Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) **

 

The pandemic has meant many things to many people. For me, it has meant working out down in the basement instead of at the gym, which means finding action movies to watch while I work out. You quickly run out of top-tier movies like "Inception"“ and "Edge of Tomorrow."“ Then you re-watch well-worn classics like “Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the silly-but-serviceable “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.” That leaves you with a bunch of questionable options. It was basically down to “The Expendables” or this one, the most recent installment in Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones franchise. I decided I would lose less respect for myself watching this one. I chose...unwisely.

“Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is set in 1957, with Russians taking the place of Nazis as the villains. Led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), Soviet agents kidnap Professor Jones in order to get his help obtaining a crystal skull. They believe it is an alien skull with telepathic powers. Jones is aided in his fight against the Commies by a young man named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf). Mutt is a stereotypical '50s greaser, complete with a motorcycle and switchblade, and his mom turns out be be Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Jones's love interest from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Everyone winds up down in Peru, swashbuckling through the jungle.

There is no reason this shouldn't be an awesome action film. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had 19 years to come up with a sequel to “The Last Crusade.” They had a great cast. I mean, if you can't make a good movie with Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett, you should be ashamed. The weakest link in this chain is the writing. The story is just dumb, meandering over a LONG 2 hours to a climax that does not feel worth it. Karen Allen's beautiful smile is welcome, but her character basically just moons over Indiana Jones. It's a real waste. Shia LaBeouf is the other weak link in the film. He was a promising child actor, but he has neither the acting chops nor the charisma to play opposite an actor like Ford.

The Indiana Jones films were meant to be big-budget versions of the old, B-movie, adventure serials. They are fantastical, but they work when they make you believe that Indiana Jones can really do all those crazy stunts. It's mainly Harrison Ford's charisma and commitment to the character that elevate these B-movie copies into classics. We buy it, because Ford sells it. In “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” he just doesn't quite sell it. Honestly, none of the stars seem to really have their hearts in the movie, and the result feels like a cynical attempt to reboot a lucrative cash-cow of a franchise.

Come to think of it, I loved “Raiders” and “The Last Crusade,” but “Temple of Doom,” the second film in the series, was pretty weak. Maybe only the odd-numbered Indiana Jones films are good. If that pattern holds, we should have a lot to look forward to in the newest movie, which will be the fifth in the series, slated for release July 2022.

2 stars out of 5

A Very Murray Christmas (2015) *****

 

I really can't believe I haven't written about this Christmas special before. We've been watching "A Very Murray Christmas" for years, now. It has become a Christmas tradition, and it never gets old!

Bill Murray plays a version of himself. In the story, we find him about to host a Christmas special that has gone to hell. He was supposed to have guests like George Clooney, Pope Francis, and Iggy Azalea, but a blizzard has shut New York City down, and it's just him and Paul Shaffer. A power outage finally axes the show, much to everyone's relief, and Bill and Paul retire to the hotel bar for drinks and Christmas songs with the hotel staff, which includes Jenny Lewis, Maya Rudolph, Buster Poindexter, and the band Phoenix. Jason Schwartzman and Rashida Jones play an engaged couple whose wedding has been ruined by the blizzard.

It would be impossible for me to overstate my delight in this odd, little movie! It's a Christmas special for grownups, but it isn't dirty, or cynical, or silly (see "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas"). The songs range from the familiar (“Silent Night” “Sleigh Ride”) to the obscure (Phoenix's cover of an un-released Beach Boys song, “Alone on Christmas Day”) to the weirdly delightful (Albert King's “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin'”) The best number, musically, is probably Maya Rudolph singing “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home),” but my favorite piece is the cast's rendition of the Pogues classic, “Fairytale of New York.”

As great as the music is, the story and the offbeat humor are just as good. Bill Murray's sad sack demeanor is perfect for this tale of a guy whose Christmas isn't turning out like he expected, and “A Very Murray Christmas” is ultimately a joyous and sweet story about making the best of things. During this Covid Christmas, it's especially resonant, and at only 55 minutes, it's easier to digest than Christmas dinner!

5 stars out of 5

Forbidden Planet (1956) ***1/2

 

Inspired by Shakespeare's “The Tempest,” this mid-50s sci-fi thriller was highly influential. It was the first big-budget science fiction film (back when $1.9 million was a big budget), helping to legitimize what had previously been strictly a B-movie genre. You can also see this film's DNA all over the original Star Trek, and Gene Roddenberry has acknowledged the inspiration.

Leslie Nielsen plays the square-jawed Commander Adams, whose spaceship and crew are dispatched to the distant planet Altair IV to find a missing science expedition. On the foreboding, desert planet, they discover the one remaining member of the team, Dr. Morbius, who lives with his planet-born daughter, Altaira, and Robby the Robot. It sounds campy as hell, but they play it straight, and by the time Adams and his crew discover Dr. Morbius's secrets and solve the mystery of the planet's menace, we are treated to some fairly high-concept science-fiction.

“Forbidden Planet” really captures the spirit of the 1950's, selling sex while promoting regressive attitudes towards it. Altaira is a gorgeous 19-year-old who has never seen a man other than her father before. She is naturally interested in all these male visitors, and the feeling is mutual. Commander Adams, by virtue of his superior position, superior height, and superior jawline, forces the other crew members to step aside so he can woo the girl. Altaira runs around in the skimpiest mini-skirts imaginable, but when Adams chastises her for showing off her body, she makes herself some longer, more modest clothes. Fifties audiences got to come away from this film feeling that good, traditional morals were being promoted, after feasting their eyes on Anne Francis's gorgeous legs.

Regressive themes notwithstanding, “Forbidden Planet” is an important film in the science-fiction cannon, and an enjoyable one. It's just campy enough to be fun without undermining the story, and you can see this movie's fingerprints on the genre for decades afterwards. Plus, Anne Francis looks fabulous in those mini-skirts!

3.5 stars out of 5

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011) ***1/2

 

Talk about a Christmas Miracle! I was doing the usual streaming service thing, clicking through dozens of titles without really seeing anything I wanted to watch, when I saw the familiar, brown-ish faces of one of my favorite stoner duos. Was it possible that there was a Harold and Kumar movie out there that I hadn't seen? Was it streaming for free? Yes, and yes!

We first met Harold and Kumar in 2004's “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” in which these college buds get stoned, get the munchies, and try to find a White Castle restaurant to pig out at. The movie was delightfully silly, and featured a memorable cameo from Neil Patrick Harris. 2008's "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" was somewhat less delightful, considerably sillier, and its best moments once again featured Neil Patrick Harris. I found the sequel so disappointing that I guess I didn't notice when a Christmas movie came out in 2011.

