Jodi Comer and Tom Hardy are the stand-outs in this tale of a midwestern biker gang. Comer with a pitch-perfect Ohio doldrums accent becomes involved w/ Austin Butler's angelic-looking but somehow uninvolving biker. Hardy in somewhat lobotomized Brando mode is Johnny, the leader of the gang (the Chicago Vandals), quiet but possessed of a gruff integrity. The film has a great 60s Soul and Rock soundtrack, but eventually one begins to wonder why are we watching a bunch of violent, scuzzy characters living their unappealing lives. Things just get seamier, even Hardy and Comer look tired, the end.
Reviews
20 Reviews
Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
Lifeless, passionless storytelling
21 October 2023
Given Martin Scorsese is one of our great filmmakers I was expecting much more from the film. Dicaprio was his usual hard-working self, capturing the loathsome character that would be part of a scheme to murder Native women for their oil rights, and as his wife Liliy Gladstone had a powerful stillness and tragedy about her, but the film itself had a very lifeless, going-through-the-motions quality, as if Scorsese were too afraid of disrespecting the events to bring any of his customary pizazz or excitement to make it anymore than scenes of stitched-together exposition. Very disappointing film.
Became the Phoebe Waller Bridge Show
30 June 2023
Admittedly I only saw the second half of the film, but I guess after an Indy-filled action opening, he spends the remainder of the film looking terrified, grumpy and defeated as Phoebe practically turns the movie into a personal showcase of daring and ingenuity. As in most of later Harrison movies he looks victimized by all the drama around him and simply doesn't want to be there. Some of the characters are distracting as well (did one of the henchmen need to look exactly like marvel comics J. Jonah Jameson?). The finale with Marion is touching, but the movie goes out with a whimper not a bang.
The Flash
(I) (2023)
Ezra got annoying, Keaton made it watchable
18 June 2023
Whatever you think of his trans issues, two Ezra Millers for the price of one really does grate after awhile; not enough vocal variation between him and his past self, way too many 'wide eyed, wide mouth' expressions. The CGI was dodgy, though I did like the circular proscenium way of presenting the multi verse. Only the return of Michael Keaton as the Batman of my lost teen years (and a few minutes of Gal Gadot as WW) made it worthwhile, and even he couldn't do much with the needed another draft script. Even Ben Affleck seemed tired as the regular universe Batman. Saw it twice, that's enough.
Creed III
(2023)
A Powerful Allegory For Black Identity In America
4 March 2023
I didn't go into this movie expecting much; the movies always seem repetitive, Michael B. Jordan coming back from defeat to scream and be the victor, but this one had something else, as Creed a dark incident from his youth that set him mere inches apart from his old friend in a life of incarceration and ill will to the world. The final fight is really a battle of a man against his dark side, and - I'm sorry I've forgotten the other actor's name - might be the new Denzel, with the versatility he shows between the evil genius of Kang in Ant-Man and his covert sociopathic hoodlum here. One to see.
Emily the Criminal
(2022)
A great dramatic showcase for Plaza
9 January 2023
This was a great vehicle for Aubrey for those who thought she foundered a bit as a tech bro wife in the second season of The White Lotus. An intense, driven performance as an emotionally-troubled art school graduate unable to survive in the gig economy modern world, who then joins the underworld market of credit card fraud, learning the ropes along the way until all her escape routes back to normalcy are cut off. Her opening job interview scene alone is nomination-worthy. This joins Black Bear as more evidence that she has left her old snarky Parks & Rec image long in the past. Very Recommended!
The Fabelmans
(2022)
Spielberg celebrates himself
28 November 2022
A long session on the therapy couch with Steven. How did it turn out so badly? How did this man with so much potential whose career never took flight beyond a few Super 8 shorts end up with so many failed dreams and crushed hopes? The Fabelmans gives you some idea, depicting a horrendous childhood upbringing where we see a boy raised by a nightmarish father given to abominable acts like quitely working on engineering projects and offering supportive advice, and a mother who played beautiful piano and adopted a pet monkey. How Steven even made it out alive is a wonder. Watch this, and weep. Ouch.
