May 7, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Apricot Lane Farms, John Chester, Molly Chester, The Biggest Little Farm
CREDIT: NEON
Starring: John Chester, Molly Chester, Todd the Dog, Emma the Pig, Greasy the Chicken
Director: John Chester
Running Time: 91 Minutes
Rating: PG for Coyotes Attacking Livestock and Mud- and Manure-Based Messes
Release Date: May 10, 2019 (Limited)
In 2011, John and Molly Chester moved out of their cramped Los Angeles apartment to make a go of it on two hundred unkempt acres in Ventura County. They had a dream of doing things a little differently, an alternative, if you will, to the factory farms typical of modern American agriculture. Luckily for us, John is a documentary filmmaker, and he had the cameras rolling for much of the journey.
The Biggest Little Farm is the document of their ultimate triumph over great odds. Whenever a new problem arises and seems intractable (not enough rain, too much rain, relentless predators, thoughtless pests), the Chesters somehow manage to consistently turn crises into opportunities. It almost feels a little too perfect. To be fair, we do see the struggle, but I would have liked to have seen even more of it. We could have gotten really deep in the process of the problem-solving. Oh well, maybe that’s what the special features are for. It would have been tough to fit all that in a ninety-minute package. As it is, though, what we have is a valuable record of the passage of time and its truly transformative possibilities. John has a preternaturally keen eye for capturing the wondrous chronological workings of nature, and the result is inspiring cinema that shows that maybe, just maybe, uprooting everything can work out just like we need it to.
The Biggest Little Farm is Recommended If You Like: Lifestyle transformations, Videos of animals giving birth
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Promises
May 7, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anthony Boyle, Colm Meaney, Craig Roberts, Derek Jacobi, Dome Karukoski, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lily Collins, Nicholas Hoult, Patrick Gibson, Tolkien, Tom Glynne-Carney
CREDIT: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, Tom Glynne-Carney, Craig Roberts
Director: Dome Karukoski
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Flashes of World War I
Release Date: May 10, 2019
Would you be intrigued to know that some of the elements of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s actual life? The biopic Tolkien is counting on it, although it is not especially committed to that idea. The legendary English fantasy writer (as played dutifully by Nicholas Hoult) is haunted by memories of World War I with rather dragon-esque fire in the sky, and he has a tight group of schoolmates that one might call a fellowship. But beyond those (easily identifiable, not particularly cinematic) connections, this is a fairly straightforward story about a boy of modest, tragic (Dickensian, even) origins who made good. It is a life well-lived, but not necessarily captivating at every little moment. But at least his romance with his future wife Edith (Lily Collins) is compelling, built as it is on mutual respect and fascination. The emotions in their declarations of love are not atypical for the genre, but the language is unique and heartfelt. Focusing the whole movie on this intimate love story might have been a more inspired choice.
Tolkien is Recommended If You Like: Tolkien completism, The less interesting story behind the story
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Cellar Doors
May 6, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
2019 Tribeca Film Festival, Ben Burtt, Bodhi Palmer, Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile, Gary Rydstrom, John Malkovich, Lily Collins, Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound, Mark Webber, Midge Costin, Ted Bundy, Teresa Palmer, The Place of No Words, Tribeca, Tribeca Film Festival, Walter Murch, Zac Efron
Photo Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival
Another spring, another Tribeca Film Festival. As is my custom, I took in a few films at the Lower Manhattan fest, and now I am here to report back to you what I thought of the offerings. Read on to discover what was in store in my 2019 Tribeca Film Festival Adventure!
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May 3, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Podcasts, Television
Charlize Theron, Long Shot, Podcasts, Primetime, Primetime podcast, Ron Burgundy, Seth Rogen, The Ron Burgundy Podcast, Todd VanDerWerff, Will Ferrell
CREDIT: Philippe Bossé
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Long Shot (Theatrically Nationwide)
Podcasts
–Primetime (Premieres May 9) – Hosted by Vox Cultural Critic Todd VanDerWerff!
