Movie Review Champions

Champions (2023) 

Directed by Bobby Farrelly 

Written by Mark Rizzo 

Starring Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson 

Release Date March 10th, 2023 

Published March 5th, 2023 

It's a tricky thing, representation in modern media. On the one hand, you want that representation to be sensitive and compassionate. On the other hand, you need to draw in some flaws that make your characters more human being than saints of proper representation. The new movie Champions brings forward strong representation of a community of intellectually disabled people while still making them human and flawed. Director Bobby Farelly takes great care not to let these characters be simplistic, safe representations of their community, but rather well rounded, unique and quite charming individuals. 

Champions stars Woody Harrelson as disgraced basketball coach, Marcus Marakovich, Marcus managed to destroy his entire career in a single night, though those who know him well, like his boss, Phil (Ernie Hudson), know this has been coming on for some time. Nevertheless, in this one night, Marcus manages to shove Phil on the court in front of a large crowd and many cameras before getting thrown out of the building. Then Marcus gets drunk, drives, and smashes into the back of a cop car. He's officially fired the following day. 

In court, Marcus narrowly avoids a prison sentence by accepting a community service assignment. Marcus will be the Coach of the Des Moines, Iowa Friends, a basketball team for the intellectually disabled. In classic movie fashion, it's a ragtag bunch for whom basketball is fun but mostly an excuse to spend time together. Marcus' notion of teaching fundamentals or plays such as the Pick & Roll, are lofty goals to say the least. Marcus can't even get one of his players to stop shooting the ball by throwing it backwards over his head. 

There is nothing special about Marcus' character arc. Marcus is here to go from being a guy who doesn't connect with the members of his team on a human level to someone who loves his players as people more than just players. There is also a typical sports movie plot unfolding with the Friends getting so good under Marcus' leadership that they earn their way to the Special Olympics basketball championship. These are tried and true tropes, relatively predictable. Thankfully, as a veteran filmmaker, and quite a good one, Bobby Farrelly knows he needs to color in the margins of this plot to make something more of it. 

Thus Farrelly includes a very not typical romance between Harrelson's Marcus and the sister of one of his new players, Alex, played by Kaitlin Olson. Farrelly subverts convention, ever so slightly, by having Marcus and Alex meet before the story begins. The film opens with Marcus and Alex finishing a rather forgettable Tinder hook up with him trying to get her to leave and her eagerly trying to leave. Olson's Alex is not the kind of character that typically comes back in a movie like this. Usually, this character is a functional character, one to demonstrate the lack of character in our main character, a lesson they need to learn about being a better, more thoughtful or caring person. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media

Movie Review The Jesus Revolution

The Jesus Revolution (2023) 

Directed by Jon Erwin, Brent McCorkle 

Written by Jon Gunn, Jon Erwin 

Starring Kelsey Grammer, Joel Courtney, Anna Grace Barlow, Jonathan Roumie 

Release Date February 24th, 2023 

Published February 19th, 2023 

The Jesus Revolution is a violently mediocre movie. Based loosely on a true story about hippies who found religion in California in the late 1960s, The Jesus Revolution positions, of all people, Kelsey Grammer, as the open armed preacher who welcomes hippies to his church. To say that's not who Kelsey Grammer is publicly is a bit of an understatement, a hippie loving, all-inclusive, kind of guy is not who Kelsey Grammer is and he doesn't really have the range to make you buy in on this persona. 

The Jesus Revolution stars Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith. Pastor Chuck's parish is nearly empty. There appear to be about 10 people in his church before Chuck meets the man who will change all of that. After an argument with his daughter, Chuck is introduced to Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a free-spirited hippie preacher that Chuck's daughter brings home to stay. Lonnie surprises Chuck with his grasp of biblical scripture and the depth of his belief in Jesus so much that Chuck invites Lonnie to speak at his church and invite some fellow hippies to come in. 

Lonnie is a hit and his recruitment of more hippies to the church starts to bring in major crowds. Among the new believers is Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney), a former military school student turned hippie. Greg left school to chase a girl, Cathe (Anna Grace Barlow), and through her, he ends up at Calvary Church. Falling under the spell of Lonnie, Greg himself will become a Preacher and he and Chuck eventually form a partnership that will grow the so-called Jesus Revolution beyond what either of them would have imagined. 

As for Lonnie, he proves to be a troubled figure. Whether he was on drugs or suffering from mental instability, Lonnie begins to believe that God is acting through him. He starts believing he can heal people and takes on the persona of a cult leader rather than a preacher. This will lead to a falling out between Lonnie and Chuck that threatens the future of Chuck's newly successful church. That sounds far more dramatic and interesting than anything actually in The Jesus Revolution. Sadly, the movie delivers the falling out between Chuck and Lonnie in the least dramatic or interesting fashion. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review The Burial

The Burial (2023) 

Directed by Michael Escalante 

Written by Michael Escalante 

Starring Faith Kearns, Spencer Wetzel, Aaron Pyle 

Release Date March 3rd, 2023

Published February 28th, 2023 

A man sits in the woods crying. In the foreground is a shotgun. That's the intriguing start of the horror flick, The Burial. The scene hard cuts to a suburban apartment where an adorable couple is having an adorable conversation and being adorable when the phone rings. The man in the woods, is Keith (Spencer Wetzel) and the man he has called is his brother, Brian (Vernon Taylor). Brian can hear the desperation in his brother's voice and agrees to go and see him at a cabin in the woods, near where the movie began. Brian's girlfriend, Molly (Faith Kearns), insists on going along despite Brian's warning that his brother is... troubled. 

