May 19, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Dario Yazbek Bernal, Diego Boneta, Eligio Meléndez, Michael Franco, Naian González Norvind, New Order, Samantha Yazareth Anaya
New Order (CREDIT: NEON)
Starring: Diego Boneta, Naian González Norvind, Samantha Yazareth Anaya, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Eligio Meléndez
Director: Michael Franco
Running Time: 88 Minutes
Rating: R for Violence, Nudity, and Torture
Release Date: May 21, 2021 (Limited)
New Order at first looks like it’s going to be a nice story about a high-society wedding, but then soon enough there’s a mass rape scene that doesn’t give you any time to get your bearings. Well, I suppose it was never going to be a nice story. It takes a little while for the violence to arrive, but before it does, we’re witness to an especially angst-ridden ceremony. An elderly man named Rolando (Eligio Meléndez) needs 200,000 pesos for a heart operation for his wife, so he shows up to the wedding, as it’s being thrown by a family he used to work for. He’s mostly treated as a nuisance, but the young bride Marianne (Naian González Norvind) actually cares enough to step out from her own nuptials and help deliver Rolando’s wife to where she needs to go. Meanwhile, protesters are crowding the streets of Mexico City and full-blown revolution is only one gunshot away.
I’ll admit to a fair amount of ignorance about the social status quo in Mexico, but as a cinematic experience, I don’t think that matters too much. New Order is plainly miserable no matter what context you’re aware of. It didn’t have to be that way. The first 30 minutes promise a fascinating mix of high society satire, social commentary, and running-against-the-clock thriller. But then Marianne and a bunch of other people are taken hostage, and we’re forced to endure them being relentlessly tortured. And then we’re forced to endure that some more, and it all just feels so empty. At first, I cared about what would happen to Marianne and Rolando and his wife, but that investment just frittered away unceremoniously.
Also, there’s a visual motif about green paint that had me going, “What’s the deal?!” (I never figured out what the deal was.)
New Order is Recommended If You Like: Salo-level torture
Grade: 2 out of 5 Pesos
May 18, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Andy García, Babs Olusanmokun, Chris Reilly, Chris Rock, Darren Lynn Bousman, DeObia Oparei, Eddie Marsan, Guy Ritchie, Holt McCallany, Jason Statham, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Cowdery, Josh Hartnett, Laz Alonso, Lyne Renée, Marisol Nichols, Max Minghella, Niamh Algar, Raúl Castillo, Rob Delaney, Samuel L. Jackson, Saw, Scott Eastwood, Spiral, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, The Book of Saw, Wrath of Man
(CREDIT: Brooke Palmer; Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)
Spiral:
Starring: Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Samuel L. Jackson, Marisol Nichols
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: May 14, 2021 (Theaters)
Wrath of Man:
Starring: Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Hartnett, Chris Reilly, Laz Alonso, Raúl Castillo, DeObia Oparei, Eddie Marsan, Scott Eastwood, Niamh Algar, Babs Olusanmokun, Josh Cowdery, Andy García, Rob Delaney, Lyne Renée
Director: Guy Ritchie
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: May 7, 2021 (Theaters)
I’m tempted to say that Spiral is my favorite Saw movie, but that wouldn’t mean all that much, as it’s only the second one I’ve ever seen. And it might not even be true anyway, since I enjoyed the philosophical conundrums that Saw 2 made me ponder. But Spiral has a whole “surprisingly favorite” vibe to it in opposition to the rest of the series. It may not be entirely different from its predecessors, but it diverges enough for me to go, “I’m pleased with the new direction.” I may not have seen Saw, Saw‘s III–IV, Saw 3D, or Jigsaw, but I’m familiar enough with them to feel like I’m emerging upon a new horizon. The torture is still too mentally and visually taxing, but the game’s rules and players have been updated.
