September 6, 2021, Labour Day

The Green Knight: I have to admit that I am a fan of all things King Arthur, and Excalibur, the Holy Grail etc. For me, the start was likely Monty Python, but in truth and more particularly John Boorman’s 1981 Excalibur. That film I have watched time after time. Knowing the story well makes Monty Python that much funnier too. So when I had heard about a new film coming out that was an Arthur spin off story, The Green Knight, I was intrigued. The story has its inspiration from the book Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with an unknown author. Dev Patel stars in as Sir Gawain, and I have liked many of his films to date. So when I had a chance to see this, I was ready for some swords, chainmail and swashbuckling. What I got instead, was a disjointed, confusing mess with an equally confusing ending. One that leaves the audience hanging. An aging King Arthur is on the throne with his Queen (already a departure from Excalibur) where he would like to get to know his nephew better. The King is played by the same high pitched, soft spoken actor, Sean Harris from the later Mission Impossible movies. At a gala event, a stranger who looks remarkably like a tree monster, arrives on horseback and challenges any one attending at the round table to fight him and strike a blow, and then after a year return back to him at his castle to have that strike returned. Sir Gawain in attendance immediately volunteers. He is successful (more easily than expected actually) and then is tasked with waiting for the return trip in a year. After a year his begins his journey. Things happen. Some surprises, and then ultimately there is an abrupt ending. I won’t delve to deeply into the story for fear of disclosing too much. Suffice it to say that it is more complex and fuzzy than it is worth. The ending is just a dead stop where you wonder “is that it?” As far as production value, there is a lot of smoke. The armour, horses and sets are believable. Harris is not my King Arthur, nor is there really any visibility for Merlin. Much of the Arthur lore is put to the side. Had the King be called anyone else, then the story falls on it own. Perhaps the Arthur tease raises the bar for the story to heights that it just can’t reach. The book is unknown to me, but having seen this I don’t really have a great deal of motivation to seek it out. I cannot recommend this. I really wish that I could, because I did look forward to it. There must be other stories out there that are worthy of King Arthur and that time (however much I am aware this the main story was all fable to begin with).

Worth: Remarkably and incredibly to me, next Saturday is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Just wow! I remember in detail where I was (the tallest office building in Canada – downtown Toronto’s First Canadian Place) working for a big bank. I was on the 17th floor, and I heard about a plane hitting the WTC. CNN incidentally last night ran again the excellent Fire Fighter documentary that became the 9/11 documentary with a first hand account of the first fire department to be arriving on scene in Tower 1. They have an incredible on the ground shot on the first airliner hitting the Tower. That is backstory. Netflix is now streaming a new film with Michael Keaton playing a legal professor from Georgetown law, who volunteers with the unenviable job (and accepts no compensation for it) of computing compensation claims to the various victims in the tragedy. I have to admit that I am not clear on the justification for this. Shortly after the attack, Congress enacted the Victim Compensation Fund. The idea was to have victims compensated by funds and release their right to litigate against the airlines. It was felt that the airlines could not survive the litigation and that as a result the entire economy could fall. I am skeptical. Only two airlines were directly involved, United and American. Each had two planes involved. From a legal standpoint, I think that perhaps the airline passengers may have a claim against the airline for not acting reasonably to keep them safe. However, all those other victims (those on the ground, in the buildings, first responders etc) have a more difficult challenge. The chain of causation breaks when a terrorist group for the first time hijacks the four planes and attacks the buildings in New York (and elsewhere). But I digress. Keaton is taking a logical, legal approach to compensation based upon past statistics and cases precedent. He believes that he can come up with a formula which could be applied for each victim. Things like salary, marital status, number of offspring etc would be part of the formula. His stated goal is to have 80% of potential victims agree (it ends up being 5500) and take the deal with the government within two years (Dec 2003). Stanley Tucci plays a man who lost his wife in the attacks. He sees the formula approach as flawed. He sets up a website and garners support for his belief that the Keaton team isn’t dealing with people justly. Keaton in the early days makes an initial presentation to victims, and it doesn’t go well. He may have the law, and numbers on his side, but the victims have raw emotion and passionate stories. Keaton has a team that takes the interviews with each of the victims. Keaton’s team struggles with the power of the stories. Time goes by and he isn’t very successful. What you see are stories from the victims which are of course heart wrenching. What they don’t tell you, until the end was the amount of money that was in play. Nor do they tell you about the source of the funds, which presumably is the American public, as opposed to the airlines who really should be footing most of the bill. There are heroes and villains. There are money-grubbing lawyers playing angles, as well as poor people thankful for anything that they can get. Is this a compelling story? Well, it is interesting. It surprises me to hear the amount involved. I wonder whether the US government would then seek damages from another government (like Pakistan) for what they paid out. It also makes one wonder what the pay out would be for Covid-19 by the Chinese government for the people of Wuhan? Or what the Russian government would pay for those in Chernobyl? We partially know the Chinese answer from that latest documentary Last Breath where $100 extra was paid to the father whose son died. Incidentally this lawyer and his firm have been involved with many other such funds for other tragedies. If the subject matter is interesting to you, then this would be worth seeing.