The story picks up 6 years later. Harold (John Cho) has a solid, Wall Street job and is married to Maria (Paula Garces), his crush from the first movie. As great as his life looks, Harold is under considerable stress. He and Maria are struggling to get pregnant. Meanwhile, her huge family is coming for the holidays, including her intimidating father (Danny Trejo). How does Harold deal with all that stress? He just suppresses it. He doesn't smoke weed anymore, and he doesn't hang out with Kumar anymore, either. Kumar (Kal Penn), on the other hand, still gets high constantly, and his life is essentially stalled in an extended adolescence. You could honestly probably write the movie yourself from here. Kumar shows up to complicate Harold's family Christmas, and the 2 wind up having a wild, New York adventure filled with irresponsible behavior and...wait for it...Neil Patrick Harris!

This movie doesn't quite have the magic of the original, but I enjoyed it considerably more than the Guantanamo Bay movie. The story is decent, and the film has a strong supporting cast, including Danny Trejo and Thomas Lennon (from “The State” and “Reno 911”). The series redeemed itself with this one, and, as Neil Patrick Harris teases in his scene, “I'll see you in the 4^th one!”

3.5 stars out of 5

Young & Beautiful (“Jeune et Jolie” French, 2013) ***

 

16-year-old Isabelle loses her virginity and then turns 17, all during a beach vacation, and she doesn't seem to be all that impressed with either occurrence. Jump ahead a few months, and Isabelle is back home, back at school, and using her free time to earn a few extra bucks as an expensive call-girl. How and why did this upper-middle-class girl get into prostitution? We never really learn that. Isabelle is a cipher to her family, her friends, and to us.

22-year-old French model Marine Vacth is extremely easy on the eyes, and she looks great naked. We get quite a few opportunities to appreciate that, but “Young & Beautiful” is not as erotic as it should be, when you consider what director Francois Ozon has to work with. Partly, it's the ick factor created by Vacth's character being underage, having sex with all these older men. The main problem, though, is Isabelle's flat affect. I think she only smiles twice in the whole film. Absent any poverty, we assume that Isabelle prostitutes herself because she enjoys it on some level, but we never get a sense of what is going on behind that beautiful face.

I don't think this is bad acting on Vacth's part. I think Ozon intends us to see Isabelle from the outside, as her friends and family do, and to be mystified by her actions. Indeed, the film opens with us viewing Isabelle through a pair of binoculars, as she sunbathes on the beach. For the next hour and a half, we see Isabelle as others see her, as an object of desire or frustration, but not as a fully-realized person. The result is an incomplete narrative, more of a sketch than a completed work.

3 stars out of 5

Prospect (2018) ****

 

You ever notice how, in the “Star Wars” films, every planet is somehow safe for humans to breath the air and drink the water? Well, I got sour news for ya, Jack! We evolved to deal with Earth's atmosphere, toxins, and microbes, and it's highly likely that those of other planets, no matter how inviting, will be deadly to us. “Prospect” is a sci-fi western that acknowledges that reality. The film combines gritty realism with a great cast, including newcomer Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass, and Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martel from “Game of Thrones”). With writer/directors Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl, they have created a smart, tense, realistic sci-fi on par with “The Martian” or “Europa Report.”

Damon (Duplass) and his daughter Cee (Thatcher) are prospectors, searching for amber-like gems distilled from the embryos of some kind of creature, on a lush, alien moon where the jungle air is full of deadly spores. They have found a “hive queen nest,” the gems from which should set them up for life. They are working against the clock and have ship problems, and then they meet Ezra (Pascal) and his partner, a couple of outlaws who want to horn in on their action.

It is rare to see a film that has so much respect for the intelligence of its audience. I have seen some reviewers complain that the film is short on character development, but I think they are just used to movies where everything, including the actors' faces, is laid out for you. In “Prospect,” we see the actors' faces through plexiglass, and hear their voices through a helmet mic. (Here's an interview with the directors, who discuss how most sci-fi directors look for any excuse to get their actors out of their helmets, and how they chose the harder route. https://www.slashfilm.com/prospect-interview/) This is also a story of the frontier, where life is precarious, and people aren't likely to wear their emotions on their sleeves. If you pay attention and imagine yourself in these situations, there is plenty of character development.

It isn't just the characters who require some effort to understand. Caldwell and Earl don't spend much time on explication. Everything about this world, including the weapons, the alien gems, and the spores in the air, is presented as-is, and you have to really pay attention to understand what is happening. Even then, plenty of questions go unanswered, and I found myself yearning to know more about this world. “Prospect” is the experience of opening a window on another time and place and being permitted to view a story there, but without a guide. It's disorienting at times, but the reward is a world and a story that feels much more palpable than something from, say, “Star Wars.”

4 stars out of 5

Netflix

I Don't Feel At Home in this World Anymore (2017) ***1/2

 

What would you do if your house got robbed? For Ruth (Melanie Lynskey), it's just the capper on another crappy day full of slights and humiliations from her thoughtless fellow humans. When the equally uncaring police make it clear that they don't consider her burgled home a high priority, Ruth turns sleuth herself. With help from Tony (Elijah Wood), her oddball neighbor, Ruth tracks down her missing property and the lowlifes who took it.

Lynskey and Wood are both excellent, really disappearing into their characters. You may recognize writer/director Macon Blair, who makes a small cameo in this film, from another revenge film, 2014's "Blue Ruin."  He seems to be a creative mind to keep an eye on. “I Don't Feel At Home in this World Anymore” is another festival-style, small movie that fills its niche perfectly.

Critics keep trying to interpret modern revenge and vigilante tales as cautionary tales against taking the law into your own hands. “It's not worth it!,” they say. And yet, these films keep getting made, because people have an inherent need to see justice done. Ruth and Tony do wind up getting more than they bargained for, but I cannot view the film as a cautionary tale. Frankly, I found it inspiring. In a world that seems to have lost the capacity to care about anything, it's beautiful that Ruth finds another person who shares her outrage at what is an outrageous act. She doesn't just want her stuff back, she wants the people who broke into her home to be punished for it, and I wanted it, too!

3.5 stars out of 5

On the Rocks (2020) ***

 

If Sofia Coppola never does anything else in her career, she will always have directed “Lost in Translation.” The problem, for her, is that everything else she does do is destined to be compared to that film. “On the Rocks” is a decent, little movie, but it is no “Lost in Translation.” (To be fair, Coppola also directed the TV special “A Very Murray Christmas,” which is in its own, bizarre category, and as good in its way as “Lost in Translation.”)

Rashida Jones plays Laura, a writer whose creativity is being smothered by what most would consider a rewarding, comfortable life. She has a handsome, successful husband, lives in a beautiful, New York apartment, and her lovely children attend a good school, giving her several hours of peace and quiet each day to work on her novel. The problem, as Charles Bukowski put it in the movie “Barfly,” is that “nobody who could write worth a damn could ever write in peace.” Bored with herself and her writer's block, Laura starts to wonder if her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans), is fooling around with his gorgeous assistant. Egged on by her womanizing father (Bill Murray), Laura starts spying on Dean, behavior which is obviously corrosive to her marriage even as it lets her spend quality time with her dad.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this film; it's just kind of forgettable. If you enjoy a talky dramedy, check it out. If it passes you by, you aren't going to be missing out on a critical part of the cultural conversation. Now, if you haven't seen "Lost in Translation" or “A Very Murray Christmas,” that's a situation that needs to be remedied!