As for Wrath of Man, I can confidently say that it is indeed my favorite Guy Ritchie movie. Although I should note that I haven’t seen his early stuff, so this might sound like faint praise. (My previous favorite by default was probably Aladdin. Or the parts of The Gentleman with Hugh Grant.) But Wrath of Man nevertheless stands tall on its own, and in opposition to the rest of its director’s filmography. Instead of being about a bunch of gangsters having a bloody good time, this is about a bunch of criminals and working stiffs being deathly, DEATHLY serious about everything. This movie is so bleak. It’s as bleak as a butt. It’s an elemental examination of Violence, Retribution, and Pure Evil. I don’t want to spend all my moviegoing hours in Wrath of Man Land, but visiting there every once in a while provides a healthy catharsis.
GRADES:
Spiral: 3 out of 5 Minghella Rocks
Wrath of Man: 4 out of 5 Statham Hartnetts
May 17, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anthony O'Donnell, Damian Lewis, Dream Alliance, Dream Horse, Euros Lyn, horse, Joanna Page, Karl Johnson, Nicholas Farrell, Owen Teale, Siân Phillips, Steffan Rhodri, Toni Collette
Dream Horse (CREDIT: Kerry Brown/Bleecker Street & Topic Studios)
Starring: Toni Collette, Damian Lewis, Owen Teale, Joanna Page, Karl Johnson, Steffan Rhodri, Anthony O’Donnell, Nicholas Farrell, Siân Phillips
Director: Euros Lyn
Running Time: 113 Minutes
Rating: PG for A Few Horse Troubles
Release Date: May 21, 2021 (Theaters)/June 11, 2021 (On Demand)
I watched Dream Horse right in the thick of Triple Crown season, so I was very much in the mood for some equine racing drama. (Or at least as much as I possibly can be in the mood in any given year.) But this is no American horse racing movie! No indeed, the action is across the pond in Wales. But that’s perfectly fine, because as far as I can tell (as someone who’s only watched the sport on TV and never in person), the Welsh racing courses look fairly similar to Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Belmont Park. Much less familiar are those accents – I could barely understand what anyone was saying! Much of the cast members are Welsh natives, although the two leads are Australian (Toni Collette) and English (Damian Lewis), though they bite into the accents as heavily as everyone else. Despite this language-in-common barrier, the pastoral charms of Dream Horse still shine through. It’s an underdog sports story, after all, and that’s something I’m not inclined to resist.
The titular true-life thoroughbred goes by the name of Dream Alliance. His story is a bit of a cross between that of Seabiscuit and Secretariat (which is awfully convenient for American viewers). He comes from the humblest of beginnings, but his top-notch skills are undeniable. In his first race, he initially just bucks around in a circle. It takes his jockey about ten seconds to straighten him out and actually get him racing, but by the end of it, he’s within striking distance of the victory. It’s a moment practically tailor-made for whatever the Welsh equivalent of SportsCenter is.
But as awesome as Dream Alliance is, this movie is more about the motley crew surrounding him. They’re led by Jan Vokes (Colette), a bartender whose previous breeding experience consists of mere dogs and pigeons. She gathers a group of her neighbors to pool their money to raise Dream, and it’s a classic case of the hoi polloi crashing the dignified upper-crust party. Although nobody really seems to actually mind this rowdy crew that gets excited by things like stumbling across Andrew Lloyd Webber while taking a leak. This isn’t the upper crust so much as a relatively crustless society. Really, everyone seems to generally like each other, so the conflicts that do arise are thanks to the fateful whims of sudden injuries and limited finances. It all gets resolved with a classic prescription of “yearning for something bigger than your day-to-day life,” and the dosage is adequately effective.
Dream Horse is Recommended If You Like: Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Incredibly thick accents
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Lengths
May 14, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun, Alexandre Aja, Aly & AJ, Amy Adams, Android, Angelina Jolie, Army of the Dead, Book of Saw, Chris Rock, Daddy's Home, Delta Kream, Jason Zuffranieri, Jeopardy!, Joe Wright, MTV Movie & TV Awards, Oxygen, Profile, St. Vincent, The Black Keys, The Underground Railroad, The Woman in the Window, Those Who Wish Me Dead, Tournament of Champions
The Underground Railroad (CREDIT: Amazon Prime Video/YouTube Screenshot)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Army of the Dead (May 14 in Select Theaters, May 21 on Netflix)
–Oxygen (May 12 on Netflix) – Directed by Alexandre Aja, but no piranhas.
