Devotion

Devotion (2022)

Directed by J.D. Dillard

Screenplay by Jake Crane & Jonathan Stewart

Based on the book, "Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice" by Adam Makos

Stars: Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Christina Jackson, Joe Jonas, Thomas Sadoski, Serinda Swan, Daren Kagasoff, Nick Hargrove, Spencer Neville, Dean Denton, and Bill Martin Williams

Have you ever had one of those feelings where you go into a movie knowing that it will be generic? Well, my alarm was going off with this one.

Jesse Brown (Majors) is the only Negro fighter pilot in the army during the Korean War. A new transfer comes into the outfit, Tom Hudner (Powell). The two form an unlikely friendship until they are called into action.

I had the same qualms with this like I did with Red Tails or Selma. The story could have been effective if the storytelling was up to par. It feels like the movie is going through the motions. Very paint by numbers. It does not have any life to it.

The core story is interesting, but the filmmaking made it a boring experience to witness. I tried to pay attention to the movie, but I was dosing off. Not paying attention.

Majors was giving it his all, but the movie did not do him any justice.

Rating: 4/10

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Written and directed by Rian Johnson

Stars: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Han, Leslie Odom Jr, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista

To complete the trilogy of lambasting the affluent people of the world, there is this movie. I enjoyed Knives Out, but I had some problems with the politics discussed in it. I was looking forward to this movie, because I loved a good whodunit.

Benoit Blanc (Craig) is invited to an exclusive weekend in Greece, thrown by the powerful mogul, Miles Brom (Norton). Brom gathered a governor; Claire (Hahn), a Twitch personality; Duke (Bautista), an scientist; Lionel (Odom Jr), fashion desinger; Birdie (Hudson) and an unexpected guest; Andi (Monáe). A murder mystery weekend that turns into an actual murder.

Seeing the previous movie would let you mind go rapid fire with theories. Nothing will be as it seems. Knowing that Blanc is gay is clearly apparent in the movie with neckerchief and choice of swimming attire. Was Phillip (Hugh Grant) his partner? Unclear.

I heard rumblings about Janelle Monáe's performance. Holy shit. She went in. Her facial expressions. The way she carried herself. It was a treat to see.

I want more of these. Give me more. I will gobble them up.

Rating: 10/10

The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans (2022)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Screenplay by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

Stars: Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, Mateo Zoryan, Keeley Karsten, Alina Brace, Julia Butters, and Birdie Borria

Movie pundits were saying that this movie is on track on winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards next year. I understand that this movie was very personal for Spielberg. The movie is not the best movie of the year.

The movie follows Sammy Fabelman (LaBelle), a young boy that wants to make movies ever since he saw Around the World in 80 Days with his parents, Burt and Mitzi (Dano, Williams). His mother encouraged his passion for movies. His father wants him to be realistic about his job prospects. Sammy's passion for the movie grows, even though his life is less than ideal.

Can I say that the first half of the movie where Sammy wanted to make movies was the best part of the movie? The home movies that hinted at Spielberg's movies like ET, Saving Private Ryan and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Great. Love that for him.

The second half of the movie was where the movie fell apart for me. It became a movie that descended into chaos with the family yelling, the antisemitic bullying, and a weird subplot with Sammy's girlfriend. It did not keep my attention.

I'm sure the movie is going to get at least eight nominations. Dano was adequate. Williams was doing the most. I didn't know what she was doing in the movie. 

I thought the best parts of the movie where Judd Hirsch as Mitzi's uncle that had three scenes. He did better most of the actors in the movie. There is a cameo in the end of the movie that floored me when I learned who they were.

Rating: 8/10

Mad God

Mad God (2022)

Written and directed by Phil Tippett

Featuring the voices of Alex Cox, Niketa Roman, Satish Ratakonda, Hans Brekke, Jake Freytag, Brett Foxwell, and Anthony Ruivivar

I was seeing this movie on people's top ten lists of the year numerous times. Hearing the genesis of this movie made me want to see the end product. The world created is interesting, but the story is severely lacking.