3 stars out of 5

Playing on AppleTV

Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine (2020) ***

 

Sarah Cooper is a standup comic and comedy writer who made her breakthrough this year with a series of internet videos that feature her lip-syncing comments made by Donald Trump. She isn't the first person to notice that simply quoting verbatim the ridiculous words that come out of our president's mouth is a form of comedy and political criticism, but Cooper has great cheekbones, and her videos caught on. She became an instant sensation, and landed herself this Netflix comedy special.

Instead of a traditional standup special, “Everything's Fine” is more like a sketch show. Cooper plays a fictional morning-TV-show host, also named Sarah Cooper, who struggles to maintain her sunny smile while reporting on current events. Meanwhile, her producer (Fred Armisen) tries out different masks and social-distancing strategies, while the weather girl (Maya Rudolph) melts down. The show is interspersed with fake commercials and cameos from a variety of stars like Jon Hamm and Helen Mirren.

The comedy is a bit hit-and-miss, things sometimes drag, and it's just a very weird show. In its better moments, it reminds me of “Portlandia” or the 2019 found-footage piece “VHYes.” The best bit is a segment recreating the Access Hollywood bus debacle where Trump bragged about grabbing women by the pussy. Cooper does Trump's lines, of course, and Helen Mirren lip-syncs Billy Bush's lines, and the results are funny and disturbing.

“Everything's Fine” is definitely not for everyone, but if you like your comedy weird, and you don't mind a little chaff with your wheat, you should check it out.

3 stars out of 5

En Tu Piel (7:20 Once a Week, spanish-language, 2018) ****

 

After a hot, one-night stand, Julia and Manuel can't resist meeting up again, week after week for an extramarital tryst. Gradually, the connection becomes more than skin deep. That's it! No explosions, no gunfights, not even a quirky, supporting cast. Dominican actors Josue Geurrero and Eva Arias (former Miss Dominican Republic) carry the entire film on their toned shoulders, and they do a fine job.

This is, to be honest, a soft-porn, but it's not one of the ones where the muscular plumber is working on a sink when in walks the bored housewife in lingerie to offer him a glass of water. This is a real story about real people. Chilean director Matias Bize mixes some fairly graphic sex scenes with honest conversations and genuine emotion, as Julia and Manuel come to realize that their feelings for each other represent a bigger infidelity than their sexual couplings.

“En Tu Piel” is like an Off-Broadway play, with just the two actors and the one room. If it sounds very similar to the 2005 film “En la Cama,” it's because both films come from the directing/writing team of Matias Bize and Julio Rojas. “En Tu Piel” may be a little TOO similar to that earlier film, but I'll give it a pass. The acting and directing are so good that the concept is worth revisiting. Both of the actors deserve to get a lot more work, and Eva Arias especially impresses in a couple of scenes where she simply smokes and thinks about her situation, communicating volumes with subtle facial expressions. This is an erotic movie with a huge heart.

4 stars out of 5

Time Trap (2017, Streaming on Netflix) ***

 

A college professor goes on a quest to find out what happened to some missing hippie explorers back in the 70's. He discovers the location of their abandoned van, then he discovers the cave they went to explore. The cave, it turns out, is a trap where time passes extremely slowly. Spending just a few seconds in the cave means a couple of weeks have passed outside. This gets some of his students worried, and they set out to find their missing mentor, ultimately getting stuck in the time trap with him.

“Time Trap” doesn't have the best story or the most talented cast, but it does science fiction right. They take a fairly simple idea and really explore it faithfully. Once in the cave, for example, the characters look out the opening to see rapidly flashing lights, which they eventually realize are days and nights flashing by. The cave, we soon learn, is full of visitors from many eras, separated by hundreds or thousands of years. Once in the cave, it all gets compressed, bringing all these explorers from different eras together, sometimes violently.

I wouldn't have minded seeing this concept explored by a better director with a bigger budget and a better cast, but I would have to say that “Time Trap” is good enough, given its limitations. None of the weaknesses were bad enough to distract from the intriguing time-warp story-line, and I found the film really entertaining. One other strength is that the movie is only 95 minutes long. This is a movie that knows its limitations and doesn't want to become a time trap of its own.

3 stars out of 5

Bonnie & Clyde (1967) ****

 

Something was in the air in 1967; it was an absolutely great year for movies! Classics released that year include “The Dirty Dozen,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “The Graduate,” “Guess Who's Coming to Dinner,” the noir, art-film “Point Blank,” “Hombre,” and one of my personal favorites, “Cool Hand Luke.” The arrival of so much great cinematic art in one year is probably explained by the societal upheavals of the 60's. Amid the movements for civil rights and women's rights as well as protests against the Vietnam War, people were ready for a newer, more modern style of storytelling.

For most of the 60's, Hollywood was still mostly cranking out typical, studio fare, stories where good guys wore white, and bad guys wore back, literally or figuratively. In France, however, New Wave directors like Godard and Truffaut were creating amoral, warts-and-all tales of outlaws and deviants. These were not morality tales. They were simply human stories, told without judgment. America's answer to the New Wave films was Arthur Penn's “Bonnie & Clyde,” one of the best movies in a year of great films.

Inspired by America's most famous outlaw couple, the movie is a tale of love on the lamb. Stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are brilliant, with great chemistry, even when they are discussing Clyde's inability to have sex with Bonnie. The film follows them as they meet, commit their first robbery, and eventually become famous as Depression-Era folk heroes, theoretically stealing from the banks who ruined the economy. (In real life, their favorite targets were small stores and gas stations.) They are eventually joined by Clyde's brother, Buck (Gene Hackman) and Buck's wife, Blanche, as well as a fictional addition to the gang named C.W. Moss (who serves as an amalgam of the many gang members who came and went in real life). The pressure inexorably builds as the five are always only one step ahead of lawmen who shoot first and ask questions later.

Beatty and Dunaway bring enough swagger and humanity to carry the movie, even if they didn't have an excellent supporting cast. Michael J. Pollard and Dub Taylor bring comic relief as C.W. and his dad, and Gene Hackman is as good as you would expect. I especially liked Denver Pyle as lawman Frank Hamer. The only off-note in the film is its depiction of Blanche, who comes across as a shrill, ridiculous harpy. (The real-life Blanche was said to have been disappointed with how the film painted her.)

