Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Wolf - I really like George MacKay. Like...a lot. I feel like him and Lucas Hedges should be getting all the roles that Timothee Chalamet and Tom Holland get. Although, I guess I like that they do all of these super weird, interesting roles instead. The premise of this movie is a bit like that Jamie Dornan movie where he thinks he's a bee, but this is taken far more seriously. It's about people not being born in the bodies that they belong in, as in they feel like they are other species (the main character believes he's a wolf), so it's obviously a trans allegory. I didn't know that going in, but was not surprised to find out that a trans woman wrote & directed this. I think there's a lot of good stuff to dissect in this; especially the dangers of conversion therapy. However, I find it weird to use this as a story for trans rights because it plays into the backlash for those fighting against these rights. Anti-trans activists tend to justify their narrative by exaggerating a moot point - and I've definitely heard the argument of "where does it end? what if someone identifies as an animal or a different race" etc. It's a distraction method that often, unfortunately, works far too often. You end up arguing about things that aren't happening instead of focusing on trans rights. Another example is when someone argues about prisons letting male prisoners identify as women, so they transfer to a women's prison and then rape a bunch of women (which has happened). And they ask, in a most exaggerated fashion "you don't want women getting raped...do you???". Uhh...what?? Nobody should be raped and it happens all the time in prison (mostly to men). So your problem is with the prison system and with rapists. Literally nothing to do with trans rights. Don't people have common sense anymore? Anyway, I just feel like this movie plays into the anti-trans argument. BUT, I do think it's a necessary point of view - and also about just having empathy for every living thing. MacKay is wonderful. Paddy Considine, also always wonderful. I've seen Lily-Rose Depp in a few things, and she's never really stood out (other than her stunning bone structure). I'm not really a fan of her here - she's sort of blank compared to the emotion that MacKay is putting out there. I did like this movie - it's definitely interesting, well-acted, and feels urgent. I'm just not sure it's putting out the message that it wants to??

2. Breaking News in Yuba County - I saw someone compare this to Fargo so I added it to my list. It is a ridiculous dark comedy, but Fargo it is not. The cast is great - Allison Janney (I really miss Mom, so much), Wanda Sykes, Samira Wiley, Ellen Barkin, Mila Kunis. And, unfortunately, Awkwafina. I just have to give up and face facts - she's going to be in stuff. But, am I supposed to buy her as...threatening??? I would absolutely laugh at her. I just don't know how any of these actors read this script and thought it was worth their time? It has a current popular trend of dealing with tragedy porn - as in someone invents a tragedy to get attention. The problem is that, as a dark comedy, it's kinda dark (but nothing that hasn't been done before) but never funny. I don't think I laughed once. The dialogue is absolutely awful - especially Awkwafina's. And Regina Hall with that haircut is...well, it's hard to look at. There's really not much else to say about this - it's very ridiculous, but not in any sort of memorable way. 

3. Everything Everywhere All at Once - I loved this, but am also somehow really disappointed with it. The hype was just so hard to ignore and it's far from perfect. I'll try to focus on the good, though, because overall, it is very good. It has a somewhat original, fun, sci-fi premise of a multi-verse - but more "realistic" than the superhero movie version. I do feel like it's just a live-action version of an episode of Rick & Morty (as others have pointed out), but it's still really fun and interesting to watch. The production design is flawless. Michelle Yeoh is an absolute legend. Yeoh, plus the rest of the cast just knock it out of the park. It's so nice seeing Ke Huy Quan all grown up! He literally looks the same as he did in The Goonies. So insane. I also really like Stephanie Hsu - she may actually be the highlight of the movie for me. Completely different role than what I know her from (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Path). She has this really interesting, funny, sinister quality while being really likeable. There's also Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, James Hong (another legend!), and Harry Shum Jr in a small role. All are perfect in their roles. I think my only real problem is the length. I put off watching it for so long specifically because of how long it is (2 hrs and 19 mins). It feels even longer. They could have EASILY cut 20 minutes without effecting anything within the story - in fact, it could have even helped make it a little more cohesive because there are definitely a few parts where the story starts to meander and loses itself before it comes back. I know it's uncool to complain about the length of films, but, to me, this could have been a perfect movie if it had some tighter, more efficient storytelling. It's just frustrating! But overall, super fun movie - not my #1 (I still have After Yang as my top movie of the year), but it will likely be in my Top 10 of the year. 