August 30th, 2021

Stillwater: This 2021 film release stars Matt Damon, playing an Oklahome, blue collar labourer, who we find out makes trips periodically to France to visit his daughter who is in prison there, for a murder that she claims that she didn’t commit. In many ways, there are parallels with the Amanda Knox real life case that was set in Italy. A roommate is killed with a highly publicized trial with an American at the centre of it. Abigail Breslan (from way back when in 2006 in Little Miss Sunshine). She is all grown up now. She and her Dad have a strained relationship. Dad has a strained relationship with virtually everyone in his life. His wife and mother of the daughter took her own life in a timeline that isn’t exactly clear. Dad acts impulsively and not thinking of the potential consequences of his actions. He has a history with alcohol and other substances. He loves and supports his daughter and believes in her innocence. On a visit, he hears some new evidence and is told that the case would not be re-opened. Without speaking French, and having no allies he seeks to investigate further himself. He runs into, by chance, a woman and her daughter who just happen to stay temporarily at his rented room in the town. They help one another. This movie started out on a trajectory which would suggest that the Damon character in full Liam Neeson mode (a la Taken) would storm in, crack some skulls and dig up new information that would set his daughter free. The bad people would all suffer greatly from ever coming between a Daddy and his little girl. I had expected this, as the story started off slowly and seemed to be heading in this direction, and then it takes a turn for the better. It wasn’t quite so formulaic. We see how a seeming predilection towards acting impulsively, which we can fully understand, results in some serious consequences. The words of the Dad to those around him don’t always match the actions that he takes. However much we feel as though we understand his acts, we also see the other side. I enjoyed this more than I thought that I would. It isn’t shoot ’em up and car chases. But rather dealing with circumstances that are put before you. This is worth checking out.

Hacks: This is a series on HBO/Crave. It stars 70yo Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. Smart you will know, and she has done some quality work lately with this series, as well as playing the Mom of Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown, where she had some of the best lines. She is mostly known for TV but has done some movies. She plays Deborah Vance, a Vegas headliner comedienne who has her star shining a little less brightly, and her material is a little dated. Think Joan Rivers, with a hard outer shell which her line of work (and her longevity in that line of work) would make necessary. She appears outwardly all together, but there is a vulnerability in the performance. She has an ongoing battle with the man who hires the talent for her hotel, the Palazzo. Along comes a young female writer who was released from her previous job in Los Angeles, and her agent suggests that she go work with Miss Vance. They both have complicated relationships surrounding them. They don’t get along very well in the beginning. Vance is sharper and more shrewd than she may first seem. She is wealthy, from the Vegas shows as well as a previously successful TV show with her Ex-husband, who has since died. The 10 episode season, each 30 mins, starts out pretty slowly, but then it builds. Things happen, and the characters do things that can make you laugh and also surprise you. Supporting characters like Vance’s daughter play a role, as well as her CAO of her company who has been with her during this lengthy time in Vegas. As an aside, Smart’s real life husband passed away during the filming of the show, and Smart decided to finish the shoot. The last episode is dedicated to him. Like Vance, Smart is the consummate professional. I liked this. I would suggest staying with it, because I found the early episodes dragged a little. The relationship between the two women has to grow. As with the Dad in Stillwater one can see the results of acting impulsively, and how the clean up can be much more involved than the initial volley.

She’s Out of My League: this 2010 film is a fun romantic comedy where an average nice guy Joe, played by Canadian Jay Baruchel meets up with an starts a relationship with a stunning beauty. The beauty, Molly, is played by Alice Eve, who other than Star Trek Into Darkness I don’t recall her in other things of note. Baruchel plays Kirk, and he works for TSA at the Pittsburgh Airport. He has his buddies, notably TJ Miller as the wise cracking know-it-all buddy Stainer. Kirk meets Molly at the security check, as she is turning heads to virtually all the men at the airport. Kirk just is the nice, polite guy that he is to everyone in his life. He listens to Stainer about his place, and believes that a girl like Molly would never possibly be interested in a guy like him. There is a priceless exchange about human rankings, and how the numbers have to work:

It is all in good fun, with some good laughs. We cheer on Kirk and Molly. We hope that they can find their way clear to be together, even though all the odds seem against them. Kirk’s family is hilariously dysfunctional, especially his overly competitive brother. This was on Netlflix and even my 16yo son enjoyed it. For a lighter evening, it is fun, and surprising in a way that these stars have not been in more films.

