By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week was one for movies I missed at previous festivals as well as some big-budget fare I waited on until streaming.
453. Sing Sing
I missed this at the last TIFF, and while the next one bears down on us, this is getting serious Oscar buzz, at least at this early stage. Colman Domingo is certainly superb, and on a hell of a heater the last year plus, and this has the unique hook of mixing him and thespians like Paul Raci with the subject of the film- prisoners who are finding hope and inspiration in a prison drama program (one similar to the one that Domingo himself works with in real life). The mixture of professional and non-professional performances lends everything an extra measure of authenticity, with Clarence Maclin in particular demonstrating that talent can emerge from anywhere, even the darkest of places. I think the overall story, much like the play that is put on, at times feels like it is strung together to feature all of the acting it can, but there are worse excuses to put on a show. Two Beers.
454. We Grown Now
When the Cabrini-Green Towers started to come down in the mid-90s, many families headed southward to communities like Peoria, IL- my hometown. Set in 1992 and on this precipice of change, the young boys whose lives we follow in this film could well have been the older brothers of my friends and playmates. Minhal Baig has a poetic Malick-esque approach, finding beauty even in these poor and undermaintained environs. As the film quotes in the end, it’s the people that makes the place, and this is a lovely story of people doing the best they can with what they have, as forebears did. Two Beers.
455. Totem
Sol’s daddy is sick- very sick. And while family and friends in all the glorious messiness of their relationships descend up on the house for his birthday, the unspoken yet understood truth is that it is likely his last. Director Lila Avilés predominantly stays at her side and eye-level, a pre-pubescent girl who is learning some very adult truths due to the unfair and unpredictable ravages of cancer. The hand-held camera and overlapping dialogue makes it as if we’re dropping directly into this party, and her mindset. Two Beers.
456. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Guy Ritchie and Henry Cavill reunite in a movie about the real-life people who inspired Ian Fleming to create the character that their last team-up pretty much was their version of (you think The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was anything but?) Anyway, this very fictional recounting of a very real secret unit of saboteurs is largely a vehicle for drolly deadpan wisecracks and a whole lot of Nazi-slaughtering (a massive and murderous Alan Hutchison proves particularly adept at both). It ain’t Shakespeare, but it’s plenty entertaining as-is. Three Beers.
457. Saw X
A Saw movie without Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw kinda blows, which is a bit of a problem since they killed him off like, awhile ago. So, the only path forward is to go backwards, which is a surprisingly fresh tack to take in this case. Jigsaw’s brain cancer is fast nearing its final stages, but when he learns of an off-the-grid miracle cure he goes for it. Unsurprisingly, what sounds too good to be true really is, but that’s bad news for the fake medical team that grifted him. Here he’s the sympathetic protagonist for a change, which is certainly a new look. His murderous Rube Goldberg machines and fucked value system are still on full display here, but I appreciated the new coat of paint. Four Beers.
458. The Strike
This documentary recounts the multi-year hunger strikes undergone by California prison inmates, particularly of the notoriously cruel and capricious Pelican Bay State Prison, designed to hold inmates in unending solitary confinement. It’s a documentary that really drives home the unjust policies of the California penal system for decades- sending people to solitary for literally perpetuity because of any perceived gang affiliation. When they choose to utilize possibly the only negotiating tool they had at their disposal, it inspired prisoners across the world to protest incarceration policies that were tantamount to extrajudicial punishment. Two Beers.
459. Mission: Cross
There’s no denying that this Netflix-produced Korean flick is deeply silly, starring Hwang Jung-min as a perfect domestic househusband to a take-no-shit policewoman (Yum Jung-ah) before, surprise, it turns out his past was a lot more eventful than that (perhaps that explains the reflexes and the six-pack). Anyway, there’s an international conspiracy afoot and he’s drawn back into an espionage game while she’s unraveling the mystery of who he is. Will they team up to kick some ass in the end? I’ll give you one guess (but also reassure you that it’s kind of awesome- Korean action is still the good stuff. Three Beers.
460. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Sure, it’s not 1987 anymore, but fuck it, another legacyquel, here we come. And guess what, it is kind of a blast discovering so many of these guys are still alive, and game to fuck around with Eddie Murphy for another couple of competent action-packed hours. Taylour Page as his estranged lawyer daughter and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a Beverly Hills cop with some skills of his own are welcome additions- I’d not hate another installment. Three Beers.
461. Damaged
Samuel L. Jackson, you done fooled me again. Where I somewhat enjoyed the poorly-reviewed Eric Bana fights a cult in Europe thriller A Sacrifice, my gamble on this poorly-reviewed Sam Jackson fights a cult in Europe thriller really did not pay off. Here he’s investigating a grisly series of murders in Scotland that have the same M.O. as ones he couldn’t solve in Chicago. He’s slumming a bit, but the rest of the cast is just shy of laughable (the main Scottish cop has got to be the worst investigator in existence, turning every witness against him in a matter of seconds before getting any information), and the big twist is played goofy as hell. Bet Jackson got his round of golf in, though. Five Beers.
462. Secret Invasion
Yeah, I know the Marvel fans hated this one, but I’m a completionist at heart, and fuck it, I’ve come this far with Marvel. Anyway, it’s on fans’ bad side for being willing to kill off characters, which normally would be held up as a little ballsy (or at least ballsy before the Snap and the Multiverse, anyway). Honestly, it’s as fine as the rest of the fare produced by the Marvel machine, and advances the Captain Marvel corner of the Marvelverse in interesting ways. Three Beers.
463. Ahsoka
The other big Disney IP acquisition and source of a whole lot of TV these days, I can report the Star Wars universe is puttering along with fine not great content as well. This would probably be a lot more cool for those Clone Wars devotees, but I kind of drew the line at animation. That being said, even though it ties deeply in with those characters and storylines, it’s not hard to follow along with Ahsoka’s adventures, and it sure was good to see Ray Stevenson kicking ass one last time. Three Beers.
464. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Yes, this show requires way too much CGI to be viable on TV, and it shows… badly at times. However, Jessica Gao and her team have made a fun as hell show about all the impossible expectations and dilemmas of being a single professional woman in her 30s who also happens to be a hulk. Tatiana Maslany is just freaking entertaining to watch no matter what she does, and the sheer energy of this show is just a joy. More of this, please. Two Beers.
465. U.S. Marshals
They don’t really make them like this anymore, and while this sequel to The Fugitive (I never knew!) drew lackluster notices at the time and honestly does pale a bit in comparison to its predecessor, it’s also just a solid meat and potatoes action film from the time before widespread CGI and Robert Downey, Jr. completely kicking cocaine (Wesley Snipes was probably paying his taxes, even). Entertaining. Three Beers.
466. Land of Bad
If they made ’em like that anymore, I suppose they probably look a lot like this. Liam (I know) Hemsworth stars as a rookie special forces operative thrust into a search and rescue on one of the more lawless islands of the Philippines (there’s lots of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism there, too). When shit goes utterly sideways, a sadsack drone pilot out of Las Vegas (Russell Crowe, really sadsacking it up) is their only hope for survival. Once again, meat and potatoes, just practical effects-driven enough action fare. Three Beers.