Like Blanche Barrow, you just have to put aside any concerns about historical accuracy. There isn't any. The film version of the story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker takes so many liberties that it should probably be viewed as a strictly fictional work. Any similarity to real persons is entirely coincidental. The problem is, its hard to do that, to keep fact and fiction separate in your mind. That's always been my complaint about movies based on real life. The filmmakers generously grant themselves poetic license, telling themselves that audiences understand the difference between fact and fiction. In reality, it's very hard to keep those things separate, especially when the movie version is as compelling as “Bonnie & Clyde.”

4 stars out of 5

VHYes (2019) ***

 

This is an interesting, little oddity of a film. It uses the found-footage conceit. The story seems to be that this kid, Ralph, gets a VHS camera. Lacking a blank tape, he records over his parents' wedding video. Over several days, he makes short recordings of himself with his best friend, blowing up fireworks and such. They also discover that they can connect the camera to a TV and use it as a VCR, recording late-night soft-core flicks to watch later. New to the camera, Ralph ends up making a tape interspersed with youthful hijinks, late-night TV, and a few remaining clips of his parents' wedding.

“VHYes” is a comedy, with actors from “The State” and “Reno 911”, but it has a subtle undertone of sorrow. The beating heart of the movie is Ralph's mom, whose marriage is in trouble. In just a few, short clips, we get glimpses of this vibrant, happy girl at her wedding, still young inside years later, but having regrets. Ralph, as a prepubescent boy, is completely oblivious to all this, at least on the surface. As he tapes over his parents' wedding video, in a way, he is erasing the happy, girl-in-love that his mom once was, although glimpses remain.

This movie isn't for the faint of heart. The quick cuts on the “tape” are jarring, and some of the segments run a bit longer than they should. (A Bob Ross parody starring Kerri Kenney is creepy-funny and then just sort of becomes creepy-boring.) For those who have the patience for this kind of thing, though, it's funny and weird and kind of awesome.

3 stars out of 5

Ocean's Eleven (2001) **1/2

 

If you've ever wondered if it's possible in Hollywood to throw around enough money to guarantee a movie will be a hit, then “Ocean's Eleven” is your answer. This is a soulless remake of an equally-soulless, 1960 Rat-Pack heist film of the same name. 1960's “Ocean's Eleven” starred Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr, and other Rat Packers, a group of actors more famous than talented. The remake features a genuinely talented cast, making it inexplicable how the film ends up being such a nothing-burger.

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) gets out of prison and immediately contacts his old partner, Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) with a bold idea for a heist. Bold is an understatement; Danny wants to rob a casino vault that holds the cash for the three biggest casinos in Las Vegas. The three casinos, we learn, are owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who happens to be dating Danny's ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), so it becomes obvious that Danny has more than financial incentives for the robbery. As high-risk as the heist is, it's also high-reward, and Danny is able to put together a crack team of thieves.

Besides Clooney, Pitt, and Roberts, the ensemble cast includes names like Elliott Gould, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, and Don Cheadle. So, what does Steven Soderbergh do with all that star power? Not a whole lot, really. For a 2 hour movie, there isn't a lot there. Part of the problem is that putting together eleven guys for a heist means that we have to see Danny and Rusty recruit all those guys, which sucks up a big chunk of the movie. Nothing wrong with that, but with so many team members, we aren't able to get invested in any of them. Tess is a complete cipher as well. No time is spent developing her character so that we understand why she was ever attracted to Danny (other than that he looks like George Clooney), let alone why she is now with a greasy casino owner like Terry.

I blame the writers. The cast do a fine job with what they are given, there just isn't much of a story, even much of a heist. Danny touts the idea that they are ripping off the three biggest casinos in Vegas, but the cash is all in one vault, so it's really just one robbery. Honestly, I felt entertained while watching the movie, and it wasn't until afterwards that I started thinking about the problems with the movie, and started feeling like it wasn't just a casino that got ripped off by “Ocean's Eleven.”

2.5 stars out of 5

Te Quiero, Imbecil (I Love You, Stupid) (2020, Spanish, Streaming on Netflix) ***

 

Most of the time, when a guy proposes to a girl, he has a pretty good idea that she's going to say yes. So when Marcos (Quim Gutierrez) pops the question to Ana, his girlfriend of 8 years, he isn't prepared for her to break up with him instead. Life gets even worse when he gets laid off from his job. Cut loose from his moorings, Marcos turns to internet dating apps and an internet self-help guru to turn his luck around. Meanwhile, he runs into Raquel, (Natalia Tena) a high school acquaintance who once had the hots for him. While Marcos's career is taking off, his dating life remains a shambles. He hooks up with his ex repeatedly, while denying the obvious attraction between himself and Raquel.

I was due to watch something in Spanish, and this fluffy, little rom-com was just the ticket. In most respects, the movie is indistinguishable from pretty much every other spanish-language comedy, including the obligatory gay panic jokes and the well-worn scene where a trans woman outs herself by peeing standing up. What elevates the movie is Natalia Tena, whom you may recognize from “About a Boy” and “Game of Thrones.” She lights up the screen every time she appears, and she drags the other actors up with her. The easy chemistry between Raquel and Marcos makes the movie a delight, as does Raquel's natural laugh. This definitely won't make any movie-of-the-year lists, but it's lots of fun. Me encanta!

3 stars out of 5

Game Night (2018) ***

 

When the subject turns to favorite, fictional monsters, you'll hear a lot about Jason, from “Friday the 13th” or Freddie, from “Nightmare on Elm Street,” but for my money, the most terrifying monster on screen may be Todd, from “Breaking Bad.” Jesse Plemons played the dead-eyed, blonde-eyebrowed meth dealer with a flair for the banality of evil. Todd did the most horrible things without malice or glee. He didn't seem to take pleasure in killing or torturing people, he just seemed to be missing the part of the brain that makes most people feel bad about doing bad things.

For his supporting role in “Game Night,” Plemons doesn't quite play a sociopath, but he brings that quality of being slightly off, like he might be mildly autistic. He plays the cooky neighbor, the one who isn't invited to game night.

But I should back up. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play Max and Annie, a couple who absolutely love playing games. Game night with friends is a weekly tradition, one at which their weirdo neighbor, Gary (Plemons), is no longer wanted since he split up with his wife.

Max's rich brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler), is invited reluctantly, as he and Max have an unhealthily competitive relationship. Sure enough, Brooks hijacks game night, inviting everyone to his new, fancier house for a fancier game night. When Brooks ends up getting kidnapped before the hors d'oeuvres are even served, the game is on for real!

In the middle of this pandemic, it's almost hard to fathom that Hollywood could once do something as simple as put together a terrific cast and make a fun, silly comedy, but here's proof. The entire cast bring their A-game, and Rachel McAdams is especially endearing. It might be fair to say that Jason Bateman doesn't have a lot of acting range. He plays the same, likeable, somewhat hapless straight man here that he always plays, but he does it so well that I'm not complaining. The actual story and dialogue aren't exactly winning any awards, but they never get in the way of a good time, either. “Game Night” never had me rolling on the floor, but I was chuckling throughout.