August 23, 2021

Plenty of movies and series to discuss this week, both new and older alike.

In the Same Breath: HBO has released what I think will be the beginning of a number of documentaries related to COVID-19 pandemic. Last night was the beginning with this documentary by a female director of Chinese ancestry, who is married to an American. The story begins chronologically with a trip by the director and her husband and 3 year old child to visit family in Wuhan China for the Chinese New Year back in early 2020. There was some radio discussion about eight workers at a plant who were inprisoned for “spreading rumours about a flu”. Shortly thereafter there was talk about everything “being under control” and then lockdown. Wuhan is a city of 11 million people. I remember a year ago when Covid numbers were put out that the Chinese numbers were extremely low. In Wuhan they showed the official count of deaths at 3,300 roughly. The difference between there and here of course is the central Communist government. The government controls not only the media and the message, they also control the hospitals and the morgues. There is fear on the faces of health care workers that they try to interview about Covid or about people and their loved ones. Later in the program they show the line up of people trying to obtain ashes for their deceased relatives, and the clear indication is that the real numbers of infections and deaths in China are dramatically higher. Confirmation of the worst kept secret. The documentary then shifts to the US, and the actions taken in NYC, which becomes the epicentre of the pandemic in the US. Incidentally there is another documentary by Spike Lee which talks about NYC as the Epicentre from 9/11 to 2021 1/2. It speaks about the City’s handling of the pandemic as well. In this documentary, we are replayed the initial assessment that “this is a flu” and “not to worry” and “it will be gone by April the weather turns nice”. The whole Trump dismissal of it, including those statements made by Dr Fauci who speaks of no need for masks etc. It is damning. Health care workers are interviewed and their stories are heartbreaking. Freezer trucks that are forced to make temporary shelving inside the trucks to accommodate more bodies. People not seeing loved ones. Healthcare worker burn out and stress. Then of course there are the protests and those who believed that it was a hoax. The Chinese government who claims that this failure of democracy shows that they have a superior system. I am left feeling vindicated in my thoughts about China and the pandemic. I am also frustrated how a health issue became a political issue. Thanks Donald Trump and those who turned their back on science. But thanks too for the scientists and doctors who took their marching orders from Trump and his Administration. Because of them, the public were deceived, in both China and the US. No one has clean hands. All suffer the consequences. This pandemic was and continues to be much worse on a global scale because of political pride in systems (democratic or communist) on both sides of the world. Had their been more open and honest communication, perhaps things may have been better. Perhaps. All the while, this shines some light on the issues, what went wrong, failures from all involved and the raw impact on families and people collectively. Well worth watching.

100 Foot Wave: This HBO docuseries ended last night, and I have spoken about it before. For me it was thrilling to watch these athletes surf these massive waves. Garrett is the focal point as the person who initially surfed the highest of these waves and he was supported by the Portugal Tourism Department to bring in the people to Portugal. He was very successful. This episode shows the 2020 Tow Surfing Event where the best of the best big wave surfers and their fans descended onto Nazarre. I admit that I felt it was a bit anti-climactic. From a series of shows that built up to this competition, we see that a dramatic and terrifying accident during the competition meant that one of the early focal points of the series “Cotty” had a huge wave that all the cameras missed. He was deeply disappointed. We also see Garrett as a guy who just can’t stop himself from seeking the waves, and putting himself in harm’s way. Despite the family, despite his age and his injuries, it is just who he is.

