1-1-1: Shrinking Season 1

 2023, 10 Episodes - AppleTV+
created by Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein

The Plot 100:

Jimmy is a therapist who has been grieving the sudden loss of his wife for over a year. In that time he's become frustrated with his patience and lost any sense of connection with his daughter, Alice. With the help of new patient, Sean, a young war vet with PTSD, he suddenly snaps out of his depression by taking a different approach to therapy and maybe to life. But he will have to contend with neighbour Liz, who has been parenting Alice in his malaised absence, his boss/mentor Paul, and his coworker/late wife's BFF Gaby.

1-1-1
1 Great: The Pivot. I have enjoyed many of Bill Lawrence's co-creations, including Scrubs, Ted Lasso, Clone High, and especially Cougartown. Likewise, I've enjoyed much of Jason Segel's creative work, with Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Muppets being two of my favourite films from the past 20 years.  And well, Brett Goldstein is fast proving himself a creative force in Hollywood after being pretty busy in British TV and Cinema for over a decade. So like half a Voltron with the world in their palm, they collide to create what may unbelievably wind up being the next great "hang" comedy of the 21st century.  

Of course, Shrinking doesn't start out with that objective.  It very much seemed to have a defined idea of what it was to be, who Jimmy was, and what his relationships with these characters would be. Cougartown was the same way.  It was established as a comedic vehicle for Courtney Cox, meant to explore the newly single life of a mid-40's mother reentering the dating scene after divorcing her philandering husband and her son on the precipice of college. But by midway through the first season, the immensely talented cast and their personalities started to dominate the show, meaning the writers couldn't just force them into a form of over-arcing story, or weave a theme around them, and the interest in exploring Cox's character's love life in a sub-par Sex in the City way was non-existent. By the end of the first season, the show had abandoned almost entirely its premise, and instead become a show about hanging out and drinking wine and being deliriously silly.

Shrinking opens with Segel's Jimmy partying with two too-young-for-him women in his backyard pool at 3am, his neighbour Liz (Christa Miller) marching over and berating him, and his 17-year-old daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell) looking at him scornfully. Jimmy, in full breakdown mode, has hit rock bottom, and the show's intent, I believe, was to show how Jimmy picks himself back up again, by way of Jimmy's job as a therapist. Jimmy starts to be more intrusive in his patients lives, he starts to think he has the answers to their problems, he starts pushing them into action, not just talk.  The intent I believe was part "therapist, heal thyself" and also part thought experiment on different therapies.   It does follow through on this intent, but, less and less with each episode, and by about episode 5 of this 10-episode season, it's definitely not just about Jimmy anymore.  It's sense of being a "dramedy" gives way pretty quickly.

If you look at Jessica Williams' Gaby, there's no way where she winds up at the end of the season is where she was forecasted to go. Gaby starts off the series divorcing her malaised husband, only to see him rebound quickly and become successful. There is a hint of Gaby's ex wanting her back, and I can only think there was a more serious on-again/off-again, "this therapist's life is a mess" style story originally intended, but it does a HARD pivot into unexpected territory.

By the end of the first season, every main cast member is engaged with every other cast member in a meaningful (if not necessarily organic) way, and the show lives more for the time the characters spend with each other than it does with advancing a story arc or agenda. The time the characters spend together, though, just happens to move their stories forward. What is left behind is the Shrinking-ness of it all, the need to frame the show around therapy sessions.  The writers have more to say about the characters than they do about the therapy process, and that's more than OK, it makes the show.

1 Good - Casting. What Lawrence seems to have realized with his shows is that you can have all the plans in the world for the story you want to tell, but there's basically two ways to go with an ensemble cast: 1) build an ever-expanding universe around them or 2) tighten the circle.  With the premise of therapists treating patients as a framework, the universe could be ever-expanding, but while the therapy sessions don't fully go away, the attention isn't on them.  The circle is tightened.

When Jimmy starts taking Sean (Luke Tennie) places outside of the office for therapy, the moments that work are those of connection, not of the concepts Jimmy's hoping will help. When Sean moves into Jimmy's poolhouse, from a "dramedy" standpoint, it's a bad idea, but from a comedic ensemble set-up, it tightens the circle. It pulls the characters closer. It means Sean and Alice start to engage, it means Sean and Liz encounters, it starts to centralize the show around Jimmy's home and not the workplace.  Sure, Sean could run into Gaby and Paul at the office, but it's better when they see each other around the neighbourhood.  They just have to keep finding ways for Gaby and Paul to turn up at Jimmy's...and they do.

I don't think Shrinking was meant to be such an ensemble, but instead a Segel-led production. Yet, when you have the creative pull of two of the team who made the cultural phenomenon Ted Lasso, Apple TV+'s greatest success story (not their best show, that would be Severance), the world is their oyster and they just so happened, to, god knows how, pull Harrison Ford into this damn thing as Paul.  When you get Harrison Ford for his first-ever sitcom, you can't just have him play a small supporting role.  There's likely a fear factor to getting the biggest movie star of the past 50 years to be in your TV show, and a trepidation in writing his character into too many scenes with other, less famous actors on the show, but Ford seems shockingly game to put his comedy hat on, in a rather undemanding and, probably, rewarding role.  The dramedy of Paul revolves around his Parkinson's affliction, and his relationship with his estranged daughter (sort of a worst-case-scenario prognostication for Jimmy and Alice), but the show lets the character be part of the fun, too, and it seems quick to realize that Ford wants in on it.  The best relationship in the show is Paul and Alice, as they, effectively sneak around Jimmy's back, forging a tight grandfather-granddaughter-like bond. It's a great juxtaposition to the other strained relationships each has in their lives, that they come together and are able to have the relationship with each other that they wish they had with their own family. Young Maxwell holds her own in every scene and manages a genuine connection with Ford.

Williams is a comedic performer who just dominates scenes. She's energetic, charismatic and radiant. She just shines, and the show quickly, and wisely, finds a way to fold her into other characters lives so that she can be on screen more.  It sacrifices her story arc in the process, which is a downside, and it needs to find a meaningful arc to build around her, but her presence is welcome in every scene.

You're not getting a Bill Lawrence production without Christa Miller (except Ted Lasso, I guess) so Miller's Liz as the standoffish-yet-invasive-yet-supportive neighbour seems kind of forced into the show early on. The character here seems a variant of her Ellie character from Cougartown and it needs to work at differentiating her. Miller can't be the surly one, because Ford has that down on lock.  It takes work to integrate her into the show, but they find it. Again, some of the connections here (like between Liz and Gaby, or Liz and Paul, or Liz and Sean) aren't necessarily natural, but once the ice is broken between them it opens up an easy opportunity for more.

Michael Urie seems almost an afterthought in the first few episodes, which makes me think his character Brian, Jimmy's best friend, was a late addition to the show for queer representation.  Urie's performance as Brian is spot on, relentlessly positive and a little egocentric, he's magnetic, but by the end of the first season, what hasn't been sold is the connection between Jimmy and Brian. Friends, yes. Best friends, maybe not. Had the dramedy of it all continued, I could see that connection being forged faster.  But Brian has been integrated with Gaby and Paul, and they just need to find an in to connecting Brian and Liz and Brian and Alice (they kind of missed the opportunity for him to be "Uncle Brian" for Alice).

1 Bad - Spectre. The patients that Jimmy treats were likely meant to be a greater narrative thrust for the show in its conception, but as it pivoted to being more interested in getting the characters to interact with each other, the therapy sessions fall to the side. Sean and Jimmy's relationship has gone from being therapist and patient to Sean basically becoming a part of his family. Jimmy's other patients, for the most part, are largely forgettable, to the point that the season finale has a montage to remind you of them and the benefits of his irreverent therapy has had on their lives leaves you straining to remember just who they are. It's almost like closure, the show signing off on that chapter of its storytelling, until it leaves a literal cliffhanger ending with Heidi Gardner's character, Grace, and her abusive boyfriend.  At this point the show has already pivoted into an insular hang comedy, so the sudden injection into serious real-world ramifications is jarring, far more so than when Grace's boyfriend beats the crap out of Jimmy in the second episode and Sean comes to his defence.

