At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

When Artie from Pete & Pete looked at Weird Al's accordion and said "THE DEVILS SQUEEZE BOX" with a straight face, I was all in.

While I don't think it's better than Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, this was a pretty brilliant parody of a music biopic. This takes all the formulas that we see in countless music biopics and lampoons them while sticking to Weird Al's journey into stardom. I've been enjoying all the choices Daniel Radcliffe has made in his career post Harry Potter and this is one of his best because how committed he was to the bit. This movie also makes for a great easter egg hunt of famous people that has crossed paths with Weird Al in real life (or not) and the celebrity cameos that are playing them. The one cameo that does gets the bulk of the screentime is Evan Rachel Wood who plays Madonna and she does a great job in it. Also it's hilarious that this movie and Blonde share the same actors who play the parents. There's also a ode to UHF and there's a part where this movie goes completely off the wall... even down to the very end where the credits start playing. I will say my only complaint is that it's a Funny or Die production so you do see the low budget-ness of this show up early on. It doesn't necessarily hinder the comedy but you do wish this had a bigger budget. Overall, it's a lot of fun and in a yet another miserable year for comedy, this does make it one of the best comedies of the year by default.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

It certainly felt Wakanda F o r e v e r...


Despite their best efforts, the hole left by Chadwick Boseman hasn't been filled. While I think the movie has its moments of being really powerful and emotional, the film as a whole is incredibly bloated and it's got some real pacing issues specifically during the middle and towards the end. I will say though I thought the start of the movie up to the introduction of Namor was the highlight of the film. They do a pretty good job handling T'Challa's death as well as the state of Wakanda to the world and that's mostly because of Angela Bassett's performance. Another part of the movie that worked throughout was Tenoch Huerta who plays Namor. Everyone else I thought was either okay or weren't developed well enough like Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams who feels like she was crowbarred in just to set up her own show. The action itself feels either too grand or too simple, but it's the roughly the same kind of stuff you usually see from marvel.

Overall, while it is incredible that Ryan Coogler manage to salvage this movie after everything this production went through, it still falls behind on the original Black Panther movie by a lot. And honestly, while I didn't hate this movie, this feels closer to Fast & Furious 6 where it cares more about it being a tribute film with some bloated action set pieces and setting up for the next movie.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Armageddon Time

Shout out to my hometown in Flushing.

Really loved it. It's a semi autobiographical film that uses James Gray's upbringing in Queens as a basis for the story much like last years Belfast. While it's got some familiar coming of age tropes, they do well enough to make it feel authentic to the characters and that's all on the performances from the whole cast. Banks Repeta, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Jaylin Webb, and Anthony Hopkins were all fantastic in this. There's some great cinematography and direction that gets the NY vibe right. It's a movie that uses that interesting snapshot in history right before Regan comes in office and it does a mostly good job discussing race and class from the pov of a kid growing up in privilege, but also has his own family history of disadvantages. There's also a scene that involves the Trumps that I thought was really interesting. If I had any complaints it would be that I wish we had more time spent with Jaylin Webb's character and his backstory and while I liked how the movie ends without really giving you a solid conclusion I wish they built it up a little better. Overall, despite some of its flaws, it's a coming of age movie that hits close to home for me and James Gray did a great job getting some of those things right.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Banshees of Inisherin

A movie that asks what happens when your ride or die friend got feckin aspirations.

For such a simple premise, this was a wild ride from beginning to end. It's a movie about a broken friendship and how one person can drift off and wanting to become a different person. It's Martin McDonagh being more nuanced and reflective with how he makes his films and here he does a great job nailing the quiet nature of the story. It's sort of a In Bruges reunion getting Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson back together and their chemistry was brilliantly handled. I thought Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan were also incredible in this and they do a good job giving us more layers to the story. It's also beautifully shot and directed as well that keeps you interested the entire time. Overall, easily one of the best movies of the year.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

God's Country

When Maeve unlocks the Trump's America level on Westworld.