Mama: is a 2013 fantasy thriller that stars Jessica Chastain, as well as Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) which I did not know much about until I saw listed on Crave. Initially I saw the name Guillermo del Toro associated with the film I was excited, but he was not directed, and instead Executive Producer. There are elements in the creature that reminds me of his style. For Chastain, she has shorter jet black hair and just doesn’t look herself without her red locks. She plays a woman in a rock band who is dating the brother of a guy who one day has a breakdown and slays his wife, and takes his two young female children into a remote cabin. He while in the cabin meets with an accident. The little girls aren’t found for five years. Bring in Jessica and boyfriend to act as foster parents. The girls are both very wild, having been raised in the woods with little recollection of their time in civilized society. Things happen around them, as there is a presence, an entity, that follows the girls. The girls call her Mama. She is the fantasy part of this and has a backstory that is explained. Much of the rest addresses how the situation can be resolved. The fantasy is the backstory and how Mama is able to move from the cabin to the new home that girls live in. Chastain ends up as the primary caregiver, and you see her building a relationship with the girls. There were typical efforts to illicit screams and jumps. Some were more effective than others. I wasn’t scared, and the arc felt quite familiar. I wasn’t really convinced about Chastain as a rocker, I have to say. Not a movie that you need to seek out.

The Fly: Back in 1986 Canadian David Cronenberg brought this movie forth, which was refreshingly set in Toronto. Jeff Goldblum plays a brilliant physicist who is looking to development teleportation. Geena Davis is a reporter that he takes a liking to, and brags about what he is doing. He sees this as revolutionary, but he is struggling with teleporting living objects. His computer doesn’t seem to know how to deal with the flesh. He works on improving the programming. Meanwhile Davis begins to reciprocate the feelings for Seth, and they begin a relationship. On a night where he was alone, Seth drinks too much and decides that his updated technology is ready for a human experiment and he goes through. He had previously used a baboon with mixed success. An unexpected thing happens and then Seth begins to change. Cronenberg and his production team did an excellent job at the time of the make up and other effects. It still holds up to this day. The Davis and Goldblum relationship seems real because it became real off screen. They ended up being married to one another. It all comes together well with some cool effects, some believable gross aspects and a story that is compelling. I enjoyed it back in the day and feel that it remains good today. Today it likely would have had a lot more computer graphics, but I not sure that it would have made it better. Worth checking out if you come upon it.

Underwater: this 2020 movie stars Kristen Stewart who I had no seen in a film in quite some time. She of course burst onto the scene with the Twilight films and her co-star and love interest in real life Robert Pattinson. She will be playing the role of Princess Diana in the film Spencer to debut at TIFF next month. This movie is a thriller set at the bottom of the ocean. There are mining operations that have been set up there and some strange things are happening. Very early on we see Stewart and an emergency takes place which needs to be addressed. This movie borrowed heavily from other better movies like The Abyss and Alien series. The themes are all there and even Stewart looks a great deal with Ripley in Alien III with the short hair. I won’t go through the plot points because the two film references alone should give some sense as to where this goes. I cannot recommend it, as I just kept seeing the other films as being better. It is quite remarkable to think about being in that hostile environment (which might as well be space) and water that must be strikingly cold, not to mention the pressure! Query whether one would think that any creatures who were living in that environment would need eyes of any kind. There is no light down there. No need to seek this one out either.

August 16th, 2021

Settlers: This recently released movie was one that Alison had made available. I had never heard of it. The only even somewhat known actor was Sofia Boutella, the Algerian actress who was best known to me for her role in Atomic Blonde as well as The Mummy. The story is a pretty simple one, focusing on a young family who is, without any real explanation, on a new planet in the middle of nowhere. We can somewhat assume that it is Mars, but truly it could be any number of places. The young couple have a daughter. They inexplicably walk around without masks or space suits of any kind. If you are a fan of The Martian all of this will be a surprise. The story is slow. The family seems to have human invaders among them that are a threat. The Dad is looking to protect his humble abode. The story continues. Time passes and things happen that impact the young girl most profoundly. The mystery of the lack of masks and suits is revealed. The reason why people shipped across the universe to inhabit another planet are given guns and weapons is a true mystery. Why the few people on a new planet would choose to engage with one another rather than cooperate and work together I cannot comprehend. The production design does not come near to The Martian where Ridley Scott excels with providing the look and feel of a different planet. This seems like it’s more like a back lot somewhere or in Arizona. But anyway, the story moves along slowly and the years pass. The young girl grows and she interacts with her primary roommate. There is somewhat of a resolution, but it isn’t very satisfying. Quite the opposite actually so I cannot recommend this. While it may not have sucked, it wasn’t compelling either. A large humanity event, not explained, is encapsulated in three people and their relationships. I wish that there was more.

