masonfisk Reviews (2,017)

The Return (2024)

A BIT OF A CLASSIC WELL TOLD...!

[8/10 · 17 May 2025]

A reworking of Homer's The Odyssey from last year which reunites The English Patient co-stars Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes & Oscar winner Juliette Binoche. Fiennes plays Odysseus, now a battered old man who literally washes up on the shores of his home to find his land in turmoil as a large group of suitors are awaiting to hear who Queen Penelope, Binoche, will choose since Fiennes is presumed dead. Machinations are also under way to kill their son, Charlie Plummer, to force Binoche's hand but he's quickly ferried to hidden safety by her allies. Meanwhile Fiennes, who most believe to be a vagabond who may've fought in the big war, now's just a tragic figure amongst the virile specimens who gather awaiting Binoche's choice. Not having read the great book but knowing the breadth & length of it w/certain scenes known to me as if by some alchemy, this film works as a treatise of PTSD & post war relationships which need to be rebuilt from the ground up. Director Uberto Pasolini (who according to Wiki has been in the business since the 80's working as a producer & other various below the line areas) has made a full throated effort here giving his leads a lot of meat to chew on w/the final sequence when Fiennes rebows his old staff to shoot an arrow through some axe heads definitely an edge of the seat affair.

The Order (I) (2024)

PERFS SAVE THIS BASIC THRILLER...!

[7/10 · 14 May 2025]

A thriller from last year starring Oscar nominee Jude Law & Nicholas Hoult. Based on true events during the 1980's, Law's fed comes into a small town to stifle the attempts of a white supremacist sect, led by Hoult, who hopes to instill a race war against the US. W/family problems in his rearview, Law manages to corral a local cop, Tye Sheridan, to help in his cause (later also getting Jurnee Smollet, another fed, to further his efforts) as he tries to figure out what Hoult's game is as they manage to arrest one of his crew for being behind the gun purchases used in a highway armored car heist. The attraction here is the performances, particularly Hoult who has a cool mien of intensity, which overwhelm a story to be fair which is pretty basic w/director Justin Kurzel (Assassin's Creed/Macbeth) managing to keep all his stylistic plates in the air w/o bringing shame to the cinematic proceedings.

The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)

A LITTLE LIGHT ON THE ROMANCE...!

[6/10 · 13 May 2025]

A recent comedy drama. A lottery winner, Tim Key, who lost his wife years ago decides to foot the bill & reunite a once prominent singing duo, Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan & Tom Basden, to come perform at the titular isle for a concert. Arriving first, Basden finds out the concert will be for one, Key, since he's a proclaimed number one fan which throws Basden for a loop especially when Mulligan shows up w/her current hubby, Akemnji Ndifornyen, deep sixing any romantic reconciliation (if ever that was a thought in Basden's head in the first place!). Key, forever w/his talkative button stuck in the 'on' position, comments w/off key insight on the events unfolding which has Basden at a loss but since the check has cleared for him to perform, the show will go on or will it? Basden, after hearing from Ndifornyen they desperately need the performance money, still engages Mulligan in a past argument about why they broke up in the first place which leads her & her man to leave so Key may be stuck for enjoyment which sucks since the widower looks to have kickstarted a romance w/Sian Clifford, the woman who runs the isle's sole mart. Upping the promise of their original short, the stars (& co-writers) have expanded their premise to feature length w/middling results since if you're hoping for the duo's reunion to be successful, you're not going to be pleased leaving the bulk of the film to focus on the bickering pair (to be fair the bickering is one sided!) which comes off as very droll & frustrating but ultimately if you're not attuned for the delivery, you may not care in the first place.

Behold a Pale Horse (1964)

OH FRED NO...!

