Film Review: The Joke Goes Too Far

February 9, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

American Fiction is a film that takes on racial stereotypes in a very interesting way with Jeffrey Wright giving probably his most compelling performance as a black author who wrote a satirical piece targeting how African-Americans are depicted in modern literature that was taken far more seriously than he intended.

The source material is a novel entitled by Erasure by Percival Everett. Cord Jefferson wrote and directed the adaptation with the aforementioned Jeffrey Wright in the lead. The talented cast includes Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander, and Adam Brody.

Wright portrays a black writer and university professor named Thelonious “Monk” Ellison who has published compelling fiction, but he is far from being a bestseller. He is forced to take some leave after losing his patience with students when discussing racial issues. He returns to how hometown to Boston to reconnect with his dysfunctional yet affluent family as he attends a literary seminar. He encounters another author, played by Issa Rae, who has written a more popular, which in Monk’s estimation, promotes the worst of black stereotypes. Although Monk’s family has defied many of those stereotypes, it has more than its share of problems. Monk is alarmed to see signs that his mother is showing some significant cognitive decline. His sister dies suddenly, and his estranged brother returns bringing his troubles along with him. Monk then writes a novel of his own and creates a more thuggish persona as a pseudonym, thinking he is creating satire and making a grand point about the false stereotypes of black American culture. The problem is that the audience and critics miss the point he was attempting to make about how shallow and insipid this work should be deemed and give it far more credence than he expected.

The story displays an impressive mixture of dark comedy and genuine tragedy as more of Monk’s family background comes to light for the audience, and more predicaments arise. Everyone in the cast does well, but Wright in particular just seems to have been the perfect fit for his part.

There are some moments in the film that seem to drag, but that’s not terribly surprising for something in this genre. There are some complex characters, and the plot itself takes a bit more reflection and concentration than much of Hollywood’s output these days. The ending is a bit confusing and a little unsatisfying, but I will avoid spoilers here. The idea may be to reflect how life really can get. Many chapters in a person’s life are confusing and unsatisfying, and I may be missing a point by grumbling about that aspect of the film.

It’s a film that is likely to stir up some interesting discussion and debate for those that look for something more meaningful in the cinematic arts. I don’t find it be a flawless film, but it is certainly much better than many of the recent onslaught of mediocrity coming out of Tinseltown.

Film Review: Will The Real Agent Argylle Please Stand Up?

February 3, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Argylle is an action comedy that manages to be some somewhat entertaining in spite of an over reliance on slapstick and a pretty peculiar plotline. Matthew Vaughn directed this film with Jason Fuchs credited as the screenwriter. Henry Cavill is om the title role, but the main protagonist, Elly Conway, is played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Sam Rockwell, Samel L. Jackson, Bryan Cranston, John Cena, Catherine O’Hara, and Dua Lipa are included in the admittedly impressive cast.

Elly Conway is a spy novelist who has been living quite nicely thanks to the creation of her character, Agent Argylle. She is inexplicably ambushed while on a train trip, and she is then unexpectedly rescued by an actual spy, portrayed by the reliably entertaining Sam Rockwell. It seems that Elly has stumbled onto some authentic espionage while researching for her novel. Elly also is forced question everything and everyone she has known in her life because she is no longer sure where the fiction ends and the reality begins.

The cast really makes this pretty watchable. Sam Rockwell probably has the better role here. Of course, he usually knows how to make his mark in a film. The action wavered from being compelling to getting a little too ridiculous. I guess I wasn’t expecting the comic book style of violence. Howard is pretty convincing as the hapless writer who gets swept up in this peculiar caper

The film is pretty uneven when it comes to the level of enjoyment. It’s a promising story idea, and I applaud the attempt to do something pretty original, which has been lacking in Hollywood’s recent offerings. The overall talent of the cast makes this film watchable, maybe even a little better than that, however some of the action sequences were too long and a little too silly for my taste. The film serves the purpose of enticing me to the theatre without too much regret, but it still doesn’t offer much incentive for me to recommend it wholeheartedly.