Slap Shot: this 1977 cult classic starring Paul Newman is one of the more memorable sports film, and likely the best hockey film of all time. Sadly that doesn’t say much for the hockey genre, as opposed to the baseball genre for example. This past week we have the Field of Dreams MLB baseball game at the corn fields in Iowa where the Kevin Costner film was made. Hockey doesn’t have anything comparable. But this movie has some classic scenes, and if you have ever played hockey at any level, you will remember them. From the Hanson brothers, to the opening scene with the French Canadian goalie, Denis Lemieux, with a local reporter. Basically Newman is the playing coach for a hockey team in the minor leagues, in a minor league town called Charlestown. The Chiefs are not very good, and they are struggling with fans in a mining town that is about to have their mill close. The GM is looking for another job. No one seems to know who the owner of the team is. Newman wants to impress his ex-wife, but also keep working in hockey. The team in the late 70s channels the Stanley Cup winning Philadelphia Flyers from the time who played an intimidating brand of physical hockey. The Chiefs have success in doing exactly that. They go from losing sad sack, to a team on a winning streak. Their most skilled player, a College graduate, refuses to play the goon style game. He is played by Michael Ontkean, and he and his wife are not seeing eye to eye about playing hockey for a living. There are philosophies about violence in sport as opposed to playing it “clean”, as well as corporate ownership in sports and whether owners should look upon the players and the town as more than assets on a balance sheet. There is also the matter of players in a sport and their wives who don’t have a choice in many cases about their lot in life. This isn’t Bull Durham, again to borrow a comparable baseball film, but it is memorable and some fun lore. There are a few laugh out moments for me, even when I know that they are coming. Of course hockey is near and dear to my heart – but it makes me smile. If you have never seen it, it is on Netflix now.

Battleship: Has there ever been a good movie based upon a board game, or perhaps the better question is whether ANY movie should ever be made about a board game. In this instance, the answer is a resounding “No”. Even Liam Neeson himself, who I expect took this role as a US Admiral (being the good Irishman that he is) was for the pay cheque, couldn’t save this Rah Rah America CGI extravaganza. The second hint would be the addition of Rhianna (the singer) to the cast for no apparent reason. The story, based on the Hasbro board game, is aliens come down to the world, and pick a fight with the Navy. They are technologically and militarily superior. Think of this as another Independence Day reboot. Same basic story. Same small band of US military people making an impact to defeat the bad aliens. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense. There is a the use of an older retired US battleship, as well as various other ships. No explanation was given about why submarines were not helpful in this battle. The aliens are trying to call for back up using the existing satellites and dishes on the mountain tops. People are trying to ensure that this doesn’t happen. There is some tangential drama surrounding the admiral’s daughter and the rogue, upstart Lt Commander but it really doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of saving the world from annihilation. Not worth while, or worth your time.

August 9, 2021

Let Him Go: Way back in 1990, Kevin Costner was in a film called Revenge. It was with Madeleine Stowe, and she was married to much older Anthony Quinn. Stowe had relations with Costner and he had to later find a way to exact some revenge on this man who did nasty things to spite his Wife’s indiscretion. Now 31 years later, he and Diane Lane (yes, Clark Kent’s parents) are looking to deal with some North Dakota rednecks that have (in their mind anyway) held the couple’s grandson against his will. The longer story is that the Kent’s son had a wife and a son and he died in an accident on their family farm. The year is 1961 and a couple years later the widow gets re-married. Without any warning the newly wed couple leaves town. Costner is a retired cop. His wife wants to get her grandson back. Then the fun begins as they travel to deal with the redneck family. Much of this makes little sense. Certainly the efforts made by Costner’s George reflect his resolve and understanding of his Wife. There is an attempt to tie the pieces together to an earlier time but honestly I was not seeing it. There is parts where the lawyer in me thinks that there is due process which could have looked to resolved the situation more peacefully and one wonders whether more of a mess is created than was initially created. Questions like “doesn’t the young mother take any responsibility for the choices that she makes?” “Do grandparents need to really shoulder all the responsibility?” George tries to impart some sense and wisdom as things progress. One can find out whether he was able to prevail. This is new on Crave. I am pleased that I didn’t pay for this at a theatre. I like Lane. I like Costner too and then together. I just didn’t like where the story goes. The scenery in Montana and North Dakota is beautiful. I wonder why it had to be set in the early 60s. I somehow doubt that I will think longer on this movie than after posting this.

The latest episode of 100 Foot Wave shows that any elite athlete, especially those getting older have to deal with injury and decisions about whether what they are doing is really worth it. Garrett suffers a bad accident and shoulder surgery and then later another head and foot injury. The rehab is brutal and real. The struggles are real and one wonders at what cost does he (and his team of surfers) seek out the fame. Certainly you also see that sponsors demand news and results. If not, you are dropped. And all of this to seek out the rush of fleeting adrenaline from these massive waves that are eight stories tall. Imagine!!

