target of a supernatural monster of a man. It's the classic David versus Goliath story, how can this unprepared young woman possibly survive an attack by this unkillable monster? It's also a classic underdog story. On first glance, there is no chance for young Lori Strode to survive against Michael Myers. Automatically, our sympathy lies with her. 

On a base level, Halloween is about Yin and Yang, good and evil and how they cannot exist without each other. What is good if not the opposite of evil? Who is Laurie Strode if not the opposite of Michael Myers. On the most simplistic level, that is always appealing. Beginning in the earliest days of passing stories along by word of mouth, to the creation of literature translated to the stage, and the screen, we've always returned to this very basic theme of good overcoming evil, the meek inheriting the Earth. Laurie Strode is who we are in struggle and Michael Myers is the problem we must overcome. 

Jamie Lee Curtis

Click here for my full length article at Geeks.Media

I Followed Actor Steven Yuen on Twitter and Nothing Happened

Some time in the pre-pandemic era of social media, my friend Tim decided he was going to follow actor Armie Hammer on Twitter. He liked the handsome young actor from The Social Network and Call Me By Your Name and he thought it might be fun to see what the actor revealed about himself on Social Media. It turned out to be a lot. Though what Hammer was doing to the women he encountered was done in DM's and not open to the public at that time, Tim still found himself in a weird rabbit hole as Armie Hammer, even before his being outed as a sexual predator, is pretty weird. 

That got me thinking, maybe if I found a celebrity I might find my own bizarre rabbit hole of weird behavior. Thus, I decided to follow the first random celebrity that the Twitter algorithms would recommend to me. The first name on the list was the former co-star of The Walking Dead and the recent co-star of the Oscar winning film, Minari. I am a big fan of Steven Yuen, aware of him despite not having watched a single moment of his television breakthrough in The Walking Dead. So, where did this rabbit hole take me? Read along to find out the terrifying but true details of Steven Yuen on Twitter. 

Steven Yuen Spends Very Little Time Tweeting

If you were to tell me that Steven Yuen's Twitter was unquestionably a Bot, I would believe you. Yeah, Steven Yuen, it turns out, doesn't do much on social media. Though he allegedly was an early adopter to Twitter, his bio indicates that Yuen joined the platform in 2008, Yuen did not send his first tweet until January of 2021. That first Tweet was a random and slightly insufferable Retweet of the Kurt Vonnegut Quote bot: "There's only one rule that I know of, babies — God damn it, you've got to be kind." 

Often, individuals trying out social media for the first time will use a quote from a famous intellectual as a way of setting expectations for those who choose to follow them. People like Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, Gandhi, are still represented on Twitter despite their lives pre-dating the launch of the site. Associating yourself with famous author A looks good on Social Media, doesn't require vetting by your publicist, and, hopefully, creates an association between you-the Re-Tweeter- and the highly respected and well thought of author portrayed in the ReTweet. I know this because, it's what I did as well. 

Click here for my full length article at Geeks.media

The Questionable Ethics of Rust Resuming Production

On Thursday, October 21st, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger on what he thought was a 'cold gun,' a real gun on the set of a movie that is not loaded. Unfortunately, this particular weapon was loaded and when Baldwin pulled the trigger, a bullet struck Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and killed her. It also wounded director Joel Souza who was looking over Hutchins' shoulder as the shot was fired. Hutchins died on the way to the hospital. 

A subsequent investigation of the shooting still has not been resolved nearly one year later. Nevertheless, on October 5th, 2022, Director Joel Souza and the production team behind Rust, a western starring Alec Baldwin, will resume production of the film soon. The decision was made to continue after reaching a financial settlement with the family of Halyna Hutchins. Director Souza released a statement accompanying the announcement that claimed that resuming filming of Rust would be a tribute to Halyna Hutchins. 

Honoring Halyna Hutchins 

Regardless of the platitudes, resuming production of Rust is a cold and calculated business decision. For all of the supposed tributes and dedications to Halyna Hutchins, the cold hard reality here is that the people who invested money in making Rust want to make their money. Not only that, but the film now has a higher profile than it would ever have had had this on set tragedy not occurred. While we can only speculate about the motivations of the Rust production team, they can't escape the fact that Rust went from a likely candidate for the vast Video on Demand Rental market to a movie that carries a morbid curiosity around it. 

