28 YEARS LATER. When he’s really cooking — which is frequently — Danny Boyle can be one of the most engaging, adventurous directors in the business. Trainspotting (1996), only his second feature, changed the lives of a generation of us with its boundless energy, convention-shattering camerawork and an absolute banger of a soundtrack. Ever since, […]
Screens
Posted inArts + Scene
Swagger to Burn
Let’s talk about swagger, that combination of confidence and charisma that enables some people to move through the world in a way that lesser mortals envy and sometimes try to emulate through posturing or preening. The difference, particularly in straight men, shows in how they move their bodies. An insecure man leads with his chest. […]
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If It Ain’t Broke, Lean In
THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME. I always seem to preface discussions of Wes Anderson’s work with some sort of disclaimer or caveat. It’s as if I feel a need to justify — mostly to myself — my continuing fascination with his canon, and to acknowledge that, as a fan, I am still conflicted by some abiding, defining […]
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Friendship Gets Uncomfortable
FRIENDSHIP. For a certain, ardent segment of the population, the mere image of Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd — the former clad in a sort of schlubbier, tan on tan, Walter White winter ensemble, the latter sporting a handlebar mustache and 1980s elementary schoolboy fashion-goals jacket — is enough to provoke a giggling fit subsiding […]
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Mission‘s Accomplishments
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING. It took me until the previous Reckoning to realize that, among its many other fine and compelling attributes, one of the great successes of the Mission: Impossible franchise, at least in its late-stage iterations, lies in its simultaneous fealty to its origins — cinematic, not so much the television […]
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Lore and Gore
FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES. Over the weekend, a horror-loving friend and I scooted to the center of the middle row at the Mill Creek Cinema in McKinleyville with a bag of popcorn between us just as the real previews began. Despite the name, the Final Destination movies could very well continue into perpetuity, assuming the AI […]
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The Tragedy of Andor
ANDOR. Once this issue of the Journal is put to bed, this column included, I will head home and sink into my couch with a bowl of pita chips that are not nearly hard enough to grind the stress out through my already taxed molars while I watch the closing three episodes of the second […]
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Warfare is No Recruitment Film
WARFARE. Of the weekend’s offerings, Thunderbolts* is loudly being touted as a return to form for the MCU. It’s no secret that I don’t particularly care for the form, and despite the cast and crew of this latest noisemaker seeming more interesting and varied than the usual, I just couldn’t — or didn’t, if we’re […]
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Bloody Havoc
HAVOC. The most linear, lowest resistance path to Gareth Evans’ latest is most likely an accidental one. Dropped unceremoniously onto Netflix, where algorithmic manipulation, more than fandom or genuine interest, is intended to steer traffic its way, Havoc would hardly seem positioned for lasting — even fleeting, viral — success. Casual Tom Hardy fans might […]
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Original Sinners
SINNERS. To turn any original movie into a hit these days is a dicey proposition at best, given the fearfulness and uncertainty of the industry (as it once was and perhaps never again shall be), let alone the ambivalence of an audience hamstrung by distractions, paranoia and the omni-present spectre of intellectual property as guiding […]
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The Amateur‘s Lukewarm Revenge
THE AMATEUR. The old adage is that if you set out on a path of revenge, you ought to dig two graves (perhaps a dozen, if you’re Hamlet). The self-destructive aspect is part of our fascination with tales of vengeance, along with the burden of justice. What if, instead of carrying on with the maddening […]
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Back to the ’80s
FREAKY TALES. Sometimes good things do happen. Not geopolitically, it would seem, but at least occasionally at the multiplex. With zero foreknowledge, I stumbled across the poster for Freaky Tales, emblazoned in neon green and tantalizing us (especially we NorCal kids of a certain age) with the tagline, “In 1987 Oakland was hella freaky.” OK, […]