Explaining the movie is hard. An assassin descends into a hellscape with a briefcase and map. There is a bunch of weird shit going on.

I applaud Phil Tippett for completing the movie. He started around 1991 with some animation for it. Dropped it around 1993 then picked it back up a decade ago with help from Kickstarter and another animators to finish it.

The visuals of the movie were something to behold. It was like if Tim Burton was dropped in the world of Fritz Lang. It was surreal, macabre and morose. That can only take you so far. There were a couple of times in the movie that I was dozing off. At least, three. I was trying to find some sort of lifeline to get through it.

The biggest problem with the movie is the narrative. It was disjointed, especially towards the final act. I was confused. I didn't know what was happening.

Rating: 6/10

Emily the Criminal

Emily the Criminal (2022)

Written and directed by John Patton Ford

Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gina Gershon, Jonathan Avigdori, Bernardo Badillo, John Billingsley, and Brandon Sklenar

Here is another recommendation from the Spirit Award nominations earlier this week.  It was nominated for Best First Feature, Screenplay, Best Leading and Supporting Performance. After watching the movie, I would say that they are warranted.

Emily (Plaza) works as a contract worker because of her criminal record from years prior. Drowning in student loan debt, she needed to find a way to make money. A co-worker introduces her to Youcef (Rossi). He and his cousin, Khalil (Avigdori) run a stolen credit card operation. Emily gets in too deep as pay the consequences.

This movie spoke to me. I was in the same boat as Emily. Mountains of credit card and student loan debt. Trying to find a direct-to-hire jobs, instead of temp work. I get it. It is hard when you feel that you do not have many options.

Plaza was very good as the titular character. You feel her pain. It was all in her face and in her performance. Theo Rossi as Youcef was equally solid in his perfromance. These people are not good people. They are doing what they can to survive in a world that is against them.

I don't know much of about this world. I don't know if this is accurate. I have dealt with my credit card number being stolen for somebody to buy lots of pizza in another state. Craziness. I was in for a ride with this movie.

Rating: 9/10

Aftersun

Aftersun (2022)

Written and directed by Charlotte Wells

Stars: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Sally Messham, Brooklyn Toulson, Spike Fearn, Harry Perdios, Ruby Thompson, and Ethan James Smith

After looking at the nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards, this movie received five nods. Seeing the love and the universal praise for the movie, I had to check it out. When the movie ended, I was wondering if we saw the same.

The movie takes place during a trip to Turkey in the early 90s where Sophie (Corio) is there with her dad, Calum (Mescal). Yeah. That's it.

This is my biggest problem with the movie. Nothing happens. We see Sophie and Calum sleeping, lounging and swimming.

What was the movie trying to tell me? Memories about her dad? I didn't get it. Why are people showering praise at this movie? Is there something I'm not getting? Seriously, I'm asking the fives of people that are reading this. What is the point of this movie?

Rating: 4/10

Till

Till (2022)

Directed by Chinonye Chukwu

Screenplay by Michael Reilly & Keith Beauchamp and Chinonye Chukwu

Stars: Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Haley Bennett, Whoopi Goldberg, Jayme Lawson, Tosin Cole, Kevin Carroll, Sean Patrick Thomas, John Douglas Thompson, and Roger Guenveur Smith

Critics have been praising Deadwyler's performance in this movie. It is wholeheartedly deserved. I knew the story of Emmett Till, but I had some issues with the historical accuracy of the movie.

Chicago 1955. Mamie Till-Mobley (Deadwyler) receives a phone call telling her that her 14-year-old son, who she affectionately called Bo (Hall) was taken from a Mississippi house in the middle of the night. Media coverage surrounded the family. Mamie learns that her son's body was found. He was beaten, shot and drowned in the local river. Consumed with grief, Mamie tries to have the men responsible for her son's death brought to justice, but justice was denied to her.