This was an interesting yet subdued thriller that kinda takes a page from Wind River and even something like Straw Dogs and make it more of a drama piece. I feel like at any point this movie could have become another low brow action thriller where she's being attacked by the far right, but they smartly choose a better route for this where you get a lot more depth to these characters. It's got some very cold yet intimate cinematography that does a lot without having to say a single line of dialogue. My only complaint is I think the middle is a bit sluggish even for a slow paced movie like this and I wish we got some more substance out of it. Overall, it's a great little movie with a explosive ending that definitely tries to be different with the way they delivered the message.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

I thought I'd watch the original before seeing the remake and yeah there's no question why this got Best Picture. The precode era was truly a different breed and it's also wild to see Carl Laemmle jr produced it knowing a year later he would set up the Universal Monsters. It's a movie that brilliantly tells the horrors of war and what the human cost is. Also this has some of the most interesting grand scale cinematography I've seen for a 30s movie. Overall, it's a bold war movie that was made at right time before Hollywood started making pro war movies.
5/5

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

Where the original excels at showcasing the horrors of war at that time, this elevates it it even more by expanding the depth of each characters and upping the brutality of the war scenes. The director Edward Berger does a fantastic job delivering on some of the best moments in a war movie that belongs in the same category as 1917, Dunkirk, Saving Private Ryan and Letters from Iwo Jima. It is far more subtle at the anti-war message that works to its advantage especially when you get to the middle part of the movie. Felix Kammerer does an incredible job and the scene in particular they redo from the original with the french solider was the message of the movie in a nutshell. Overall, it's a shame this wasn't released in the theaters because it's without question of the best movies of the year.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Enola Holmes 2

It was just alright. This one does a lot of mistakes of sequels by giving you more of the thing you enjoyed from the first one and not really doing much else with it. It's yet another Nancy Drew mystery that Enola has to solve and they kinda run the same beats as the first one only giving it bit of a message that is not as clever as it wants to be and you see the 4th wall break novelty kinda wear off. The cast was more or less the same as in the first one. It's definitely more plot driven than character driven this time around and it didn't do much to keep me interested aside from the match factory scenes. Overall, not bad but forgettable. It's just yet another sequel that does the thing you expect to happen and nothing more.
2.5/5

 

[flickchick85]

Armageddon Time

Shout out to my hometown in Flushing.

Really loved it. It's a semi autobiographical film that uses James Gray's upbringing in Queens as a basis for the story much like last years Belfast. While it's got some familiar coming of age tropes, they do well enough to make it feel authentic to the characters and that's all on the performances from the whole cast. Banks Repeta, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Jaylin Webb, and Anthony Hopkins were all fantastic in this. There's some great cinematography and direction that gets the NY vibe right. It's a movie that uses that interesting snapshot in history right before Regan comes in office and it does a mostly good job discussing race and class from the pov of a kid growing up in privilege, but also has his own family history of disadvantages. There's also a scene that involves the Trumps that I thought was really interesting. If I had any complaints it would be that I wish we had more time spent with Jaylin Webb's character and his backstory and while I liked how the movie ends without really giving you a solid conclusion I wish they built it up a little better. Overall, despite some of its flaws, it's a coming of age movie that hits close to home for me and James Gray did a great job getting some of those things right.
4.5/5

Glad to hear the s***ty trailer doesn’t do this justice. That seems par for the course on James Gray pics at this point. Such an underrated filmmaker, imo.

 

[Kane52630]

I will admit I'm probably rating it higher than usual just because it's set where I grew up at and that vibe of the 80s/90s was so accurate, but it is a really solid movie despite some of the flaws. The performances are stellar across the board tho.

 

[Kane52630]

Soft & Quiet

American History X: Karen Edition

This is one hell of a movie that uses the one-take/continuous shot approach to what is a real life horror situation that centers around a group of white women who got together who you find out are white supremacists. The movie at first gets a bit too bogged down on some typical toxic and racist rhetoric, but it quickly escalates into horror territory when something happens to the group. The performances are pretty good even though some of the dialogue early on was heavy handed. Really impressed by Beth de Araújo's directing especially how the one-shot goes from one scene to the next. When it gets to the 3rd act, it becomes really deprave in a Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer kind of way where it is so horrific and senseless that you don't know if you wanna stick around for the ending. Overall, while it's a hard movie to watch and sit through the filmmaking aspect keeps it interesting especially considering how low the budget was.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

She Said

Quick hack on how to make your newspaper drama super dramatic: Lots of power walking and running.