Dirty Dancing
(I) (1987)
Great dancing, but strangely anti-semitic undercurrent
7 November 2020
The film is justly renowned for its electrifying dance sequences, soundtrack and chemistry between Swayze and Grey, but it's strange every Jewish male is either a morose stick-in-the-mud (her father), a bean-counting nooge (the Kellermans), or a complete philandering scumball (Robby). Baby yearns for the arms of the hot earnest gentile since her own culture is filled with wash-outs. Sure, as a middle-aged, lonely Jew I pretty much agree with the estimation but why rub it in?
Lovecraft Country
(2020)
Intriguing blend of history and horror
21 August 2020
I'm not familiar with the source material but with every rewatch the first episode grows with texture and depth. Misha Green has a commanding presence and is ably supported by veterans Smollett and Vance (whom I once met at The Alaska Playwrights Festival; referenced his famous early appearance on Law & Order). The period look is note perfect, and while the FX are a touch hokey the terror and direction is fast-paced. The previews for the rest of the season look fascinating. Good job, HBO!
One of the most L & O powerful season finales
9 May 2019
Stakes are raised tremendously as Anne Parisee's ADA Borgia is kidnapped and murdered, and Jack McCoy is driven to any means necessary to bring the killers to justice. Ritchie Coster does exceptional work as the corrupt DEA agent Almonte (probably what gained him attention to get plum roles in the next year's American Gangster and The Dark Knight) and old pro Lynne Cohen does a nice turn as a judge outraged at McCoy's skirting of the law to get vengeance. This episode is also notable for the final appearance of the late Dennis Farina's Detective Fontana. The show tried for a more sexed-up appeal the next season by replacing him with shirt-permanently-unbuttoned Milena Govich and a new ADA in runway model-worthy Ana De La Garza, but it was never better when it stuck to the grit of reality like this episode.
Cliffs of Freedom
(2019)
Just happy it's out
10 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I was an extra on it (filmed outside Santa Fe, NM) back in late 2016. Many hardships getting it done, marching in the heat, stories of broken-limbs, etc. (I myself could only handle a day filming the 'capture the Greek princess' hillside battle before jumping ship), but glad Mr. Ling's work is finally seeing the light of day and an important chapter in mediterranean history is reaching the public eye.
Phantom Thread
(2017)
Why was this movie made?
30 September 2018
Paul Thomas Anderson gets into constructing these hermetic period piece movies (i.e. The Master) where no one knows what he's obsessing about, but everyone is so baffled they assume it's genius. Phantom Thread is another one, like Anderson watched a slew of 1950's Hitchcock movies and wanted to imitate them but forgot the point. The initially-fascinating relationship between a meticulous dress-designer and his muse turns into a shapeless contest of wills, never going to far in any direction. The costumes and period design are great, but it all starts to feel like an episode of Mad Men except across the pond; dramatic loitering.
Magnum P.I.
(2018–2024)
Hernandez a little overwhelmed, otherwise good
25 September 2018
Given it's his first time headlining a show, it's understandable Jay Hernandez is a little buttoned-down as Magnum, but the action and scenery, especially the gorgeous Perdita Weeks as a female Higgins (loved her since I first saw her in Penny Dreadful) makes it a fun ride. Look forward to more.
Always at The Carlyle
(2018)
One Of The Last Classics Standing
18 July 2018
The Carlyle is one of the last classic luxury hotels in New York, with many stories of celebrity stories to tell in its near-century of existence. While it benefits from competitors like The Plaza being transformed into condos and not being able to tell its own story - The Plaza's legendary 1966 Black & White Ball pretty much takes the cake for NY society events - its anecdotes from everyone from guests like George Clooney and Elaine Stritch to the lowest bell-boy creates a warm tapestry of welcome. If only we all had the money for a long stay at the Carlyle.
Woman Walks Ahead
(2017)
Lovely Elegy For A Vanishing People
26 June 2018
Jessica Chastain turns in another thoughtful, nomination-worthy performance as Catherine Weldon, a 19th-century East Coast painter who journeyed West for new subjects and struck up a friendship with legendary Native leader Sitting Bull (with some dangerous consequences), adopting the tribal name 'Woman Walking Ahead.' Michael Greyhorse gives a soulful, defiant portrayal of Sitting Bull, with typically welcome flinty counterpoint from Sam Rockwell as calvary man Silas Groves. Though the real Weldon and Sitting Bull were older than the actors portraying them (as often happens in Hollywood; the gunslingers the film Young Guns was based on were not the dashing hunks like Emilio Estevez, Lou Diamond Phillips, etc. that portrayed them), Woman Walks Ahead is a fine addition to the cinema of the lost American West and the people that once roamed there, and as America swings ever right-ward against women's rights, a reminder that the feminine spirit that can never be entirely quashed by retrograde conservative forces.