3 stars out of 5

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) ****

 

Despite knowing that this is a Coen brothers film, I was hesitant to watch it, and it's hard to exactly explain why. The title is a bit off-putting, as is the goofy-looking, cowboy-in-white on the Netflix thumbnail. Also, I was vaguely aware that it was an anthology, which somehow didn't sound appealing. Spoiler alert: I'm an idiot! This is a highly entertaining collection of short stories, with the wit and heart you would expect from a Coen brothers film, and I should have watched it 2 years ago.

The film consists of 6 unconnected short stories about life and, especially, death, in the Old West. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” is really just the title of the first story, in which Tim Blake Nelson (who was so charming in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) plays Buster Scruggs, the singing gunslinger in white from the poster. It may not be the best story of the bunch, but it's easily the most entertaining, as it's a little mini-musical. One of the songs even scored an Oscar nomination. Then there's “Near Algodones,” where James Franco plays a bank robber who learns to accept the bad luck with the good, and Stephen Root demonstrates unexpected uses for cookware. In “Meal Ticket,” the darkest tale of the bunch, Liam Neeson travels around with a limbless actor who ekes out a frontier living giving dramatic recitations.

Most of the stories were written by the Coens, but two are based on other works. “All Gold Canyon,” in which Tom Waits plays a prospector in a pristine, wild canyon, is based on a Jack London story. “The Gal Who Got Rattled,” easily the most beautiful and heartbreaking story of the bunch, is an adaptation of a 1901 short story by Stewart Edward White.

The film wraps up with “The Mortal Remains,” in which a group of travelers packed into a stagecoach share their thoughts on life, love, and death. This segment feels very allegorical, and it's a good way to wrap up the collection.

In literature, a collection of short stories never feels as powerful or epic as your favorite novel, and no one is going to call this the Coen brothers' best film. Nothing here is on the level of “Fargo,” "Raising Arizona," or “Miller's Crossing.” These are great, little vignettes, however, and, since they are unconnected, well-suited to watching a couple of stories at a time, when you don't have time for a full movie. I say ignore the silly movie poster and give it a chance!

4 stars out of 5

An Easy Girl (2019, French, Streaming on Netflix ) ****

 

There are towns like Cannes all over the world: beautiful paradises filled with 2 types of people. There are the tourists, and in Cannes, this includes highly visible, ultra-rich tourists in their yachts. Then there are the townies, the regular people who live and work in the town, making its existence possible for the tourists.

16-year-old Naima (Nina Farid) is a townie. Her mother works as a hotel housekeeper, and Naima isn't sure what she will do, but she has an offer to spend the summer interning with a top chef. She gets distracted from that plan by the arrival of her beautiful, older cousin, Sofia (Zahia Dehar). Sofia is sex personified, built like Sofia Loren, and she dresses to show off what she's got, which, of course, is all that she's got. She lives off the largesse of wealthy men, and she takes her job seriously.

Naima absorbs all this, watching her cousin seduce and be seduced by a billionaire, Andres (Nuno Lopez). Seduced, herself, by the glamour, Naima abandons her internship plans as well as her regular friends to go along for the ride. Her eyes are opened to a world of luxury, sophisticated friends, and sex.

“An Easy Girl” is a beautifully-filmed, erotic movie with a great story. I will give one spoiler: it's NOT a thriller. Nobody gets murdered or anything. This is really a coming-of-age tale. Naima is right at the age where she wants to start exploring her independence. Of course she is drawn in by her beautiful, confident cousin, who seems to move through the world so effortlessly. Exploring Cannes's night life with Sofia is completely different from going out with Naima's high school friends. Sofia's beauty seems to open up endless possibilities. Also, Naima is raised by a single mom, so it's natural that she admires Sofia's ability to get attention from older men.

The more they hang out, the more Naima learns that Sofia's life isn't effortless at all. The title of the film is actually ironic. Sofia isn't “easy” in the traditional sense: you have to be rich to be with her. Life doesn't come as easy to Sofia as it seems, either. Looking the way she does, attracting these wealthy men, and keeping them interested, all of it takes work. Sofia doesn't assume that the world owes her things. She has a sense of duty in holding up her end of the relationship, both in the bedroom and at the dinner table. Before a dinner date with Andres, she cooks a meal for herself and Naima, explaining that, at dinner, she needs to be able to focus on the other guests and make interesting conversation, rather than being focused on eating. Like a samurai or an old-West gunslinger, Sofia has a code that she lives by.

For his part, Andres is really just the other side of the coin from Sofia. He shows off his wealth the way she shows off her body. He has an assistant named Phillipe, who is almost a mentor. Andres is new money, with little idea how to spend his millions other than prancing around in a yacht like Euro-trash. Phillipe is helping Andres become a collector of valuable artifacts and introducing him to educated sophisticates. Andres refers to Phillipe as “Socrates,” suggesting that he views him as his teacher. Phillipe's influence over Andres, however, does not seem to extend to Andres's romantic dalliances.

“An Easy Girl” is a sexy movie that gives you a lot to think about. Watching it is like going on a sun-soaked vacation and reading a classic novel!

4 stars out of 5

Jay & Silent Bob Reboot (2019) **1/2

 

When Hollywood runs out of original ideas, which seems to happen a lot, they just go back to something that worked in the past, making a sequel, a reboot, or a spin-off. “Jay & Silent Bob Reboot” is, in a way, all three, and the movie makes fun of that fact.

Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) really should require no introduction. They were easily the best thing about Kevin Smith's first movie, the low-budget legend, “Clerks.” These two goofball drug dealers then became the most recurring characters in Smith's films, constantly cropping up to provide comic relief and sage advice. They got their own movie with 2001's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," in which they travel across the country to stop the production of a movie about themselves.

Almost 20 years later, these two hetero life-mates are still just hanging out in New Jersey, and the movie studios are at it again. Not only are they making a new Jay & Silent Bob movie, they swindle the boys out of the trademark rights to their own names. The boys head back to Hollywood to put a stop to the nonsense.

Along the way, they stop to see Justice (Shannon Elizabeth), Jay's old flame from “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.” Justice has a little surprise for Jay. She has an 18-year-old daughter, and you can do the math on that. Milly (Harley Quinn Smith) has no idea that Jay is her father, but she convinces Jay and Silent Bob to let her and her diverse group of friends hitch a ride to Hollywood. This gives Jay a chance to come to terms with his new life role.

Kevin Smith's career has been, to say the least, uneven. His first film, “Clerks,” is a total classic, despite being rough around the edges. “Mallrats,” by comparison, seemed really sophomoric, but I find that the movie has aged well and is now one of my Kevin Smith favorites. Then there was “Chasing Amy,” which seemed just perfect when I saw it in the cinema, but which didn't hold up so well to repeat viewing. “Dogma” had its moments, but doesn't rate a re-watch. “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” was silly as hell, but funny on a certain level. 2004's “Jersey Girl” was un-watchable, and 2008's “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” wasn't much better. Those 2 films could have spelled the end of my Kevin-Smith-watching career, but in between he gave us the excellent "Clerks II." 