The film establishes this point of intrigue, why is this man crying, why was the shotgun in the foreground as he cried? How are these things related? We will come to find out exactly what happened but first the movie settles us into who these people are before we set the plot mechanics in motion. Keith has shot a man and this man may or may not be dead. The supposedly dead man is Lenny (Aaron Pyle) and he haunts Keith's every moment. The choice of what to do about this dead or perhaps not dead man makes up the plot of The Burial. 

Find my full length review at Horror.Media 

Movie Essay: The Body Horror of Videodrome

Videodrome is director David Cronenberg’s philosophical deconstruction of American culture, circa 1983. Yet, it remains relevant today as a commentary on the way in which American style violence infects the world. The story of shock television programmer, Max Renn, played by James Woods, Videodrome is not so much about Max as it is about how the American culture of violence is like an infectious disease spreading across borders. 

Max Renn is a carnival barker in the guise of a television executive. As the proprietor of Channel 83, Canada’s least watched yet most controversial cable network, Max specializes in blood and guts from around the globe. His programming features pornography and violence and even pornographic violence. Anything to get attention and sell advertising is okay by Max. But beyond his anything goes style of programming lingers and emptiness, a soullessness that makes Max the perfect test subject for Videodrome. 

What is Videodrome? For max, it’s the next big thing in sex and violence. Via his expert engineer and satellite pirate, Harlan (Peter Dvorkin), Max has stolen Videodrome with the intent of airing it on Channel 83. All that Videodrome appears to be, from what we are shown, is an hour of excruciating BDSM. A nude woman, never named, is brutally whipped for nearly an hour. There is no plot, no characters, just sexual violence. 

Max is convinced that he has a hit on his hands. 

What Max doesn’t realize, not immediately anyway, is that Videodrome isn’t a TV show. Videodrome was not filmed on a soundstage in Malaysia or Pittsburgh. No, the Videodrome is real… sort of. With the aid of a long dead Professor, Dr Brian O'Blivion (Jack Creley), Max discovers that Videodrome is the creation of a shadowy American, political cabal. It was created to take over vulnerable minds, like Max’s, and use violent imagery to compel the vulnerable toward violence. 

Max was chosen because he was a soulless hack, a man with no moral center, a man who lacks character. Max is an empty vessel that Videodrome, and the cabal, behind it can manipulate to do their bidding. Max represents the world consumer, the viewer, the audience drawn toward the twisted thrill of blood and sex and violence. Videodrome is the hypnotic drug of sex and violence that once made up so much of American culture and spread around the globe by television and movies via VHS or Betamax. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review John Wick Chapter 4

John Wick Chapter 4 (2023) 

Directed by Chad Stahelski 

Written by Shay Hatten, Michael Finch 

Starring Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Donnie Yen, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Skarsgard 

Release Date March 24th, 2023 

Published March 24th, 2023 

John Wick Chapter 4 wastes no time in getting our favorite killing machine into action. After a brief introduction to where John's been hiding since we last saw him, action shifts to the Middle East where John Wick, in full black suit in the desert, is killing people while riding on horseback. The scene is key first for getting John Wick into action mode and for giving him a key piece of information. As John executes a nameless baddie, he's informed that the only peace he shall ever have will come in death. This sets up the plot of the movie: Will John Wick live or die? 

The plot is driven by John Wick's continuing desire to be allowed to live a normal life. He just wants a dog and a house and a muscle car for a quiet retirement. Unfortunately, the many, many people John Wick has killed since he took vengeance over the murder of his beloved dog, means that John may never stop being pursued by killers eager to grab a 20 plus million dollar bounty on his head. That bounty comes courtesy of a mysterious cabal known collectively as 'The Table.' You can assume that the table is much like the one in Godfather 2 where the heads of families sit and carve up portions of the world. 

Thus, John Wick's task, though seemingly impossible, is to kill his way through the table. Thankfully, his efforts thus far have led the leaders of the group to consolidate power inside one man, The Marquis (Bill Skarsgard). Kill the Marquis and John Wick will earn his freedom from the table. Naturally, this task is more complex than simply killing one man. Standing in John Wick's way is an old friend, a man chosen by The Marquis as his proxy in any direct combat with John Wick. That man is Caine, the blind master, played by Donnie Yen. John Wick and Caine have been friends for years but with the life of Caine's daughter hanging in the balance, the blind master has no compunction about killing his longtime friend. 