Of the many issues that must be wrestled with is the idea that due to the death of Halyna Hutchins, Rust has a higher profile than ever before. The New York Times, arguably the biggest of the big in American journalism announced the resumption of production on Rust in a Breaking News blast. That's coverage normally reserved for high budget blockbusters, not for obscure westerns starring Alec Baldwin. Prior to the death of Halyna Hutchins, most film consumers were unlikely to ever know Rust had been made. Now, with the tragedy, the film is front page news. 

Morbid Curiosity 

No matter what Alec Baldwin, Director Joel Souza, or the production team behind Rust says, the reality is they are capitalizing on the death of Halyna Hutchins. They can blame the media, they can blame the film consuming public for only wanting to see their movie out of morbid curiosity, but they can't escape the fact that any dollar made on this movie is now blood money. The entire profile of this film is now related specifically to this tragedy. 

Click here for my full length article at Geeks.Media

Classic Movie Review All About Eve

All About Eve (1950) 

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz 

Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz 

Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Gerry Merrill, Marilyn Monroe 

Release Date October 27th, 1950 

Classic on the October 10th episode of the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast 

A question that plagued me as I watched and loved All About Eve for the 100th time was what the modern story equivalent of All About Eve might be. The original finds a cunning ingénue snaking her way into the inner circle of Broadway's elite with career advancement her sole motivation. I love Broadway, but it hasn't been as relevant recently as it was in 1950s where All About Eve occurs. The modern All About Eve would not be set on Broadway. Nor would it likely be set in Hollywood. No, the new All About Eve would center on the social media world. 

Today, the Eve of All About Eve would have come up as a fan of Logan Paul's Team 10 v-loggers or a fan of Charlie D'Amelio and her family. Eve would arrive at the Tik Tok Hype House and wait outside everyday in hopes that one of Charlie D'Amelio's family will see her dedication and introduce her to her idol. She would become Charlie's assistant and help film her Tik Toks and then, when Charlie could not make it to a big Hype House brand deal meeting, Eve would take her place and dazzle the owner of Bang energy drinks with her talent for branding his awful drink. 

Okay, that's not exactly a one to one comparison. It's more like what He's All That is to She's all That really. That said, I am just struggling for a way to bring the supremely witty, ingenious and utterly brilliant All About Eve into a context that might intrigue young people to watch it. It is my all consuming desire to get more people to watch and remember All About Eve so that they can experience the full breadth of the talent of Bette Davis and writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Together, Davis and Mankiewicz might rescue the concept of wit in the day and age of Tik Tok. 

Sadly, All About Eve remains bound to its New York in the 50s aesthetic. It belongs to a time when people were devoted to the New York stage in a fashion that today people are dedicated to a vast cross-section of media. The ambition of Eve remains timeless, that type of striving will never not be in fashion, but the circle that this Eve strives to be part of will never be the same. This witty, drunken, catty and brilliant circle, revolving around superstar Margo Chandler (Bette Davis), is lost to time. 

Perhaps that's the point? Perhaps the modern reflection of All About Eve is how a bad person with ambition still thrives while genuine talent, fondly remembered, recedes slowly but inexorably into time. Indeed, Bette Davis is the kind of talent who stuck around for a very long time, but well after her talent was most fondly remembered. She was the kind of actress who bravely accepted roles like Margo Chandler because her talent and smarts far outpaced any sense of vanity or perception. 

Indeed, many Eve Harrington's have come and gone over the years, they've found success but without respect. They were popular and idolized but never became icons. Their ambition brought them the trappings of celebrity minus the things that make life whole like the respect of ones peers or the secure notion of self that is so rare and valuable. The Eve Harrington's of the world spend their careers forever uncertain if they have actual talent or a bit of luck that could run out. 

That's perhaps the secret of Bette Davis, security. A secure sense of self. That is reflected in her performance as Margo Chandler. She wins in the end after briefly doubting herself by remembering that she's Margo Chandler, she has the respect of her peers, the love of the man of her dreams, and a tight circle of friends who see past her talent and what that talent can do for them. Margo needs not for ambition, people recognized her talent and she never had to ask for their attention, no seeking, no striving, a full arrival of a complete person. 

Similarly, Bette Davis didn't need to strive for respect, she had it from the first moment. She didn't need the adulation that some sought, she had the respect of peers and directors who sought to work with her even if they may not have liked her. They knew and she knew that she was the best at what she did. If they didn't like her, it was because she possessed incredible talent and she knew it. They couldn't do what they did without her but she could damn well do what she does without them. 