For the dramatization of the New York Times article that effectively took down Harvey Weinstein, it was pretty much what you expect. Much like the other movies about journalism and whistleblowers like Spotlight and All The Presidents Men, this movie takes you inside how the story gets made and what the human toll is for the journalists and their sources. It also does a good job of showing how mundane it can be just interviewing multiple people on the record which might be repetitive for some people. While I will say I thought it was well made, the main problem I have with this is the movie does a lot of handholding that tries to explain the systemic problem in Hollywood of sexual assaulters as simply as possible. And while the movie tries to pin down Harvey as the linchpin of the whole thing, it doesn't do much to explain the wider landscape and culture of Hollywood outside of Miramax that allowed this to happen especially considering it was such an open secret. Still, I thought the performances were great, particularly with Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan, and Samantha Morton. It's also really well shot and directed and they use the New York Times building to great effect. Overall, really good for the Oscar season, but I wish it was a little better and a little less handholding.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Menu

See now if it was Carmy and Richie, they would totally serve cheeseburgers over bullsh** like a breadless bread plate.

This was such a great satirical dark horror comedy that interrogates and makes fun of these obscenely expensive restaurants, the chef/owner's ego trip, and the customers who partake in them. It's as if someone took American Psycho or Midsommar and combine it with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Ralph Fiennes plays this version's Willy Wonka if he was Patrick Bateman who took over for Gordon Ramsay. It centers mostly on Anya Taylor Joy's character who seems to be the outsider in the group and you see how everyone else acts who travel to the island. It's an interesting mix of different kinds of customers that all thematically makes sense and my favorite has to be Nicholas Hoult's character who's the foodie fanboy that would take out a mortgage to get close to his favorite restaurant and chef. I also thought Hong Chau was so good in here who plays the hostess. I love how everything escalates and how it all resolves. Overall, it's one of the best horror films in an already solid year of great horror films.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

See How They Run

Adrien Brody continues his streak of playing fun and eccentric scumbags.

It's a fun and light mystery/comedy that takes a meta take on Agatha Christie mystery novels that actually involve Agatha Christie herself. It almost takes a Wes Anderson inspired approach to how they made this movie yet nothing about felt too original. It uses the whodunnit formula to a very base level even when it's making fun of the format. Outside of Adrien Brody, I thought the rest of the cast was just okay and that's mostly because of the material that's not as sharp as it wants to be. Overall, it's a good quick watch but you'll quickly forget it existed.
2.5/5

 

[Black Narcissus]

Tár

Cate Blanchett will most likely win an oscar for this, but the film over all left me overwhelmed. I wanted more depth from characters in certain moments, it also snails along, especially in the beginning. I also expected the ending to be somewhat of a statement, but it left me cold. Simply fine. One of them made for 'Oscar nom' flicks that one won't revisit again, but is glad to check it off the list.

3/5

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

A really good anti-war flick without being too preachy about it. I kinda liked this better than 1917. When the action scenes hit, they hit goddamn it. I know a lot of folks will be tired of so many war type flicks, but in this case, the director made it his own and added more backstory to certain characters, which makes all the difference. Shame it will get lost on Netflix. One of the years best.

 

[Kane52630]

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Death on the Nile has left the chat...

What a phenomenal follow up to Knives Out that manages to deliver a new story with new dynamics and has something different to say. Rian Johnson uses the difficulty of the pandemic to its advantage and it is very much part of the story that uses a luxury island as the centerpiece of the movie. Much like Knives Out, the cast is what makes this movie work and they got a crazier combination of people in a room together like Dave Bastiaua, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., and Kate Hudson who are all great here and all have their moment to shine. As for the story without spoiling it, it's a whodunit that is more interested in the subversive journey that gives you the answer while having a lot of fun with it. Overall, it's as good as Knives Out and it's one of the best movies of the year, especially for a big star-studded movie like this.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Devotion

Glen Powell continues his streak of being typecast as Hal Jordan for the 100th time.

I thought this was just okay. It's a very traditional war movie that also combines a very traditional black struggle movie. The movie centers around the Korean War and the real life story of Jesse Brown and I thought it did an okay job portraying it in a very sanitized "watched in school" kind of way. The only thing that stood out for me was the performances of Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell and their chemistry together. There's also some well done cinematography that kinda help the movie out. That being said, this was pretty much a war movie that's full of cliches and plays it safe the entire time. Overall, while I liked a couple of the performances, it's probably my least favorite film from J. D. Dillard who I've been a fan of since Sleight.
2.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Bones and All

Taylor Russell literally ate that.

