September 2, 2019 – Bonus Alison reviews

Alison: The timing seems right to talk about Midsommar. I read a “best movies of 2019” list today which included Midsommar but I immediately discounted it for having Detective Pikachu so I can only take it half seriously. Four stars on RogerEbert.com and 83% fresh on the tomato page. My second surprise was a packed theatre which landed Rob and I in the front row for our viewing. This movie was promised to be a horror flick of sorts and for me it was a fail in that regard. The premise is that a couple of university students travel to the home of a friend in Sweden to visit the commune (read cult) he grew up in. There’s the couple that should have broken up on their third date, the two guys that can’t stand their buddy’s girlfriend and of course cult guy. Everything about this film is awkward. None of these people seem to really like each other. Conversations are at an unnatural pentameter and despite appearance there is an underlying anger and uneasiness that starts to take hold. The cult folks are odd but welcoming and things get underway with the festival. Without giving too much away, people start dying (one scene quite shocking), friends go missing and the reactions of the remaining friends are not what you’d expect. Its not scary…its just weird. Midsommar is from the guy who made Hereditary which I loved. I suspect this is the movie he wrote first that got picked up after the success of Hereditary. Do you need to see it??? If you’re curious, go ahead and then I’ll wait for the “wtf email” you will be certain to send me afterwards.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is the latest offering from Mr. Tarantino that came with much anticipation and accolade. Four stars on Roger, 85% on rotten and attention at Cannes. And yet of the thirty or so people in the theatre, three got up and walked out around the half way mark in what felt like a painfully long 2.5 hour film. If I had to describe this film in one word i might use “unnecessary” or “self-absorbed”. Don’t get me wrong, this was beautifully shot film and Brad and Leo gave great performances (and Brad looked especially good doing it) but I kept waiting for it to start or get to the point. And when it finally did, it was anticlimactic. I suspect much of the accolades for this film are from those in the industry as this was a directors film. For the rest of us it was time spent looking at something really well made that just wasn’t that entertaining.

Cold War was nominated for an Oscar and Bafta award last year. It’s filmed in black and white and is simply gorgeous to look at. This is a love story that takes place in communist Poland between a musician and the young farm girl he discovers. Together they are part of a troupe putting on cultural shows until the evil Kaczmarek used the troupe to gain good fortune with the communist party. He, the musician and she the singer devise to defect to France and when he crossed she got cold feet. He meets with success in France and she finally decides to join and the love affair resumes. The characters are engaging but more as a curiosity as everyone plays their cards close to their chest and seemingly there is always an angle. Love has its ups and downs and this couple is no different but theirs is a never happy kinda love, neither together or apart and always a yearning for a thing you don’t have until having it doesn’t feel that great either. Don’t expect to walk away feeling your heart has grown as big as the Grinch’s on xmas day and as Jason would say “well, that wasn’t horrible”.

September 2, 2019 – Labour Day

TIFF begins this weekend. I have done no preparation and no research to review which films I would like to see. This is unusual as I would normally be part of a group with tickets as a Member and then securing the films I am interested in through the lottery. Instead, I am on the sidelines and thinking if I am interested in a movie that I will simply rush the theatre at the time of the showing. I will likely as in the past bring my youngest downtown to catch some stars and the buzz in the city.

I actually went to the theatre this week and saw Good Boys. This stars Canadian Jacob Tremblay (from Room fame) and a couple other kids. It was filmed in Vancouver which explained the CIBC bank signs that I saw around periodically. This was given high praise as very funny and it was doing decently at the box office. On cheap Tuesday it made sense to go. The premise is simple, three Grade 6 boys are looking to go to a house party where there will be “kissing”. They don’t want to go in without any knowledge or experience. They are just dealing with changes and hormones. Of the three friends, one (Tremblay) is girl crazy, the second wants to show his singing talent but thinks it isn’t “cool” and the third has parents just going through a divorce. They interact with some older kids, and look to solve a problem that is posed to them. It doesn’t really matter what the problem is, and the resolution isn’t all that believable nor important. The point to it is for setting up the scenes for the jokes and the language. These young boys have potty mouths which is funny a couple of times and then it isn’t. It’s similar to South Park kids who swear, but not quite as over-the-top. And not as funny. So this was okay. It had a couple decent laughs. In thinking about it, for me I like humour when things surprise me and the unexpected or when it’s clever word play. There were a couple of scenes that made me laugh. Some of the humour is sex-based for young boys who have no idea what sex and more “advanced” or unusual sex practices are of the adults around them. No need to see this is the theatre, and it could be a rental on an otherwise slow or cold Fall night.