Film Review: Ghosts On The Water

January 30, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Haunting of the Queen Mary has many elements I enjoy in a supernatural thriller, but this thing just turned into a confusing, gory mess of wasted potential. Gary Shore directed this piece which he also co-wrote the screen play with Stephen Oliver. Tom Vaughan shares the story credit as well. Alice Eve is in the lead as a young mother who wants to write a book and direct some virtual tours of the well-known, haunted luxury ship. The cast includes Joel Fry, Nell Hudson, Will Coban, and Lenny Rush.

The film starts off as a family aboard the Queen Mary in 1938 sneak into a rather posh party that has Fred Astaire in attendance along with many other celebrities of the time. There are some strange costumes and a disturbing confrontation between the disfigured father and a director. It actually looks to be an interesting party. The focus shifts to the present day to a couple with a young, disabled son who are also aboard the ship to make a film to be used as a virtual tour. The woman, played by Alice eve, wants to write a book. The two stories are unfolding at the same time. The 1938 timeline culminates in a brutal mass murder with an axe.

The cinematography is actually quite well done, but that’s the only element that is consistently worthwhile. The plot was confusing in both time settings. There is a pretty good dance sequence between this little girl and the actor portraying Astaire. That was kind of fun. The film looks gorgeous in many ways.

The story falls apart, and the gore that was displayed was just too distracting and unnecessary. I don’t normally mind occasional bloody scenes, but some of the violence just felt too gratuitous and distracting. The film would have been more impactful if the gore was merely implied.

There was what should have been interesting twist at the end, but I was too annoyed to understand or appreciate the cleverness the writers were attempting.

Haunted ships and past eras are kind of my bag these days, so I normally would enjoy a spooky ghost story on the high seas. Also, I am not terribly squeamish when it comes to movies of this sort, but there was still too much blood and dismembering even for my ghoulish tastes.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Who’s Up For A Little Chaos?

January 23, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Another pretty decent yet familiar sort of Doctor Who audio novel has been released from Big Finish Productions. Colin Brake is the author of The Chaos Cascade. One big twist is that there are three narrators this time as opposed to the usual single performer. Dan Starkey, Beth Chalmers, and Rebecca Root share storytelling duties and are directed by Nigel Fairs.

Reality is about to be destroyed yet again, and the Doctor is aided by one old enemy and a former companion in his quest to unite three pieces of a device known as the Triskelia. If this was an onscreen adventure, Peter Capaldi would be portraying his version of the Doctor. Michelle Gomez would be Missy, the female incarnation of fan favorite villain, the Master. Rebecca Root reprises another Big Finish role, Tania Bell. Tania has previously met the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, and is currently living another former companion, Liv Chenka. They have to contend with other parties searching for the Triskelia, and not everyone has the same altruistic motivations as the Doctor.

Brake is a solid writer and crafts a pretty decent adventure here. The problem is that the audience has seen the Doctor have similar quests. The banter between the Doctor and Missy is amusing, clever, and pretty close to how they would be if viewed on the television set. Brake clearly knows and can replicate the characteristics established onscreen and in previous audio episodes and is able to make it seem pretty fresh.

The narrators also do well, unsurprisingly, and are aided by the sound effects and musical score. I appreciate that Starkey can sound uncannily like Peter Capaldi. Since Capaldi has not shown any interest in revisiting his Doctor, Big Finish has a pretty solid path to representing the Twelfth Doctor without his participation.

Overall, this latest offering in the audio novel range is a solid enough contribution, but the whole galactic quest angle risks being overdone in spite of the new mixture of Doctors and companions.

Film Review: No Running Or Dying Around The Pool

January 21, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Night Swim is a horror film written and directed by Bryce McGuire. He shares story credit with Rod Blackhurst. It is based on a short film they did recently. Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferle, and Gavin Warren star as the Waller family who are facing the troubles of a haunted swimming pool.