So where does “Jay & Silent Bob Reboot” fit into this oeuvre? It feels less like a movie and more like a warts-and-all celebration of Smith's career. It's chock full of Easter eggs from his previous films, with loads of winking, self-referential cameos. Smith even put his daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, in the film, as he has done in several previous movies, and then they make fun of him for his nepotism. In short, this is one for the fans. If you haven't seen several of Smith's previous films, especially “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back,” then there is no reason to watch the reboot. If you ARE a fanboy, then it's probably worth watching, if you have nothing better to do. Smith's daughter drags the movie down a little; she's not that great an actress, and she is odd-looking. It's also a little off-putting seeing some of these actors looking so much older, especially Jason Mewes. (Smith, himself, as Silent Bob, is the exception. He lost a bunch of weight after a heart attack, and looks better than ever.) So, how does the reboot compare to "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back?"  I'd say it's the rare sequel that's at least as good as the original.

2.5 stars out of 5

Blue Ruin (2013) ***

 

When a homeless man learns that the man who killed his parents is being released from prison, there is never any doubt what he will do. Dwight (Macon Blair) gets his act together just enough to go hunt that sumbitch down. The job is more complicated than expected, however, and Dwight winds up having to take on the guy's entire, white-trash family.

This is really a story about family feuds, which are a natural consequence of a legal system that lets murderers walk free. People like Dwight feel like they have to take the law into their own hands, and then there's retribution for that, leading to an escalating cycle of violence. The Clelands seek to kill Dwight after he kills their brother, but they also kind of respect him for avenging his parents himself, as it's exactly what they would have done. The justice system is supposed to prevent these kinds of feuds, but it only works if it provides actual justice.

“Blue Ruin” is a low-budget, film-festival film that keeps you on the edge of your seat, with decent performances from a bunch of unknown actors. It's also one of the most realistic revenge movies I've seen. Dwight isn't some superhero, ex-special-forces bad-ass. He's just an ordinary, schlubby, depressed guy who turns out to be extremely motivated. It's a good revenge story, and while there isn't much to say about it, it's well worth watching.

3 stars out of 5

An American Pickle (2020) **

 

What do you get when you take a beloved, comedic actor, give him a classic concept, and let him run with it? In this case, not much, really. “An American Pickle” is what happens when a performer takes a half-baked idea and forgets to put it back in the oven.

Seth Rogen plays 2 roles. The first is Herschel Greenbaum, a 19th-Century, Jewish laborer who immigrates to New York with his wife, Sarah (Sarah Snook). Working in a pickle factory, Herschel falls unnoticed into a vat of pickles. The factory closes down, life goes on, and no one knows what happened to Herschel until 2020, when someone opens the pickle vat and out pops Herschel, preserved by the salt. So it's basically an unfrozen caveman story.

In the 21^st Century, Herschel meets his only surviving family, his great-grandson Ben (also Seth Rogen). Ben is a struggling app developer, a typical metrosexual, and non-religious, so the two ultimately wind up butting heads. Herschel goes out on his own to make a living selling pickles, but being a fish-out-of-water turns out to have its challenges.

“An American Pickle” has some amusing moments, and there's no reason this concept shouldn't work, but the movie isn't that well-written. The jokes just really aren't all that funny. Seth Rogen also carries the whole movie on his shoulders, and maybe it could have benefited from some supporting players.

One thing I will say about the film is that it has a certain “Being There” quality. Herschel, the immigrant maker of artisanal pickles is initially a big hit with the urbanite hipsters. Then Ben sabotages him by encouraging him to share his thoughts on Twitter. Once New Yorkers get a load of Herschel's retrograde ideas on women and gays, he is persona non grata. At first, pissing off the Libtards makes him a hero with the conservatives, but then he offends them, too, becoming a complete pariah. As long as he was just Herschel the pickle man, people were happy to project their own values on him, and they loved his eccentricities. Once he starts sharing his political and religious beliefs with the world at large, people latch onto whatever he says that they don't like, forgetting everything they liked about him. There's a lesson there for us all.

2 stars out of 5

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) ****

 

*WANTED* Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.

This newspaper ad grabs the attention of a group of journalists. Jeff (Jake Johnson) and his interns Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and Arnau decide to write an article about whoever placed this wacky missive. They stake out a post office and get on the trail of Kenneth (Mark Duplass), a grocery clerk with delusions of scientific grandeur. Kenneth is very serious about time traveling, and he immediately sniffs out Jeff's fake attempt to join him. The quirky Darius has more luck earning Kenneth's trust, partly because she genuinely wants to travel back in time. While Darius and Kenneth train for “the mission,” Jeff pursues his own mission, which is to hook up with an old flame, who just happens to live in Kenneth's town.

“Safety Not Guaranteed” is the kind of film festival movie that translates really well to a general audience. This isn't oddball, arthouse fare; it's just a funny, human movie with a heart as big as a mountain. It's about people, with all their faults, trying to love themselves and find someone to love. Kenneth's ad is a very existentialist cri du coeur. Fact is, we are all time travelers, going forward in time. We get paid when the mission is done, we have to bring our own weapons, and most of us want someone to travel with us.

4 stars out of 5

Raising Arizona (1987) *****

 

Paging through my streaming services in search of something good to watch is often an exercise in frustration. It can be a sea of crap with a few so-so movies floating in it, and I can spend ten minutes clicking around, finding a handful of “maybe's,” but nothing that I really want to commit to. People who are old enough may recall having the same experience at the video store. It's nice when you see something that you can immediately say “Yes” to, and that's what happened when I saw that “Raising Arizona” was streaming.

Nicolas Cage plays H.I., an ex-con married to Ed (Holly Hunter), a policewoman. The odd couple are truly in love, and H.I. cleans up his act to be a good husband for Ed. A cloud moves across their sun, however, when they learn that Ed is infertile. Both sink into a depression. When an area mom delivers 5 babies, the “Arizona Quints,” Ed and H.I. hatch a scheme to steal a baby from people who seem to have more than they can handle.

That's all I'll say about the plot of one of the true classics. I hadn't seen this in years, so really it was mostly new to me, and I loved every minute! The cast, including John Goodman, is excellent, and the story is hilarious and heartfelt. This is one of the Coen brothers' best films, and definitely one for repeat viewings. It's a story about longing, about temporary insanity, and the question of whether a person can truly change. Mostly, it's about what makes a family.

This happens to be my 500^th entry in this movie journal, and I couldn't have picked a better film to mark the milestone.

5 stars out of 5

Blood Simple (1984) ****

 

Before “Raising Arizona,” before “Miller's Crossing,” before “The Big Lebowski,” there was “Blood Simple.” Joel and Ethan Coen's first feature only cost $1.5 million to make, but it's as tightly-wound a neo-noir as you could ask for.