Therapy is so intimate, personal, and often painful, the type of comedy that comes from it needs to be more subtle and delicate, lest it lead to making fun of the people in therapy. It can lead to situational humour, or cringe comedy, and it's clear that's not the type of show this wants to be. So given the ending of the season that's become so character focused, why the need to toss this weighted plot twist that's so external to the ensemble?

META:
The first ad for Shrinking quite literally told us nothing about the show. It was straight on head shots of the actors, bouncing into frame obviously on a trampoline, against a stark, monochromatic teal backdrop, Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness" doing most of the heavy lifting tonally. Segel, Williams, Miller. Urie..faces we are familiar with, and probably even like from many, many other successful projects, certainly raising an eyebrow of interest. Citing Ted Lasso and Scrubs maybe eliciting a little "Oh?"  But then Ford walking on scene, looking disapprovingly at Segel, and one could only say "what the hell is this?"  Yes, by the time the ads started coming, Ford had already broken the TV seal with his Yellowstone expanded-universe show, but that was something specific and tangible, genre-wise...this...was intriguing.

Ford, quite literally, sells the show. I would have likely given it a chance without Ford, given the Segel, Lawrence, Williams of it all, but my attention wouldn't have been as immediate without Indiana Solo in place.

I was uncertain after the first two episodes really where it was going, and whether it was working, but when it starts to make the pivot, I really fell into it, keen to rejoin these players week-to-week. Ford being surly and vulnerable but in a funny way is a genuinely special thing, but everything that surrounds him is special too.

ReWatch Snippets: Why Did I Watch That Again?

In a desire to embrace the mental state which leads me from NOT watching a movie proper, but after flicking through the "channels" for a bit, end up rewatching a movie I have seen before, and not always enjoyed that much. So, why? What drew me back? Let's see if I can put a bit of it to words.

The Mummy, 2017, Alex Kurtzman (The Man Who Fell to Earth)

I guess the original post was eaten by the Great Hiatus of 2018, but also not surprising as I recall not caring that much for it. But I am fascinated by yet another failed attempt by Universal Studios to generate some buzz around a classic monster movie series, this time calling it Dark Universe. It never happened, and is likely being rebooted yet again. Despite the weight of Tom Cruise, this movie was a box office bomb. But I liked the backdrop this one was trying to create, in that Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe, The Gladiator) runs an organization that explores and contains primal Evil. They are exploring rumours of an entombed Egyptian princess, when Tom Cruise's Nick Morton (terrible name) unleashes The (Sexy) Mummy Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella, Atomic Blonde). Morton is not the hero, more the unwitting amoral pawn being dragged along by the plot. Eventually he makes a Good decision and allows himself to be possessed by Set in order to... well, Save the Girl, and what else, we are not quite sure, as we will never see the sequel. Its still a big "meh" from me, but it does have some exciting scenes and fun monsters.

The Last Witch Hunter, 2015, Breck Eisner (The Crazies)

Wow, this was that long ago? I think this movie is as close to a proper D&D movie that Vin Diesel will ever get to make.  I have watched it a handful of times since its release, but this was the first time I noticed how toss away the Elijah Wood character. He basically fills an expositional role for most of the moving, allowing Diesel's Kaulder to explain the witchy hunting world to him, and us. The betrayal at the end contributes little to the plot, and not even a very good "gotcha". I do wish the movie had done better, as it set itself up as the launching point for either a movie series, or a TV series, but now that The Witcher has filled that slot, I doubt we will see either. 

The Equalizer, 2014, Antoine Fuqua (Emancipation)

Amazon posted this as the "bonus edition" but I am pretty sure that titling refers to a DVD copy, and not anything special you can watch on Prime. Having recently enjoyed Chloe Grace Moretz in The Periphery it sparked another rewatch. Her part may be bit in this movie, but its integral to the motivations behind Robert McCall's resurrection. For me, beyond the well choreographed action sequences, its the little bits that I like in this movie. McCall's aligning of the book when he sits at the table, signifying not so much as OCD as an obsessiveness with having things Just Right. And the bit where he says he used to be a Pip, as in Gladys Knight and the... He might be a morose, almost non-emotional ex-assassin, but he's got humour. Marton Csokas' elite Russian enforcer grated on me the first time, but after a couple of rewatches, I rather relish his mirror to McCall.

Underwater, 2020, William Eubank (The Signal)

I didn't care for this movie in the first watch. So, why watch again? Because predictable, easy to watch and decently actionable is what these moods lend themselves to. But this time around, and 4K's proper blacks helping immensely, I did enjoy it a lot. I think its the pacing I enjoy the most, the nihilistic "everyone's gonna fucking die" approach (the movie opens with '350+ employees' and kills 99% immediately) mirrored against individuals fighting tooth & nail to survive, because what else are they going to do? Still love Cthulhu's guest appearance and his babies / parasites are definitively creepy, especially when they decide to swallow the deep sea suits whole -- do they actually expect to digest all that metal?

Deep Rising, 1998, Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) 

Weird how Underwater retreading age-old soggy ground bothered me first time round, and yet this movie's riffing off Aliens meets The Poseidon Adventure doesn't bother me in the least. It's a campy creature feature full of cliché 90s adventure characters, a wee bit of diversity placement and drips with machismo. The monsters don't make a whole lot of sense, and that doesn't matter at all. Again, like Underwater, its an escape flick that kills off pretty much everyone, including some of the likeable characters.

Plot? Mega-technical cruise ship packed with the world's richest people encounters something nasty - boom, smash, scream. Not long after, adventurer & skipper for hire John Finnegan (Treat Williams, Mulholland Falls) ferries a gang of mercs into unknown waters, but we know its the cruise ship. Onboard they all start getting eaten by ... tentacles? Its vague but I think they are supposed to be deep sea worms but they display as tentacles with teeth. The movie is full of the faces of the day: Wes Studi, Cliff Curtis, Famke Jensen, Kevin O'Connor and Djimon Hounsou in one of his ten thousand bit roles. Eventually  & inevitably only a few escape, fleeing from the exploding ship on jet skis, while not looking back.

Legion, 2010, Scott Stewart (Priest)

This movie still charms me in ways only an old TTRPG player can be charmed. It always struck me as the opening game to an "angels come to Earth" campaign for In Nomine. It focuses on the rule of cool as the mid-2000s loved to do.

Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany, WandaVision) falls to Earth, landing in an alley and squaring off against possessed cops in a move lifted from The Terminator. Meanwhile in that classic roadside diner just east of LA, in the Mojave, Charlie (Adrianne Palicki, John Wick) is having a baby all by herself, well helped by the intrusive affection of Jeep (Lucas Black, Fast & Furious 9), and yes that's his name. Things kick off when a rude old lady begins crawling on the ceiling, and then Michael shows up in his stolen cop car full of guns. Seems a new war in Heaven has begun, with Michael taking the side of humans. Charlie's baby is going to be humanity's saviour, but only if it lives. So all the legions of Heaven are sent to take out those defending the diner.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but its still a lot of fun. I have always liked this sub-sub-sub-genre which is specifically roadside diners besieged by evil things. Barricade yourself inside, do a half-assed covering of the windows, run low on ammunition (they shouldn't have, but Michael left it all in the trunk of the police car), and always always someone makes a bad decision and gets themself killed while endangering the others. 