[2/10 · 12 May 2025]

A massive misfire from master filmmaker Fred Zinnemann (From Here to Eternity/High Noon) from 1964. Gregory Peck stars in this tale of an exiled Spanish freedom fighter pushed back into action by the son of a slain comrade. His nemesis, played Anthony Quinn, (who never comes face to face w/his quarry) feels he has an opportunity to finally snag this white elephant when his mother falls ill & must go into hospital so he commands his officers to surround the structure in every conceivable nook & cranny to bag this particular beast. Meanwhile Peck hears of his mother's plight but delays his decision (even kidnapping a priest played Omar Sharif who would achieve international stardom the following year in Dr. Zhivago) till the last 25 minutes or so when he loads up his weapons & descends into the town for the final confrontation. Not bringing up the obvious of having American actors play Spanish parts (Quinn was Mexican but the Spanish language was never utilized), this film feel ill communicated (to take a page from the famous Beastie Boys LP) where the obvious through-line of the narrative is expanded to the point of obesity by not getting to the point of the matter. Also the film, shot in black & white, looks too dark in many of shots where I couldn't recognize the person in frame or what action was occurring. It's a shame though since Zinnemann would rejigger this yarn into his masterful Day of the Jackal in 1973 w/much better results.

Gate of Hell (1953)

I WANT HER...!

[8/10 · 11 May 2025]

A Japanese film from 1953. After a coup disrupts a castle, a loyal samurai fends off the attack while keeping the lady-in-waiting safe as they flee to calmer terrains. Once the fighting subsides, the returning Lord decides to reward his troops, particularly our hero, Kazuo Hasegawa, who intends to grant any wish of his choosing. It turns out what he wants is the hand of his rescued party, Machiko Kyo, which he grants only to find out she's already married. Unperturbed (especially after his Lord goads him into attempting to forcibly wean Kyo from her man), Hasegawa pleads his love to Kyo but she insists she's very much in love w/her man but he remains undaunted & vows action which results in him making an attempt on the husband's life only for the film to upend things for the worse. A somber fable to be sure marked by spectacular costume design (which it won the Academy award for along w/Best Foreign Language film) which redefines the term persistence. My only complaint is the abrupt ending but a whirlwind of emotions for the bulk of the running time more than makes up for it.

Ode to Billy Joe (1976)

ODE TO A BYGONE ERA...!

[6/10 · 8 May 2025]

A movie based on a popular song from 1976 starring Robby Benson & Glynnis O'Connor. In 1967 Bobbie Gentry released the song & it became a staple on the radio for many years (I vaguely remember it growing up) so a movie being extrapolated from a song may've sounded weird but then again the Beatles did milk an animated feature from their song Yellow Submarine back in the 60's (not to mention the song Convoy inspired a movie 2 years later). A young man & woman growing up in Mississippi in the 50's are on the verge of taking their friendship to the next level but fate intervenes when their town's annual fair (where copious amounts of alcohol are imbibed) is in full swing but Benson, in a drunken state, hooks up w/someone else & not someone you'd come to expect given the social mores prevalent at the time which leads to a tragic turn. Watching the film 40 plus years after its release made the twisty reveal feel unwarranted especially given the characters almost welcoming acceptance of it but maybe in today's environment the subject matter could be revisited but that still would leave the ending problematic if it wanted to have any air of verisimilitude but as it is, the film does capture a time & place that doesn't exist anymore which is always an eye opener. Directed by Max Baer Jr. (Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies) w/a fine eye for period detail, this effort is a dated piece of how it was.

A Bullet for the General (1967)

MORE LIKE A BULLET FOR ME...!

[4/10 · 7 May 2025]

A 1966 spaghetti Western starring Gian Maria Volonte (co-star & heavy of the 2 Dollars films). Volonte is a busy bee during the Mexican revolution gathering his troops & making moves to provide arms for the titular leader (a Pancho Villas type but never explicitly id'd as such). Into this picture comes a gringo, Lou Castel, who joins the cause but definitely has an agenda of his own which plays out during the narrative until the General is finally met. Volonte appears to be sick throughout the film w/his eyes all aglaze speckled w/flecks of red so in between bouts of him chewing the scenery quite heartily, I thought he was in the middle of an physical episode which leaves the obviousness of Castel's play pretty much the text since we know he's off from frame one. Also starring another scene chewer Klaus Kinski as one of Volonte's men & Martine Beswick (a one time Bond girl) as another member.

Here (II) (2024)

THANK GOD THE WINDOWS ARE CLEAN...!