Ray Waller, a retired baseball player, and his family move into a new house and refurbish the swimming pool. Ray had to retire early due to being inflicted with degenerative musculature illness. After he and his family settle into their new home, he finds that the pool has properties that are more therapeutic than expected. Since this is a story of horror, his newfound physical improvement comes at a ghastly cost. There is an entity within the waters as well as a long history of previous residents disappearing into the shadows. The Waller family will be facing a potential heart-wrenching sacrifice to feed a dark presence.

I have noticed that this film has been pretty thoroughly panned by the professional critics. It’s no brilliant masterpiece of the genre, but it’s not that bad. There are some moments that did creep me out occasionally or came close enough to it for me to find some appreciation for the attempt. The performances were as believable as one could expect for a somewhat outlandish plot. My surface effort of research shows that Wyatt Russell is the progeny of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, and he is not without the ability to give an at least competent performance. His co-star, Kerry Conlon, was likeable enough as the mother who starts to piece the strangeness together.

The background of the unworldly menace is ridiculous, of course, but not worse than a lot of other unnatural evils depicted in this sort of film.

Overall, Night Swim functions as a reasonable cinematic diversion for those of us with a taste for the macabre. It’s not going to be remembered as a masterful display of creative genius, but I doubt that it will be considered to be the bottom of the scrap heap of horror films. One could see it with some expectation of receiving a chill or two to accompany the occasional sardonic smile of amusement that may twitch across mt face whenever I see a film of this sort.

Film Review: Some Retirements Don’t Go As Planned

January 18, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Retirement Plan is a comedy action film written and directed by Tim Brown. Nicholas Cage is in the lead role as a seemingly aging beach bum named Matt, who lives in the Cayman Islands. Other cast members include Ashley Greene as Matt’s estranged daughter, Ron Perlman, Jackie Earl Haley, Ernie Hudson, and Grace Byers. There’s a cute kid played by Thalia Campbell, who may actually be the best thing in this film.

Ashley and her husband run afoul of some ultra powerful crime syndicate, and she sends their daughter to the Cayman Islands to meet her grandfather for the first time. When Ashley is forced to take some of the bad guys to her father’s doorstep, she finds that he had a secret past that led to their rift. It seems Matt is not as inept as he first appears and was at one time a government assassin. When the granddaughter falls into the hands of one of the henchmen, Matt dusts off some of his old skills to make sure he does not lose another opportunity to reconnect with his family.

There are some actors that can make eccentric characters rather charming and fascinating. Cage didn’t hit that mark here. Matt just seems a little weird, although the fight scenes were pretty good. The film kept getting interrupted by this one second flash card effect every time a new character was introduced. The villains were more like caricatures. Byers had a couple of almost chilling moments as a crime boss lady named Hector. Haley and Perlman were the peculiar killers sort of in the lead of those actively hunting for this elusive hard drive with some unspecified important information that is supposed to change the world or upset lots of people. I sort of lost track of what was so significant about this thing.

Thalia Campbell plays the granddaughter who gets caught up in this caper involving her sketchy parents. Her scenes with were her newly met grandfather were kind of charming. Most of the film has her in the company of Ron Perlman, who plays the lead henchman who kind of kidnaps her. I think I would have preferred her to have more scenes with Cage.

Anyway, the film is pretty campy but falls short on overall charm. It was supposed to be somewhat comedic, but it was kind of dull. The dialogue wasn’t all that creative. The bungling antics of the bad guys were just a little too stupid for my liking. Somehow, Cage’s character, who could have been more interesting, just didn’t hold my attention.

Overall, there are a couple of very mild amusing scenes, however this is another exercise in relentless mediocrity. That really is a shame because there is some real talent here that ended up being wasted. Hopefully, Brown isn’t kicking around the idea for a sequel.

Film Review: A Bit Of Blood With The Honey

January 14, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Beekeeper is an action film written by Kurt Wimmer and directed by David Ayer. Jason Statham plays the mysterious and deadly Adam Clay, who is a beekeeper who retired as some undefined government agent who was also known my that moniker. Jeremy Irons, Minnie Driver, and Phylicia Rashad are the more experienced cast members in this line-up. Also included in the cast are Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, and Jemma Redgrave.

