By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week was a true smorgasbord of films and series with a spread of genres you’ll need to see to believe.
376. Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
In this joint TED Talk-like presentation and country and history-spanning examination, former ACLU deputy legal director Jeffery Robinson lays out with methodical precision just how much of our nation’s understructure was and is built on slavery and systemic racism. Sounds like a great time at the movies, I know, but it’s essential information, and laid out so cleanly and incontrovertibly here that it’s a must watch. A Toast.
377. Girl in the Picture
Another week, another true crime documentary, and this story of a woman who is brought into the hospital and eventually perishes due to a reported car accident despite injuries inconsistent with that is a devastating one. A quite twisted and sordid story that is both of those to a greater degree than you can imagine proceeds from there, told. Two Beers.
378. Thor: Love and Thunder
I’m not getting the hate from some corners for Taiki Waititi’s second stab at Marvel and his increasingly silly version of Thor, which is so clearly how Chris Hemsworth would like to play things with the character, and I’m here for it. Christian Bale makes a suitably skin-crawling villain, and there are plenty more surprises in store and some genuine pathos as well. Every bit as entertaining as its predecessor, and who can ask for more? Two Beers.
379. The Adventures of Acela
Who else but BabyRuth would put me onto something so abjectly horrifying as this 2020 animated film that looks like the shittiest 3-D computer game from, oh, 1995 maybe? It’s hard to describe the waves of emotion that roll over you as you witness dancing ogre ladies, dancing aliens that are clearly frogs that are likely child murderers or at least exhibitionists, and the most mind-numbing 14th century verbally delivered fable imaginable. It ends in Nelson Mandela quotes. It’s something to behold. Six Pack.
380. Father Stu
Mark Wahlberg gets a showcase role in this true story of a boxer and low-class carouser who falls for a devout Catholic woman and starts a life-transforming journey towards the priesthood despite his still at times uncouth ways (which prove to be as useful in his ministry as not- Christ didn’t hang with Patricians after all). This is all before he’s diagnosed with a degenerative disease. Yes, this is a role that has it all, and while it’s told as straightforwardly as possible, it’s a story worth viewing. Three Beers.
381. Bull
This brutal British revenge film stars Neil Maskell, who knows a thing or two about brutal British revenge films. This is a man so hell-bent on that revenge that he comes off as much villain of the piece as a hero- a man with no vestige of mercy or remorse. If you’re in the mood for something dark and unforgiving, then this is about as much so as it gets. Three Beers.
382. Interceptor
This surprising Netflix hit has definitely got those Die Hard vibes, and it’s not just the white tank top and duct tape bandaging that Elsa Pataky is sporting as the last hope for the world as a splinter domestic terrorist group seeks to take out America’s last ballistic missile interceptor station in a bid to wreak havoc on the country. It’s by no means groundbreaking stuff, but it gets the action film job done with a chip on its shoulder. Three Beers.
383. The Man from Toronto
Another film not seeking to be anything it isn’t, I know that the reviews weren’t kind, but if you were expecting anything but Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson trading quips and generally competent action (and sometimes beyond- the gym action faux one take action sequence is pretty rad actually), then you don’t know how movies work. Entertaining enough for what it is. Three Beers.
384. All the Old Knives
Okay, yes, I was feeling decidedly middlebrow this week. Another streaming outing that would’ve been a moderately successful mid-budget studio film in years past, this one finds old lovers Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton facing off over a beautiful-looking Cali wine country dinner about their past in the CIA, particularly an anti-terrorism gone wrong that cost 100 air passengers their lives when one of their own leaked crucial information to the perpetrators. Handsomely mounted, with a few surprises in store, but more comfort food than Michelin star. Three Beers.
385. Paid in Blood
Korean gangster films are dependably the best gangster films in the world right now, and this story of reluctant collaborators in a luxury resort project that promises to bring in some real, above-board money if they can just put aside their natural predatorial instincts is no exception. Jang Hyuk is a dynamo of violence, and Yu Oh-seong his well-matched, slightly less criminally insane foe. Two Beers.
386. High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America
This Netflix food and history series may have a flair for the overdramatic setup here and there, but it’s a fascinating examination of the undeniable foundational legacy of African cuisine in America’s, in so many aspects. An ethnographic and historical examination as much as a culinary one, it’s just been granted a second season and I’m excited to see what it brings- it’s clear Stephen Satterfield and his team are just scratching the surface on stories to tell (and amazing-looking food to show). Two Beers.
387. Nothing Serious
This refreshingly dirty-spirited Korean romcom stars au-courant heartthrob Son Suk-Ku and Burning‘s Jeon Jong-seo as a couple of young folks who’ve renounced love and decided to get as frisky as possible using a Tindr equivalent. I’ll give you one guess how long that lasts. Pretty conventional and kind of cute when it’s clearly trying to be shocking (dirty comedies aren’t terribly prevalent yet in Korea), it’s still checks those standard romcom boxes elsewise. Four Beers.