August 2, 2021

Patton: Back in the 70s if one can think back that far, movie stars were looking to protest various causes. Marlon Brando famously sent an Indian woman to decline his Academy Award for Best Actor in The Godfather. She seemed to just accept it. In 1971 George C Scott made it plain that he would refuse any award given to him. Imagine today one of the actors stating this. However with the war film Patton about WWII army general George Patton, Scott had portrayed this infamous general in an excellent movie. The film won 7 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and writing and for Best Actor. Scott’s portrayal drives the film forward as surely as his tanks did in Africa and later Europe. The General was a man driven by personal glory and notoriety. He wanted to be a famous war leader. He loved war. In a famous scene with Karl Malden, playing General Bradley the difference between the two men is explored. Bradley is engaged in war because he has trained to do it, it it his duty and he cares about his men. This is very different for Patton. The Germans were very aware of Patton, and even with D Day landings his presence on the sidelines impacted the German defense strategy. Eisenhower had his hands full with Patton because as much as he was an effective leader, and got things done, he was too opinionated and didn’t do things for the right reason, like Bradley. This performance and this movie are memorable. Scott played in some great movies like The Hustler and Doctor Strangelove among others. This is a role for an actor at the top of his craft. Well worth watching. In Canada it is on Crave.

One Hundred Foot Wave: on HBO they have a new documentary about a previously little known place in Portugal. Nazare is a small town where at certain points of the year they have mammoth waves. It is a series and last Sunday was the first episode. It showed the process for the American Garrett McNamara was filmed surfing a wave with his team of 78 feet tall. Remarkable. I say team because you need skilled Jet Ski drivers and equipment to get the surfer on the wave and then off the wave before the next wave comes. It was spectacular to watch these waves and the speed of the surfers. It is no joke to say that these guys put their lives on the line each day they go out. Having just tried and failed miserably with surfing in BC this was quite something to see. I don’t have anywhere near the skill that these guys have. At the same time, I don’t really need have that need or desire to put my life on the line in such a way. I will enjoy watching this as this area on Portugal becomes a Mecca for the thrill seekers and the stupid after the World Record was announced.

July 26, 2021

My Salinger Year: Joanna is a young woman who writes in this 2020 movie. She is an aspiring writer anyway. She was attending Berkeley but then on a whim mid-semester decides to move to New York City. She wants to actually write and do what other famous writers do; sit in cafes and write while staying in dumpy apartments. If she is going to stay in New York she must find a job. She lands a job in a literary agents office. Sigourney Weaver plays her old school boss reminiscent of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. Not quite as ruthless. Joanna takes on a secretary’s role and putting her writing aside. She is kept busy with busy work, but nothing substantial. One of her jobs is to dismiss with form letter all the letters to them for JD Salinger.

She juggles her job, her career aspirations, her relationship. One of the clients in this agency, incidentally is the aforementioned JD Salinger of Catcher in the Rye fame. Truth be told I read the book and didn’t like it. I likely didn’t get it. But that’s okay. Art is personal and what some think is excellent, others disagree. Joanna has her own struggles and these are personal and real. The actress, Margaret Qualley, who plays her is likeable and engaging in the way that Darren Starr would likely have hoped that Lily Collins was in Emily in Paris. Joanna has a good rapport with her coworkers, she is bright, astute, and has a good rapport with the clients of the business. In the end she has choices to make and these are interesting. Some may really like Emily in Paris, but for me it seems superficial and unrealistic. Maybe that is the point but we aren’t really telling stories that feel like stories about real people. I enjoyed this and was worth the time. Certainly it was more interesting than Emily. I would rather share a drink with Joanna than Emily on a day in her life.

I watched The Command (aka Kursk) again this weekend and I am reminded just how difficult it is to watch young men sacrifice their lives for no reason. It has a good cast and there are compelling performances. Like Chernobyl it shows how individuals are treated like disposable assets, even those who dedicate their lives to protecting the people of the State with the Navy.

July 19, 2021

Apologies but I had some laptop issues this week. But I am providing a recent review.

