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 […]
Broadway Cinema
Posted inArts + Scene
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 […]
Posted inArts + Scene
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 […]
Posted inArts + Scene
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 […]
Posted inArts + Scene
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 […]
Posted inArts + Scene
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 […]
Posted inArts + Scene
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 […]
Posted inArts + Scene
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 […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Death of a Unicorn‘s Satirical Magic
DEATH OF A UNICORN. Magical realism is, pun intended, one of the trickier genres to both execute as a creator and to navigate as observer/reader/audience. Because it relies even more heavily on suspension of disbelief than its really only slightly less fantastical cohort, we in the cheap seats need a cohesive, compelling vision to allow […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Leigh’s Soft Touch in Hard Truths
HARD TRUTHS. Loath as I am to contribute to the ongoing erosion of the cinematic theatrical experience, and legitimately intriguing as Ash or Locked or Novocaine may seem — genre exercises, all, with promising hints of 21st century cheek and worldliness — circumstances will intrude. And so, for now, I’ve missed Flying Lotus’ undoubtedly singular […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Black Bag Keeps its Secrets
BLACK BAG. Decades ago, I read a story in which a couple was described as having a “daunting conjugal bond.” It has since been the only scale by which my husband and I, mostly joking, measure our relationship. Are we, different though we are, seamlessly united against everyone at this table, in this restaurant? Is […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Trouble in Paradise
PARADISE. There are two kinds of people: those who do not see most of the twists and revelations coming in the eight episodes of the Hulu thriller series Paradise, and goddamn liars. A possible subgroup would be those intent on ruining their own unstudied response by focusing on what puzzles writers might come up with, […]