[5/10 · 6 May 2025]

Robert Zemeckis' (Forrest Gump/What Lies Beneath) latest from last year which reunites his Gump co-stars, Oscar winner Tom Hanks & Robin Wright, in this gimmicky film which de-ages our pair as we view life (hell multiple lives!) in the history of this home's living room as people come & go & live & die. As the audience gets a locked down perspective (sometimes in disjointed fashion as we leap through time & different owners) w/different dramas playing themselves out. Typical of Zemeckis' output of late who sometimes over favors CG over storytelling to get his film across, the final output comes out being fair as long as you know the room & computer graphics are the stars of the show w/the actors on display, including Paul Bettany & Yellowstone's Kelly Reilly, here playing Hank's parents, merely digital pawns on Zemeckis' chessboard.

Sinners (2025)

ONE OF THE YEAR'S BEST...!

[10/10 · 5 May 2025]

The latest from Ryan Coogler (Black Panther film/Fruitvale Station) reunites him w/Michael B. Jordan who plays twins during 1930's South who hope to turn their fortunes around (after fleeing from Chicago where their methods drew the eyes of other criminal elements) by opening up a juke joint in a disused mill. Following the better part of the day where they gather up the players who will figure into their venture (their guitar prodigy cousin, newcomer Miles Caton, former flames Wunmi Mosaku & Hailee Steinfeld, bluesman Delroy Lindo, doorman/bouncer Omar Benson Miller & a pair of Asian locals Li Jun Li & her hubby Nathaniel Arcand who provide food & a newly painted sign). The endeavor seems to be going off w/o a hitch but then some pesky vampires, led by Jack O'Connell, interrupt the proceedings which like Robert Rodriguez' From Dusk Till Dawn switches gears midway starting off as a historic crime thriller which morphs into a horror survival film. Coogler deftly melds both genres & even throws in a polemic of the history of Black music which for people tired of the same-o, same-o this effort, which does run a bit long (for good reason!) rewards in volumes in this desert like wasteland of the common.

Drop (2025)

GOOD TIGHT THRILLER...!

[8/10 · 4 May 2025]

Christopher Landon's (Freaky/We Have a Ghost) latest currently playing in theaters. Single mom, Meghann Fahy, is excited about the prospect of a date at a swanky eatery, where she can leave her young son, Jacob Robinson, to be babysat by the good hands of her younger sis, Violett Beane. As soon as she gets to the restaurant, we marvel at this Windows of the World like ambience & hope for the best as she's escorted to her table only for her chances of having a great night increasing when she meets her date, Brandon Sklenar, a photographer who has ties to local government. The opening throes of the date go swimmingly until some cryptic airdropped messages start coming through her phone which insinuate then out & out threaten her family, which is buttressed by some video of a masked man grabbing her family for some unknown evil deed unless Fahy grabs & destroys a memory card from Sklenar's camera so all will be well which is better said than done as we see Fahy's every turn seems to be monitored by someone there. Reminding me of one of Wes Craven's last late triumphs, Red Eye (the one w/Oscar nominee Rachel McAdams being menaced by Oscar winner Cillian Murphy on a plane) which Fahy (from White Lotus) winningly limns w/great agility as her fortunes keeps getting more dire as the minutes tick down w/the one location used to great measure as the immediate denizens help or hinder the tension along. Also starring one time detective on Homicide: Life on the Streets, Reed Diamond, as a fellow dater who hopes for good times of his own.

Wolf Man (2025)

NOT LONG ENOUGH IN THE TOOTH...?

[5/10 · 4 May 2025]

The latest reimagining of the lupine fable currently in theaters (maybe?). Having knocked it out of the park w/his retake on the Invisible Man, co-writer/director Leigh Whannell (Upgrade/Insidious: Chapter 3) now strikes a lukewarm take which follows a family man, Christopher Abbott, along w/his wife, Julia Garner & daughter, Matilda Firth, heading out to his family's cabin to settle the family estate (since his dad has been deemed as deceased since he's pretty much disappeared) but after meeting a childhood friend, Benedict Hardie, out hunting in a blind who volunteers to lead Abbott to his cabin (he's a bit lost) a wolf like creature interrupts their journey which stirs awake some memories (seen in the film's opening salvo) as Abbott is bitten by it & the family holds up at the now reached cabin where Abbott soon begins to undergo some terrifying changes. A fair story to be honest but not successfully hitting the right balance of story & fright hobbles this tale which ultimately becomes a father/son yarn (much like the 2010's Benicio Del Toro/Anthony Hopkins remake) making the inclusion of Garner & Firth superfluous to the proceedings when it could've been maybe more interesting to make a wolf woman tale? Maybe a bit too far out but hey a reinvention means nothing if we don't at least try.