Ghost in the Shell, 2017, Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman)

I am slowly losing my ties to unabashed nostalgic loves of the past. Things of old are slowly being left to their era, and not continually looked upon with fond recollection of perfections I yearn for. Oh, I will always love Firefly but I can also see many of the flaws in Buffy and even get bored by it. I have no desire to go back and see the Ghost in the Shell anime movies nor the highly enjoyable spin-off series, Stand Alone Complex. I haven't even given effort to watch the two reboots/resurrections of the last decade. The only nod I will give it these days will be the tachikoma tattoo I will add to my left arm sleeve, whenever I get around to starting it.

That said, this movie is well enough done to fill that "generic scifi actioner" craving I regularly get. This craving built the Shelf upon which stands I, Robot and Elysium and Oblivion. And yes, I see the irony in saying "leaving nostalgia behind" while also having a collection of older things I rewatch regularly, and in a post only about rewatches. But what I am saying is that these rewatches are not so much based on a great fondness for the exact items on it, but more for the notes and beats and visuals they hold. 

And thus I rewatch this, not for the waning nostalgia of its origins, but for that familiar structure. And it holds. The world and the visuals contained within is really well setup and perhaps stands alone (ahem) from its source material. Sure, cyberpunk as a genre is the template upon which it is built, but despite Sanders limited background (he really hasn't done a whole lot), the gave him enough money to make a really good looking movie which I enjoyed. This time round, I am less forgiving on some of the divergences. It annoys me that they chose to have characters call her Major, likes its a name not a title. Very few people call her by her real name. As a choice in the end, where she is neither her fake persona nor her original identity, its appropriate, but its inserted before it makes sense. 

KWIF: Creed III (+6)

It's been exceptionally difficult to keep up on everything there is to keep up on, both as a consumer and as someone who likes to prattle on about the things he consumes.  So Kent's Week in Film is this: each week (or so) I have a spotlight movie which I write a longer thinky piece about, and then whatever else I watched that week I do a quick little summary of my thoughts. Capice? It's a busy week (with a few stragglers from last week), so let's get it happenin'...

Kent Week In Film #7:
Creed III (2023), d. Michael B. Jordan - in theatre
Rocky V (1990), d. John G. Avildsen - Crave
Luther: The Fallen Son (2023), d.  - Netflix
Mackenna's Gold (1969), d. J. Lee Thompson - Silver Screen Classics
Royal Warriors (1986), d.  David Chung - Criterion Channel
Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022), d. George Miller - AmazonPrime
Sunshine (2007), d. Danny Boyle - Disney+

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Creed III presents a story that wrestles with the concept of whether violence is ever the answer and seems to come out on the side of, "yeah, sometimes it is". It could have been terribly hokey in how it got to that answer, but for Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Michael B. Jordan, Fant4stic), it's about speaking to his old friend, now rival, Damian (Jonathan Majors, Devotion) in the language he understands.

A secondary, but probably better handled aspect of the film, is the failure to communicate. Whether it's regret for not staying in contact with someone, or for not conveying one's emotions, or talking about one's past, there's a lot going unsaid, and there's a damaging impact to it. Communication is key here, doubly emphasized by the appreciably ample amount of ASL used in the film. Even with multiple modes of communication, it doesn't always mean Donnie is saying what needs to be said to the people in his life.

Bianca (Tessa Thompson, Westworld) losing her hearing in the first film, the worries about their child being born deaf in the second, and Amara being a not-inconsequential part of Donnie's life in this third...these are things this series didn't have to do. It's representation that doesn't have anything to do with boxing, but this series has been committed to it, and doing so without exploitation. It's just the world these people live in and I have huge respect for that.

The draw of course is seeing two of the world's most attractive men punch each other in their beautiful, beautiful faces, and it certainly delivers on that. Jordan's first directorial effort is suitably strong, with a lot of attention paid to the fight choreography. Having just binged the first four Rocky movies for the first time, and also been quite a fan of this spin-off franchise, I'd dare say this is the best fighting of the series (though nothing tops Coogler's one shot in the first Creed).  Jordan has cited anime as his inspiration for the fight sequences and he certainly captured the dynamic and dramatic visual style of the genre in live-action form.

With more than just a performance on the line Jordan's commitment here is total, putting everything into it. Majors, for his part, is fantastic, given what he's asked to do: sympathetic with a percolating seed of menace that perhaps erupts too abruptly, but Jordan as director and Majors as performer always make sure we know where Damian's mindset is at that time. He's really not hiding anything, which points to Major's incredible ability to speak text and convey subtext.

There's only a brief mention of Rocky Balboa, but not as Donnie's mentor or coach, rather it's in the context of giving an underdog, re: Damian, a shot, a callback. This film lets Adonis Creed be the star of his series without the shadow of Rocky or even Apollo loom over him. Donnie has proven himself, but also needs to learn that he truly earned what he has, it wasn't just handed to him.

I also appreciate the series using elements common to the Rocky series and equally subverting them. Donnie retiring, only to come back for a bout he has to take on is a standard. But Donnie is also the better, more devoted father and family man than Rocky, for whom fighting seemed to always come first. Donnie's relationship with Bianca is a highlight in this series, where the Rocky/Adrian relationship peaked halfway through the first film, and went steadily downhill into afterthought territory thereafter. Bianca is never gnashing her teeth or watching disapprovingly, or even exceptionally worried...she trusts her man to do his job, as he supports her equally in hers.

It's not an exceptionally deep film, but it is thoughtful and considerate, it's quite entertaining, it looks great (chalk me up as an appreciator of Jordan's third act stylistic flourishes) and it's cohesive with the series. Hard not to like, and I do. A lot.

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I recently did a heavy dive into the first four Rocky movies for the first time, (even watching both the original cut as well as the 2021 Stallone re-edit of Rocky IV), and was surprised to find a more complex series with a richer cast of characters than I had ever thought (since I largely dismissed the series as cheap jingoism and silly thrills).  Where the first two Rocky films are largely straight-up dramas, the third tries to turn the hero and the story into muscle-bound heroic warrior fare, where the fourth both dials back how kiddie-friendly it is, but dials up the "rah rah, 'Merica" spectacle to 11, before giving Rocky a congenial out. In Stallone's re-edit of Rocky IV, he really tries to bring back the character of Rocky that went missing in Rocky III.  In Rocky V, written but not directed by Stallone, slow, mumbling Rocky is back in full force.

The film begins with Rocky having retired from boxing (yet again), with the threat of irreparable damage should he continue to fight (yet again). Oh, and he's broke, again. The first act of this movie is complete feels-like-we've-been-here-before vibes (and we have, in Rocky II). So instead of fighting ol' Rock embraces his family, spending time with Adrian and Robert and hanging out at the gym, where he reminisces about ol' Mick in faked "cut scenes" from prior movies introducing a new and integral-to-this-movie hand-me-down good luck charm. 

Rocky agrees to manage/train a new dumb kid from Oklahoma (get this, his name is Tommy Gunn) who soon supplants Robert (and Adrian, and Paulie) as his number one guy, especially since Rocky lives vicariously through him and his fights. But there's an unscrupulous fight promoter of Don King's ilk (but let's be clear for legal reasons, not Don King) who is keen to get Rocky to fight again and thus steals Rocky's overeager golden boy, which wounds Rocky greatly. So Rocky starts spending time with his family again, until Tommy for some reason challenges Rocky to a street fight which is some weak-ass-shit for the climax of a boxing movie. And wouldn't bare-knuckle, no-rules brawling be even more dangerous for Rocky's medical condition?

Anyway, this one's a pretty weak entry to the series. It's got all the drama, tension and flair of a made-for-TV movie of the era, and feels like the budget to match. It doesn't look great. It's got a pretty enjoyable generic 90's rap soundtrack, though.