No Sudden Move

Steven Soderberg brings us a new film with a quality cast. Among this cast is Don Cheadle, Ray Liotta, Matt Damon among others. Set in the 1950s in Detroit, it is a caper where various factions are outdoing and outsmarting one another to obtain some secret. The secret is unknown, initially, but many people seem to be clamoring for it and offering decent sums of money to acquire it. Don Cheadle is a recently released con who is asked to “babysit” for a few hours in return for a few thousand dollars. The audience thinks that there has got to be more to it than that. Cheadle thinks the same. The man who makes the request is played by no other than George of the Jungle Brendan Fraser, who looks to have eaten the cast of former movies. As expected, things happen and people are surprised to learn about how a certain person, or another person has gotten involved. Those interested get more and more powerful, and seem to be offering more and more money for the secret. It continues to twist and turn and writhe on the ground like an alligator trying to succumb some prey.
For me some stories twist and turn back on themselves too much for their own good. The audience is left thinking to itself “who is double-crossing whom at this moment?” This is just such a situation. Liotta is cast likely more for his reputation than for the role. In the end, despite what appears to be a main storyline based upon history, it is all blurred by an overlay too thick for the audience to really keep track of it. or perhaps I am just not smart enough, or didn’t pay good enough attention to figure it out. However many people you cut down that lay before your chosen path, you end up heading in a direction you don’t seem to want to go. In the end, the trailing credits provide an explanation of what happened in real life for the secret. In the end it was not all that surprising nor earth shattering. The lower level rungs on this ladder, as usual, always seem to get the short end of the stick. I cannot recommend this.

Trigger

This is a Canadian film from 2010 which is on Crave. It stars Molly Parker and Tracy Wright. They are two musicians that were in a band ten years earlier that broke up under an acrimonious situation. Parker to me, incidentally looks so much like British actress Olivia Williams it is scary. But I digress. Being Canadian this is shot in Toronto and there are scenes from downtown and even the Etobicoke School of the Arts. These two old friends meet at a restaurant and then proceed to wander through town. Their issues are explored but not at any real depth. Certainly the issue of addiction is glossed over. They were once a well known local band that after disbanding had somewhat of a cult following in the younger crowd. Parker is trying to reconnect with Wright. It moves slowly and doesn’t seem to resolve very much. We get some insight into their lives but not as much as you would expect. In the end I watched and when finished shrugged my shoulders with a “is that it?” You gain very little by deciding to fill time with it.

July 12 2021

The Campaign: Is a silly spoof of American, southern American Republican, politics. It stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. From 2012, it doesn’t address the silliness of the Trump Presidency, but it might as well have done so. Ferrell plays an incumbent, obnoxious, ignorant and arrogant Republican senator from South Carolina. He is about to be re-elected as he was running unopposed. Enter the Koch-like brothers, reminiscent of brothers in the Eddie Murphy comedy Trading Places, who are looking to fund a candidate that they can dominate to sell a small town to interests in China (Dan Ackroyd plays one of them). They are nervous about Ferrell and decide to back another unknown candidate played by clueless Galifianakis. They are opposing one another in stand off and photo opportunities with weeks left in the campaign. It’s all very silly. There is some slap stick humour, and a few mild jokes but they really aren’t that effective. Both principals have done funnier films. I am not a huge Ferrell fan, but he can have his time with the right material. Take a pass on this if you happen to stumble upon it somewhere in the streaming ether.

A Quiet Place 2 or Part Two: The sci-fi surprise suspense thriller that was directed, starred and written in by John Krasinki from 2018, returns for a sequel/prequel in 2021. It was a thriller with a soul and heart. A young family lives after an alien invasion with creatures that are virtually impregnable; hard outer skin, very tough and lethal. The human world has been wiped out for the most part, just empty quiet streets in towns and cities. The creatures have very sensitive hearing and track down victims with sound. Thus, the young family has to sign to each other silently and be quiet wandering their immediate world. The original film was excellent with plenty of good jumps. After it was done, I feel that the viewer felt like their whole body was tense during it. This thriller with a soul, returns and one wonders whether the success can be duplicated? I was skeptical, but hopeful. I would say that this had success. It still has heart. You care about this family. You care about those in it, and we see a young, determined young lady (the daughter with hearing impairment) take charge of her life and saving the lives of those around her. We are introduced to another local resident, played by Cillian Murphy, who has his own journey and doubts. He introduces another set location where some relief from making sounds can take place. There is some more dialogue. There is a journey for the young girl, and the Mom separately as well as her older son. You also see what has happened to humankind in this dystopia. Humans turn on one another, and need to fear each other as much as the creatures. As far as production, the creatures are quite an achievement. The story is good because it keeps us engaged. You note that Krasinski has seen Jurassic Park in some of his shots. I think that the transition is good from one site (the farm) to the other (industrial plant). The world gets larger but the underlying challenge remains. Each character has their journey. You may be pleased to know that Part III will be coming. I don’t think it gives too much away to reveal that. Still, I wonder if the momentum and story can still remain strong and true to its essence. I would like to think that this will remain a young family story, and that it avoids the War of the Worlds shoot ’em up with all the military. This is better than War of the Worlds, and one of the better suspense films (and franchises) in recent memory. This is worth checking out, although I am not convinced it needs to be seen in a large theatre, scheduled in Ontario to open up this Friday. I am truly excited to get back to the theatre and see some films up where they belong.