On Netflix I refreshed my memory of the Dark Crystal by re-watching the original. Jim Henson created this back in 1982, two years after the success of Yoda in Empire Strikes Back with realistic muppets. Frank Oz joins in (who is voice and character of Yoda) and together these two voice and portray many of the characters. I am re-watching as Netflix has just released a prequel to this original film as a series with a lot of money spent on it, and ten new episodes. The original was 1.5 hours long. The new series much longer. Dark Crystal takes place in a mythical place where an elfling is sent on a quest to find a shard of glass to repair the powerful dark crystal which provides power into this world. There are ruling and diminishing creatures on both sides who look bird-beaked and dinosaur like. Henson and Oz show their creativity in creating this world and creatures. You will see many scenes which borrow from other movies (like Empire) and others that are later borrowed (in films like Avatar, and Return of the Jedi). The story premise is similar to Lord of the Rings. For the technology that they had, this was cutting edge stuff. Star Wars did it better with the interaction of live and muppet creatures. Having all muppet creatures (although I think the panned back scenes with running etc had live people portraying the elfling). This will be interesting to see if the new series, which is a prequel, captures the style and story of the original but manages to hold our attention with all these muppets interacting. There are notable voices in the new series including Alicia Vikander, Simon Pegg, Catriona Balfe (Outlander), Taron Egerton (Rocketman) and Mark Hamill himself. I won’t commit to ten episodes at the moment, but I will give it a chance.

I forgot to add the rental I had this week, from James Cameron with Alita: Battle Angel. This would appear to be a new franchise from the mind of James Cameron. He has taken a futuristic dytopian world (and really, aren’t they all?) where certain humans and other beings live on the ground while others live on an elevated city above, similar in a way to Matt Damon’s Elysium, but with a look and feel on the ground a lot closer to Blade Runner. Funny how that Blade Runner look seems to re-appear time and again. In this story we start with a cyber-doctor (played by Christoph Waltz) scrounging through junk and debris (like The Force Awakens or Wall-E). He finds the upper part of a young female and manages to re-start her with new limbs. She is the heroine in the story with no memory of her past. The good doctor tries to protect her, and there is a RollerBall-like game that goes on periodically which seems to borrow a bit from The Running Man. If it seems I am name dropping far too many movies, perhaps it’s because this is a movie of puzzle pieces from other movies. The highlight is the visuals and the interaction of the young girl and the characters around her; some fully human while others are like Ex Machina and the actor is wearing a similar suit as Alicia Vikander wore. The weakness is the poor relationship aspect of the story. It seems that James Cameron can be faulted, like George Lucas, with poor relationship aspects to their stories. They almost seem like add ons, where the over all plot, and cool technical are focused on while afterwards someone pipes up with the idea “we still need people to care, so let’s add a relationship in there”… There is a backstory, and some history as to how this situation occurred, but I wasn’t really engaged with it. It kept getting sidetracked by the forced story, and thus lost it for me. The RollerBall game is kind of cool, but there appears to be no rules really. The bad guy, is the same bad guy from Deadpool, but only his face. He’s still bad and you want bad things to happen to him. Overall this film was disappointing and I think that was the general consensus. I don’t think that the big screen would have saved it either.

August 26, 2019

The dating world is challenging enough for people of all ages. Finding the “right” person is fraught with all sorts of challenges. Personality, physically, age, stage in life, economically, socially, etc etc. It’s a wonder, really, that anyone ever finds anybody at all. The odds just seem so far against it. The 2016 TIFF and Toronto based film Below Her Mouth, adds the complexity of whether the person you are attracted to is also gay like yourself. In this case, it is a lesbian relationship, but it really doesn’t matter. The lesbian aspect matters when the facts about the production and writing and directing are brought in with the all-female director, writers and others. At the time at TIFF this was a bigger deal, as not many female directors were out there, and literally no one was telling the lesbian story from a female point of view. The story is simple with a young woman, played by a Swedish model turned actor, who is not engaged with the women she meets and has sex. The opening sequence will show that directly. She later meets a woman in a local bar by happenstance who turns her head and heart around. The object of her affection is engaged to a man, and was cajoled into attending this lesbian bar just to “get a drink”. The two begin a torrid affair. There isn’t a lot of dialogue, and when there is the Swedish actor can be difficult to understand as she mumbles. Her amour is better at enunciating and being convincing. There is sex in this film. Netflix should really have more films like it. It doesn’t always have to be PG. For me, I think the interesting aspect was showing how difficult this dating world can be, and especially with the added dimension of same-sex. The underlying message is a positive one of being true to yourself. Further that you can’t live your life for other people. We all only have this one chance, and we might as well be happy doing it. So I liked this more than the mediocre reviews that I saw about it at the time. In brings together thoughts and ideas that I understand and at the same time don’t have to deal with on a daily basis. I am pleased to Toronto featured prominently and not portraying other US cities like Boston, or Pittsburgh or Chicago. I also think that we as Canadians are more receptive to these issues these days than our friends to the South. So even though the film makers likely wanted to avoid me as the viewer, thinking it was all about voyeaurism and seeing ladies taking their clothes off, I likely got the message and the point that these aren’t easy times and that being in this position for someone who self-professes that they had no choice, that I have more sympathy than I did before.