Any person of color knows about Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, James Byrd, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor. This is not knew. The black community has dealt with bigotry, racism, prejudice for as long as we were brought to America.

Over the years, I have heard the story of Emmett Till. When I watched the movie, I was struck that things that came to light over the past 20 years were not taken into consideration. I heard that Carolyn Bryant recanted her testimony. That was not mentioned in the movie.

The movie puts you in the place of Mamie as she went through the horrors of Jim Crow and segregation. Deadwyler carried this movie on her shoulders. I felt her pain. Anyone could feel her pain. 

I wanted to root for this movie, but I felt like the movie was trying to manipulate you with focusing the emotions. Cool. I felt that the pace of the movie is hampered by just focusing on long lingering shots on Mamie alone in her room or closeups of taking off shoes.

I wanted to love this movie. It should be seen, but I felt that it missed the mark to make a visceral impact on the viewer.

Rating: 7/10

The Menu

The Menu (2022)

Directed by Mark Mylod

Screenplay by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy

Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Anya Taylor-Joy, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Reed Birney, Judith Light, Rebecca Koon, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, and Mark St. Cyr

When I saw the trailer for this film, I thought the movie was going to be much darker. I was pleasantly surprised that it was funny while being scary all at once.

A carefully selected group of the elite are invited to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant on a remote island that is run by Chef Julian Slowik (Fiennes). Among them are Tyler (Hoult) and his companion, Margot (Taylor-Joy) where the story focuses on the most. Chef Slowik carefully plan dinner service that the guests will never forget.

The movie is more of a dark satirical comedy about class. The movie succeeded where Triangle of Sadness did not. This held up a mirror to people's privilege, affluence or their blatant disregard of being lesser than them. It was delicious for the bourgeoisie to get their comeuppance. Anybody in the hospitality will tell you that sometimes it is not worth it to be beaten down by their betters.

Rating: 8/10

She Said

She Said (2022)

Directed by Maria Schrader

Screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Based on the New York Times investigation by Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey & Rebecca Corbett, and the book, "She Said" by Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey

Stars: Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Angela Yeoh, Irwin Reiter, Samantha Morton and Ashley Judd

I knew about the sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein from Ronan Farrow and his exposé for the The New Yorker. I did not know that there was another article that came out at the exact same time. It was eye opening to see this version of events.

The New York Times have were publishing articles about figures that had sexual harassment allegations against them like Bill O'Reilly and a certain former disgraced president that I will never name. Jodi Kantor (Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Mulligan) get a tip that Weinstein had a pattern of harassment, abuse, rape and paying the women off to silence them. They will use all means to break Hollywood's dirty open secret wide open.

It's so strange that the events of the movie happened five years ago. It is crazy how to the national conversation has changed since then. I know this movie is going to be compared to Spotlight. I would not blame you. Both movies deal with reporters meticulously writing a story of the utmost importance. An article that will change the world.

There have been buzz with this movie. I can see it. I felt that most of the performances were lacking. The only standouts for me were Morton and Judd. I feel that the movie is going to be forgotten, because the events happened recently.

Rating: 8/10

Armageddon Time

Armageddon Time (2022)

Written and directed by James Gray

Stars: Banks Repeta, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Jaylin Webb, Anthony Hopkins, Tovah Feldshuh, John Diehl, Ryan Sell, and Jessica Chastain

Can I say this out front? I hate the movie title. Atrocious. I was hearing that the movie was getting buzz for Anne Hathaway's performance and possibly Anthony Hopkins. I completely forgot that this movie came out in theaters until I saw it on Twitter. 

In this semi-autobiographical look at James Gray's life in 1980 New York City. Gray's avatar is Paul Graff (Repeta), a 11-year-old that dreams of being an artist one day. He and his friend, Johnny (Webb) get into constant trouble. The plot gets a bit muddy.

The truth is that I zoned out in this movie. I understand that the movie is very personal for James Gray. Cool. I cannot empathize with a Jewish boy living with his conservative family in the 1980s.