All About Eve is a story about duality, two performers as two contrasting states of being. Eve Harrington represents insecurity, a life built out of sticks and threads haphazardly strung together to create a life. Margo Chandler is self actualization, she's confidence. Margo is a life built on talent and accomplishment. It's a life built on an earned respect. And it's a life built around finding people who can similarly claim security and confidence and bolster each other's security and confidence. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media 

What I Saw at Fantastic Fest At Home

I would have loved nothing more than to travel to Austin, Texas to be part of Fantastic Fest as it unfolded September 22nd to September 29th. Sadly, I was not able to be there in person. Instead, I settled for covering Fantastic Fest At Home which offered selections from the Festival that were made available online. This included features and shorts, documentaries and a wild selection of new release movies that fit the uniquely avant garde reputation of Fantastic Fest. I've already had the chance to write about a pair of documentaries that I adored at Fantastic Fest, you can find my reviews of the wild A Life on the Farm and Lynch/Oz linked here. And I could not resist writing about the bizarre experience of the horror film All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, a full length review you can read linked here. 

But sadly, I can't write full length reviews of everything I saw at Fantastic Fest at Home so here are several capsule reviews of movies I saw at Fantastic Fest. Two of these I was lucky enough to interview the director of the movie and you can find those interviews on my brand new Sean at the Movies YouTube Channel linked here. Like, subscribe, share and all that YouTube stuff. 

Give Me Pity 2022 

Directed by Amanda Kramer 

Written by Amanda Kramer

Starring Sophie Von Haselberg

Release Date Unknown 

Played at Fantastic Fest 

Give Me Pity is a strange and bold movie that captures both the bizarre nostalgia of 70s and early 80s variety shows centered on celebrities and a fever dream of horrific proportion. Bette Midler's incredibly talented daughter, Sophie Van Haselberg as superstar Sissy St. Clair. There is no narrative per se in Give Me Pity, rather the film begins with Sissy St. Clair performing a lavish opening number for her very first variety special. 

Director Amanda Kramer never breaks the spell of this gauzy nostalgia. Instead, she introduces visual elements, dreamscapes and nightmare imagery that can lead you to your own conclusion about what you are watching. For me, I settled on the idea of Hell and how this character, Sissy St. Clair's version of Hell was being forced to perform in this variety show for eternity as her mind slowly begins to crack and madness begins to set in. Again, that's just my interpretation based on a surface level observation. I'm not writing a full length review of Give Me Pity only because I need to see it again to ponder the many, many layers of Meta and Irony and deeper meanings behind the many songs and skits in the movie. 

Sophie Van Haselberg is a revelation. She's incredible in this movie. I kept wondering why she looked so familiar and when I saw that she's Bette Midler's daughter, it clicked, I've seen her mom perform on shows not unlike the variety special in Give Me Pity. I can recall Bette Midler wearing similar costumes and crooning in the same way Sissy does in this movie. That's not to say that Van Haselberg is in her mother's shadow but rather that being Bette Midler's daughter adds a delightful layer of meta-commentary that requires another viewing to fully unpack. Give Me Pity is a must see when it becomes available. 

Give Me an A 

Directed by Anthology 

Written by Anthology 

Starring Virginia Madsen, Alyssa Milano, Milana Vayntrub, Rachel Torres, Regina Ting Chen 

Release Date Unknown 

Premiered at Fantastic Fest 

Wow! I really should leave the review as that one word, Wow! Give Me an A is the most in your face and pointed horror satire I've ever seen. Nakedly political, the anthology of short films from female directors with female stars makes serious points about the debate over abortion or, more specifically, about how the abortion debate is really about women's bodily autonomy. While the extreme voices would like to say this is about 'killing babies' or other such nonsense, the reality of the debate is about whether or not women get to make decisions regarding their own body. 

It's more than merely whether to carry a child to term. This debate in full affects whether women should be able to make any number of decisions about how they use their body. It's also about the rippling effect of these nakedly political decisions, masquerading as moralism, and the ways in which women's behavior are under attack, largely by a group of men whose oppressive conservatism, brought to its most powerful affect would prevent women from making decisions about their private lives, their healthcare, and other important aspects of THEIR life. 

Give Me An A uses a series of fiery and supremely intelligent short films to make these points dramatically, horrifically, through science fiction, and through a scathing satire that demonstrates both humor and a stinging rebuke of those who would stand in the way of women making their own decision about their bodies. This is one of the most exhilarating and exciting anthologies to come around in some time and a rare one that uses the form to make a trenchant and fearlessly political point. 