One of Them Days (2025)

PRETTY GOOD FOR WHAT IT IS...!

[7/10 · 4 May 2025]

Keke Palmer & singer SZA co-star in this broad comedy from earlier this year. Our heroines are roommates struggling to make ends meet (Palmer works at a restaurant while SZA hopes to sell one of her paintings) which becomes the order of the day when the rent is due & their landlord doesn't want to hear about any excuses on why he hasn't been paid (SZA's current squeeze was given the money to hand over to the owner but used the cash for a T shirt start-up business). The pair soon enough have to endure a series of comedic misadventures to come up w/the cash before they find their furniture waiting for them by the curb. A lot of mileage & good comic timing is milked by the chemistry of our girls which makes the over-the-top humor a bit easier to swallow. Also starring Katt Williams as a homeless man espousing the evils of the payday loan & Maude Apatow as a newly moved in white tenant to the housing complex.

The Amateur (2025)

MALEK MATTERS...!

[8/10 · 27 April 2025]

A current thriller starring Oscar winner Rami Malek playing in theaters. Malek is a milquetoasty CIA operative who works behind the desk as an analyst when he gets the worst news ever when his wife, Rachel Brosnahan, is killed during a botched robbery in Blighty. Distraught & grief stricken, he offers his services to his higher-ups, one played by Holt McCallany, to find the players involved which they laugh away but when Malek uncovers some of McCallany's backdoor shenanigans (even having ties to the culprits since he used them in other ops) he's pressured to let Malek undergo some combat training, under the guide of Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne, who after some time w/him realizes Malek is not up to snuff. Being untrained be damned Malek figures as he gleans what little he's learned coupled w/his tech savvy to track the four participants down one by one taking them out in calculating fashion. While McCallany sends his minions to find the evidence Malek has hidden on him, Fishburne is sent out to quell Malek who manages to find his contact in Europe, the wife of a murdered Russian spy, played by Outlander's Caitriona Balfe, to aid in his bloody quest. Based on a book by Robert Littell (which was made into a film back in 1981 starring The Deer Hunter's John Savage & which also has shades of a recent movie called American Assassin from 2017 starring Dylan O'Brien) the film is a nice antidote to all the recent bomb & blast spy actioners (The Grey Man & The Citadel series come to mind) which favors smarts over bombast (one of the bad guys is pretty much blown up offscreen) which ultimately makes for a refreshing viewing w/Malek's down to earth hero vital to the success of this film.

G20 (2025)

MS. DAVIS DESERVES BETTER...!

[5/10 · 27 April 2025]

A current Die Hard clone thriller starring Oscar winner Viola Davis currently streaming on Prime. Davis is the president of the USA (of course she is!) who like Harrison Ford's commander-in-chief in 1997's Air Force One is a former military person whose service elevated her to the position she now holds. Davis along w/her family, which includes hubby Anthony Anderson, head to South Africa for the titular conference which is upset by the antics of Antony Starr's disgraced Aussie merc who hopes to disrupt the status quo in order to bolster his cryptocurrency account (numbering in the billions) as he holds all the heads of state of different countries under locked gun & key. Not bringing much to the enterprise (even the notion of poor Davis running around in sneakers was lifted from Jamie Foxx's presidential turn in White House Down) makes this a quick & easy albeit uninspired watch which gets the job done but come on when there was a recent series on streaming based on the Olympus has Fallen films, you really need to remake the wheel if you're going to gather Oscar caliber talent & make something so pedestrian the viewing public might as well watch this while they're surfing on their phones.

Oddity (2024)

YOU MESSED W/THE WRONG SISTERS...!