Netflix is also showing a documentary now about Bill Nye: Science Guy from 2017. Initially I thought when I saw this “how can we have a documentary about Bill Nye? How many segments of his show can we actually see?” I was a Sesame Street and Commander Tom kid growing up (older I was Carl Sagan and Cosmos), but my kids saw Bill Nye regularly. He was (and is) good. He was a quirky, funny guy who taught a lesson while keeping things fun, explaining scientific concepts to a young audience, and for many young people, Bill IS their Science guy. He is an icon. He won numerous Emmy Awards. Then he kind of disappeared with the show (1993-1998). So what has Bill been up to for the next 20 years of his life? Well, he debated a Creationist which was seen on CNN for 2:45 minutes in February 2014. I leave it to you to decide upon viewing who was more convincing in the argument. He also has become a voice for Human Impact Towards Global Warming, and further the head of an organization looking to live Carl Sagan’s vision of space craft that are solar powered and can travel the galaxy. The latter couple items I was not aware of. Nye finds today’s society distressing and disturbing as we have become a people of Anti-Science. It is his goal to follow his own father’s creed that “leave the world better than you found it”, and I think if you watch this you will see that he has. Nye is not a professor. He is an engineer by trade. But he is well schooled (went to Cornell University) and he has filled a void in teaching young people. The look on his face as he watches dinosaurs being shown in a display with human beings around is priceless. This isn’t as informative, nor interesting as Mister Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbour, but it is still worth a viewing.

I finished Season 2 of Mind Hunter and enjoyed this second year, and there will be a third. The story mainly focuses on the Atlanta killings between 1979 to 1981. In total there were at least 28 teens and adolescents murdered. There were political tensions at the time as Atlanta was not what it is today, but a city looking to grow and become a centre for business and growth. These killings didn’t help the cause. We follow the two agents and the third female doctor. All reprise their roles and are uniformly excellent. They have the task in better understanding behavioural science and more importantly with respect to serial killers. They interview those in jail who are alive, and try to better understand the mindset. They build profiles and then look to utilize these in solving current killings of the day. In this season, they manage to have a meeting with Charles Manson, who is quite remarkable in his stature and uncanny look of the real Manson. There are legal hurdles and challenges that can frustrate and anger the viewer along with the political aspects addressed earlier. If you think about how these mothers in Atlanta react, you can see how totally frustrated and annoyed that any parent could ever be. In the end, did I like it? Very much. This is very good TV. Did I like the result of the cases themselves? Let’s just say that sometimes the end justifies the means; the murders of young people stopped in Atlanta. Wayne Williams maintains his innocense and clearly understands the legal process, almost as well as Ted Bundy who represented themselves. These cases always seem to push the envelope for what people can bear when it comes to the rights of the accused, and the evidence that ties a person to gruesome acts. In addition we see the human toll on those involved in trying to solve these cases and time and effort required to put together a triable case. Enjoy.

August 19, 2019

This past week, upon request from my daughter, I went out to the theatre to see one of the new Disney remakes or sequels. There are so many these days that I have to make sure I am precise. I decided to see Toy Story 4, rather than The (live/life like) Lion King.

In short, unless you are James Bond, it is difficult to keep the momentum up on a recurring set of characters. They just seem to have lost out on most of the ideas for them. Or it can appear as though the creators are trying to be cute and deliberately find a different tangent that blatantly avoids the previous stories. But for the movie at hand, the basic storyline has the various toys in Bonnie’s room now. She was given the toys by Andy headed off to College. Bonnie is just heading into school age. She has fun playing the the toys, and has decided that Woody (Tom Hanks) isn’t nearly as fun as other toys in her make-believe games. Woody takes it upon himself to strike out and help on Orientation Day at school. Now Woody has always a thing for Bo Peep (Annie Potts) but this has been an infrequent tease every now and then. Bonnie on her first manages with Woody’s help to create a new toy out of a fork, googly eyes, pipe cleaner and broken tongue depresser. The resulting “Forky” becomes a new favourite. Things happen. A search has to take place and Woody and various members of the crew (some new and some older) engage in the quest. Meanwhile Bonnie and adults head off for a few days in an RV for a pre-school weekend trip away. Some toys are brought along.

I have always enjoyed the stories created by Pixar. I especially like their parenting philosophies and how they coincide with my own. I regard Finding Nemo as one of the great animated films, not just because the father is the hero, but because through Dory and others Marlin realizes that his helicopter/smothering ways with Nemo aren’t helping him, but rather hurting him. As Dory would say “funny thing to promise” (that nothing would ever happen to his son Nemo) as “if you never let anything happen to him, then nothing would every happen to him. Not so fun for little Harpo”. Funny, and true. Pixar also gave us slothful adults and younger kids in Wall-E as machines do more and more for the humans. But here, we have two parents stopping everything and searching for the misplaced Forky who has his own ideas as to where he properly belongs. Can you really teach somebody to think differently about their place in the world if they believe something wholeheartedly? Ponder that one. Oh, and they stop their planned departure from the site they drove to in order to find these missing toys. They are encouraging this very behaviour that they shunned in Finding Nemo. You lose a toy, then you learn to live with it. Instead, the entitled child starts realizing she can turn Mom and Dad upside down with just a little toy. Bad Pixar. Very bad.

We also have a sidestory which starts out mirroring the Teddy Ruxpin Lotso character in Toy Story 3. But then it doesn’t but there is a part of me that thinks I have a hard timing swallowing redemption in a character that aims to take by force something that doesn’t belong to them to better themselves, and move ahead with their own dreams. That seems pretty damn selfish, especially when you word it like that. It is. But that addresses the more evil or bad aspect of the storyline. Doesn’t there always have to be a bad character? Maybe not but the making them good (or better later) doesn’t quite work either.