I love the lore of John Wick. I love how the universe maintains a very specific and yet uncomplicated logic. In this universe, there are suits that are made of Kevlar, these suits have an almost magical quality. They make the wearer impervious to most weapon attacks. Getting thrown off a roof, shot, or tossed down some stairs are things that can slow someone down. But, if you are wearing a Kevlar suit, you are protected from serious impacts, meaning bones won't break, and bullets may collect on the surface but not penetrate. A sword or a knife may still be an issue. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves (2023) 

Directed by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley 

Written by Michael Gillo, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley 

Starring Chris Pine, Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant 

Release Date March 31st, 2023 

Published March 31st, 2023 

Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves probably won't hold up to much scrutiny when it comes to plot, logic, and other such concerns. But what the film lacks in detailed filmmaking, it more than makes up for in fun. This is a really fun movie populated by a cast that appears to be having an absolute blast making this movie. The cast makes Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves a delight to sit through. Chris Pine leads this incredibly fun group of outcasts and weirdos with strange powers that always seem to come in handy at just the moment they are needed. 

Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) was once a heroic member of the Harpers, a group of selfless heroes battling evil to protect their small villages. However, when once his good guy mask slipped and revealed a thief, Darvis lost everything. A group of wizards, whom Darvis stole from, found his home while he wasn't there, and murdered his wife. Thankfully, Darvis's baby daughter was hidden away by her mother and father and daughter were able to stay together

Not cut out for the life of a single parent, a drunken Darvis is rescued by a mercenary, Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), who becomes his best friend, mostly because she has no friends and really likes his baby. She helps Davis raise the baby, Kira (Chloe Coleman), as the trio work together as a gang of thieves. Their criminal outfit grows to include an amateur sorcerer named Simon (Justice Smith), and a con-artist named Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), who brings a talent for finding big scores. 

The group is successful together for only a short time. Then, they meet their end when they go to work for a powerful witch, Sofina (Daisy Head), who promises unimaginable riches if they help her steal an ancient artifact. Leaving Kira at home, Edgin and Holga are betrayed by Forge and Sofina and are captured and imprisoned. Simon managed a narrow escape. The next two years are spent behind bars in a frozen wasteland until the opportunity to escape arrives. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review A Good Person

A Good Person (2023) 

Directed by Zach Braff

Written by Zach Braff 

Starring Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Molly Shannon, Zoe Lister-Jones, Chinaza Uche 

Release Date March 31st, 2023 

Published April 4th, 2023 

You can only numb emotional pain for so long before the numbness becomes the desired effect. Life becomes stagnant, the outside world is a place of judgment, a place to fear. Being numb and at home is the desired space in the world. But, to quote a terrific song called Sideways by Citizen Cope and Santana, lyrics that have never left me since I heard them on an episode of Scrubs, 'These feelings won't go away.' Until you actually confront your emotional damage, it will not heal, it will only fester. 

Allison (Florence Pugh), the protagonist of the new drama, A Good Person, is in the midst of learning this lyrical lesson in A Good Person. Following an accident that killed her soon to be sister and brother in-laws, Allison turned to Oxycontin, first as a way of dealing with physical pain and then as a way to numb the emotional pain of guilt that she felt every time she looked into the eyes of her fiancé, Nathan (Chinaza Uche). These feelings of guilt linger and fester within her, even after she abandoned Nathan for the comfort of moving home to her mother, Diane (Molly Shannon) who proves to be an unwilling enabler of her daughter's addiction. 

Eventually, this unhealed wound drives Allison to depths that even she recognizes as wrong and she seeks help. There, with much unexpected irony, she meets Daniel (Morgan Freeman), her former future father-in-law and father of the woman who died in the accident Allison caused by carelessly looking at her phone while driving. You might expect Daniel to lash out but, to Allison's great surprise, the elderly father reaches out a hand and invites her to stay and get help as part of the AA/NA Meeting at their shared local church. 

The tentative friendship between Allison and Daniel that develops via their attending these meetings, drives the action of the second act of A Good Person as Allison is introduced to the teenage daughter that was left orphaned in the care of her grandfather. Ryan (Celeste O'Connor), at first, is shocked and mortified that Daniel would bring Allison into their lives, considering the circumstances, but eventually, she begins to befriend Allison. The friendship is fraught, quite obviously, but when Ryan tries to reunite Allison with Nathan, things go beyond fraught to a place a deep despair. 

One thing that Zach Braff does well as a writer and director is explore complicated emotions and give those emotions room to breathe. Garden State was anchored by an exploration of grief and the healing power of falling in love with someone who understands you. He explored a remarkably similar theme in the equally effective, Wish I Was Here. And, once again, in A Good Person, Braff is back to exploring grief from yet another perspective and once again he allows room for this complicated emotion to be lived in, explored, and for it to begin to heal. 

His themes may be similar but Braff is at his best when he stops and lets the anguish that his characters are feeling be fully expressed. The catharsis of big emotions can be a tad manipulative in a film drama b but in Braff's conception, and in the performances of actors such as Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman, it never feels pushy. Pugh's performance in particular is so charismatic that it leaves an indelible, unforgettable impression. Say what you will about the sameness of Zach Braff's direction, in the hands of great actors, it barely registers. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media