–Profile (Theaters)
–Spiral (Theaters) – Chris Rock joins the Book of Saw.
–Those Who Wish Me Dead (Theaters and HBO Max) – Might check out to see what Angelina Jolie is up to.
–The Woman in the Window (May 14 on Netflix) – Joe Wright directs Amy Adams.
TV
–The Underground Railroad (May 14 on Amazon)
-2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards (May 16 on MTV)
-2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted (May 17 on MTV)
-2021 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions (May 17-28, check local listings) – 19-game winner Jason Zuffranieri looks like the one to beat.
Music
-Aly & AJ, A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun – This came out last week.
-St. Vincent, Daddy’s Home
-The Black Keys, Delta Kream – Dan and Pat cover hill country blues.
May 11, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Amir Rahimzadeh, Christine Adams, Emma Carter, Morgan Watkins, Profile, Screen Life, Screenlife, Shazad Latif, Timur Bekmambetov, Valene Kane
Profile (CREDIT: BEZELEVS and Focus Features)
Starring: Valene Kane, Shazad Latif, Christine Adams, Morgan Watkins, Amir Rahimzadeh, Emma Carter
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Rating: R for Language and Images of Violent ISIS Activity
Release Date: May 14, 2021 (Theaters)
I’m a sucker for a good gimmick, and Timur Bekmambetov has hit upon a pretty dang excellent one with his series of “Screen Life” films. With the likes of Unfriended, Unfriended: Dark Web, and Searching, he’s produced some weirdly irresistible flicks that are presented entirely within the confines of a computer screen. Now he’s stepped into the Screen Life Director’s Chair himself for Profile, based on the nonfiction book In The Skin of a Jihadist, which documents journalist Anna Erelle’s efforts to contact an ISIS recruiter via Facebook. I’ve watched these movies on the big screen and on the TV screen, but not once have I ever watched them in their entirety on a computer. They certainly don’t lose any effectiveness they might have had by playing out just a few inches away from my face. No matter what distance I watch them from, they’re thoroughly intimate and all-encompassing, and Profile is no different.
Profile‘s stand-in for Erelle is Amy Whittaker (Valene Kane), a constantly stressed-out London-based reporter with an assignment that promises a rewarding payday but at the expense of her emotional stability. Under the guise of “Melody,” a 20-year-old convert to Islam, she soon attracts the attraction of Bilel (Shazad Latif), an ISIS leader in the market for recruiting young European women to Syria to join the fight for the Islamic State. Both Amy and Bilel are making their cases through layers of dishonesty, as she concocts justifications for her investigates instincts and he underplays his organization’s propensity for violence and human trafficking. But the best undercover work is driven by honest emotions, and Amy and Bilel do appear to forge a genuine connection. Bilel also has roots in London, and they’re both disillusioned by a country that failed to take care of their families. Everyone has their vulnerabilities, and Profile makes it inescapably clear how they can be preyed upon.
I’ve been singing the praises of Screen Life from the beginning, and this might just be its best use yet. We’re entirely stuck within the point of view of Amy, someone who’s losing any outside perspective that could keep her from losing herself. She gradually merges with the Melody persona, and for an hour and a half, you just might as well. Our online lives are not our entire lives, and it is important to be regularly reminded of that. Profile‘s entire raison d’être may be that everything is always connected, but weirdly enough, it might also be one of the most effective tools to convince us to step away every once in a while. Indeed, this is a movie that has been made by people who have beheld modern society and wondered, “What have we wrought?”
Profile is Recommended If You Like: The Screen Life genre, Undercover work, Freeze frame detective skills
Grade: 4 out of 5 Winking Cat GIFs
May 7, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Television
Jason Statham, Mainstream, Mythic Quest, Nancy Wilson, Van Weezer, Weezer, Wrath of Man, You and Me, Ziwe, Ziwe Fumudoh
Ziew (CREDIT: Showtime/YouTube Screenshot)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Mainstream (Theaters and On Demand)
–Wrath of Man (Theaters) – It’s the latest from Jason Statham, can you handle it?!