I have to admit that I think that the new character with a base in the former 70s toy by Evel Knievel is brilliant. Not only in the execution but also in the voice. You’ll know it when you hear it, and it is spot on.

So in the end, this story deals with the Woody arc more satisfyingly than others. Characters like Jesse, and Potato Heads and Rex take a back seat. I wasn’t elated in this film. It could have waited for the smaller screen. Pixar, I think, should spend their time working on new innovative projects like Up, or The Incredibles but NOT sequels to them. Original stories that are charming and fun with good animation and a good message for adults and kids alone. So see Toy Story 4 if you need to, or decide to encourage Pixar to strive for better and keep your money in your pocket to reward a more unique experience. Disney may need to learn the Walt Disney lesson that you don’t need to release films every year in animation. Snow White was 1937. Pinocchio 1940. There were 2 years and 4 years between Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty.

On Netflix, I watched the TIFF film from last year Tell It To the Bees. This is a 1950s story in Britain where a smalltown doctor begins a relationship with a mother of one of the boys in town. This is very much similar to the structure and challenges faced in America at the time with Cate Blanchett in Carol. I give nothing away in saying this as the movie poster shows this and more on it. Times were different. Norms were different. An adulterous and abusive husband is seen in the times as preferable for a woman (and child for that matter) than a woman on her own, or one who is attracted to others of the same sex. Anna Paquin stars, as well as Bonnie and Clyde’s (tv version) Holliday Grainger. This was also a PG version of this story. But suffice it to say that I was pleased I didn’t spend $25 a ticket to see this, but rather waited and saw on Nelflix. It was okay. I don’t need to see it again. I think that Carol addressed the issue better. I struggled at times with how badly the writing team wanted to find a way to make the bees the real protagonist of the story, or in any case the Supporting Actor. It didn’t quite work.

On Netflix too there was a documentary on Woodstock out. It was a story not about the music, but on getting the event pulled together. It isn’t all that gripping or interesting. There were some astounding failures to plan very well, but that had more to do with lack of time than anything I suppose. Acts who decided to miss this event, I imagine would grow to regret the decision (like Bob Dylan). Those who returned home early Sunday and missed the sensational guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix would also kick themselves. I cannot recommend this, as the music was not the focal point, and that really was the point of the whole exercise. So spend your time re-engaging with Season 2 Mindhunter rather than this I would suggest.

August 12th, 2019

Last week I was out of contact and unable to post an entry. I won’t apologize as it was a fun week away with youngest son to show him the Canadian Maritimes. Many good times and seeing unique places in this remarkable country of ours. If you haven’t seen the Eastern Provinces I highly recommend it. Places like Hopewell Rocks, and Cabot Trail and Halifax are simply too good to be missed.

First and foremost this week I have to shout out and acknowledge my eldest son’s birthday today! And it was almost right around this time that he was delivered, and later handed to me by a nurse while I was on the phone with my Mom. His eyes staring up at me as he fit easily onto my right forearm bundled in blue blankets. My son. He has been a source of tremendous pride and joy ever since. Here’s to you Buddy on your special day. Your Father is very proud of you.

A week ago I ended up watching Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused. It is similarly structured as another end of high school film, George Lucas’ classic American Graffiti. The principal difference is the setting for Dazed is the 70s whereas Graffiti was the 50s. There are some very young stars like Ben Affleck that you will recognize as well as Matthew McConaughey. The setting as in many Linklater films is rural Texas. And the school year is just ending. The graduating students are thinking about next steps while at the same time preparing to haze the incoming frosh class of Grade 9s. They carry homemade paddles and exact the punishment to varying degrees of severity depending on their temperament (Affleck doesn’t fare very well). Not much of anything occurs but the characters are fun and engaging. They seem very real and you feel like you are watching any rural school at the time. You will recognize (for those of you old enough to remember those days) that the characters are similar to your memories. I liked this film, and would recommend for a little escapism. In high school, a few years means everything, but as you grow older you realize that you all aren’t very different at all. Life was simpler when your worst thought was how severe a spanking you would get, or who might show up at a park keg party.