I get that Gray wanted to make a commentary about race relations, family dynamics and all that. The movie did not move me enough to care about what was happening to the characters. I did not care for Paul's older brother, Ted (Sell). He was being a huge asshole. He can fuck off. The father, Irving (Strong) was awful. The dynamic is the family was odd.

I didn't mind Hathaway or Hopkins in the film. They were serviceable. It felt like the movie was paint by numbers that I knew what was going to happen before it does. It felt like one of those Oscar baity movies that try to get a nomination and failing.

Rating: 4/10

Weekly Rewind

This week has been emotionally draining. I think with the holidays coming up, the melancholy sets in. Usually when this happens, I would watch romantic comedies. Be prepared.

The Great Dictator: I have been meaning to see this movie. One of the very few talkies that Charles Chaplin had done. It was a searing look at the rise of Nazism, Hitler and the Third Reich. He was making fun of the ridiculous of following a megalomaniac. Chaplin's speech at the end was one of the greatest in cinematic history. There were parts of the movie where the joke was stretched too thin. 8/10

Barbarian (Re-watch): I have been getting in the habit of re-watching movies that I previously hated and see if my opinion changed. Seeing this on a re-watch, the tension of the first part of the movie was gone, because I knew what would happen. The movie is not scary. More disturbing. The shifting tones is still jarring to me. Previous rating: 1/10. Now: 5/10

Kate & Leopold (Re-watch): It has been a decade since I saw this movie. Every time, there are new questions. Hugh Jackman was so fucking charming in this movie. He wasn't playing Leopold as a misogynist nor a bigot. Cool. The last twenty minutes are still bonkers. 7/10

Enchanted (Re-watch): To prepare the possible mediocrity of Disney making unnecessary sequels or series of their properties, I had to revisit this. The charm is still there. Amy Adams as Giselle was so good. The downsides of the movie are Susan Sarandon and the climax of the movie. 8/10

Christmas in Connecticut: This movie was on TCM this week. I heard that people loved it. This movie is a comedy of errors than a Christmas movie. Barbara Stanwyck was delightful as ever. It was nice. It's a nice movie to watch without a convoluted plot getting in the way. 7/10

Disenchanted: Yeah. This movie pissed me off so much that I turned it off. How much time has past was in question? Was it ten years or fifteen? I hated Morgan in this movie. Just another obnoxious teenager trope that got old quick. Some characters traits from the first movie are completely forgotten in this movie. DNF

Bridget Jones's Diary (Re-watch): I was in my fool moods and I wanted some rom-com fluff. This is always there. Zellweger is great. Her gaggle of friends are hilarious. Grant as a cad was perfect. Firth as the love interest is the best. He is so charming. Where is my Mark Darcy? 8/10

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Re-watch): I thought that I did not see this sequel. When I was watching it, I remembered bits of this. I caught this on cable over fifteen years ago. Oops. My mind. The charm that was in the first one is not present in this one. There is a whole subplot about Bridget in jail that went off the rails for me. 6/10

Bridget Jones's Baby: This is the only film in the series that I did not watch. Oh, dear. This movie is a trainwreck. Bridget finds out that she is pregnant. She doesn't know who the father is. Is it here on again/off again lover, Mark Darcy or is it the American billionaire mogul, Jack (Insert last name here)? Patrick Dempsey as Jack was odd, bordering on creepy stalker. The movie was more physical comedy that didn't work. I heard, there might a fourth movie in the works. Oh, no. 4/10

A Christmas Story Christmas

A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)

Directed by Clay Kaytis

Story by Nick Schenk and Peter Billingsley

Screenplay by Nick Schenk & Clay Kaytis

Based on the book, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" by Jean Shepherd

Stars: Peter Billingsley, Erinn Hayes, River Drosche, Julianna Layne, Julie Hagerty, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Zack Ward, Ian Petrella, and Henry Miller

This is supposed to the official sequel to the 1983 staple Christmastime film. I heard about this when I saw a trailer for it a couple of weeks ago. What I expecting the movie to be a timeless classic like the first movie? No. Is it a good movie? Far from it.