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I would say that both Toast and Kent are fans of Luther (or "Loofah"), the very dark and pulpy Idris Elba detective series that's been running on and off for over a dozen years now (Season 1-3, Kent, Toast | Season 4, Toast). The show has killed off any number of partners (both at work and at play) that John Luther has had in their very harrowing four series, so the cast that needs to be carried into the film is incredibly small...basically just Luther and his boss/friend/enabler DSU Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley).  The hook of Luther is that he's an incredibly effective detective who can read a crime scene and the perpetrator's psych profile pretty instantaneously. He's a highly intuitive guy.  But also, he's a bit of a corrupt cop, circumventing the law many times over to ensure justice (of some form or another) is served, while also, at times, taking a bit for himself.

The new Luther movie, The Fallen Son, does as the rest of the series fondly does, which is present a series of murders that are viscerally and conceptually disturbing. The makers of this show really want you to squirm thinking about how sick these murders are. These are also never "whodunnits" either, the murderers tend to be major characters in each "season" too, the show creators really want you to know how gross or perverted or disturbed these individuals are, and it's always effective in creating a sense of urgency for Luther to solve the case. Of course, some aspects of John's shady past always gets in the way of his crime solving, as is the case here, where the shrew, conniving, long-game murderer (played by Andy Serkis) airs Luther's dirty laundry in public to the point of having him thrown off the case, arrested and sent to jail.

The film then requires Luther to get out of jail, elude the police and figure out the murder's plot, and it works well, to a point.  As a film, it doesn't do enough to introduce you to Luther, it basically expects you know who this guy is. It doesn't let you come in cold very well.  Besides that, the film is a pretty engaging thriller, with some shocks and unexpected twists. It's a marginally bigger budget Luther production, with some traveling expenses, so it winds up in the third act in Norway, but for what is less a horrifying setpiece, but rather a kind of silly one (I find "dark web" plots have kind of been spoiled by Letterkenny).  Overall, agreeably enjoyable and with an end sequence that may just allow Idris Elba to be a secret agent (though not James Bond) afterall. Sure, more please.

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Sometimes I just leave the TV on in the background and stuff pops up that catches my attention for a while. More often than not it's a documentary, but every now and again it's an old film that confuses or surprises me in some way. Mckenna's Gold was the latter. I did not see the beginning 20 minutes or so of the film, but I quickly caught onto the gist of it. Gregory Peck has has a lead on some gold, and Omar Sharif is a bandit who holds a European beauty hostage to force him into taking him to it. The bandit also has a pair of Apache mercenary guides along with him (played by white people of course, including Catwoman Julie Newmar).

It's always difficult to for me to enjoy these types of movies with white people playing Native American, or where tribes are very coarsely presented as basically an environmental adversary. There's no sensitivity to the portrayals here, and perhaps its my own ignorance of history that makes me distrust anything Hollywood of this era wants to present with respect to Indigenous culture. Here Newmar plays a "crazy" Apache who tries to sexually molest Gregory Peck at every turn and murder any romantic rivals. There's an extended underwater nude scene that caught my attention, less because it was titillating (it wasn't), but more for its confusing, abrupt edits (and also the shock of nudity in a western of this era...also note that Peck is FULLY clothed in the water in these scenes).

I don't think anyone ever expects a western to be a special effects extravaganza, but that's kind of what it becomes unexpectedly in its third act. It looks pretty cool, like a pre-Irwin Allen disaster film, with lots of camera trickery and miniatures. I liked it all quite a bit, but I'm a sucker for ambitious, competent practical effects. Omar Sharif is the scene stealer here. Telly Savalas is a great bad guy as always. Peck's performance is pretty reserved and non-committal, and paired with a sleepy Camilla Sparv, they make for an uninteresting on-screen couple. Can't recommend it because of the racist crap, but a fascinating Sunday afternoon watch.

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Royal Warriors gets all of 40 seconds in before Michelle Yeoh starts kicking ass and then seemingly doesn't stop the ass kicking for a half hour. The first fight sequence is incidental (but great), the second is the inciting factor for the whole film, which is like a reverese revenege-a-matic, where it's the bad guys out to get revenge on the good guys for killing their friends (and it's great). This film is wild. The fight choreography is top notch, creative and glorious to watch. The early fight on the plane leads to a sequence I've only ever seen one other place (Alien Resurrection).

The first act ends with an absolutely shocking moment I was not prepared for.

The second act gets going with an absolutely insane set piece in the most gloriously 80's neon-and-glass filled two-story bar that you just know is going to get smashed all to shit, and boy is it satisfying when it does...completely. I was seriously impressed that they seemed to get every last bit of glass shattered. 

The second act ends with another gobsmack of a moment that, again, I just wasn't prepared for. The third act gets quite silly, but in a deliriously enjoyable '80's way.

The characters in this movie have personality, but that's about it. There's not much going on with them beneath the surface. and our ostensible hero, Yeoh, is probably the least developed of the main cast.  But this is next-level '80's action that I cannot believe isn't talked about next to the greats of the era. It's so well done, so bonkers, I want to watch it again and again.

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Yeah, I like Idris Elba. I also like Tilda Swinton. And I guess I like George Miller too. But I don't like these three blindly. Bad reviews kept me away from seeing this in the theatre. Good reviews kept it on my radar for when it would inevitably reach streaming.  That time is now.

Swinton plays a woman who has devoted her life to stories, such that she leads a rather solitary existence, one which leaves her content, but perhaps not fulfilled.  A chance acquisition in Instanbul finds a Djinn (Elba) in a bottle who proceeds to offer her three wishes, and the ground rules of what he can and cannot accomplish. But, Swinton being a scholarly woman, is more than aware of the warnings fables about Djinn and genies present.  She will not callously wish, but the Djinn proceeds, through telling his own stories of his three prior mistresses, why she must, lest what might tragically become of him should she not.

The first story is highly fantastical, and each subsequent becomes more grounded in something recognizable. The stories are bizarre but captivating, and for Swinton, rapturous. They are foremost full of love, betrayal, and heartbreak, and, in the end, always hope. Elba's Djinn is not an impish or mischievous sort, and he seems to earnestly be angling for Swinton's trust, effectively conveying how in her debt he is.

This is a vibrant (gads, the colours!), luscious, ornate production that may just be too unusual for the masses, but in a world where Everything Everywhere All At Once is both a commercial smash hit and Oscar best picture, it shouldn't be that far off.  I loved it, though. I found it sweet and delightful, the visual acuity so very, very satisfying, like a rich decadent dessert.

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I saw Sunshine when it debuted in 2007, but remember very little save for my feelings of disappointment. Why was I disappointed? Those thoughts are lost in an old blog, scattered into the digital winds, but if I had to guess, it was probably that I wanted something more adventurous out it.

In revisiting it 15+ years later, I feel the Alex Garland of it all. I loved the slow, atmospheric, heady sci-fi of Devs and, in many ways this feels like a precursor to it. I feel like the tone (and tones, both visual and audio) of Sunshine were adopted by Garland's work on Devs. I have to wonder how much time Garland spent with the production of Sunshine, and how much of the crew he's carried over from his various works with Boyle.

I've become rather enamored with "slow sci-fi" in recent years, in a way I certainly wasn't in 2007. From the first few seconds of this rewatch I was in. It's a gorgeous movie with a stacked cast of (suitably) not-yet-stars (most would come to shine brighter in the future): Cilian Murphy, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Mark Strong, Benedict Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada and Cliff Curtis. But it very slowly loses me as it goes along, though never completely lets me go.