A phenomenal portrait of 80s middle America from Luca Guadagnino where it is simultaneously a earnest coming of age film and a cannibal film. In a way it almost reminds me of the other cannibal film Raw if Raw was more like The Spectacular Now. Really loved the performances mainly from Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, and Mark Rylance. There's also performances by Michael Stuhlbarg, Andre Holland, and an unrecognizable Chloe Sevigny that I thought were also great. The movie itself does a good job handling the tone and mood where it could easily veer off into a typical horror territory but thankfully it doesn't. It's far more of a coming of age/romantic drama than it is a gory horror movie. The pace might not be for everyone but it really worked on me. Overall, absolutely loved it. It's easily one of the best movies of the year and I am excited to see where Taylor Russell goes from here.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Triangle of Sadness

Eat The Rich: Gilligan's Island Edition

Absolutely loved it. It's a brilliantly well made dark comedy satire that takes a chair shot at the rich and powerful while also having a lot fun with it. It manages to break the story into three distinctive parts that all cleverly wraps around. Ruben Östlund has an eye of keeping things moving in and out of the scene while you're focus on the main dialogue. I absolutely love how the movie opens itself up for discussion even when it's just Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean fighting over the check at the restaurant. The entire cast is incredible and without spoiling it, Dolly de Leon is easily the highlight of the movie. This is the kind of movie that Don't Look Up wishes it was where it's more clever in the execution and the filmmaking. Overall, it's easily one of my favorite movies of the year and I hope more people see it.
5/5

 

[Luigi]

Bones and All

Taylor Russell literally ate that.

A phenomenal portrait of 80s middle America from Luca Guadagnino where it is simultaneously a earnest coming of age film and a cannibal film. In a way it almost reminds me of the other cannibal film Raw if Raw was more like The Spectacular Now. Really loved the performances mainly from Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, and Mark Rylance. There's also performances by Michael Stuhlbarg, Andre Holland, and an unrecognizable Chloe Sevigny that I thought were also great. The movie itself does a good job handling the tone and mood where it could easily veer off into a typical horror territory but thankfully it doesn't. It's far more of a coming of age/romantic drama than it is a gory horror movie. The pace might not be for everyone but it really worked on me. Overall, absolutely loved it. It's easily one of the best movies of the year and I am excited to see where Taylor Russell goes from here.
4.5/5

For my money, it's Timothee's best performance to date.

 

[Kane52630]

Fire of Love

The eruption of Krakatoa is what caused the reddish sky in The Scream painting was not on my bingo card.

This was a pretty decent documentary about Katia and Maurice Krafft who famously hunt volcanoes for a living until their untimely deaths. It does a good job balancing out telling a story about how they got together and the brief history and understating of how volcanoes work and operate. What I really enjoyed about this was seeing the restored footage that was captured by Katia and Maurice Krafft and their crew. It's a lot of fascinating footage that they were able to capture at their own risk. That being said, I think the only thing keeping me away from really loving this was the narration that felt too on the nose and cheesy. It's almost like someone from NPR starting narrating some fan fiction from tumblr. I feel like this documentary would have worked better without all of that. That being said, overall I thought it was enjoyable enough.
3/5

 

[Kane52630]

Green Lantern: Beware My Power

Just when I thought DC animation was maybe finally getting back to reasonable quality, they sh** this out.

I don't know what to say, this is probably the most infatuating yet bland movie I've seen all year. It feels like it was written by a 13 year old who only knows how to write a wikipedia plot synopsis. And because of the poorly written dialogue, you got some of the worst voice performances I've heard all year and it's shocking because Aldis Hodge and Jimmi Simpson aren't bad actors. This tries to give John Stewart a new fresh start and Hal Jordan a twist but neither of it worked. The animation itself remains the same and it's still as flat and uninteresting as ever. Overall, what a waste of money, talent, and time.
0.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Sr.

Release the Sr. cut.