[8/10 · 27 April 2025]

A horror film from last year. Taking place on the Emerald Isle, we have a tale of a pair of twins (both played by Carolyn Bracken) where one gets killed during the film's opening salvo (sister one is an artist who lives in an isolated estate who is pestered one night by a vagrant claiming someone is in the house w/her). Time passes. The husband of the victim, Gwilym Lee, a doctor at a nearby sanitarium, goes to visit sister two, who's blind & runs a curio shop, to commiserate about their loss. They agree for an upcoming visit where Bracken meets Lee's new girlfriend, Caroline Menton. Bracken, who has designs on ESP tendencies, augurs Lee was behind the killing (which when we meet a co-worker at Lee's workplace he admits to doing the deed on Lee's behalf) which prompts Lee to solve his dilemma by leaving an attic passage open for her to fall through but not before Bracken has moved some of her belongings into the space, including a wooden golem which figures more into Lee's fate than he realizes. Very creepy & unnerving w/a command of space (the empty manse is a character unto itself) which adds to the dread (you almost feel bad for Lee since we know what's coming) adding up to a very in control thriller of the worse possibilities.

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

OH MUMMY PLEASE...!

[5/10 · 24 April 2025]

A pair of failures by master filmmakers were witnessed this week starting w/this misbegotten epic from Howard Hawks in 1955. A pharaoh has returned home from his crusades & vows to build the finest pyramid man has ever set his eyes on & be buried in it. Using a labor force comprised of Hebrew slaves (whose chief architect is of the Jewish persuasion), the construction begins in earnest but will take years for the project to see its final fruition & boy does this film feel as long as the construction. Not horribly bad but being a bit misguided as to the dynamic most epics involving the Egyptians & their slaves (especially given the mother of all tales, The Ten Commandments was released the following year) have presented is not the case here where the work force feels more like embittered contractors whose assignment gets worse as the years go on but there is nary a mention of the messiah or deliverance from bondage which feels a bit short shrift. Starring Jack Hawkins & Joan Collins (in charcoal face!) the drama for the most part is subdued & only gets interesting in the last 20 minutes or so when betrayals rear their ugly heads & a welcome comeuppance is met by Pharaoh & non-pharaoh alike.

Police Story (1985)

GOOD STUNTS BUT THE STORY...MEH...!

[7/10 · 24 April 2025]

Jackie Chan is front & center in this 1985 action romp (which he co-wrote, directed & even sang the title track, whew!). Chan is the titular law enforcement type who tries to do his job diligently but keeps butting heads w/his bosses due to his tendency to go overboard in his arrests (the first one we see involve him nearly wrecking himself & a bus in order to catch some bad guys) but when he sets his sights on a corrupt businessman, Chor Yuen, things start to go haywire as Yuen keeps escalating his efforts to demolish Chan (even framing him for a fellow cop's murder) while a witness, Brigitte Lin, willing to testify against Yuen & Chan's girlfriend, Maggie Cheung, all play into the mix of extreme stunts, histrionic outpourings & enough melodrama to drown the driest of audiences. I've always avoided the bulk of Chan's work since I never liked his blend of comedy & action (w/the comedy outweighing the chopsocky antics for my money) but I said why not & if you can check your kung fu purist brain at the door (which I did) then the stunts (which Chan always did himself as evidenced by the stunt outtakes shown during the end credits invariably show Chan destroying himself) are probably the best ever put to film, too bad those same stunts are surrounded by a pedestrian story & characters.

The Last Stop in Yuma County (2023)

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT...MANY TIMES...!

[5/10 · 24 April 2025]

A familiar crime thriller from 2023. A diner & an adjoining gas station waiting for a fuel replenish is the setting for this tale as a gumbo of characters are visited upon by a pair of bank robbers. Our cast of characters, a helpful waitress, Jocelin Donahue, a knife salesman, Jim Cummings, our bank robbers, Nicholas Logan & Richard Brake, the gas station owner, Faizon Love & a few others must contend w/the armed desperate pair to get away w/a gas filled vehicle while the local cops, one, the deputy, Conor Paolo, has already popped over twice to the eatery due to some coffee snafus & the sheriff, Michael Abbott Jr., hubby to Donahue, is wondering why she's not picking up the phone at the diner. All of this leads to a Mexican standoff that wants to be a nailbiter of a scene but since it's been done before & better, your kind of meh on the whole thing even though the narrative does perk up a little when a certain survivor tries to abscond w/the ill-gotten gains until...anyhoo all of this is clearly from Quentin Tarantino's playbook (it's amazing every few years someone decides to throw their hat in the crime ring w/negligible results) which had my eyes glazing over hoping for better but getting just okay which is fine for lukewarm coffee but this.

The Life List (2025)

A BIT OF THE SAME BUT THAT'S OK...!