Now where should I start as I review the 2017 Tom Cruise vehicle The Mummy? This was almost universally panned and it bombed at the box office (not always two things that go together hand in hand). This film also made Universal rethink their plans to re-start the older style Monster films (Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde). I went in with an open mind, or tried my best to do so. Somewhere on an executive’s or writer’s desk is a mapping out of how this series of films was supposed to work together. The voiceover by Russell Crowe tried to help, but it was fuzzy. But how about this movie rather than the series? To start, there is a story about an Egyptian princess who decides to give her own fate a nudge in a Macbethian way (if that is a word). However, before she completes what she thinks is her main aim, she is thwarted and sent to be punished. There isn’t much resemblance of this movie to the 1999 The Mummy with Rachel Weisz, which in many ways is too bad. That was campy fun, and spawned a few sequels that kept Canadian Brendan Fraser busy before he disappeared. Now this. A couple of thieves are looking to find antiquities and sell them on the black market, one of which is Tom Cruise. He has treated poorly, archaeologist Jenny Halsey, who you may recognize from Peaky Blinders, and The Tudors. Several things happen as they come upon a tomb which shouldn’t be where it is. Much of my difficulty with this movie is how many times silly things happen, and why certain characters manage to survive despite everything go on around them. Miss Halsey is one of them. She is a pebble on a flea for The Mummy. Yet The Mummy and her zombie hench-people manage to never finish her off. Much like Lois Lane with General Zod, in Superman, but I digress. And then there is the Russell Crowe character who in an X-Men type of way is trying to create, dare I say it, a League of Monsters. But what?! He also happens to be a monster himself with very little self-control for such a learned man. Surely he would know when to take his medicine and at what intervals. Things like this just pile up to the point that I lose my patience. It’s silly. It makes no sense, and there isn’t the underpinning of why these characters would choose to do this. As you will see, The Mummy herself didn’t in fact choose her fate, so then what about others? The good news is, I don’t care – and I don’t need to find out. There just isn’t enough intrigue nor curiosity in me to delve any further. Cruise too was a curious choice. He rarely plays the rogue. As an aside, Cruise is actually two years older than Crowe, but you would never guess it from the body type (Crowe clearly is enjoying his beers and BBQs Down Under). Cruise continues to make you wonder where the Dorian Grey-like portrait is of him stashed away in a Scientology vault in Florida as he is ripped and enjoying being with more women in their mid 30s. But Cruise is more suited to the smart assed agent than the rogue thief. It didn’t work. Nor did Crowe. The best that can be said is the The Mummy herself. There were decent scenes with her and she manages to muster some sympathy for a character who doesn’t have many redeeming positive qualities. So this movie is a smelly, hot mess and deserves to be the catalyst for some soul searching at Universal. We may be saved from more old school Monster movies and keep the memory of Boris Karloff, Bela Legosi and others safe — for now anyway).

July 29, 2019

I like Emily Blunt. Plain and simple. I think she has grown tremendously as an actor and shows a great deal more range than just the romantic interest. She has shown herself to be multi-talented with acting, then singing in a movie like Into the Woods, and also dancing, where she played a dancer in Adjustment Bureau. Dramatically I think that she took a huge leap forward with Sicario, where she played an FBI agent amongst manly men and held her own. In a world where Disney has taken upon itself to re-invent and re-release their content in endless forms to show that they have no shame, along comes Mary Poppins Returns. I must admit to my predisposition to not wanting to catch this film, but it kept creeping me and daring me to watch. Now it is on Netflix, and I watched it. I think for many viewers one cannot think Mary Poppins without thinking the Julie Andrews Oscar winning performance. However talented I think Emily Blunt is, I still do not put her in the same category as Oscar winner Andrews. Joining Blunt in this cast is Hamilton creator himself Lin-Manuel Miranda as a chimney sweep, Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Meryl Streep. Quite an ensemble and expense for Disney to make. The results are okay. Just okay. Whereas the original had numerous sing along tunes for young and old alike, this one really doesn’t. Perhaps spend some more on musical talent than the acting. None of the songs approaches classics that we all sang to like “A Spoonful of Sugar”, or “Supercalifragalis-expialidocious” or “Chim Chim Cheree”. Poppins 2 comes closest with “The Place Where Lost Things Go”. But the magic isn’t the same. Maybe it’s a product of expectations again, and expecting something remarkable to move you in the theatre but I am not certain. More than one person reached out to me to encourage me to see this movie. They felt Blunt channeled Andrews very well and she mimicked her voice and mannerisms very well. They saw Mary Poppins in front of them. I didn’t feel the same way. And in saying that I will give kudos where they are due with songs performed by Miranda. I think he was excellent and brought his considerable Broadway talents to this project. Is he Dick Van Dyk? Well no, but he stands on his own because he can. He isn’t the Van Dyk character, but someone else, while Blunt had the unfortunate high jump hurdle to overcome. So can I recommend this film? Yes. I find it a little too long, about 25 mins too long with a couple too many songs that didn’t ignite resonate with me. I found the story with the foreclosure aspect a tad overblown and less believable. Convince Londoners that someone who had owned that property in that location for that long, that they would have money troubles and you would be laughed out of the theatre. But take a movie as a piece of entertainment and an escape for a couple of hours and there are worse places that you can spend your time. And maybe still introduce youngsters to the talent of Julie Andrews from 50+ years ago when she was at the height of her super stardom. Andrews was nominated an additional two times for the Oscar. Remarkable. To be asked to fill those shoes and float on that umbrella is an honour, and the job Blunt does here deserves some praise.

I cannot think an another US Supreme Court Justice who has had a major motion pics about her released, along with a full biography of her life as Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Maybe it is because she is a left-leaning, liberal judge who CNN and others want to trumpet against the Trump Republicans who seemingly want to turn the clock back to 1955, and treat women (and others) as second class citizens. In her 80s now, and still sitting on the bench, even after two cancer scares, she is a formidable woman. She knows her place in history, as well as in the present. The movie starred Felicity Jones in On The Basis of Sex (previously reviewed here). The documentary was from CNN and is on Crave. Both are worth checking out. I enjoyed them equally. It’s funny watching Justice Ginsberg watch herself be played on SNL. She gets a good laugh out of it.