If anything, I think I want this movie to be even slower than it is. It starts to enter peril fatigue midway through it's third act, and the final 5-8 minutes seem, frankly, unnecessary. I think it's meant to be a hopeful movie, but after two acts of relentless bleakness and bad news, it's really hard for that maudlin final scene on Earth to feel as uplifting and triumphant as I think it was meant to.

I love Underworld a massive amount, and their score is really great, but the song that kicks off the credits is not one of their best, and it's tonally ill-suited for closing out the production. And the clipshow running over the credits is a bizarre choice.

 

 

The Mandalorian: Season 3, Chapter 19 - the Good, the Bad and the U.G.L.Y.

 2023, Disney+

Chapter 19, The Convert
d. Lee Isaac Chung

The Good

Both Din Djarin has bathed in the waters of the mines of Mandalore, which means that, by creed, they are redeemed of their transgressions in whatever bonkers religion Din belongs to. He can return to his clan...but on the way back to Bo Katan's palace they are targeted by a squad of TIE Interceptors. The in-atmosphere dogfighting that results is so exciting, especially when Din's modified N-1 starfighter makes it into the fight. But Bo-Katan's palace being bombed is a gut punch and Katee Sackoff's reaction is felt.

A detour is then made to Coruscant, where we spend time with Dr. Penn Pershing, the cloning scientist who was experimenting on Grogu. He has been accepted into the New Republic's "Amnesty" program, where Imperials are rehabilitated and placed back in society. It starts off in a pretty quiet manner, with street scenes, and taxi rides, it's a welcome slice-of-life take on Coruscant, at least for a while. Pershing meets another "Amnesty" program member, Elia Kane, whom he crossed paths with on Moff Gideon's ship but had never actually met. They forge a friendship. Though Pershing is content to be part of the New Republic in any capacity, he feels remorse for not being able to continue his cloning work for the benefit of everyone, since cloning is an illegal pursuit. Kane begins to push Purshing into circumventing the rules and leads him on a mission to recover medical technology from a shipyard. There's a tension from the get-go. Kane seemed to be a true believer in the Empire, where Pershing was definitely a reticent conscript. Though she was accepted and passed through the Amnesty program, we're clearly given the sense that she's not what she appears to be, but also not certain her motivation. Is she there to extract Pershing somehow? Is there something more personal? Or is she genuinely just trying to help him?

In the end, Din and Bo-Katan are welcomed into the clan, despite Bo not being a believer, and despite Bo's contention that these crazy zealots are kind of the worst part of Mandalorian culture, they're still Mandalorian, and she seems to find comfort in being in their presence.

The Bad
Other than a few early scenes on Coruscant where the Volume is particularly felt (the scenes aren't as crowded as they probably would be in a cinematic production, and the depth of field just doesn't seem right), not a lot of bad here. Part of the "Volume" presenting itself is the shock of jumping from the dogfights into Dr. Pershing's everyday life on the city planet. so the viewer is really hyper-focused on taking in the surroundings, as we settle into this diversion from our main story.

Unreal Problems
One of the aspects of Star Wars that seems always present but isn't explored much is the class structures in place. We greet Pershing again giving a speech to a massive and packed auditorium, and he's received afterwards by all the societal elites who seem to enjoy the novelty of encountering a reformed Imperial. If anything, these Coruscant elites seemed to have been completely indifferent and largely unaffected by any shifts in power. 

But what kind of sticks with me is Pershing and the other Amnesty candidates are housed in a dedicated area together, they are assigned (and referred to by) an alphanumeric code, rather than by name. So basically ghettoized and dehumanized.  I honestly don't know what you're supposed to do with remaining space nazis when the space nazis are defeated, especially when it's not like the space nazis have a home territory to return to. But I don't think stripping them of their humanity and scarlet-lettering them is the right tactic either. It's complicated.

Similarly I wonder about the effort, the labor and materials of decommissioning, deconstructing, and destroying all Impersial technology and transportation. Symbolically I guess it's a necessity to take apart those signifiers of oppression, but it's interesting what the New Republic choose to retain, specifically the "mind flayer", a torture device repurposed for retraining and soothing the Imperial mind.  Again, I don't have the answers here, but, it's all suitably uncomfortable.

Galaxy Building

We've spent time on Coruscant in the past, particularly a lot of time in The Clone Wars, but even though it's a little janky, I liked the weird glowing popsicles and the exposed mountaintop (the tallest natural peak on the planet) as the only bit of visible land on Coruscant.

We're also getting just the smallest bits of insight into the progression of the Empire into the New Republic, just as we're getting the building of the Empire in Bad Batch.

Looking Forward
The big question is, obviously, whose TIE Interceptors were those. They were obviously being directed by someone, not just on patrol. But whom?

And...well, just what is Kane up to? I wonder if we'll ever know. I'm mean, I assume it's a story plot for the season, but I also won't be surprised if we never get closure in this show.

I expect Bo-Katan in the next episode to sit down with the Armorer and talk through her espying of the Mithosaur and what it means for her and their people. The Armorer is the closest thing the Mandalorians have to a sage elder, so she would be the guiding point for any lost souls, as we've seen with Din many times.

Yes, toys of that please

I loved Andor, and this episode was very in league with Andor's storytelling (political intrigue and potential espionage).  But, that love hasn't led to an incredible desire for Andor toys, and I have so far resisted purchasing the few figures that have already emerged. If I start, I won't want to stop. Similarly, I don't need bureaucratic action figures. Been there, done that (*cough*Episode1*cough). But a Vintage Collection TIE Interceptor? Maybe. Bo-Katan's starship ("the Gauntlet")? Umm...it's maybe too "prequels" for my collection, but I just might partake. But I would happily and rapidly buy a new R5-D4 (I have an Power of the Force version but he's out of scale with Vintage Collection).

3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): News of the World

2020, Paul Greengrass (Jason Bourne) -- Netflix

Apparently, I am again in the valley of hiatus, not only from writing about movies, but also watching new movies. I have an unfinished, feeling uninspired, post about all the easy-watch movie rewatches I have done over the past 4 or so months, but its going to sit in drafts for a while. Finding the time, around video games (my latest distraction, after a replay of Sunset Overdrive, is Horizon Forbidden West), and rewatching of older shows (the entirety of Death in Paradise, The Mandalorian and Luther) in anticipation of new seasons and spin-offs, has kept me saddled to the sofa in short bursts. But I am in no mood to write about TV right now.

This western found some time during my morning ritual of sitting, slowly sipping my morning coffee. It takes me a while to get going, and whether I am heading to the office, or WFH, I sit and absorb caffeine and usually watch morning news shows. But their format has been grating on me of late, and after getting the weather down, I have been flicking through my lists of "why haven't I watched this yet?" The other day I settled on this, a low-key western with a solid director and a solid, aging actor. 

Greengrass is mostly known for his part in the Jason Bourne movies, but not so much that I could say he has a signature. If I can say anything for his style is that he focuses on his lead, and gives their character room to breathe. In this movie, Tom Hanks (Castaway) is back as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, an ex-Confederate soldier who wanders Texas reading the news to those willing to give up a dime. Its not so much about being able to read or not, but having the time or energy to read a bunch of newspapers from other places, and learn a bit more about the rest of the world. Kidd gives that moment to weary rural folk, along with a bit of showmanship as he relates his stories. He struck me as someone who understood there were so many perspectives in the world, and that the people from both sides (The North and The South) could be helped by hearing that they were all ... just people with stories.

He finds himself tasked with taking a young girl (Helena Zengel, Die Tochter) back home to her family, after he finds the man previously tasked with it lynched on the side of the road. She was taken six years prior by Kiowa raiders so she pretty much identifies as "Indian". He doesn't want the job, cannot afford the time it will take, but when pressed, does it anyway. So, road story, as Westerns often are. Grand visages, dusty empty spaces and dangers everywhere. And a young girl who is taken away from the only family she remembers, being taken back to a family she doesn't know, by a man she can barely communicate with.