This was a very intimate documentary revolving around Robert Downing Sr and Jr that started out as a blatant vanity project and then slowly morphs into a story about a son losing his father. It also features essentially three documentaries into one where Robert Downing Sr wanted to make his own abstract documentary, the documentary that Robert Downing Jr wanted to make to valorize his dad's accomplishments as a filmmaker, and the 3rd one where the walls break down and you see what is obstinately the real documentary about their relationship. It's also gives a good look inside a piece of film history where artists where making absurdist comedies. Overall, I thought it was really well done despite the vanity aspect and it's got a very emotional ending.
3.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Troll

The "can I copy your homework" for giant monster movies.

Can't say I enjoyed this one despite the cool looking trailer. It's such a blatant copy of a movie. It's as if someone used the 98 Godzilla movie and combine it with the first two Jurassic Park movies, Kong Skull Island, and numerous other Roland Emmerich movies shot for shot. I will say it is impressive that a Norwegian film has a sizeable budget to pull off a Hollywood blockbuster, but the execution of the script is so lazy and the performances aren't any better. It's goal is to be as generic and safe as possible with these characters so you don't really what happens to them. The troll itself has a few cool moments and a couple of the action set pieces are not too bad but you've seen them all before and done better. Overall, you're better off watching Trollhunter which did a much better job exploring the troll mythology.
2/5

 

[Kane52630]

The Fabelmans

Easily the one of the best final shots all year.

Steven Spielberg builds a semi autobiographical film about his life growing up where the names and moments are changed and heightened, but the essence is all there from his start of loving films to his meeting with John Ford. I will say I thought the movie started kinda rough with how hokey and cheesy some of the "Isn't Cinema Great!?" aspect was. It just felt too self-aggrandizing at times and it leans into what I feared what this movie is gonna be from the trailers. But thankfully it quickly moves past it and the movie remarkably becomes better and subtler as it goes along. While you do see how Spielberg became Spielberg as a filmmaker, you more importantly see what his relationship is with his family, mainly his mom played really well by Michelle Williams. He's not in it for long but there's also a really good Judd Hirsch performance that'll probably get some awards recognition. Like with most of his films, the young actors they got here are excellent and I thought Gabriel LaBelle does a great job as well as Julia Butters and Chloe East. The entire third act feels like Spielberg was channeling his inner John Hughes and all the high school scenes was really well done. Overall, while I wasn't a fan of how it started, I really won me over by the end.
4/5

 

[Kane52630]

Terrifier

I haven't seen Pagliacci, but I'm assuming this is close enough.

Watched this in order to see the sequel and it was an interesting experience. You can tell right away that it's an extremely small budget and they tried their best to use whatever they can to the fullest. And you can tell the director Damien Leone was extremely inspired by the video nasties of the 70s and 80s and also some of John Carpenter (especially with the score). There are a couple of scenes that really drive home how unflinching some of the torture porn scenes are. The plot is very straightforward and simple and the performances from the cast are extremely campy on purpose. Art the Clown is obviously the best thing about it and it's no wonder it took off as it did. Overall, while plotwise, the movie wasn't all there, the gore effects and Art was memorable enough.
2.5/5

Terrifier 2

Art the Clown's reign of chaos and Charlie Chaplin impressions continues!

Where the first Terrifier had almost no money and a ton of creative aspirations, this sequel gets a significantly bigger budget with even more creative aspirations that actually get realized. It's by far the goriest horror film I've seen in years and they do the thing where they will linger on a shot and make you watch without cutting away. It almost feels like Damien Leone got even more inspiration from video nasties and horror gore effect masters like Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero. As for the story, it's remarkably better than the first one and more expansive. Lauren LaVera does a phenomenally good job here and she's such an improvement over the last final girl. It's significantly longer than a usual horror film and while you do feel the runtime at times, it makes up for it with each set piece that increasingly gets more unhinged and depraved. Also, the cinematography and directing get a much-needed improvement over the last film. Overall, an unbelievable horror film that pushes the boundaries. I welcome our new slasher icon.
4/5

All Hallows' Eve

Award for most ill-advised babysitter goes to...

I thought I'd go back and check out where Art the Clown came from and it was interesting that it came from a semi anthology film. While I don't think the movie really works, the germ of the idea was there and Art the Clown was still working for me. While I thought the first Terrifier was cheap, this makes it look like the Godfather by comparison. The performances are noticeably bad even if it's supposed to be campy. I will say the only thing that does work about this was Art the Clown and the original short that they attached to this. Overall, it's just okay but forgettable.
2/5