July 5, 2021

Woman Walks Ahead: This movie was released back in 2017 and didn’t have much critical acclaim nor was it well received. It stars Jessica Chastain, a personal favourite, as well as Sam Rockwell, Cirian Hinds and Michael Greyeyes as Sitting Bull. Set in the 1890s, it is a story of a woman from New York City, who once widowed decides to venture into the West and try to use her dormant painting skills on some native Indians. In this case, she had the ambition to paint the notorious Sitting Bull, of General Custer fame. Off she goes into the wild, wild west. On her train ride she meets briefly the Sam Rockwell character who is assigned from the army. They do not get along, and this continues throughout. It seems that the locals do not want her in the small town. She is bound and determined to have an audience with Sitting Bull himself. The story moves on with a familiar refrain from Dances With Wolves. There is a political bent, where a vote is to be taken about how lands currently in the hands of the Sioux are to be addressed. This is a relevant story for Canada presently as we deal with the latest revelations about children’s bodies being dug up at various residential schools run by the church but funded by the Federal government. Neither the US nor Canada can hold their head’s high as to how we have treated the Native Indian populations. They are a black mark on our history, but a history reflective of the times where there were powerful nations looking to take over other nations. See a movie like The Mission, and how the Spanish treated the native peoples in Central and South America. It isn’t very Christian, even while looking to spread the word of God. I think that this didn’t deserve the nasty reception it had when first released. It was okay. I think the portrayal of Sitting Bull was well done, from an unknown actor to me. Jessica Chastain is more than a step up from the actual Catherine Weldon in looks, and I cannot comment on the historical accuracy of some of the claims in the movie. But in a time when I have watched some rather awful shows and movies, I didn’t hate this one. In fact I learned a little about the process (fair or otherwise) undertaken by a invading army of white people.

Another Round: Just recently released on Crave. It stars Mads Mikkelsen, in a Dutch movie from 2020. Mads you will recognize as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale (Bond) as well as the father in Star Wars: Rogue One. He plays Martin, a middle aged, married high school teacher with two kids. Life has become pretty ordinary. He teaches, but he is mailing in the classes, and he asks his wife whether he is “boring”. His wife who has been working nights doesn’t know how to respond. On the 40th birthday of a colleague, he heads out and meets for a small party of four teachers. He is the History teacher, the others teach Gym, Music and Psychology. The friends talk about a study which suggest that humans were born with .05% less alcohol in their system than they need, and it encourages people to drink daily to counteract the imbalance. They are skeptical but ultimately, Martin tries just to change up the existing pattern in his life. He is in a rut and wants to stir things up. The alcohol loosens him up, he is more relaxed and more engaging with his class. The colleagues find out about it at school, and decide they should all take this on as a research project, and they are going to write about it. The experiment commences with predictable results early on. Query whether just doing something new, anything, would improve the in-class teaching better for these men? They write about it. They decide to increase the amount of alcohol. Things move ahead. Predictably things change as the amount of alcohol increases. Things happen, and then other things happen. It goes in a few different directions, which were in some cases a surprise to me. By exploring a mid-life crisis, or at the very least an evaluation of where we are in our lives as we have finished our exciting twenties and “settled down”, it is interesting to see each individual reacts. It is trite to say that we are all unique, but in this instance there are those who likely should not explore the idea of expanding their alcohol tolerance. As one thinks back on the artists regarded as monumental, like a Mozart, or Hemingway, Van Hogh or Churchill or others we see that many had a well known relationship to alcohol or other outside stimulants (legal and illegal, as we we absynthe referred to). Of course the message is one of moderation, in much in life, but the greater message is one of staying true to yourself, and pushing yourself to get out of perceived ruts. I have always maintained that I don’t need alcohol to have fun. Others weren’t convinced and at an early age choose to partake. Life is full of choices. Although this film has subtitles, is is every bit engaging as English speaking films. It won the Best Foreign Film Oscar. I hesitate to add that as it stands on its own as an interesting story – one basically unknown to me. But this is a worthwhile investment in time. Enjoy. I did.