[7/10 · 23 April 2025]

A drama starring Sofia Carson currently streaming on Netflix. Carson's mom, Connie Britton, has just passed & when the family gathers to hear the particulars of her will, Carson is taken aback when she learns she has to endure a series of trials (she wrote up a list to her mother when she was younger of things she wanted to get done which she never got around to) to accomplish if she eventually wants to get her inheritance. Launching into the list (one has her try her hand at a comedy club, another reconnecting w/her piano teacher so she can perform a recital & et al), abetted by her mom's law firm rep, Kyle Allen, Carson soon checks them off one by one. Finally getting into the swing of things brings out the best in Carson which makes her a better sibling but also brings about some revelations like her dad, Jose Zuniga, not being her birth father which spurs Carson to visit him, Jordi Molla (in a rare non-villainous role), in New England. Carson & Allen also become closer (Allen & his current girl have broken up while Carson dumped her game addicted bf in the first reel) which becomes a running competition between Carson's 'to do' list & her romantic well-being. Writer/director Adam Brooks (The Invisible Circus/Definitely, Maybe) does his usual overwritten best to tell a cogent narrative w/as many words as possible for the actors to deliver but Carson is such a pro, she makes this fluff work (I'm a fan btw!) w/an assemblage of competently, lovely looking support to make the entire enterprise swim like a well-greased eel.

We Live in Time (2024)

LOVE IN REVERSE OR SOMETHING...?

[8/10 · 23 April 2025]

A romantic drama from last year told in a time skewing manner. Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield & Florence Pugh meet cute one night when Pugh accidentally hits Garfield w/her car which when he comes to in hospital names are finally exchanged. Pugh is a high end chef hoping to make a name for herself & her restaurant as she preps for a European cook off while Garfield, a field rep for Weetabix (I think that's British breakfast cereal), click together right away but a cancer scare (on Pugh's part) derails the romantic partnership right when they're trying to have a child. As the ebbs & flows of the romance trudges along, the off kilter time frame, which director John Crowley (Brooklyn) navigates w/aplomb, reminded me of what Richard Curtis did in his 2013 fable About Time as we truly see the inner workings of a union told in willy nilly fashion which keeps the audience on the good foot to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

The Return of Godzilla (1984)

UH...NO...!

[2/10 · 23 April 2025]

A 1984 Big Green One entry (I believe the first in that decade & a direct sequel to the original Godzilla from 1954 which would also get an Americanized version, complete w/Raymond Burr sequences, playing the same character, the following year as Godzilla 1985) has our favorite stomper coming for Toyko again w/a trio of heroes, a reporter, Ken Tanaka, a survivor of a ship attack, Shin Takuma & his sister, Yasuko Sawaguchi, stepping up to the plate to meet the challenge w/the full force of the Japanese government & scientific communities helping them along for the win. Poor Godzilla is barely in the movie & the harebrained idea of essentially tricking him into walking into a volcanic crevasse makes for a challenging viewing to stay awake, much less entertained, as this slog makes its way to its finale. A hard pass.

A Working Man (2025)

PLEASE FIRE THIS GUY...!

[1/10 · 20 April 2025]

Jason Statham is back, along w/his Beekeeper helmer, David Ayer (End of Watch/Street Kings), in this currently in theater actioner about a former military man tasked to recover a kidnapped daughter, Arianna Rivas, of a construction family he works for. Statham is the rock that keeps his construction crew together & its owner Michael Pena (reuniting w/Ayer after starring in End of Watch) appreciates this but knowing about his past comes in handy after Rivas, during a graduation night soiree gets swiped by a brother/sister team, Emmett J. Scanlan & Eve Mauro, hoping to sell her to a perv. Statham begins hunting for Rivas, using, to be frank, overly complicated means, to track her down (at one point posing as a drug buyer) & as the uninspired action sequences continue mounting one after the other which brings in the Russian mob, since a member, Jason Flemyng, is offed early by Statham & further complications which include a former blind comrade in arms, David Harbour, who supplies Statham w/armaments & corrupt cops add icing to this particular cake which is played so straight w/nary a tongue to be found in cheek, you wonder if this was an 80's script dusted off to be made today. I blame the heft of this enterprise on Sylvester Stallone's shoulders, who co-scripted here, who is stuck in his perpetual writing style of absolutes whose hero must end everyone bad around him no matter what to facilitate a happy ending, any subtly or humor be damned.