4. Crimes of the Future - Cronenberg and that cast - seems like you can't go wrong. I did read some pretty tough reviews, though. It's pretty safe to say that if you're not a fan of Cronenberg's earlier work, then you won't like this. There's this weird dichotomy to it, in that it feels like old school Cronenberg, but it also feels extremely modern and relevant, which, I think, is super-duper cool. It's body horror mixed with romance and sexual desire. Surgery as not only a sexual act, but also a way to emotionally and spiritually connect with a partner - which seems "out there" as a concept but it's not far off from Cronenberg's previous efforts of discussing the connection between violent acts and sexual desires. It's certainly fascinating. I think his aim is to make the audience uncomfortable and he succeeds every time. This is why I feel like I have to respect it - it almost doesn't matter if I liked it or didn't (I did like it, but I tend to like his films - The Fly, eXistenZ, Crash, A History of Violence - there's just nobody doing it like him. Well, maybe his son, but it's a little early for such talk). The cast do a great job of selling the story - even Kristen Stewart. I'm not always on board with her performances (some are definitely far better than others), but her fast, whispered dialogue combined with the rhythmic blinking really works for her. I just think she's one of those actresses that you can tell is acting - like nothing ever feels genuine within her performances because she tries too hard to prove she can do it. On a side note: I would kill for a bed that anticipates my pain and adjusts accordingly. Seriously, who do I have to kill? 

5. Emergency - Really taken by surprise with this one - I thought it was going to be a fun, college party comedy, but it is sooooo much more than that. First, it's hilarious. The "don't be a sexist, coward, wiener" scene is definitely my favorite. I also laughed at the line "where's Princeton?" "It's in New Jersey"..."oh FUCK". LOL. And the scene where they all run after finding out "her name is Emma and she just told me that she's in high school". Just hilarious. Second, it's extremely believable with is really heartbreaking and scary. It's basically Superbad, but like, if there were actual real world consequences - one wrong turn creates a myriad of problems. The only big difference is that they don't really do anything wrong, they just happen to not be white (and if you think about Superbad, it would be a far different movie if it was two black kids getting up to those hijinks) - the premise is that these two college-aged black guys find a white girl passed out in their apartment. Along with their 3rd friend (who is Hispanic), they decide that calling the cops is out of the question, so the come up with a plan to get her help without involving the cops. Things escalate from there - and I won't spoil it, but it sets up a really interesting commentary on this gigantic portion of the American population that don't feel safe calling the cops in emergencies for fear of their own lives. There's also great dialogue about the black experience (it's combined with the "don't be a sexist, coward, wiener" scene. And along with being very funny, it's also thoughtful and resonating). The cast is fan-fucking-tastic, of mostly newcomers - and that is always exciting. I recognize RJ Cyler from my favorite movie of last year, The Harder They Fall, and also Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl. I loved him in both of those movies, and this is no exception. He's a talent to watch, for sure. Oh wait, one more scene that I really loved was the "Staying Alive" CPR scene - I laughed, but I also wanted to cry because I knew the movie was coming to a conclusion and it was, for sure, going to be devastating (and it is, but it also gives a bit of a hopeful feeling to it as well). This will definitely be among my Top movies of 2022. 