Along for the Ride
(2016)
A Long Overdue Documentary on Dennis Hopper's Life and Art
21 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The prime of Hollywood icon and iconoclast Dennis Hopper finally gets the examination it deserves with this documentary, narrated by Hopper's longtime friend Satya De La Manitou. I had the honor of seeing the film at a screening at the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe with Mr. Manitou and Dennis' brother in attendance. Focusing primarily on the period of his post-Easy Rider success as he attempted to direct his avant-garde film The Last Movie in Peru, the doc. offers wonderful circa-1970 footage of Peru and its people as well as of Taos, New Mexico, where Hopper lived and edited the footage. The film also explores his post-drug burnout/Hollywood exile and resurgence years with interesting, often hilarious tales from shoots in Australia, on Apocalypse Now and Wim Wender's The American Friend. While the film sometimes gets a little overdone in the self-congratulatory reminisces of Hollywood bigwigs and the footage of Satya himself gets over-elevated to mythic proportions, the footage of Hopper himself as a man and actor, combating his demons while trying to make authentic art , is what makes this film fascinate and well worth seeing.
The Deuce
(2017–2019)
Not Really Sure Of The Point
10 September 2017
While the early '70s production values of "The Deuce" are very-well done- evocative of "The French Connection" and other films of the period - I'm not really getting the point of the series. Is anyone really nostalgic for when midtown Manhattan was at its scummiest and most hellish? Other than mastering a young Travolta walk, James Franco does his usual merely serviceable job as a harassed bartender, while seeing fine actors like Maggie Gyllenhaall degrade themselves as a prostitute offers no particular enlightenment. HBO again shows off its capacity for nudity and other non-basic cable taboos, but this is as cod-profound as other misery-fests like this year's overrated "Logan." The modern cleaned-up Manhattan may be a bit dull, but this is nostalgia for the wrong things.
Red Mesa
(2009)
A tale of interracial love told with spare dialogue and beautiful direction
20 April 2010
Writer/Director Ilana Lapid's captivating short concerns the love between New Mexico rancher Lynn (Jessica Spotts) and immigrant ranchhand Octavio (Gabriel Rivera), until a tragic accident involving her grandfather forces her to choose where her class loyalties lie. With an economy of dialogue, Lapid deftly conveys the relationships between the principals and little nuances that bind them together, and James DeFazio's crisp, hand-held cinematography gives a visceral feel to the harsh yet beautiful New Mexico landscape of their daily lives. A favorite at numerous festivals and surely deserving of an Oscar nomination for Best Short, "Red Mesa" is not to be missed.
Mad Men
(2007–2015)
Unsteady Drama
29 September 2009
After the cool drive of the first two seasons, Weiner seems to really be winging it in season 3. Only die-hard fetishists of 60's fashion and morays, and slaves to Emmy hype, would find the first three episodes concentration on dreary office politics and Don's stale home life as involving as the intrigue of what came before. Don's run-in with teenage grifters and his involvement with Conrad Hilton in the latest episode suggests Weiner might be coming out of his Emmy complacency, but the series needs to be much more focused to deserve another Emmy next year (then again, maybe now they just hand awards to any show that shows off nice fashions. Too bad).
Seeds of The Federation
27 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This trilogy of episodes sees Archer acting as intermediary in peace talks between the Tellerites and the Andorians, essentially forming the core of what would be the 'Star Trek' United Federation of Planets. They seem a bit slow-going at first, and the threat of tiny probe ships seems hardly on par with what Enterprise had to face in the previous episodes' conflict with the Xindi, but they're good in that they show the growing trust between Archer and Shrann (who at one point engage in an exciting duel with razor-like weapons in an ancient Andorian ritual to save Shrann's besmirched honor), and they also provide commentary on society's racial castes in the sub-treatment of the Andorians telepathic Albino people, one of whom is needed to stop the renegade Andorians assassin ships. Good action and heartfelt performances, especially from the Albino Andorian girl and her relationship with the mystery pilot of the evil ship, and yet another example of what a good show we lost in "Enterprise"'s premature cancellation.
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