Taking place 33 years after the events of the first movie, Ralphie (Billingsley) is a struggling novelist, trying to get his first book published. He made a deadline that if he does not get published by Christmas that year, he would abandon that dream and get a regular job. Ralphie gets a photo call that his old man has died. He takes his family back to his family home in Indiana where everything that could go wrong does.

I understand that the first movie is a seminal watch around the holiday season. This movie is not good. There were times when I covered my face and cackled at the absurdity I was watching. This movie was trying capture lightning in a bottle twice. It did not. There were callbacks to the previous film that were nice, but it did not feel genuine.

Most of the original cast came back. They were fine. Not great. The glaring recasting choice of having Julie Hagerty playing the mom from Melinda Dillon from the first movie. I understand that Dillion retired from acting in the mid 2000s, but you can see clips of her from the flashbacks sequences.

The movie was a retread. It tried to capture the spirit of the first movie, but it leaves the viewer filling hollow. If the story was about Ralphie's kids and their hijinx over the Christmas holidays, it would have worked more.

Rating: 3/10

The Wonder

The Wonder (2022)

Directed by Sebastián Lelio

Screenplay by Alice Birch, Emma Donoghue and Sebastián Lelio

Based on the book by Emma Donoghue

Stars: Florence Pugh, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Tom Burke, Niamh Algar, David Wilmot, Ruth Bradley, Toby Jones, Dermot Crowley, Ciarán Hinds, and Brían F. O'Byrne

There were some rumbling that people were talking about a possible Best Actress nomination for Florence Pugh in this movie. She is solid in the film, but the movie overall is not the greatest.

1862, Ireland. An English nurse, Elizabeth Wright (Pugh) is brought to a small town in Ireland to look after a young girl, Anna (Cassidy) who has not eaten food for four months. The local cousel of the town wants her and a nun to look after Anna and report their findings. During the visits, Elizabeth notices that something is not adding up.

The beginning of the film started on the wrong foot with a backstage shot of the set. The actual set. The same thing happened with the ending panning to the narrator. This action immediately took me out of the experience.

I was reading that the movie was a psychological thriller. Where? I did not see that. It was an intense drama where some fucked up things happened. The narrative felt strange. What was that stuff that Elizabeth was spoon feeding herself? There is this romance subplot that comes out of nowhere between Elizabeth and a journalist, William (Burke).

What is with these drawn out costume dramas? It was a slog.

Rating: 6/10

Tár

Tár (2022)

Written and directed by Todd Field

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, Sylvia Flote, Sydney Lemmon, Mila Bogojevic, and Mark Strong

It has been fifteen years since Todd Field had a movie out in theaters. I was eagerly anticipating this movie. I was intending to see this movie in theaters, but life got in the way. Hearing the movie was coming to VOD today, I had to watch it.

Lydia Tár (Blanchett) is an established conductor that is working with the Berlin Philharmonic. She feels like she is on top of the world. She has her partner, Sharon (Hoss) and her daughter, Petra (Bogojevic). The action takes place the days before a proposed recording of orchestra. Lydia's life begins to unravel when her past catches up to her.

There has been a lot of buzz with Cate's performance. She was phenomenal. Lydia is not a likable character. She is extremely OCD, type A personality and is a bit stuffy.

The movie itself grabs hold of you and never lets go. It is bleak. Saturated colors of the world-- of Lydia's world view. The sound or sometimes the lack of pulls you in.

The biggest hit I have with the movie is the pacing. Sometimes, it felt long. There were some scenes that could have been trimmed. This has to be seen to be believed.

