Movie Review Pinball The Man who Saved the Game

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2023) 

Directed by Austin Bragg, Meredith Brag 

Written by Austin Bragg, Meredith Bragg

Starring Mike Faist, Crystal Reed, Dennis Boutsikaris, Christopher Convery

Release Date March 17th, 2023 

Published March 11th, 2023 

Pinball The Man Who Saved the Game is a wildly inessential look at a piece of history so inconsequential that it boggles the mind. For reasons that don't bare a need to be repeated, Pinball, the game so righteously lauded by Roger Daltrey in an equally inessential but kind of awesome song, was banned in many big cities in the 1970's. Then, one man, one weird, weird, man, by the name of Roger Sharpe set about to change everything. Forget fighting for equal rights, or battling systemic injustice, Roger Sharpe was going to use his time to rescue pinball. And so incredible is his story that people felt there needed to be a movie about it. 

In a needless device, actor Dennis Boutsakaris plays a modern conception of Roger Sharpe. He's being interviewed by the makers of this film, presumably, about how he saved pinball. To tell the story, Roger must go all the way back to 1971 when he met the magical Jesus of Pinball who gave him the gift of a phrase that he would carry forward into the world: 'I can't let it drain.' Pinball Jesus, handing down the commandments of Pinball to the Moses who would save the game was referring to having Roger take over his machine and not allow the game to end, Pinball Jesus presumably having to inspire others to pinball glory. 

Cut to 1975 and we apparently need to know how sad Roger's life is. Roger worked a soulless job in advertising in New York City while nursing the failed dream of all 1970's male movie characters, the dream of writing 'the great American novel.' Roger's failed dreams have led to a failed marriage and soon the loss of his job. Desperate for a place and a purpose in a cruel and remorseless world, Roger happens to hear the siren call of bumpers and bells coming from inside a porno bookshop. Having not played pinball since college, Roger took this as a sign and spent the next several weeks playing pinball while sex workers and perverts plied their trade behind a nearby curtain. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review Teen Wolf The Movie

Teen Wolf The Movie (2023) 

Directed by Russell Mulcahy 

Written by Jeff Davis 

Starring Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Tyler Hoechlin

Release Date January 26th, 2023

Published January 26th, 2023 

I did not watch Teen Wolf when the series arrived on MTV in the mid-2000s. I wasn't opposed to the series, it just wasn't for me. It's a series engineered to excite a fanbase of teenaged girls and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The series had a very successful run and seemed to end on a high note with fans. Now, the series is back for a one off Teen Wolf movie which starts streaming on January 26th, 2023, on Paramount Plus, the streaming home of MTV products. 

Having not watched a single episode of Teen Wolf I expected the film to be dense with lore and incomprehensible. What a surprise then to find that the makers of Teen Wolf The Movie appear eager to welcome new fans. Yes, the movie is certainly for the faithful fans of the series, but as an outsider, I found the action and the story easy to follow and the movie as a whole, very entertaining. There is a particular lack of pretense, a certain understated charm that permeates Teen Wolf The Movie, giving it a welcoming quality that doesn't squander the love of the long time fan. 

Teen Wolf The Movie kicks into gear with an intriguing opening scene. A man enters a restaurant where two of the series star are living and working. The man is there to take a particular mystical MacGuffin that will play a role in the plot. This leads to a fight scene that sets the stakes and allows stars Amy Workman as Hikari, and Dylan Spayberry as Liam, to show off their powers for people who might not be familiar with the role they play in the series. 

The opening heist scene sets up a plot in which the father of Werewolf Hunter Allison Argent, who died in series canon, to bring his daughter back to life. Returning to where she died, he recruits Allison's Werewolf boyfriend, Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), along with Dr. Alan Deaton (Seth Gilliam) to help him. Secretly, Allison's dad is the vessel for an ancient evil who hopes to use the reborn Allison to kill Scott and all other Werewolves and magical beings that stand with him. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media linked here