When I watched movies like this, especially when in the deep throes of watching and rewatching movies made mostly for their spectacle, I wonder about the how's and why's. Its a quiet movie, not even focused on incredible performances. Everything is low key, subtle and understated. Its solid story telling and acting, but nothing of note. And yet, strangely satisfying. Sometimes we just need a quiet story about people Doing The Right Thing. I like being reminded that the movie watching, and making experiences, covers many spectrums, and it was why I used to be so enthused about the medium.

Thunder Bay

2023, 4 episodes - Crave
created by Ryan McMahon

I grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It's "home" to me, but I've never loved it there. I've always said it's "8 hours from nowhere" (because in the North, we measure distance in time, not kilometers): 8 hours west to Winnepeg, 8 hours east to Sault Ste. Marie, 8 hours south to Minneapolis.  The city has around 110,000 people, so it's not huge (for a weird contextualization, the largest football stadium in Korea can hold 150,000 people), but it's still the hub of Northwestern Ontario, what all the smaller towns to the northeast and west call "the city".  

Around the time I was born there, Thunder Bay was largely blue collar - pulp and paper and as the last port stop of the great lakes, transferring shipping from boat to train and truck, and vice versa.  That all started to die in the late 80s, and it took just shy of two decades for the city to reinvent itself, now more of a medical and educational hub. It's gone through a lot of changes in my lifetime. 

One thing seems to be a constant though, and that's the tension between the Indigenous peoples of the area and everyone else.

Thunder Bay started life as a podcast, in which host Ryan McMahan examines closely and critically a city he has fond affection for, and tries to understand the dark heart beating under the Canadian shield. It's focused on primarily the topic of the city's systemic and institutional... and societal... and cultural racism towards its Indigenous people, but it also looked at other stories of political corruption, media debacles and legal failures to paint a picture of what sort of horror show the place is when you look past its environmental beauty.

This new Crave mini-series is more laser-focused on Thunder Bay's treatment of Indigenous youth, and exposing more broadly a police department that has been formally diagnosed as systemically racist.  There have been a string of deaths of teenagers being found in the city's rivers (the seven fallen feathers and, sadly, beyond) and a completely inept handling of the deaths by the police and the coroner's office, and even when the TB Police Department was being investigated, additional deaths occurred, and were handled with similar irresponsibility.  Inept is an understatement. There is a complete dismissal of Indigenous people as people, the police not deeming these victims of whatever circumstance as worthy of their time.

The police dismiss the deaths, pretty much without any investigation, as accidental death by misadventure and substance abuse.  McMahon talks with people who have survived or witnessed the aftermath of assaults of groups of men forcing teens into the frigid waters.  McMahon examines the theories of serial killer or gang violence as the cause, but there's a societal dehumanization of Indigenous peoples in the rural and metropolitan settlers that is more likely to blame.

As a child, I was aware that there were Indigenous cultures around Thunder Bay, and that there was an influence upon the city as a result. But, I can't remember having any childhood friends, though, who were Indigenous (or at least made their Indigenous heritage part of their outward identity). As a teen I was more keenly aware of the Indigenous population, as I drove around the streets, watched/listened/read the news, went shopping...but I didn't have any knowledge of the people or their culture or their struggles.  I also was more aware of the conflict, hearing adults talk about "the native problem", hearing friends with Indigenous heritage disparage that part of their cultural background, and hearing hate speech about Canada's Indigenous populations from people who I otherwise considered decent, empathetic human beings.  I can say I've never held hate in my heart, but I also cannot say that I was an ally confronting these statements. I grew up in the 90's where the idea of entering a "post-racism" society was being shoved down our throats, wilful obliviousness was the path forward, and identifying anyone by their ethnicity or culture, or discussing it with them was kind of taboo.  I still struggle to talk about race or ethnicity openly because I was taught not to. 

I was visiting a friend's family while visiting Thunder Bay a couple years ago, and neighbours of theirs came by.  The conversation started into the wildfire problems in Northwestern Ontario, which caused the evacuation of many reservations, bringing a large number of remote Indigenous peoples into the city for shelter. These neighbours started talking about "the problems", relating stories from their police officer daughter, and there any attempt to steer the conversation into thoughts of compassion were not met, if not outright challenged.  They did not seem like bad people, these neighbours who came by to lend a helping hand to their neighbours, but at the same time, they represent an all-too-common cultural sensibility around the city of Thunder Bay.  There's tension, there's distrust, and there's so much trauma.  For the settler population of the city, it seems what they want, more than anything, is to not think about it. That is how racism and racist structures perpetuate, by not addressing the past and present, by not being open and honest, and by feeling threatened with change. Systemic racism is about there being parties who benefit and parties that not only don't benefit but are actively harmed by those systems.

McMahon had done two seasons of the podcast, which I have to say, were more journalistic in their presentation. This TV mini-series is more emotionally guided. I think after two seasons in Thunder Bay, McMahon is disappointed, frustrated and angry.  That love and sentimentality McMahon expresses for the city in the first season of the podcast (reiterated at the start of the TV series) seems to have given way to powerful emotions, and those emotions fuels the series.  It's been said (and was shown) that many attempts were made to talk with the people in charge of both police and city institutions and they were rebuffed in almost every attempt. They don't show enough of the city not wanting to talk about it, because in showing the reluctance to address its own issues, well no more a potent message can be said. 

After the release of the Broken Trust report from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, one of the recommendations was to appoint an Indigenous person to sit on its board, to whom the chief of police is answerable to. Georjann Morriseau, is appointed and actually chaired the board, only to find herself butting heads with the chief, and subjected to unlawful investigations and harassment for doing the job she's asked to do. Her time as board chair is harrowing and led to a filing of a human rights complaint against the chief, members of the service, and the board. (My two cents, Morriseau is a fucking hero).

There's a "bombshell" in the show's final episode, a leaked confidential report to the media about an internal investigation shows the police are aware of their mishandling of Indigenous "sudden death" cases. The report identifies 16 cases that require reinvestigation, but McMahon misrepresents this in the show, highlighting the 1700+ cases of "sudden death" in a 7 year period, as if most of them equate to the same level of scrutiny of deaths that have been discussed on the show.  

It's manipulative in the edit, and McMahon is guilty of misrepresentation in this way a few times in the series.  For example, he calls Thunder Bay the "murder capital of Canada", which is not an inaccurate statement, but he equates this title to the deaths of Indigenous teens whose deaths are officially noted as "accidental", therefore not officially on record as murders. McMahon never really touches upon what are the actual murders that give Thunder Bay this shameful title (it was 15 murders in 2022, which when measured means more murders per capita than anywhere else in Canada). There is a substance abuse crisis in Thunder Bay, and gang issues. These aren't subjects that tie into McMahon's narrative for the series, and so they're barely scratched, and the fact that we don't get this kind of contextualization is a reminder that McMahon isn't an investigative reporter, so there's limits to where his production is going to go.

But the purpose of the show isn't to report all the facts. It's raising awareness, and it's a necessary narrative to say that the Thunder Bay Police Department have failed the Indigenous population on a spectacularly unprecedented and embarrassing level.  Yeah, they're not out shooting Indigenous teens on the streets, but that doesn't give them permission to so spectacularly fail or abuse a people, and then both try and hide from accountability and avoid acknowledging their part in upholding racist institutions. 

Recommended viewing for all Canadians with McMahon's podcast required supplementary listening. Throw off the shackles of wilful obliviousness and confront some of our most uncomfortable truths. 

As for me and Thunder Bay, we still see each other from time to time. Still not a lot of love (it's a town for lovers of the outdoors, which is definitely not me), but there's familiarity and that's okay.