TV
–Mythic Quest Season 2 Premiere (May 7 on Apple TV+) – I’m still on Season 1, though!
–Ziwe Series Premiere (May 9 on Showtime) – I’m hearing big things are in store for this Ziwe Fumudoh lady.
Music
-Weezer, Van Weezer
-Nancy Wilson, You and Me – One of the Heart sisters goes solo!
May 4, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Anna Konkle, Ed Helms, Evan Jonigkeit, Fred Melamed, Jo Firestone, Julio Torres, Nicole Beckwith, Nora Dunn, Patti Harrison, Rosalind Chao, Sufe Bradshaw, Tig Notaro, Together Together
Together Together (CREDIT: Bleecker Street/YouTube Screenshot)
Starring: Ed Helms, Patti Harrison, Julio Torres, Rosalind Chao, Tig Notaro, Sufe Bradshaw, Fred Melamed, Nora Dunn, Anna Konkle, Evan Jonigkeit, Jo Firestone
Director: Nikole Beckwith
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: April 23, 2021
Now that I’ve seen Together Together, I’ve got to wonder, can I now call it “Together Together … Together“? Do Ed Helms and Patti Harrison have room for a third. And would that third be anybody (and everybody) in the audience to see their little film? That might sound like an awkward arrangement, but it surely fits with the vibe of a fortysomething single dad-to-be forging a tight platonic bond with his twentysomething surrogate. But anyway, what I’d really like to focus on is Anna Konkle, who shows up for one scene as a New Age-y birthing coach. Excuse me while I fan myself. Also, Nora Dunn and Fred Melamed are on duty as Ed Helms’ parents, which is significant because I’ve also seen both of them in other parental roles recently (Dunn on the new ABC sitcom Home Economics and Melamed in the sensational Shiva Baby).
Grade: Julio-Torres-as-One-Man-Greek-Chorus Energy
May 3, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Christoffer Nordenrot, Crazy Pictures, Jesper Barkselius, Lisa Henni, Pia Halvorsen, The Unthinkable
The Unthinkable (CREDIT: Magnet Releasing)
Starring: Christoffer Nordenrot, Lisa Henni, Jesper Barkselius, Pia Halvorsen
Director: Crazy Pictures
Running Time: 129 Minutes
Rating: Unrated, But PG-13-Level for General Disaster Movie Energy
Release Date: May 7, 2021 (Theaters and On Demand)
If you’ve ever seen M. Night Shyamalan’s 2008 eco-thriller The Happening and thought, “I like this, but I wish it were more Swedish,” then The Unthinkable just might be the movie for you! The Happening is frequently dinged as one of the twist-meister’s silliest efforts, but it does feature striking images of people inexplicably shooting themselves and walking off the roofs of skyscrapers. The Unthinkable ramps that energy up to 11 with its scrumptious selection of chaotic vehicular pile-ups. One sequence plays out like the highway chase from Bad Boys 2, but as if Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were just sitting in their squad car, gaping on as the mayhem crashes in on them. But unlike the typical wham-bam actioner, we’re invited to linger upon this violence and truly ponder why society is suddenly crumbling into apocalyptic chaos right before our eyes.
This phenomena remains unexplained for a while, which is positively chilling. Eventually we do learn the cause behind all the calamities, even though I for one probably would not have recommended straying from the ambiguity. But the explanation we do get is a doozy: it turns out there’s some sort of agent in the rain that makes people forgetful in a way that’s likened to “getting Alzheimer’s in 15 minutes.” The Russians are the suspected culprits.
Honestly, at this point, this actually sounds more American than Swedish, save for the fact that it’s taking place against the backdrop of the Midsummer holiday. Also, there’s some sort of domestic drama wherein a fellow named Alex (Christoffer Nordenrot) is dealing with the fallout of growing up with his abusive father Björn (Jesper Barkselius). Plus, Alex may or may not still be carrying a flame for his childhood friend (Lisa Henni). I’m not sure what all of that backstory adds, but it’s at least interesting that The Unthinkable is basically three movies in one. Ultimately, though, I just care a lot more about the business with the sudden-onset Alzheimer’s and kind of wish Alex were also more focused on solving that mystery.