–The Ron Burgundy Podcast – This premiered back in February, but somehow I’m only realizing just now that it’s available.
May 2, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Christa Théret, Guillaume Canet, Juliette Binoche, Non-Fiction, Nora Hamzawi, Olivier Assayas, Vincent Macaigne
Courtesy of IFC Films
Starring: Guillaume Canet, Juliette Binoche, Vincent Macaigne, Christa Théret, Nora Hamzawi
Director: Olivier Assayas
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Rating: R for Some Sex Here, Some Sex There
Release Date: May 3, 2019 (Limited)
We may be living in a decidedly digital age, but believe it or not, there are still people in 2019 who write honest-to-goodness books. Olivier Assayas’ French relationship dramedy Non-Fiction ponders what the Internet hath wrought on the world of writing by way of examining the life of a literary editor. This film is hardly the condemnation of modern technology that premise might suggest, though. Instead, it features thoughtful conversations about how online discourse has actually amplified writing and maybe even improved it overall. A series of discussions about the status of literature may sound boring to some, but at least Assayas and his actors bring the necessary gusto to their dialogue. Alas, Non-Fiction eventually just devolves into a series of affairs whose consequences feel paper-thin and that do not really have anything to do with the literary industry, beyond the fact that some of the people involved coincidentally happen to work in that business.
Non-Fiction is Recommended If You Like: French people constantly talking and/or sleeping with each other
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Rejections
April 26, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Avengers: Endgame, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Knock Down the House, Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Samantha Bee
CREDIT: Disney/Marvel Studios
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Avengers: Endgame (Theatrically Nationwide)
–Knock Down the House (Starts Streaming May 1 on Netflix) – Political doc about AOC and other up-and-comers!
TV
–Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (April 27 on TBS) – Samantha Bee and the rest of the Full Frontal crew are at it again.
Music
-2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (April 27 on HBO) – Radiohead, Roxy Music, and Janet Jackson, oh my!
April 25, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Adam Driver, Joana Ribeiro, Jonathan Pryce, Olga Kurylenko, Stellan Skarsgård, Terry Gilliam, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
CREDIT: Amazon Studios
As the movie with perhaps the most tortured backstory in the history of cinema, it is unsurprising that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote incorporates plenty of elements about the difficulty of mounting a massive production. Of course, as it revolves around a man who is convinced that he is actually Cervantes’ title adventurer after starring in an adaptation of the novel, it was always going to be somewhat meta. I don’t think Terry Gilliam taps into anything especially uniquely profound in this regard, but it does feel like he is facing the plain truth right in its face. I have made a few short films myself, and I have a brother and plenty of friends who have worked in film and TV, so I understand the instinct to incorporate what’s going in your life into the films you make. Thus, in the end, this whole quixotic endeavor feels oddly comforting to me.
I give The Man Who Killed Don Quixote A Hug and a Lullaby.
April 19, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Cage the Elephant, Hail Satan?, I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson, Little Woods, Social Cues, The Curse of La Llorona, Tim Robinson
CREDIT: Netflix
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–The Curse of La Llorona (Theatrically Nationwide) – I have to watch all the horror!
–Hail Satan? (Limited Theatrically)
–Little Woods (Limited Theatrically)
TV
–I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson (Premieres April 23 on Netflix) – This looks crazy.
Music
-Cage the Elephant, Social Cues
April 18, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Conjuring Universe, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, La Llorona, Linda Cardellini, Marisol Ramirez, Michael Chaves, Patricia Velásquez, Raymond Cruz, Roman Christou, Sean Patrick Thomas, The Curse of La Llorona, Tony Amendola
CREDIT: Warner Bros.