Joel Coen's wife, Frances McDormand, stars as Abbey, who is leaving her creepy, bar-owning husband, Marty (Dan Hedaya). Ray, an employee at the bar, helps her leave, and the two become lovers. That should be the end of the story right there, but once we meet Marty, it's obvious that he isn't the kind of guy to take an insult like that lying down. He winds up hiring a sleazy private-eye (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill the two, and we're off on a classic noir tale of murder, suspicion, and Shakespearean levels of confusion.

It's an impressively complex and cohesive tale for a first effort. The scenes do get a bit slow at times, which is why this is one of the few films where the “Director's Cut” is actually shorter than the original. Even that cut drags in spots, but it's worth it. The cast is outstanding for a low-budget film, and the plot will leave noir fans satisfied. The series of errors and misunderstandings that draws the protagonists deeper and deeper into noir hell really does remind me of some of Shakespeare's tragedies. The Coen brothers went on to make even better films, but definitely don't overlook this classic.

4 stars out of 5

The Towering Inferno (1974) ***

 

Disaster movies are usually the worst, exploiting natural human anxieties and trading in the most hackneyed, sentimental tropes. The heroes are ever so righteous. The villains are stereotyped, usually rich, weak-chinned fat-cats who think they can buy themselves a spot on the first lifeboat. They love to put children in danger, the cheapest way to create suspense. Despite the fact that it engages in all these sins to some degree, “The Towering Inferno” is actually a disaster movie worth seeing.

Paul Newman plays Doug Roberts, a San Francisco architect finishing up his masterpiece, the tallest building in the world at 138 stories. As his maintenance team starts bringing systems online, they discover some electrical issues. Doug learns that the developer (William Holden) farmed out the electrical contract to his son-in-law (Richard Chamberlain), who cut corners on the specs. While Doug is giving these guys a hard time, little do they know that the cheap wiring has already sparked a fire on the 81^st floor. With the sprinkler systems not yet functional, the fire spreads, eventually threatening everyone in the building, including the bigwigs at the premature opening ceremony on the 135^th floor. Fire Chief O'Halloran (Steve McQueen) leads an action-packed rescue that includes helicopters, rappelling, and copious explosions.

The cast is a Who's Who of famous faces from the early 70's, including Newman, McQueen, Faye Dunaway, and even O.J.Simpson, back when he was a beloved athlete/actor. There are also a number of famous actors from an earlier era, including Fred Astaire and Jennifer Jones. Everyone seems to be having a good time. They all seem to understand that, after all, this is a disaster movie. They ham it up, smile, and let the pyrotechnics do their job.

What keeps the film from being cheap, exploitative action-schlock is the two stars, Newman and McQueen, and the chemistry between them. Both portray no-nonsense men of action, not glib action heroes. While everyone else acts like they are in a Very Special Episode of “The Love Boat,” these two actors keep the movie grounded. Don't get me wrong; this is not a great movie by any stretch. It is pretty entertaining, though, and while it may be hard to watch for a generation who saw the World Trade Center fall, it is probably the best of the 1970's disaster movies.

3 stars out of 5

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) **

 

There are 80's teen movies that have aged well (1985's “Back to the Future” comes to mind.), and then there is “Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.” The movie was a sensation back in the day, with young people constantly quoting its catchphrases - “Excellent!” “Party on, Dude!” I honestly never sat down and watched the entire movie back then, but you would have had to live under a rock to have missed its influence. Watching it now, I think that the kindest thing that can be said is that it is very of its time.

The film is about a couple of Valley Boys. Bill (Alex Winters) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are a pair of lovable goofballs who are too busy fantasizing about being big rock stars to actually learn music, let alone study for school. Despite their slacker ways, we learn that these guys are destined to become the greatest musicians and thinkers of all time, upon whose music a future, Utopian society will be based. That won't happen if they flunk out of school, however, so that future society sends a guy named Rufus (George Carlin) back in time to ensure that they pass. (This is NOT one of those movies that thinks deeply about time travel.) Rufus lends the boys a time-traveling phone booth (apologies to “Dr. Who”), and they skip through the centuries, kidnapping historical figures to speak in their history presentation.

It's all as dumb as it sounds, which is saying a lot, and which was not inevitable. Plenty of movies with sillier premises than this have managed to have an underlying intelligence and wit. When “Bill & Ted” manages to be funny, it's the funny of a public fart, and I don't mean the unexpected fart from your uptight, high school principal, followed by an awkward silence. This film is more like when the class clown rips one for the hundredth time.

Whatever I think of it now, the movie was a hit back in the day. The kids loved it! It also unleashed Keanu Reeves on the world. This wasn't his first movie, but it's the one that made him a star, for better or for worse. His wooden acting would go on to pollute our screens for decades to come. One thing I'll say for “Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure” - Reeves is actually animated in this movie. He has spent most of his career looking and acting like he ate something that disagreed with him. In “Bill & Ted,” he's a loose-limbed, goofy-smiled, charming marionette.

As one of the few people in the Free World who didn't see the film when it came out, I'm in a unique position to reconsider it now, as I have no nostalgia for it. The question is, viewed on its own merits, should you watch it now? The answer is complicated by the release, all these years later, of a new Bill & Ted sequel, “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” which I have not seen. I would say that unless the new film gets some pretty stellar reviews, it would be safe to leave the whole franchise to ancient history.

2 stars out of 5

Ready or Not (2019) ****

 

It's nothing new to say that the whole in-laws thing is weird. One day you've got your own family, with whom you've built up memories, traditions, and in-jokes over the years. Then you get thrown into the midst of another family, who have their own secret language that you don't speak. For Grace (Samara Weaving), an orphan who grew up in foster homes, family is a foreign concept altogether. Her fiance, Alex, is estranged from his family, but has agreed to return with Grace to be married at the family estate. The Le Domases have a family fortune built on board games and sports franchises. They also have some weird traditions, some of which involve a barn full of goats out behind the mansion. Their weirdest tradition, though, is that whenever a Le Domas marries, the new in-law has to play a randomly-chosen game with the family. Usually it's something like chess or Old Maid, but if the Hide-and-Seek card comes up, things get serious. The family has to hunt down and kill the new bride or groom before dawn. Good, clean, family fun!

“Ready or Not” is a horror comedy that nails the balance between horror and comedy. Filmed for only $6 million, the movie takes full advantage of its talented cast, including Andie Macdowell and the gorgeous Melanie Scrofano (Mrs. McMurry from “Letterkenny”). Samara Weaving is excellent, even if she does look a bit too much like Margot Robbie. (If history has taught us anything, it's that Hollywood can always make room for another blonde bombshell.)