Jason Statham has retired from some shadowy government group of killers known as the Beekeepers and is actually keeping real bees in his quiet life. He has befriended an older neighbor who was scammed out of all of her savings, which leads to her committing suicide. Statham’s Adam Clay finds the organization responsible and launches into a bloody vengeful rampage that will take him to the most powerful forces in the American government. He has to dodge the attention of FBI agents, one of whom is the daughter of his dead friend. Anyway, Clay uses a variety of gruesome lessons to teach the unscrupulous scammers a bit of fair play.

Jason Statham fans will be relieved to know that he has not been experimenting with his acting style. He can still pull off some implausible fisticuffs with his usual stoic panache. There is plenty of death and dismemberment to satisfy the more ghoulish movie goers. Statham still has an intimidating glare and can handle himself with brutal precision. A lot of bad guys get their comeuppance, and that’s just fine.

Unsurprisingly, the plot is almost completely incoherent. I guess the revenge motive is straight-forward enough, but I was distracted by not really knowing what function the Beekeepers actually served. When are they actually called in and by whom? The president doesn’t appear to know much about them. Basically, the whole background of the character and this weird agency from which he retired did not seem very well thought out. The FBI agent who just lost her mother to a tragic suicide was a little too glib considering the circumstances. I like seeing Rashad onscreen, and her soothing yet somehow firm presence was welcome to see, but she was not around very long. Jish Hutcherson does well as the bratty rich kid behind the scam network. Irons is always pretty solid.

It’s a somewhat fun and forgettable cinematic experience, but it is pretty poorly plotted. Wimmer, the writer, does little to add any real dimension to the main character. He would have done better to have Clay be a retired agent from a more well-known agency, who happened to be a beekeeper. That would have made more sense and perhaps made it easier to enjoy the constant onslaught of fights and mutilation.

Statham remains consistently fun to watch. The film isn’t really so bad as being unwatchable, but it isn’t for the faint of heart. Fortunately, the classic, mindless revenge flick doesn’t need to work that hard generally, however this one could have used a little more effort on the script.

Book Review: Arts And Spycraft

January 10, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The English Spy is a thriller written by the prolific Daniel Silva and features his best-known character, Israeli spy Gabriel Allon. It was published first in 2015 and definitely not the first in the series. It is the first novel by Silva that I have read, so I am missing a lot of background knowledge about Mr. Allon.

Gabriel Allon is a spy and sometimes assassin for some unspecified Israeli agency, which he is about to take command of in this installment. Allon is also an accomplished art restorer, which brings a compelling irony to his fictional credentials. He can act with brutal efficiency against an enemy of his nation or bring back profound beauty to various damaged works of art. After perusing some of the blurbs about some of the other novels, it seems his work as an art restorer often leads him into more ominous endeavors. Allon is a typical deadly gentleman with a conscience and deep loyalty to his beloved nation of Israel. He also apparently works as a freelancer for England as he does in this novel.

In this particular book, Allon is on the trail of an Irish mercenary and bomb maker after a former member of British royalty is killed. Allon works with a British assassin named Christopher Keller, who apparently has been featured in other entries in the series, and they proceed to travel to some pretty exotic locations to find the elusive, ruthless Eamon Quinn.

I have not read any of the earlier novels, however this was still pretty enjoyable. Silva does reference events from earlier in the series, but he does not provide much detail, which is actually fine with me. I may very well take the time and fill in those gaps myself. The research that Silva puts in is laudable, but he does sometimes let the exposition slow down the pacing.

Allon has an interesting domestic situation going on while he is engaged in this pursuit. He has remarried, and his wife is on the verge of birthing twins. An attack has forced Allon to remain separated from his wife during a very crucial time. He is about to take a director’s seat over the agency where he has worked for many years. It’s not the most convenient of times for Gabriel Allon to be chasing bomb makers all over the place. It is convenient for the readers to get drawn into a pretty suspenseful story, so I am sure they’re fine with it.