4 Thoughts on The Emmys

1. The Host - Over the past few years, there have been some truly terrible Emmy hosts (Cedric the Entertainer, Scarjo's husband, etc.), and this year isn't really any different. Although, I don't mind Kenan - I just don't think he's been funny since his days on Nickelodeon (I've tried watching some of his sketches on SNL and they are real cringe). I don't think many comedian/hosts know where the line is between being non-offensive and completely boring. Personally, I prefer when the hosts have a little bite to them - and take bigger risks with their jokes. This just all fell flat because Kenan played it very safe (I mean, his harshest joke was about Leo DiCaprio - a joke that's been made over and over again, and mostly done better by people on Twitter). I don't want to watch him dance to tv theme songs?? Who does??? Did people actually enjoy that? I think the only thing I liked is the reunion with Kel (I screamed!). I don't even remember him doing any other sketches or anything??? He was just blah. 

2. The Show - Overall, I think the show was very boring. Almost nothing exciting happened. The presenters stayed on track, the winners yelled out their thank yous while being played off by the music, and the announcer had way too much screen time (I think we saw her more than the host??). I feel like if you, like me, don't think SNL is funny anymore, then you will definitely be really bored by this - the announcer, Sam Jay (a writer for SNL) was so unfunny, and her voice was so jolting. It's like she knew people were falling asleep (she also mispronounced Taron Egerton's name - so she's automatically on my shit-list. It's like your one job as announcer - look up name pronunciations). The stage was also set up very oddly with some of the audience behind it so they had to look at the back of the presenters and winners all night. So awkward! A tie between the worst moment is definitely the Kia commercial in the middle of the show and the appearance of Pete Davidson (I always forget that he's supposed to be funny...). The highlight was Sheryl Lee Ralph's glorious rendition of "Endangered Species", followed by a wonderful, moving speech. There were a few funny presenters - Mindy Kaling (who looked stunning!) and B.J. Novak made me laugh with their bit about how writers are lazy now, writing only 8 episodes when they had to do 22. The Only Murders trio absolutely killed it - someone needs to get the three of them to host something (I know people were really rooting for them hosting the Oscars this year but they couldn't due to timing, but maybe next year????). And OF COURSE, I loved Taron and Paul Walter Hauser's little bit about British accents (I was honestly so worried for Taron presenting because he failed spectacularly in his last presenting venture. Don't YouTube it - it's so embarrassing.). Also, Geena Davis is an ICON. Okay, now that I'm listing it out, there were actually more highlights than I thought - but I still stand by the overall show being a complete snoozefest. 

3. The Winners - The only win I cared about was Amanda Seyfried for The Dropout. It's the only performance from this past year in television that I think about regularly (along with the performances in Black Bird, which will be eligible for next year and THEY BETTER SWEEP). It was a tough category (and Emmy voters really love Julia Garner - so I was nervous she would get a double win and I would have to start breaking stuff), so I'm glad she pulled it out. Everyone else was a bit...expected. Not necessarily a bad thing - Ted Lasso is one of the best comedies on television, Succession is a great show (not my favorite, but I get the love for it), Squid Game is fantastic, Jean Smart is a legend. I knew Abbott Elementary would get some love (I haven't watched it yet, but it's on the list!). Sheryl Lee Ralph has been acting since the 70s, so it was so joyful to see her have this moment. But there are a lot of those wins that I can't get behind. As I've said - Emmy voters love Julia Garner; I knew they would honor her performance for the final season, but literally every other nominee gave a better performance (but Rhea Seehorn should have had that in the bag!). I would say that all the awards for The White Lotus is surprising, but with ALL of those nominations, it was clearly an Emmy favorite. I definitely don't agree with any of those wins. Jennifer Coolidge is HILARIOUS and I adore her, but she is the same character in everything (and from what I can tell it's just a heightened version of her own personality. How is that an award-winning performance??). The show is a perfectly trashy, addictive drama, but I don't think there is anything particularly interesting about the writing or the directing (although Mike White is a super-weirdo nerd and I love it!). And now that I've finally watched Euphoria, I have to laugh at Zendaya getting all these awards. I haven't liked a performance of hers yet (she has some good moments in Malcolm & Marie), but I honestly thought Euphoria would change everything. It doesn't. She's awful - she just squints her eyes a lot to show emotions (the Reese Witherspoon school of acting). She seems like such a sweetheart, though, so I'm not exactly mad at her winning. I just really wish there were some surprise wins - they nominated some spectacular stuff that ended up winning nothing - Severance, Better Call Saul, Barry, Yellowjackets, The Great, What We Do in the Shadows. Next time, spread the love Emmy voters!!