In the end, without delving too deeply into the politics, this is a documentary which informs and explains the stepping stones in the changes in laws (and in reflecting our changed morals) to the world around us in the Western Hemisphere. However much we feel that this is the “right way” to think about the world and how it should be, note that many other countries and leaders don’t share in these views. RBG has been a champion for the woman’s rights movement ever since becoming a lawyer in the 50s. Her personal story reflects the world as it was at the time, by not being able to secure a job out of Harvard and Yale law, despite being on the Law Review and being recommended by some of the most astute legal minds. She endured, and flourished and moved forward with cases that mattered. If nothing else, her tenacity and impact can hopefully encourage more people to turn out and vote at the next US Presidential election. Maybe more people that she has fought for, like women, minorities, LGBT community etc will step forward and rally to find a leader who will carry on her crusade. Check this out if you can. See what a difference one person can make.

I finished watching Stranger Things 3, and can report that I enjoyed this season better than Season 2. I like the additions of the new characters, notably Ethan Hawk’s daughter Maya as Robin, and Priah Ferguson as Lucas Sinclair’s little ice cream eating sister. They add some welcome new spice and energy into the cast who is separated for most of this series heading down and sorting through different storylines recounting the same ultimate conclusion. Russians are involved, and a new method of utilizing people as an army. In the end the kids and adults need to work together to identify, triage and solve the problem in their small town. It is more emotional than Season 2 was. I found it much more engaging, even though there are times where the level of disbelief gets dangerously high. I still prefer the original overall, but this was a worthy sequel. I am not sure I will hear need to hear the theme song from The Neverending Story ever again, but that is a sideline. Millie Bobby Brown I think keeps growing as an actor and makes this more watchable. The other kids each have their own gifts and it’s a good ensemble cast that works well. Do I need to see a Season 4, not really. I certainly don’t need to see more of Winona Ryder. I also felt as though one of the surprise moments leaned a little too far out towards 2019 rather than 1983. You’ll likely spot what I mean, and if you don’t, then don’t worry about it too much. Maybe it’s just me…..

I re-watched First Man on Crave the other night. As we approached and passed the 50th anniversary of the moon landing by Neil Armstrong, and the crew of Apollo 11, it is a good reminder to remember those who worked (and some died) to bring this effort to pass. From JFK laying down the commitment to reach the moon in a fixed time frame (“end of the decade”) to the remarkable engineers, companies, pilots, wives and families who contributed. Here’s a simple Thanks, and acknowledging your commitment, your cooperation and sacrifice to do what no human has ever done before. Maybe the flames of passion for this can be re-ignited to take on Mars. Maybe not. Maybe the symbol of world superiority will be taken over by another power as we look to the stars. Maybe. Neil Armstrong was a remarkable man. I hope that he actually did what was suggested at the end of this movie. I really do, because it would reveal a humanity in him, and be a symbol for all those who have to put a brave face on before very dangerous undertakings. I am saddened that this didn’t get as much Oscar buzz, but it doesn’t mean I enjoy it any less.

I finished Season 2 of Handmaid’s Tale. Damn this is depressing. So many tears, so much crying. Women who could have benefited from the wisdom and efforts of RBG reside in an unholy land, however much they like to trumpet their faith. It is filmed in and around Toronto and Cambridge. Plenty of Canadian references. Still it isn’t an enjoyable place to visit. I will leave it at that.

July 22, 2019

This past week I managed to actually get out to the theatre to catch a flick. And the bonus was I got to attend with Alison, which we haven’t seen a movie together since probably Interstellar at the Cinesphere with Christopher Nolan in attendance. So after we had both seen positive reports, it was decided to go see the new film from the director of Hereditary (Ari Aster). To say that Mr Aster prefers unconventional stories would be an understatement. He wrote this as well as directing. Both Alison and I enjoyed Heriditary and ventured out to see Midsommar (spelling as per the film). I had read it was a “relationship film” and more “psychological thriller” than a “horror” movie. Nowhere had I read anything about it having comedic elements, but more on that later.

The premise is that of a young American couple in their mid 20s, I would guess, where the relationship has had some challenges. He and his three buddies decide to join another friend and head to a “retreat” in Sweden. The Swedish friend encourages the friends to all come, and eventually the somewhat outcast girlfriend (played ably by Florence Pugh) in the couple comes along with the boys. The boyfriend is named Christian and played by Jack Reynor. One of the buddies in the film, is the young red-haired guy from Meet the Millers (Wil Poulter) who had an unfortunate accident with a tarantula. He is a source of amusement, time and again. The group flies out to Sweden and then to a remote area with plenty of people milling about in white cotton outfits. The natives move about doing chores and other activities that you would see, or expect to see, in Amish communities. It is at this stage that me, as a person, and entering this commune I would have red flags waving before my eyes and bells ringing in my head. It’s is just “off”. The commune is segregated out by age, according to stages of life, as it is explained. Elders, children and middle age people all eat together, perform traditional tasks and keep busy. The middle age inhabitants all live together in a large barn with unusual and strange paintings on the walls and ceilings. If you study the pictures at all, more bells and whistles would be going off.