Rating: 9/10

Review Rewind

Last week has been been an interesting week of movie viewing. Here are the movies that I watched this past week.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?: Holy shit. This movie is bonkers. Seeing two real-life adversaries in the same movie is something to behold. Bette Davis was acting her ass off in this. Joan Crawford did not get what the tone of the movie was supposed to be. 8/10

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte: I might have been expecting this movie was going to be campy like WEHTBJ. No, this was a real movie. I didn't appreciate what was happening when I was watching it. It's a suspenseful thriller that deserves a second viewing. 6/10* (Rating my change upon re-watch.)

It: (Re-watch). I have not seen the movie since it was in theaters. I was intending to watch it during Halloween, but didn't. Seeing the movie at home made the movie less scary to me. The dynamic between the kids saved the movie from dropping my score lower. 7/10

It Chapter Two: Seeing the run time of the movie, I knew that it was going to be a slog. They were introducing the older versions of the characters from the first movie for the first 30 minutes and I had it. Montage that shit. I stopped watching it. DNF

Mommie Dearest: For years, I heard that this movie was horrible. It's not good. Faye Dunaway shot for the moon with her portrayal of Joan Crawford. The structure of the story felt like snapshots of what may or may not have happened to Christina, and her life with Joan as her adoptive mother. 4/10

Falling for Christmas: A Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie. Yes. I watched the movie and was immediately bothered by annoying characters, a recycled amnesia plot, lack of chemistry between Lohan and Chord Overstreet. This movie came out this year, but I didn't want to review it. Why bother? 5/10

Black Panther: (Re-watch). I wanted to revist this movie before I saw the sequel. It was still as good as I remembered it from my theater viewing. Great acting, action sequences and a fantastic villain. It earned that Best Picture nomination. 9/10

Nightcrawler: There was a lot Oscar buzz with Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in this movie and he didn't get the nom. It was shocking. This role is against type for him. An insomniac trying to get the big story in violent crime scenes around LA for money. He descends into a dark place that is fucked up. 8/10
 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Directed by Ryan Coogler

Story by Ryan Coogler

Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole

Stars: Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Tenoch Huerta, Dominique Thorne, Martin Freeman, Mabel Cadena, and Alex Livinalli 

I did not think this movie was going to happen. After what happened with the death of Chadwick Boseman, how could the movie go on? I'm sure there was a lot of rewrites that had to happen. Film friends were not to keen with movie. Is it on par with the original movie? No.

After the sudden death of T'Challa (Boseman), Queen Ramonda (Bassett) and Princess Shuri (Wright) have to put their broken pieces back together. Foreign powers are pressuring Wakanda to share the vibranium with the world. It is discovered that vibranium is not the only place it is housed. A new threat, Namor (Huerta), the king of Talokan threatens to wage war against the surface world unless Wakanda aligns with them. Who will take up the mantle of The Black Panther?

This is not an easy watch. The movie is melancholy. It is understandable why has to be. Some people's roles had to be expanded, because certain actors from the the first movie were not there. It seemed that the characters changed from the first movie to this one. 

The problem I had with the movie is the pacing. The middle of the movie where was had to have the backstory of Namor was fine. It dragged along. Namor as a character was very good. It felt like his motivations were the same of Erik Killmonger from the first movie. Okay.

Some of the action scenes were lackluster. It wasn't suspenseful. They were mostly boring. The soul of first movie was not present in this movie.

Rating: 7/10

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022)

Directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp

Story by Dean Fleischer-Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Nick Paley and Jenny Slate

Screenplay by Dean Fleischer-Camp, Nick Paley and Jenny Slate

Stars: (voices) Jenny Slate, Isabella Rosselleni, Dean Fleischer-Camp, Lesley Stahl, Andy Richter, Nathan Fielder, Jessi Klein, Jamie Leonhart, Conan O'Brien, and Brian Williams

People on Letterboxd had this movie on their minds for the longest time. It flew under the radar from me. Heard some rumblings that the movie is in consideration for Best Animated Feature Film. A live-action movie about an animated talking shell? Okay. This is sweet movie that has its flaws.