4. The Fashion - My favorite part!! I love a good Emmy gown and some of these stars truly shined. I have a few favorites - Kerry Washington - the flowers, the volume - love it all (although it was a little wedding-y, I still adored it), Jung Ho-yeon's dress was STUNNING, and Alexandra Daddario looked spectacular (although, inappropriate. I appreciate a sheer dress, but her tits were just fully on display when The White Lotus won. I'm not complaining, but just not appropriate for this event. She might not have realized how sheer it was, either. Under different lights you couldn't see through it). Actually my favorite look was MJ Delaney, which is surprising to have a writer on this list - but the color and volume of that dress was a refreshing statement look. She looked gorgeous. I also liked all the men who wore white suits (Nicholas Braun, Andrew Garfield, Seth Rogen). I sort of liked Julia Garner's dress - it's at least interesting, compared to the see of sparkly fitted gowns. I also liked Sarah Paulson's two-piece ensemble, but the accessories were horrendous (that belt and that choker...together? Just no). My worst look is probably Juliette Lewis - the dress isn't that bad, but with those gloves? Eeek. 

Thoughts on 5 Films

1. The Black Phone - I quite liked this. The 70s aesthetic is done really well, Ethan Hawke is superbly creepy, and it has a fairly original horror concept (I'm not usually a fan of supernatural horror, but the mix of this with the real world fear of a child murderer works for me - plus the supernatural part is executed very well). It also absolutely nails the ending, which is rare for horror movies. The main kid, Mason Thames, is a really strong young actor - he reminds me a lot of the late Brad Renfro (and I LOVED Brad Renfro - one of those deaths that absolutely devastated me. The Client and Sleepers are two of my favorite movies from the 90s). And Jeremy Davies is a very under-rated actor - he excels everything he's in. There are parts that are a little stupid (like how he wastes time with the bike lock on the door instead of just going out a window??), but that goes with every horror film. I'm still confused as to how Scott Derrickson (the director) got the gig to direct Doctor Strange with a failed remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still and three moderately successful indie horror movies. But it's even more confusing that he didn't direct the sequel which was horror inspired! Hollywood makes no sense sometimes. 

2. Day Shift - This is very dumb, but in a mostly fun way. It's definitely going for a Michael Bay Bad Boys vibe in the beginning - the overly yellow saturated shots of Los Angeles, the 90s rap song, etc. But, it goes in an entirely different direction than what I was expecting. I did not know what it was about at all - I saw a new Netflix release with Jamie Foxx and, my love, Dave Franco and I just pressed play. So, needless to say, it very quickly caught me off guard. It's actually a bit like Men in Black but for vampire hunters - as if vampire hunting was a legit job that could be unionized. Fairly original concept for a vampire flick, and like I said, I mostly had fun with it. Foxx and Franco work off of each other really well, there's some fantastic vampire kills, a fast-paced story, and some funny dialogue. Plus, Snoop Dogg is ridiculous in this (in a good way), plus the cast also includes the girl from How to Get Away with Murder (I don't think I've ever seen her in anything else before?), Kevin from Shameless (Lip was my favorite character, but Kevin made me laugh the most. Such a perfect himbo), and Meagan Good (and she fixed her eyebrows from the last time I've seen her - that tv show Deception, which was like 10 years ago...has she been in anything since then???). It's entertainment on the most basic level, and sometimes that's ok. 

