Tag: reviews

Film Review: A New Web Is Spun

~ Peter Kanelis ~ 1 Comment

Madame Web is the latest offering in the Marvel movie collection and has been the recipient of an avalanche of negative reviews, which it richly deserves. I should have known better than to waste my time with this cinematic disaster, but I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me.

The culprit in the director’s seat is S.J. Clarkson, who also shares screenwriting credit with Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, and Claire Parker. Karem Sanga must also share the blame for the story credit. Dakota Johnson is in the lead as Cassie Webb, a dedicated paramedic with mother issues, who suddenly develops ability to see future events. Tahar Rahim plays the not so menacing villain in the shape of Ezekial Sims, who sees his future death at the hands of three young women in superhero tights and becomes obsessed with finding them. Sydney Sweeney, who seems to be the current Hollywood It Girl, plays one of the trio alongside Celeste O’Conner and Isabela Marced. Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and Mike Epps are also included in this cast.

The film starts off in 1973, which is a pretty good year since that is when I came into this world so I can torture myself with this garbage and complain about it to whoever happens to stumble across this endeavor at some sort of creative writing. Apparently, what also happened in 1973, is that a research team led by Constance Webb, who is quite pregnant with our supposed heroine, is on the hunt for a rare spider in the jungles of Peru. She is betrayed and injured by her partner. A legendary tribe with some rather familiar spider-like abilities attempts to save her life but her only able to save the child. The child grows up to be Cassie Webb, paramedic extraordinaire, who starts having jarring visions that predict the future, however she realizes that if she acts quickly enough, she can indeed change the outcome of these events. She encounters the three young women who are unknowingly being hunted by the former expedition partner of her mother’s because he is really rich, powerful, and ridiculously evil and is compelled to protect them from forces that she can’t understand with abilities that she has yet to master.

The script throws in some loose ties to the Spider-Man canon because Cassie’s paramedic partner is none other Ben Parker, the uncle to who would become Spider-Man. Uncle Ben, played by Adam Scott, and his wife will end up raising their nephew, Peter Parker, who gets bitten by the radioactive spider and develops the powers which everyone knows. Madame Web has nowhere the name recognition in the comic book canon. This background already feels like it was just thrown in a too obvious attempt to give this addition some kind of credibility. I am not sure that Ben Parker’s profession was actually ever mentioned in the original canon since it was his death that was part of Spider-Man’s origin story.

Anyway, almost nothing about this latest entry into the MCU works. The special effects are fine, but Madame Web’s powers are not conveyed all that interestingly. Johnson barely seems interested in the role, and I have heard that her enthusiasm is not all that evident on the talk show circuit. It’s hard to blame her if that is actually true. I wasn’t all that intrigued by the motivations or behavior of the supervillain. Tahir Rahim is a handsome guy and probably has some talent, but this film does little to showcase that.

There were times where the chemistry between the three girls was almost entertaining, but the dialogue was just too absurd for them to have any consistent success at being charming or amusing. Although there are moments where I could see glimmerings of acting talent in much of the cast, it was not enough to pierce the pile of cinematic muck that was presented on the screen.

The reviews and box office numbers are horrendous, and occasionally I like films better than the reputation suggests. Sadly, this is not one of those occasions, and this film ultimately earns the almost legendary amount of bad press that is being heaped upon it. I won’t necessarily blame the cast for their performances, but I question the judgment of their agents for thinking this project would enhance their careers all that much.

Marvel movies have been taking some critical hits lately, and this latest effort may actually be the stake through the heart.

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

~ 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: It’s All About The Boat

~ 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.

Film Review: These Ladies Don’t Look Right

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Lady Ballers is a comedy film that is produced by The Daily Wire and is directed by Jeremy Boreing, who also co-wrote the script alongside Brain Hoffman and Nick Sheehan. Much of the cast and cameos consist of Daily Wire personalities such as Boreing himself, the guys from Crain & Company, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, and Brett Cooper. Other cast members include Tyler Fischer, Daniel Consadine, Billie Rae Brandt, and Lexie Contursi.

Boering is in the lead as a hapless basketball coach who was once quite successful and finds himself missing the days when he could have a reliably winning team. Coach Rob is fired for being too coaching his latest high school team too aggressively and has been unable to navigate some of the new inclusive expectations mandated by the school system. In other words, Coach Rob just isn’t “woke” enough. Rob ends up accidentally employed at a drag bar where he encounters a former star player, played by Consadine. Since the athletic administrations have broadened the qualifications for competing in women’s sports, Coach Rob convinces the perpetually puzzled Alex to proclaim himself to be transgender and compete in women’s track events. An unscrupulous reported named Gwen convinces Coach Rob to take this further, which leads to the reunion of his star basketball team from fifteen years prior. Then, the absurdity kicks into overdrive when the team members branch into other local women’s sports leagues while being lauded for their bravery as they stop their way through victory after victory.

So, the point of this film is to highlight and mock the absurdity of men competing in women’s sports, which at times gets a little too obvious. That means not all of the jokes land with pointed precision. That’s not the say that I never laughed out loud. The overall film is a little uneven at times, but The Daily Wire is still pretty new at this type of content, and I am in agreement with the intended message, so I am willing to view this with a little more forgiveness in my admittedly cold, biased heart.

In spite of some elements not quite working as smoothly as I would have wanted, some of the performances were surprisingly effective because much of the cast had no acting experience. Jake Crain, Blain Crain, and David Cone are The Daily Wire sports commentators in real life and have an onscreen chemistry that translated pretty effectively in this endeavor. The Crain brothers got a little too hammy at times, but that is probably to be expected considering the genre of this film. Matt Walsh, who played the very affectionate boyfriend of Coach Rob’s wife, actually was a little better than I expected. Now some of the praise he has received from colleagues and other viewers may be overselling it a little, but her did threaten to steal the scene a few times. Also, it almost never fails to have someone play a character who is well-known to be the polar opposite of tbe performer’s real persona. In short, Walsh pulls it off here.

Ben Shapiro as a very ambivalent and short-tempered referee was also pretty amusing. There quite a few inside Daily Wire jokes, but they knew this would not have a typical mass release, so most of those worked.

There were times when the film falls into the same trap as others trying to promote an obvious political or social agenda as in coming across as a little too heavy-handed at times. Also, the writers took some swipes at other social concerns The Daily Wire often comments on, and not all of those efforts fit easily into the film. They did sneak in an advertisement for a new line of women’s products from Jeremy’s Razors that was pretty funny.

Comedy is one of the most unreliably subjective things in human existence. There has to be an acceptance that any effort in this space is not going to appeal to everyone in spite of someone’s overall popularity. In a film, it can work almost all of the way through, have a few high notes, or just faceplant hard. In my not so humble opinion, Lady Ballers doesn’t work perfectly, but it also doesn’t fail miserably. In spite of some fairly glaring missteps, I did find some enjoyment in this film and applaud The Daily Wire for taking the risk in broaching this subject and giving the proponents of having men compete in women’s sports the mockery they so profoundly deserve.