Find my complete article at Geeks.Media 

Documentary Review The Computer Accent

The Computer Accent (2022) 

Directed by Riel Roch-Decter & Sebastian Pardo 

Written by Documentary

Starring YACHT 

Release Date October 21st, 2022 

Album Chain Tripping Released 2019

I have no idea what Chain Tripping means and neither does the band YACHT, though it is the name of their 2019 record. It's a pair of nonsense words mashed together and yet, Chain Tripping seems to fit perfectly the album it gives title to. When you listen to Chain Tripping and you find the groove that appeals to you, especially on tracks like Scatterhead, you feel like you are tripping and you could call it a chain as one song flows seamlessly into the next in an otherworldly rave. 

Chain Tripping is, as far as I know, the first and only fully A.I produced full length album. The band YACHT, an acronym that means Young Americans Challenging Technology, were looking for a challenge for their new album in 2019. Since lead singer Claire L. Evans is also an accomplished author whose most recent book chronicled the history of women in technology, futuristic ideas about artificial intelligence were certainly part of the band on a molecular level. 

As they began to look at making their next record, the band took a meeting at Google where a group of Google engineers happened to be working on technology intended to produce A.I generated music. With Google's work as baseline and the work of futurists and theorists in the field of A.I at their disposal, YACHT, which also includes Jona Bechtolt and Robert Kieswetter, began the painstaking process of making an album collaboration with Artificial Intelligence. 

The band then began a painstaking process for planning the record that would become, Chain Tripping. The first thing the band did was set some ground rules that would determine that the record fully came from their A.I collaborator. 

Rule 1 No adding notes, no adding harmonies, and no jamming 

Rule 2 The band could choose instruments, transform melodies, cut up melodies. 

These rules in place, the band set about breaking apart every song they'd created in their previous 17 years as a band and entered the songs into the A.I which would then use those elements of the YACHT catalogue to create a series of computer generated melodies that would be the base line of a song, essentially the instrumental for the record. Another rule the band created for themselves was that they were allowed to only use sounds that they could reproduce in live performance using some form of instrument. 

In one of the most fascinating aspects the documentary, The Computer Accent, we watch as Bechtolt and Kieswetter teach themselves these songs. It's a process that requires them to relearn how to play instruments they'd played all of their lives in order to re-produce the melodies generated by the A.I. In one incredibly telling instance, Bechtolt hears a computer generated melody that will require him to play the drums in a way that is counter-intuitive to the way most, if not all drummers, approach playing the drums. 

Similarly, lead singer Clair Evans had quite a challenge in mastering the A.I generated lyrics. In order to generate an albums' worth of lyrics from the standard of current A.I, the band needed to use not only their own back catalogue, but hundreds of songs from bands they'd admired and that had influenced the band members over the years. With the aid of technologist and poet Ross Goodwin, lyrics were generated and then Evans began a painstaking process of cutting the lyrics and rearranging them without changing the basic lines created by the A.I 

What Evans did is very similar to the process David Bowie used to write some of his most unusual and memorable lyrics. As detailed in the recent Bowie documentary, Moonage Daydream, Bowie would cut lines from news paper and rearrange the lines into lyrics and that would become the basis for a song. Or Bowie would write a complete song and then cut his lyric sheets up and rearrange the line to create something completely different and yet the same. Bottom line, it's not easy to do and it's an incredibly revealing challenge for a songwriter. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Terrifier 2

Terrifier 2 (2022) 

Directed by Damien Leone 

Written by Damien Leone 

Starring David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Chris Jericho 

Release Date October 6th, 2022 

Published October 24th, 2022 

I went into Terrifier 2 with a chip on my shoulder. I had made many assumptions about the movie before seeing it and my cynicism was beginning to shape my perception of the movie without seeing it. What a surprise it was then to have walked out of Terrifier 2 having been turned into a huge fan of the movie. Rather than being edgy and perverted, Terrifier 2 is a triumph of both incredible DIY gore and a sense of the absurd macabre of the horror movie that is employed to make the movie watchable beyond the off-putting if groundbreaking approach to horror. 

Terrifier 2 stars David Howard Thornton as the terrifying horror villain, Art the Clown. I'm told that Art the Clown made his film debut in Terrifier 1 and became such a cult phenomenon that a sequel became a demand of the fans. The sequel over-delivers on the original in which, though I have not seen it, I've been told, Art has less personality and even more brutality. In Terrifier 2, writer director Damien Leone and star David Howard Thornton have fully realized the potential of Art the Clown by leaving him silent but giving him an even more terrifying physical personality. 

