By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week was another jaunt through the best (and often worst) films I haven’t seen that streaming has to offer from the past several years.
233. Abducted in Plain Sight
My second week of Bill L.’s recommendations game landed me another documentary utterly chock full of twists and turns and infuriating subject matter. It tells the years-long story of the brainwashing, multiple kidnappings, and molestation of Jan Broberg by trusted family friend Robert Berchtold. The way he was able to do this for so long was due to his systematic seduction of the rest of the family, and I mean that verb in the most literal sense. You know you have a crazy true story on your hands when the most unrecognizable and hard to understand actions are not those of the monstrous criminal, but rather those of his victims. Two Beers.
234. Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein
This 32-minute Netflix-produced oddity plays like David Harbour told them “you know that weird Will Ferrell Spoils of Babylon show where he kinda plays frozen peas commercial-era Orson Welles? I can do that.” He plays himself presenting the TV play production of Frankenstein made by his father late in his career, who is of course also played by Harbour. Certainly worth your 30 minutes, and another example of what a company with the resources and vision of Netflix can do just for the fuck of it. I approve. Three Beers.
235. Steve’s Hollywood Story
Available for 99 cents on Amazon and looking for all the world like it was produced for about the same amount of money, “gay Tommy Wiseau” Sam Mraovich’s other notorious film besides Ben & Arthur may not be quite as bugfuck but is still full of low-budget ridiculousness like his constantly changing hairline or the scene where he and his friend wear graduation gowns after the end of their “2-3 day Hollywood movie crash course” rec center class. Grade A schlock. Six Pack.
236. Shadow of Truth
This Israeli Making a Murder examines the tragic murder of a 13 year old schoolgirl Tair Rada and the resulting rail-roading of Russian immigrant Roman Zadorov into a life sentence conviction for the crime. Much more fleet and to the point than similar true crime investigative fare, but no less deep-diving or engaging, this documentary cleverly presents the circumstantially convincing case against Zadorov before dismantling it piece by piece. Excellent reporting and a must for fans of this kind of fare. Two Beers.
237. The Burial of Kojo
A product of Netflix’s rather recent foray into producing and showcasing African films (Ghana in this case), this sort film plays out with the logic and imagery of a dream, and what gorgeous imagery it is. Very nearly every single shot is fit for framing, proof of two filmmakers in director Blitz Bazawule (also know as hi-hop artist Blitz the Ambassador, and his debut!) and DP Michael Fernandez with no shortage of ideas nor the talent to capture them on film. The sound, editing, and music are no less impressive, and as this Magical Realist story of familial tension and past tragedy plays out it’s hard to deny you’re watching something truly singular. Two Beers.
238. Working Man
This uncategorizable oddity is only 7 minutes long and only available on Amazon Prime. It happens to share a title with a 2020 film I was looking for, but this horrifically animated, I believe this racist doth protest too much disturbing piece of trash is exactly the kind of random discovery that fuels bad movie lovers. If you don’t care what you pollute your eyes with if it’s sufficiently poorly executed, plus you have Prime and want to goggle in disbelief at what they apparently spent good Bezos moolah on, consider hunting it down. Six Pack.
239. Becky
Undoubtedly you’ll come into this movie based on the “Kevin James is a neo-Nazi who tangles with a Home Alone tween from Hell whose Dad happens to be Joel McHale, plus the gore is outta control” tagline many are spouting. And yes, all of this is very true. Well, the result doesn’t quite live up or down enough to that on-paper craziness, but that’s not due to any lack of effort from lead Lulu Wilson nor admirable audaciousness from directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion. If they haven’t quite hit the Midnight Movie goldmine this time around, I’m sure they’ll get plenty more tries to get it just right based on this nugget. Four Beers.
240. The King of Staten Island
Is this yet another shaggy and overlong and a bit sentimentalized Judd Apatow portrait of pot-loving comedian living a life of traumatic arrested development? Yep, but it’s been like 5 years since the last one, and, frankly, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Pete Davidson is a surprisingly viable centerpiece for one of Apatow’s signature vaguely autobiographical, ad-libbed, naturalistic style, and the supporting cast as usual is aces. Just the kind of cinematic comfort food that’s been in short supply this year. Two Beers.
241. Da 5 Bloods
I’m starting to wonder if Spike Lee’s problem lately isn’t so much with him as with all his co-writers. His coterie grows every film, it seems, and it seems like sharp satirist we last saw 20 years ago with Bamboozled only rears his head in a scene or three anymore. His direction remains strong if a bit disinterested, at least until he starts folding modern atrocities into his stories. That’s the Spike Lee I remember. Anyway, this film is a bit of a mess of tones and performances attuned to those different tones (Delroy Lindo is… somethin’ else), and politics that are no less messy (I don’t know if a Vietnamese person would find this hilarious or horrifying), but as always, there’s just enough of a spark to keep you hopeful for the next one. Write it yourself, Spike! Four Beers.
242. We Are Little Zombies
I’ll use the same description I’ll use in my review of this recent Japanese film, because I’m shameless. It’s like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World if that film’s central theme wasn’t Love, but rather Death. Four orphan children who meet at the crematorium their parents were, well, cremated at, decide to go off on their own and create a band. An incredible melding of genres (each child’s tragic backstory gets their own), pathos, and utterly dark comedy, there’s no reason this should work as well as it does. Two Beers.
243. Working Man
This story of a rust belt factory that closes down as so many have, and the worker who could have retired years ago but who keeps going back to work, day by day, even after the closure, is not what it at first seems. Peter Gerety is great as the taciturn old man, and Billy Brown is even better as the younger worker to turns his recalcitrance into a labor movement, but there’s more going on here, and the way that Director Robert Jury patiently unfolds his film pays off beautifully in the end. Just a sweet, human film. Two Beers.
244. Feral
This gorgeously shot, edited, and acted film is about a young homeless woman, Yasmine (Annapurna Sriram) trying to survive in New York City as best as she can. Director Andrew Wonder (who also serves as co-writer and DP) was inspired by his documentary Undercity to shoot this film, which co-stars some of the homeless people he met filming it. His direction is assured and reminds me of the best of NYC social issues drama, from Ramin Bahrani’s indie films to the early work of the Safdie Brothers. He’s a talent to keep an eye on (as is Sriram). Two Beers.