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

GO GET'EM, SALMA...!

[8/10 · 17 April 2025]

Director Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl/Cedar Rapids) reunites w/writer Mike White (after their Chuck & Buck collaboration back in 2000) for this 2017 story where the working class has run in w/the ruling class. Oscar nominee Salma Hayek stars as Beatriz, a homeopathic healer & masseuse who just from the weak start of her broken down Volkswagen signals her day will not be a good one. As we see her go through her day (making rounds at a cancer ward) we settle in for her client of the day, played by Connie Britton, which we learn Hayek cared for her daughter when she went through a cancer bout & now has settled into being part of the family so when her car breaks down, Britton is all too happy to invite her to stay for an intimate dinner w/her husband, played by David Warshofsky. As the guests sprinkle in, a husband/wife investor team played by Chloe Sevigny & Jay Duplass (Mark's brother) appear first w/the big kahuna himself, played by John Lithgow (a proto Trumpian creation since he's a well known real estate mogul w/a troubling track record), arriving w/his trophy wife, played by Amy Landecker, & it's on. Hayek greets everyone warmly (w/a hug) while some of the attendees mistake her for a server but when they finally sit down to dinner & Hayek feels she knows Lithgow (she remembers a hotel mogul laying waste to her home town w/empty promises & the usual years ago) so when the conversation turns to things she cares about (Lithgow brags about his big game hunting), she lashes out, uncomfortably so, as these pillars of comfort have their notions thrown back in their faces capsizing their 'privilege' boat. Feeling impotent as her thoughts appear to be dying on deaf ears, Hayek muses whimsically over some triumph as her presence among them is ended (Warshofsky tells her to leave) & as she drives into the night w/a tow truck driver ending the night in ambiguous fashion. Hayek gives one of her best performances in years as this small woman who stands tall in her beliefs at the expense of her own livelihood while not taking the standard 'use them before they use us' mantra at face value w/Lithgow, pompous & self serving in the extreme, making a great foil for her convictions.

Count the Hours! (1953)

NOT GREAT BUT STILL OKAY...!

[7/10 · 16 April 2025]

A 1953 film noir which reunites the co-stars of Shadow of a Doubt, Teresa Wright & MacDonald Carey. John Craven & Wright are a married indentured couple working at a farm when one night a shots ring out where the owners of the farm are gunned down. The police the next day find a similar gun in the pair's home (which Wright tossed into a nearby lake in fear) & seeing Craven had words w/the victim, he's incarcerated w/Wright, who's preggers, partnering w/a lawyer, Carey, to save Craven before he's executed. Into the mix is another employee, Jack Elam, who also had a bone to pick w/the farm owner over some backpay who actually did the deed so now Carey & Wright have to get the goods on him hopefully in time. An early effort by director Don Siegel (Dirty Harry/The Beguiled) moves at a clip (a miracle considering the film was shot in mere days) but the so so script & simplistic ending could be a bit upsetting for noir purists, but I admit the positives outweigh the negatives so give it a chance.

Sing Sing (2023)

DOMINGO RULES...!

[10/10 · 10 April 2025]

From last year comes this real-life account of a former prisoner Divine G, played by Colman Domingo in an Oscar nominated performance, who while in stir managed to start a theater group which became a balm to the incarcerated psyche of the prisoners who participated. As a new member, Clarence Maclin, is brought in to perform an anthology of different stories for their upcoming production, tensions rise as the veterans' clash w/Maclin, a former street drug slinger, now doing the same inside, while they learn & practice their new material (written by the performers wrangler, Oscar nominee Paul Raci). Domingo is going through his own trials as he's prepping for his parole board hearing while his right hand, Sean San Jose, passes from an aneurism. As the big show circles the drain, will all the personalities mesh together to get the show off w/o a hitch? Domingo continues to amaze as he always does being the conflicted lynchpin trying to keep his world in check & spinning which is a hard thing to do given the circumstances but like the Bible's Job, he perseveres & we as an audience are right there in his corner (not knowing if he actually committed the crimes in the first place!), hoping he'll make the day. Look for an autograph seeker who interacts w/Domingo (he's the real Divine G!).