Opposite Art the Clown is our hero Sienna (Lauren LaVera). Sienna is a teenager dealing with the suicide death of her father with whom she shared a very special bond. Sienna's dad used to write comic books and dedicated his stories to her, especially a beautiful and strong female hero. On Halloween, Sienna plans to pay tribute to her dad by using her incredible cos-play skills to re-create the look of the female hero her father created. She may be the only one who knows the character, but regardless, the costume means the world to her. 

Sienna's little brother Jonathan however, he's another story. Jonathan's costume is an edgy homage to a massacre in their rural New York state town. Jonathan wants to dress as Art the Clown, something that infuriates both his sister and their mother, Barbara (Sarah Voight), who orders Jonathan not to wear his favored costume. This scene and another that comes up in the wake of a disturbing slaughter, play our love of Halloween blood and guts and serial killer obsessions against us, calling us out for turning real life terror into entertainment. 

That scene, the slaughter scene, is easily the most disturbing and illness inducing. You've perhaps heard stories about moviegoers becoming sick while watching Terrifier 2. Well, as much as that is merely a marketing campaign for the movie, I can see where this slaughter scene might cause people to become unwell. As Art scalps his teenage victim, cuts out their eyeballs, and is discovered playing with the victims' entrails, while the victim is still alive, we are kept at a distance by the absurd level of graphic visceral human destruction. Art's horrifying rictus grin casts a gaze directly at the audience as if accusing us of enjoying what he's done. It's chilling and farcical all at once. 

Click here for my full length review of Terrifier 2 at Horror.Media 

Documentary Review Louis Armstrong Black and Blues

Louis Armstrong's Black and Blues (2022) 

Directed by Sacha Jenkins

Written by Documentary 

Starring Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis 

Release Date October 28th, 2022 

Platform Apple TV 

Published October 27th, 2022 

At some point, the phrase 'Do you like Jazz?' became a cheesy signifier of pretension and oddity. Jazz is still wildly popular but it's settled into a niche that rarely breaks into mainstream success these days. Years ago however, that was not the case. Indeed, in the 40s and 50s, Jazz was fully in the mainstream. Much of that success could be attributed to the popularity of 'Satchmo' aka, Louis Armstrong. Arguably the greatest trumpet player of all time, Satchmo crossed racial lines and united fans of Jazz at a time when unity among white and black Americans was far from the norm. 

The new documentary, Louis Armstrong's Black and Blues chronicles the life and career of Louis Armstrong in a way no other Armstrong project has. For years, Armstrong wore a big brave smile and stayed above the fray of American politics. It was his effort to remain as popular among all audiences but it came with the cost of many Black Americans believing that Louis Armstrong was selling out Black people to secure his own success in mainstream America. Through never before heard private recordings we find out how Armstrong really felt about his success, the racial divide, and other notable aspects of his life. 

Louis Armstrong grew up in New Orleans and developed his talent for playing the trumpet at a very early age. As a teenager he honed his skills playing in brothels. But Armstrong was far too talented and too charismatic to go unnoticed. Eventually, Armstrong was brought on board with a touring band and his huge smile and brazen trumpet playing were the undeniable draw. By his mid-twenties, Satchmo had become a headliner, even in areas of white America and the south where the stage was the only place he was allowed to be because of his race. 

Among Armstrong's earliest challenges was navigating the mob. Having moved to Chicago in the late 20s and 30s, Armstrong was forced to cope with connected club owners and promoters who used intimidation tactics to get him on stages but used the same tactics to take larger portions of Armstrong's earnings from those gigs. Eventually, Armstrong was forced to choose between gangsters who set his schedule and took his money and settled on one who took the lowest amount of his earnings. 

Always a canny self-promoter, Armstrong turned to Hollywood to pick up paychecks and to spread his popularity as a singer and trumpet player. Word of mouth and recordings of his trumpet playing had made him a pretty big star but appearances on the big screen let Armstrong show off his winning smile, his innate charisma and a performance style unlike any other modern American musician. That voice, that gravelly, sad, yet joyous voice became as indelible and iconic as his legendary trumpet thanks to his appearances in movies that exposed his uniqueness to a wide audience. 

What director Sacha Jenkins captures in Louis Armstrong's Black and Blues is Armstrong's uncanny talent for self promotion and his private struggle with racial injustice. Even being, arguably, the biggest Black American star in the country did not rescue Armstrong from the indignities of racial intolerance. One notable story, related in the documentary features the voice of rapper Nas reading a private letter that Armstrong wrote to a friend about his experience on a Hollywood movie set. 

Click here for my full length review of Louis Armstrong's Black and Blues