Then a ceremony happens on Day 2. Things transpire that I won’t detail where had there not been an uneasiness for a visitor on Day 1, then you would expect to be some after this day. Some of this is reminiscent of Get Out, and other films like The Village or even Rosemary’s Baby. A group of outsiders with a unique and different perspective on life, has their habits and ceremonies and ways-of-life seen by outsiders. They are forthright, in a way, about their traditions when asked directly, but they kind of shrug them off and smile making it seem like quite an everyday attitude, shared by all these people in white. There are some material omissions.

I will say that there are various moments throughout where the full-theatre audience I sat among laughed when I don’t think that it was planned or intended. I myself turned to Alison a few times and we laughed. There is a scene near the end when much of the crowd was laughing at what was being shown, and from a North American mentality I can see why. It was just so outside our norms that we were put in the middle of a strange and bizarre ceremony. Traditions, symbols, customs and social norms are very time sensitive and location-centric. Perhaps this is one of many messages.

In the end, this isn’t a film that I can recommend despite the 4 star review on Roger Ebert’s website. I liken this more to an Under the Skin or The Lobster where the viewer has to push aside the real as we perceive it, and take in the symbolism or foreign ideologies that to these people are accepted and very natural. We don’t see eye to eye, but it doesn’t make them any less valid or held with less conviction. Clearly this group is very dedicated to traditions and doesn’t put a North American filter on what they are doing. I also cannot recommend this as an option for possible endings to a relationship should they occur. ‘Nuf said….

I had asked Alison to send along her thoughts and I will post them when I get them.

July 15th, 2019

There are times when making the mental commitment to myself to write a review each and every week can be more challenging than other times. This week was such a time. First it has been glorious out, and I feel as though I should soak up every bit of the sun and warmth while it lasts. Also, there has been so very little to watch or even to be excited about. So it has been Netflix and Crave watching instead of going to the theatre. For all the price increases with Netflix lately, one can lament that having paid just $9.99 not that long ago, and now $13.99 it seems like a cash grab. Yet it’s still cheaper than the price of a full-priced ticket at the theatre, especially if you partake in 3D or other add-ons! But having said that there is some reviews to pass along.

This weekend I saw The Happytime Murders with Melissa McCarthy. Maya Rudolph also stars (a common co-star for McCarthy) along with Elizabeth Banks. This is a police caper with McCarthy playing a human cop, and her former puppet partner (voiced by Bill Baretta). There is a back story there. This is an adult caper in a similar vein as Team America, although not quite as cutting (nor profane) as Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s work. There are some funny moments, I did laugh out loud in a couple of places. There are some good quips and one liners. McCarthy has very good comedic timing. She also delivers an insult as well as anyone. The scene in question that had my attention takes place in the office where Rudolph (as Bubbles) fends off some inspectors. You’ll know the scene when you see it. But beyond that and a couple other laughs it is pretty standard fare. Yes, the graphic scenes of puppets having their stuffed heads blown away are funny to start but then there is more and more. It isn’t John Wick, but there is enough cotton carnage to go around. In the end this was able to fill some time, and provided a few laughs on a warm, comfortable cottage evening. By the way, McCarthy has shown a great deal of range in the last few pictures I have seen in, like Can You Ever Forgive Me? This strikes more of a mailed in performance for the pay cheque or a film commitment to a studio.

While Happytime trying hard to make us laugh and smile, the Margret Attwood tale The Handmaid’s Tale that I spoke about earlier continues into Season 2 as I watch to be filled with tears and dreariness. It is damn depressing. That is the point of course. A dystopian society as a subset of the United States, where women have no rights and are kept (or those who are fertile) as human incubators with the affluent and powerful men deciding their fates and taking their babies to give to their barren wives. There are some episodes that are decidedly slow moving, the the episode where Elizabeth Moss is looking to escape. That plane epsiode could have been done in 15 mins and not a whole hour. Mid-way through the Second season a couple things happen that are more interesting and show some elements of change are brewing but it is still plodding along. It’s okay. It still does not approach the best of the series TV that has been on lately. Not sure where the accolades and awards come from but maybe there is something I am missing. Likely.

So another week goes by and I am hopeful at some point to see something worth writing about. Enjoy the sun!!

July 9th, 2019 – Alison input

Here is a bonus posting this week from Alison. I will add that I have liked and respected Matthias Schoenarts work in films like Kursk, The Danish Girl, Disorder and others (high praise here from Alison to compare with Daniel Day-Lewis (DDL)) :

Tis the season of nary a good movie to watch while we eagerly await festival season and the Oscar bevy of films. Some one asked me recently what the last good film I saw was and I was stumped. Sometimes I wake up the next morning and I can’t remember the movie I watched the previous night. Maybe its…what do they call that thing again when you start forgetting?? Ya that. Or maybe it’s because most have been forgettable.

This weekend I watched The Mustang with Matthias Schoenaerts. The story takes place in a prison and features an inmate that is completely shut down but through his enrolment in taking care of and breaking wild mustangs, finds his redemption. Not a new story but this time an engaging adaption of it. The parallels between the lead character and the horse that chooses him are blatantly obvious and formulaic but still it works because of Schoenaerts performance. He does the silent / brooding bloke so well along with his strong screen presence. I am starting to see the makings of an heir apparent to DDL in this guy.