Gabriel Allon himself doesn’t really stand out from other fictional protagonists in this genre, other than his side work as an art restorer, however Silva’s popularity is still well-earned. Silva is a very entertaining storyteller, and he also seems to be an enthusiastic researcher. He has a pretty courteous tradition writing an author’s note which specifies the imaginative locales in the various settings visited by Allon and Keller. This really does showcase Silva’s perspective and wit.

Overall, I enjoyed being introduced to Silva’s writing even though this doesn’t really introduce Gabriel Allon. It’s obviously not Silva’s fault I don’t always start reading series at the beginning. Spies, murder, and global pursuits generally thrive in the literary universe, and Silva’s contributions to this genre of literature are worthy of attention and not difficult to enjoy. The nuggets of knowledge concerning art restoration and various locations have some value. Gabriel Allon may not be the most fascinating of characters, but he is interesting enough for me to be willing to return to this series.

It probably will not be too long before I revisit the writings of Daniel Silva, but I will next be reading the first novel in a new series written by Andrew Klavan. Christmas has passed yet again, but I am revisiting the holiday through the lens of Klavan’s When Christmas Comes.

Film Review: Aquaman Swims His Way To Mediocrity

January 7, 2024January 7, 2024 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the latest cinematic misadventure from DC Studios and Warner Brothers. James Wan directed this film and shares story credit with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Jason Momoa, and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett. Johnson-McGoldrick wrote the screenplay. Momoa reprises his role as Arthur Curry/Aquaman and is joined by Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Randall Park, Dolph Lungren, and several others.

In this film, Aquaman splits his time between the land and the sea after he has been married and produced a son. He’s enjoying some family time and rules Atlantis after his brother was imprisoned for his misdeeds in the previous film, simply titled Aquaman. David Kane, also known as Black Manta, has yet to give up his thirst for revenge on Aquaman. Kane is enraged that Aquaman chose not to save his father’s life after defeating him in battle. Aquaman tended to help out against any pirates who chose to terrorize any ships traversing the oceans. Anyway, Atlantis is attacked, Aquaman needs some help to locate Black Manta and decides to break his brother out of prison. Wilson’s Orm Marius is not too pleased to be allied with Aquaman, but he decides that it is better than languishing in prison far away from his ocean home. Anyway, a global chase ensues across the land and the seas. There are plenty of super-powered brawls. The CGI effects are unleashed with abandon. There is also an ancient evil that is using Black Manta’s bloodlust for his its own ambitions of freedom from an eternal prison. This has all the usual trappings and visual spectacles of a comic book movie.

The bright spots in this film are few and far between. Momoa is a compelling and charismatic presence in this film-sometimes. He just could not manage to hold my interest with any real consistency. Patrick Wilson’s performance was a bit more intriguing to me, but he was still having to contend with a pretty lackluster script. The landscapes and seascapes were pretty spectacular but without a sense of authenticity. There were some action scenes that were almost exhilarating. If Amber Heard’s career is ruined after her courtroom debacle with Johnny Depp, I suspect that I would be hard-pressed to miss her. Her performance almost reaches the level of just being dreadful. I suspect that she did not entirely hit the bottom of her acting barrel due to not having much screen time. The other more known cast members were such as Kidman or Lundgren were fine, but the plotting did not do them many favors either.

I will confess that I am not a major expert on Aquaman from the comics, and I know there were some artistic liberties taken when it came to this onscreen iteration. Momoa portrays this version with a bit of immature machismo that is rather off-putting. Aquaman relies mostly on his brute strength other than showing any real sense of cunning or ingenuity. He is complicated later for his humility and willingness to ask for help to protect Atlantis, and that’s fine, but it makes for a bit of a boring lesson when presented in a comic book action movie.