There's a lot of talk about the movie's socio-economic commentary, or whatever, but it's a bit overblown. A bunch of rich people try to kill a poor person for trying to join their ranks. Nothing particularly ground-breaking there, but I guess these days everyone wants to view things through the lens of class warfare. This is not a biting social satire on the order of, say, “Get Out.” I'm content to enjoy the movie for what it is – a funny, tightly-wound thriller that puts a new face on family game night.

4 stars out of 5

Palm Springs (2020) ****

 

Nyles (Andy Samberg) is stuck in a time loop. Every day, he wakes up with his girlfriend, Misty, cracks open the first of many beers, and kills time until the wedding in which Misty is a bridesmaid. Whether the day ends with Nyles falling asleep, passing out, or getting killed, he just wakes up again in the same bed, with the same girl, on the same wedding day. How long he's been in this loop, we don't know - long enough to have slept with many of the players, attempted suicide numerous times, and developed a fully-nihilistic philosophy.

Things change, sort-of, when Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the sister of the bride, follows Nyles into a cave and gets sucked into the time loop with him. Sarah is a self-described “liability, who f---s around and drinks too much.” She's the perfect buddy with whom to spend a never-ending day where nothing you do has any consequences.

“Palm Springs” is charmingly-crafted, with great chemistry between the leads and a grounded supporting performance from J.K. Simmons. Because of the pandemic, the movie didn't get much of a theatrical release, but it's way better than you would expect from a straight-to-streaming film.

If you had asked me if we needed a ripoff of “Groundhog Day,” I'd have told you “No, thanks!” It turns out, during these days when it feels like we are trapped in an endlessly-repeating cycle of limited social interaction and bad news, “Palm Springs” is just the movie we needed.

4 stars out of 5

Knives Out (2019) ****1/2

 

A dark day is coming for film-lovers. In these days of the plague, no one is making new movies. Features made before the pandemic are being released in drive-in theaters, and then to streaming, but eventually those will run out, and even our small screens will display nothing new. We will be consigned, for a spell, to re-watching the best of the films we have already seen. When that time comes, “Knives Out” will be on my list of films to re-watch.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the creator of "Brick," the film is a classic whodunit-style murder mystery. When famous mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found with his throat slit, it looks like a suicide, and the local police are prepared to call it just that. Someone, however, has employed private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to investigate the death. Blanc interviews each of Harlan's descendants, all of whom stand to inherit an impressive literary fortune, and each of whom turns out to have a motive for killing Harlan. The only person without a motive for murder is Harlan's nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), and she just may prove to be the key to the whole case.

I will say no more, because it's simply too good for spoilers. “Knives Out” is a deliciously suspenseful and funny tale of murder, greed, and family dysfunction, helped along by a top-notch cast that includes Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Chris Evans, and Jamie Lee Curtis. If it sometimes seems just a bit too Agatha Christie, just a bit like a game of “Clue,” it's because this is a classic mystery in the old tradition, where all the necessary clues are presented along the way. An astute viewer could figure out the mystery, although I'll admit that I only predicted parts of it.

The cast chew the scenery with gusto, then spit out hilarious lines like watermelon seeds. I particularly enjoyed this exchange between Ransom the bratty grandson (Chris Evans) and Benoit Blanc, who talks in an admittedly-dodgy southern accent:

Ransom: You think I'm not going to fight to protect my own, our birthright, our ancestral home...

Blanc: [laughing] That is hooey! Harlan bought this place in the 80's from a Pakistani real estate millionaire... .

Ransom: Oh shut up! Shut up! Shut up with that Kentucky-fried, Foghorn Leghorn drawl!

The film is also a not-so-subtle political allegory, as it contrasts Marta, the hard-working daughter of immigrants, with Harlan's feckless heirs. They pretend to consider Marta “part of the family,” but they really think of her as the Help. Meanwhile, each of them thinks they are entitled by birth to the wealth Harlan created.

“Knives Out” did not get nearly as many award nominations as I think it deserves; it's too much fun to watch to be traditional awards-bait. No matter. It's streaming on Amazon now, and for my money it's one of the best films of 2019. Put on your deerstalker hat, light up your pipe, and click Play. The game's afoot!

4.5 stars out of 5

Night of the Living Dead (1968) ****

 

I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me this long to see this seminal horror film. George Romero's horror classic is THE definitive zombie film, even though the word zombie is never used in the movie.

The film starts with a pair of siblings, Barbra and Johnny, visiting their father's grave. Johnny gripes about how far they have to drive to the cemetery, how much the flowers cost, and how they are doing all this for a father they barely knew. Disrespecting the dead turns out to be very bad karma in this story. Before the scene is over, Barbra and Johnny are attacked by a shuffling, staring ghoul. Barbra escapes to a nearby farmhouse, where she is eventually joined by some other survivors, all of whom have their stories of being attacked by half-rotten, stumbling, speechless human beings. Through the farmhouse radio and TV, they learn that the creatures are recently-deceased people who have arisen with a hunger for human flesh, and that their animation may be related to a NASA probe recently returned from Venus. Soon, the farmhouse is surrounded by the walking dead, and the group must make it through a desperate night, surviving both the zombies and each other.

Romero and his writing partner, John Russo, were loosely inspired by the novel I Am Legend, which has been adapted to the screen 3 times in its own right (1964's “The Last Man on Earth”, 1971's “The Omega Man”, and 2007's “I Am Legend”). They mainly just drew inspiration from the concept of a human holdout surrounded by monsters. Otherwise, it's a completely different tale.

“Night of the Living Dead” was made for $114,000 (less than a million in 2020 dollars), and it's damned good! I recently wrote about another low-budget “classic,” 1979's “Phantasm,” which cost more than twice as much to film and is an incomprehensible mess. “Night of the Living Dead” requires some basic suspension of disbelief in terms of the underlying “science,” but otherwise the plot holds together. The story is well-paced, with decently-crafted characters who do the kinds of things that real people might do in this situation. Some of the acting is stiff and amateurish, but that doesn't ruin the film.

This wasn't the first zombie movie made (Here's a good article on the genre.), but it's the most influential. NOTLD established the basic rules of zombie lore that persist to today: Zombies are reanimated corpses. Being bitten or scratched by a zombie leads to illness, death, and zombie resurrection. Zombies are slow, but persistent. The only way to kill one is to destroy the brain. Pretty much every zombie tale since, right up to the TV show “The Walking Dead,” either follows these rules or is known for how it deviates from them. For example, when people talk about the 2002 film “28 Days Later,” they always describe the zombies as “fast-moving,” to distinguish them from the standard Romero-type.

If you like horror, then don't put off watching this one any longer. Be careful what version you get, though. Due to a bizarre copyright oversight, the movie is in public domain, and there are all kinds of cheap copies out there, as well as a colorized version and one in 3d. I recommend checking out Amazon Prime, which has the original, black-and-white version in the original aspect ratio, ready to stream. Now, more than ever, it makes sense to watch a movie about being stuck in a house, looking out at a world teeming with people who might kill you! LOL!

4 stars out of 5