The horse gets a nomination for best animal in a movie. Kudos also to Bruce Dern for his crusty cowboy character which is sure to be one of his few remaining performances. Worth checking out.

The other movie I’ll mention is Photograph. Much like the Lunchbox, this is an Indian film that is based on the premise of a magical connection between people. The male lead is of a lower class and dark cast and makes his living taking pictures of passers by in front of the Taj Mahal. One day he convinces a young middle class lighter cast woman to allow him to take her picture. As circumstance would have it, she bolts without paying and thus her imprint is left on him. Grandma has been on his case to marry so he decides to send her the woman’s picture claiming her to be his betrothed. Of course grandma hops the next train and as fate would have it he and the girl commence their ruse (she’s always wanted to be an actor). It’s predictable enough for you to figure how this goes but the movie is not conventional in that regard. This is one of those movies that is engaging and nearly flawless in its execution; nearly. Some would say the movie’s ending was perfect and some, like me, kinda felt like I was walked down the garden path and then left there. Either way, the Photograph is captivating.

July 8th, 2019

This past week I watched a few things streaming (either Crave or Netflix). First up was watching Fifty Shades Darker and then Fifty Shades Freed. These are the sequels to Fifty Shades of Grey which I saw years ago, and just as quickly forgot. This was the book sensation and there was a funny lampoon of it on Saturday Night Live.

But never mind. The movies were critically panned and I won’t spend too much time piling on as it were. I saw Jamie Dornan, the Irish actor, in The Fall with Gillian Anderson, and I thought he, and the show were both quite good. In this instance, it’s he material to work with that is so bad. The lines to be delivered, and the plot that keeps it moving ahead, one tortuous step after another. How so much can be written about so little is an ongoing question. I had plenty of questions about the book, like why does he have to have all this bling-bling? Why the glider, and yacht, the houses, and this completely strange affinity for Audi products – while she was almost never described in the stories. But anyway, the sex scenes and BDSM is mild by any standard and but for Dakota Johnson’s willingness to go topless would be pretty much PG fare. No need to watch. If you read all the books I will recommend you find other ways to spend your time.

The Wizard of Lies is a 2017 movie about Bernie Madoff and his fraudulent Ponzi scheme, the largest in history perpetrated over 20 years. Madoff is portrayed by Robert DeNiro, and his Wife played by Michelle Pfieffer. It is directed by Barry Levinson, he of Rain Man, Diner, Good Morning Vietnam, The Natural fame. He can be good. Madoff was arrested in December 2008 after he confessed to his two sons, who worked at his firm in Manhattan (although in a different unrelated business) that he was in charge of an illegal investment scheme. The two sons called the authorities. He turned himself in the next day. The movie tries to show the life that was being led, and how Madoff kept his business to himself. The two adult boys were kept to the side, as was his wife of 50+ years. Others refuse to believe that they didn’t and couldn’t know, especially sons with extensive trading experience. It is an interesting story and stays with me. He is a man who preyed on others and seemingly didn’t have a problem with it. The victims were many, like corporations and charities but also individuals. Mostly Jewish within his own community but many as his notoriety grew from all over. He was the man who guaranteed results, in an ever shifting economy with unpredictable shifts. He looked upon as not stealing from orphans and single Moms, but rather wealthy people trying to get wealthier. What’s the harm in that? There are other things at work too, with the SEC playing a rather prominent role in their inactivity and even when told of the fraud years before how it was ignored. Can their be self-regulation on Wall Street? But when you see how his family is directly torn apart by his actions it really makes you wonder if there is a beating heart in that chest. I won’t give away much more. If you follow the news you know more about the history than I did when I watched. I will leave you to find out some more of the facts as they reveal themselves. Worth a watch if you can find it.

Mary Shelley was the author of one of the best monster stories ever told. It has been retold countless times from early film with Boris Karloff playing the beast to more recently when a younger Robert DeNiro played him. Mary, the author, had an interesting tale in her own right. She a female writer in an age when women weren’t allowed nor thought to be capable of being or thinking independently. Born in 1797, she wrote the story when she was a teenager. It took a Preface by her male lover to get it published. She was born Mary Godwin. The man was Percy Shelley. The movie stars Elle Fanning in the primary role. Those with Game of Thrones backgrounds will recognize many players in the cast including Arya Stark (Maissie Williams) and Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane). However much she led a tragic life, and an interesting one I just couldn’t gain any momentum in the telling of it. I didn’t find the chemistry with Percy was all that palpable, and would have liked to have thought that her treatment by her father would have been better. Maybe that is looking upon early 1800s actions with the eyes of someone in 2019? Unsure. Family reputation would mean much, and having a scandal with a child with a married man isn’t what would have helped anyone’s business nor reputation. In the end, it was gloomy and not overly positive which is kind of the point. Frankenstein was a lonely being looking for love and acceptance. Maybe Elle Fanning has a great role in her somewhere rather than pretty young women who are the princesses to be saved. But this was not a great role. She seemingly continues to get work so we will see more of her. I cannot recommend this one.