If DC Studios plans on doing a reboot of their franchise after this film, the current range seems to have ended with a bit of a whimper. The more official reviews of this film have not been all that favorable, and the scorn is somewhat deserved here. The film is watchable for the most part, so it’s not a complete failure. It does reach near-perfection in one sense. It’s a clear example as to why this genre of film is sinking in popularity at the box office.

Better luck next time, kids!

Film Review: It’s All About The Boat

December 26, 2023 ~ Peter Kanelis ~ 1 Comment

The Boys in the Boat is a historical sports drama film directed by George Clooney. Mark L. Smith is the screenwriter whose script is on the book by Daniel James Brown. Joel Edgerton portrays Coach Al Ulbrickson with Callum Turner as Joe Rantz. Jack Mulhern, Alec Newman, Hadley Robinson, and Courtney Henggeler are included in the cast.

The film dramatizes the account of the 1936 American Olympic team who competed in the men’s eight not long before the Second World War broke out. This team were out of the University of Washington and found themselves competing in Berlin with a certain Adolf Hitler being one of the spectators. Much of the film was presented through the perspective of Joe Rantz, who was living out of his car while attending the university. He basically tried out for the rowing team as a sort of last resort. Ulbrickson has his own fight to assemble the right team together to compete in Berlin and get them to work as one.

The film ended up being more compelling than expected. There were characters with a certain mysterious stoicism who were more conflicted and challenged than they were willing to show. Edgerson ended up being more likeable as the story unfolded. There were a couple of stories going on that were interesting. Rantz is basically a loner who had to develop into more of a team player. He was not a hostile or unpleasant fellow, but he had to adjust to not having to rely on just himself as he had been for many years. The film does a good job of evoking sympathy for the intended characters and situations. The setting and period seemed to be represented well. Even the blossoming romance between Turner’s Joe Rantz and Hadley Robinson’s Joyce Simdars. Presumably they got married in real life. The film is framed as a reminiscence of Rantz’s many years after the events depicted.

The film is quite effective in presenting a fascinating piece of history and being entertaining as well as inspirational. I know there is a risk of the story dragging, but I thought there were moments where a little more exposition was needed. There were scenes where I was not sure why characters were upset, but that was likely due to me not having much insight into the sport of eight-man rowing. Also, there it may have been more helpful if the timeline leading up to the climactic Olympic moment was explained more clearly. I guess I like to see dates sometimes on the screen when watching movies of this sort.

I guess there is no perfect movie, in my estimation, however this one gets pretty close. The cast does a great job in that no one seems to be out of sync with their roles. I liked that I was not that familiar with most of these actors and could be surprised by effective and moving performances. It takes a bit for Edgerton’s character to tug on the heartstrings, but the interactions he has with his wife makes one realize that he is not as dictatorial or curmudgeonly as he first appears. Henggeler portrays Hazel Ulbrickson and is absolutely charming. She is quite instrumental in bringing out the humanity in her husband. It was a nice contrast to have the comfortably established and loving commitment between the Ulbrickson and the beginnings of that depicted between Joe and Joyce.

The comradery that developed between the team members was also pretty well done, but we didn’t get to know them as individuals equally, but I understand that was likely due to having to put some restraints on for the sake of a more precise plot development.

There are a few predictable tropes peppered throughout the film. Not a lot of new ground is broken in regard to how this type of story is told, but the story itself seems like it deserves a bit more notoriety given the period and the accomplishment of that particular crew. Clooney deserves quite a bit of applause for this one. The film comes across is a little old-fashioned in some ways, but it’s a fascinating story and the book on which it is based probably has a lot more to offer and fleshes out the relationships between the team members and the coach a lot more.

In spite of some elements that could use a little improvement, I do believe that this is one of the best films I have seen in some time. It still kept me engaged and captivated. I think Clooney pretty much hits the right emotional chords and evokes a curiosity within me concerning the rest of this story. The flaws are very minor when stacked up against all that went right in the composition of this piece.

This is a film that is, without question, worth the effort to see and very easy to enjoy.