3. Not Okay - I'm really surprised by how much I liked this - I thought it was more of a vapid, but maybe funny, story of an influencer learning some big life lesson. But it is very reminiscent of God Bless America and World's Greatest Dad (speaking of these movies, what the heck happened to Bobcat Goldthwait??? He made two incredible movies over a decade ago and then peaced out? What's he been doing lately?). It's not quite the satire that those movies are, but it tackles the same topics of celebrity culture and obsessions, while updating it with influencers, performative activism, and trauma porn. Zoey Deutch is perfect in this role - she somehow still remains likeable even at her most vapid. And a completely unexpected and hilarious performance from Dylan O'Brien as...um...Pete Davidson? There are some shocking moments, like right off the bat, when Zoey's character declares herself as having "missed out" on the tragedy of 9/11 - which is foreshadowing for just how dark this story is willing to go to stress its point. It's also really funny (the line "can tone deaf be a brand? Isn't that what Lena Dunham does?" killed me). It's not necessarily something that I can relate to, as she asks in the beginning "have you ever wanted to be noticed so badly that you didn't even care what it was for?", uh...no, never in my whole life. I'm perfectly fine going unnoticed. I also have zero sympathy for her and the ending is a little disappointing - she supposedly "loses" everything but she moves back in with her parents, who are most definitely millionaires (that space in NYC? Millionaire.). So she really only loses her "clout", which...um...who cares? Overall, though, I really liked this. It's highly entertaining and I think it speaks to the dangers of living your life online. 

4. Luck - This is...not good. The third animated movie this year that I rated below 3 stars (Lightyear and Sonic 2 are the other two - this is not quite as bad as those two, but still...). I've been really impressed with Apple TV+ content, but mostly television and miniseries. Their movies have been...okay (I still can't believe CODA won a freakin' Oscar!), although this years Cha Cha Real Smooth might end up on my Best of 2022 list? It's #6 right now, and it's still early so probably not but I definitely liked it. This, though, is almost painful to sit through. I would have been bored out of my mind if I were a child. And incredibly confused - the plot is way overdone and I lost track of it about 1/2 way through. The animation looks like every other animated movie nowadays (aka nothing special or interesting in any way). I don't really have too much to say about it, but I did learn something new! Apparently black cats are good luck in Scotland! That's super cool. In America, there are always an overflow of black cats in shelters because people are so superstitious (and dumb). It's also hilarious to me that I knew that the person voicing the Scottish cat is not, in fact, Scottish before even looking it up (*spoiler* it becomes part of the plot that he's not Scottish, so it makes sense as to why this person was chosen for the voice but at first I was super confused). Also, the flamboyant rainbow unicorn is...uh...straight? Uh...yeah sure okay. 

5. Prey - I'm enjoying writing this post because there are THREE WHOLE MOVIES here that are above 3 stars (this, The Black Phone and Not Okay are all 3.5 - very close to 4 star movies. I feel like this never happens to me nowadays...)!!! When this was released, I had my doubts - it's just so hard to make prequels work, but then I kept reading more and more great reviews so my expectations were pretty high by the time I got around to watching it. They were mostly met. I definitely think it's a little too slow in the beginning for a Predator movie, at least. There's a really distracting lens flare that is super annoying, and I really don't need to see all the dead animals. But, other than that...it's super fun! There are some really great intense scenes (the scene with the bear is SUPERB!!). Amber Midthunder is a star in the making, which is really exciting. She was wonderful in Legion, but then really awful in that Liam Neeson movie, so I really wasn't sure how her career was going to go. I think she does a really great job here. I know a lot of people were upset that a girl beats the predator, and honestly, sometimes I have "suspension of disbelief" problems when it comes to movies with tiny women being physically stronger than they actually are. But she doesn't beat him on physical strength, and she has a lot of help along the way, which makes the whole thing totally believable (as believable as a movie like this can be). So those critiques are pure misogyny and nonsense. She's a badass. Deal with it. This movie makes for a perfect cap to The Predator trilogy (I have not seen Predators and from what I understand it is for the best).