KWIF: Weird, The Al Yankovic Story, Amphibian Man plus Michelle Yeoh

 Kent's Week In Film #6:
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - 2022, d. Eric Appel - Roku Channel
Amphibian Man - 1961, d. Vladamir Chebotaryov and Gennadiy Kazanskiy - youtube
Magnificent Warriors - 1987, d. David Chang - Criterion Channel
Police Story 3: Supercop - 1992, d. Stanley Tong - Criterion Channel
The Heroic Trio - 1993, d. Johnnie To - Criterion Channel

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One of the biggest surprises of 2022 was that Toasty watched Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and the bigger surprise was that he liked it...or rather, "mildly enjoyed" it.

Weird... shouldn't have to be for Yankovic devotees, but I think some familiarity or investment in his music really does go a long way in enjoying the film.

I had my Weird Al phase as a pre-teen, which coincided with my Mad Magazine phase...like peanut butter and chocolate, those two. But when I started into comedy podcasts back in 2009, I started to catch onto the respect and adulation that Al had garnered in the comedy scene, and then one of my favourite film critics, Nathan Rabin did an entire blog series-turned-book of analyzing Al's output song-by-song, album-by-album. It was like I was being given permission to actually liking Al and not just dismissing him as a remnant of my past juvenile predilections ...as if to say I didn't leave behind comic books and action figures and whatnot, so why did I have to leave Al and Mad Magazine behind?

Anyway....

I enjoyed the heck out of this movie. As Al has been doing with his music for four decades now, it's a parody of the recent space of musical biopics, starting with the disapproving parents that just don't understand their weird child. "...Your dad and I had a long talk and we agreed it would be best for all of us if you would just stop being who you are and doing the things you love."  His parents call polka the devil's music, so Al hides polka magazines in his textbooks and plays accordion "in the closet".  As a teen, good boy Al gets coaxed out by his friends to a party, only to learn that it's, *gasp* a polka party.

There's a meta conflict in the film since there's this early idea of an alternate reality where polka is dangerous, seemingly illicit rebel music, but that conceit butts up against the idea of there being pop music and pop music parodies, so it doesn't sustain much past these early flashback sequences.

There's a later conceit where Al starts creating original songs and then the pop musicians start "parodying" him with their straight takes. This, again, is a delightful alt-reality that maybe didn't get pushed far enough.

It's not really a problem that there's not really a "reality" to this film, or, at least, "reality" is a fluid concept in exploring Al's career, but it would have proven a tad more satisfying had there been consistent conceits to the world of Weird that is clearly not our own. The final act turns away from music biopic parody and instead turns into an 80's action film parody, which, frankly, seems a very "Weird" Al thing to do, since Al doesn't ever stick with one genre. The film even ends with another alternative reality moment that works well enough but is then backed up by amazing pictures of Al Photoshopped into "real life" moments both as portrayed in the film and famous moments in history.

One of the highlights of the film (of many, frankly) is the Dr. Demento party scene, which is has a dual purpose Where's Waldo of pointing out all the celebrity characters in attendance (Andy Warhol, Pee Wee Herman, Salvador Dali etc) and then spending the time trying to pick out which comedians or comedic actors are portraying them (Conan O'Brien, Jorma Taccone, Emo Philips respectively).  This culminates in a moment where a member of Queen (no, not that one...or that one...), as played by David Dastmalchian, calls out Al for having lost his parody skills, and Al throws "Another One Rides The Bus" in his face.

The sequences of song inspiration/creation are all in their own way ridiculously over the top, utterly obvious and in-your-face in a way that is only slightly more exaggerated than what is usually found in a musical biopic. The "My Bologna" creation sequence is a brilliant piece of comedic satire.

Radcliff as Al is committed in a way that the film needed him to be, but I don't think anyone would ever expect a performer to actually commit so hard to a role like this. Evan Rachel Wood is absolutely savage as Madonna, just a devilishly menacing, gum chewing femme fatale. Madonna couldn't even play Madonna this good.

That all said, it's definitely the "Weird" Al of parody musical biopics. And I enjoyed it thoroughly in that respect.

---

I was listening to a recent episode of the Video Archives podcast this past week when Quentin (Tarantino) and Roger (Avery) just started introducing the gorgeous-looking Russian classic sci-fi film Amphibian Man. It was mentioned it was streaming and so I didn't listen very long before I turned off the podcast and pulled up the film on Tubi, having learned very little about it...save for how "gorgeous" looking it was both on Quentin's sepia-toned VHS copy and Gala's vibrantly coloured streaming version.

I got about 8 minutes into Tubi's decent, but not "gorgeous" looking presentation of the movie, seeing the murky (not gorgeous) pearl diving sequences, and the bedazzled silver wetsuit and fin-helmet of the Amphibian Man (called the Sea Devil in the film) and warned of a creature attacking fishermen and sinking their boats). Set up as sort of an aquatic monster, our first glimpse of the Amphibian Man is ludicrously comical when you're expecting something like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The melodrama of the pearl diving slave driver mooning over an indebted man's daughter, only for her to be rescued by the sea devil, all seemed really silly and I stopped watching, continuing with the Video Archives discussion the next day.

Quentin and Roger's discussion continued into the gorgeous "Bond villain lair" setpiece, the diving bell elivator, plus the wonderful Cuba-set exterior sequences, the fine costuming, and, once again, how good the film looks. Clearly I had missed something, So once again, I stopped the podcast and started watching from where I left off, only this time going to youtube. The film's Russian distributor has posted the film in full on their channel and in its most glorious-looking full-colour presentation, however, it's not subtitled. A kindly youtuber has however taken that version and subtitled it (a little wonky, but better than the English dub or AI-generated subtitles).  And no less than a minute from where I left off, indeed we're introduced to the "Bond villain lair" and yeah, it's spectacular. And we learn that the "sea devil" isn't a creature at all but a boy who was given shark lungs to save his life.  With these two aspects, I was completely turned around on the picture.

What happens from thereon is a very fairy-tale meets superhero meets weekend-afternoon fantasy-romance that's part Splash, part Luca, part Little Mermaid, part Shape of Water but predating all of these films, and, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it inspired any of them.  The sequence in which Ichtiandr (the Amphibian Man) takes Guttiere out on a stroll, and she teaches him to dance is an exceptionally romantic moment...not sexy or steamy, but romantic, and the two very attractive young leads amidst the vibrant Cuban vistas in very well-tailored attire make for very appealing viewing. 

What astonishes me most about the film is indeed how good it looks, yes, just as the Video Archives gang all but promised. Unlike most Hollywood productions of the time, it uses so many exterior locations instead of backlot "streets" and it's so exotic-looking and vibrant. The film also employs some fun composite and layering techniques, photo trickery that isn't fooling anyone but is exceptionally charming. The directors here, really do employ wonderful uses of light, shadow, colour and composition. There are some marvelously framed sequences, even some dazzling forced perspectives.  I've seen a lot of underwater sequences recently and these are fine, not quite as gorgeous maybe as the rest of the film, but still marvelous for likely the time the film was made and the technology available.  

As well, after recently watching a few Hong Kong/Chineses action movies (see below) which all seem to uniformly have terrible scores, the soundtrack to this was absolutely lovely.  There's also a really remarkable, brassy swing tune about the Amphibian Man that's happening at a club while Ichtyandr is looking in its window, and it's just great.

There are definitely some logic gaps in the story, and the third act doesn't so much build as it does circle around a few times before it reaches its exit, but what a beautiful slice of joy, perfect weekend morning viewing.