An amateur filmmaker Dean (Fleischer-Camp) rents out an airbnb after the dissolution of his marriage. He befriends a talking shell named Marcel (Slate). Dean wanted to make a mini documentary about Marcel and his life living in this vast house with multiple people coming in and out. Dean realizes that Marcel only has his grandmother, Connie (Rossellini), but his other family were accidentally taken by a previous tenant. A whole adventure begins to find a lost family.

Going into this movie, I didn't know what to suspect. There is a talking about shell with one eye and pair of shoes on. How do the shell pick up things with no hands? They dynamic between Dean and Marcel was sweet and genuine.

The biggest problem I had with this movie is that some situations felt telegraphed. The obvious foreshadowing. If you have picked up on the clues, then certain scenes don't have the emotional impact that Fleischer-Camp wanted you to have. That's a bummer.

Rating: 8/10

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

Directed by Eric Appel

Screenplay by Al Yankovic & Eric Appel

Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Diedrich Bader, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rainn Wilson, Julianne Nicholson, Toby Huss, Thomas Lennon, and Evan Rachel Wood

The trailer was bonkers. I knew going into the movie that it was not going to be a biopic. Maybe that is the reason that I enjoyed the movie for its silliness and being over the top.

Snippets of Weird Al's real (Radcliffe) life are mentioned in the movie. You don't know what was real and what was fiction. It seems that Al has a typical childhood when playing the accordion came naturally to him. People saw that he had talent and then the parody songs are mentioned. The action takes a complete 180. It falls into a fever dream that I didn't want to wake up from.

The biopic is always some desperate attempt to get nominated or win Oscars. Hollywood has at least five of them a year. It's tiring. This movie is not the run of the mill biopic. This is taking chances. It deviates from the boring chronological drivel Tinseltown churns out. I want to see more movies taking chances like this one moving forward.

Rating: 7/10

Review Rewind

 It's nice to enjoy watching movies again without reviewing every single movie that I have seen. These movies were intersperse between my previous reviews.

Sleepaway Camp: This is second re-watch of the movie this year. Every viewing I see something different that I didn't pick up on. This is a bad movie, but it's so bad that it turns out to be amazing. 10/10

X: After I watched Pearl, I wanted to revisit this movie. I hated the name last time, because the situations were very cliched. This time I kind of let my logical mind go. I liked the movie more of this latest viewing. My original score was 2. Now, it's 7/10.

Bringing Up Baby: I wanted to see the movie where Cary Grant was in a robe. It was this movie. It's not a laugh out loud funny. Katharine Hepburn's got too annoying for me with her running and rapid-fire ling delivery. 7/10

Bros: Another re-watch. I loved this comedy as much as I initially reviewed it. Still hate the steroid section. 9/10

Auntie Mame: Holy shit. What took me so long to watch this movie? Mame is so fabulous. Rosalind Russell gave it her all in this movie. I loved it. The only knocks I will give it is the middle section and the length of the movie. 2.5 hours. 9/10

Heartstopper (Season 1): After the whole "queerbaiting" accusations and Kit Connor forced coming out, I wanted to watch the series. Some "fans" of the show are missing the point of themes entirely. Nobody should have to tell a damn thing. You don't anyone an explanation about yourself. It sucks that this happened. It's stilling happening in 2022. I enjoyed the series, but I had a few problems with character motivations in the middle of the season. Any queer person or ally should see this show. 8.5/10

Roman Holiday: This movie was on my watch list for the longest time. I thought I was going to be enthralled with it, but I wasn't. The movie was boring. Didn't care about the romance. It was meh. I heard somebody say if you didn't appreciate this, you are a cynic. Yes. Yes, I am. 5/10

The Great Lie: I saw this movie a lot on Instagram. If you look up melodrama in the dictionary, this movie will be there. It's like a soap opera with a nonsense plot and uninteresting characters. I stopped paying attention to it and did another things while it was still going. 4/10

Causeway

Causeway (2022)

Directed by Lila Neugebauer

Screenplay by Ottessa Moshfegh and Luke Goebel & Elizabeth Sanders

Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry, Linda Emond, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Frederick Weller, and Jayne Houdyshell

There were rumbling about the performances in this movie from the film festival circuit. I agree with that, but the script fails them from truly shining.