Starring: Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Patricia Velásquez, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Roman Christou, Marisol Ramirez, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tony Amendola
Director: Michael Chaves
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Rating: R for Intense Horror Makeup, Drowning, Skin Burns, and Some Gunshots
Release Date: April 19, 2019
It’s generally promising when a horror movie grounds itself in some well-crafted folklore, and The Curse of La Llorona offers a bit of an emotional doozy. Originating in Mexico, the tale of La Llorona (“The Weeping Woman” in English) is of a mother who drowned her two sons after becoming enslaved by a blind rage from discovering her husband with another woman. She now lurks the spirit world in a white gown, taking other children as her own and often drowning them as well. A notice posted by the studio outside the theater assured me that La Llorona is indeed somewhere out in the real world. You don’t have to believe in ghosts to accept that as effective showmanship. This is a monster with a formidable motivation, enough to make you go, “Well, what are we going to do if she targets us?”
The standoff comes to Linda Cardellini as a widowed mother working as a social worker in 1973 Los Angeles. She first encounters La Llorona through her work with children living in unsafe homes. If you want to, you can dig into the subtext about the entanglement of domestic abuse and folklore. But this film is more about the surface thrills of discovering just how the boogeyman will pop up when someone closes a bathroom cabinet or opens up an umbrella. If you’re looking for camera tricks that say “Boo!”, La Llorona will scratch that itch. It also excels in some surprisingly goofy tension-breaking, especially when Raymond Cruz (Tuco of Breaking Bad) shows up as an ex-priest mystic man to exorcise some evil spirits by rubbing eggs all over the house. Weirdly enough, that moment makes sense in context. Bottom line: La Llorona efficiently pulls off its weirder-than-expected approach with a confident use of the standard horror toolkit.
The Curse of La Llorona is Recommended If You Like: Mama, Annabelle, The power of the crucifix
Grade: 3 out of 5 White Gowns
April 16, 2019
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Baphomet, Hail Satan?, Lucien Greaves, Penny Lane, Satanic Temple
CREDIT: Magnolia Pictures
Starring: Lucien Greaves
Director: Penny Lane
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Rating: R for Religious Nudity
Release Date: April 17, 2019 (New York)/April 19, 2019 (Los Angeles)
After watching the documentary Hail Satan?, I am seriously considering joining the Satanic Temple, even though I have been perfectly happy all my life as a Roman Catholic. Maybe I can have it both ways. If dual national citizenship is a thing, then why can’t dual religious membership also be?
Hail Satan? is directed by Penny Lane, who became a Satanic Temple member herself after shooting wrapped. The Temple does not worship the Christian conception of the devil (though in some ways its teachings are based on an alternate interpretation of the Bible), nor does it promote unseemly practices like blood orgies or human sacrifice. It is also separate from the LeVeyan Satanism of the Church of Satan that has been around since the 1960s, though it does share some similar tenets. The Satanic Temple was co-founded in 2013 by Malcolm Jarry and Lucien Greaves, the latter of whom serves as the group’s spokesperson and the primary voice of Hail Satan? Greaves is eminently logical and boundlessly patient, making him a convincing salesperson to the intellectually disaffected and a compelling personality to base a documentary around.
For many, the appeal of the Satanic Temple is that it avoids dogmatism while offering the community of organized religion that wouldn’t be a part of a fully atheistic lifestyle. And save for that communal aspect, much of the Temple’s purpose is civic activism, in the form of holding an American society accountable to its ideals of religious tolerance. Much of the documentary focuses around efforts to erect a statue of the goat-headed, bewinged Baphomet outside the Oklahoma and Arkansas State Capitols alongside Ten Commandments monuments in the name of making it clear that the government is not playing favorites when it comes to religions. What could come off as trollish in less thoughtful hands instead comes off as the highest form of patriotism from the Satanic Temple. Even when some cracks start to show within the Temple’s ranks (as they almost inevitably do in any organization that grows to a certain size), it is gratifying to witness the portrait of a group living up to its own ideals.
Hail Satan? is Recommended If You Like: Going Clear, Religious freedom, Governments living up to their constitutional ideals
Grade: 4 out of 5 Baphomets
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