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The Criterion Channel this March decided to celebrate Michelle Yeoh's Oscar nomination with a collection of films from her first two decades in the industry. Sadly, Yes, Madam! and The Stunt Woman were available to US viewers only.  But that still left me with a handful of Ms. Yeoh's movies that I hadn't yet seen, and was very eager to dive into.

First up was Magnificent Warriors aka Dynamite Fighters (well, actually, second up, but I hit the wrong title and completely missed Royal Warriors aka In the Line of Duty), in which finds Yeoh as an adventuring, kung-fu fighting aviator, tasked with rescuing a super-spy, and helping defend a Chinese village from occupying Japanese forces during WWII.  Um, yes please. The fighting is graceful and wonderful, and a few of the stunts have a real "oof" factor.  The dogfight is surprisingly good for remote controlled minis. While the story and characters are overly simplistic, and the film sags in its second half Yeoh, Richard Ng, Lowell Lo and Chindy Lau are all super-charming and strive to elevate the material to the adventurous Indiana Jones-esque spirit it's aiming for. Shame that the production really only saw fit to have one cheapo John Williams-esque knock-off composition created for the score, which it uses incessantly. The last "reel" on criterion completely shifted aspect ratios and dropped the English subtitles, whatsupwithat? Ultimately, not a great movie, but not a bad time either.

When I watched Jackie Chan's Police Story films last year, I was surprised by how much I wasn't enthused by them.  They are legendary for Chan's stunt performances but they are neither great nor memorable stories, nor are they particularly well shot or technically well produced (beyond the stunts). For Police Story 3: Supercop, Chan handed over the director's chair (though likely still wielding great influence over the production) to Stanley Tong, and the difference is everything. The story is clear, the comedy hits hard, the action is tactfully captured (as opposed to just captured) and it just looks good. I don't want to oversell it as anything groundbreaking visually, but compared to the prior two films this has well a much needed competency. And it had Michelle Yeoh.  The plot takes Chan's inspector Ka Kui, onto mainland China to go undercover with a regional inspector (Yeoh) to infiltrate a Chinese drug lord's operations. The third act leads to a memorable poolside comedy piece where Ka Kui's has to avoid his vacationing girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung finally getting to be a real part of these movies), or he will be found out by the mobsters. This all famously leads to a sequence where Chan straps himself to a rope ladder hanging off a helicopter and flies all over Kuala Lumpur before landing on a moving train. It's a tremendously enjoyable picture. I now need to see the Yeoh-starring Supercop 2 (why didn't Criterion also have this?!?).

Yeoh was a huge highlight of Police Story 3, going toe-to-toe, stunt-to-stunt with Chan (as Yeoh mentioned in her interview with Marc Maron on WTF, Chan was frustrated that Yeoh was so good that he was having to push himself into even bigger and more dangerous things). Yeoh reteams with Maggie Cheung as two of the titular Heroic Trio, along with Anita Mui.  It is a superhero movie where two of the titular heroic trio are actually working for the bad guy. The same two title heroes are kidnapping babies, and the third of the three fails to save one baby who falls from great heights right onto a rusted nail. Later the trio blow up a small assembly of cannibal children because there's just no hope for them.

It is a bright, colourful, silly blend of wuxia and 90's superhero films that feels more inspired by Dick Tracy than Burton's Batman, aesthetically, but isn't playing by the usual rules of the genre. Everyone is good but  Cheung is phenomenal, just an explosion of delight and charisma every second she's on screen.  I like the movie, but I want to like it even more than I do. I think I'm mostly disappointed that Yeoh is stuck with the most melodramatic role, and doesn't get to have as much fun as Cheung or Mui. And she's dubbed...I know why she is, but still it makes me sad.

The Mandalorian: Season 3, Chapter 18 - The Good, The Bad and the U.G.L.Y.

 2023, Disney+

Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore
d. Rachel Morrison

The Good

After last episode, I really thought we were going to be taking a long side diversion into finding a replacement maguffin for IG-11, which was going to be a whole side quest. But no, Din and Grogu make a quick pit-stop on Tattooine to see Peli (Space Amy Sedaris) who then sells Din R5-D4.  As much as I should bristle at this collision of Luke Skywalker-related mythos into Din Djarin's story, I kind of love that the droid-that-could-have-been has his own story being told. Nostalgia trigger for sure, but it works.

The Star Wars Minute guys pointed out that Din being Grogu's teacher means we get exposition scenes that make sense in-story and aren't just hoary writing necessities. 

I liked Din and Grogu exploring Mandalore, and then loved Din springing that trap. The cyborg creature that captured Din was freaky, creepy and totally amazing. It was reminding me of something... Lynch's Dune? No, that's not it. Chronicles of Riddick? Closer but no. Lexx.  Yeah, Lexx. Definitely Lexx. Just bizarre and uncomfortable to look at. That was Lexx's bag. (I should rewatch Lexx. There's no way those shows hold up, CGI-wise, but they were so unapologetic in their brazen horniness and lack of sophistication that they're probably as enjoyable as they ever were).

Bo-Katan picking up the Darksaber and wielding it so skillfully, like she's done it before (she definitely has), was amazing, and great contrast against Din's fumbling and reluctant battling with it earlier in the episode against the morlock-esque creatures.
Bo-Katan rocket-packing through the bloody water to rescue Din was sooooo baaaaaadaaaaassssss.

The Bad

I thought Grogu and R5 heading back to Bo-Katan on their own was super fun "Timmy fell down the well" stuff, and Bo-Katan being seemingly in a "too depressed to get off the couch" total mood tickled me, but the journey back to, and through, Mandalore was redundant. I think the episode would have been FAR stronger if it had started with Grogu arriving on Bo-Katan's doorstep. The sequences of arriving at mandalore could have been creatively cross-cut between the journey Grogu took with Bo-Katan and with Din, and then continuing the cross cuts as they explore the ruins of Mandalore, where you could highlight the differences between Din's knowledge of Mandalore, which only comes second hand, versus Bo-Katan's deep knowledge. Now that I'm thinking about all this cross cutting, this episode *could* have be a structural marvel, a real editing coup. As it is it feels kind of repetitive in an unnecessary way.

If I had the technology and a little know-how I would totally re-edit this episode. I don't think we'd wind up losing any of what was actually shown, just present it differently, more stimulating and with more parallels.

Unreal Problems

I can't help but wonder about where Grogu's pod fits in the N-1 Starfighter.  At one point Din tells Grogu to seal himself in the pod, as he exits the ship maybe heading into poisonous atmosphere...but where is the pod, and how did Grogu seal it up?  It's not a big ship, and there's as much trunk space in it as a Ferrari.

Also, I just assumed that Grogu's pod could only hover a few feet off the ground, like some sort of limited repulsor technology, but it seems it can literally fly if it needs to. Not sure I like that. I can let it go.  

Galaxy Building

Another reinforcement of the evils of the Empire. Any threat, even one that's theoretical, had to be eliminated, and the Empire obliterated Mandalore. Some life has survived, but it was a literal extermination of a culture of people.  I really feel that this decimation of Mandalore and genocide of its people should have been hit harder early on in the Mandalorian, probably from the Armourer.  It's pretty upsetting when you step back from the space opera and think about it. 

Looking Forward

Din takes his bath, and can go back to his cadre of zealots should he wish now. But clearly seeing an actual Mythosaur is a big deal. I haven't been digging heavily into all this Mando mythos, even though the Armourer, Din and Bo-Katan have all explained it, so I'm not sure what exactly the big deal is. But it's a whole deal.  

Once again, though, I would like Din and Bo-Katan to deal with their mutually exclusive ridiculous belief systems. I guess it's just the agnostic in me.

Yes, toys of that please

I already have toys of Bo-Katan in 6" and 4" scale. I may just need to get a Hot Toy... no...no...no...maybe...?