By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week sees Tim Robinson get hopefully the first of many big screen vehicles, plus the latest batch of Untold documentaries.
317. Friendship
All the thinkpieces are quite something to see considering this is very much some mixture of a series of and an extended I Think You Should Leave Now skit. And boy is it glorious. The laughs as his narcissistic sad sack tries to emulate normal human behavior as a friend, father, and husband are non-stop. Nobody can yell like this man, and he headlines one of the greatest drug trip sequences ever. Run to the theaters. Two Beers.
318. Untold: Shooting Guards
Netflix’s superb sports documentary series returns with this story of a notorious locker room confrontation between Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton in which guns were drawn, a huge NBA no-no for fairly obvious reasons. It breaks down the differing ultimate consequences between the star from the suburbs and the underachieving troublemaker from the hood and the way the consequences of our decisions ripple outward. Two Beers.
319. Untold: The Liver King
I found this to a be a curious choice for the Untold brand- lifestyle and bodybuilder influencer Brian Johnson is clearly a massively narcissistic snake oil salesman who’s making it up as it goes along, and the revelation that he was doing ‘roids was assuredly terrible for his credibility, but not exactly surprising for anyone who’s looked at the man. It plays as a story of hubris and eccentricity, though. Three Beers.
320. Cathedrals
This documentary reunites an filmmaker who made a short documentary about the Chicago projects of his own 50 years ago. Now he’s trying to track down the precocious kids he interviewed for it, and surprisingly sees a lot of success. The stories of these young men both diverge and converge in surprising ways even after they last saw each other in childhood. Two Beers.
321. Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story
This Netflix true crime documentary hies from the opposite end of the pond- it turns out creepy murder houses aren’t just an American thing. Fred & Rose West killed at least 12 people over twenty years before they were caught, including their own daughter. The true mystery is whether Rose was coerced by the violent and controlling Fred, or much more of a collaborator in or even driver of the killings. Three Beers.
322. Untold: The Fall of Favre
As a Bears fan, I’ve always had an innate understanding that Brett Favre was a piece of shit. He sure has worked overtime in his late career and retirement to put proof to that, though, from the notorious dick pics to all the government-abetted embezzlement of Medicaid funds to build his daughter volleyball courts. This installment smartly focuses on the victims, from the sideliner reporter he repeatedly harassed despite never actually meeting her in person (who then lost her career for daring to poke the sacred cow) to the underprivileged in his none-too-rich home state of Mississippi. Two Beers.
323. Untold: Hope Solo vs U.S. Soccer
Former U.S. Women’s Soccer Team goalkeeper Hope Solo has an argument to be called the best women’s, or probably even best U.S. goalie ever. She also has quite the reputation from an unfortunate penchant to say exactly what’s on her mind at the most politically inopportune times, which has both served her poorly, and in the case of her pushing for equitable pay for the much more accomplished Women’s team, well (at very least to posterity). Two Beers.