The Unthinkable is Recommended If You Like: The Happening, Melodramatic family drama, The cinematic persistence of Evil Russia
Grade: 3 out of 5 Car Crashes
April 30, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Entertainment To-Do List, Music, Podcasts, Sports, Television
22 vs. Earth, Girls5eva, Golden State Warriors, Jessica St. Clair, June Diane Raphael, Limbo, Marvel's Arena of Heroes, Michael Che, NBA, New Orleans Pelicans, Pose, Royal Blood, Soul, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, That Damn Michael Che, The Deep Dive, The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Typhoons
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (CREDIT: Sony Pictures Animation Inc.)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–22 vs. Earth (April 30 on Disney+) – Prequel short to Soul.
–Limbo (Theaters)
–The Mitchells vs. the Machines (April 30 on Netflix)
TV
–Pose Season 3 Premiere (May 2 on FX) – Final season alert!
–Star Wars: The Bad Batch Series Premiere (May 4 on Disney+)
–Girls5eva Season 1 (May 6 on Peacock) – A 90s girl group tries to make a comeback…
–That Damn Michael Che Series Premiere (May 6 on HBO Max)
Music
-Royal Blood, Typhoons
Sports on TV
–NBA Special Edition: Marvel’s Arena of Heroes: Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans (May 3 on ESPN) – An NBA game with Marvel superheroes mixed in.
Podcasts
–The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael – Jessica and June and friends talk about what it’s like to be a woman.
April 28, 2021
jmunney
Cinema, Movie Reviews
Amir El-Masry, Ben Sharrock, Kais Nashef, Kenneth Collard, Kwabena Ansah, Limbo, Ola Orebiyi, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Vikash Bhai
Limbo (CREDIT: Focus Features)
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah, Kenneth Collard, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Kais Nashef
Director: Ben Sharrock
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Rating: R for Occasionally Angry Language
Release Date: April 30, 2021 (Theaters)
Limbo is like Napoleon Dynamite, but if it were about refugees on a remote Scottish island instead of high schoolers in Idaho, and if the Pedro character were the lead and the Napoleon character his wacky roommate. Both feature oodles of quirky cinematography of patient wide shots. Both have a charmingly contemplative spirit. Both have their hearts in the fringes of society. Both include awkward classroom scenes. And both feature a climactic musical sequence: where once Napoleon boogied down to Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat,” Limbo‘s Omar strums out a triumphant performance on his grandfather’s oud.
Writer-director Ben Sharrock is fully attuned to the light surrealism of an existence in which so much of your day-to-day life is beyond your control. Omar (Amir El-Masry) is a little hard to read, but it seems like he’s happy to have escaped the strife of his native Syria. And while he puts on a stoic face, he’s clearly yearning for something more permanent. He lives in a mostly unfurnished house with three fellow refugee roommates, and the rest of his routine is just as starkly unfurnished. He spends much of his time attending cultural assimilation classes that cover everything from English grammar to role-playing scenarios for sexual harassment awareness. Every few days, he calls his parents via a payphone on the side of an empty road. And when he goes grocery shopping, he appears to be the only customer, and all he hopes to find is his beloved sumac spice.
Omar’s refugee experience could be a whole hell of a lot worse, but his melancholy predicament makes you hope that he can improve it by taking some small measure of control wherever he can. So when he asks the shopkeeper about the sumac and it eventually shows up, we feel that victory. And when he reaches out to his estranged brother, it cuts even deeper. And when he finally picks up his oud after betraying no interest in it for most of the time we spend with him, it’s cause for doing cartwheels in the aisle. I can’t speak for everyone else who’s seen Limbo, but I know that I couldn’t help but air-oud to that performance.
Limbo is Recommended If You Like: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Wes Anderson symmetry, Cliff-filled seaside isles
Grade: 4 out of 5 Apricots
Older Entries
Newer Entries
Jmunney's Blog 