Lynsey (Lawrence) has been sent stateside after a traumatic event while she was on deployment in Afghanistan. Suffering from PTSD, Lynsey tries to reconnect with her mother, Gloria (Emond) to no avail. She befriends a mechanic, James (Henry) on day and they strike up a friendship. These two broken people try to find some way to forward with life.

As I stated before, Lawrence and Henry give solid performances in this film. Lawrence conveyed the raw emotion of having your world turn upside in a split second, and having to pick up the pieces again. Henry's character has to deal with a stupid decision that affect the people around him, and how he dealing with the fallout of that.

It felt like it was not a fully realized world. People were going through the motions. The screenplay tries to paint the portrait to a shattered woman living a shattered life. The downside is that the pacing of the movie makes the flow feel like a slog. The dialogue does not feel authentic. The plot sometimes gets lost along the way. 

You question if the screenwriters dropped subplots or they didn't have a good way to have any resolution. It is a shame that the movie does not living up to expectations.

Rating: 6/10

My Policeman

My Policeman (2022)

Directed by Michael Grandage

Screenplay by Ron Nyswaner

Based on the book by Bethan Roberts 

Stars: Gina McKee, Linus Roache, Rupert Everett, Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, David Dawson, and Kadiff Kirwan

The discourse around this film was palpable on Film Twitter with articles talking about the cast getting an ensemble award from TIFF. There was also news that the stars are campaigning for Oscar consideration. I can see that for one person and it's who you think it is.

Centering around a trio of friends. Marion (McKee) brings Patrick (Everett) to live with her and her husband, Tom's (Roache) after he has suffered from a stroke to care for him. Marion digs through Patrick's personal items to discover that he suspicions of the relationship between Tom and Patrick were more than meets the eye.

Getting this out of the way. There has been talking about the acting abilities of Styles. I have seen three movies that he has been in. My problem is that he is not embodying the character to become it. It feels like he is saying lines, because the script told him.

The saving grace of the movie is David Dawson as the younger Patrick. He was the emotional anchor of the movie for me. The character goes through a lot in the movie.

Watching the film, you get the sense that the pacing is very slow and laborious. It becomes a chore to try to finish it. It was like going through marathon. The plot was stepping into melodrama. It did not have any levity. No nuance. It was boring movie about miserable people trying to "do the right thing."

Rating: 5/10

The Good Nurse

The Good Nurse (2022)

Directed by Tobias Lindholm

Screenplay by Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Based on the book by Charles Graeber

Stars: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne, Nnamdi Asomugha, Noah Emmerich, Kim Dickins, David Lavine, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Devyn McDowell, and Alix West Lefler

The story sounds familiar to me, but I confused it with a case of a nurse that killed four patients by injecting air in their bloodstream. Anyway, there was a tepid response to this movie at the London Film Festival. The story is compelling. The movie is not.

The action center around Amy (Chastain), a hardworking nurse that doesn't have health insurance which is complicated that she has a severe heart condition. A new hire, Charlie Cullen (Redmayne) comes in to ease the workload for the staff. The two become fast friends. Patients who are normally is good health suddenly code. Two detectives, Baldwin and Braun (Asomugha, Emmerich) are brought in to investigate and uncover a dark secret.

The thing with telling true stories is that they feel generic. You get the feeling that some stories should not be told. This is one of them. If this movie was a talking head documentary, the subject matter would be more compelling. A dramatized version of the story will fall flat. This movie is a prime example.

Chastain and Redmayne give solid performances, but it is not enough to warrant seeking out this movie. Have in on in the background while doing chores around the house.

Rating: 6/10